Summer gifts

Or, why is the grass always greener?

As I write this post today, the 19th December, the forecast temperature is 43 degrees, (that's 109.4 in Fahrenheit).  Should we reach this figure, it will be the hottest day in December in South Australia for 80 years.  I will say that this is considered very hot, and truly out of the ordinary.  Sylvie is at her last day of holiday tennis clinic today.  Due to the heat, they have begun at 8am and the children shall finish by 10.30 am, flushed and over-warm.  The tennis coaches will spray the students with bottles of iced water and there will be frequent breaks for re-hydration. After the class ends, we will climb into the car and blast the air conditioning to MAX.  The steering wheel and seats will be hot to the touch.  In the back of my mind, there is the nagging fear of the threat of bushfires.  Sylvie will sing "Jingle bells" all the way home.

We dream of one day experiencing a White Christmas, to dash through the snow in a ‘one horse open sleigh’...  Sylvie's number one childhood Christmas fantasy would be to build a snowman...  I would enjoy waking to see a blanket of white around me, and to see once again, some snowflakes falling (I first saw snowflakes fall this year, I was delighted to discover they were magically SILENT).

The festive spirit is strong in our household, and, amongst the traditional Christmas carols we play in high rotation, we delight in classic American Christmas songs; swingin' Frank Sinatra’s version of "Jingle bells", the eternally elegant Nat King Cole singing " The Christmas song" and it's just not Christmas for us without Perry Como telling us that "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas".  And my personal favourite... “Winter wonderland”.

So it’s Christmas time; and like many across the world, we’re wrapping presents, writing cards and switching on the Christmas tree lights every night, but unlike the music that we listen to that describes a snowy outdoors, and which defines so much of our modern Christmases; (“Baby, it’s cold outside”), for us in the Antipodes, ‘Baby, it’s hot outside’.

We discuss our intended menu for Christmas Day, whilst hearing about sleigh bells ringing and snow that is glistening.  A balmy 27 degrees (80.6 F) is expected on the 25th, and we shall eat our Christmas luncheon on the deck outside, looking out over the hills at the parched paddocks.  No Christmas pud, too hot, too rich.  Fruit salad for dessert instead.  In the late afternoons, the heat distorts our view of the horizon as it ripples up from the land and rises to the skies above.  Should the hot winds stay away we will return to the deck at the end of the day to observe the spectacular sunset.

I decorate the house with the flora that I find around me.  The roses are spent, they have generously given this season, alas there are few blooms remaining to be seen.  So I make do with the beautiful grasses, a myriad of types.  There are scissors and secateurs in the glove box of the car.  I'm that lady you see leaning in from the side of the road to clip and gather that which most would not consider worthy of notice, the brilliant roadside grasses and weeds.  Such a delicate palette of soft greens, fading to pale biscuit tones as they dry and release their seeds.  If one chooses to venture out on one of these hot afternoons, the drying winds buffet your face and you return inside swiftly, for a glass or two of cool water.  Should I choose to walk in the paddocks at sunset, the dry grass would crunch underfoot. Apparently snow makes a crunching sound underfoot.  I guess the similarities of a cold Christmas versus a hot one end there.

Wishing all a happy holiday season, wherever you are, be it a hot or cold ‘clime.  Remember to notice the small details in your habitat that define the season, the birds that remain to entertain you with their calls, and the flora that emerges.  They truly are thrilling gifts, and you only have to open your heart and eyes to see them.

Best wishes, Lara-Jane.

My collection of grasses clipped from the roadsides nearby; laid out on the tiled floor.

The best place to photograph the arrangement is outside...

As at 4.30pm in the afternoon, we've almost hit 43...

Make me! The Kewpie doll angel

Or, explaining the transforming power of pretty.

Excuse me angel, but my, you sure are pretty!

