Thirty things in thirty days - week 1 update...

I know I've been really light on posts lately - I'm just really trying to rest as much as possible to get over this pneumonia.  But I have managed to cross a few things off my list recently that aren't too taxing...  I haven't got as far as I would have liked, but that's okay.  Truthfully I figured I probably will not finish my list, but its good to have something to work towards!

So what have I accomplished this week?  Well let's re-visit my updated list, shall we?

1. Go on a date night with Boofy
2. Cook something with an ingredient I've never used before
3. Use the massage/ pedi/ facial voucher Boofy bought me for Xmas
4. Write a letter to Alex about how funny he is at this age and put it away in his box of treasures
5. Spend a day totally unplugged from the internet
6. Organise the cupboard in the spare room
7. Cull Alex's toys (soooo overdue!)
8. Plant out the vege garden
9. Do something special with Alex, just the two of us
10. Complete some new sewing projects
11. Have a movie night at home with my 2 favourite boys
12. Read a book
13. Put on a BBQ brekky for our friends Julie & Tony and their kids
14. Go and see my Grandma
15. Go op-shopping in my local area
16. Revamp an op shop find
17. Clean up my desk at work and make it look a bit nicer (at the moment, it's just depressing!)
18. Look after Julie & Tony's kids for a day so they can have some kid-free time
19. Try a project I've seen in Blogland
20. Try a project I've seen on Pinterest
21. Organise and send out invites for Alex's Baptism (in August)
22. Redecorate the area where my random cupboards are
23. Finish off the cabinet of Nanna's treasures (as started in this post)
24. Go out for dinner as a family
25. Take Alex to mini golf
26. Write a long letter to Jo Jo (the beautiful grandmother of an old friend who has sadly been missing for several years)
27. Hang painting in the laundry
28. Go and see the new Harry Potter movie
29. Bake some savoury muffins to take in for my work mates
30. Print and frame a free printable from the internet (there are so many to choose from!)

So here's the deets for the ones I've crossed off... 

5. Spend a day unplugged from the internet
I've had several of these in the last week, not all by choice though!  As I said, I'm just trying to rest and get back on my feet, so I've had a few work and internet free days.

10. Complete some new sewing projects
I've done really well on this one!!  Firstly, I have two friends whose birthdays are coming up pretty soon, so I got to work making a few things in preparation...  Jackie and Sam, if you are reading this and your birthday has not passed - LOOK AWAY NOW!!!  Okay, you think they're gone?  Hope so (or their surprises will be ruined!)

Jackie and Sam's house has a lot of red accents, including a bright red splashback in the kitchen - so naturally I gravitated towards red things for them!  For Jackie I made this set of placemats and coasters in this great fabric I found on sale in the quilting section.  (I loved it so much, I made sure I got enough to make a couple of runners for my table too... but it will be a while!)  Here they are:

Totally easy - two pieces of fabric with interfacing in between, cut in a square, sewed straight stitch all the way around, and then cut around them with pinking shears.  Repeat 12 times!

Sam's birthday isn't until September, so I'm not too far along with hers yet.  She is studying at the moment, so I thought things related to being chained to her desk would be good!  With that in mind, so far I have made her a mug mat and a mouse mat...

I plan to also make her a stationary roll and maybe a penl holder for her desk.  I also plan to make Jackie a mug mat so she doesn't feel left out :)

19. Try a project I've seen in blogland
I first came across this one via Pinterest (more to come on Pinterest in another post soon... it's my new happy place...  I'm totally addicted).  The tutorial can be found here over at a blog called Pin.Sew.Press.  Okay, this time the warning is for HEATHER - if you are reading this (and I know you do) LOOK AWAY NOW or part of your birthday surprise will be ruined!!  So here it is...

And here is one of it all laid out so you can see where the fabric is sewn on:

Its called a stay-put kitchen towel.  Basically you tie the ribbon and it holds your kitchen hand towel in place (as opposed to it sliding all over the place, and people not hanging it back up) - kind of like those crochet ones that you see around, but without the crochet (luckily!) 

This fabric is perfect for Dad & Heather's kitchen since its very similar to their curtain fabric, and their accent tiles are maroon, I'm very pleased I found it.

I have some really funky fabric I picked up today, so I plan to make a few of these for myself  when I have time (and countless others no doubt!), but it did take me a lot longer than I anticipated - I thought it would be under an hour - it was more like 2 hours...  But I am a novice after all - and most of the time was in cutting, pressing, pinning and figuring it all out - it took no time at all to sew once I finally got started!

21. Organise and send out invites for Alex's Baptism (in August)
I've completed half of this one - the organising part!  I have been known to DIY my own invitations for various events in the past (including my wedding, and several others) and my first thought was to do this again.  However due to recent illness, I just didn't have time to shop, plan and actually make the invites (because they are incredibly time consuming to put together yourself).  So I did the next best thing - I turned to Made It.  I have posted about Made It before here and here, its an online market of hand (Australian) made treasures, along the lines of Etsy.  Its fabulous!

Anyway, with minimal searching I came across some fabulous invitations by Tambo Creations that were just what I was looking for.  I emailed her, as I had considerably more text than her sample, and she emailed back to assure me she could accommodate it.  So I paid her my $14.99, emailed her the photos of Alex, and within a day or so, I had the invite in my inbox!  There were a few alterations I wanted (I changed my mind) but Tess was really great and did them all really quickly, no problems.  When I was happy she sent me the final copy as a 5 x 7 jpg file - so all I need to do now is go to a shop that does cheap photos, and print them out just I like I would for a 5 x 7 photo - woo hoo!  How easy is that?!  Once they're posted, I'll cross this one off and share the final invite with you - I am really happy with it :)

26. Write a long letter to Jo Jo
I am pleased to be able to cross this one off the list - the last time I spoke to Joan was in January when she rang me, very worried, about the floods up here at the time.  I'm ashamed to admit its been 6 months since I talked to her - it's no chore either, she's a wonderful woman who I have known since I was 3 years old, and I always enjoy catching up over the phone with her.  So anyway, I have now written her a big letter covering off all that has been going on with us over the last 6 months.  As soon as I have printed the Baptism invites, I will pop one into an envelope with the letter and mail it off :)

So there you have it.. four and a half items completed so far!  I'm pretty pleased with my sewing projects - I've never been much of a seamstress, but I am really enjoying it.  I am careful to choose projects that are not too complicated so I can see the results fairly quickly, and I think this is key to maintaining my enthusiasm.  Later in the year, I am going to tackle some bunting for my niece's room, so I am trying to get in plenty of practice before I do that so I can do a great job (since Nadine would like it to be there for many years to come).  But you'll hear all about that once I get into it!

I am conscious that we're now 10 days into July and I've completed four and a half of the things on my list.  Got some catching up to do!  Never mind - I think our friends are going to have Alex overnight next weekend, so I should have a bit of time to cross off a few more.  Also the weekend after that Poppy and Nanny (aka my Dad and Stepmum) will be here, so hopefully I will plough through a few more with their help!

And just for fun, let me leave you with this totally random (and rare!) photo of Alex absolutely crashed on the floor cushions in the lounge room...  This happened two weeks ago, he was resting there in the sun, watching a DVD and just fell asleep.  It was a Saturday, after a big week of child care... he's mostly dropped his day sleeps but he was really tired and I figured he might have a little rest... so I caved and gave him a dummy and he was out in minutes!  He didn't stay asleep for long, it was very cute though :)

Bye for now :)