The SC & more n°338: Pegs

This week Isabelle asked is to be creative with pegs. It brought back memories of my childhood when DIYing with my sister and our Grandmother.

I made a pen-holder this time, very simple. An every day object transformed into another commonly used object... both very useful. Now a question: should I paint it?

The other participations are here.

See you again next week if not earlier!

The SC&more n°337: traffic jams

Ange has given us a rather interesting and puzzling theme for this week's challenge: traffic jams.
Now, we were on holiday in France two weeks ago, a great time with the family and a looooong drive! BUT we never get into the traffic jams. Two perfectly good reasons: first we usually are driving towards the other directions, second we drive at night. Over 1000km by car with two children under 6yo and who have the tendency to be sick quickly, it is the safest option. It is tiring but Oh! so quiet! No "are we there yet" for 12 hours :)

Then I thought again, what would I do IF I were in traffic jams (as a passenger of course) and IF I could do something without getting sick (I am like my children, or rather they are like me?).

Here is my answer: Treasure Bags!

 

I still need to perfect my pattern (yarn was 50%cotton, 50% acrylic and I used a 4.5mm hook), but each bag took me about one hour of work and my children were over the moon. Even my little brother asked for one! The children always gather small things when we go around. So having a light small bag comes in handy. 

Now, that is also a bag which is great for the parents, it is an Intelligent Bag! 

If it goes through the holes: it is too small to go home!
It doesn't fit in the bag: it is too big to go home!

:)

  

On the next day the bags were tested the hard way. The children filled them with loads of stones. The bags did pass with high colours, but the shoulderstrap became a little elongated. I will see if it goes back to its previous shape after washing the bags.

So that's it, that's what I could be making if I were stuck in traffic jams. Take a look at the museum to see what the others came up with :)

And see you next week for the next challenge on Isabelle's blog. Have a lovely day.

The SC & more n°329: Fox

This week we are invited at Jessica's, her chosen them: Fox. Inspiration was hard to find, until I opened my small cupboard with my fleece fabrics. I had this bright orange coupon which was shouting "use me!" pretty loudly. So even though it is not really the season for scarf, I made one. I will probably use it as a Christmas present next december ;)

I didn't want to make it too long, I just wanted the scarf to be wrapped around the neck. It is quite cosy and warm.
The tail was planned differently, longer, pointier BUT I had a small mishap while sewing: I forgot to mirror the two pieces. Undoing a seam on fleece is a nightmare, so I just shortened it. Next time I'll pay better attention.

Check out the Museum

How do you like it? I can hardly wait for the next challenge on Friday :)

The SC & more n°328 : Black & White

This week Isabelle dreams in B&W, or all white, or all black ;)

My daughter is going to her Grand-parents for a sleep-over for the very first time tomorrow. I am probably more worried than she is! She is actually extremely excited about it. But nevertheless, I expect her to be a trifle sad when comes bedtime. So I prepared her two things:

1- a kiss-tissue. The idea was given to me by my sister. She prepared a whole box of tissues when she went away for several days without her daughters. I liked the idea very much and decided to give N. one for the night.

I don't usually use make-up but for once my lipstick got used! ;)

2- I made her a mini comforter-cushion in white satin fabric with black thread. The heart in the middle isn't too good because I didn't draw first. The cushion is a little crooked because I made it quickly without taking measurements first. Inside I have put a little bit of batting to give some fluffiness to the comforter.

For the Museum

I am ready to bet my son is going to ask for those things as well. He was a little jealous of his sister's trip, but I promised him a mother-son day and I planned fun activities such as taking a round-trip in the "Parkeisenbahn" - a mini-train going all around the huge park in our town. This should be a lot of fun!

I am taking things slow, but I quite enjoy being back on my blog and writing again. I hope you are enjoyin reading my posts ;)

The SC & more n°327 : Mother's Day

This week's challenge is given by Madame Cerise. She asks us to make something for Mother's Day (last weekend of may in France). I already sent something to my mother and it wasn't made by me ;) so I am showing you what my 4,5yo daughter made me the other day. She loves drawing hearts and trying her hand at writing. And with her, every day is Mother's Day!

 

Check out the Museum to see what the others came up with.

The SC & more n°326: Dessert

 I am back for the SC&more! 24 weeks without is a long time, but somehow after the  Christmas break I didn't manage to find enough motivation to come back. But today I have decided to try again :)

Isabelle requested a dessert this week and I happened to make a lovely one  yesterday. Here it is: 

Flan pâtissier parisien à la fraise.

 I made it with a powder I bought in France "poudre impérial", it's every time a tri to memory lane, my mother often made flan, my favourite was with raisins. Anyhow, this time I made it with strawberries we had in our freezer from last year and a shortcrust pastry (my husband said more sugar is needed in the pastry next time). Three adults and two children... we ate 3/4 of it! It was so nice and refreshing. The rest we will eat today for "goûter" (16h snack). 

Check out the museum for the other participations! And see you hopefully next week for the next challenge :)

The SC & more n°302: La Vie en Rose

Isabelle wants us to see Life in Pink with week. It is my favourite colour! I am quite busy these days, getting everything sorted for Christmas (23 days to go before Christmas Eve!!) so I only made something really small:

 This macaroon is about 3 to 4 cm wide :) It will soon go and colour up a little girl's play kitchen.

And because I really cannot say "La Vie en Rose" without humming this song, I am sharing it with you:

Check out the other participations in the museum.

The SC & more n°300: Notebook

This week is the 300's edition of the SC & more, isn't that a great number? Isabelle is taking part in a Creativity Fair and asked us to prepare blank notebooks to make notes and drawings on our visit. Unfortunately I am nowhere near Paris and cannot visit this amazing looking fair. I also don't need a notebook as I have several already.

