Wednesday 28 November 2012

Learning to Crochet

I am loving crochet at the moment. I started about two months ago so I am total beginner. I learned how to knit basic stitches as a child and have made a scarf before but never really put myself into it. However I have always wanted to learn how to crochet and after swooning over pinterest and other bloggers fab work I decided to take the plunge.

To start I picked up The Art of Crochet at my local magazine store.
It came with a ball of yarn and a size 4 crochet hook, I was away!


I looked up you tube videos to learn the basics and also purchased Sue whitings Learn to Crochet book.Link

From here I practiced until I was comfortable with the basic stitches and until I got my tension right.
I made some basic flowers and some headbands for my niece.





It was time to take on a project! I started with this hat for my daughter the pattern is from The Art of Crochet. I love how it turned out, the seam is not perfect but ok for my first time!




Next I tried a snood again not perfect but I'm happy with it and it is made from the nicest yarn. So warm and snugly love it!




I have some other works in progress, a snood for Ava and Me and a blanket for Ethan. I'm also working on some Christmas gifts but that's top secret!!


Snood


Blanket for Ethan.


Snood for Ava.

These pics are obviously from Instagram! I'm still trying to figure out how to add a link. My Instagram user name is lolajh come say hi!

Love L x
With Christmas almost upon us (seriously where does the time go??) I figured it was time to go through the kids toys and pair down. I spent my entire saturday going through all of the toys in my house. I got rid of all the broken toys, donated all of the outgrown toys and organised all of the remaining I even have empty toy boxes! Score. Here are the after shots of the kiddos rooms. I never took befores it would have been way to scary! Nightmare before Christmas anyone??
Feel free to leave a comment I would love to hear your feed back!




Baby boys room 



Crib 



Baby Girls Room


Ahh I can now breathe  . . . . . and move on to the rest of the clutter around the house!!

Love L. x

Monday 13 August 2012

Whats for dinner ??? - Pasta in a creamy garlic sauce



This recipe is really easy and quick to prepare with just a few ingredients.
It can be put together in no time so I like to make this when I've had a busy day like today!
I don't have specific measurements for this recipe as I came up with it myself I generally adjust to the number of people I'm serving.

Ingredients:

  • Pasta ( for as many people you are cooking for)
  • Chicken breast fillets -I used two today
  • broccoli approx 1 cup
  • half a courgette sliced
  • 1 x white onion finely diced
  • 2 x cloves of garlic finely chopped or minced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 5 - 6 mushrooms 
  • 3 - 4 tbsp creme fraiche
  • Salt and pepper ( today I didn't use salt and pepper as I was making this baby friendly )

Method:



  • Bring water with some olive oil and salt ( if using ) to the boil and add pasta
  • also put the chicken breast in a pot of water and bring to he boil reduce heat and simmer
  • Saute the onion for 2 mins and add garlic saute for 3-5 mins until onion becomes translucent.
  • add the courgette and the mushrooms and saute for 3 - 5 mins
  • chopped the chicken and add to the pan
  • add the broccoli to the pasta water and simmer for 5 mins
  • add the creme fraiche and simmer for 3 mins
  • drain the pasta and broccoli and add to the pan, mix until the pasta is coated.

Serve with some fresh cracked pepper, some grated parmesan and salad. 
For my 9 month old I chop this up very finely and I tell you he devours it!


Enjoy!! :)

p.s my camera battery died when I was cooking so had to use
my phone so sorry for the bad quality pics!

Sunday 12 August 2012

Back to school fashion - for Boo!

Where did the summer go??? I can not believe back to school is just around the corner summer went wayyyy to fast for my liking!! Ava is in need of some new back to playschool clothes so while I was in the shopping centre last week I popped into h&m to oogle the new autumn collection for the kiddos.
I loove this shop for kids clothes it is very reasonably priced for the quality and they have such cute stuff. I don't like to spend a lot of money on clothes for school as they tend to get messed up really quickly however I do like cute stuff so h&m = happy mammy!!! Here are a few things I picked up.


This cute dress was €12.95. I am a sucker for anything red, white, navy and striped!! Link


My terrible "photography" skills do not do this cute little skirt any justice. It was €6.95.
This is not on the Irish website but they do have it in navy and red, I had a tough time making a decision on the colour!! Link ooh really want the navy one now :)


Stripped top to match above skirt. I think this was €5.95. I like to have fun playful clothes for back to school and so does Ava. I could not find this top on the website I think it may be last season.


My sister bought this adorable outfit for Ava also from h&m. I love this outfit it is soo cute not really a school outfit but I just had to include it aswell.
The cardigan was €6.95 and is a gorgeous lime green colour again my skills don't show it off so well.
The jeans were €12.95 and are so soft they have lime green flowers also so they tie in so nicely with the cardi. This outfit is the perfect transitional outfit for the coming months. Thanks Elaine!!


My mum also bought this fab quilted coat for Ava ( lucky little girl ). I get teased for all the red I put this child in!! It is from Dunnes Stores and was €14.00. It is not super heavy but will be cute paired with tights and boots for when the weather is not super cold. Thank you mammy!!

Another thing I like to do for school wardrobe is buy basic denim shorts and a skirt, I then buy multipacks of long sleeved tees and colourful tights and mix and match. Pair with boots and coordinating hair accessories and we have cute back to school looks without spending a fortune.

On another note we took the kids to Tayto park at the weekend Ava's friend came along also, we had a great time the weather was soo nice. The girls got their faces painted too cute!


Yep not a princess or fairy . .  . a tiger! Love her


This little guy slept most of the day. I have a lil guy clothing post for the future :)

Wednesday 8 August 2012

Autum Lusting

I can't wait for Autum and the cooler months. I love when all the new collections come out you can normally find me glued to my laptop checking out all the latest trends and compiling my (endless) wishlist!.
I know some people can't think that far ahead especially when its still relatively warm outside but I just love dressing myself and the kiddos for Autum. These are some things from Zara I'm lusting over at the moment!





Tuesday 7 August 2012

Minestrone Soup

This recipe is adapted from Annabel Karmels Feeding your Baby and Toddler( this is not the book that I have but is the same title)
My kids looove this soup they really can't get enough of it. I usually make a big batch sometime during the week and divide it up into kid size portions. It is great for lunch, tea or even dinner with some crusty garlic bread soo good.

Minestrone Soup ( or Minnie-strone soup as boo calls it!)

Ingredients


  • 2 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 leek ( white part only)
  • 1 celery stick diced
  • 1-2 carrots (depending on the size)
  • 1 potato diced
  • 1 courgette diced
  • 2 tomatoes deseeded and diced 
  • handful of frozen peas
  • pasta shapes ( sometimes I just break up spaghetti into small strands)
  • 1 ltr of chicken or veg stock
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 3 tbsp passata


Method


  • saute onion and garlic for 5 mins
  • add celery, carrot and leeks and saute for 5 mins
  • add potatoes and courgette and saute for 2-3 mins
  • add  stock tomatoes, tomato puree passata, bring the boil and simmer for 20 mins
  • add peas and pasta, bring to boil and simmer until pasta is cooked.
Enjoy!









Love this little guy!!

I just can't get enough of this lil guy! He makes my heart melt every time those big blue eyes of his look up to me all innocent and charming he is gonna break some hearts I tell ye!