Ready to hang kiddy artwork

I love getting a gorgeous paper bag when out shopping for clothing! Somehow feels a little special when you leave the store swinging your purchase in something other than a plastic bag.

I do look at these bags when I get home and wonder about how to reuse them, without the usual throw them into the yellow bin. But I've had an idea... (This probably isn't new - but it was a new idea to me so I thought I'd share it).

Any bag that has an internal surface that looks like it could be drawn on with crayon's or painted, I open up carefully and cut down one side of the bag. Then I divide up front from back and there you have it - an instant canvas for kiddy drawing or painting. But the best part is, each artwork has a ready made loop for hanging!

This has worked really well so far for my little boy's scribbly drawings (we're working on drawing circles at the moment - lot's of fun!). I've also been looking ahead and preparing for future Picasso paintings by the little boy and have been cutting up "canvases" from cereal boxes.

So in future when I come home occasionally with a lovely shopping bag, they'll be a little less guilt as I contemplate all the possible artworks to come!

Refashioning - baby sleeping bag

I really love being resourceful and making something new from existing materials. It's such a creative process. Particularly when it comes to sewing! So, here's the my latest refashioning project....

Take two barely used pillow slips, a couple of bamboo bassinet topsheets, some bamboo wadding left over from a quilt and one new red zip = one gorgeous new comfortable sleeping bag for my beautiful little boy!

I had an old sleeping bag handed down from my nephew's baby years which I used to trace off a pattern. I unpicked the european pillowcases and cut out the pattern from both these, the wadding and the bassinett sheets.

The result is a really beautifully soft sleeping bag. The bamboo sheets and the wadding are so lovely for a baby's sleeping bag! And I'm really pleased that I've been able to make something so comfortable and soft from resources I had at hand.