Some Last Minute Christmas Ideas

A little wisdom from Dr Suess

Here in New Zealand we are a little ahead of the rest of the world time-wise. Christmas Day starts in only a few hours. So if you haven't wrapped all your presents yet, here is an idea...do you have any old large art books? I buy mine during the year from school gala sales or garage sales for less than the price of a sheet of giftwrap. I use them for all sorts of art work, but they make gorgeous wrapping paper. Who wouldn't like a spot of Jackson Pollock or Klee with their present?

One quick gift that I made lots of this year was this Peppermint Candy Sugar Scrub. The recipe and the free printable labels come from The Idea Room . 

I hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and a wonderful 2015.

A Refashion and an Upcycle

"Basically downshifters seek a life filled with more passion and purpose, meaning, fulfilment and happiness. A life to look back on with no regrets".

 I recently came across an interesting site where I found the above excerpt,  at www.slowmovement.com  If you have a little spare time go take a look. It gives a good explanation of what slow living is, and why it is so beneficial. 

A good example of how slow living works..it is the school holidays here, and I have young Katie (my partner's daughter) home with me. She mentioned that she really needed some new shorts, which made me curious as I'd noticed she had put three pairs out to donate when she cleaned her room.
Turns out those shorts were too short (I'd agree with that), and she didn't like where the rips were on them. The shorts came fashionably ripped on purchase.

Before

I suggested we could make them into something she would want to wear and showed her photos on Pinterest of what they could look like.
So here are the after photos of two of them. Katie sewed some herself, and now she is delighted with her new "designer" shorts.

After

Oh, and the lace on the bottom of those shorts is off my wedding dress! My mother always said if you keep something long enough you will find a use for it.

About a year ago I discovered these old wooden library cards in a junk shop.

I bought them for a few dollars, but didn't really have any idea what I was going to do with them.
I made wooden postcards with some of them...

... but last week Katie and I painted them up with chalkboard paint to make a banner that we can change the message on at any time! They were already a pennant shape and all I had to do was drill holes to take a cord.

Well this week is going to be busy - so just breathe and enjoy! 

Christmas Decor - Vintage Style.

It must seem odd to those of you in the Northern Hemisphere how we celebrate Christmas in mid-summer. Christmas lunch is often served outdoors in the shade, and a lot of New Zealanders are off camping, so have Christmas at their tent, or at their bach (beach house). 
Yesterday Derek and Katie chose our Christmas tree, and after slicing a thin sliver off the end to help it take up water, we spent the evening decorating it. 
More tips here for keeping a real pine Christmas tree green for 3 - 4 weeks in the heat of summer.
This year we decided to go with a vintage theme for the Christmas decor. I found this dear old Santa ornament in a charity shop for $1. He's showing a little wear - but hey, aren't we all, and he's probably as old as me.

Actually, don't you think he looks exhausted?

It was a good excuse to use some vintage cream glass baubles that I picked up for a few dollars some years back, and I whipped up a little batch of cardboard houses after finding the pattern in the latest Your Home and Garden Magazine.

Sheet music glued over cereal packets, a little teabag staining added.

This is the pattern I used.

And a little view of some cushion gifts I have been making. I think I am safe putting them on here, knowing that the girls are very unlikely to read my blog!

I finally feel like I am getting somewhere ! I hope your plans are running close to schedule too.

Summer's Started

It's a beautiful day here. By 9.30 I had watered my gardens - mostly by the bucket-load of fertilizer tea...

Looking very tropical - first day of summer here yesterday.

Sunflower from saved seed. Beans racing up the new arbor.

I'm going to be cooking these in 100 different ways soon - 3 courgette (zuchini) plants all producing.

No new plants - just used the runners from last year

Heritage ruby chard - looks beautiful and the bugs don't seem to go for it.

...and been to the beach to see if I could get more seaweed to top up the brew.
There was very little seaweed on the beach, and almost no rubbish or plastic to pick up, and as usual, no other people. Munta had a good run.

I hope your day is fabulous, wherever you are.

