australian food recipes: November 2011

Hello everyone! :) As you can see, I'll be hosting a Christmas blog party this year, similar to the summer blog party I hosted last summer.
Starting on December 1, some awesome guest bloggers and I will share lots of DIY projects, either recipes, sewing tutorials, Christmas and winter decor ideas, or craft DIYs. :)
Can't wait! :)

Although the best things about Christmas are spending time with the ones I love, walking through the snow (in case the is some :)) and decorating the Christmas tree, I also love getting and unwrapping Christmas presents (well, who doesn't? :)).
I know that some of the things I'm going to get this year have already been bought or made by 'Santa', but nevertheless, here's the first part of my wishlist. :) And since my birthday is in February (awwww, only two more months! :)), I can use my wishlist for both, Christmas and my birthday. :)
As you can see, this first wishlist mainly consists of cameras and white items, but I LOVE lomography cameras (I already own a Holga, an actionsampler and a fisheye camera) and I love white. :)
So here's the list of things I'm wishing for, either for Christmas, my birthday, or some other day in the future. <3
1. I once saw this camera on A Beautiful Mess and I immediately knew that I wanted to have such a camera myself, cause it makes cat sounds... :)
2. The only headphones I own are really, really old, my father used them when he was younger. They are from Sony and are of a really good quality, but after many years of usage, they aren't that pretty anymore. Those white headphones from WESC are the best! :)
3. How cool is this? I want a tape dispenser which looks like a cassette!
4. I found this awesome dress just this evening while browsing the Internet and I LOVE it! As most of you already know, I like pink a lot and I think this dress will perfectly match my hair color. :) What a great dress, I'm in love! :) I think I won't be able to wait and maybe I'll get it myself soon. <3
5. Such a beautiful and interesting camera! Not only because it's white, but also because it has a really wide angle and you can take fabulous photos with it.
6. A Diana camera has been on my wishlist for quite a while and I think I prefer this plain, white one to all the other, colored versions, either as Diana Mini, or as Diana F+ with a flash. Can't wait to own and to use this camera one day. <3

Less than 4 weeks until Christmas!!! I'm already counting the days! <3
Lu

Hey there, it’s Stefanie from Squeaky Swing. I’m really excited to be a guest on Lu loves handmade! I want to share with you two very easy crochet projects to improve any object you want to use as a present or just for your own pleasure. I made three tiny bows to make my new pencil case cuter and a butterfly to pin it onto my skirt. I hope you like it!

Supplies needed:

- Yarn (any colour)

- Pencil case

- Crochet hook (2.0 or bigger depending on your yarn)

- Sewing thread

- Needle

Instructions:

1. Chain 5, join to the beginning chain with a slipstitch to get a ring

2. Chain 4, treble crochet into the centre five times

3. Chain 4, slipstitch back down into the centre ring

4. Now you’ve got one half of the bow and the only thing you need to do now is the same thing again!

5. Break off your yarn.

6. Take another colour (or the same) and chain about 10 (approx. 5cm)

7. Wrap this chain around the bow and tie it with a knot.

8. Now you can sew your bow to the pencil case and make as many more as you like!

***

Supplies needed:

- Crochet hook (2.0 or bigger depending on your yarn)

- Yarn (any colour)

- Safety pin

- Needle

3 Videos here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

All I changed up was the antennas. I made them a little shorter and tied a knot on top.

And finally I attached the safety pin and pinned it to my skirt! DONE!

***

Dear Stefanie, thanks for sharing and for being a guest on my blog! :)
Dear readers, hopefully you like her tutorial and you'll visit her blog and say hello! :)
Love, Lu

Here's a quick home decor idea I made last week. I found this idea somewhere on the Internet a few weeks ago, similar to those book page paper hearts on Pinterest. :) This is such an easy idea and looks sooo pretty. :) How do you like it? You just need to cut out paper hearts from old book pages, then put a few onto each other and stitch them together (I used my sewing machine). Then, enfold the layers and that's it. :)
Lu

Tiny shop update.

Yesss, a little shop update! :) On DaWanda there's a Christmas special where you can save 12% in some categories each day. :) Today you can save 12% in the Home & Living and Christmas & Occassions categories, so feel free to visit my shop.
Moreover, as I'm going to sell my stuff at the Trend Mafia next weekend, I decided so sew some more pillow cases for children, I also listed those on DaWanda. :)
Have a lovely weekend!

