Making Meal Times Fun

If you've been keeping an eye on me through my Facebook page, on Twitter or through Instagram you might have spotted a new line of crochet goodies!

These pieces have grown from a rather soft spot in my heart, put there by my ever growing and learning son and the love that my other half and I have for food and all the amazing discoveries and adventures that you can have with it.

Something we both discussed, even before our little one was born, was the increased desire to introduce our children into the world of food with excitement and curiosity!

Not just to indulge in foodie wonders but to build a healthy knowledge of food, where it comes from and how it's made. 

And the memories!

Who doesn't have a fond memory of ice cream or a treasured recollection of butter on toast round their grandparents, or that sneaky toffee treat? And my word, roast dinners!

 It all adds up a wonderful way to live life, loving food.

As our little one grew and the time to introduce food came, we found that food alone doesn't always spark the interest of their ever busy minds. 

And whilst hearing of other parents difficulties, trying to convince their little one that biscuits aren't the only food in the world, I found myself developing and working on pieces to try to make eating and meal times much more fun and exciting to be a part of.

These pieces that I've brought together make sitting down at the dinner table for a delicious meal so much more exciting!

Teddy Bear Placemats and Teddy Bear Coasters, crocheted from 100% cotton, and completely washable!

They get to choose their own colour or even a few different colours to make things a bit more fun. It can be their own little job to lay the table with fun teddy bear mats and even take it as a routine queue that teddy bear tableware means food time!

My own boy has a blue bear (as pictured above) and calls out "Teddy Bear!" if I've forgotten to get his placemat out for lunch. In fact, I need to make him a new one to alternate as they go through the wash, it's becoming a solid part of his routine which not only helps with meal times, but is starting to fill me with the most amazing feeling of having designed and made something that's really helping my son.

I hope these help other little ones to get excited about wonderful, new eating experiences and if nothing else, to make the dining table a more fun place to sit and enjoy time with the family!

Folksy Shop

Etsy Shop

#MakeMealTimesFun

x

Helping With The Post

How do the orders you place with Rebecca's Emporium and Pancakes & Milk get to you? 

When you buy online, it's easy to forget the journey your parcel goes on when it travels from the home it was made in all the way to your own home.

When you buy from us, your order goes on a very special journey...

with my son.

He's 2 whole years old now and every step outside of the house is an adventure. 

When he was very little, your order would come with us as he nestled into me, wrapped in a sling with the cutest bobble hat on.

When he was toddling, your order would be safely packed into a bag and hooked onto his buggy, sometimes he would ask to walk alongside and help me to push the buggy himself.

He says hi to the lovely people at the post office and gives a wonderful smile when they tell him how adorable he is.

Now he is 2, and for the first time he asked to walk all the way to the post office without the buggy.

He loved it, and loved helping me to post your orders.

So as well as helping me to show my lovely son how wonderful handmade things are and to teach him techniques that are so important to keep alive, you are helping me to take him on adventures, introduce him to lovely people and excite him about post and connecting with people.

Thank you!

x

Pure Wool Love

Unfortunately the bug is still in the house and now we're all poorly!

*cue sarcastic woop!*

Fingers crossed the bucketfuls of hot lemon and vapour rub will see us right

I don't know if it's just me, but I refuse to work on anything for my customers whilst I'm ill. I don't know, it just doesn't feel right, especially if it's a wonderful snuggly blanket for a little one!

So, work aside, I've decided to treat myself to a few crochet goodies myself!

Today's project, a lovely crocheted bowl made from a gorgeous pure wool from The Lost Gardens of Heligan 

Since I started my love of wool through felting, it's always been very important to me to make sure that the wool I use is actually wool and not a plastic hybrid.
I love wool! 

It's beautiful, practical, wonderful to work with and in all honesty pure magic!

Read a few points here to get an idea of its total awesomeness:

http://www.campaignforwool.org/about-wool/ 

I thought I'd treat my house to a pure wool bowl (it's found a home in my bathroom, keeping all of my hair bobbles in one tidy place at the moment).

It's a very simple crochet pattern, but I'll write it down in case you want to have a go:

(UK crochet pattern)

Using a crochet hook sized 4.50mm

and Heligan Garden Twine, 100% pure wool

~ Ch 4 and sl st

(working in continuous rounds)

~ htr 12 sts into the centre circle

~ 2htr into every st

~2htr in the 1st st and 1 htr in the next st - repeat to the end of the round

~ 2htr in the next st and 1 htr in the next 2 st - repeat to the end of the round

~ 2htr in the next st and 1 htr in the next 3 st - repeat to the end of the round

~ dc into the front loop of each st to the end of the round

(changing to a size 4mm hook)

~ dc in every st to the end of the round

~ repeat the previous step for another 8 rounds ( or to your desired height)

~ change the colour of your yarn for the finishing st (I chose a scrap piece of blue yarn from my stash. You don't need much)

~ sl st to the end of the round

~ fasten off

I love how the twine gives the bowl more rigidity than what a softer wool would.
I've made bowls from normal, household string before too, and that's worked out quite well.
Perhaps even replace the blue edging for red and make an adorable Xmasy bowl and fill it with treats for a present with a personal touch!