A Little Pre-Christmas Gift Making (goes astray)

I know why pre-Christmas is always so stressful here....it's because it coincides with Spring - the busiest time in the garden.
Every year I tell myself that I will be organized by at least August, but I've found that if I buy gifts early for people - knowing that it's something they want, they invariably buy it for themselves and I am left with said gift!
This week I am setting aside other work to get gifts made - at least I know they can't buy those. Today I scuffled around in the studio looking for the bits I needed, only to be sidetracked.
 I plan to make some cushions (they are so expensive for just a little easy sewing) for the girls in their 20's. I found some old ones that Derek had rescued from his work lounge.

Now, I wasn't really that interested in them, but decided to make a mobile phone holder (for myself), for when I'm gardening or bike riding or at the beach with no pockets. Next I made a spare shopping bag for leaving in the car. Finally, I combined two inners to make a new cushion, but really, I need to buy new inners for the girls' cushions, so I made one for us out of some thrifted (but brand new) material. 

I think I could describe the things that I have made from the cushion material as being a bit "daggy", but I realize this is a New Zealand colloquialism, so had better explain. "Daggy" refers to the dangley bits on a sheep's bum, and can best be explained as the opposite of chic.
Oh well, tomorrow is another day - I'll try again!

I mentioned a couple of months back that I would post a photo of the dress I bent my "No Buying Any clothes for a Year" pledge for. 
As it was for a fancy dress party - The Great Gatsby theme - I felt that I couldn't risk waiting until the last minute. It is a thrifted dress, and not like it might just have still been there. 
Derek has kindly posed with me. 

The strange black pendant is my saxophone strap that I forgot to take off.

I made the photo extra large so you can see the (scratchy) beady work on the dress and not because I enjoy putting in pictures of myself.

Thanks for stopping in. I hope you are doing way better with your Christmas organization than me!

NZ Art on a Grand Scale

Hi All, well haven't I had fun today!
Friends had a spare seat going on a long prebooked trip to Gibbs Farm on the Kaipara Harbour.
This farm has been turned into a private sculpture collection which owner Alan Gibbs opens to the public for one day each month - for free!
These are booked out completely until next May - so I was totally lucky to get a place. There were hundreds of people out enjoying the artworks and a few giraffes, zebra, alpacas and bird life.
I'll let the pictures of some of the sculptures tell the story pretty much from here....

And a different view of this sculpture, called Dismemberment by Anish Kapoor next pic

Neil Dawson's Horizons - a trompe l'oeil to suggest a giant piece of corrugated iron blown off a  barn 

A close up of the sculpture you can see two photos back

And one of yours truly in front of Richard Thompson's sculpture, which is red on the other side.


So a 7 km walk - exercise and art appreciation,
 a beaut day out with friends, gorgeous weather - what's not to love? 

Some failures! And an Inspiration.

I like to try out lots of tips I see about. Some turn out to be fabulous life changers, but others, well I think they are myths. Or maybe they work for other people.

So a couple that haven't worked for me in the garden...
Firstly I read that if you cover your brassicas with a rhubarb leaf the white butterflies will be fooled.

Well don't you believe it! I was going to post this shot of my lovely broccoli, but then thought, I'd actually better cut it and make sure that works. Disappointment! Now it is soaking in a tub of salted water, and even then if I am going to eat it, it just about has to pass a magnifying glass inspection.
The second failure was Diatomaceous Earth that I have posted about previously when I discovered it. Well I dusted all my brassicas with it - even under the leaves (labour intensive!). Today there are still little green caterpillars crawling through it.
Another brilliant idea I had was to empty out some old spices that I had hanging about around my seedlings - ie chilli and white pepper. These were left over from clearing my parents estate, and the longer they sat in the shed, the less likely they were to get used. I just hope they annoyed some slugs and snails.
We have so many insects that it makes gardening a real challenge.

Another (suspected) myth that I am investigating is whether applying apple cider vinegar to skin tags three times a day for a week will get rid of them. 
Might have to go on a bit longer than a week to make up for the slip-ups. (Not exactly a scientific study haha). More about this in a week or two.

My Inspirational Friend

I visited my friend Yvonne yesterday. She is always one of my inspiration stops. She kindly allowed me to use a photo of one of the gifts she is making for the young ones in her extended family. I think it was seven of these she was making. This quilt is made for a boy with musical interests.

Yvonne uses old flannelette sheeting as batting (I think that's the term, you can tell that I don't do quilting - I'm too untidy), as she says it gives them warmth without too much weight.