Children's story - A Mouse eats Cheese

One cold winter night, Alvin mouse sat curled up in his house.  He was shivering and his tummy was empty.  This was the coldest winter he had ever known.  He looked outside - snow had covered everything.  His tummy rumbled - he was very, very, hungry.

He decided to go out to look for food.  He ran outside, scurrying this way and that way, searching everywhere but he did not find anything to eat.  No nuts, no bread, no fruits, not even any thrown away crumbs.

Alvin was sad - he looked up into the sky and wished he could find something to eat.  He saw the stars twinkling, the dark clouds moving and he felt the cold wind blowing.  Suddenly, Alvin jumped.  He saw cheese.  It was the biggest, roundest, yellowest block of cheese he had ever seen.  It just sat there right in the middle of all the stars.

"Wow!" screamed Alvin, "If I can get that ball of cheese, I will not go hungry for a long long time. "  He started running towards it.  He ran up the tallest tree, but the cheese was still too high.  He had an idea...  He remembered the mountain on the other side of the river.  "I am sure to reach that cheese if I climb the mountain." thought Alvin.  The river was icy cold but Alvin jumped in and swam across.  He ran and ran till he reached the top of the mountain.  There - the cheese seemed close enough now.  He jumped - No! he could not reach it.  He tried again and again, till he fell down exhausted.

Grandfather Cloud had been watching him all the time.  He felt sorry for Alvin and came down to the mountain.  "Hop on little fellow," said Grandfather Cloud, " let's go get you some cheese."  Grandfather Cloud was soft and cosy.  Alvin snuggled into him.  They lifted into the sky and reached the big round ball.  Grandfather cloud picked it up and gave it to Alvin.  Alvin ate as much as he could.  He felt much better.  "Can I take it home with me?" he asked.  "Why don't we leave it right here" said Grandfather Cloud, "I will drop you a piece every day."  "That's a lovely idea - said Alvin, " All that cheese could never fit in my tiny home."  Grandfather Cloud dropped Alvin back home.

Each night Grandfather Cloud sends Alvin a piece of cheese from the sky.  Alvin will never be hungry again.

If you go out and look into the night sky you will find that big ball of cheese sitting right in the middle of the twinkling stars and every night you will actually see it getting smaller and smaller.  And when the cheese is over, Grandfather Cloud will make sure that there's a new one - the biggest, roundest, yellowest block of cheese. 


Note to parents:

I believe that children love listening to stories.  I try and sit with my kids as often as possible to tell them a story.  I ask them to close their eyes and imagine the scene of the story - just like they were watching a show on TV.  Please, please, please be excited, feel sad, fall down tired and snuggle up with the kids as you read along and if you have a little time and your kids enjoy this story, let me know.

This story in particular came to me as I was trying to explain the waxing and the waning of the moon to my son.  And it just came to my head - my son will soon learn the science behind it.  But is not childhood all about the wonder of the world, the brilliance of imagination and the joy of silly laughter?

If you read all of that - Thank you for your time.

Kiddy birthday decor and take aways

I have two kids, both born in June.  My daughter turned one this year and my son four.  We'd just been on a family holiday to Goa and the kids could not get enough of the beach, sand and water.  So we decided to have a sea/beach theme and it worked for both.

First out, was to make the card.  For this I found a lovely tutorial on the net for beach party invites which I used and reworded for my kids.  This card actually has beach sand and jewels in between the front and back that moves around when you tilt it.

Invite

 Next I thought of beach bags and beach towels as take aways.  I love my Janome sewing machine for getting out 40 bags and towels without breaking the needle.  I made the bags from scratch, handles too and put them together.

Beach bag

I bought white towels and created the fish applique on them in different fabrics.

Fish applique towel

Next was the decor.  I have fun creating salt dough ornaments (it also helps occupy my kids with messey and fun work).  We made all the star fish, the shells and other fish that you can see.  I made metal wire circular frames, covered them in different coloured fish nets and stuck them on.  Made about 20 of these to put up and then individual pieces to put onto the dessert table.

Ceiling decor

Ceiling decor

Ceiling decor

Table decor and decoupaged doily cupcake stand

Made that cupcake stand out of a doily that we had gotten with a takeaway from a pastry shop in New York.  Great memories and super cupcake...