Fall in love with wool!

x

Felt Jewellery

It's been a while since my last blog, but I haven't been sat on my butt watching daytime TV I promise!

...I've been re-launching Rebecca's Emporium!

WOOP!

:)

I sound like a loon I know, but I've missed my felting SO much, and finally finding some time to stab away at some wool and create an adorable little face, or quirky colour combination, has been like finding 'me' again.

I'm starting small, so no Pheeples or sculptural pieces yet, but I've got some new ring designs and I'm bringing back a range of felt ball necklaces!

All very exciting!

:)

Here's a sneaky peek:

Pumpkin Rings

Teddy Bear Rings

Felt Ball Earrings with Glass Beads

Bunny Brooches

I haven't taken any pretty photographs of my necklaces yet, but you'll have to take my word for it - they do exist!

I'm listing more pieces on my website now too, so pop over and take a peek.

www.rebeccasemporium.co.uk

Any website-making advice would be very much appreciated too.
I've re-written a lot of pieces and working on my tagging and things, so fingers crossed I know what I'm doing.

I've got my Etsy shop up and running again now too

Rebecca's Emporium - shop

I'm so excited to be back in the felting world!
I hope you like all my felty little guys, they're pretty excited to be out of their dusty box too.

:)

Hope you're all well

#MakeTheLittleThingsFun

Wednesday Makes - Cross Stitch

My felting might have been put on hold

(mostly because I couldn't bear the thought of little Finn discovering a felting needle, they're as sharp as anything!)

But that won't stop me from making things!

I've had a great time making little toy boxes and crocheted hats and at the moment, I'm really enjoying exploring the world of cross stitch.

Cross stitch was one of the many crafts that my Gramma was amazing at! She used to have great big landscapes and old town scenes neatly framed up on her walls and there would always be her next project all set up and half completed in the conservatory.
They were the sort of pictures that were so detailed and perfect, that only when you got right up close to them could you see all of the little thread crosses.

She's my craft hero, I swear!

I remember my very first cross stitched piece that I got as a kit when I was quite young. 

I still have it, tucked away in a pocket in my sewing basket 

:)

I've been getting into cross stitch recently as it seems to be a direction I can take the Pheeples, but I can easily lock it all away in a box with no fear of it all being ransacked when Finn gets mobile!

I started with some large Pheeple pieces which are still in my 'to-do' pile at the mo!

But these are my babies!

I love it!

It's like drawing in textiles.

There's so many more directions I can take my little guys and having a drawing come to life without the difficulties of 'how on earth am I going to make that?!' It's a lovely feeling now that I don't as much time as I did to ponder my little creations!

I've got a lot of plans for my cross stitch pieces! 

I can't wait to get more of them done...

...I just need more time!

:)

x

A Toy Box DIY

 How to make fun little toy boxes out of used milk cartons:

Do you find that you've got far too many baby bits and bobs lying around the house without a home?
Here's a super simple way to keep things tidy but still an attractive decoration and easy to personalise!

Make sure you have thoroughly washed out your box and it's completely dry.

First cut the top off at your desired height. If you want a shallower box, simply cut further down from the top.

Then, using a basic acrylic paint of your choice, start painting your box! 

A couple of coats will be needed to cover the writing,

and if you want the box to be more hard wearing, a coat of gloss or PVA should give it a nice finish.

To cover those raggedy edges up and give the box a homely feel, I felt a cosy crochet cuff would work lovely, or even a fabric one would work too.

Crochet cuff:

• Cast on and chain stitch to the circumference of your box
• Then undo 3 or 4 stitches (This will make the cuff slightly tighter than the box opening so that it will hug the box close and not slip down
• Slip stitch into the 1st chain to create a circle.
• Then single crochet (or double crochet - depending on if you use US or UK patterns) 8 rounds
• And cast off your stitching

You can make your cuff longer or shorter depending on how much of your box you would like to cover.

Once the paint on your box is dry, wrap your cuff around the rim of your box and fold half of it into your new toy box to give the edges a lovely finished touch.

Ta da!

A simple, cute and fun way to turn milk boxes into toy boxes!

x

Crochet Love

 

 

Sorry I haven't been very bloggy of late folks!

I seem to be having my time zapped away from me lately

How it's the middle of August already is beyond me!

 

I hope you're all having a lovely, summery month!

I've been seeing lots of family and friends, going on lots of little baby shopping sprees and I'll be off to visit Scotland at the end of the week!

I can't wait!

 

 

 

I've also been finding myself diving into the crochet world a little more this month.

I've dipped in and out in the past, seeing all of these lovely creations people have been making with a simple hook a yarn.

