a tinkerbell play scene

This cute activity was inspired by this post : http://beafunmum.com/2013/02/tinker-bell-fairy-secret-of-the-wings-play-scene/

Tinkerbell and Periwinkle meeting at the border - a play scene from one of the kid's favourite movies The Secret of the Wings.

 

collecting flowers and leaves for the Summer side.

Periwinkle on the ice

T put the ice on this side " see mum, the freeze is coming"

this old house

When I walked into our house for the first time I knew it was going to be our home. It's old (we're not sure how old but probably 95 years ish) and it needs LOTS of work. I feel like we're custodians of it and that it deserves our respect and care. Our home is not just walls and a roof to me.

I have always liked old things. I like to think about what they might have seen and the stories they could tell us. Many people look at old weatherboard homes like ours and just see lots of hard work. I see that too- but I also see lots of opportunities to be creative, to restore something to it's original condition and make improvements, which for 'practical types' like us is really rewarding.

As I type the husband is is using a heat gun and scraper to peel off years and years worth of paint from the outside of T's sash window, he's been doing that since 9am- it's now 5. The timber underneath the paint is beautiful, he's done a fantastic job, it's almost a shame we're going to paint over it again.

Now that we know what will and won't be repaired by eqc we've started some repairs beginning with the windows. We'll strip and re-paint the weather boards next and the roof also needs painting. Hopefully later this year we're putting in a new kitchen, taking out a wall and adding french doors to create a second living area near the kitchen. I'm looking forward to being able to sit there and look into the back garden. My clever husband is one of those people that can grow anything and our garden is looking lovely.

Most of the EQ damage was cosmetic with some wobbly floor issues added in. For all of the major quakes I was at home with the kids, it shook like a bag of sticks and made a lot of noise in the process but it has kept us safe. It's pretty easy to warm in Winter ( has lots of roof and underfloor insulation) and nice and cool in  Summer. I really do love our home and the memories it holds.

After the Feb earthquake were were in the front garden when a couple walked past. They asked  if the house was ok and we got talking. It turns out their family lived here for 29 years, from when they were first married in 1953 until 1982.

A few weeks later they dropped these photos in our letterbox.

front of house

rear of house

Rear of the house- pre quakes, about a year after we bought it, looks even worse now- no chimeys!

So there's a bit about our happy wee home. After the repairs have been done inside I'll take you on a tour of some of my favourite little corners of it : )

a skirt from scraps

I've always loved the look of handmade children's clothing. I can't knit or crochet and I can only just sew so this was a bit of a challenge for me. Last weekend at a friend's birthday party there was a little girl wearing a very cute 'sticky-outy' skirt that her mum had made her. 

It got me thinking; the time that my kids will happily wear things I've made is probably limited, so I may as well have a bit of fun with it while I can.

I used scrappy bits of fabric from my stash and pieced it together like a jigsaw/ quilt. I then sewed a simple hem and elasticated waist band. I think it's sweet- if you don't look to closely at the sewing!

She likes it too....now to try and sew the boy some shorts.....

   a blurry shot of the back- the model had things to do!

 Joining in with Sunshine x3's linky here: http://3xsunshine.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/show-tell-oldschool.html

icey fun

This little activity was inspired by Miriam at Create Hope Inspire, her blog post is here: http://createhopeinspire.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/bmwb-ice-ice-baby.html

Miriam and her boys used salt to dissolve the ice, we were out of salt and T was pretty keen on the rubber mallet option!

diy oops

When our earthquake repair does get done we have to move out. We thought it'd be a good chance to put new carpet down, doing any painting around our newly laid carpet is just asking for trouble which is why I need to paint the inside window frames now.

We have sash windows so I've watched lots of You tube videos and talked to lots of Placemakers and Bunnings staff members to work out what to do. It didn't start off well last weekend. I was chipping out old widow putty feeling very pleased with myself when I cracked the glass and had to pay $130 for it to be repaired! 

So if I'm posting less often it's because when I'm not being a mum, wife or teacher I'm gap filling, sanding and painting like a 'crazy have to get it done before the carpet's laid person'.

Stupid earthquakes.

a treasure chest pinata- how we made one

My nephew turns 5 soon and he requested a pirate pinata, so he's getting a treasure chest. He's hoping it will be filed with chocolate coins! Here's how to made one like we did.

1. Find a smallish box,  cut out the sides and cut a small hole at the front. Run pieces of masking tape across the sides for the paper mache to be attached to.

2. Cover with 3 layers of paper mache and one layer of white paper ( I forgot to take a pic of that stage) or you could paint a base coat of white paint.

3. Paint it to look like a chest. I used some silver masking tape we had.

4.  Use the space at the front to thread two handles through. I anchored each end of these inside using 4 milk bottle tops.

5. Now the pinata is ready to fill through the hole at the front. I drew a keyhole image on a piece of tape for my brother to cover the hole with once the it's been filled.

We'll find another piece of rope to thread through the handles to hang. When the kids are trying to break it open I'll let the birthday boy know to hit the thinner sides!

I'll have to remember to get my silver tape back- I'm sure I'll have lots of uses for that.