Christmas time is coming soon though, so I thought of making my children a notebook each for Mass on Sundays.

The drawing on the right is from Tante Menoue

A blank notebook would not make sense for my almost 3yo and my 4yo, they have one each already, a second one would be useless. Instead I alternated coloring pages with blanks pages. I found the drawings online, the very last one is from Tante Menoue who does amazing religious drawings and objects.

In our family Christmas isn't just about the presents, and there is no Santa coming. We celebrate the birth of Jesus and I am rather keen on presenting the children with religious images and stories. That does not mean we avoid non-religious stories, far from it! We have books about Santa, but for the children they remain stories.

I hope you like my little booklets. Go and have a look at the others' creations, there are some really nice ones!

The SC & more n°299 : Kawaii

 This week Nathalie wants us to "aaaaawwwww" her with sweet things. Her chosen them is "Kawaii" which apparently means "cute". I'll take her word for it :)

I am currently very busy preparing for two Christmas markets (on the 22nd of November and 5th of December) and I decided to try something new which I find super cute: Christmas tree decorations for the knitters.

I present you my mini-knitting kits! Aren't they really sweet? Totally "Kawaii" or not ?

For the Museum

Knitting needles: about 2,5 cm big!

 I like them so much that I hardly want to sell them. I am very much hoping a few will be left over, if not then I'll have to make a few more ;)

Let's see on Friday what Isabelle will ask us to make. I missed last week's Panda challenge, I hope I won't miss another one!

The SC & more n°297: Boo!

Jessica wants us to scare everybody this week :) So here we go: Boo! Bouh! Buh! pick your favourite spelling! I chose the german one for our door:

Four layers of felt sewn together and then cut following the seams. Add a small spider and here we are. How do you like it? Did I scare you?

For the Museum

 Let's meet again tomorrow on Isabelle's blog to see what the next theme will be.

The SC & more n°296: Apple

This week's theme is apple. It fits the season perfectly! This time again, it is my children's turn to participate to the challenge instead of me and here is what they made with their grandmother for my birthday:

Check out the Museum for the other apples, there are some very appetizing fruits around :) and don't forget to visit Isabelle's blog tomorrow at 8h for the next theme!

The SC & more n°294 : Leaf

This week Isabelle asked us to do something with or about a leaf. I have been pretty busy and this is a last minute project. I picked up a leaf in the street today and decided to make a canvas with a method I learnt when I was in primary school: toothbrush paiting :) So much fun!

 

and as an extra, here are the lyrics to a 20th century popular song about Autumn (invented by two female scouts in 1942 according to Wikipedia) - I just love it! (listen to this version on Youtube)

Colchiques dans les prés fleurissent, fleurissent,
Colchiques dans les prés : c'est la fin de l'été.

La feuille d'automne, emportée par le vent,
En ronde monotone tombe en tourbillonnant.
Châtaignes dans les bois se fendent, se fendent,
Châtaignes dans les bois se fendent sous les pas.

La feuille d'automne, emportée par le vent,
En ronde monotone tombe en tourbillonnant. 

 Nuages dans le ciel s'étirent, s'étirent,
Nuages dans le ciel s'étirent comme une aile.

La feuille d'automne, emportée par le vent,
En ronde monotone tombe en tourbillonnant.  

Et ce chant dans mon coeur murmure, murmure,
Et ce chant dans mon coeur appelle le bonheur.

La feuille d'automne, emportée par le vent,
En ronde monotone tombe en tourbillonnant.

Wishing you all a lovely colourful Autumn! Check out the Museum to see the other leaves :)

The SC & more n°293: Nathalie's birthday

This week is Nathalie's birthday and she is hosting the SC & more!

So Nathalie, I wish you a happy birthday with many beautiful virtual presents! here are mine for you: a colourful drawing I made on the weekend, and a little plane to help you in your travels around the virtual world ;)

Visit the museum to see her other presents! and see you next week for the next challenge.

The SC & more n°292: Tin

Tins are this week's challenge! I did not have one at home, so at first I decided to crochet a tin for the children's play kitchen.

 

 But after talking with a friend about the challenge, she brought me one ^^ . So today I took out my hammer, a nail, and started hammering away. It was fun, but I was a little annoyed how the tin shaped changed. Then I added a length of lace.

 Have a look at the Museum to see what the others have made.

The SC & more n°291: The woods

This week, Madame Cerise invites us for a walk in the woods. We haven't been out in the woods for a little while but I had some reserves from last year and on Sunday we went to the Botanical Garden. I love this place! The children also took advantage of the walk to gather some treasures.

 

This afternoon after picking up N. from the Kindergarten, we started doing some DIY. At first T. watched Cinderella, but after a little while he could not manage to resist to the attraction of paint and glue ;)

What did we make? Two door-wreath and a decorative box.

 Take a paper plate and cut it in the middle. N.'s was cut all around, with mine I made a sort of small "shelf" in the centre. Do some paint job, I chose a mix of brown, orange and green to recall the colours of autumn.

 Once it is painted, wait until it dries... N. and T. desperately wanted to get on with the next step, so I spent around 10 minutes hair-drying the paint. Then I took out my glue gun and they were able to glue all sorts of pine cones, leaves, branches etc.

N. is going to take her wreath to the Kindergarten to decorate the door to her group's room. Her Kindergarten changed the group system and moved the children and educators around a bit. N. is now in the green group which is "Nature and Senses". It suits N. really well as she loves bringing small stones, flowers, and other treasures to show in the morning.

So that's our participation to the SC & more. Visit the Museum to see the rest and Isabelle's blog on Friday morning for the new challenge!