Sweet Fabric:
original

I fashioned this laptop stand out of bits & pieces I had lying around at home. The only things I had to buy for this project were two small hinges.

It's craft born out of necessity.

When we moved I cut an old table in half lengthways to make a slimline desk. Unfortunately my laptop & keyboard didn't fit properly on the desk so I was typing & reading at a really awkward (& uncomfortable) angle.

My brother has one of those store bought laptop stands so I rang him to find out where to buy one & went to the shop. I was horrified that this little piece of plastic was going to set me back around $80! In addition the sales person was extremely unhelpful so I huffed out of the shop determined to make one for myself.

I think practical things might as well also be beautiful. I've done a bit of embroidery to pretty things up & because I was unsure if my HAC would stand up to holding the laptop I didn't want my efforts to be in vain...

it's also a cookbook stand. Featuring the fabulous Minus the Boombah cookbook as recommended by Aunty Cookie.

Copyright December 09...Kirsty Macafee

If you only know me on the blog you'd be forgiven for thinking that I'm not much for the words. My posts here are short & sharp, but in real life there's a lot of chat, both out loud & internal. I think about words a lot. They are important. I try to choose my own words carefully (& consider the impact they have on others).

I really truly think that The Gambler is one of life's true ACES. "Every hand's a winner & every hand's a loser".

So after my fold post last week I set about making the series. I really enjoyed the relationship between the house of cards & the lyrics & the whole life's a balancing act thing. Now there's "an ace that I could keep".

I'm pretty confident that these'll be a hit over here & here too.

They now hang as posters over the kitchen.

Copyright December 09...Kirsty Macafee

just the right size for a small bottom.

We've got a bit of a love of stools at our place. Often the three kids & I are found sitting perched on little stools in front of the gas fire.

This little toad stool is constructed from a tin can, a round placement & the foam from the other day as well as a little extra stuffing. The can has been weighted to keep it stable.

For the price of a few screws & a couple of hours of your time you could make one of these yourself.

A lovely gift idea I think.

Another USB pincushion. This one is a collaboration with The Big Girl.

We've decided that we're going to give these as Christmas gifts to our family kid friends & currently have a bit of a zoo in production.

I think it would be pretty hard to lose a USBee & certainly it would be easily identified if it ever got pinched.

OK, so I didn't anticipate such a favourable reaction to yesterday's shelves...thank you so much.

Now I'm going to look like a big fat show off & for that I apologise.

On Saturday the HAC girls & I were chatting about making stuff & cool crafty tools & Justine & Cindy were talking about a lazy susan cutting mat that a friend (edit: ack...apparently it was Kate's - clearly my mind had already wandered) had. I think there may have been a casual "challenge" thrown in for good measure...red rag to a bull.

So on Sunday morning I made the lazy susan using bits & pieces we had lying around the house... old placemat, laminex top (I think from an elfa storage system), old container lids, my trusty baby bosch, a couple of screws, bearings & this divine fabric from the lovely Clutterpunk to give the whole thing a lovely crafty feel.

It measures 450mm x 300mm so it's big enough to hold the next size cutting mat as well & best of all you can use your multi tasker on the table top & then you have a lazy susan ironing board.

No more deep squat & turns for me...I prefer not to mix my craft & exercise.

OR fitting a square peg in a round hole.

I had originally purchased only 1 tube to make a toy box for the smallest...it kicked around the floor of the craft room for a while & I'd done nothing with it.

All the while I'd been enjoying posts from this tumblr.

http://bookshelves.tumblr.com/

...then I got to thinking how they'd be wonderful as a bookshelf & that's what I've done. I've left the tubes natural & just given them a bit of a sand to remove the rough edges but I think it would look lovely covered in vintage wallpaper.

The tubes are held together using the webbing I picked up at Reverse Art Truck. I've just cut to size to make straps with velcro fastenings.

The real beauty of this "shelf" is it's versatility. You could put them together in any configuration you like & possibly incorporate other pieces of furniture to make interesting shapes.

Once we are in the new place I plan to hang a couple of them on the wall.

Don't you think they would look fabulous painted white & jam packed full of brightly coloured yarn?

You must have a look at this amazing set also constructed from sono tubes (with how to).

Edit 27 September :: I just visited Style Spion (one of the sites that links to this post) & followed links to much flasher & more designery type shelves similar to these. You can see them here & here. Just goes to show...nothing is original & girls who just like to make stuff can have designer type ideas too.

I hope it was worth the wait.

Spool holder made by me using bits and pieces I had on hand.

Pretty shadows too.

I guess it qualifies as an Ikea hack.

I have a free standing spool holder which is excellent but what I like about this is the fact that it hangs (leaving valuable shelf/table space free for more clutter).

You can see the evolution of the idea if you like...

spool rack + surplus pencils + bargain threads = something I'm proud of

I'm thinking about making these in smaller sizes & maybe hosting another HAC workshop.

I'm working on a little music box shop update but I want to make sure that the pictures tell the story.

Do you see the speaker below the "floor" of the music box?

Why I think these are good...

Music and/or stories have been excellent sleep cues for my smalls.

I like the idea of using a "superseded" piece of technology in a new way.

I'm proud of the fact that the speaker & the MP3 player can be used outside the music box.

Happy weekend.

A selection of my finest produce.

The hexagon faker fabric is my weekend favourite.

Hope your weekend has been relaxed and lovely.

& no brown in sight.

I've been a bit out of the loop this week. Parenting, working, socialising & celebrating. All really important & good stuff! I'm planning a bit of a clicketty trip tomorrow. I'll see you all then.

Update: There's now a little how to here.

sleep tight.

Tin can music box made for PANDAs good night - Night Out Night Off. It plays Brahms Lullaby.

Posted (late) to Ms Cookie.

All my babes went to sleep with plinky plunky music playing in their rooms & Lullaby is my favourite.