Riding on the trains

Over Easter, we had a 5 day long weekend because Easter Monday and Anzac Day fell on the 25th April, which meant we had Tuesday off as well. Does that make sense? We had hoped to go to the Fair in Bendigo but we ended up not making it. My sister-in-law took the 3 kids out on Easter Saturday for a shopping adventure and Tim and I went out (alone!) for lunch and to look at furniture shops. Totally off topic at hand. Sorry. So anyway, because we completely missed the Fair this year, we took the girls to the Elmore Miniature Railway to make it up to them. If you are into trains or even if you aren't this is a great time out. The railway is open on school holidays and weekends. We use to take Esther and Ellamay there when they were little. We haven't been since before Amelia was born.

I believe the tracks are 1 kilometre long and the ride goes for about 8 minutes. It cost us $10 for the family. Bargain!

The kids loved it. We went 'round three times. On two different trains.

And back to the station, ready to begin some more fun.

I found a video of the railway on YouTube if you would like to see what it's like there. This was taken a few years ago and I have to say it is much more fun in person :-)

Easter egg hunt

On Easter Sunday, the three girls were treated to an egg hunt in the yard at my in-laws place. The kids do love an egg hunt. Who doesn't? All that chocolate for a reward. Mmm... There was the usual mad rush around trying to get as many eggs as they could get their little hands on.

A little bit of comparing to see who did the best.

And then of course, proudly showing off the haul.

If you are wondering about this photo, these are empty capsules for Amelia's enzymes she has to take whenever she eats anything with fat in it. One part of having Cystic Fibrosis means that Amelia cannot digest fat which is why she must take these enzymes. Amelia has one capsule per 4-5 grams of fat. I saved most of the capsules for the day to see how many she had taken. I think we are about 5 short. She would normally have between 10 and 14 in a regular food day. Easter Sunday she had approximately 20 and most of that was for chocolate. After studying the nutritional information on Easter eggs so much now, it almost makes me feel bad about eating chocolate. Almost. :-)

3D Easter eggs that became other things...

Okay. I know Easter was last month now. You will just have to smile politely while I catch up :-) Got your smiles on? Here goes the first of the late Easter posts. Call it preparation for next year.

This craft is from the Disney Family Fun website. If you haven't seen this site before, it is an excellent resource for kids crafts.

This is the one I made. It started off being Amelia's but she lost interest because it was "a bit too twicky, Mummy". We decided to make them with only two sides of the folded paper because it was a bit harder than we thought it was going to be. The one I made could hang on the art string in the kitchen easier then too.

Ellamay and Esther both turned theirs into bunny houses. Ellamay's had staircases and striped floor boards.

Esther went with pink flooring.

And a bunny inside. The photo below he was having a sleep I think. He looks a little sick. Perhaps too many Easter eggs?

Ellamay ended up creating a pathway off the side of her egg bunny house.

They dreamed up all kinds of stories to go with them too. I think they had a lot more fun making these than playing with them. And a lot more fun making them this way than the original idea. It's great to see the kids take an idea and make it their own.

Easter Sunday

Happy Resurrection Day to you and yours!



This is a song from Veggie Tales - a kids show but I think it sums up Easter beautifully.

Good Friday

Easter is not about a long weekend, chocolate and bunnies, although that is all fun.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Luke 23:39-43

Happy Easter.

Easter crafting

These are some of the things we have been making for Easter at our house.

Easter egg carton chicks found here. The kids enjoyed this but got frustrated when they cut out the paper pieces. The shapes they came up with didn't fit properly. It might be a good idea to work out the size for your kids first if you are going to try this one. My kids are like Tassie Devil's when it comes to crafting though so maybe you'll have better luck :-)

I found these glittery foam eggs on sticks at a junk shop in town. They were 10 for $2. When I saw them I thought they would be perfect as flower centres. My mum cut up these flower shapes ages ago (thanks Mum) and I have been getting out only a few at a time so they didn't get wasted (some of us don't have the fancy cutters still). This was a pump time craft. They look pretty. I am hoping they survive so I can pack them away for next year.

