Word games with Bananagrams

A year ago I was introduced to Bananagrams, a tiled word building game that has taken over game night in my family. It's like scrabble without the stuffy confines of a board! Also, it is much faster and so keeps everybodies attention much longer. Bananagrams has been fun for the whole family, from as young as 7!

The game is simple and full of fun banana-themed nomenclature. All the tiles are placed face down on the table, each player takes 21 tiles and the 'dealer' shouts "split", at which everyone forms words in their own scrabble like formations. As soon as someone has used all their tiles they shout "Peel" and everybody picks up another tile. This continues until all the spare tiles are used and someone places their final tile and shouts "Bananas!"

You can find Bananagrams at Exclusive Books in a humorously fruit-shaped bag.

Cherry picking at Klondyke Farm

While browsing through my photos I found a few great pics from our visit to Klondyke Cherry Farm (http://www.cherryfarm.co.za/) a couple of months back when it was picking season. It was the most divine experience, one that I had last had when I was only a child. 

There are rows and rows of Cherry trees that are literally drooping with the weight of bright red cherries on their many fingered branches. Many of said cherries did not make the journey from tree to basket, many found their end in our mouths, staining our lips and fingers! 

The farm was dog friendly, so we had our canine children join us on this particular adventure; something which we so seldom get the opportunity to do. They too enjoyed many an overripe and plump cherry. 

The bucket in my arms is a 10 litre bucket of prime cherries, so you can imagine how creative we all had to get to ensure that most of them did not go to waste. My mom preserved some in brandy, as seen below, for adding something special to deserts. Others made cherry pie or jam. We ate most of our share fresh, sharing many with friends and colleagues. The few we couldn't get to were depipped and frozen for use in smoothies or to flavour yoghurt.

Throwback Thursday: Themed Printer's Tray

I recently fetched the last few tendrils connecting me with my childhood from my old bedroom to outfit my spare bedroom and one of those things was my old Printer's Tray that I started when I was 10. My theme was pigs; over the years when friends and family travelled they would bring back a new type of piggy for my collection. It took years to complete but is an absolute treasure chest of memories.

I have wooden pigs, gemstone-bodied pigs, pigs of glass from Venice, copper pigs, clay pigs, material pigs, and whole families of pigs - and they are all so different! It now hangs in my own home.

Platform heels and Paisley tailored slip

I combined my love of Paisley and my affair with platform heels for a wedding a while back - just thought I'd share how great they both go together!

And on the day:

Introduction to Annie Sloan

My first intro to Annie Sloan Chalk paint was a few months ago when I was looking for tips on antiquing with wooden furniture. Whitewashing never went well for me, so I was concerned that it would be a similar experience, I was extremely surprised when I first used it to brighten up my garden decor. There was no prep involved, I only needed one coat, and it dried so quickly.

I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on a previously varnished shelf and on a veneered chair - the whole project was done in an hour. I experimented with scuffing to create the distressed look. I've pretty much been addicted to it since then!

Easy art idea for the less than talented

I love doing arty stuff but I have very little natural skill, so I surfed the net for an easy and effective idea for home made art.  I have a short attention span, so it had to be quick, and I have limited craft materials - so I needed it to be something that I could make with what I had.

I came across another blog with great ideas and I made these:

How I did it:

I used my existing acrylic paints, a household sponge and some print outs that I Googled.

1. Google birds on a wire, or tree in silhouette and print your favourite design.

2. Trace the design on some A3 paper (I had watercolour paper), I drew the design by sight because I chose a very simple design.

3. Use one dark colour and white to create several hues so that you can create your background like above.

4. Use the sponge to dab the colour from the middle of the page outward ensuring the colour gets darker toward the edges.

5. Using a fine brush, paint the silhouette in black.

Cross-stitch for your mobile phone cover

 I recently dabbled in some old school needlework when a friend gifted me a do-it-yourself cross stitch iPhone cover, and I absolutely loved it.  Typo, a trendy stationery store, are selling kits with a selection of cotton and cute patterns to get your creative juices flowing while you squint away at your phone case with needle in hand. I chose the owl design :)

The kit comes with the perforated silicon case, a needle, patterns, and all the thread you'll need.

The finished product is very cute but unfortunately the silicon case is quite floppy and the thread caused it to warp somewhat - so it doesn't actually stay on your phone. I suggest if you want more than just the experience of cross stitching you should try and find a harder plastic cover perforated in the same way. Definitely looking forward to some more projects with cross stitch!