DIY bunny ears

I couldn't resist making Moo and her cousins some bunny ears for Easter. Now they can hop hop around like little bunnies while searching for easter eggs left by the real Easter Bunny!

You'll need:
kraft card to make your ear shape templates
white felt
pink felt
pipe cleaners
elastic
and a sewing machine.

Method: 
Cut out white felt as your outer ear and pink felt as inner ear. Stitch layers together. Insert a pipe cleaner in between layers, stitch to hold in place. fold ears in half and stitch up 2cm at front edge to make the ear have nice shape. Measure elastic around child's head and stitch ends together. Position ears and stitch onto the elastic.

Happy Easter from Mima + Moo

easter bunny garland

To finish Moo's easter tree today I made a mini Easter Bunny garland. Then Moo decorated the tree (twigs in a vase which we painted silver) with our eggs and the garland. Now the Easter Bunny knows we live here. 

You'll need:
white felt
pen or pencil
embroidery yarn
needle 
card to cut your stencil from

I made a bunny stencil with kraft card, trace wrong side down onto your felt and cut out bunnies. Turnover to right side and using you needle and yarn thread the bunnies on spacing evenly as you go.

hand dyed eggs - easter decorations

Last year we painted the easter eggs for the first time for a little easter tree, so this year I thought we'd try something different and dye them. I've found it impossible to find white shelled eggs anywhere, brown still work but the colours are less vibrant. Green and blue dye showed up best.

Hand dyeing easter eggs with Moo was really fun, and incredibly messy because someone wanted to dye their hands.... 




You'll need:
blown eggs, clean and dried - we used 6
string to tie your eggs up.
food colouring
white vinegar
white crayon

 Method: 
1. draw on eggs with white crayon. the dye doesn't stick to any area with crayon
2. put 1 teaspoon each of vinegar, food colouring and water into a glass. and dye. to get the ombre effect dip the bottom in the dye, then slowly add a little more water to each time you dip to get the lighter shades, drying between layers.
3. hang eggs to dry outside if possible as the dye drips...
. 

what mima wore

I thought I would give you a sneeky peek inside Mima's wardrobe and show you some of the outfits she wore this week.

Clockwise from top left: Trelise Cooper Kids top with bloomers in Karen Walker Bunting print, Cotton On long sleeve top with bloomer dungarees with Karen Walker embroidered patches, Miller long sleeve shirt with Peppin Tipi leggings, Peppin leopard print T-shirt with leggings in Karen Walker mustard Hydrangea print.
Pretty stylish I think.

DIY ombre tulle skirt

This week we experimented with dip dyeing a tulle skirt for Moo. I like the look of ombre dyed fairy dresses and skirts you see in costume stores, but don't want to pay that much.

What you'll need:
Tulle skirt - I made Moo's out of two layers of pink tulle.
One tin of dye - I choose Bronze Rose (a reddy brown) Multipurpose dye from Dylon (which I have just discovered the tins are in discontinued)
Bucket
Clip coat hanger, make sure it wider than you bucket.

Instructions:
Make up dye to packet instructions into bucket, filling with boiling water to desired amount you want it to come up from the bottom of your skirt (approx 12cm). Clip skirt on hanger and lower into bucket of dye balancing hanger on top edge and leave for an hour or so. Rinse in clean water and dry.

My ballerina!

what mima read : the sailor

Mima LOVES books, sitting on someones knee and having a book read to her is pretty much her favourite thing to do. She picks a book then says 'knee, knee, knee'.
Each week she seems to have a new favourite so I thought I I would share some with you.
This week it is a much loved copy of 'The Sailor' by Dick Bruna...

The hero of the story has a new boat and travels to a far off land of ice and snow, where he meets Eskimos. While there he enjoys fish stew and a nap. Along the way he also meets a whale. 

knitted things: knives

These knitted knives come from an exhibition opening I went to when I lived in Melbourne when some friends opened a new gallery on Gertrude St, Fitzroy about 10 years ago. I can't remember the name of the artist or the gallery, if you do please tell me?

At the time my parents were doing up their kitchen and my dad though they would be great hanging in the new kitchen.

I've since pinched them on one trip home recently to hang in my own kitchen! I love them.

munch bunch

The Munch Bunch was a big part of my childhood. They sold the books at the supermarket ($1.25) and each week I would get a new book as a treat. I had the whole set and I loved them. One school holidays I even drew the village. I mapped out the location of the houses from the books, each one starts by saying who the character lives next door to, for example 'Pippa Pear lives in a lantern next door to her best friend, Adam Avocado'. I drew all the characters and all their houses.
I still have my complete set of Munch Bunch books and look forward to sharing them with Mima.
I was never a big TV watcher and only occasionally saw the TV version of the Munch Munch but this opening theme is very cool.

rainbow connection : drawings

Moo loves Rainbows, here are selection of my favourite of her drawings.