Toddler Tuesday - Playing Matchy Match

Back before Christmas I made Max a matching pairs game for my project in the handmade gift round-up (you can see the tutorial here).

I was actually really nervous for him to open it on Christmas day, I thought he might just brush it aside in favour of the things he asked Santa for (Angry birds, chuggington, trucks, fire engines etc).

So when he opened it and actually loved it I was equal parts happy and surprised. When we were playing with it on Christmas Day he asked me 'why you make this for me Mumma?' and I told him 'because I love you'. He gave me the cutest smile and said 'I love this thing you made for me Mumma'. Toddlers are seriously the sweetest thing on the planet!!

We've played it several times in the last week and I can't believe how good Max is at it. He definitely has a better memory than me!!

A Better Christmas Recap

After my post the other day you would be forgiven for thinking that our Christmas was a total write-off. It wasn't though. Up until the incident with Sean's Aunt it was actually a really great Christmas day.

I was awake really early on Christmas morning (4am) feeding Lincoln and then I couldn't get back to sleep because I was so excited for Max. He really got into Christmas this year and understood what it was all about, so I was really, really, really looking forward to him waking up and seeing all the presents under the tree and in the stockings.

After Lincoln went back to sleep I climbed into bed with Max and tried to gently wake him up. He was sound asleep and I kept saying things to him like 'It's Christmas!' 'I think I just saw Santa!' 'There's a reindeer on the roof!', but he stayed sound asleep... Eventually I fell asleep and then woke up around 7am when Max *finally* woke up.

As soon as I realised he was awake I asked him if he knew what day it was. He looked sleepy and confused so I asked him if he thought that anyone special had visited us in the night. That clicked for him and he got sooooo excited. He yelled out 'It's Christmen Day!!' and jumped out of bed to go and see if Santa had been!

This was his 'crazy excited' face once he saw all the presents!

We got straight into the present opening and we started off with the Santa presents in his stocking (handmade by my very clever Mum). Max had so much fun opening his presents and loved every single one of them!

While we waited for Sean's brother to arrive we checked out the plate of treats we'd left out for Santa and his reindeer. He laughed and laughed when he saw that Santa had eaten the cookie and drank the milk, he thought it was so funny! I showed him the teeth marks in the carrot from the reindeer and all of a sudden he got serious and asked me where did the reindeer do their poo. Turns out he was worried that they had pooped on the roof. Too cute!!

The rest of the morning was spent opening more presents, playing with new toys, swimming, snuggling (with Lincoln) and eating Christmas lunch.

The next morning when we were back in Brisbane I came out of my bedroom about 5am to change Lincoln and found Max standing next to the Christmas tree crying. I hugged him and asked what was wrong and he said that the Elves hadn't left him a special treat (in the lead-up to Christmas the Elves had been leaving Max a candy cane on the tree each morning). I hugged him tighter and told him that Christmas was finished and that Santa and the elves would be back next year. The poor little thing cried even harder :(. I took him back to bed and thankfully he was much happier when he woke up later on. He did tell me though that he wanted it 'to go very quickly to be Christmen again'. So sweet!

Funny side note about the candy canes - after the third day of the elves leaving Max a candy cane I noticed that he was asking me to unwrap them, but then wasn't eating them. I asked him if he was happy that the elves were giving him candy canes and he said 'oh yes!'. Then I asked him if he liked to eat candy canes and he said 'ummm no, they taste like toothpaste'. I love that he was excited to get them even though he didn't like to eat them!

Because we had a rather traumatic end to our Christmas day I spent a lot of time on boxing day talking to Max about all the fun things that had happened at Christmas in the hopes that he would only remember the good stuff. I took this little video that evening and it makes me think that he still did have a good day :)



So although it wasn't the best Christmas I've ever had, I think Max thought it was a very special day and that's what it's all about :).

I hope you all had a really great Christmas with your loved ones too!!

What would you do?

Christmas. It started out being the best day ever with, Max was sooooo excited that Santa had visited. But it ended in the most bizare circumstances, resulting in us driving three and a half hours back to Brisbane in the late evening (we got home at midnight).

Late in the afternoon (after we'd all had Christmas lunch), Max was in the pool with his Nona & Pop along with Sean's Aunt and Uncle. I was up in the house reading a magazine and the rest of the extended family were all taking a nap.