There is a game I play whilst completing my quotidian duties.  Grasping errand and shopping lists in hand, I secretly people-watch as I add items to my supermarket trolley or wait patiently in line in a store to be served.  (There is my compulsion to tuck exposed clothing tags back into the shirt or sweater of the stranger in front of me, but I suppose that really ought to be discussed in another blog).

My game involves finding an element of natural beauty in each woman around me; the arch of an eyebrow, the gentle tilt of a neck, a throaty laugh, elegant hands, high cheekbones, kind eyes, a warm smile… Often times the women I see are oblivious to that lovely element of their personage; or have lost themselves in the endless daily routine of waking, showering, dressing, shopping, fetching, washing, driving, waiting, tidying and the getting through of each day… somehow.

I am quite sure these ladies have convinced themselves they are not worth looking at.  These women are ‘disappearing’ themselves; this may be deliberate or unconscious but it makes me sad to see it.  Sweat pants, a shapeless t-shirt and flip-flops are depressing both to wear, and to be seen in.  If you are at the point in your life where this is all you think you can manage to dress yourself in; admit to yourself you are in a sad place.  Most of us have chores and errands and children and bills and family issues. That’s life, and these things must be done.  Just not in a livery of gloom.

One can re-emerge from this sadness. You don’t need money, youth, innate style, or to be a slave to fashion.  Make no mistake; this is not encouraging vanity.  This is about finding your trick to feeling pretty.  Feeling pretty helps.  It helps you get through the day, it helps when you’re feeling flat or down or hopeless.  Work out what makes you feel pretty.  It doesn’t need to be much; a touch of blush, a sweep of mascara, a slick of gloss, sweeping your hair into a high ponytail, or a spritz of your favourite scent.  (Oh,... I nearly forgot to add, never save scent for an ‘occasion’, your occasion is NOW!)  Take one minute of your day to think of something simple and quick that you could do right now to make you feel pretty.  Take one more minute and DO IT!  That’s a total of two minutes from your day.  Not one soul would begrudge you that…

Pin this to remind you if you have lost the habit of finding time for pretty.

My beloved Russian grandma always wore red toenail polish (or varnish as she used to say), and she never left the house without lipstick; (the thrifty soul she was, she had the same tube of lipstick for over 20 years; she would use a tiny brush to paint just the right amount of stain to colour her lips).  There was a long mirror in the hallway and Grandma would allow herself a quick overall glimpse to check all was in place, (no vain lingering ‘selfie’ styled poses, this was the 70’s after all).  A little spray of scent and she was ready to face the world outside.  Helena felt pretty, and I always thought she was beautiful.

Plastic Kewpie dolls are a perfect visual metaphor to explain the transforming power of pretty.  How seemingly plain they are straight from the packet; but a little blush, some lipstick, a ‘do’ on the eyelashes, a pretty frock:  Gosh! From pretty 'plain' to pretty 'lovely', pretty-quickly!

Instructions follow on how you can transform a Kewpie doll into a pretty angel pretty-quickly… Why not add Her Prettiness to the top of your Christmas tree?  After the Christmas season has passed, our Kewpie doll angels will reside in the bathroom for the rest of the year, as a visual cue to add just a bit of something to make both Sylvie and I feel pretty.

Best wishes, and remember to do something to make you feel pretty (if you don’t already!)

Lara-Jane. xx

Click here for the:
Kewpie doll angel wing pdf pattern

For one angel you will need:

A plastic Kewpie doll (they come in two sizes, 14cm and 17cm)

A fine Sharpie pen (to write the date and any sweet message you like)

Here she is, pre-pretty transformation.

Adding the ‘pretty’ to your angel’s face

Turps or water to clean the brushes (depending on paint type)

Paint brushes (one ultra fine for the facial features, one slightly larger for the hair)

Gold paint

Pink paint

Red paint

White paint

Black paint (I use model aircraft paints and these colours are part of my crafting arsenal)

Ultra cheap fake eyelashes from a discount store

Scissors

Items required for adding the 'pretty' to your Kewpie doll's face.

