Monday, May 20, 2019

Handmade Gifts & "A Mexican Standoff " ............ Catch Up Post #3



Greetings dear friends & readers &
Happy Monday to you all !!

April & May are my busiest months for family & close friends birthdays - I have 10 altogether over a 6 week period.
Although I purchase some gifts, my budget certainly doesn't allow me to buy them all & besides - I really LoVe giving handmade πŸ’›

This year I had two close friends having special birthdays - the first was my friend Carolyn 


Now by the time you reach "certain ages" your Homes are full of things & the last thing you need is more "stuff"
So I decided this year to give my friends useful gifts.



I used Jenny's wonderful tutorial * Here * for the decorated teatowels, Fee's amazing tutorials * Here *  & also 
* Here * for the decorated rubber gloves - & the beeswax wraps 
The knitted scrubby cloths are a free pattern download from * here * ... I have knitted these before & the yarn is great value as you get at least 4 cloths from one ball!
As I had recently made up a large batch of Miracle Spray I filled a spray bottle to tuck in with Carolyn's gift & also printed off a copy of the instructions 



My second friend having a special birthday in May was Donna who is turning 60.
I made Donna up a red themed gift for her kitchen using this gorgeous kiwiana fabric - I knew Donna loves native birds so this was perfect for her.



Once again I trimmed teatowels & matched the gloves .  .  .  .


.  .  .  .  & knitted cotton/bamboo dishcloths, scrubby's & filled this sweet little pot with a handmade soy candle 
Lime, basil, mandarin scent.

Both these gifts were posted to their recipients, who were delighted to receive the handmade goodies πŸ’—

My final special birthday for May was my grandson Alec - a robot obsessed little boy who was turning 4 !!
I had bought a metre of this lovely robot fabric a wee while ago on sale at Spotlight


As Alec is now in a bed, I made him a pillowcase using this great Tutorial from Tiny Happy
As the fabric was especially wide, I had quite a chunk leftover so I decided to make him a book pillow

Though I had not much of a clue what I was doing .... I made a simple pocket on the front 
 When I came across this robot motif I decided to embroider Alec's Bed on it & applique it to my pocket



The finished book pillow top left - a trip to my local Paper Plus did not unearth any robot books but I decided 
Dragon's would suffice instead πŸ˜‰


As Alec is currently having swimming lessons I purchased this cute wet bag from a lovely home based business 
for him - the robots on it were just perfect!


My daughter in law requested my usual sweet platter which is popular with the grown ups as well as the littlies  -  & I also made a plate of salmon rolls for the party


We had the most wonderful time & even the sun came out so the children were able to get outdoors.
Alec had a chocolate cake decorated with an edible picture - Transformers of course πŸ˜ŠπŸ’™ !



Phew - now that I have finished with the run of birthdays for a wee spell, perhaps I can get back to my Orders again.

Last week I gathered a large box full of walnuts from the front yard ... after a day or two I noticed Blackie sleeping in the box, on top of the walnuts.       Can't be very comfy I thought ??
So - kindly - I tipped all the walnuts out & placed a nice wool blanket in the box & gently lifted him back in.
He immediately hopped right back out, gave me a filthy look,  a flick of his tail -  & huffed off  !!

Two hours later & who do I notice sound asleep in the banana box ??
Miss Pippy  πŸ˜ΈπŸ’›


Roll forward to the next day & His Lordship decided perhaps he could "suffer the banana box after all" !!??




So no words are needed to show you what happened next . . . . . .
I think you call this  A Mexican Standoff ??!!!


         .  .  .  .  .  .  suffice to say, I am currently on the look out for a second banana box !!! 😣

Have a wonderful week ahead dear friends,
Thanks so much for your visits here today,
With much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0x

23 comments:

  1. Your cats make me laugh!! The box is not good enough, oh maybe it is good enough.....no doubt you will get a second banana box and neither will use it!! Alec has a wonderful cake and the presents you made for him are fantastic. As are the presents you have made for your friends, nothing better than a home made present. Yummy yummy platter you have made!!

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  2. Oh, those cats are too funny! Thanks for the smiles. :)
    Such lovely gifts for special birthdays. It appears to be a real treat to receive a gift from you. And speaking of real treats, that sweet platter looks delectable. I think I need to go find some chocolate now.

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  3. These are lovely gifts, I would have been delighted to receive any of them. It is so true that once we get to a certain age our homes are too full of things, I have a friend that always kindly gives me expensive ornaments and I never know where to put them. x

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  4. What wonderful gifts and things Julie..and all, all
    so colourful..Amazing!