I could hear Max being silly in the pool and everyone laughing along with whatever he was doing. Then he started bawling his eyes out. Not that unusual, he was tired and full of sugar and he normally cries when he hurts himself (like most three year olds). I saw Aggie (Sean's Mum) bring him up the steps so I went out to give him a hug and find out what happened.

Between Max and Aggie I found out that Max had thrown a hard plastic toy and hit Sean's Aunt in the head (she was sitting right next to him). Her reaction was to lash out and hit him back. Hard, and in the throat. Max was completely inconsolable, Sean's Mum was so mad that she was shaking and I can't even begin to describe what I was feeling.

I woke Sean up and he was gobsmacked. Once he understood what had happened he was furious. Sean and I handle things very differently, I was crying and yelling and shaking and ready to fly off the handle, but Sean was quiet and still and the most angry I have ever seen him. We could not believe that his Aunt had hit Max. Not smacked (which would still make me angry anyway), but she had reacted in anger and hit him.

Aggie wanted me to go and speak to her straight away, but I knew if I did I would lose my temper and say something I would regret. So we handed Lincoln (who was sound asleep) to Aggie and took Max out for a drive to get some ice cream. Once Max was distracted Sean and I had a chat about what we were going to do. We decided that I would let Linda know that we were sorry Max hit her with the toy, but that her reaction was way out of line and that she was to never lay another hand on him. Then we were going to pack the car and head back to Brisbane (unless she decided to leave, then we would stay).

We went home and let Aggie know what we were going to do. She immediately started crying because she loves Sean and our kids more than anything else and didn't want us to leave.

I called Linda aside and started off by apologising for Max hitting her (to be fair he threw a toy that accidentally hit her, but I was trying to be nice seeing as I was about to give her a piece of my mind). She mustn't have been able to tell how furiously angry I was because she tried to hug me and say that she forgave him. I started to lose my temper at that point, but tried to hold it together. I stepped back and told her not to touch me and that I wasn't finished. I said that she had no right to hit my child and that there was absolutely no excuse for what she had done.

She exploded and started yelling at me that he had hit her first and that I was doing a really bad job of raising Max. I absolutely LOST MY SHIT. I screamed at her that she knew nothing about raising a child (she and her husband chose not to have children so that they could focus on being buddists*) and that hitting Max like that was unforgivable. She reacted by saying that she had trained kids at karate and knew more about children than I did.

I don't remember exactly how things went next, but she stormed out of the room yelling that everything was always about me, and I tried to follow her (whilst yelling at her), but Sean held me back so I couldn't. (I'd already asked Sean's brother to take Max outside to play so thankfully he didn't hear or see any of this).

I cried and vented to Sean for a few minutes and told Aggie that we would be leaving (she was crying even more by this point), she told us that she would ask Linda to leave instead. We took both kids this time and left the house for 45 minutes so that she could pack her stuff and go.

When we got back her car was still there so Sean went in to see what was happening. He came back out ten minutes later and said that she had decided that seeing as she'd done nothing wrong(!!) she wasn't leaving. Sean and I agreed that we would just pack up and go. That process took a good couple of hours because Max had a million Christmas presents spread around the house, Sean's Mum was crying and begging us to stay, Sean's grandparents were trying to smooth things over and convince Sean and I that we could all stay and forget anything had ever happened. At one point Sean's Mum asked her to leave again, but his Grandma told her to stay (I think).

Eventually we had everything packed up and we got in the car and left.

I still can't believe how it all happened. Nothing like this has ever happened in either of our families before. In our family no one is violent, no one has ever hit anyone, something like this is completely out of left field. Sean told me as we were driving home that his Aunt had said to him that she hadn't meant to hit Max as hard as she did. Sean said to her that she should've hit him at all and she again responded by saying 'he hit me first'. And Aggie told me that the Aunt thought she was justified in hitting Max because she felt that he threw the toy deliberately and with malice. She could not see that she had done the wrong thing... Unbelievable.

So we're back at home, Max is sad that Christmas is over, Sean's Mum is still devestated that we left and Sean and I are still reeling.

Most bizare Christmas ever...


(*I don't know much about buddists, but I don't think they're supposed to hit three year olds.)

