The boys enjoy chasing rainbows our sprinkler makes. It’s been hot and the water spray is a welcome relief for them. The novelty of the rainbow is an added bonus. Jack in particular spends hours trying to jump on it. He dresses up as a superhero to do so, cape, goggles and all.

Our vegetable garden is fabulous, we’ve been enjoying crops since May. I’m expecially proud of our cucumber and watermelon boxes, but eagerly wait for the pumpkins. The seed pack promised huge!! Halloween and Rosh Hashanah are some of my favorites celebrations in the year. I dare say I’m sick of this heat and welcome Autumn to kick in soon.

Life is good. I hope all of you are enjoying your summer too.

Meg

I reached boiling point with this web site yesterday. We had plans to go to the zoo. He WAS excited to go. We sang the zoo song the night before, we charged the camera, packed a bag with water bottles, sunscreen, etc. the night before…all excited he was. UNTIL he realized that it was the same day some Penguin called Cadence was going to have a virtual concert. Really? UM, YEAH.

Fast forward to tantrums, “I don’t want to go! I’ll miss her…”

OMG. This is where Club Penguins fantasy meets reality and drives me crazy.  I ended up dragging him there anyway. I probably shouldn’t have. Because with every moment of fun, including feeding the birds, he was quick to ask, ‘”Are we going home yet?! I can’t miss Cadence!!”

**Sigh.**

The food was amazing, everyone brought specialty dishes and the company was lively and funny. We had a great time! Yet Erin doesn’t seem to love Passover. She says she can’t get past the plagues being such a large part of the meal. She thinks they are unappetizing! She makes funny “blech” sounds when she talks about Passover. I can’t help but laugh.

I kind of get what she’s saying, but I never really thought of it before. Sure, no one really wants live locusts on their dining table. I saw them once at Pet Smart for sale as reptile food and was repulsed!! But ceramic locust napkin rings? Bring it on! Rubber frogs that croak when you walk past, yes please!!

Sure, the Passover story has some sad and truly disgusting elements if you really think about it. But then so does Thanksgiving. Didn’t diseases brought by said Pilgrims wipe out whole Indian tribes post feast? And didn’t the surviving Indians lose nearly all of their land in unfair Pilgrim negotiations? Um, think so! But we don’t think about that stuff. So like Thanksgiving, we celebrate Passover for the good. Creating memories for our Jewish children to appreciate the smells of Passover foods, to know this is a celebration enjoyed around the dining table. It’s remembering the history of our strength and perseverance through tough times. It’s a meal to be celebrated with friends and family that share our faith, to be with people that are bound by the same wonderful traditions. Bugs, boils and all.

So dive into those macaroons and focus on the yum! That’s what I say!!

So on Tuesday, out of frustration, I took him out. I figured a car ride might do the trick. I needed some fabric anyway, so off to Hobby Lobby we went. [Gosh I love that store!!] And now, it has an added bonus! Clearly, Sprinkles doesn’t find it ths store as exciting as I do. The car vibrations didn’t knock him into sweet slumbers, but the shopping cart did!  I looked at him because he was being so quiet, and to my surprise he had fallen asleep! Bless.

Needless to say, we hurried home to get him down for a proper nap. I couldn’t shop with him like that!! I am going to try it again though…hey, I’ll do whatever it takes to get some quiet time once in a while!!

Then on Thursday, the decorations go up! We’ve made frog bunting, locust branches [for the table] table runners and lots of other cool ‘plague’ things. I’ll post photos asap!

Then comes Friday morning, the cooking and baking begins! We’re hosting the first, the heading to an awesome seder at Jack’s friend’s Grandmother’s house for Saturday. I’ve posted some of my favorite Passover recipes below to inspire you. Remember, NO bread or leavens of any kind!! We’re starting off with matzo ball soup as the first course, then Horseradish-encrusted salmon will be our star dish this Friday as we don’t eat meat. It’s AMAZING!! I’m also baking apples and stuffing them with charoset to go with the fish, and macaroons, and pavlova for dessert. I’ll post as I go. But for now, back to scrubbing!! M

We were advised to arrive an hour early if we expected to get a view at all, and we paid $15 [£10] for the privillege to park six blocks away and walk it. I made the mistake of taking the buggy because I thought I didn’t want to carry Sprinkles the distance but once we arrived close to the front lines the traffic of people was so thick I had to fold it and carry him AND that. Mr. Stone had Jack on his shoulders. So it wasn’t the best plan in hindsight. But we worked our way forward and Jack did manage to wiggle to the front to get a close up view.

He was mesmerized. Yet  I felt bad for Jack as we’d made a big deal about jumping to his feet when floats went by to be prepared for the spray of candy. And no sweets were thrown! Awww. Some silly health and safety rule. Mr. Stone bought him treats from the many vendors walking around and it sort of made up for it. But Jack still jumped to his feet with every float. Just in case.

But does the English Tooth Fairy visit America? Surely it’s too far to fly? And there must be more than one tooth fairy Jack concluded, otherwise how would she carry all the different currencies?

We tried to simplify the concern by advising it was our assumption [Mr. Stone and I] that you get visited by the fairy based on the country you are in. This freaked Jack out.

But I am on the English Tooth Fairy’s Books! She will wonder what happened to me! And I will miss out on a Pound coin!!

Err, yes. This is true. So we had a long debate, brought on by Jack, about what happens to kids who lose teeth while on holiday. Surely the Tooth Fairy of their base home visits them? Hmmm. Okay…

So in the end, Jack ended up twice lucky. Both fairies came. He got a pound coin in pink glitter fabric, and a dollar in blue glitter fabric. We aren’t sure which fairy got the tooth. Jack says he’s okay with either of them having it. He’s just over the moon that neither forgot him. Bless.