For the angel’s attire

Gold pipe-cleaners x 2 for the halo and to secure the frock

Plain wire to hold the halo in place

A small length of white tulle (see below ‘And now, for the dress’)

Fabric scissors to cut the tulle

Glue gun & glue sticks

Charged electric drill and very fine drill bit

Items required for the angel's attire.

Wings to make wishes with

A clean 2-litre milk bottle

Kitchen scissors

Pencil/biro to mark out wings on plastic

White feathers (from a craft store), I made-do using an old white feather boa

Glue gun & glue sticks
A print out of the wing pattern (either large or small) glued to light card (think cereal box)

Items required for the wings.

How to transform your Kewpie doll into a pretty angel.

Here she is, out of the packet and washed clean of paint flakes.

Her hair needs attention!

Every angel needs a halo

Take a half-length of a gold pipe-cleaner and turn into a circle to form the halo, twist the ends around each other to secure.  Take a 5cm length of wire and twist around the joins of the pipe-cleaners.  Take the electric drill and make a hole in the top back of the doll’s skull.  Insert the wire of the halo into the hole and secure with the hot glue gun.  Let the glue cool.

(At this stage of proceedings ask yourself this: will I be hanging this angel on the tree as a decoration?  If so, drill a hole into the centre of her head also.  Cut a 2cm length of wire, fold and twist at the ends to make a hanging loop.  Insert the ends in the hole so just the loop remains and then add a small dob of glue to secure. You could also experiment with the larger sized crocodile clips and hot glue them to the smaller Kewpie doll’s feet so she could be clipped onto a Christmas tree branch, I have not tried this however, it’s just an idea, let me know how it went if you have tried it).

Augmenting her coiffure

Touch up the manufacturer’s gold paint on the hair, and paint over the lump of glue that holds the halo in place (and any hanging arrangement made if she is destined as a Christmas tree decoration).

Time for the pretty

It is entirely up to you how you choose to pretty-up your Kewpie doll angel.  I added more black to the eye (sometimes the paint was unevenly applied in the factory).  After the black dried, I added a white dot as the iris.  Pink cheeks were applied as simple circles and I gave the angel cupid’s bow lips (think flapper-era actress Clara Bow).  Cut some of the eyelashes to length and apply.  Once glued in place, trim the eyelashes to a shorter length.

Clara Bow... Those lips! Just a few small brush strokes are all that is required on the Kewpie doll to mimic this look.

Nearly completely pretty, waiting on eyelashes...

Making up the angel wings

Take a length of milk bottle plastic (see the link to this project for how to prepare the bottle to use it).

Click to take you to instructions to prepare the milk bottle plastic (from my February 2013 post, "Make me! The milk bottle Easter bunny").

Line up the wing pattern so the straight edge is on the natural fold of the milk bottle plastic.  Trace around the wing pattern you made using a biro or Sharpie marker (I prefer the biro that doesn’t leave an ink mark, just a faint score line that you can cut by in good light).  Firmly hold the folded plastic in your left hand and cut out the wing.

Open out the wing and using the hot glue gun, begin to glue the feathers, covering both sides, I preferred the downier feathers that lends an ethereal soft effect, but you may choose to use down at the top part of the wing and finish on the edges with the tapered feathers (many illustrations and paintings of angels follow this semiotic angel cliché).

(Ask yourself this:  is the angel being crafted as a tree topper?  If this is the case, you will need to add some wiring to the doll’s waist, and have it hot glued in place before you dress her).

And now, for the dress

This can be über-simple, that is, in my example which is simply the tulle and gold pipe-cleaner to hold the dress in place, or you could bead the skirt or dip the bottom edges of the skirt in PVA glue and add gold glitter; it’s up to you.  Whatever you think is... pretty of course!

