Junior Yuppy Bubby Designers In The Making.....

Bonjour mon ami's....I hope you're all enjoying your Friday knowing Saturday is literally around the corner.....I know I'm particularly looking forward to tomorrow as I get to finally go and have my pedicure I've been waiting so long for.....I don't usually get one very often but with not being able to reach my own feet now I thought what the heck....I'm 37 weeks pregnant I deserve it...woohoo..!!

37 weeks today....the count down is really on now...

 

Today I thought I'd do something creative with the girls and being that Eva in particular loves craft and I completely lack crafting ability I came up with an idea to suit us both and Bec of course. For ages the girls have been watching me sew and make things for Yuppy Bubby and asking me all sorts of questions about sewing (don't you love it when kids think you're an expert and have all the answers..lol...if only they knew..) and why I do this and how come I do that....so I thought I would teach them a very basic sewing skill that once learnt they'll always have...I thought I'd teach them to sew buttons. Now not just any boring old buttons on a piece of boring old fabric..no...not my style...I thought I'd get them to make a headband each....that way it's something they can use and say they made themselves. I had plenty of calico and I knew just where to take them to get some cool buttons so that's exactly what we did this morning.....and being that my niece was coming over I got her some buttons as well so she could join the girls in their sewing adventure..

 

The start of their headband project...

 

 



Working hard at keeping their buttons on without getting stabbed...

The girls really enjoyed themselves and did such amazing work, I was very surprised how quick Pia and Eva became with stitching the buttons on as neither of them have hand sewed before and I was very impressed with how nimble fingered Bec became as she went on......admittedly she did prick herself quite hard at one point, so to say...hehe....but after a few tears she shook it off and got back to work and learnt to watch where her fingers were. For four years old she did extremely well and almost kept pace with the older girls. I think there's going to be a lot more sewing projects they'll want to do now but that's fine with me if it keeps me away from the fiddly craft otherwise I'm sending them over to mum...lol.

Eva with such concentration on her face...watch out prjoect runway...lol...

Bec becoming very nimble after a slight pricking mishap....she's tough...that's my girl...

Pia and Eva having a chat while working....

So after what took the better part of the day to get all the buttons sewn on the girls went off to play while I put the final touches on...otherwise known as the elastic....these are very simple headbands to make and I will be putting a tutorial up in the next few days....this is pretty much the way my mum taught me to make headbands when I was a kid....

Bec, Eva's and Pia's creations before assembly....they all designed their patterns themselves...though I had a little input with Bec's....

After my attaching elastic they were all set and ready to wear....

My Junior Yuppy Bubby Designers in the making...all so proud of their efforts and their creations...xo

So as you can see if things keep going this way I will be able to retire in ten years and let the girls run Yuppy Bubby.....hehe.....No really it was a good day and although I thought to do some of my own sewing while they were sewing I'm glad I didn't because they really did need my full attention as there were almost a couple of disaster but with a bit of guidance they were avoided......I hope this will be one of those memories for the girls when they're much older and they remember sitting down with their mum and Aunty to make headbands....they'll probably think they were daggy but at least it will be a fun memory. I remember sitting down with my sisters and mum one day to make some clothes for our barbie dolls and all was going fine with mine until I went to put the top on my barbie and her head wouldn't go through......I had sewn the hole shut where her head was supposed to go through....even as a kid I was not a patient person when it came to craft or sewing, so I ended up having a hissy fit and giving up and my barbie went without a new top.....I was not impressed at the time but it's funny now 20+ yrs later.......

I figure that with bub arriving in three weeks time I better take each opportunity to do things like this with the girls before my time is cut in half.....so I'm glad the girls had a good day being creative and are proud of their handy work.....I already have another idea in mind for them but will leave it for a couple of days as my wrist is sore tonight now but it was worth it to put a smile on their faces and give them a boost in self confidence.....

