Friday, September 26, 2008

mermaid tales!

shocking pic...the sun is so sunny here this morning! and i love it its very nice after winter! well here it is a finished mermaid outfit. forgive the serious pic, i was interrupting her fav morning show lol. im quite happy with the final product. it took forever this week, every spare moment i had was sewing scales and then stitching them to the tail, but lilly loves it, is currently giving it a cuddle!!??!! the material has a shimmery shine that changes the colour as u move too. it has an elastic waste and the back seam is completely unstitched so that she can walk around. hopefully it will grow with her for a while!!!.
some of the details...yes stuipd i know but i did hand stitch seed beads on as well, u can just make them out! the things u do for your children!....:) the top i made like an apron, it just ties over her clothes to complete the look! lol i wanted more than a bra type top. emilys tale is next on the list. i want to make hers quite a bit shorter so the flipper doesnt touch the floor, she trips over enough now! the girls r both getting some dress ups for christmas. im going to make them. which means i can throw out more of the old old dress ups lilly has had since she was emilys age. sadly mine are way better quality (but cost the same?) i hope that means they will outlast my little dress up girl.

does anyone watch heuys cooking adventures....on tuesday or wednesday this last week (cant remember which)my dh was cooking with heuy. pretty cool for dan....:)

some information for those interested
lemon cordial
i first found a cordial recipe here
http://crazy-mumma.blogspot.com/2008/07/homemade-fruit-cordials-nablopomo-10.html
its all to easy and is made in a few minutes (not worth buying really)
for my lemon we
used 500g sugar
500ml water
pop both ingredients in a pot, heat until sugar has melted + plus a minute or two after that - thickens the sugar syrup just a little.
u should have about a litre of sugar syrup
generally cordial is then equal parts fresh squeezed fruit juice and the sugar syrup.
we didnt use equal parts lemon juice. i used about 800mls ish maybe less in the sugar syrup i didnt want it to be too tart for the kids. its perfect for us. its lemony for me and sweet enough for the kids.
homemade cordial tastes different to store bought. the taste is refreshing and reminds me of expensive flavoured waters u can buy. but i know only the best fruit was used to make it.
we do add citric acid about a teaspoon a litre i think helps it to last a little longer.

the lavash bread biscuits i found here
http://simple-living-simple-cooking.blogspot.com/2007/03/lavash-bread.html
i use alot of things from this simple little record blog. lots of base cooking ideas that r helping us to cut out even more preservatives and fake food
how dare you
did i even tell u all i joined the team over there...link in the side bar.
this months theme was everyday...we werent required to add to the theme but it had so many opportunities so i just had too!!!
this is what i did. printed lilly onto some printable fabric photo paper
followed sort of a tutorial here http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=1098 and went with some fabric scrapbooking ideas from doona downeys book (i love that book)
i added some quilt wadding for insulation and then some lining, including a plastic layer so that condensation doesnt leak everywhere.
thats a 600ml bottle and its alot bigger than the bottle. i bought lilly and emily new thermos water bottles this morning and it should fit those i hope nicely. it will also protect these bottles from some damage...they were not cheap!

3 comments:

Kerry-Ann said...

I love the mermaid costume - really beautiful. The costumes you make are sure to outlast the shop bought ones! They are also made with love which is something you cannot put a price on!

Kirsty said...

Oh that is GORGEOUS!!!! I have a mermaid freak here. She adores the little mermaid, but doesn't actually like the movie, go figure?!?!?

You are a clever clever girl, and I can't wait until I get my hands on some lemons to try that cordial! You would think that living in the 'citrus capital' that there would be thousands...

Anonymous said...

You have been busy - the dress ups are just gorgeous. Homemade dressups are the best. Well done!

Thanks for the links to the recipes, I was going to ask - can't wait to give them a go. Will look for citrus at the markets tomorrow. And can't wait to make the lavash bickies.

Loving the Creative Family btw, and hope to start changing our foods/diets soon.

Thanks again for the inspiration, Ange xxx