Measure the body length of the doll and double it.  Cut a length of approximately 1 metre by the height  of the doubled body length.  Fold in half lengthways to a single body length.  Lift the doll's arms upward.  Gather up the tulle around the angel by hand (like folding a fan) and secure with a gold pipe-cleaner around the waist, holding the doll in your left hand and spreading out the gathers with your right hand. The join should be in the back.  Once the pipe cleaner has been wrapped around the waist and tied firmly at the back, trim the excess pipe-cleaner.  Pull and tug at the skirt above the waist line to give and good shape to the 'bodice' of the dress.  In you left hand, gather the skirt at the ankles and trim to an even length. Add a generous amount of hot glue at the back waist to secure the skirt to the doll.

Attaching the wings

Again, using the hot glue gun, attach the wings (tips of the wings facing down).  The wings should cover the globs of glue added to secure the skirt.  The wings should be placed so the natural “memory” of the fold from the milk bottle is facing out from the back (you’ll see, you want the wings to sit away from the back, think butterfly).  (You will need a glob of glue at the waist band and one just above the nape of the neck in the lower part of the hair).  Hold the wings in place for a minute or so until the glue has cooled somewhat.

A close up of the smaller sized Kewpie doll angel, this one hangs from the tree.

Grab your Sharpie pen…

And write the year on the underside of her foot, perhaps a “for (insert loved one’s name), “with love from” (insert your name).

All pretty gorgeous I must say!

Note the longer skirt, the length is up to you!

Things that need to stay the same....

Or, please don't ever change Dior Creme Abricot Fortifying Cream for Nails.

1963...

Since 1963...

This brilliant product has been helping keep cuticles chic across the world since 1963.

If you are diligent and apply the cream to each of your fingernails every night just before you sleep, you will see beautiful results.  You only need the smallest amount for each finger.  Lasts for ages...

And I'm in love with the little container.

A small dose of luxury that actually does something!

I'm in love with... Peace roses

Swoon!

Every year my climbing Peace rose offers to us the most beautiful of blooms, despite the harsh growing conditions; the wind, and the very low temperatures.  As the days become warmer the roses open and release their delicate scent.  This year my Peace rose is flowering with abundance.

Each day I pick more blooms and add them to my Grandmother Helena's crystal rose vase.  It has a silver band around the top engraved "Clubmeister 1933, Kiel".  I don't know much of the story behind this, but I know Helena's brother, Kyril was an avid sailor and motor car racer.  I suspect this vase was one of Kyril's winnings...  It has roses cut into the crystal and I have used this vase since my early 20's when Grandma gave it to me.  I love this vase as much as I love Peace roses.

Wishing you a peaceful day,
Lara-Jane.

The light was better outside, thus this photograph of the rose vase on an old weather-beaten wooden stool.

Sylvie's Giant Squid Themed 6th Birthday Party

(Or, how a mother made a Cephalopod party theme a little bit chic).

Individualism is a good thing.  After all, to be beige is to be dull.  Thinking outside the square is always fun.  When your five year old requests a Giant Squid Theme for her 6th birthday, you know you're in for some Edward de Bono out-of-the-box thinking.  And then add in some limitations:

*  The party was being held at an Aquatic Centre, so no balloons, or extra hanging decorations were allowed.

*  There is only a small window of time for set up when guests are initially given access to the party room.

*  The Aquatic Centre only provides ugly plastic plates of differing colours and horrible toss away plastic cups, they are consistent; as the tables and chairs they provide are a penitentiary grey... pretty grim.

Here are the limitations I added for myself:

*  The party bags ought not have any sugary foods (they have consumed sufficient amounts of sugar eating the birthday cake after all).

*  As I have finally admitted that I am hopeless at baking cakes (and not keen on eating them; yes, one of the few in the Western World not enamoured of sugary things, and yes, I have my vices; amongst them, Champagne, smoked salmon, poached eggs and Caviar; not to mention hot chips, spare me!)... But I digress... To re-iterate, I am a complete FAIL when it comes to baking a birthday cake and my efforts at decorating cakes should be listed internationally as a SPECTACULAR JOKE.  So I arranged for a local bakery to furnish me with 2 simple round chocolate cakes iced in an aqua colour and needed to come up with some sort of simple adornment in accordance with the theme.  (Once I realised that I was not a Bad Mother for outsourcing the actual cake, I felt such sweet relief!)

