Moving House? Pack a Sanity Box!
Even though we’ve lived mostly in the same general area since before we married almost ten years ago, we’ve lived in seven different houses (one of them twice), and one flat.
Which means we’ve made eight moves in the almost 12 years that we’ve been together.
I guess you could say I know a little about moving house, with or without kids in tow.
And this is my number one tip for moving house: Pack a Sanity Box!
What do you put in a Sanity Box?
Everything you think you might need during the first day or so in your new home.
Here’s the list for our Sanity Box:
{may we never need it again}
- Door mat (old towels if it’s rainy)
- Toilet roll
- Soap
- Hand towel
- Tea towel
- Washing up liquid
- Tea bags, coffee, sugar, kettle, a couple of teaspoons
- Snacks
- 1 set of crockery & cutlery for everyone
- Teethbreesh & paste
- A change of clothes for everyone
For the Kids:
- Cold drinks and snacks
- Favourite toy(s)
- Pillow & fave bedlinen
Yep, it’s a kinda big box.
But it will make your move so much easier that you’ll wonder how you ever coped last time you moved.
~ And treat yourself to takeaway for dinner. 
{Thanks to Melanie over at Our Crafts n Things for the inspiration for this post.}
How to crochet the magic circle starter ring
I’ve been really getting into crochet lately. I usually do when Autumn rolls around and Winter’s coming on.
This year I’ve been making something different from the knee rug I usually make each year.
I’ve discovered amigurumi; the japanese art of making small stuffed knit or crochet toys.
And I’ve even written a pattern of my own.
Plus I’m also collecting a list of heaps of free patterns available online, with pictures & levels of difficulty.
If you’d like to have a go at making some of these really cute little creatures, the first thing you need to do is take a look at the video below.
By learning how to start your crochet this way, you can completely close the hole where you started your crocheting.
Which is important, because you don’t want your stuffing showing in mixed company.
Packing Tape Transfers
This is a really unusual idea, that I discovered over at Pink Paper Peppermints.
Melissa has a very detailed tutorial over there that will answer any questions that you have.
But briefly, this is how you do it.
- Take your packing tape and rub it firmly with a spoon onto an image you like.
- Wet & rub to remove as much of the paper as you can. It needs to be transparent.
- Leave to dry. The transfer will be sticky, and you can then rub it firmly onto another image to create a lovely overlaid effect.
I’ve never heard of anyone doing this before, and it’s really easy. Plus it looks great.
And I can already think of so many ways I could be using these things.
- Bag tags,
- Book labels,
- Mini-book covers,
- Sewn into a little pocket for my keys (they keep getting lost in my craft bag),
- Brag books,
- Scrapbooking elements.
While you’re over visiting Melissa, you should definitely check out her 31 Crafty Flowers series, which is truly inspiring. And say hi from me!
Belated Birthday Party
Because the Bump’s birthday was on the second day of school (& we had enough going on right then), we decided to hold his birthday party a little later on.
Shabby Princess has a new Freebie!
Yes, I’m loving the scrapbooking freebies I’ve been finding.
And no, I haven’t yet used any of them.
But I’m not letting that stop me from filling up my hard drive!
And now Shabby Princess has released a new free kit, I’m in heaven. She says it’s probably the largest free kit so far, and it’s called “Happy Go Lucky“.
So go get…
What do beer drinkers care about carbon emissions?
Take a look at this advert.
What the hell do most beer drinkers care about carbon offsetting?
I could ask what do most people know about carbon offsetting, because it’s clear as mud to me.
Seriously.
Cascade beer obviously paid good money for this campaign, because I spotted this advert on the Technorati site. (and gagged)
Now, maybe it’s more of a boutique beer, and so might appeal to those who give a flying fish about this sort of thing.
But you have to wonder how an image of a bottle of it overflowing with what looks like slime is going to get those ultra-choosey DINKy tastebuds melting.
Or am I missing something here? What do you think?