So for now Home, Love & Life friends I'm off to rest my wrist and get some girls to bed so take care and I'll be back soon...Au revoir for now....xo

Michelle


Breast Feeding Covers For Breast Feeding Mamma's....

Bonjour mon ami's I hope you're all having a good morning so far whether you've got lots of sunshine or plenty of thunder storms and rain like we have at the moment. Right now I'm just enjoying the peace and quiet before the day really gets started.

 

Today I thought I'd share with you a little project I was working on yesterday while the rain pelted down outside. Sometimes there's nothing better to do than to pull out the old sewing machine while the weather sorts itself out and while I have the house to myself.

 

Now as you all know bub is due soon (6 and a half weeks to be precise...yey) and I've been thinking about the dilemma of feeding him while out in public. To tell you the truth I HATE parent rooms in shopping centres. Quite often they're smelly from pooey nappies, there's toddlers running around in there and I really just don't like sitting listening to people gossip while I'm trying to feed my baby...so, unless I need to change his backside I won't be using the parent room. However I will be breast feeding and I consider myself a pretty modest person and I don't like flashing all my bits and piece all over the shop, not even at the beach. I was wondering how I could tackle this problem last week when I saw on etsy there were some breast feeding covers. I have never heard of them before, (yet again, it's amazing what new products have come out in 17yrs) but liked the idea of them and after doing some research on how to make one I finally found an easy as pattern and whipped one up. Now seriously they're so easy I think a six year old could do it if showed how.

 

Anyhoo I was at spotlight Tuesday and saw this fabric and loved it straight away, well almost straight away. I liked it, picked it up, had a feel and a think, put it down, wondered over to some more fabric and couldn't get it out of my mind because I could see it already made up so picked it back up and bought it. And this is what we have now.

 

I love this fabric and it really was so easy to make...

 

Me testing my Feeding Cover out....as you can see there's plenty of room to cover yourself and bub...

 

And because I had enough fabric over I made a matching burping bib...

 

Now I will be making and listing these on Etsy at YuppyBubby and the fabrics will stay in the grown up fashion as it's mamma's who are wearing them not bub him/herself....and yes I will be doing sets with matching burping bibs like this one.

 

I will be making another cover today out of some lovely fabric I found on ebay and assuming there's enough fabric over I'll make the matching burping bib as well.

 

Ok I'm out of here now as my feet are getting cold and I need to get a few things done before dropping Bec to mum so I can get to the hospital for my walk through appointment. I will fill you all in on how that goes later....so have a good day et prendre soin pour le moment (take care for now)...Au revoir...xo

 

Michelle

 



A Blog Clean Up And Some Home Sprucing.....

Well today I'm sorting through my blog and cleaning it up. I'm finding there's too much going on here and I want to simplify it before bub comes so I don't feel as if I have a hundred categories I need to keep up with. So I have removed the 'Things I learnt today' page as well as the 'Recipes' page. I've found that lately these two pages aren't getting any time and I haven't posted anything on them in forever so while I'll continue to share thoughts and inspiration of things I learn in life it'll just be in a regular post. The same for the recipes, I just haven't had time to update lately and I haven't been baking much lately either. However since finding out I have gestational diabetes I have found some good brekky and lunch recipes I'll share with you. I also need to get int touch with my cousin Nikki to see what in the world is happening with The Travelling Diary.

As for the rest of the day, well we've gone from sunshine early in the week to wet, wild windy storms the last two days. It's as if winter is trying to make a return, one no one seems to want though....even though it got quite warm last week I was enjoying the warm weather and loooking forward to heading down the beach. Bec kind of put a spanner in the works there as she had gastro all weekend so we didn't go anywhere. The weather is supposed to clear by the weekend but then we're supposed to be back to showers by midweek next week.....it's all too weird for me. So because it's cold, wet and windy I am home sprucing up a bit. A ton of washing has been folded and put away, my desk has been tidied up and dusted, the kitchen has been thoroughly cleaned and next it's onto the bathroom.

{source}
How I'm wishing my folded laundry looked today....