Last week Jack asked me, very sweetly, if he could have them all over to play for a play date as he could not decide which one he liked best, and he didn’t want one of them to feel bad. Um, sure, why not. What’s a few more boys? It’s not like I haven’t thrown huge parties for children in Brighton. Admittedly though, I was expecting it to be a noisy afternoon.
Five boys under the age of six in my house [including Sprinkles, of course] you can see where I am coming from! Yet everyone was well behaved and played nicely. Max was enthralled to just watch them, and these boys are so used to sharing that no squabbles arose!

(What a contrast this was to a different play date that went south five minutes in; the boy asked me/Jack if he had any play swords or guns. [Never a good sign!] When I replied, um no, not really…he said–never mind. We can make them out of Lego! Nice. Even Jack gave me saucer eyes, like, OMG who did I invite over?!)

The triplets were delightful though! Polite, and dare I say it, quiet! I even managed to sit and enjoy a peaceful cup of coffee and read the paper for half an hour. It goes to show that it’s not the volume of boys but the manners that they are brought up with that make the play dates work. Jack had such a great time that he’s been pestering me asking when they can come back!

Riding my bike, of course!

Never mind the boy or what they did! [Cringe] I can appreciate that he likes these kids well enough, but they cannot replace the beloved neighborhood boys of Brighton that he’s grown up with. It will take time to create new bonds. For now, he still compares these local kids with his two hometown favorites, Finn and Louis. All boys here so far are nice, but they are no Finn and Louis he says! Bless.

Apologies for the lack of quality in these photos, they were taken on my camera phone. It was sooo awesome.

And here’s what I bought:

A kitchen table and chairs [$25] and a butcher’s block [$75] I am really pleased with them! This house is starting to take shape! And I can’t WAIT to go back to this market next month. I have thought of so many more things to look out for!

Last Friday I had the opportunity to visit Jack’s classroom and read to the class a childhood book of my choice. I selected ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It’s a classic, and one of my favorites. If you haven’t read it, go out and buy it. It’s brilliant.

It’s slightly outdated though. References that applied to my childhood do not make sense to this generation. One particular stumbling block was the page on which Alexander’s brothers found prizes in their breakfast cereal boxes but Alexander did not.

The children in my son’s class stared at me with blank expression. They did not understand. These kids, my son included, had simply never found a prize in the their cereal box. They were amazed when I told them about it. They were saddened that this doesn’t happen anymore. As a consolation, I told them that ‘Cracker Jacks’ still offer prizes. Again, blank stares. These children had never tried Cracker Jacks! I told them to look out for the Cracker

Jack boxes at their grocery store…

Fast forward to Sunday. We were at the grocery store. I told Jack he could pick out a breakfast cereal. He chose Apple Jacks. He’s never had them before, but I didn’t question the choice. When we got home, he rushed to open the box and then burst into tears! He thought there would be a prize. I realized through his tears that he saw the word ‘Jacks’ and though that Apple Jacks were Cracker Jacks. He didn’t care about this cereal. He wanted to get a prize.

I ushered him back to the car and we turned around and went back to the store in search for Cracker Jacks. Would you believe our grocery store doesn’t carry them?! They couldn’t even recommend a place to find them. They suggested a large gas station…

So we went on a pilgrimage, Jack and I. In search of Cracker Jacks. Two stores later, we sat in a 7-Eleven parking lot eating Cracker Jacks from a bag shaped like potato crisps. They don’t even put them in boxes anymore! And the prize was crap. But Jack was a good sport, thrilled there was a prize at all.

And he has discovered that he loves Apple Jacks! So it all worked out. But it makes me realize that times have certainly changed. My childhood of Oscar Meyer whistles and cereal box prizes just doesn’t exist anymore. Even in Australia.

And WOW! I really liked it. It doesn’t have the bubbles that you get in a float. It feels less like a dessert, and more just like a drink. Really yummy though! Jack was scared to try it, but finally gave it a try and was amazed how good it is. We devoured the entire bottle in one day. Is it bad for us? I can’t imagine it is. What a great way to get some calcium!

Now what kind of baking could I do with it? Erin suggested a bread pudding. Hmm, that’s a possibility. I’m not a huge bread pudding fan though. I don’t make it more than once a year. Maybe cinnamon rolls? The creaminess combined with root beer spice could add a special element to lots of amazing baking. I will have to think…

Here's what the room looked like when we moved in:

I love green, but not this much in a small space. So we painted the walls tan sans one one painted blue. I like the contrast of the tan with the white furniture and for the blue wall I plan to make 3 dimentional clouds out of foam core and cotton wadding to enhance in the stork theme. I'll post photos once I've done this! Here's what the room looks like so far...

The furniture is sturdy and practical. The changing table has great storage! I made the bunting [click here for instructions how to make one.] The chair is from IKEA. It’s comfortable and versatile enough to be repurposed into another room when I no longer need a chair in his room.

 The cot was Jack’s and turns into a Toddler bed. The stork bedding was a discontinued line from PBK that I bought on eBay. The tree decal is from Target. On that subject–I’m changing my opinion on decals. I used to hate them. But they’ve come a long way since Sponge Bob stickers…these are lovely and tasteful I think!

Isn’t the new nursery a beautiful space? It’s been put together on a budget, and now recycled into a larger, brighter space. Obviously t’s a work in progress but I’m pleased. I’d like to hear what you all think…

But, wow! What an awful store in my opinion! It’s the third one I’ve been to, and they are all full of miserable employees that make it misery to shop there. I think this every time I go. Why?! I could see one location being bad, but all of them? What the heck do they do to their employees to make everyone so bitter? No one was helpful, everyone was bitter…and I was in such a good mood when I walked in! Yikes.

I only went there because it was Sunday and Hobby Lobby was closed. And I pulled their 40% off one item coupon in the Sunday paper. The irony is that I couldn’t wait to get out of there. They had some great fabrics, but I just wanted to leave! Even with the coupon. The whole place just rubs me the wrong way.