Here is the finished plaster eggs.

These chickies (or duckies for that matter) I found at Spotlight a couple of months ago. They were clearing last years Easter stuff. I got 4 of these for $1. They are supposed to be door hangers but I thought they would be great picture frames. Don't you just love how Ellamay has called hers "Alien Ellamay"?

This is a craft that Mum made up for the kids. (Thanks Mum again). Two sheets of black card with the window cut into it. Cellophane, double sided tape and the picture of Jesus is printed on vellum. The verse on top is just printed on normal paper. Ignore the finger prints on the window behind it ;-)

This last one, I made up for the kids to make for Palm Sunday. All I did was photocopy the story out of a bible story book onto card and cut out the pictures. They have little card props at the back to help them stand up. The palm branches I printed from here. This one is Ellamay's I like how she has added some orange paper robes on the ground. It's all mounted on photo mat board.

Still more crafting to go over the weekend. I will probably still be sharing after Easter! If you are looking for some last minute Easter craft ideas, check out One Pretty Thing.

Bunny ears

I like to stitch things. Especially felt. There is something very satisfying about it. Probably that for the most part the projects I make with felt should in theory be quick turn around projects so I should feel like I have achieved. This is the latest of these kinds of projects. The kids have, in the past, had the big bunny ears on head bands that seem to flood all the shops in time for Easter. I decided to make them some that were a little more understated.

I had in my mind what I wanted to make and hoped it would work out. I printed off a bunny outline from a kids colouring page and cut it out. I folded up the face of the bunny and used it as a pattern for all the felt. After I stitched it all together, I sewed the ears onto hair combs. It was fiddly but satisfying :-) I think maybe they might have worked better if I had sewn them on the other way around. I'll know that for next time I decide to make this kind of thing.

The kids have been wearing them around in the lead up to Easter. I have been tempted to make some for me. Maybe not. I will just stick with last year's hair accessories. I will have to try to get a photo of those up. Have a great day.

Plaster eggs

What to do with children on school holidays in the lead up to Easter? Making and painting and all things creative in our house. We recently went to a country market with my sister in law and found some plaster eggs to paint.

I am sure if you could be bothered, making up some plaster and using some chocolate moulds would be easy enough. Messy though. And since someone else had done the messy part (or some of the messy part anyway) for me, who am I too pass that up?

The 3 kids had fun painting them and I got some peace to get some laundry done. Everyone happy. It didn't occur to me to take pictures of the finished product. Amelia's ended up all brown because she mixed her paint together. Esther and Ellamay seemed to be quite concerned about this. I pointed out that she is 3 and does things like that. And that they are Easter eggs so it is quite alright that they are brown. They just look like chocolate now. :-)

Easter

A few Easter weekend photos.

The Easter Bunny left 3 excited little girls all these goodies. The felt-lined baskets I made.

The Bendigo Easter Fair. Tim and the kids at Farmer Daryl's Farm.

Market stalls at the market

We had a great long weekend. We went to the fair on Good Friday. After, we went to the Bontanical Gardens for play and relax in the sunshine. Fish and Chips for tea.

Easter Saturday we spent with family at their new house, an hour and a half away. Easter Sunday we spent at home. We have more family time coming up too.

Hope everyone had a happy Easter. I have.

Easter tombs

Over the last week, we have been trying to fit in some Easter crafting. The kids have decorated lots of cardboard cut outs of eggs and half coloured in lots pictures. We made palm branches for Palm Sunday and then I got all inspired to make Easter tombs with them. Here is what we came up with.

Esther's,

Ellamay's and

Amelia's.

It is made out of aluminium foil underneath with salt dough over the top. It was kind of a rushed project because I actually told the girls what we were going to do before I had it prepared it. Bad idea. I got the inspiration from a website with a lot of Easter crafts on it which I can't find now. (Sorry about that.) The Easter tomb on there used florist foam as the base and then was decorated with similar things. We put a piece of purple fabric over the centre cross on Good Friday and then the idea is to put the stone in front of the tomb so it can be "rolled away" on Easter Sunday. Then you place a piece of white cloth inside the tomb to symbolise the resurrection. This was a great way to make the Easter story a little bit more real to the kids.

