Lunchboxes

I've gotta say, I find making lunches for school a real drag! First they seem to need lunch EVERY day, and then on top of that they want variety! No its not really that bad, I just struggle to come up with food that fits our needs - healthy, allergy friendly and no rubbish. Their requirement is also tasty whereas mine is budget friendly.

Mondays is my day to recover and regroup and get ready for the week and get over the weekend. I do all the washing and usually get some baking done. Museli bars are usually on the menu.

There is no particular recipe as it changes depending on what I have. This one has the following: 

Sunflower seeds

Pepitas

Dates

Sultanas

Dried apricots

Corn flakes

Oats

Ricebubbles

I mix that all together.

To bind it, I cook up some butter (about 80 grams), a tin of condensed milk and some honey. I cook it to mix it together, then I add it to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix. The whole lot goes into a lined tray, compact it with the back of a spoon  and bake it in a moderate oven until brown.

 It really is that easy. No nuts tick. No rubbish tick. Healthy tick. Cheap as chips and tasty. This should last me about two weeks as I keep it in the fridge and slice it up as I need it.

French Frock up

A friend had a fortieth last night that was French inspired. The invitation read a french flair, but when we got tot talking it seemed everyone was dressing up,  so a simple neck kerchief wasn't going to cut it. 

A bit of a look on the internet for inspiration gave us these two gems. Marcel Marceau and Coco Chanel. The total cost was $20 and that was for the clown makeup. Between us we had the rest of the stuff. 

The big squirrel was quite a hit. The shirt was in his wardrobe. The pants were my dads and the hat from the boys magic trick box. Even the fake flower was at my parents place. The suspenders were appropriated from a pair of ski pants. (Yes a little short and did play tricks with the big squirrels nuts)

 The gloves were dusting gloves from the cleaning section of the supermarket. All done with the exception of the face paint. A quick Internet search on where to buy it lead us to facepaint.com which coincidentally was walking distance from my parents, where I was collecting my outfit.

Whilst we are on my outfit, I had a choice of 2 from mums place. This one I wore is straight out of her wardrobe. She made the jacket and skirt and had a good bit of wear out of the jacket. It is an upholstery weight fabric, and we accessories with the pearls.

The glasses are my new prescription ones from Spec Savers and the piece de resistance was the hat. This is a felt hat that mum made when we were doing millinery classes. They weren't made to go together, they just look that way.

Two funny things from the night - the big squirrel caught powering his nose in the bathroom.
Me having a friend introduce themself to me (mid way through the night) as they had no idea who I was. Then his jealous wife coming over to find out who I was!! Very funny.

Patterns Review - Vogue 8975

I haven't sewn much for myself of late as I seem to have lost my mojo. More probably because I have lost anyone to do it with. Mr P broke up and I lost my surrogate sister sewer, Mum really can't anymore and even my sewing group of girls have gone to highschool so it is a bit lonely to do it by yourself. 

Anyhow I battled through and on Friday night after basketball I sat and attacked this pattern - Vogue 8975. It is really outside of my usual and I don't have anything like this. I like the pocket and hem detail so I thought I would give it a go. 

I used a grey knit that I had and it takes about 2 metres. The back is in four pieces but quite plain given all the detail at the front. It goes together easily and more importantly is comfortable to wear.

 Good lord - sorry about these photos. (and the state of my mirror) Really not showing it. I made the medium which is a good fit. I only used a one way stretch fabric (it recommends 2) but it isn't a problem.

 I had originally intended to leave it sleeveless, but then I wore it this morning and was a bit cold, so I came home and popped the sleeves in! (As you do) I actually think it will be a  lot more versatile this way. I think I may need another one of these. An easy to use pattern - highly recommend. Now to try the cardi.

Tshirt refashion

Here is an ultra easy way to jazz up some cheap tshirts. This is a girls tshirt that was all of $1 at kmart. 

I undid the side seams and cut out most of the back. I left a small piece under the arms and shaped up in  an arch to give it some movement. At this point the tshirt is backless with a small yoke connecting the sleeves and the neckline. 

Then I cut out this great owl print. It is a woven synthetic, so I added about 2 inches more that the piece that I had cut out. You can see the extra fabric in the centre back pleat. I also added some length so it has a bit of a tail. 

Now this tshirt will look groovy with leggings or jeans. It would have only taken 30 minutes. 

Sewing - Girls skirt McCalls 5459

One of our Faux cousins is having a birthday so we needed a little something extra. She is turning 9 and we have a book etc. but I thought I would make a skirt. She is at that age where clothes are not always age appropriate. For some reason, once you hit size 8, everything is a bit old, and particularly in the girls section a little over sexualised.
This skirt is a great little easy to wear number that would be great in summer with a tshirt or winter with leggings. It has a yoke with elastic at the back. There is no zip. The skirt is half circle which makes it nice and flippy - or really spinny. I made a size 8 yoke but cut the skirt length at a 12 to give it a bit longer life. It is made from a stretch cotton.

Happy Valentines Day

From my gorgeous Spencer. Awwww

What a great idea

I have to share this because it really is a great idea. It is one of those things that I had never ever thought of, but when I did it, I thought why didn't I ever do that.

Obviously this is a clock. I bought is online from typo at Christmas and it has literally been sitting in a box in my room since then, but now it is hanging. Not only hanging, but in my bathroom. Yes.
I had never thought of putting a clock in there but it is brilliant. A lady bought a clock at work because her bathroom one had broken and it was like a lightbulb moment.

Our clock is on the wall. You can see it and easily read it from the shower. It is in reverse but very visible in the mirror and from the bath too. This is even better because it has a timer function that if you are really pressed from time it can ring.

I really cannot tell you how lovely it is in the shower to look at the time and realise, yes, you can have one more minute of relax time before rushing off to school.  I cannot believe we never thought of this.