Here are the things that have kept me busy the last week or so. Miss Fab and I have been creative to bits, working on making some surprises for Little B’s birthday. It has been fun and I have learned a few new things too. So I will share, cause I am nice that way.

I will start with KravA-pA! This is the name the birthday girl gave to one of the dolls in my handmade toys book. Not just that. The girls would say the name, after looking at the page, and then crack up like there is nothing funnier out there. And then again…KravA-pA! Muahahahaha.

So, I had to make her.

Big sister joined in too. She weaved two friendship bracelets.

She made these two lovely fellas.
She chose the fabrics, the colours. She stitched up on the machine and did the hand stitch on the faces too.

The packaging too, of course.

I have been discovering crocheting. I have never done it before, even though it seemed interesting and I think I enjoyed the idea of  its versatility. I don tknow why, but I thought it will be a good idea to delve into it now.

It was not hard at all. In a night I had a grasp of it. And the second night I crocheted half a hat. Not planned that way, but my wool ran out, so it ended up a tiny little hat. I finished it up with a handle, cause I thought it will look nice as a soft basket of some kind. Then I left it around until I figure out if I want to keep it or not.

Next I was ready to follow a pattern. You think there is nothing to it, but I beg to differ. Patterns look like alien language in code and then scrambled with eggs.

But yours truly did it without a hitch. Thank you, thank you:

What am I doing with this beauty? With these wonderfully fancy stitches?
I am eliminating them, thats what I am doing.

I am felting, babeeey!

I stitched two of those squares and a big thread and the whole thing went in the washing machine.

And then I had a beautiful fluffy puffy bag (and the gift wrapping for it)

I was hooked!

Hooked I tell ya. Even Mr.Blab was impressed.

My eyes were scanning anything in my field of vision that will be suitable for felting.

Voila! My half hat turns into a basket:

This one went into  a simple paper wrap, but I made a custom bow for it.

Those are wonderful. Next time I will try the recycling version
(if you are keen, get the instructions from How About Orange)

Just in case our newly five year old is not impressed with our handicrafts, we had Mr.Blab get her a scooter and he ordered her a bunch of “Lego guys”, the latest being the favorite play buddies lately.

Now to the most anticipated part – the cake.

The order went something like that:
Chocolate cake with hmmm…white top…colorful, rainbow frosting!

Right.

Luckily I had some volunteering help:

I admit, I was not excited when she expressed enthusiasm to “help” me, but I handed her the tools and held my breath. Maybe even my eyes were closed, I am not sure.

She did the flowers.

She did not disappoint. Not even a bit.

The swoosh is just a defect in the way the cake baked. It is a wonky cake.

At first I thought we will make a hilly cake, then while we were working, we thought we will make a path in the big crack…then Miss Fab suggested bushes. I did bushes and then decided to just fill it up with grass.

And we ended up with 5 fairies somehow.

Couldnt have been more perfect.

Ok, I am tired now.

And I am getting a cold.

And we are off to celebrate a birthday…

This has nothing to do with diaper poops and gifts of the kind. Well, maybe it does, but not in a direct kind of way. This is about a friend that started making cloth diapers, something I have been meaning to do for awhile now, but just dont get to it, so I am quite jealous in a way, there is a bit of envy in me, a bit of grinding of the teeth, a bit of “I wish I had done this”..well, you get the picture, but she actually did it. And not only that, but now she is trying a little business going, as her kids cant take any more diapers, even if she stuffs them in their clothes as safety padding.

And because she had so many and she has one of those warm kind hearts, can you frikin believe it, she sent me not one, but two absolutely free diapers for Caramel Popcorn. Yeah, she even paid the shipping from the other end of the world. So I am getting this package, and the two jewels pop out and melt in my hands. Only other cloth diaper freaks can appreciate this, so dont shake your head in disbelief if you are not one of them.

Sofness, squishiness, warmth and fluffiness.

Mmmm….

So, I thought the least I could do is give her some blog props and show off her wonderful work and if any of you are in search of a cloth diaper check her out. I dont know how they will stand up over time, but my initial reaction is glee. Hurry, before she gets big and her prices get unreasonable, cause isnt that what always seems to happen.

KatyBird Diapers

Thank you, my friend!
And good luck.

I wanna get off. This train is not taking me anywhere nice. Feels like its running in circles and we are seeing the same scenery over and over and over and over…OH! And over.

Our feet are on the way out, dangling over the edge of the door, being cooled down by the gentle breeze of the freedom beyond the train. But I want more. We want more. We are dreaming of building our own house by ourselves. Not your average mainstream house…our own. Earth and human friendly, non toxic, random and imperfect, but touched with love and attention only the way one can do themselves. Wild and free, beautiful and friendly…a place where all the things inside are meaningful and treasured, no cheap disposable plastic and stuff that exists only because someone somewhere wants to pay their mortgage and own a yacht.

Oh, the dreams.

But back to the topic – stuff.

Recently I stumbled upon a little fun presentation called “The Story of Stuff”. A wonderful succinct way of describing why the consumerism culture is not as good as we have been led to believe.

Watch it:
Its own website
OR
Youtube

Can you see through the emptiness of the things that surround you? Or do they really bring you the happiness and joy that was promised when they were sold to you? I am curious to hear your views, not just fishing for some comments

I have been getting a few questions about this, so here is the scoop.

Cloth nappies are not your grandma’s nappies anymore. The choices are wide and varied – small, big, easy, organic, in pieces and not, with folding and not, quick drying and not so, with cover or without… something for everyone.

In short though, a nappy needs two things: absorbency and waterproofing and here are the main types according to the way those two points are taken care of:

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Spinning from the previous post, here is what I found in my search for a bag.

First a few words on plastic bags – a complete and utterly unnecessery waste that makes a mess of one’s house and worst (and if you care), of our environment.
Coming home with just a few bags and not having to work through a pile of crumbly, noisy pile of bags is like a breath of fresh air. Eliminating the plastic in your grocery shopping is easy and now it can be trendy too.

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