Birthday Makes & Friday Smiles

Catching up as I've only posted once in weeks but I haven't been idle.

I made 10 "crowns" just like Elsa wears in the film "Frozen" for my little grandee's birthday party. In the pots are sparkly diamantes and sequins for the little girl guests to stick on so they all had a crown to wear at the party.

I drew the shape on A4 card which was then stuck onto felt with fabric spray adhesive, then cut out. With cord elastic at each side they were ready to wear and the fun part of decorating was left to the children.

I also made drawstring goody bags in "Frozen" fabric for them to take home and I found Frozen activity packs at a bargain price.

I made another Elsa costume as my daughter and her little friends had worn out the one I made last year.  

This was made whilst I stayed in the apartment.... all guesswork and no overlocking, just a borrowed basic sewing machine.

and here's the 6 year old princess who wore it for her party and whilst I am well and truly "Frozen" out she had a wonderful time. 

Super cake in theme and the snowflakes were punched out with a paper punch in rice paper. Amazingly, when we tried it, it worked really well. They punched out perfectly.

Pop over to Annie's blog to start the weekend with smiles

Here are the reasons for my Friday Smile today but I do miss them so much. I'm looking forward now to seeing the Brighton Belles, my other two grandchildren. I just wish they were all nearer.

Last week it was her little brother's 2nd birthday and he had a really suitable cake ..... a great idea, made by their Mamma and really novel.....a big digger doing a demolition job on a heap of crushed Maltesers and broken chocolate bars.

We went to a tractor festival out in the countryside and my little grandson was so excited.

Tractors old and new and this old relic took the children on rides, (and quite a few adults too)

Still Smiling! and this one amazed me how agile and fearless she was!

There were ploughing competitions and, as the furrows were ploughed, the crop of potatoes was turned up. We were all given sacks to collect potatoes and I fully expected to have to weigh and pay for them but they were FREE and we all staggered home with the bounty.

The two couples, below, gave me a smile as they had the perfect way to carry their spuds to their car........on their umberellas.

My final smile is because I will see Cardarian, (my lovely friend Dolores) who will visit me next week and we will be going to Port Sunlight Show on Sat 3rd Oct which means I will meet up with some other lovely crafty friends. If anyone, who knows us, is planning to be there we will be outside the front at 1pm so come and say "Hello".

German Town Views

I've not long returned from a lovely visit to my DD2 and her family in Germany and here's a taster of the pretty little town where she lives. It seems to be the fashion this year to decorate bikes with knitting. An extension of yarn bombing that we often see in England.

 Carola , a blogging buddy in California (who was born in Germany) will love seeing these pictures as her mother was married in this town and I always think of her when I am there and wonder if I am walking in her footsteps.

A quick "Hello" to Mountain View California who always pops in but never leaves a comment! Thanks for visiting.

I love these painted benches

There is always some new public art around the place and this time I found a new friend to cuddle up to and it looks like he's had plenty of people doing the same as his knee was shiny. No artist's name to be seen and no name of the subject of the sculpture.

(I've since been told that it's Mark Twain but now I'll have to find how he is connected to this lovely little German town)

 This, below, is one of my favourite pieces of public art in the town.

Maybe it reminds me of the main reason for my visit............

These two special little people had such fun on this spinner and big sister kindly  did the pushing but I just couldn't catch little bro' when his feet were flying out in the air. He didn't have an ounce of fear!

As with most waterside fences, an increasing amount of padlocks are engraved and romantically placed by couples to express their undying love.

 I was told that they were now causing a problem with their weight.

 Here's one of my favourite town centre buildings and the horse drawn tour carriages, clip clopping around the cobbled streets, add so much to the atmosphere.

 Lots more to come ......soon.