I got one sample, and it’s actually a pretty wonderful fabric to sew kitchen curtains with. But they charged me for the sample. CHARGED for it! Is that insane? It’s a 2 inch snippet. I paid $.82. I totally resent that. It makes me wonder if it’s worth eveng going back to buy the yardage I need…but even with the coupon I don’t think I can bare the doom and gloom of that place.

Is this fabric worth the pain? Or should I keep looking. I am really going through a paisley thing at the moment and it’s all the right colors…oh, what to do!

It’s not all bad though, everything is fairly new and clean, the appliances work well, and the kitchen floods with light during the day. The best feature, by far, is the kitchen’s location. It sits at the back of the house, overlooking the huge garden. It’s in the perfect location for expanding and building a dream kitchen when budget allows. I can dream and plan out my fantasy kitchen…but for the moment we have to live with what’s here.

I’ve been slow to unpack and part of the reason is the lack of inspiration, no doubt. Sick of plastic forks, I made a desperate rummage through boxes this week looking for our silverware. I came across a box of my baking tins. A burst of inspiration hit, and I paused to go grab a hammer and hang some of them up.

Something in the color of the baking tins inspired me! I’m definintely going through a gun-metal phase. From the new land rover to the joy I felt when I hung a few tins on my green walls…I looked at those maple cabinets and the idea came to me. They were going gray.

I’m not a fan of maple anything. Well, except maple bars. But wood-wise, it’s not my taste. My house, my things, they are mainly in a cool palette, and maple is too warm for me. They especially clashed with this kitchen, as the floor reflects cool tones, as do the green walls. So fast forward 12 hours, one quick trip to Lowes, and some hap-hazard masking…and voila!

I spray painted my kitchen cabinets gun-metal gray. I sanded them down on the edges to show the maple through. I am so pleased! it’s still not my dream kitchen. But it’s soo much better…

Yes, I said spray paint. The color is by Rustolium. It’s called Anodized Bronze. I did the cutting in with a brush, as well as the ceiling white touch up, but the spray paint was an awesome way to go. It’s durable, goes on fast, and I only needed five cans. So effectively, I’ve changed the look of my kitchen [I think for the better!] for $25. How about them apples.

Here’s why this color choice works. The grout in the floor is the same color. The gray also contrasts well against the white tile. It’s a cool palette that blends rather than clashes with the rest of the colors in the room. And finally, the room is very bright during the day so it can handle a dark color without closing off the space.

I still don’t like the counter tops or the appliances though. So I am considering swapping the counters out for butcher block [it's only $10 sq installed and there really is very little counter space] and I’m going to list these appliances on Craig’s list and swap them for stainless steel ones. The fridge in particular is a miss; it should be counter depth but it’s not and it jets out into the room something awful. If there was a stainless steel counter depth fridge this kitchen would feel considerably larger. I’m also going to scour restaurant supply auctions to find a real stove.

The appliances will be transferable to the remodel once we do it, but why wait for them? I really don’t want to live with a ho-hum kitchen. I want to get baking/cooking/enjoying this space! For now though, my $25 investment has made all of the difference. Even if I stopped here [well, maybe I'll sew a curtain] the kitchen feels gobs better. I’m off to the fabric store to see if something inspires me! The Sunday paper has a 40% off coupon for JoAnn’s fabric so I’ll start there. I’ll keep you posted.

I tried talking him into a cowboy theme [just imagine an old cart for a bed, big wagon wheels and all!!] and Cath Kidston has that awesome cowboy fabric. That would be SOO much fun to do…but despite his love for dressing up and playing cowboy, he didn’t want a cowboy bedroom. Darn. Maybe the next kid.

Jack loves his bugs. We know this. He is Mr. Natural History. Rocks, trees, weather, bugs…those bugs in lucite that he collects, yeech! But that’s his passion. My poor washing machine takes a beating for all of the rocks and twigs and random findings that fall out of his pockets in the laundry. So it’s not surprising that he chose bugs. And after an initial wobble on my part ‘how the heck do I make that cute?’ Pottery Barn rescued the day and set the theme into motion!

How cute are these bug sheets?!

And yes, I dragged home a large tree branch and anchored it to the center of his bedroom and hot glued bugs all over it. Every room needs a focal point…

I also found a tree-trunk shaped lamp at Target so I hot glued more bugs to the shade. They look especially awesome at night with the light on.

Toy storage is paramount in a boy’s bedroom. My motto is that it has to be easy to sort and easy to put away. Everything Jack plays with seems to have a million tiny pieces! So I bought this storage basket system for him from Target. It works perfectly. He can pull out his basket of choice, play on the carpet happily, then fill it all back up before the next basket is pulled out. So far, so good. He likes the carpet clean.  The bug decal stickers are from Pottery Barn. I’m not a huge fan of decals, but these are pretty darn cute. My mother helped me place them around the room. I’m pleased with how it turned out. I’m not sure that I’d want to sleep in a room full of bugs, but then again I’m not a five year old boy! It could have been worse, much worse. What if he’d begged for a Sponge Bob theme? I’ll count my blessings that he wanted bugs.

Okay those that know me know that I love Land Rovers. I need the space. I haul stuff. I need the room. But my last one leaked rain. The water would drip in just over the horn and set the alarm off. Always at 3 AM. Bless my patient neighbours who put up with it. So I sold it. I swore off them for a while.

But here we are in a new city, I need new wheels. While searching the classifieds, this one caught my eye. Just look at that giant roof rack! I had to have it. Sure, that’s not a good reason to buy a car. But who cares how it runs! They are built like tanks. My first one had nearly 200k on the clock. They are meant to go forever.

I’ve never had a suped-up roof rack!! So yes, I bought it.