    'And, to much stuff' Yes! I've lived in my home for
    41yrs now..14yrs with my daughter, and the rest of
    the time alone..so, one can buy, get given, all sorts
    of weird and wonderful things, over the years.and people
    still knock on the door to have a look round..especially
    the famous downstairs toilet..! :). 'Nuff Said'. :).

    And! And! The dynamic duo are completely 'nuts'..Bless
    them..Made me chuckle..! So..more photos for my pussy~cat
    folder..!xx

    Well, best get on..gone seven over here, morning bathroom
    visit is needed..pop into town later..cut the grass out front
    when l get back, so plenty to do..
    Oh! Nearly forgot..Love the sweet platter..Yes! very nice that! :).
    😼 🐾🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾🐾

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    Replies
    1. Cats.....
      Cats sleep, anywhere,
      Any table, any chair
      Top of piano, window-ledge,
      In the middle, on the edge,
      Open drawer, empty shoe,
      Anybody's lap will do,
      Fitted in a cardboard box,
      In the cupboard, with your frocks-
      Anywhere! They don't care!
      Cats sleep anywhere....! :). 🐾🐾

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    2. That’s charming Who is it by ?

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    3. I Googled..Cats in Boxes Poems...Sally..
      And found this link...Author unknown..

      https://www.dennydavis.net/poemfiles/travel/catpoem2.htm

      Delete
  5. AS I said on IG, those Cats of yours are your very own soap opera show! That platter looks like something I could very easily eat w-a-y too much of! You always make lovely gifts and they are beautifully presented. I was thinking of making my grandkids book pillows for Christmas, I like to give them books.....but the question is do they read them? The robot fabric is cool!

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  6. Love all those beautiful gifts for your friends....and practical as well. Love Alec's pillow with the hidey hole for a book or two.......fabulous robot fabric. Gosh that is a lot of birthdays all together. Isn't is a wonderful thing that you have the two most cleverest of hands with which to create. The gifts you imagined are so much more fabulous than any store could tempt you with. Your feline friends, Julie, really do make me smile.

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  7. lovely birthday gifts there
    loved the banana box fiasco too! those two are so adorable!
    lovely posts
    thanx for sharing

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your lovely comment Selina. I have yet to find another banana box but so far - Blackie seems to be winning "the battle" !! Have a super week Selina xx

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  8. Gorgeous birthday gifts for everyone. What a happy birthday boy....wonderful cake. Your platter looks delicious too xx

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  9. I too make gifts and I also have made the wax wraps which I love. I need to make more of those, so I am glad to see them for a reminder. I love the cat posts.

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  10. Your cats are gorgeous as are all the beautiful things you make. Yum yum on your dish of delights. Could you share the recipe for the coconut balls?
    I had one many years ago and it got lost in the shift. My godmother called them bumble bees.πŸ˜‹

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  11. Lol cats are just so funny. Reminds of the time i brought a bag of prickly cucumbers home from my parents. It was sitting on the floor as i was unpacking everything, turned around to unpack them & lo & behold my ginger cat was fast asleep on them. Not sure how that was comfortable with all the spikes poking out the bag but he seemed happy to sleep on them. Love the gifts that you made for your friends & for your GS. The platter looks so yummy. Hugs,xx

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  12. Hi Julie, wonderful ideas for gifts so useful.
    Alec's pillow looked fantastic bet he loved it. Really great idea.
    Thankyou for sharing always enjoyable.
    Take care Julie xxx

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  13. All your sweet gifts are wonderful! And your cats are delightful! Nancy

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  14. What lovely handmade gifts Julie, and Alec is lucky to have a gran that can make him awesome gifts for his birthday.
    hahahaha love those cats, never a dull moment for you I bet, hope you find another banana box for poor miss pippi, but doesn't she have a nice basket insideπŸ€” maybe put that outsideπŸ˜‚ Have a wonderful week Julie. Chris xoxoxo

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  15. Lovely storys Julie.Fabulous gifts and love the entertaining cats.

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  16. You make such pretty things that anyone would be happy to receive. Hope you find another banana box. Aren't cats funny, and strange. It's just got to be their idea...like Smokey acting all sad and helpless like he can't get up the steps. But as soon as I unhook the front screen door and go out to get him, he meows and jumps past me. :) Your two cats are so cute!

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  17. What fabulous gifts in such wonderful fabric, I especially like the vamped up house gloves I may have to copy that. x

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  18. What a wonderful post . . . so much love and caring. I adore your gift baskets and may just copy that idea; who wouldn't love pretty things for the kitchen . . . they make our chores more fun:)

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  19. Your gifts are lovely, Julie. As you know, I recently made some of those gloves and tea towels for my two nieces for their kitchen teas and they were a big hit, especially the gloves! I like the look of your sweet platter. Will keep that in mind when next I have to take a sweet somewhere. xx

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