Mumma made it: DIY birthday cards/ nature threading

Happy Birthday Mum ( in law)

Its madness here I tell ya, pure madness. I am trying to finish the last of this surprise pressie before sunday, organising a small (cant say too much) gathering for Saturday night, and trying to continue funtioning as a normal mother too. Its not so fun but Im getting there!
This morning, my printer broke down ( and seriously, I need it more than air at the moment) as did my car, so whilst I had a mini melt down, Amahli and Jared entertained themselves.... about 15 minutes later, I realised the house was dead quiet and cold sweat errupted. And so began the hunt for two small children, one fairly easily amused, the other addicted to trouble and mischief.
I found them thankfully: one happily sorting out his men....

(I found these men in a $2 shop and the are so great for sorting but also for playing too!) in a tray I had put out for him this morning, the other, was totally absorbed in the very delicate art of acupunture ( otherwise known as taking all the pins out of my puncushion, testing them on her own leg, exclaiming "OW!" and then putting them all back in the pincushion.)

And before I said "Amahli NO!" I realised that she was being extremely careful, and had been in here for the whole time I was melting down and then trying to find her. And so I quietly say at my table (and fiddled with a piece of fabric I very quickly turned into disaster) and let her finish what she was doing.

the dress disaster.. yeah it looks cute but it doesn allow for a whole lotta movement... anyone got a good easy free pattern from the internet????

( the disaster is a dress, done in the pillow case dress style but it didnt work so well) ( again)
Sometimes I dont realise that she is so much more capable and careful than I give her credit for. She is learning so much about the world and how things she be treated/handled but too often I stop her for fear of her getting hurt. Personally, I thought she was too young for this fun activity (as Jumeirah loved doing it at 2 yrs) but she showed me that she was well and truly able to do it and she enjoyed it.

Once my hilarious dress was as finished as its going to be without intervention, I made my Mum in law a birthday card. I love handmade cards!! I love to get them and I love to make them. This one is really simple but looks so effective.
I used ivory cardstock, some green handmade paper ( I bought this sheet but will work out how to make it one day) and some tiny bling for the corners. I also tore the paper that backs the 60 and ran an ink sqaure around it to make it stand out a bit. The 60 is cut from a Cricut ( which I will be getting my own in a few weeks!) which I used at a scrapping shop. Took about 10 minutes and saved me about $5 plus it looks great! :)

This afternoon, whilst waiting for Jumeirah, I collected some sticks and began absentmindedly to thread leaves on. Jared quickly took this off me and began himself to thread and he was actually quite particular and which ones were to go on... this was a great little hand eye co ordination activity that was lovely to sit and do in the shade of a big tree. Amahli took mine when it was done and pulled off all the leaves :)