{source}
My Dream bathroom...I've pinned this from pinterest and I can't say for sure but it looks very much like the bathroom that Sarah Richardson designed in one of her houses she renovated.....I love these curtains...

My desk and a place in the house I love...it's not fancy but it's me and it's what works...

{source}
Who wouldn't want to cook up a storm in this french country kitchen...I know I would..

Well enough dreaming of the perfect house tucked away in France somewhere I'm off to finish my sprucing up and make this place look as clean, fresh and french as I can...if we weren't renting soooo much would be done by now.......take care and I'll be back soon...Au revoir for now...xo

Michelle








 

A Late Night Washing Expedition....

Well it's 1:03am here in lil ol' sleepy Busselton yet I'm wide awake but dying to go to sleep. So why am I up you ask? Well it's like this. Today was pretty much the usual routine of Chris going to work, Bec and I getting up later than I planned, some research into a project I'm working on, Chris home early from work......you get the general idea. All was going well until dinner time, we opted for pizza tonight as it's a Friday, so lazy night, only to have our little Miss Bec refuse to eat her dinner. Now she loves pizza and never turns it down but tonight it all tasted 'disgusting' apparently. So we didn't push her because we know if she's not eating then something is up.

 

Sure enough just before midnight as I was almost asleep I heard a weird moan from her room. Chris and I got up to go check on her and as I opened the door and turned on the light there she is my poor girl sitting in a pool of vomit!! Chris picked her up and took her straight to the bathroom to clean her up and lucky me got to strip the bed...hmmm...who really got the better deal here?? Neither of us are good with vomit as it makes us want to throw up too but I am just a tad better with it than Chris. So I stripped the bed and got the sheets straight in the washing machine. Now when I was younger and stupider i would have left them til the morning to wash them but time has taught me that is a really BAD IDEA!!! Thankfully so far she has just thrown up the once and we got her cleaned up quick but however she's sleeping on her Dora couch in her room as she went right through to the mattress, so that is outside in the night air waiting to be hosed down tomorrow.

 

So once we got Bec settled and back down I decided I was going to have to stay up and wait for the washing to finish so I could get it on the line as I really didn't want it sitting around wet all night. Chris decided he'd 'lay down' and wait for the washing and I'm sure you can guess what happened....yep he fell asleep. So now he's asleep, Bec and Luke are asleep and it's just me up. I've just put the last of the washing on the line and now I'm going to try and get some sleep....boy am I glad I live in a town where it's safe enough to peg the washing out at 1:30am on a Friday night.

 

 Bec finally asleep...Gastro season has begun...

Washing out late tonight or quite early this morning depending on how you look at it....

 

So goodnight my friends or good morning where ever you may be, I'm off to catch a few zzzz's before the next round of vomiting, though I'm really hoping there won't be any...take care, sleep well and I'll catch you all soon...xo

 

Michelle

 

 

To Soften Or Not To Soften....?..That Is The Question...

For years when I've bought new towels I've been told by the sales assistant not to add Fabric Softener to the wash as it makes the towels go stiff and hard and therefore feels like sand paper on your skin. Well I don't know where they get their information from but I have to say I totally disagree with their theory.

I have always added fabric softener to my washing as I love the way it leaves the towels, sheets and clothes with that fresh smell, especially when I have no choice but to use the dryer in winter. And in summer when the washing has been out on the line for a few hours it has that added freshness to it from drying in the sun and the fresh air. My towels especially have always felt soft and fresh after washing and it makes me long for a shower so I can use them, I actually forgot to put the fabric softener in last week and the towels were so stiff and rough I couldn't believe it.

I guess it's one of those things that's a personal choice but for me I will continue to add fabric softener to all my laundry, especially towels and linen, there's nothing nicer at the end of the day than having a shower with a fresh washed soft towel, then climbing in to bed with fresh linen that's been on the line in the fresh air, ahh how I love that smell.

