Merry Christmas to all of you. Hope you have a wonderful time with family and/or friends! Enjoy…

I just looooove Christmas (even in the middle of Summer…) This year I limited the decorations just to the dining area as we will spend most days out in the garden anyway!

On my last visit to IKEA I came across this happy bunch. I fell in love with them straight away, and I just had to buy them.

I could have kept them myself but boyfriend got a little annoyed with the fact that he was having conversations with ‘Mr. Ed’ or ‘Fluffy’ the pink pig, instead of me.

So I decided to sew them a little puppet show and send them overseas to the Netherlands. I hope my Nieces and Nephew will be happy with their Christmas pressie this year!

Homemade ‘gevulde speculaas’ and ‘kruidkoek’ for a crafternoon with my girlfriends! As Sinterklaas didn’t bring any to Australia, I baked it myself. Yummy.

Cookie cutters, stamps and clay. I used self drying clay.

Cut shapes out of the clay and use a stamp to decorate it.

Don’t forget to make a hole (with a needle or toothpick) for the tread.

After the decorations are dry they can be painted but I think they look nice just as they are.
This is a great activity for children as well!

I decided to start with a clean slate (met een schone lei beginnen) so I cleaned my craftroom and gave it a makeover. See here the result…

Just a few months ago I didn’t have a clue on how to insert a zipper. But with a bit of help from ‘you tube’ I figured it out. Meanwhile I have been sewing so many cushions that I can almost insert a zipper with my eyes closed. As we would say in Dutch ‘oefening baart kunst’!

I’m transforming a little part of our garden into a small veggie patch.

also I’m working on a few little paint jobs for my craft room, as I’m giving that a big ‘makeover’ at the moment. I’ll hope to show you the results soon!

Also I bought a vintage meat cabinet on eBay the other day. This is what they used in the old days to store and dry meat here in Australia. The fly-screen in the doors literally keep the flies away from the meat. I’m not going to use it for that obviously but it will undergo a makeover and afterwards it will find a nice place on our veranda for storage and decoration. I hope to show you some pictures of the finished project soon!

There’s lots of amazing wildlife to photograph in Australia, but it’s not always easy without the proper gear. A bit of patience (lying in the grass on my knees, trying not to move for about 20 minutes) can help though, as I came up-close and personal with this colourful parrot. These birds are everywhere in Australia and they are gorgeous. Look at all its colours!

I have been making a few backpacks for girls lately but it was nice to make one for a boy for a change. I find it hard to find nice boy fabrics, but this fabric with the little cars is amazing! Love it! I have made an application from iron on velours that matches the fabric. Too cute!