9 Handmade Christmas Gifts

Today I am teaming up with some of my all time favourite bloggers to bring you 9 gorgeous handmade Christmas gifts. These are some seriously talented ladies and I think you're going to love what they've come up with!  Scroll down past the links to see my little project and then have a look at all the others. So many inspiring ideas!!

1. DIY Felt Slippers from Wills Casa

2. Personalised Hand-Stamped Tea Towels from Chibi Run

3. Personalised Tile Coasters from Made 2 Style

4. Sock Monsters from Ava Pot Pie

5. Homemade Basil Pesto from KukuCouture Invitations

6. Lace Boot Cuffs from S{Thomp}ing Ground

7. Aromatherapy Eye Pillow from Markham Street Design

8. DIY Paint by Numbers Canvas from Sophie at Home

9. Personalised Memory Matching Game from Max & Me

For my handmade gift I whipped up a little game of Memory Matching for Max. He has a great memory and loves playing these types of games, so I think he will absolutely love this little gift.

To make the game I printed out two identical photos of each person in Max's extended family. Then using my cricut I cut each photo down to a circle.

Next up I punched out another 24 slightly larger circles of white card stock and then another 24 (slightly larger again) circles from some scrapbooking card that I picked up at spotlight.

I layered the circles and stuck them all together to make the matching cards. So easy!!

I finished up by decorating a little round kraft box with some card & twine and I added the letter M (M for Max's Memory Matching) to the top of the lid.

Sweet and simple, I can't wait to play with Max once he's opened it up on Christmas day!

Now tell me, do you include handmade gifts each year at Christmas? What are you planning on making this year?

DIY Christmas Ideas + A Giveaway

**This is a sponsored post for 3M via Digital Parents Collective. 

As always, all opinions are my own.**

I love Christmas and I absolutely love decorating for Christmas!! All year round I pin ideas and count down the days until I can crack out the decorations :).

This year I was planning a really rustic and nature inspired Christmas, but with a new baby, a full on three year old and my little shop keeping me busy I ended up with a mix of last years beachy decorations and some new (handmade) rustic ones. The end result is a fresh, fun and laid back Christmas style.

The biggest change this year is that I let Sean and Max decorate the tree. Those of you that know me well will know that is a *really* big deal. I'm normally an absolute control freak when it comes to decorating! They did a really good job though and watching them work together to decorate the tree was absolutely priceless.

You might notice the shell and starfish garland from Max's party is still hanging along the window. It looked perfect with the blues, whites and silvers of the Christmas tree so I decided to keep it up. I hung it using the small 3M command clear hooks. I love that they're completely clear (including the pull down tab), when you stand back you can't even see the hooks, so the focus stays on the garland.

My favourite decoration this year is a rustic burlap and linen wreath that I DIYed. I've been wanting to make one ever since I saw this post, and I'm so glad that I finally got around to it. The wreath makes me smile every time I walk up to the front door! It was super easy to make too.

I started out with a 15 inch foam wreath form, some soft burlap, off-white linen, scissors, hot glue and a paint-brush.

I cut my fabric until little squares, mine were each about 4cm square.

 

To make the wreath I folded each piece of fabric over the end of the paintbrush, added a dab of hot glue to the end and then poked it about one cm into the wreath.

Then I kept going until the entire wreath was covered (with a few breaks along the way to feed Lincoln, my very hungry 5.2 kilo monster baby!!). I love how it turned out!

To hang the wreath I hot glued a long ribbon onto the back of it. The using a small command clear hook (upside down on the back of the door) I looped the ribbon up over the top of the door and then tied it to the hook. Once I was happy with the height it was hanging at I added a sheer silver ribbon over the top of the hook. The 3M hooks are absolutely perfect for using on my big timber door, when it's time to take the wreath down the hook comes off cleanly without taking any of the finish with it. An absolute must in my opinion... I cannot imagine having to re-stain the door, it would be an epic task!

To finish off my decorating I decided to tackle another DIY that I originally saw on pinterest. Using my 3M hooks I made a string tree in our (previously very bare) entry way.