And this one leaks too. Except I thought rain was bad. This one is air tight. But it leaks oil. Oh lucky me. Another challenge to add to my pile. I still love the roof rack though…Oil, shmoil. I’ll keep it topped up until I can afford to fix it.

So the plumber who arrived is quite handsome. I’m not convinced that he knows what he’s doing, but I hired him anyway. He quoted pretty reasonably, and it has been fun watching him work. He breaks all of the cliches about plumbers.

There’s no crack. There’s no bald patch. He’s more Eenrique Iglesias with a wrench.

 But now he has ripped open my walls. I’m not having so much fun watching him anymore. He’s not my favourite person this week. My lovely new home now has holes in the dining room.

I thought you might like to see the house. It stands empty because our contents have been shipped by boat, and two months we shall be camping in this doll-like house. We’re troppers. We can do it! And hey, it gives me an opportunity to paint and plan without the hassle of contents in my way.

But oh, how two months is a long time to be without one’s things. I now understand Maureen O’hara’s longing in The Quiet Man. John just wasn’t enough. She needed her things. I get it. At least there’s Target and Pottery Barn near by!! I’ll be making up for lost time. It would be easier to do this without a baby underfoot though…

So here are a few photos. It’s on a tree-lined street, in a beautiful area. Doesn’t it look like a doll’s house? I love the colours, the shingles, the shutters. I’m not sure about the red door. It clashes with my wreaths. I suppose that’s just an excuse to make new ones. And the door does suit the house. We’ll see.

The dining room is a bit too dark, a bit too dramatic for me. I will be painting it very soon. It’s large and bright, and floats directly off the main living room. That room has tons of potential, from the bay window to the wide staircase and traditional fireplace.

I will enjoy decorating this space. The sugar-cookie dough coloured walls will have to go though! Yikes, these are not my colours. The floors are in fantastic shape though, as is the crown mouldings. So I’m pleased overall.

The garden is lovely and large. I can’t wait to build my boys a huge tree house/climbing frame with swings and a slide. This has the makings of a magical back garden. I also can’t wait to get my fingers in the soil. I can already plan where my vegetable garden will go.

The boys bedrooms have lots of potential. They are large and bright, and Jack’s has built in shelving and a walk in! He wants a bug theme. I’m up for that challenge. We’ll need to find some large tree branches. And some rubber bugs.

Max’s room is a bit too green for me. I love green but GOSH! This will have to be repainted. It’s a lovely space otherwise…

The basement will be our first official project. It will be the perfect den for Mr. Stone. It has amazing stone walls and a real fireplace. It just needs some walls, some carpet, some softening. Give me two weeks…or so she says! 

I can’t wait to get stuck in the craft room. It’s light and bright and has a french door that leads to the garden beyond. Oh joy, this will become a wonderful room.

But for now, I will plan. And perhaps do a bit of painting…much easier without contents to work around. A blessing in disguise! Stay tuned. This house will become a home soon enough…

On the left is my front entrance room fireplace. I’ve kept within the dark pink and red palette to not overwhelm the space. Using 4 candle holders, I’ve framed my ‘love letters’ in the center of my mantle piece. (You can do this too by using my letter templates and a little splash of gold paint.) The red foliage brings the whole piece together beautifully, don’t you think?
With a few heart-shaped accessories I picked up my my local craft store, I’ve completed the decoration with red and white gingham bows. I love it!
Why not try decorating your own candles with red, pink and white glitter? You’ll find my candle decoration tips here.

Jack and I made these beautiful heart-shaped trinkets to display around the house. I also cut out a few extra felt love hearts to complement his brilliant work. These Love Heart Trinkets are really easy to make, you can be as creative as you like and the effect is fantastic.

It’s no secret that I love a beautiful bunting! Valentine’s Day is a great time to get creative with your Buntings. This is my favorite with the simple and effective red love heart over white fabric in the center. You could try making yours with smaller flags and letters to tell that special someone how much they mean to you. Click here to see how I made mine.

This is garland is the perfect play on ‘the key to my heart’. I was able to put a loving use to my collection of vintage keys with this flowing heart and key garland. If you don’t have as many keys as I do, you can make your own with my Valentine’s Day Templates. This garland is really effective and a great way to show your love! Click here to find out how I made mine.

Valentine’s Day wouldn’t be Valentine’s day without a healthy portion of baked love! These gorgeous cookies are the perfect way to say I love you. They also look fantastic! I’ve got lots of Valentine’s day recipe ideas from Heart Shaped Pancakes to Homemade Chocolate Truffles. Check out my Valentine’s Day Recipe Ideas.

Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to show someone we really care. There’s no better time to make the effort for our loved ones. So why not try making a homemade gift? I’ve got lots of homemade gift ideas and the list is ever growing. Check out my Homemade Gift Ideas section for inspiration.

Main Meals

Tomato and Basil Pasta	Veggie Lasagna

Sweet treats

Heart Shape Cookies	Heart Apple Pie

Valentine’s Breakfast	Pavlova

Chocolate Goo Cake	Edible Chocolate Bowl

Chocolate Truffles

All you need:

1 cup whipping cream

2 cups dark chocolate

1/2 stick Butter

Cocoa Powder

Step 1: Break the chocolate up in to breadcrumb sized pieces. I do this in a food processor so it doesn’t melt.

Step 2: Heat the cream in a pan and bring to the boil. Add to the chocolate and continue to combine until smooth. Add the butter and continue to combine.

Step 3: Pour the mixture into a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to set for 20 minutes.

Step 4: Dust a clean dry surface with the cocoa powder. With a teaspoon, scoop out some of the chocolate mix from the bowl and roll into a ball between your palms. When well rounded, roll over the cocoa powder until completely covered and set aside on a plate. Continue until you run our of truffle mix.

