Coffee + Pizza + Spook Town Fun

So much life has been happening. Some things you might expect and plan for. Other things... not so much. The holidays have been and gone. And while I had a mental list of things to do during that period, it all fell away when one by one kids got sick.

One small bit at a time I am picking up the pieces, and finding balance between work, creativity and rest. For now, let me catch you up on the happenings of past weeks.

Halloween is upon us, and I've got some spooky Halloween love to share. I can't help it, I think Halloween is such fun. So... Shimmer your way over to My Poppet Makes to find out how I up-cycled a spooky, yet utterly darling Halloween wreath.

I spent one glorious Crafternoon 'making stuff' with likeminded crafters, eating delicious cake and drinking Nescafé. Head on over to My Poppet Living. and get the full story and pictures from the Nescafé Crafternoon. I seriously need to do Crafternoons more often. People + food + making stuff = healthy combination.

Happiness is a baked pizza served straight out of a hot BBQ. So it was a crafty love fest for me, designing and making a pizza cushion for Kidspot. Head over to Kidspot to access my DIY 'pizza cushion' craft video.

A while back I produced a project for My Poppet Makes, showing how to transform a shoebox into a vintage trunk. In round up to this project, I created another project detailing how to create sturdy, layered shelves within the shoebox. It's the perfect way for storing all those easy to lose little pieces. Head on over to My Poppet Makes to find out how to make:

1/ Make a Vintage Trunk Storage Box

2/ DIY Storage Box Solution Small Items

Play Clay, Hey!

© Melissa Gaggiano

The past six months we have been composting, and fantastically it really has cut back so much garbage waste. To give you an idea: before composting, on average we were going through 2-3 bin bags a week; Now we are averaging 1 bin bag a week.

In lots of tiny little things we find ways to save and reuse materials which would otherwise make it's way to the bin. For instance, the Big Bunny has recently been visiting and done his annual dump... of foil covered chocolate eggs. I have this funny habit of balling up the foil while eating said chocolate. And wouldn't you know it, I got the idea that these balls/cubes of foil could be used for beading. So guess what we're saving from the rubbish pile this year.

We love playing with felt. As materials go it's perfect for everyone regardless of what you're sewing skills are. It doesn't fray, is generally speaking tough stuff, and comes in so many cheery, bright colors.

My youngest will often be in the mood for sewing. Out comes the felt box and off she goes whipping together a jacket and pants (pictured above: I wish this came in my size.).

A huge part of the creative construction in my home has been centered on what can be done with paper and fabric. For some time my youngest has wanted to get more into clay exploration. So this week we finally made that happen with air drying clay (bought from Riot Art).

Our approach to clay play is the same for any other craft medium, which is fairly unstructured: Make what you want to make. If it doesn't work, try a different approach. If it still doesn't work, we'll superglue the broken bits later. I find the kids are more likely to persist if someone's not critiquing the crap out of their development. Having said that, some of the things that the kids want to make can turn into a collaborative event – this is when they want/need a little guidance. It's good for me too, just sitting with them, crafting away at something. We're creating memories together.

Right now I've got the clay pieces fast drying on heater vents. The clay will be ready to paint when school is out.