I was quite jealous.

I managed to teach myself the very basics using books and YouTube tutorials, but once I'd figured out how it worked, I admit, I became less interested and didn't pursue it further.

 

But recently, I've been venturing back into it.

With little bump getting bigger and bigger, I've been starting to think about things that I would like my little baby to have. Little keepsakes like I have.

And I have 2 very lovely crocheted blankets, made for me by my Gramma.

One of them was my baby blanket, and I want my little wriggler to have one too!

Especially seeing as it'll be a winter baby. I want it to be all warm and cosy, snuggled into a homemade blanket.

 

So - back to the hook I go!

 

I've just been focusing on making a granny square style blanket.

I'm aiming to get 2 done before baby pops

~ One, quite loose using a larger hook, in pastel purples and white.

~ And one, more tightly crocheted, stronger, and more a collection of little, different coloured squares.

 

I haven't got any photos to show you yet, but I will take some soon!

 

 

This is the same granny square idea that I'm going to work with.

I made this small blanket for a family member's new little baby boy.

I think he likes it!

 

 

I have to admit, I'm surprising myself with how much I'm falling in love with crochet!

 

I followed a pattern in my

Mollie Makes

magazine and made this adorable bow brooch

 

And I will be hopping back to their website for more crochet inspiration!

 

:)

 

 

I think I've got the bug.

I'm finding myself wondering what I can attack with my crocheting hook next!

 

 

 

One of my lovely followers on my Facebook page told me about an online crocheting club that I couldn't resist joining too.

 

 

 

slugsontherefrigerator

 

 

And Innocent Drinks are doing their Big Knit!

http://www.innocentdrinks.ie/static/ie/bigknit/crochet-pattern.pdf





Mwahaha, so many things to keep my new crocheting addiction busy!

And, with my sensible head on, it might be a better thing to be addicted to when baby comes along too.

- Less spiky needles involved!

*baby kicks in agreement*

 

 

On a sneaky side note, I couldn't resist a bit of knitting as well.

So many woollen adventures!

 

I decided to try to make a small, very amateur attempt at knitted bunting!

 

With pom poms of course!

 

Not too shabby?

 

Hopefully I'll get better in time to make more fun things for the little one when it gets here.

I just hope the poor little thing likes wool!!

 

 

I would advise anyone and everyone to have a go at crocheting something.

It's very therapeutic, and being able to create something useful/decorative with a simple hook is so rewarding!

Join the Crochet Club for beginners help, they're lovely folk!

 

 

Hope you're having a lovely day all!

 

x

 

 



 



24 Weeks With Bump!

 

I can't believe it's been so long!

24 weeks old today and little bump is getting bigger!

 

(Please excuse the workplace background!)

 

I don't know if this is the same for most pregnant ladies, but I feel like I've been pregnant forever. It's weird to think of myself without having someone else to constantly think and worry about, growing away inside my tummy!

The little wriggler has started properly poking away at my insides now too, which is a lovely feeling.

It kind of makes me feel like I haven't been making it up the whole time!

hehe

 

 

And the due date is creeping up now

19th November

I've started to see a few leaves on trees go golden already, and I even saw a ripe blackberry on my way to work today...

The inevitability of Autumn has never felt so scary!!

 

 

But with the terrifying thought that November is really only months away, comes a rather fun bit...

buying baby stuff!

 

Planning a little room, and little clothes, and little toys is so much more fun than I ever thought it would be!

Play time!

:)

 

www.mothercare.com

Cow print baby is a must have!

:)

 



 

 

Mooching around some lovely websites, I've got a good idea of the kind of environment I would like to make for my little baby.

 

 

 

 

www.kiddley.com 10 basic tips for designing a nursery

 

Bunting is a lovely idea. It brings colour into the room and if you get a gentle breeze through an open window, the gentle rustle and sway can add something exciting for baby to watch.

 

 

 

 

www.mothercare.com

 

We bought this adorable mosses basket from Mothercare and it's just perfect. Bright colours, but not too vibrant. A sturdy basket, removable covers to wash and a great size. We love it!

 

 

 

www.etsy.com/uk/shop/pomtastic

 

I love paper pom poms! I think they're so much fun, but are light and easy to hang without adding weight. And they can come in any colour you like. So if you have a colour theme, want something very neutral or really want to go bright, I think they're just perfect!

 

 

 

 

 

Admittedly, not for teeny tiny babies, but when they get bigger and grab and play, these are such a great idea!

I saw this DIY tutorial for making your own drums over on

A Beautiful Mess 

Such an inspiring page!

I'm definitely going to be having a go at making these for my little one,

and aren't they just gorgeous even as room decorations while baby is growing! 

 

 

 

Just a few ideas, but there's so much more!

I'll keep you posted with how our little baby space is coming along.

We've got another delivery of baby stuff coming today - it really is a bit like Xmas!

 

I hope you're all having a lovely week folks!

 

x