If we do this again next year, I will get prepared more before hand. I will use a different salt dough recipe and we will paint it. AND, we won't be so busy at Easter time so we will have time to finish them off more.

A Resurrection set and little felt Mary's

Happy Easter! It's Easter Sunday and I thought I would show you my Resurrection Set. I didn't get it finished. If you have been reading this blog, you would have already seen my other characters here and here. I was really hoping to make a full set something like this one. Not going to happen with Esther and Ellamay on school holidays and when children don't settle at night to sleep! All my usual complaints really. I will have it done in time for next Easter though. (Hopefully.) It is a little dangerous to not finish this project for the deadline (Easter) as it will likely be added to the 'mid-craft' pile.

Do you like how my Mary's turned out? The one above looks like a doctor I think. All she needs is a stethoscope. And her hairstyle is a little... big.

I really like how they have all turned out. They look happy. And so they should be. Jesus is risen from the dead!

Little felt Angel

I finally finished the angel to go in my resurrection set. It's been busy here (as usual) and I have hardly done any of my stitching or making things. I have been going crazy! Tim is away for the weekend at more fire training stuff so I have been letting everything slide (translation: the place is a mess!) and have just been trying to get this done. Easter is next weekend and I am not feeling confident about getting this finished. Here is the little felt Jesus I made.
I cut out the felt pieces for two women in the set. I have stitched their arms and I hope to work on them some more before bed tonight. As long as my darling children settle. They are REALLY not good at that.

The angel's halo is made from a round shell bead thingy :). It turned out quite well. A very friendly angel really. A friendly, fuzzy, craft felty angel.

I am trying to figure out how to go about the tomb and cross. I would like to do it different to the original, if I get it done at all.

I would like to make some Easter hair clips too (any excuse for new hair accessories, right?) and I still want to put some flowers on the front of the Easter baskets I made.

There is one other thing I really need to achieve though. Sleep. I am lacking more than usual lately so perhaps I should put that on top of the list. Nah... :O Yawn, too much other stuff that's more fun to do than sleep. Maybe the kids just take after me in the sleep thing.

Little felt Jesus

Here is the first installment of the Easter Resurrection Set I am attempting to make. This is my little felt Jesus. I think it has turned out pretty well, even if he is a little round. I have stayed pretty close to the original so far. Mine has felt hair and the original has yarn. And mine has red spots on his hands for the nail scars. I really like how friendly he looks.

I have cut out the felt to do the angel next. I have decided to put a disk of plastic canvas in the base of them to help them stand a bit flatter. I am also trying to think up some ways to make my set a bit different to the original one. We shall see. At least I have started it and I still have a bit more time before Easter to get it finished.

Lined felt baskets

Just a quick post today. I am having trouble with this computer and the Internet and blogger at the moment. Very frustrating.


I used this great tutorial (great blog too) and created these. I didn't make the label window for the front because I am too impatient. Plus, I thought maybe I might make some flowers to sew on later. (If I can be bothered).



I am so happy with the way they turned out. I will give them to the girls to put out for Easter bunny to put their eggs in at Easter time. They came together really quickly. I like when I can make something in one sitting. Even better last night because I finished all three and started two more little bags like I made for Christmas. These ones will be for upcoming birthdays. I will post some pictures when I'm done.

I have also been working on more hair stuff and my own version of a cloud mobile. They are VERY popular on the net at present. Mine is frustrating me though so I don't know when I will get back to it. It's in a pile with all the other projects I get to the middle of and get stuck or lose interest in. Or something more interesting comes up.


Oh... One more thing. I just have to fill you in. Amelia has finished on the pump for the time being. She has had her last week on there and is now off until she is sick next. HURRAH! It has been a long time coming. She started treatment on it in September and has just finished this week.

I should finish up here. The kids have been entertaining themselves while I write this so I should go and see what mischief they have caused!