Why not try rolling in crumbled biscotti or espresso powder? You really can try anything with this wonderful recipe. If you’re feeling generous, box some of these wonderful truffles up and give as a wonderfully edible gift to your loved ones!

• 1.5 cups of Shortening or butter (I like to use Stork)
• 2 cups of sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 5 cups of flour in the mixture, plus set aside 1/2 cup for rolling out the dough later
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• For the icing:
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• pink/red food colouring
• sprinkles

Instructions

1. Cream the butter in a mixing bowl.
2. Add the eggs and the vanilla.
3. Add the sugar and continue to combine.
4. Add the flour one cup at a time.
5. Add the salt.
6. Add the baking powder and remember, you must measure this one exactly for your cookie dough to rise and to taste great.
7. For the final cup of flour, add it in slowly until the cookie dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl.
8. Place a piece of parchment on your counter and tip the mixture onto the parchment.
9. Knead the cookie dough for a few minutes.
10. Then wrap it up tightly and store in the fridge for an hour.
11. After an hour, take it out and add a generous heap of flour and knead it together until it’s pliable like playdough. If it’s still sticky, keep adding flour until it feels ready to roll.
12. Roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick and cut into desired shapes.
13. Bake it for about ten minutes. I prefer them to be undercooked and ‘bendable’ rather than jaw breakers.
14. Whilst they cook, begin making the icing sugar topping. Beat together the icing sugar and water until smooth. Add a couple drops of the food colouring and continue to combine. When the cookies are ready, remove them from the baking tray and set aside to cool.
15. With a spoon, dollop on some icing sugar on each cookie and spread over evenly. Throw over some sprinkles and set aside to harden.

All you’ll need:

3-4 meters Ribbon

1/2 Meter Red Felt Fabric

10-30 keys, depending on how long your garland is and how many keys you have!

Hot glue gun.

Step 1: Start by making your felt hearts. You can print off my Heart templates here. Simply trace and cut out your hearts to the size you’d like.

Step 2: Lay out your ribbon and thread through your keys. (If you can’t find enough keys, you can make them yourself with my Key Templates and a few sheets of card. Simply trace the keys on a sheet of thick card stock and cut out). Try and aim to spread the keys out about 4-5 inches from each other.

Step 3: After every 10 keys, place your felt heart shapes over your ribbon and adhere with hot glue.

Step 4: Ensure there is enough ribbon at the end of your garland so you can hang this beautiful Valentine’s Day decoration around your home!

All you’ll need:

Three types of fabric: I recommend two types of felt and cotton. (size depending on how many letters you will need)
Ribbon 1m to 1.5m
Glue (or a glue gun)
Scissors
Needle and Thread

Step1: With a piece of paper, draw a triangle to use as a template for your bunting flags. Experiment with different sizes to get the right size for you (it’s better to do this with paper than waste lovely fabric!)

Step 2: Lay your template on the fabric you want to use for the back of each flag and cut around each side. You can give yourself a couple of centimetres or so as you’ll be trimming the flags later to get a really crisp edge. Repeat  this step with your various fabrics until you have enough flags for your bunting.

Step 2: Do the same with the fabric you would like to use on the front of each flag.

Step 3: Lay the fabrics on top of each other and sew around each edge. Depending on the fabric your using, I recommend using a contrasting thread as it looks so special.

Step 4: When you’ve sewn each flag, carefully cut along the edge to achieve a straight edge, about 0.5cm outside will look great.

Step 5: Arrange your flags along your ribbon to work out how you would like your different coloured flags to sit. I chose a symmetrical gingham, dark red, red, with white in the center. When you’ve decided the best combination, with a long piece of ribbon in hand, fold it lengths ways over the top of one flag approximately 15cm from the end. Stitch along the top of the flag. Place the next flag about 3 cm from the first and continue until all your flags are stitched to the ribbon.

Step 6: I chose to put a red heart at the center of my flag, it’s simple and effective. You could try using letters too, depending on the length and number of flags in your bunting. Either way, you can download and print off my heart shape templates and my letter templates. 

Step 7: To stick the heart (or letters) on I recommend using a hot glue gun as it sticks very fast and creates little mess. Normal glue is also good too just be careful not to smudge it on the flags!
With the glue, dab it on the backs of the heart and gently press the down. If your glue seeps outside the letters, leave it to dry and then peel it off.

Your Valentine bunting is now ready to hang around your home to show your loved ones how much they mean to you!

All you’ll need:

3-4 different coloured felt fabric.

Handful of assorted Buttons

1 meter ribbon or thick string.

Hot glue gun, eedle, thread and a sharp pair of scissors.

Step 1: Start by cutting out heart shapes of different colours and sizes. Play around with layering your hearts by placing smaller hearts on larger ones to find your favorite combination.

Step 2: Sew your hearts together using a contrasting thread or hot glue gun around the edges and adhere together.

Step 3: Repeat step 1 with your assorted buttons and sew on glue them on. It’s really up to you!

Step 4: Sew or glue on your ribbon or string so your heart shape trinkets can hang around your home!

All you’ll need:

20 x 20 inch sheet of Fabric.

1 handfull of Dried Lavender

1 cup Rice

Needle, thread, sharp scissors.

Step 1: Fold your sheet of fabric in half and cut out a heart shape. Print off one of my Heart Templates if you need.

Step 2: Lay the outside sides of the fabric against each other- we’ll turn them right side out later. Starting from  the lower left side stitch around the top of the heart about 1/4 inch in.

Step 3: Now fold inside out. In a bowl, mix together the lavender and Rice. Stuff the heart with Lavender and Rice. Stitch up the remaining seams and cut any loose thread.

Step 4: Cut a 3 inch x 1/ inch length of fabric and fold in half. Stitch this to the top centre of the heart. Now you’re hearts are ready to release their wonderful lavender fragrance!