Guest post on Squeaky Swing.

Hey! :) Lovely Stefanie of Squeaky Swing has invited me to prepare a guest post for her blog and of course I happily accepted this invitation. :) Since she writes her posts in German, I also prepared my guest post in German, but for those who only understand English, here’s another version for you on my own blog. So if you’re from Germany, go and check out her blog and say hello, she’s totally appealing and has lots of cute DIY ideas. :) Fortunately, lots of her projects can be understood without reading the text, so it might also be interesting for international readers! :)

With this tutorial, I wanna show you how to sew a simple poncho, all you need are a chunky, cosy, square piece of fabric (I chose fabric which consists of 70% wool and 30% polyester), 1m x 1m (3,28 feet x 3,28 feet / 1,09 yard x 1,09 yard), a sewing machine and sewing equipment like a measuring tape, pins and scissors. :)

Let’s go! Therefore, put the piece of fabric onto the floor or onto a large table, cut out a square (Step 1) and use a zig zag stitch (Step 2&3) to hem the edges to prevent unraveling of the fabric. Next, turn all 4 edges to the back of the fabric and pin those with pins (Step 4).

Now you have to stitch the edges onto the piece of fabric to make them look neat (Step 5). Then, put the fabric onto the floor and fold it to the shape of a triangle (Step 6). Next, cut a hole into the middle which is later going to be the neckline where you put your head through (Step 7). It is up to you whether you want to have a round or a square neckline. :) Don’t make the hole too big; better adjust it to your head’s size step by step. Then, the edges of the neckline have to be turned to the back of the fabric and have to be stitched onto it to fix it. Therefore, the edges have to be pinned onto the fabric (Step 8).

Now you can stitch up your neckline’s edges (Step 9). Afterwards, put the poncho as a triangle onto the floor or onto a table to fix the ‘sleeves’ so that the poncho stays in its place while wearing it. :) Therefore, you can put in on and pin those points where you want to attach the front and the back onto each other (Step 10 and also shown on the photo below on the left bottom corner). When I sewed my poncho, this was at a distance of about 30cm /11,8” from the edge which is later supposed to be on my shoulders, but this depends on your total size (Step 11). After you’ve symmetrically pinned those two parts of the poncho, you can fix them with a short seam (Step 12). Later, this is going to be the part of your poncho which is under the arms and prevents the poncho from slipping.

Have fun while you are sewing and feel free to ask me if there are any questions! :)

I’m glad Stefanie asked me to prepare something for a guests post, so don’t forget to visit her blog and to say hello! :)

Love, Lu

Dear blog readers, I'm soooo proud of myself, because yesterday I sold item number 200 on DaWanda! <3 In February, when I turned 24, I wrote a list of goals (inspired by Elsie's list on a beautiful mess) and wanted to sell 100 itmes before I turn 25 next year. Ha, I've already achieved this goal way earlier and I sold even twice as much. :) It's so great to see that people like my products and it's so much fun seeing that my sales are slowly increasing. :) Moreover, another goal on my list was to get 300 blog followers by next February and I think it won't take long until this is achieved. :) Guess what? :) You can be looking forward to another giveaway on my blog quite soon...
Wish you a great Monday and thanks for reading my blog and for always leaving such lovely and motivational comments. :)
Lu

Hi! :) As you can see, it's beginning to look like Christmas! :) I sewed lots of stockings and present bags and listed them on DaWanda and one of my customers liked them so much that she ordered 15 of them. :) I've been sewing all Friday evening to finish them and they turned out so pretty. :) As you can see, there are still lots of others in my shop, so hopefully somebody will buy them, too. :)
Have you already decorated you home? I'm gonna do that by the end of the following week. This year, I don't want to decorate my home too early, because last year, I had already begun decorating in the middle of November and in the end, my super-duper Christmas mood began to fade away a little. :)
Tomorrow I've got a brunch date with one of my girldfriends and we'll make some Christmas decor. Now I can't wait for Christmas to come!

