Crafting up a storm...

I finally managed to get the camera to work for me today!
Yesterday I went into a flurry of activity, sewing like mad for our unborn little one.
I decided some cute and totally useless items were needed.
Here was the result:


(he likes to hang with my fish in the bathtub)

Then after spending days sorting through patterns for fitted nappies and digging out old t-shirts and unpopular fabrics I finally got to sewing some!
Learnt a few things:

• Snaps are a waste of time! They cut through my fabric and a big patch up job was needed.

• Read through directions numerous times and pick out any mistakes and change!

• Terry toweling is great for inserts but not as an overall layer-it restricts the elastic too much.
  

• Finally feeling like I can sew these things with my eyes shut after so much trial and error is an amazing feeling.

The cute spotty fabric was from an awesome op shop find! A hand sewn original 70s dress-I felt cruel pulling it apart but I just had to use the fabric!
The pattern I found here.
I did a lot of research and this one seemed to be the best rated overall.

Then I pulled out these blank onesies that I was planning on doing cute patches on and remembered that I had fabric paint and they were just begging to look like this:



And after buying a whole box of mangoes on our trip to sydney and forgetting to eat them I finally decided that something had to be done! (Before they rotted in the box)
So I made some Mango Jam/Sauce.
It was supposed to be jam but it never wants to set for me. But after my last batch it has become a favourite with some friends (apparently tastes divine on pancakes!) so I figured it could stay a sauce.



Now I am going to run back to my sewing machine to finish more nappies (had to do emergency run to shop for more velcro!)

A tonne of (terrible) photos! EDITED with new pics...

Ok, so I couldn't stand those horrible photos that were sitting here and have decided to replace them with some of the better ones I've taken since our camera has decided to work.










Most of these are for sale in my Etsy ( www.pushthebutton.etsy.com)
Some of these others I had up here before I haven't had a chance to get photos of-there are just so many!

Buried treasure of the crafty kind...

Yesterday I went rummaging through our shed of boxes to find some crafty stuff to do.
The fun part was hearing scurrying noises and thinking "Hey I have two dogs, I'm sure they'll come in here and protect me against any vermin!"
The not so fun part was looking behind to see my oh so ferocious puppies standing in the doorway, too scared to come in lest the lawn mower suddenly start itself and attack them. They inched in, sniffed the mower, and jumped back.
After realising that I could not rely on them to defend me I figured I may as well be as quick as possible.
So I started throwing boxes around, looking for the ones with the goodies.
Woohoo found it!
But it was down the very bottom, behind a stack of other boxes too heavy for me to move. I attempted to reach around but the watermelon sized baby bump in front of me rejected the idea.
So I got the man out to help.
After opening the box and ooogling all my goodies I had a thought "I'll need my drill to sand some of these..."
Back to the mountain of boxes I went.
Luckily this one was small and near the top, but also in the corner of the scurrying noises.
I went fast.
Super fast.
Then did my pregnant waddle back to the house.

Here's some of the mountain of goodies I found:


I had fun sharpening crayons for this one:



And my sweet little dino friend:



I wore one of my shell necklaces out the other day and got quite a few comments-most people were surprised I had made it-looking totally baffled as to how one could do such a thing.
One lady suggested I sell them at markets-which I would love to do, but not sure if having a newborn soon will make it possible. Then of course I thought of etsy, but there are so many people selling resin jewelery on there-would make it much harder for me.
Any ideas??

The best satay sauce you will ever taste!

Tonight as I was pulling things out of the pantry, my hubby just happened to walk past.
He stopped for a cuddle and I asked if he could do me a favour.
Check if there was any red curry paste in the fridge.....
He found the curry paste and excitedly asked me:
"Are you making what I think you are making??????"
"Yes honey, I am making satay sauce."
He loves my satay sauce.
And so do I.
It is a big favourite.
I obtained the recipe from a friend's mother who always whipped some up for us when we were over at her house.

So here was our yummolicious dinner:



So here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

Vegetables (whatever you like)
2 Cloves Garlic (Fresh! No jar crap!)
About 2cm Cube Ginger (Has to be fresh as well!)
3 Tsp Red Curry Paste Concentrate
Coconut Cream (One can)
3 Tblspn Peanut Butter
1 Tblspn Oil (I used Vege Oil)
Rice (I use Jasmine-so yummy)


METHOD:

• Put rice on to cook.
• Chop all veges and get ready to cook (I use a steamer).

• Place oil, garlic and ginger in a medium size saucepan.
• Fry on medium heat for about 1minute.

• Add curry paste and continue to fry for another minute, stirring.

• Add peanut butter and fry for about a minute, stirring.

• Take off heat.
• Slowly stir in coconut cream.

• Cook vegetables.

• Drizzle sauce over rice + veges.
• Don't serve yourself a humongous bowl that you know you wont finish but wish you could.
• Eat!!!

And just because I was in a cooking mood, I invented this fast and yummy dessert.



It took me 2mins to make! I had a madeira cake sitting in the pantry (leftover from baby shower). All I did was chop up a few thin slices, drizzle some chocolate sauce between them, slice the stack in half, coat in more chocolate sauce and then serve with some yummy ice cream.