a dog house

I'm a skite I know but I'm very lucky to be married to a clever man who often helps make my ideas a reality. This is actually his latest project and since this is a family page, I'm sharing it.

Our dog Sonny has been going on adventures lately, not letting fences or gates get in his way. He's dug himself out countless times, has been bought home by dog control once for chasing cats ( naugh-ty!) he's just being a p.a.i.n.

We've decided that when we're both out he needs to be on a run ( rather than having the whole back yard to himself). Since it's getting chilly we decided to get him a kennel- for a supposedly 'tough guy' breed he's a real sook and hates the rain.

I liked the  look of this one but it was $269.00 plus delivery on trade me. That was all the motivation hubby needed to make one himself...

sides ( old doors) roof framing ( old wood)  and door drawn...

Sonny watching while having a chew on a stick- one of his favourite things to do

door cut and roof on...

recycled weatherboards on

done! he likes it more than it looks like he does x

It's tucked in a sheltered corner,  lined with carpet and he has some cosy blankets inside. We're going to cover the door from the inside with some hessian or something to keep the wind out. I haven't decided if I'll paint it. I may just hold out for any leftover paint from our EQ repair- or leave it 'rustic'. Pretty neat for a grand sum of $0 eh!: )

sycamore seed dragonflies

I'm enjoying our new blog name. Part of the reason for change was I'd hoped the word whimsy would encourage me to be even more open minded and find creative opportunities in more unlikely places - like these annoying little seeds that are all over our back lawn. I do like watching them spin when they fall from the tree though, so do the kids. Nature is pretty awesome.

We collected some of them up to make these dragonflies.

One day I might have one of those sleek and fancy stainless steel fridges (you now, the type with the cool thing in the door that makes ice!) but in the meantime our fridge looks like millions of others around the world- plastered with kids art, bills, reminders, invitations, lists and all sorts of magnets- and now some pretty dragonfly ones.

we cut the seed part off and painted the 'wing' bit

and painted some thin sticks

when they were dry, we added a coat of glitter paint

and I glued them onto strips of magnet using beads for eyes

ch ch chaaaaanges

I went to the dinner of the Christchurch Bloggers conference last night. I didn't know what to expect and was surprised by how nervous, awkward and overwhelmed I felt at first. I briefly met the gorgeous and totally inspiring Miriam (one of the conference organisers) and was introduced to a table of ChCh bloggers. I sat opposite Stella who writes the golden adventures of a very dark horse. She's extremely creative, really funny and has a way with words. I lost mine for a bit and was getting ready to leave at one point.

Luckily for me Rachael, who writes the heartfelt and creative Making Mine Too found me and gave me a cute name badge she'd made. Miriam had asked her to make a badge for me to help make me feel welcome. It worked,  that and Rachael's friendliness stopped me going home to my slippers!

 

Another person who I was really pleased to meet was Juliet from Tartankiwi . I will be reading her blog with her lovely Scottish accent in my mind from now on : ). She makes gorgeous quilts and has convinced me to attempt my first one. I think I'll be seeing her again soon at the Make cafe for the fabric and supplies!

I had a good time. I met some of my blogging heros ( star struck much??!??) and I came home full of ideas, pizza and gratitude that there are so many kind, like-minded, creative, blogger mums in this world.

So here are my plans...

More original content. I'm going to be braver and try out things and ( maybe!) share them.

More sharing of the things I create, for myself or for friends.

I will post less often - maybe twice a week from now on...

I like change, in fact I thrive on it. I change my mind a lot too but I've pretty much... I think.. decided to change our blog's name. The one I've chosen was on the shortlist when I first set up our blog, so I'm going to go back to it.

I do like the name milk and honey but it makes me think of the time spent at home with both kids as pre schoolers. I'd like a new name that encapsulates my desire to be a bit more of a 'risk taker' as far as my ( our) creativity is concerned. Let's see how that goes :)

There may be a new look to the blog too- over time. I need to sort out the techy side of things but want to move away from a standard blogger template and put some of my own ( and the kid's) touches on the page.

fun!

a hand painted toy by the boy

T is loving drawing dinosaurs lately so I thought I'd extend it a bit and have him make a soft toy/ pillow of one of his dino friends. 

I had hoped that it would help him relinquish 'blankie'. Blankie was once a lovely woollen aircell blanket. He's cuddled in bed and on the couch since he was about 18 months old and it's now in 3 pieces. It didn't work, but I'm not too worried because I think it will disintegrate over time. I keep finding little tufts of it all over the house!

he used a permanent marker to draw a dinosaur on calico

I taped the calico to a surface so it didn't move around while he drew.

 

He used fabric paint to paint the dinosaur,

he's like his creator- colourful and full of character

I have so much love for this wee man

We let the paint dry and I sealed it with an iron as per the paint's instructions 

I sewed it into a cushion in the night and snuck it on his bed for him to find in the morning

This is blankie...

this is Donny ( named after Don off the Dinosaur train)

a toy we had to have!

Have you ever come across a toy that you just have to have for your kids? We went to our Kindy's fair in the weekend and I saw this block set.

It's a beautifully simple idea that I think is very cleverly put together by someone who obviously 'gets' kids and how they play. I know is going to provide hours of fun for our two. Here's some photos of how we used them this afternoon.

I set it up like this for the kids to discover when they got home

lovely huh?

the smile says it all!

You could also use cars, constructions vehicles, littlest pet shops, other animals, fairy figurines, the possibilities are endless.

They're made by a mum called Miranda who also happens to be a pre school teacher. If you would like to buy one of these sets for $20 ( they come in the cool flax kite bag pictured) please email her on : mrmwiffen@hotmail.com

They'd make a fantastic birthday or Christmas present and I don't think they'd be too expensive to post.

The set also comes with some lovely flat river stones. Our family has hut at the Rangitata river and since we have a boy who has always loved collecting stones, I asked her to leave them out of this set- but I will be buying more!

dinosaur drawings

I just had to share these dinosaur pictures T painted. He used two pieces of paper because he wanted them to "be very long so I have room to do the body and the head". Don't you just love kid's art work?

lots of legs so he can run fast

this one even has a belly button

I still have to supervise our painting sessions but have a trolley of supplies at hand so they can draw, colour, trace, write or make something for someone whenever they feel like it. It's probably not a system for those that like things to be very tidy and out of sight all of the time but it works for us!

Tip: cleaned and dried tin cans are great for storing felts, pencils and crayons : )