Hey, happy Friday! :) Any plans for the weekend? I've been preparing these pretty jars for Advent candles and maybe one of you wants to make those, too, because it's only one week left until the first Sunday in Advent. :)

All you need are a hot-glue gun, 4 empty jars, 4 tea lights, fabric leftovers, ribbons and paper scraps.

Cut out fabric and paper according to the sizes of the jars and attach them to the jars with hot glue. Do the same with the ribbons. Then, cut out numbers and glue them onto the jars, too. :) That's it. So easy and all you need are supplies you may have at home anyway.
Wish you a nice weekend!
Lu

Save the date: Trend Mafia design market.

Hello! :) In Berlin there's a design market called Trend Mafia which regularly takes place on weekends and at which people sell handmade items. I went there last year and it was the first time I've been selling my products at a market. I was not very successful and only sold a few items, but it was a good experience and I had just started selling my handmade products on DaWanda a fews weeks before that date. The market at which I had my first own booth was last year in September, more than one year ago. :) In the meantime, I have nearly sold 200 items on DaWanda and I thought it was time to try it again! :) I applied for one of the many dates in December (during the Christmas season, the market takes place every Saturday and Sunday) and this time, they immediately accepted my application. :))

I'll be having my own booth at the Trend Mafia on December 4, 2011, from 1-7 pm. This time, it takes place at a really central place, namely in the Hakesches Quartier at the S-train station Hackescher Markt. (Wow, it sounds really weird inserting German proper names into English sentences... :P).
If you're from Berlin and want to visit me, I'll be happy to see you, so save the date and come over to say hello and let me know that you're one of my blog's readers, I'd love to meet you in person. :)

There'll be lots of vendors who sell handmade items like clothes, Christmas decor or accessories. Can't wait, I'm already preparing my table's decor and I'm thinking about which products I will take there and of which I have to make some more. :)
I'm sooooo much looking forward to this date! :)

Here are some photos of me and my booth last year, and after December 4, I'll share some more of my second attempt of selling my items at a market. :)

Lu

Hello! :) I've been waiting for sharing these photos for so long, so here you can finally see my new room! <3 It's a combination of craftroom, sewing corner, bedroom and workspace and I love that I have everything in one room that I need. :) In our old apartment, we had three rooms, one for Flo, which we also used as livingroom, one for me, which I also used as sewing room, and a seperate bedroom. Now, we only have 2 rooms, but they are much bigger and I think it is extremely practical to have everything in one place. The sewing corner is the heart of my new room and it's (apart from the bed) the place where I spend most of the time I'm at home. I love my new sewing table and that it is big enough to cut fabric and to make sketches without having to use my normal desk.

Mogli loves his new home, too! :) He has two dog pillows, one next to me sewing table and one next to Flo's couch in his room.

What I love most is that there's so much light in here, I've got one window and a huge balcony door. I left the walls white and decided not to paint them and this way, my room is even brighter. I've got lots of colorful pieces of furniture and decor details, so I think this is enough color. :)

Here's my favourite chair, it has a cord cover and it's soooo cosy! The matryoshka pillow is to die for, isn't it? :) It was a handmade birthday gift from my beloved friend Anja. <3 Remember the post in which I mentioned the awesome little shelves made from crates? Here's the crate that I painted, I'm now using it to display my lomography cameras. :) The pennants are handmade, too, they were one of my first sewing projects last year.

Here's my desk where I do all the blogging, studying and chatting. <3 I'm so glad that I do not have to use it for both studying and sewing anymore!

Do you remember the pretty embroidery hoop to store sewing tools? I made it after I had seen this fabulous idea on pinterest. The spice rack is from DaWanda and I use it for storing textile colors. On the right photo, you can see the little IKEA table I painted turquoise and my sewing corner from another perspective. :)

Here's the bed, it's so comfortable and I love our bedding's colors. :) We bought the two bedside lights at IKEA and the bunting is handmade.

For the bunting, I used normal fabric and ironed the letters onto it.

After I had taken all those photos last week, I hung up even more photos. :) On the right photo there's the shelf in which I store all my handmade items which are listed on DaWanda, they are becoming more nearly every day. :) I even own an easel which Flo has given me for Christmas a few years ago, but I haven't been painting for quite a long time.