At the point of each 'branch' I used a small command clear hook and then I hung each of the decorations using the decorating clips. I filled the tree with a collection of small baubles and handmade decorations. It was so much fun to make and I love how it fills up my entryway with festive cheer! This is another DIY that I wouldn't have considered with out the 3M hooks, I love that I can put the decorations up without a single nail hole in the wall. Once the 1st of January rolls around you won't even know the string tree was there!

For the DIY decorations I used a combination of these pinwheels that I first saw over at Ella Claire, these ornaments that I debuted over at Chibi Run and the star topper is just made from cardboard, scored and folded and then spray painted silver.

So there you have it, my Christmas decorating done and dusted!

The 3M hooks that I used for my decorating are available in a range of sizes suitable for different weights – including the Mini, Small and Medium hooks as well as the Utensil and Decorating Clips priced from $6.99 (RRP). To see how easily they come off the wall check out this quick 1 minute youtube video (it even has a super cute decorating idea included!).

You can buy command clear hooks at all leading supermarkets and retail outlets across Australia. Or.... you can enter my giveaway and score yourself one of 5 prize packs valued at $36.35 (total value of over $180!).

All you have to do to enter is tell me in 25 words or less what your favourite style of Christmas decorating is. The winners will be drawn at 5pm on the 13th of December and entry is open to all Australian residents. The winners will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond, so please make sure your comment links to your email address (or include it along with your comment).  {This giveaway has now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered, the winners will be announced shortly.}

Good luck and happy decorating!!

(If you would like to see my decorating from previous years you can click here, here and here.)

12 Days of Christmas

I'm very excited to bring you 12 delicious Christmas recipes from some of my favourite bloggers. There are some seriously delicious goodies below. I dare you not to try every single one!!

1. Egg Nog Cookies from The Recipe Critic

2. Roasted Grapes Goat Cheese Bruschetta from A Bubbly Life

3. Christmas Orange Bow Knot Rolls from Big Red Clifford

4. Sinfully Rich Fudgy Brownies from Mama Miss

5. Cottage Cheese Cookies from Hubby Made Me

6. Turtle Cheesecake Fudge from Inside BruCrew Life

7. White Chocolate Lemon Truffles from Max & Me

8. Egg Nog Pancakes with Egg Nog Syrup from High Heels & Grills

9. Peppermint Christmas Candies from Love, Pomegranate House

10. Mexican Hot Chocolate and Pie Crust Cookies from Last Night's Dinner

11. Peppermint Crunch Brownie Cookies from Six Sisters' Stuff

12. Overnight Egg Nog French Toast from Chef in Training

I've got a batch of the truffles sitting in my fridge and I'm planning on whipping up some of the Peppermint Christmas Candies for Sean (my peppermint loving husband) this afternoon. Do you have a favourite Christmas recipe? Please share it with me :).

 

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

Eleven inspiring bloggers (and me) are joining forces tomorrow to bring you the 12 days of Christmas. Twelve tasty and very Christmasy recipes. Make sure you stop by tomorrow to check out the deliciousness!! 

Every year as soon as Christmas starts to get close, I get the baking bug. Which is crazy, because Christmas round these parts also coincides with the hottest days of the year! These chocolate truffles are the perfect solution, they're delicious, fairly easy to make and you don't need to turn the oven on. It's become a bit of tradition for me,  I make different versions of these for friends and family every year.

I originally found this recipe here and I've changed it up a bit over the years to suit my style :).

Ingredients:
 - 1/3 cup of thickened cream
 -  250g quality white chocolate (I like Nestle Plaistowe), chopped
 - 2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
 - 300g white chocolate melts
 - white sprinkles or flaked coconut

Heat the cream for one minute in a bowl over a simmering pot of water, stirring with a metal spoon.

Add the chopped white chocolate and stir with the metal spoon until it's all melted and smooth.

Remove the bowl from the saucepan and stir in the lemon rind. Cover with cling-wrap and refrigerate until firm (3 - 4 hours).

Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Remove truffle mix from the fridge, and using two teaspoons worth at a time roll into balls.

(If it's hot where you are stick the balls back into the fridge for a further 30 minutes before coating them.)

Put the chocolate melts into a bowl over a simmering pot of water and melt for 4 minutes or until smooth, stirring with a metal spoon.

Using a fork dip each truffle into the melted chocolate to coat. Before the chocolate sets add some sprinkles or coconut to the top of the truffle.