Party hall

That's what our party hall looked like,  Also made the other paper decor myself.  It took lots of time that you really need to search for with two small kids.  But feels good!  Happy new year everyone, I'm not someone who can sit quietly, the minds always racing and full of ideas.

 Next on,  I will try and put up some of the stories I've written for my kids.  I have so much fun telling stories... hope your kids enjoy them too.  from the last year I'm still trying to finish my first almost complete hand knit sweater (I knit in the car going to drop and pick up my son from school).  Will keep you up dated - Have fun!!!!

Wedding accessories (flower girl headbands, tiaras and ring pillow)

This has been one of my most favourite projects so far.  This was made to order for someone's wedding and was according to the colour theme of cream and gold.  I made all the flowers (roses and carnations) by hand in different ribbon.  The little girls looked lovely...

The corsages are made with brooch pins that were pinned onto the girls dresses.

Flower girl corsage

Flower girl headband

Flower girl tiara

Ring pillow

Musical jewellery box (decoupage)

 I've been wanting to make something special for Christmas this year.  I had this old wind up music box that plays a lovely tune but the outside casing had broken a while ago.  So it all started with a plain empty box...

To begin with I painted the box in brown a couple of times and allowed it to dry thoroughly.  Then got on to cutting out the image I wanted on it. 

Then I used the Tim Holtz Flourishes die and cut out the accents which were painted gold.  I did separate some of the holly so that I could place it appropriately on the box.  I used Modge Podge to fix everything on the box.

 

I went on to create a decorated frame on the inside of the top lid of the box which has a space to hold a special note/photograph.  

My next big task was to create a casing for the mechanical music box,  I used a round plastic container (but had to cut off some of it as I wanted to fix a decorative element on top that would fit inside the box when closed).  I also made a hole to accommodate the winding key and covered the box with felt and ribbon.

I used a cream color to paint a chipboard shape and fix it onto the music box..

Gold beads added legs to the box and fixed my music box inside.

I enjoyed making this box and loved how it turned out.  Think my husband will get the hint?

The Itsy Bitsy Make It Festive Challengehttp://itsybitsyindia.blogspot.in/2013/12/the-itsybitsy-make-it-festive-challenge.html

Beyond grey challenges

The Pink Elephant Challenge TPE 231

Its Christmas time!!!!

Isn't this the loveliest time of the year for all of us.  My kids are all over the place - decorating the tree, messing up the house and just bouncing off the walls singing "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer".  I most enjoy doing up little things that I can put around the house that add to the festive spirit..

This year we decided to make our own Christmas tree ornaments.  My son helped me make these, its a technique we'd used earlier in the year to make his birthday party decor too.  They look quite nice on the tree

We even made take away sets for our children's Christmas party.

These were two sets of candle stands that I made.  They really help to brighten up the space.  I up cycled used snack boxes for these.

Crochet and Knitting

I wanted to make beanies for my little one s.  I loved the images of little girls in beanies with those beautiful floral accessories that one can attach onto the beanie.  The Pony Craft Store had just opened up, so I got some of their yarn and gave it a try.  Made one for each of my kids..and my little girl had tons of crochet flowers that could be interchanged to match her outfit.

I enjoy knitting and crochet - I went on to make a stole for myself.  This one's made of a 100% pure wool yarn and in the shell crochet pattern.  It's a pretty simple design but looks lovely when you wear it.

My favourite favourite knits are infinity scarves, I have made so many of these using Cat Brodhis cast on technique.  These are seamless scarves knit completely in the round with a half turn to them.  The beauty of these is that as you are binding off, you see the scarf coming together.  Almost marginal and I enjoy it each time. 

This infinity scarf is made with Pony Crafts Nako Sports Wool in Crimson.  It is a bulkier yarn and I,be used the "moss stitch pattern" on it.

This infinity scarf is made with Pony Crafts Nako Wool, I love the way the colors blend into each other..

Decoupage

I bought my first decoupaged foot stool at an exhibition and was in complete awe of the craft.  My son had promised his teachers at school that he'd make them a jewellery box, so we went about learning how decoupage works.  He helped me seal the images onto the boxes.. and happily gave them to his teachers at year end. 

After this basic project, I went on to make a few more personalised trays and pencil boxes.  Gave them away as gifts, did'nt take any pictures.