Some random November photos

In lieu of something interesting to say here are some photos from the past month:

Here Evie is concentrating on her sewing. I got a felt teddy-bear-bag kit from a friend (with a child-safe needle & pre-punched holes). Evie is getting the hang of it and quite enjoys sewing. Hopefully as she gets older this will be an activity we can enjoy together!

It finally occurred to me that the way to tackle our unorganised & messy kitchen is one shelf at a time! Here's the contents of my tupperware shelf mid tidy-up, scary huh!

I finished sewing a set of 12 serviettes for us. I used this tutorial and some fabric from my stash. I really love them! I also love using something that I don't have to throw out & can chuck in the washing machine :)

Christmas cheer

Evie & I have been getting into the Christmas spirit & decorating our house!

Here's my favourite Christmas decoration this year. We don't have a Christmas tree, because Roger's not really into the whole fussed-up Christmas look, so I try to be a bit creative while still being festive enough for Evie & I! Usually I hang our select ornaments on a vase-full-of-sticks (prettier than it sounds!). This year I was inspired by this & this to create a hanging display above our dining table. I really love it! I'm hoping to add a few more decorations as we get closer to the big day & I'll keep you informed of any that I make! (Thankfully in this photo you can't see too much of our ugly lights!)

Please meet our Christmas Reindeer, I really love them! I scored these little guys from a local op-shop a couple of Christmas's ago for a few bucks. They have such haughty eyes!

Our nativity set. Evie loves playing with this and I'm always finding baby Jesus in odd places (tucked into her bed for example!)

Our Christmas wreath. I made this last Christmas with supplies from Spotlight, easy peasy, but delightful!

I'll finish off with some photos of my Christmas elf (who only just stood still long enough for these shots!)

Are you getting into the Christmas spirit?

Some lovely links - 16

- a festive twisted felt garland to make, from the Purl bee, via Going Home to Roost

- oh Darling Clementine, I so love your scandinavian design!! via Charlotte's Fancy

- ooh, lovely Christmas twine from whisker graphics, via Charlotte's Fancy

- gorgeous yet practical daily outfit from Darling Dexter

- mmm, delicious looking texan carnitas from Smitten Kitchen

- does anyone else get gross feet in summer from being barefoot all the time? I'm thinking these house shoes might be the answer! found via the happy home

- an interesting blog post on natural whiteners for laundry

- check out the halloween costumes this mum made for her daughters (completely drafted & sewn from scratch - amazing!!)

- thought provoking post on unschooling by Marvelous Kiddo, a subject that Gregarious Peach has also been writing on lately. Thoughts?

Evie's ballet concert

On Sunday Evie had her first ballet concert, and it was adorable!

In the morning we dropped her off for a couple of hours for a dressed rehearsal. Rog & I went out for brunch which was delicious, and then spent some time just wandering & chatting, perfect. It's not often we get that sort of time together!

In the afternoon I did Evie's 'very neat ballerina hair' and put on her make-up (mascara, foundation, blush & lipstick, crazy, I didn't think I'd be doing that with her for years!) and a squirt of perfume at her request.

Here are some photos of our 'star of the show' (taken by Rog):

The concert went for a couple of hours, so we had to sit through alot of other classes doing their dances, but it was ok.

Evie's class is about thirteen 3-4 year olds, so as you can imagine there is a bit of anarchy (but in an adorable way!) I was so proud of Evie for remembering most of her dance moves, and she really looked like she was enjoying herself. My favourite part was when she spotted us halfway through & stopped to wave & yell out 'hello mum'!!

At the end of the concert the teacher sat them all on the stage with their certificates & gave out improvement awards. Of course Evie was the one child who stood right in front of the teacher throughout the awards because she was expecting to get one!!

Yes, I spent Evie's part of the concert grinning like an idiot & holding back tears because I was so proud!
Have you had a heart-bursting experience this week?

26 weeks

finally got Roger to take another belly shot for me, so here I am at 26 weeks pregnant, definitely bigger than last time! (please excuse my wet hair, this was taken early Friday morning before Rog went to work)

And here's a shot of Evie for you, complete with nightie, unbrushed hair & cheesy grin!

Around the house

Sorry for my absence this past week. Evie had a cold & then an ear infection, and with all the time cooped up at home together I haven't felt very inspired!

Anyhoo, I've looked through our photos of the last couple of weeks & found a few to share.

Here's Evie dressed as a nurse (costume from our local toy library), she loved looking after Rog while he had a cold!

I've also done a bit of sewing lately;

These are pockets for two pairs of shorts for Evie, I'm pretty happy with them, I just have to make the rest of the shorts now!

Many pairs of breast pads, made from Evie's old flannelette wraps.

Wrist worms

I totally forgot to tell you guys how famous I am (ha!)

I don't know if you remember, but back in July I bought myself some wrist worms as a birthday treat. They're hand-made by Sandra Juto, one of my favourite blog ladies!

Recently Sandra asked readers to send her photos of themselves wearing her wrist worms. I only took one photo of them over winter and gladly send it to her, and was so excited to spot myself in her blog post!

Ok, so I'm not really famous, but I sure feel chuffed!