Have you spotted my typewriter? My mother gave it to me last year and I love it. <3

So how do you like my new room? Do you have a seperate sewing room oder craft room? What's your favourite place at home? :)

Wish you a lovely Sunday!
Lu

Pinboard DIY.

< Hey! :) I haven't been sharing a DIY project for a while, so here's something you can make yourself if you want to. :) Last Wednesday, Flo and I went to IKEA and I saw those cork coasters and wondered what I could use them for. I bought a few of them and then I decided to turn them into tiny pinboards and cover them with fabric. ;)

You only need a cork coaster, a piece of fabric, a piece of felt, a stapler, a hot-glue gun a (handmade) bow and a ribbon. As you can see, those are all supplies which most of you crafty people have at home anyway. :)

First, put the coaster onto the back side of the fabric, tauten the fabric and use the stapler to fix it onto the coaster. Next, attach a ribbon the same way. Then, disperse the hot glue all over the back side of the coaster and put the felt onto it so that you don't see the staples anymore.

Finally, glue the bow onto the top of the pinboard and that's it! :) You can now pin everything to this little board you want. :) I hung mine next to your kitchen stove, because I wanna use it for pinning recipes onto it while we are cooking. :)

Wish you a lovely weekend, tomorrow I'll be back with another post. <3

Bastelwunder / Crafting Wonder.

Dear readers, today's a lucky day! :) I've been selling some items on DaWanda and then I received an e-mail that me and my blog got the title 'Bastelwunder' (= 'Crafting Wonder')! :) There's a German site which collects links to inspirational blogs and aims to provide a great collection of sites which are worth reading and have to do with crafting and DIY.

A few weeks ago, Jenny mentioned on her blog wolkengleich that she was honoured to be a crafting wonder. I read the cute article they wrote about her and then I saw that one can apply for receiving that lovely title. After writing them an e-mail or after being proposed for receiving the title by somebody else, someone then has a look at your blog and if it meets their criteria, you can call yourself a crafting wonder and they introduce the blog and write a short article about it. :)

I felt so flattered when reading the short review of my blog!! :) It's in German and Lena, who is the author of the article, wrote about my creative projects and says that the style in which I'm writing my blog is appealing. :) She gives examples of some of my projects and says that my blog makes the crafter's heart beat faster. <3 Awww, while reading this, I was nearly melting. :)

If you're able to understand German and wanna read the article yourself, you can either click here or on the photo above. :)

That made my day, thanks! :)

Hello! :) Here's the first part of my home tour, I've been looking forward to sharing some photos for quite a while and today, after we had cleaned the apartment, I finally took some photos. :) As most of you already know from previous entries, we've been moving to a new apartment and here I wanna show you our new kitchen. :) The room is a mixture of IKEA, flea market furniture, DaWanda and antique furniture. I love the color scheme, I chose red, white and turquoise. All the pretty apple kitchen textiles are handmade, I bought the pretty fabric at Frau Tulpe. <3

Here you can see my handmade oven gloves and the apron I will hopefully wear soon when I've got some time for baking. :) I love the kitchen cabinet so much, I found it on DaWanda a while ago. It's from the 50s and it was a real bargain! I bought it for only 100€ and since it was cream, I painted it white myself. :) I love a bright home and I love white furniture. The cabinet's colorful buttons are so pretty, aren't they? I love evey single detail in our new home. :)

The bunting is also handmade and I painted the IKEA table a few weeks ago. Do you see the beautiful shabby chic etagere? I found it on DaWanda, too, and bought it in a pretty shop where I had already purchased some other smaller items of furnite before. Moreover, the batten on which I hung the oven gloves are from the same shop, too. :) The white chairs are from an antique dealer, my mother bought them for us in our first summer here in Potsdam and I really love them. :)
I'm so glad that this room has turned out so pretty, because I totally like sitting in the kitchen, having visitors and cooking delicious meals. It has always been one of my favourite places at home and it still is. <3
So how do you like our new kitchen? :) What is your favourite detail? :)
Wish you a good night,
Lu <3

Hello, happy Sunday! :) I've been working on lots of stuff for Christmas and here are some of the beautiful stockings I made. I just listed them on DaWanda. <3 Have you already been making something for the holiday season? :) Which stocking is your favourite? :)