I hope this post provides inspiration to those out there struggling with an 'out-of-the-box' birthday theme requested by your kooky and lovely child.  It's not so difficult, you'll definitely need your computer, printer, scissors, glue sticks and a whole lot of imagination at the very least... truly, you can make this challenge fun and include your child in the party preparations also.

I am of the belief that it is important the birthday child make some effort with regard to the party preparations.  And thank you notes are obligatory of course...

So let's get to it.

The invitation
Those fabulous Ikea paper rolls (see my previous post things-to-thrill-sylvie-part-2-of-2 ) formed the backbone of both the invitation illustration and the table decoration.

I tape a length of paper onto the parquet using that removable blue painter's masking tape (doesn't leave a nasty residue on the floor surface) and then let Sylvie go.  She used a soft crayon/pastel for the outline and then her watercolours.  Yes, it's messy, but she enjoys it so!

This is Sylvie's Giant Squid illustration on Ikea paper, it's about 4 foot long, Graeme's painting adjacent is 4 foot high.

After the image dried, I photographed it, cleaned up any paint spatter spots and then re-sized it in Photoshop to use on the invitation.

Sylvie had to write each girls' name and sign her own on each invitation.  I had printed her a list of
guests and she methodically went through the list, writing each name, and crossing it out.

The table decorations
The same image was used to decorate some plain off white paper cups.  The image was re-sized, some text was added, then printed out, cut out and stuck on with a glue stick (Sylvie and I did the last step together).

Stripy straws with each girls' name added a feminine touch to the Cephalopod theme.  They were printed out on plain copy paper, cut out and the end glued to the straw.  Dead simple!

You can see the Giant Squid image from the illustration has been re-sized to fit the paper cup.

We used plain red plastic plates to serve the food on, along with red paper napkins and I purchased 2 long plastic red tablecloths to lay on the ugly grey table.  Within minutes, along with the help of some of my marvellous Mummy friends, we had the plain ugly grey room, red and Giant Squid gorgeous.

About a week prior to the party, Sylvie drew a marvellous Giant Squid on a huge length of the Ikea paper and this was used to decorate the table.

(I brought blu-tack to the venue to stick the paper onto the tablecloth, and also those plastic clips that hold tablecloths to the table so there were no instances of children pulling the tablecloth off onto the floor).

Something will always go slightly awry at any event, (that's my experience anyway!) and this time I forgot to bring my SLR and didn't photograph anything!  If you're planning a party, write 'CAMERA' (with charged batteries) on your list and don't make my mistake!

You can see the length of the giant squid tabletop decoration in relation to our two cats who have chosen to wrestle on the paper while I was attempting to photograph it.  Pesky critters, but we love them!  (This was AFTER the party of course!  You can see the folds in the paper...)

The cake
Hats off to the bakers at http://birdsnestbakery.com/giant-squid/ who created this brilliant birthday cake. A quick Google search came up with this witty take on a Giant Squid theme.  Do have a look... Inspiring indeed!  One does need to know one's limitations and much as this cake looked a treat... I had to admit this would be far too ambitious.  But what a brilliant creation!  Take a look, do!

As my prior cake decorating and baking efforts could be described in the most polite terms as EPIC FAILS.... I outsourced the baking and the icing.  Two plain round chocolate cakes with aqua blue icing were ordered and arrived on time.  Excellent.  Thank you Millies!

An illustration of a Giant Squid found via Google search was opened in Photoshop and I isolated the squid, re-sized it to fit on A4 and printed out 2 copies on photographic paper, reversed the image and printed out another 2 copies.  As I made sure I had added registration marks on the print out, when I glued the reversed images together I could line up the registration marks to create a double sided image.
After the glue had dried, the squids were cut out using small (but sharp) scissors.