Put them back into the fridge to set.

Eat, share and enjoy!!

5 DIY Christmas Ornaments

I love Christmas! It’s easily my favourite time of the year, the food, family, festivities and the chance to fully embrace my other great love - DIY. There is something about Christmas that turns my crafty tendencies into complete overdrive. This year I’ve been busy making my own Christmas ornaments and I’m so excited to share them with you!

These sweet little wreaths are super easy and cheap to make and are perfect for traditional style Christmas decorating.

1.    You’ll need

    - bakers Twine

    - mini hoop (I got mine from spotlight)

    - clay stars (here’s a great recipe)

    - sequins

    - glue gun

    - scissors

    - string for hanging the ornament

2.    Hot glue the end of your twine to the hoop and start wrapping.

3.    Keep wrapping, stopping to add a dab of hot glue to the back every now and again.

4.    Once your hoop is completely covered secure the twine with more hot glue and then glue on your ceramic stars and sequins.

5.         Add some string for hanging and you’re done!

Hang one of these kissing balls in your house and make sure to use it to your advantage!

1. You’ll need:

- styrofoam ball

- christmas fabric

- 2 types of ribbon ( I used one thin and one wide ribbon)

- twine

- Christmas greenery (mistletoe if you can find it)

- scissors

- rubber band

2. Cut a square of fabric big enough to cover your ball (with enough extra to give a nice finish at the top), wrap your ball and secure with twine.

3. add rubber band above the twine and thread a long piece of the thin ribbon under the ball, through the rubber band and tie in a knot at the top for hanging. Add another piece of thin ribbon, crossing over at the bottom as shown and tuck into rubber band. Add more twine to secure the ribbon and remove the rubber band.

4. Tie a pretty bow around the twine.

5. Add leaves and trim the fabric done to look pretty.

6. You’re done, now get kissing!!

These are one of my favourite ornaments this year. They’re so simple to make, but a little time consuming. I recommend putting on a few episodes of your favourite show while you make these (Mad Men wins for me).

1.    You’ll need:

    - sheets of paper (I aged mine using this technique)

    - styrofoam ball

    - ribbon

    - string for hanging

    - scissors

    - hot glue

    - paint brush (or something similarly shaped)

2.    Cut your paper up into little squares (mine were 2cm x 2cm).

3.    Tie a piece of string (I used really thin gold ribbon) in a loop and hot glue to the top of the styrofoam ball.

4.    Fold a piece of paper around the end of your paintbrush, add a dab of hot glue to the point and attach to your ball.

5. Keep going until the entire ball is covered.

6. Tie a pretty bow and then hot glue it to the top of the ball, then step back and admire your creativity :).

These little rope mirrors are perfect if you're planning a beachy or nautical themed Christmas (I also think it could look really sweet hanging inside a dollhouse).

1. You’ll need:

    - small mirror

    - chipboard circle

    - jute rope

    - Christmas ribbon

    - scissors

    - hot glue

    - string for hanging

2. Hot glue your mirror to the centre of your chipboard and then hot glue a piece of ribbon to the chipboard (glue it on facing the wrong way as shown).

3. Cut a piece of jute to size and then glue around the outside of the mirror.

4. Repeat until all of the chipboard is covered.

5. Loop the ribbon over the joins in the jute and hot glue to the back of the circle (adding a piece of string for hanging as you go.

6. Reflect on how clever you are (couldn’t help myself, sorry!!).

These little hoop ornaments are incredibly quick to make and add you can make any shape you like. I’m planning on making one for each of my family members with their initial on them. Sweet and simple :).

1. You’ll need:

- small embroidery hoop

- hessian

- pencil

- cardboard shape to trace (I printed out a star shape and cut around it)

- scissors

- pencil

- sequin strand

- fabric glue

- twine for hanging

2. Cut out a small square of hessian, secure in hoop and then trim down the excessive fabric.

3. Trace your shape onto the fabric.

4. Draw over your pencil line with fabric glue.

5. Carefully position your strand of sequins along the glue lines.

6. Add some twine and hang and admire!

So there you have it, 5 easy DIY Christmas decorations to make this year. Let me know if you make any of these for yourself, I would love to see how the turn out.