All you’ll need:

3-4 types of fabric- I used red and white fabrics.

2 handfulls of wadding

Needle, thread, sharp scissors.

Step 1: Fold your sheet of fabric in half and cut out a heart shape. Print off one of my Heart Templates if you need.

Step 2: Lay the outside sides of the fabric against each other- we’ll turn them right side out later. Starting from  the lower left side stitch around the top of the heart about 1/4 inch in.

Step 3: Now fold inside out. Stuff the heart with wadding. Stitch up the remaining seams and cut any loose thread.

Step 4: Cut a 3 inch x 1/ inch length of fabric and fold in half. Stitch this to the top centre of the heart. Now you’re hearts are ready to hang around your home!

Display your creativity 

These are my glittery snowy branches that I hang my trinkets on.

I have chosen to use small and tasteful blue fairy lights to run down the stems and branches. The lights give a gentle glow, sparkling like magic.

I wrapped around a clear bead garland. I made this by simply threading and knotting clear beads to twisted wire. Then I wrapped this garland starting from the top and around and down to the base of the branches.

To this, I added blue and silver star baubles, tied with purple ribbon and hung on every other branch. Then I attached paper stars and snowflakes of various sizes. Don’t they look fantastic?

By far the most popular trinket on my branches is the Gelt baubles. My boys love these edible chocolate treats when they hang (momentarily) on the branches. Don’t they look beautiful?

Transform ordinary containers into sparkling vases

Lights and candles are central to my home during Hanukkah. I like to decorate my candles with glitter and I love the effect of glittered vases too.

Decorate your candles and vases with glitter and allow the light to glow around your home.

Decorate your walls, window cills and mantle pieces with glittery foliage to bring the outdoors in. Incorporate these leaves within your Hanukkah Dining table.

All you’ll need:

1 glass vase

Spray glue

Glitter

Fairy light candle.

Step 1: On a sheet of paper, throw on a generous amount of glitter and spread around.

Step 2: Spray your vase with lots of spray glue and roll evenly over your glitter.

Step 3: Leave to dry. When ready pop in a candle and light, decorate with a star and glittery foliage.

Why stop there? If you have an flower vases or anything that holds beautiful things around your home, make them sparkle with glitter. the possibilities are endless!

All you’ll need:

1 large bar of milk or dark chcolate

3 popsicle sticks

Sprinkles

3 plastic sandwich bags

ribbon

Step 1: Break your chocolate into chunks and place in a microwavable bowl. Heat in the microwave for 3 minutes, stir every minute to ensure it doesn’t melt.

Step 2: On a baking sheet or baking paper place 3 large cookie cutters. Pour your melted chocolate into the cookie cutter and allow to set slightly for about 2 minutes.

Step 3: Take off the cookie cutter and lay your popsicle stick about 1/4 from the bottom and push down.

Step 4: Pour over your sprinkles and place the lollies in the fridge to set completely.

Step 5: When the chocolate has set, place the chocolate end inside your plastic bag and pull the bag around. Wrap the loose plastic around the popsicle stick, adhere with tape.

Step 6: Tie round a piece of ribbon and your Popsicle sticks are ready!

All you’ll need for 1 star:

6 popsicle sticks

Paint

Glue

Glitter

I’d recommend placing some newspaper on your surface for this one!

Step 1: Start off painting each popsicle stick blue on both sides. For a sparkly effect, dab some glue over each of your sticks and sprinkle over the glitter.

Step 2: With three sticks, form a triangle by dabbing glue to each end and sticking together. Repeat with the other 3 sticks.

Step 3: Place one triangle on your surface and place the other on top. Glue together.

A Star of David that every child can make!

All you’ll need:

Gelt

30cm ribbon

Glue

Sticky buttons

Step 1: Cut your ribbon into short pieces and fold in two.

Step 2: Dab some glue on the top of each side of your gelt.

Step 3: Take your folded ribbon and adhere to the Gelt.

Step 4: At the end the ribbon, place a sticky button on top.

You’ll need:

Bunting template

Felt fabric

2 types of ribbon – I used  2 meter of fluffy hemming material and 1/2 meter opaque fine ribbon.

Star Baubles

Hot glue

1 can spray glue

Glitter

Step 1: Cut a strip of fabric lengthways so your Dreidel template sits comfortably on top.

Step 2: Cut around your template until you have enough dreidel flags. I made 8 Dreidels for my bunting.

Step 3: Place your Dreidel flags on top of each other and cut around each side to achieve evenly shaped flags.

Step 4: Lay each flag on your surface and space out evenly. Lay over your longer ribbon and place your bauble stars in between each flag. Run a line of hot glue through the top of your Dreidel flag and adhere your ribbon.

Step 5: When all your flags are glued to your ribbon, dab some hot glue on the top your baubles and glue to the ribbon.

Step 6: Cut your ribbon into two equal halves about 25 cm/ 10 inch long and glue to the back of your Dreidel flags on each end.

Step 7: With the can of spray glue, spray over each flag and sprinkle over the glitter.

Step 8: Hang your Dreidel Bunting in your home! How beautiful is that?

You’ll need:

1 sq meter of main fabric (mine is brown)

1/2 square meter of secondary fabric (mine is light pink)

15cm diameter fabric for the belly.

Lots of wadding

2 shades of Felt for the eyes

2 buttons

needle and thread

scissors

Marker pen

Hot glue gun.

Step 1: Fold your main fabric in half. To achieve a great owl shape, draw a circle with 20cm diameter  in the centre of your fabric. At the top of your circle, draw an upside-down triangle about 10cm in towards the centre. Cut around your circle and cut in at the triangle. Now you’ll have  two sheets of perfectly shaped owl fabric. If you’re not feeling too confident, print off one of my owl templates and trace around that!

