I love retro stuff and I also love to recycle things when I can.  When we recently created a sleep out for our oldest son (see sleepout here), I promised him I'd make him a recycled woollen blanket cushion with his choice of logo - and he chose a Space Invader!

So much fun to make!  I used red felt for this logo, and am already imagining what other designs I will make to zhuzh up the cushions in our own lounge.

Anyone could give this a go - and as I always say, anything that gets the males in my life appreciating 'handmade' is a bonus!!!

Joining in with Matariki Crafting here.

For more crafty makings go here.

For retro gaming crafty items, go here.

Loving these photos of my parents with their 5 grandchildren that were taken last weekend.  We realised that there were no photos of them all together, so made sure they all posed for some snaps on my Mum's birthday.  Do you think we could get all 7 people smiling nicely at the same time? 

Loving my monthly coffee bean surprise from Coffee General!  I love the fact that you can receive a different pack of beans each month, plus these guys are super nice people who definitely know their stuff about coffee!

Ever since I made my first Rainbow Cake, I've been inspired to try other creations using the same simple vanilla cake recipe (Marbled Rainbow Cake, Green Layer Cake and the Neapolitan Cake to name a few).

For this Chocolate & Peppermint Cake, I doubled the vanilla cake recipe (link below) and once mixed together I separated the mixture evenly into three bowls.  I combined two of the bowls and added a few tablespoons of cocoa to make my chocolate cake batter, and to the remaining batter I added a couple of drops of peppermint oil (essence would be fine as well).  If I had had green food colouring in the house I would have added that as well (I bought that the next day to make the icing!).  I halved the chocolate batter again to bake in two separate cake tins and then baked the peppermint layer.

For the icing, I made normal butter icing, adding peppermint oil and green food colouring.  I did a thick crumb coat with this and also added it in between each layer while assembling.  The chocolate icing was made with no recipe in mind - I just melted dark chocolate and mixed it with some butter icing until it was at a good consistency.  Once the cake was covered in the final coating of chocolate icing, I drizzled melted dark chocolate mixed with a bit of oil over the top.

The taste of peppermint was super strong with this cake - but a thin slither was delicious!!

Go here to find the basic Vanilla Cake recipe I use (take out the coconut).

I dare you to dream up a delicious cake and have a go at making it.

For more delicious recipes visit here.

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The colours were chosen by my Mum, very similar to the Grannysquare Poncho I made a couple of years ago for one of my daughters.

The finishing of this blanket was down to the last couple of hours, finishing late the night before Mum's birthday - but it was so worth it!  I love the soft colours, the different patterns and knowing that Mum loves it!

There is something super special about making something to give to a person you love.

We couldn't do a final blanket post without the official funny pic, and my eldest daughter wanted to join in as well...

To check out my other finished crochet blankets below, click here!

Today, one of the most special and important people in my life turns 60 years old! 

This lady has always been a very precious person to me - my Mum, my close friend, a wonderful Nana, the one I've laughed with (and sometimes at), cried with and always known was there for me and our family. 

We've been through lots Mum, and even as a child I knew you were someone who I could rely on and someone who would be honest, real and loving.

I know I was a handful to raise (there were many slammed doors and lots of yelling from me, believe it or not) but thankfully this lady chose to be patient with me (and not strangle me) and guide me along the path of life.  She not only taught me about my amazing God, but she showed me Him through her life and love, and when she slipped up she was honest enough to admit it (not that I can think of any thing specific Mum... except maybe that time you and Dad sold our pet rabbits without telling us...).

Here's a massive happy birthday to you - you still look super young and I know there are many, many exciting and adventure filled years ahead.

Happy birthday to an amazing lady - the lady I have the privilege to call my Mum.

p.s. Yesterday I organised a little surprise for my Mum, gathering some of her close girlfriends for morning tea at a local cafe.  It was so lovely to all be together celebrating my Mum, many of these friends of her's having had massive influence on my life since I was a child.

It's the annual crazy birthday week around here with birthdays galore!

In the last two days we've celebrated our oldest boy turning 14, and Symon's birthday, his last year of his thirties!

Our son's birthday present this year was a pretty big one - we gave him his own bedroom/sleep out. Tonnes of work has gone into making this previously run down old army barrack shed into a tidy and very cool sleep out.  Even on his birthday we had an amazing family from our church around painting the room, installing locks and our youth pastor popped in to say hi and even ended up painting his bedroom drawers!

The big bedroom reveal came the day after his birthday and he said it was the bestest day ever.  Our only regret is that we forgot to take a before photo!!!

Check it out:

Symon's birthday came with a bit less hooha and stress - we spoiled him with goodies, one of them being this "Rub Some Bacon on It" t.shirt (watch the video clip if you are totally lost).  

I've already spread my soppy love for him all over the internet (blog/instagram/facebook) so will spare you from any more.

Looking forward to my Mum's big birthday this weekend - off to work on her granny square blanket right now!!!

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Today it's the birthday of my bestest friend ever... Symon!!

I love this guy tonnes - but I also like him too.  He's the best person to laugh with, talk with and just be with.  

I love the fact that he is the Dad of my 4 kids - and such a great Dad as well (I must show you pictures of the cool sleep out he made for our son's birthday a couple of days ago).

He is an all round awesome guy - a fabulous pastor, creative genius, wonderful with animals (even if I do think he has a slight disorder when it comes to pet addictions), clever musician and best of all, he knows just how to make me laugh... like buying me a snuggie for Mother's Day.

I am so grateful that God made you just the way He did, and that I have the awesome pleasure of being your wife and friend.

Have an awesome day babe - and thanks for being you!

p.s. Sorry for the soppy post people - but this guy is too good to not get soppy about once in a while :)

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Today our eldest can legally babysit.  Woohoo to that I say!

Last year we entered the world of parenting a teenager, and we've survived the year.  In actual fact we can honestly say that we are loving this season of life.  The baby stage has gone with all of our kids, and we are loving the humour and maturity that we are seeing in our bunch - especially this birthday boy who today turns 14.

Someone wise once said to look for the gold in your children (actually, it was one of our kid's teachers last week at a parents evening at school) and I must say that that statement is worth it's weight in gold!  Every kid has at least one thing going for them - something that makes them awesome.  It's our role as parents to notice the gold and encourage them on in this journey called life, and now that we've entered the 'coaching' stage, we want to make sure that we yell encouragement really loudly from the sideline as he starts to spread his wings more and more.


Somehow, in a matter of a few years, this:



Turned into this:

We love you lots buddy - you are such a pleasure to be around and we are praising God every day that your high pitched and super screechy voice has finally dropped to a lower tone.

x Mum & Dad

p.s. are you free to babysit Wednesday night?