Upgrading a notebook

Say you have a kid who loves Star Wars. Say this kid wants to have a Star Wars notebook for school. Say you go to about five stores looking for one but you can't find it. Say you're a mom who is not stopped by this...

So I bought an ordinary notebook.

 
Then I googled for a high resolution Star Wars poster, printed it,

laminated it,

and taped it onto the cover of the notebook with a black insulating tape.

It took me about half an hour to make MiniMojcek Nr.1 very very happy.

Can you believe it?

a) I bought a Revell Star Wars project.

b) I built a model of a Star Wars ship.

c) I photographed a Star Wars ship.

d) All this is actually work related :-)

Enough!

I never thought I would say something like that but right now I'm fed up with snow.

Five months of snow is enough!

I want warm weather, I want to see the Sun, I want to wear short sleeves without getting a cold the next day and I want my kids - and me - finally to be healthy.

In the last two weeks, we've been to doctors twelve (12!) times. And we had to cancel another appointment for being ill :-/

And since being ill at home with two ill kids isn't very productive, I don't have much to write about.

I'll just post a picture of Banksia to make us all happy.

Angry Birds gym bag

Mini Mojcek Nr.1 has been practicing Judo since September and all this time he was carrying his kimono in an old plastic bag. It has now fallen apart and it was time to make him a new one.

I used the off-white canvas that was left over from the Luke Skywalker costume. First I wanted to make a plain simple bag but it was just so ... plain. I decided to liven it up a bit. Luckily I had all the necessary paints at home...

to paint an Angry bird!

I just needed to buy some rope ...

And voila!

What a difference ...

...  three years make!

Three years ago I was leaving my footprints in the deserts of Jordan, now I'm leaving my footprints in my hometown.

So different and yet so similar.

A parrrrot!

MiniMojcek Nr.2 was very clear when I asked him about his wishes for this year's costume: he wanted to be a parrot.

And a parrot he was.

I bought fleece in red, blue, green, and yellow to make the wings. I cut four semicircles and left some additional fabric at the top (red) layer had  to make sleeves.

The semicircles were cut to make them look like feathers.

A lot of cutting was done...

I bought some Indian headdress, plucked the feathers and sewed them on the wings.

Instead of sewing the whole costume, I bought a red onesie and leggings.

Unfortuntely, before I was able to make a hat with the beak, MiniMojcek Nr.2 fell ill (chicken pox) and he had to stay at home for two weeks. So I didn't even bother making the hat as he was already very very happy with the wings.

So was I.

Luke Skywalker costume

This time of year again when all the mothers in this part of the world go mad sewing and preparing all sorts of costumes. MiniMojcek Nr. 1 was very brief: he wanted to be Luke Skywalker. OK.

First I made off-white cotton canvas trousers. Two pieces sewn together with elastic in the waist:

The top was based on his Judo kimono. I never ever realised that kimono sleeves are drafted in one with the bodice! So, so easy to make.

Brown fleece was used to make the belt and the bag. It is perfectly clear to me that the original belt looks quite different and that the belt buckle is totally wrong, but that was one I had at home. Oh, well. I also made two tapes of a slightly different fabric that I wrapped around his legs.

And of course he needed a light sabre. I found this one in a shop.

Once MiniMojcek Nr.1 had one, MiniMojcek Nr.2 also wanted one - although his costume was something completely different. So I made one: a torch light, a green plastic rod and a bit of insulating tape. Done.

So now I have Luke Skywalker and a parrot fighting on my bed. Oh, well.