Step 2: Place each owl fabric on top of the other, you’ll need to do this inside out, so whichever side you want people to see, you’ll need these sides to be facing each other. Stitch one side of your owl. Start from the ears as they are the tricky bit. Stitch the triangle between the ears and then down and around the body. Leave about 6 inches at the bottom as you’ll need to get your hand inside to stuff your cushion.

Step 3:  Turn your fabric inside out. With a handful of wadding, gently push your wadding right up to the stitched ears so they are plump and continue to fill the body of your owl cushion.

Step 4: When you are happy that your owl is plump enough, stitch the lower part of the owl’s body. Don’t worry if it looks a bit messy with the thread, you’ll be covering that with the feet!

Step 5: Now to transform your cushion into an owl cushion! Start with the feet if you like. I cut out rectangles with a wavy-toe edge. Fold the straight side of your fabric about 1/2 inch in, run some hot glue along this length and stick onto the bottom of your owl.

Step 6: For the body: Lay your secondary fabric on top of your cushion. Decide how big you would like the bib to be and mark on a rough trace of the shape. I drew almost a snowman shape with a small, wide circle ontop and larger circle at the bottom. Cut this out, hot glue gun the circumference of the material and stick to your cushion.

Step 7: For the third material, I cut out a circle an inch smaller than the secondary material to give the floral material a nice border. Hot glue gun the circumference and stick on.

Step 8: For the eyes, I cut out a number ’8′ shape big enough to touch the base, secondary and floral material, this makes the eyes central to the pillow. Stick on with hot glue. Then layer again with smaller circles with your secondary material and stick on.

Step 9: Finally, place your buttons in the centre of your circles and stick on with glue. How beautiful is your owl pillow cushion?!

All you’ll need:

2 handfulls of small rocks and pebbles

pva glue

1 plain photo frame

Step 1: Star by cleaning and drying your rocks.

Step 2: This isn’t essential, but for a wintery gift, try painting your rocks with any colours you like. For Hanukkah, why not try white, blue and silver rocks? Then coat in PVA glue to add a shiny coat.

Step 3: Arrange your rocks on the frame so they fit. With hot glue or normal pva, adhere each rock to the frame. Leave to dry.

Step 4: Place in the photo you’d like to give as a gift and you’re done!

For Chocolate Pretzels:

1 bag Pretzels

2 medium bars of Dark Chocolate.

Sprinkles

Step 1: Lay your pretzels on a baking sheet.

Step 2: Break up your chocolate into small chunks and place in a microwavable bowl. Place in the microwave on a medium heat for 1 minute. Stir. Place back in the microwave for 1 more minute.

Step 3: Drizzle the chocolate over your bed of pretzels. Before the chocolate hardens completely, throw over some sprinkles.

Step 4: Leave to cool and then and enjoy!

All you’ll need:

1 tub heavy cream

1 glass jar with lid.

Pinch of salt.

Step 1: Pour the cream in the jar and seal the lid tightly. Shake the jar rigorously. The cream will transform into butter after about 5 minutes. You’ll notice the liquid has formed a solid and the white is now yellow.

Step 2: Unscrew the lid and drain the residue buttermilk liquid. You’ll need to wash any remaining butter milk out now. Place your butter in a bowl and rinse under cold water. With a spoon, press the butter to help release excess liquid.

Step 3: Serve in a ramekin and serve or place in a tupperware box in the fridge. It will keep for 1 day or 2.

Step 1: Blend the dry ingredients thoroughly. It’s very important that these ingredients are blended together well. Break up any lumps and continue to combine well.

Step 2: In a glass, mix together all the liquid ingredients and combine well. For a marble effect, leave out the colouring and add at a later stage. Pour your liquid ingredients into your dry mix very slowly. Too much and your mix will begin to fizz!

Step 3: When your mixture is slightly damp, add the colouring now dashing the liquid over and around. Now try molding with your hands. If it forms a wet sandy ball, then it’s ready to go.

Step 4: Time is of the essence! You must be quick to begin transferring the mixture into your half ball moulds otherwise the mixture will harden. Slightly overfill each half ball and place one on top of the other.

Step 5: Leave in the moulds for a few minutes and then tap out and leave to dry.

Step 6: When sufficiently hardened, wrap in plastic wrapping and tie together with a ribbon. The perfect homemade gift!

Method 1: Aluminium Foil

You’ll need:

1 large sheet of aluminium/tin foil

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 tablespoon salt

1 large, high rimmed baking pan

1 normal pan

Boiling water to fill the pan.

Step 1: Line your large baking pan with the sheet of tin foil and place your silver items on top. Ensure each item touches the foil.

Step 2: Pour your boiling water into a separate pan and add the baking soda and salt. Transfer this water mix into the large pan with the silver.

Step 3: Depending on the severity of your silver’s tarnish you will see the tarnish disappear instantly or within 5 minutes. When the tarnish disappears, remove the silver.

Step 4: Run your newly cleaned silver under cold water and dry with a clean cloth.

Method 2: Silver Polish

You’ll need:

Silver Polish Cream

1 clean cloth

Step 1: Pour a teaspoon of polish cream onto your cloth and rub into your silverware in an up and down motion. Try to use a clean part of your cloth as you go to not move the tarnish around.

Step 2: The tarnish should disappear within 1 minute. When it does, rinse in tepid water and dry with a clean dry cloth.

All you need is a small envelope, a few colouring pencils and some flower seeds!

All you need is a batch of mixed bird feed, plastic wrap and a ribbon.

Place your square of plastic wrap on a flat surface and pour your loose seeds on to the center.

Lift your wrap from 2 sides and wrap into a ball shape.

Twist the top of the plastic and tie a ribbon around the top.

In my Winter home I love bring in the outdoors in many ways and Pom Pom Garlands are a great way to bring the snowy cold comfortably indoors. They are very easy to make and highly effective hung from ceilings, doorways and around mirrors throughout my home.

