Show & Tell: One plus One is Two done

Hi ho hi ho, here we go!

Whilst wrapping up Anya's quilt, I'd been thinking about what sort of quilt to do for Heidi. A very different girl in pretty much every way from her big sister - logical, detailed, loves orange, zebras and black and white, precise and loves manuals and instructions - along with all her other sweetness and light qualities of course ; ).

I saw lots of plus quilts over the last year or so and slowly it started sticking in my mind. A plan started evolving. The more it developed the more it seemed perfect for Heidi. So I drew up some coloured-in plans and Heidi fell in love with the concept. Hubster was away for most of May and in those few weeks I got cracking.

Every morning Heidi woke up and came to see which blocks had been completed and ticked them off against the drawn-up plan. She was pretty excited and loved being involved in the process. Can you imagine how striking it would have looked in solids? I decided to go for patterned fabric for the most part to soften it and hopefully help it stand the test of time. The whites were low volume or white on white for the most part.

And then the back...what to do what to do... oooo a big plus! So a few sums, some more drawing and colouring in later, the back came together using every last scrap. And Heidi really wanted her name on it too, so we made that happen :)

Off it went to Leeanne to be quilted. Despite the stupid mistake I made of pressing all the seams open, we came up with a plan.  We do so love what she did and how it turned out!  We were also really lucky to be able to collect it from her at the Kumeu Quilt Show a few weeks ago.  It was so lovely to meet Leeanne and Heidi talked about the "girl" who made the patterns on her quilt for days.  What a treat for us!!

We came home and I bound it straight away. Since then she has played, cuddled and been sleeping under it daily. She loves it to bits - warm happy fluffy feelings : )

And the plan for the third one is slowly taking shape... but it may be a wee way off for now!
What plans, big or small, are you working on?
Hope you have a happy day!
L xx



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Show & Tell: A pinnie for the win

Hello Lovelies,

This may just be the final party post! Imagine that!

The birthday girl needed a special party outfit of course. Again I wanted to keep it simple and have it outlast the occasion. A reversible pinafore seemed perfect and versatile.

Zebra on the outside, orange on the inside. Or vice-versa! Heidi chose the fabric and buttons, and has enjoyed wearing her special outfit - with stripey tights of course!

What loveliness have you been creating?
Looking forward to seeing your goodies : )
L xx



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Show & Tell: Zebra's for Africa

And it continues!  Only for a couple weeks more : )

Being winter with rather wet weather about, we decided to maximize party space indoors by not having a table and chairs for the kids to sit at.  Instead we decided on cushions, which could then be used to play musical cushions and also be taken away as party favours.

We got a bunch of cushions from Harvey Furnishings, zebra patterned flannelette from Spotlight (both hugely reduced) and made simple envelope-back covers.  Easy peasy.

All the kids got a Zebra tail attached when they arrived, which they got to take home too. A Zeal of Zebra's in an instant!

Very simply made from some zebra fleece, fake fur (the Anzac sale at Spotlight saved us a fortune!), and safety pins that were zig-zag stitched onto the tails. Again they didn't take much time at all - bonus!

Haivng mums email and tell us that the tails were worn for days, cushions slept on, and both items taken to kindy/school for "news" was just delightful. Made the little extra effort so worthwhile - both on the day and beyond!

How're your holidays going? Have you been able to make anything - with of without the kids?
Cant wait to see!
Have a great Thursday everyone!
L xx



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Show & Tell: Bebe Bunting

Hiya!  How're your school holidays going?

I made some bunting for the party a few weeks ago.  I wanted it to outlive the occasion so refrained from adding any numbers.

It's double sided, zebra patterned and orange - of course :)

Now it proudly lives in the girls room on her bed.  All for her and we can whip it out for any future "Heidi" occasions.

What have you been up to?  Any particular holiday makes or activities?
Looking forward to having you pop in and share!
L xx




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Show & Tell: Once, Twice, Three times a Zebra

Happy Thursday!

The birthday girl requested a Zebra cake for her birthday... for the 3rd year running.   New ideas were not exactly popping up quite as easily this time... I figured, maybe a whole Zebra? Of sorts?

This is how it turned out - a bit knackered looking but an awake zebra none-the-less ; )

The inside kept true to theme too. This is the recipe I used and I can confirm it was a scrum yum cake.

Decorating took longer than expected... as it always does for me, but lucky I had a good chunk of time to devote to the little guy.

Things I learned/recommend: Baking a dome cake takes almost twice as long than a normal cake. Once you pass the original suggested cooking time, test and check the cake every 5 to 10 minutes to see how it's progressing. Also, I did a test run a week prior - something I was very happy about, as it gave me a great idea of what to expect and reduced a lot of potential and unnecessary panicking.

I wonder what next year will bring? Might have to start thinking about it sooner rather than later ;)

Thanks for stopping by guys - you're always encouraging and always inspiring!
Looking forward to seeing what you've been up to!
L xx

You can see previous and also other cakes here.




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An Orange, Black and White Affair

This was her day.  What all the sleep counting for months (literally), led to.   A celebration all about her, all for her.  A morning filled with so many smiles, so much laughter and so much fun.

The end result: Mummy that was the best party ever! I had so much fun. Thank you Mummy, I love you!

Details:
Zebra crossing stairs. Paper chains, streamers and balloons everywhere!   Each guest received a zebra stamp on their hand upon entry, and a zebra tail pinned to their outfit.
Couches were covered in leftover fabric. As weather is unpredictable in winter we decided on cushions for floor seating, which were used for "musical cushions" and each guest got to take their zebra tail and also a cushion home.
My sister-in-law did the awesome face-painting, and there was an "activity table" with colouring sheets, mazes, and play-dough for kids who were in between games.
We played: pin the tail on the zebra, musical cushions to a zebra song, what's the time Mr. Lion (instead of Mr. Wolf), and had a lollipop scavenger hunt.  There was a lot of scootering, bouncing, running and playing in the tunnels too.
The lollipops were on special from here, and we had oranges, mandarins, orange coconut ice, orange mosaic jelly, orange juice, and wee orange cheesy cocktail sausages, along with some other standard party fare.  And naturally - there was birthday cake too!
The most adorable felt zebra faux taxidermy head was a birthday gift from here. Various zebra fabric (all half price!) and zebra balloons from Spotlight, cushion inners at a discount from Harvey Furnishings, lion ears from the zoo, zebra paper and napkins from a $2 shop, straws and plates from here.   Everything else was handmade or we already had.  Costs were low, fun factor was high!