Kelly

Homeschooling makes Mum smarter too!

I’m very often asked whether, as a homeschooling Mum, I am a qualified teacher. My reply is usually along the unpopular lines of “I believe every parent is qualified to teach his/her child”. Which is usually met with a blank stare, followed by a polite if not bewildered “oh“.

The truth of the matter is that I am a university dropout who wasn’t particularly academic at school. I put in the effort, but didn’t get the grades.

Since I started homeschooling I’ve realised how much I don’t know and how much of the drivel I was taught at school was incorrect, hypothetical and (in my opinion) stupid! Homeschooling is like being given a second chance at learning. Even though you are the teacher you are learning and revising at the same time and it’s a wonderful thing. It makes me a more effective teacher because I am a genuinely interested student.

If you have considered homeschooling but don’t think you have the smarts I recommend to give yourself a chance, and with the right resources and attitude, you can do it!

I was lucky enough to win

by Kelly 1 Comment

This beautiful little skirt in a giveaway by Missy Melly. Skillfully made from gorgeous prints and my little one loves it. I’m really impressed by the professional presentation of the Missy Melly swing tag and business cards that were included – this lady knows what she’s doing!!

I also snapped up some monkey hair clips – who could resist?

Thank you for making this a happy day for us Shan!

Kitchen appliances I love

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My grandparents gave us this slow cooker which is large enough to feed an army. What a great invention this one is! Cheap cuts of meat are transformed into tender morsels, and it’s totally set and forget – a busy Mum’s dream come true. I’ll be using this constantly over winter.

It took us a while to figure out how most Asians in this part of the world cook their rice so perfectly – rice cookers! So easy to use, it cooks your rice quickly and perfectly, no more soggy mush!

Gulp…. I’m scared!

by Kelly 7 Comments

OK, I’ve come this far, and I’ll readily admit it’s been a challenge. “But you’re a doll maker!” I hear you say. “Making bears should be easy for you – right?!”

WRONG!

You may notice that my otherwise assembled bear remains earless and faceless. There is a reason for that. Today I started to tentatively snip some hairy bits from around the muzzle, as you do, but was suddenly paralyzed (scissors in mid air) with fear that I was going to stuff it up. Badly. I don’t like to stuff up badly, especially when I’ve invested considerable time and money in the first place.

So maybe I need to get over myself a little, but in the meantime the bear will sit and look (well not actually look – she doesn’t have eyes) but just sit there until I get some courage to finish her off.

P.S. Any tips or recommendations will be heartily welcomed!

Heart swaps and op shops

by Kelly 2 Comments

I sent off my offering to my swap partner in the US for the Share the love heart swap over at Natural Suburbia. I can’t show the whole thing until it reaches the intended destination – lets just say it’s something that every creative soul needs!

I finally got to the op shop today to look for some drawers for the girl’s room. Although sadly lacking in the furniture department I found a lot of clothes for me so all was not lost. One thing I love about being able to sew is knowing you can alter clothes that are too big, that’s a huge bonus if you’re an opshopper!

Husband has taken 3 of the children out mountain climbing (it’s a small mountain!!) and baby is in bed, so it is wonderfully quiet and full of possibilities here.

Hope you’re all having a great day, I’m off to explore those possibilities!

Really inspiring

by Kelly 2 Comments

I’ve been participating in a couple of blog themes each Friday (Saturday here is Oz.)
If you’re looking for some beautifully inspiring projects, tutorials or just eye candy check out these links (you’ll see me in there somewhere too!).

The Magic Onions – Friday’s Nature Table

Natural Suburbia – Friendship Friday

Thanks for your recent kindly comments, I think I’m on the mend now and I’m planning on making my hands busy today (at the sewing table of course!)

Wishing you many blessings this weekend.

Under the weather

by Kelly 7 Comments

I’ve had a funny virus this week that’s left me feeling pretty run down. It has also coincided with the little one teething so I haven’t had a decent sleep for a while. I feel like my brain’s wound up while the body is the opposite. I’m sick of my house, sick of my daily routine, sick of feeling sick of……. I feel like I need some serious cheering up.

Maybe a visit to the oppy?…….. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

New play clothes

by Kelly 5 Comments

I made some much needed warm play clothes for the girls. This is what I like – simple and quick sewing with a cute result. I actually get a lot of clothes sewn up in my mind, but sadly not many in reality!

I modified the Miss Madeline dress pattern to make long tops with 3/4 sleeves.

The leggings are from a very easy Simplicity pattern.

This little one hasn’t quite got her “camera smile” figured out yet!

The fabric was all on special at Spotlight. I find knits really easy to work with these days, providing they don’t have too much stretch. I usually look for cotton with about 5% lycra or similar.

I’ll be making more of these, the girls find them so comfortable too.

Doll hair tutorial

by Kelly 7 Comments

After a number of requests for help with stitching on doll hair I’ve finally made this tutorial.

Start by winding lengths of your yarn around a stiff book. If you want long hair your book will need to be larger than if you want shorter hair. Cut the yarn along one end of the book. This will leave you with long, even lengths. Place a plastic headed pin at the front of the forehead of the doll (see the pink pin above?) and another towards the back of the top of the head (see the purple pin?)

Lay your lengths of yarn across this section of the head (between the pins) so that the length is the same on each side of the head. Tie a piece of string or ribbon around the doll’s neck to help hold the hair in place. With a doll needle and doubled thread, stitch down the middle of the head back and forth between the pins. I usually stitch back and forth at least 3 times with a good strong backstitch.

This is how you tie around the neck to hold the hair in place. Take off the tie and spread the hair around the back of the head, if you can get the head evenly covered then you have stitches on enough hair, if not, you may need to stitch on more. The purpose of this first layer is to cover the head, so you don’t want any baldy patches showing through!

After stitching down the middle, place marking pins all around the head (as above) – about 2 inches down from middle stitching. Once again, use doll needle and doubled thread to stitch the hair down from one side of the head to the other. Remove pins.

Do the same again, about another 2 inches down from where you just stitched, very close to the neck.

Using your book and pin trick from step one, place another lot of yarn lengths across the top of the head between the pins. Tie with string or ribbon again. Stitch down once again, between the pins, back and forth. Remove the tie and pins.

Fluff the hair with your fingers so that it falls naturally around the back and sits nicely on top of your initial layer.

A full head of hair!

*If you have a large doll you may want to do 3 layers of hair, depending on the thickness required.

* I mostly use boucle wool for hair as it gives a really full and quite natural look. If you want straight hair and are using straight yarn, you will need to use more to give good coverage.

I hope this is helpful 🙂

Free range versus cage chickens

by Kelly 1 Comment

We just got our new batch of Isa Browns which is always exciting. We keep them in a large enclosed pen which also has a wooden house and laying boxes (a converted dog kennel), nothing fancy but warm. cosy and comfortable.

We bought these ladies from a local cage egg farm, which is a bit strange because I’m completely against cage egg farms. But my reasoning is quite simple. You buy the young chooks from their elevated cages from which they’ve just been yanked out of by the legs by the staff member. You get them home and let them out of a cardboard box into the yard you have prepared for them. And this is the good part. You watch.

These feet have never stepped on bare earth. They have never pecked at a worm or insect. They have never walked freely!

So, my husband and I both agree it’s worth freeing these chooks from a life of misery in a cage and giving them the opportunity to do what comes naturally. This morning they had their first hot mash and were suitably impressed.

I’ll discuss egg farms again in a later post, I think it’s time for change.