Getting crafty

Thank you all so much for the many and varied suggestions for inducing labour naturally - I knew all of you knowledgeable ladies would come up with some gems.  I have completely ruled out taking any castor oil, haven't been able to track down cohosh of any colour from the health stores in my local area and will ask the ob about a stretch and sweep at my appointment tomorrow. LinB - I don't even know what a wagon tongue is, let alone where I would find one in the middle of Sydney!  And don't laugh Trina, but I have tried walking with one foot on the road and one foot on the kerb (apparently the unevenness gets the pelvis rocking in the right way).  And as far as I know in Australian grammar kerb = the bit between the road and the footpath, curb = to reduce something, eg we all wish we could curb our addiction to fabric stashing.

In the meantime I had a massage which left me with bruises because the therapist was pressing so hard on the pressure points, had another acupuncture session where the acupuncturist stated that I may just be one of those rare people whose body will 'never' go into labour naturally, had my hair cut, had a manicure and pedicure and am keeping up with the walking.  I'm taking evening primrose oil capsules both orally and blush internally because I've read it softens the cervix.  I've been doing really deep squats (Hindi squats) and been on hands and knees cleaning like crazy, plus you can't wipe the smile off my husband's face at the moment - I'd say he'd be happy if this went on for another week! So surely there is nothing left for me to do but wait and wait.

I have conceded to my extremely pregnant state though, and have been resting more instead of sewing.  As much as I want to be sewing I am just finding standing at the cutting table, and getting up from the sewing machine to the overlocker to the ironing board just too much for my back and hips.  But since I have some form of craftiness ADHD I can't just sit on the lounge and watch crappy tv, I have to keep my hands busy.

Anna's daycare had an easter hat parade today, and we were asked to make an easter hat with our child at home. Pffft, as if a 3 year old could craft anything other than a red hot mess so sadly the crafty competitive streak took over and I made the whole thing.  But I wasn't the only parent that did this! I took this rather sad looking straw hat that used to belong to my grandfather:

and spraypainted it white.  It's a genuine Akubra hat which are an Aussie icon and really expensive, but this one had definitely seen better days and since it had a price tag of only $4.50 from David Jones it must be at least 30 or 40 years old so I didn't feel too bad about painting it.  Plus I don't know how my grandad wore this hat, must have been perched on top of his head because I remember him having a big round head and this hat was so small it fit Anna perfectly!

Then I jazzed it up with some rabbits, ric rac and ribbon, and some jangly rabbit shaped bells hanging off the edge of the brim and Anna now has a hat she wants to wear "everywhere":

And I've also spent far more time than I care to admit making little 'homes' for Anna's (latest) favourite toys:

I quite like these fairy dolls, because although they are Disney products there is a certain innocence about fairies but much like lego pieces they really really hurt your feet when you stand on them in the middle of the night because 3 years olds never put away their stuff.  So from some shoebox lids cut down to size, some pictures printed out from clipart, Japanese washi tape (love that stuff!) and some other crafty bits and pieces I created these display boxes for the fairies to go into:

Success - Anna takes them out to play but she always puts them in the boxes when she's done.  And even better, I've hung these above her bed so she has been spending a bit of time playing quietly in her bedroom on her own, leaving me to have a cup of tea in peace.

I wish I could claim credit for this bit of crafty brilliance, but I was heavily inspired by these gorgeous matchbox size ones I saw over at Craft & Creativity, which is a beautifully photographed and genius craft blog with a lovely Swedish aesthetic to it.

Aren't they cute? But seriously, crafty stuff like this takes way longer than sewing and Anna now thinks that every time she comes home from daycare that I've spent the day making something for her.  I hope she has develops her own crafty gene soon.....