All you’ll need is:

2 meters (or as much as you’d like) of clear fishing line.

1 Needle

Lots of White Pom Poms, various sizes.

Step 1: Tie a knot at one end of the line and at the other end thread through the needle.

Step 2: Thread 1 pom pom at a time through the needle and drag through and down to the other end of the line.

I like to leave a 2 inch gap between each pom pom. Continue until you run out of wire space.

Step 3: Tie the loose end of the line and hang around your home to create a snowy feel!

Here’s my Easy Chocolate Fudge recipe:

• 3/4 container of Marshmallow Fluff
• 5 cups Caster Sugar
• 1 can Evaporated Milk
• 1/4 lb Creamery Butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 cups Chocolate

Wreaths are a wonderful way to decorate the front door of your home. Just because we’re Jewish doesn’t mean our door should be bare this holiday season! To the contrary; there are so many different designs, sizes, colours and materials that you can use to make your wreath magical during Hanukkah. I like to keep my wreath within the silver, white and blue palette and use glittery foliage to enhance the wintery feel. Here’s how I made this one:

What you’ll need:

20 inch diameter wire wreath or a thick wire clothes hanger shaped into a circle.

Wired silver foliage

1/2 meter blue ribbon

Hot glue gun

Scissors

Spray can of fake snow.

Step 1: Begin by arranging your wired silver foliage on top of your wire wreath or clothes hanger. Start from the centre at the top of the circle and lay a bunch of foliage flat at a 45 degree angle away from the centre. Wrap the spare wire at the bottom of the foliage tightly around the wreath circle. For extra security, use your hot glue gun to adhere both wires together.

Step 2: Continue with the next bunch of wired foliage moving clockwise around your wreath at the same angle.

Step 3: Once you have decorated your whole wreath, it’s time to spray it with the fake snow. Make it snowy!

Finally, add a bow at the top with your ribbon. Wrap the ribbon underneath the top centre of the wreath and tie a knot. Create a bow at the top and dress over your wired foliage.

Step 4: Hang your wreath on your front door for everyone to see.

Not. He’s too clever for me.

Take today for example. He was eating a tomato [like an apple] after school. He loves tomatoes. And I asked him if he realized it was a fruit? He said, yes, he’d heard that before, but how could I be sure? Well, says I, “fruit have seeds inside and vegetables do not.” So he responds back with, “but pineapples don’t have seeds. Nor do bananas. So how are they fruit?”

Stumped. I have no idea. Bless google. We had to look it up. Apparently they do have seeds, we just can’t see them. But I didn’t know this!

Fast forward to dinner. I fed Sprinkles first. I was making airplane noises. And Jack says, with a serious expression,

What noises did mother’s make to get babies to open up their mouths before airplanes existed?

Again, no clue. No answer available on the spot. Stumped. And these questions were just from today!

He’s just too clever for me. Ineed stronger coffee to deal with this!

All you’ll need:

Download and print a variety of my Leaf Templates

White paint

Cardboard or thick card stock.

PVA glue

Silver glitter

Step 1: Trace around the outside of your leaf templates with a pencil and cut out each leaf.

Step 2: Paint your leafs white with white poster paint and leave to dry.

Step 3: Dab on the PVA glue and while wet, sprinkle well with the silver glitter. Repeat this on all your leaves.

These leaves are ready to hang around your home to bring the winter spirit alive!

All you’ll need:

I used 2 patterned materials, one fabric with stars and 2 meters of polka dot ribbon.

1 t-shirt

Scissors

Needle and Thread

Step 1: We’re going to start with the body of the apron. To get the right size, I used one of Jack’s sleeveless T-shirts as a template. Lay the shirt down on your main fabric. With a pen, draw around the outside of the t-shirt leaving a 1 inch gap the whole way around. Continue down from the bottom of the shirt an extra 6-8 inches.

Step 2: Cut out the body of apron. Lay your ribbon over the edge of each side of your apron and fold the ribbon around to create a trim. Sew along the ribbon to adhere it to he body of the apron. Continue on each side.

Step 3: With the remaining ribbon you’ll need to create straps around the neck and back. For the neck, place one end of the ribbon on the corner of the upper main body of the apron and sew a double stitch. Pull the ribbon up, over and around to meet the other side of the apron’s body.

Step 4: Cut the remaining ribbon in half and sew one of each end to the corner just under the arms with a double stitch.

Step 5: While this step isn’t essential, it does look great. With similar polka dot fabric, I cut out a rectangle and with 3 simple stitches at the bottom and two sides I created a pocket. Doesn’t it look great?

All you’ll need:

1. White Paper
2. Scissors
3. Tape!

Following the step-by-step images below:

Fold over your sheet of paper to create a triangle.

Fold again

Fold your sheet in half.

Cut in at the top side at a 45 degree angle.

and cut around, up and down, this will act as the edge of your snowflake.

to achieve this curved cone shape.

From your curved side, make incisions in towards the pointed angle.

And 1 more on the opposite side.

Continue to cut triangles into your cone shaped paper.

Open your paper up and see your unique snowflake!

For such a wonderful effect, these candles are easy and very inexpensive to make. I’ll show you how.

All you’ll need:

1 medium sized candle (I chose blue)

Spray glue

Glitter or sequins

Step 1: On a sheet of paper sprinkle over a generous amount of glitter, I chose to use two different colours of glitter for different candles. Spray a generous amount of glue all over your candle.

Step 2: Hold each end of your candle and roll through the glitter evenly.

Spray on more glue if necessary and then leave to dry.

Step 3: Place around your home and light!

Gelt is often associated with the dreidel as it’s used as betting material during the game. Gelt is a wonderful prize to win and share when spinning the driedel!

To read more about the dreidel and how to play, click here.