Pop sticks were glued in using PVA glue at the base of each squid and trimmed to fit the height of the cake.

The reversed prints on photographic paper of the squid illustration.  I had hand traced in black outline a squid I found on Google and then filled in with red.  

Here are the squids that have been saved, after the party.

iPhone quality photographs, apologies!  But you can see the simple cake topper solution.

The gift/thank you bags
Between the ages of 4 and 6, it seems that most children's parties include all the students in their year.
(Here's a link to an article http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/the-social-minefield-that-is-a-childs-birthday-party-20131017-2vp7f.html that outlines modern birthday party experiences...).

Oh gosh, that means up to 24 children (and their parents).  I don't mind the adult socialising myself, it's a chance to speak in greater depth with parents with whom you normally exchange a simple 'hi-bye' morning and afternoon routine drop off salutation.

What I have a huge problem with is the amount of sugary, rubbishy, chemical saturated lollies and sweets (candy to my American friends) that are dispensed to the party goers on leaving the party.  If your child attends a party once a week (quite a possibility at this age) it's a weekly junk-fest.  I decided that Sylvie's thank you gift bags would not include any sweets or items to eat.

As this was a little girl's party, the gift bags contained:

a plastic necklace
2 plastic rings
a smiley face badge
a pretty giant squid box (to hold the rings and badge)
a 'make a wish' corked bottle.

Pretty simple.

The Giant Squid box was made from the cardboard boxes you can purchase at bargain stores for about 50 cents each. They were painted red, the re-sized image printed on photographic paper (cut to size), stuck on the lid and the boxes were painted with Estapol.  Sylvie helped out with the painting and enjoyed every minute of it.  After the paint had dried, we 'team-glittered' and lined the inner part of the box with blue glitter.

The 'make a wish bottle' is made by tying a small note onto red ribbon and securing around the neck of the little bottle.  Again, these little bottles can be found in the craft section of bargain stores, (as are also the cellophane bags).

There is a note thanking each child for attending, that acts as a name tag and, as with her invitations; Sylvie wrote each girl's name in the space provided and signed her name.  At the end of the party, Sylvie stood by her tray of thank you gifts and handed out each present to her friends.

The components of the gift bag:  decorated Giant Squid box, 'make a wish' bottle, necklace, cellophane bag, note & red ribbon.

The contents of the thank you gift bag.

A simple 'make a wish' bottle

Sylvie wrote each guest's name and added a glittery heart.

A hole punch was used in the top right hand corner, and red ribbon threaded through to tie the gift bags closed.

All the bags looked so pretty nestled together.  Sylvie was very proud that she took part making the boxes, writing the notes and helping to pack the bags.

All the bags on  a tray on the chair near the front door, ready to be taken to the party.

Post 'the party': the thank you note for the present given
Truly, there is so much effort made on the part of parents to not only attend parties, (and spend a good portion of a lovely Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning away from precious weekend family time); but effort with regards to the birthday present.  This encompasses the purchase, the wrapping, the card etc.  I'm a firm believer that children should learn at an early age that it is both normal and expected to write a short thank you note.  So, to make it easier; (as Sylvie is only 6 after all), here is the 'blank' note that she used to thank each girl for their present to her.

This thank you note is easily created on Word, print out on plain paper.

Best wishes for your preparations on your child's next 'out-of-the-box' themed birthday party.
You can do it!
Happy days,
Lara-Jane.


PS, If you reside in or near Adelaide, I highly recommend:

Click here to read about the Marion Aquatic Centre parties

and I must thank

http://www.milliesbakery.com.au/ who provided the chocolate cake iced in aqua icing (on short notice I might add)

and high praise for the Ikea paper rolls, super fun!

Ikea paper rolls: click here to take you to the site