My whites getting whiter on a beautiful sunny day and such a lovely fresh smell when I put them on the bed last night.....Definitely a fabric softener house here...

 

Fresh, clean, fluffy white towels....got to love them..

With my wonderful husband's help I freshened up our bedroom a little this weekend too. It never ceases to amaze me how a small change can make such a big impact. When we moved in here there were curtains already hanging that the owner had put up and I have to say they are a right royal pain in the butt. I was informed we were allowed to take her curtains down, pack them away and hang our own curtains if we wanted to. Well after six months I finally had enough and got Chris to help me hang our curtains Sunday morning and now the room feels fresher than ever.

Our room with the curtains that were already here...

Our room today with my lovely green cutains hanging...there's something about green and white that's fresh....the best pic I could get witht the light today...

So how about you, do you use fabric softener or go without? What's the one thing you use that makes your house fresh that you couldn't live without?

 

Yuppy Bubby's Ago....

 

Bonjour mon amis and how are you all today?? I'm hoping everyone is well and loving the fact it's Friday and looking forward to the weekend as much as I am.

 

I have been really busy this week getting bibs, hats and other stock together for the opening of Yuppy Bubby on etsy and am pleased to announce we officially opened last night!!! yey...!! I would like to thank everyone for their input as to what to call the store and special thanks to Lauren from ladaisi who informed me I could use both names because etsy allows for a tag line....so here we have Yuppy Bubby - Bits & Bobs For Bub. Now the only thing is and I'm not sure why but Yuppy Bubby is one word on etsy, for some reason it wouldn't allow a space so you'll find it as YuppyBubby but other than that all systems are ago. I listed just a couple of things last night so I could have the shop up and running and plan on having more listed soon. I've already had two sales in the last two days and hope things keep going the way they are.

 Country boy bib and hat set....first sale...

 

Transport bib and hat set....second sale...

 

These are the two sets that sold in the last couple of days and I enjoyed putting them together so much. I can't wait to see what everyone's bubs look like in their matching sets, even my bub, he has a country boy set waiting for him and I'm busting to be able to put it on him but we have a few more months to go yet..lol.

 

Strawberry Delight bib...I love this fabric..

 

Flower Power bib...I couldn't resist this gorgeous pattern..

 

These are the two bibs I listed on etsy last night and they've already had 10 views...there will be lots more coming it just takes time getting it all together being as it's just me cutting all patterns out and then sewing them up as well as running the house and having kids under foot but I am getting there. I have a pile of bibs to put together today and then some hats to cut out...

 

Today's bibs waiting to be put together....

 

I never thought I'd like sewing so much in my life as I've always found certain items difficult and tricky to make but I wake up every morning and I look forward to deciding which fabric to use for hats and bibs, which fabric will be used for burping napkins and even how much time I can realistically allow myself in a day to spend on the sewing machine.

 

I will share prices here on products but everything will be listed on etsy as well...individual bibs are

$2 each or a pack of five for $5.95, bib and hat sets are $9.95 each, individual hats are $5.95 each, Burping Napkins are $6.95 each or two for $12, bassinet sheet sets will be $9.95 each and change mats will be $12.95 each, postage and handling is a flat rate of $5.95. I'm really trying to keep things as reasonably priced as possible and have really worked out prices by what I would be prepared to pay in the shop and trust me girls, if you know me, I am a bargain hunter and won't pay exuberant amounts for necessitites of having a baby.

 

Last night I also sat down to design some cards with the help of vista print (got to love that company) and came up with the design that's at the top of this post....LOOK UP...Does this card not say Yuppy Bubby..?? Everyone who purchases from YuppyBubby will receive a card with their parcel....xo

 

Well mon ami's I must go as I have children to get to school, washing to get on, floors to vacuum and sewing to do, so it's another busy day here at Home, Love & Life and I look forward to checking in with you all again very soon......and please let me know what you think of the pricing, also as I have more products put together I will share them with you here as I list them....take care and have a great day...

 

Michelle xo