Shop Update - Two - New Baby Gift Sets

Earlier this year I added a some new baby bib and burp cloth sets to my range. Made with 100% cotton fabric on the front and backed with my favourite bamboo/cotton silky soft towelling on the back, these sets are not only practical, but extremely soft and cosy for the baby to wear. Two snap fasteners make the bibs adjustable and suitable from baby to toddler, and the burp cloths are designed to be flung over the shoulder to protect your clothing whilst winding your baby, and they also come in very handy as general baby cloths.

Sold as sets, one bib and one matching burp cloth, they make great baby shower gifts and lovely presents for new parents. They can be found here, though the 'Peeking birds in gold' has proved so popular it is already unfortunately sold out.

Shop Update - Larger Style Baskets

Last year the thing that I got asked the most was 'Could I please make my storage baskets in a larger size!'. So I took all the sizes that people had suggested and came up with a basket that is based on the average size that people were wanting. And my 'larger' basket was born. I wanted the basket to have enough structure that it can stand up on its own even when empty, so no slouching, but still be flexible that it can be folded away when not in use. I have used heavier weight cotton, which helps with the structure of the baskets, apart from the Black Triangles which is made in a quilting cotton so has an extra stabiliser sewn in, to give it the structure it needs. They have a nice boxy feel to them.

They all have a natural linen/cotton base and come fully lined in a white cotton canvas. Now for the technical details! 

They are, measurements are approximate but as accurate as I can give, 29cm/11.4 inches tall, and are 40cm/15.75 inches wide across the top when folded flat, which makes them roughly 30cm/12 inches wide when open and boxed out, which gives the basket a rough depth at the base of 24cm/9.4 inches. I have found it quite difficult to show the size of these baskets. I have included photos that show the baskets alongside a child's rabbit night light which is 15cm/6 inches tall to help give an idea of scale, and I also got my little helpers to hold them to show the two size of baskets alongside one another. The larger is being held by my 7 year old whilst my 5 year old daughter is holding the smaller basket. It's high on my to do list to get some photos taken of these baskets being used to show how much you can fit into them! If you look at the photo above taken in my boys bedroom, that shows three baskets on a top shelf with a shelf underneath full of their toys, you may spot a lego figure or two, which should give you an idea of how much lego can be stored away in one of these baskets! 

 

I am pleased to say that this larger basket has proved popular, so much so that unfortunately, unless I can source more of the grey arrow fabric, I only have a couple left in stock. I was also pleased to see that a French Scandinavian Design blog called Scandinave featured my baskets in a list of 10 Scandinavian Decoration finds on Etsy. 

So if you are looking for handy storage that looks good that is modern and stylish you can find these baskets as well as others here. 

Long Time......

 Sorry! 

I can't really believe that its been nearly 9 months since I last wrote a post. That's terrible!

For those of you that follow me on other social media sites, you will know that I haven't faded away, in fact quite the opposite! I have found myself so busy with work, that its been very difficult to keep everything going and to get the balance right. You will also have seen if you follow me on Instagram or on Facebook, that I have been busy adding lots of new items over the last few months which I am excited to share with you. So over the next few days I am hoping to bring you up-to-date with all that has been going on at A Crafty Hen!

At our happiest Outdoors

One of the things we realised looking back over the last year, was that as a family unit we tend to be at our happiest and most content when we are outside. It doesn't matter whether its at the beach, the woods, on the allotment or on the moor, it just seems to be that open space surrounded by nature suits us all. So with this in mind and the fact that the children are now at ages when they can keep walking for quite a while before the youngest says 'pick me up' we have been making a conscious effort to get outside as much as possible lately. Wrapped up warm, with a flask of hot chocolate for them and coffee for us and of course a treat of something sweet like cake we have already done quite a bit of walking this year. We are lucky enough to live on the edge of Dartmoor, which is a magical moorland that covers an incredible 954 square kilometers, so gives us plenty of space to explore! And with the first signs of Spring appearing and the prospect of warmer days to come I am really looking forward to our explorations as a family this year.

How my mind wanders..............

Oh how my mind wanders at the moment. I am having terrible trouble focusing on the tasks at hand. My mind wanders off and I lose my train of thought which often ends up with me completely forgetting what it was that I was doing in the first place! With the help from visually inspiring sites like Pinterest {which I'm sure should come with a health warning along the lines of - 'not for the easily distracted' } I have allowed my mind to indulge in thoughts of the warmer weather to come and to start planning trips and adventures, on seeing images of beautiful white tulips I have found myself drifting out of shops with a bunch in hand having completely forgotten the important necessities like milk and bread! I find myself craving for a home with white walls and lack of objects which is at least helping to spur me on to de clutter, a job that I think could take forever and all of this done with a coffee in hand. I can't imagine not drinking coffee, I enjoy the whole ritual of putting the coffee pot on. I could map my days out in coffee, and I am intrigued by images of Vietnamese coffee being made and I'm very tempted to try one of these coffee filters. Maybe a change in coffee will finally help me to focus! 

• A 1959 Chevrolet Viking short bus 
• White tulips 
• Beautiful home 
• Vietnamese coffee

January 2015

A bit like a wind up toy, I feel exhausted after a Christmas spent celebrating whilst also nursing 3 poorly children, who of course couldn't be ill all at the same time, no they feel ill one after the other until every day of the holidays was spent looking after a sick child! So I am finding January quite difficult. I can't seem to get myself going. If only someone or something could come along and wind me up! The dull days, the cold, the rain, lack of sunlight, non of it helps, it really is a case of digging deep and trudging through these first few months of the year, hanging on to the thought that Spring is just around the corner! I am not one for making New Year resolutions. I have tried in the past and in general fail. I do like however to spend the start of a new year thinking about the past 12 months. What can we learn from it, what did we do wrong, what should we change, what could have been better. But there's the thing, its often easier to think and to stress over the 'things' that went wrong, the things we shouldn't have said, the things that we didn't do, than to think about what we got right. As a parent especially I think we often worry and beat ourselves up mentally about how we are bringing up our children. We worry if we are doing it correct, are we saying the right words at the right times, are we there for our children when they really need us, do we spend enough time living in the moment, are we listening to them and each other, which is sometimes so difficult in our busy lives. I think its good to try and learn and possibly change but we do need to remember what we did right. Remember the moments of harmony, the moments when life seems perfect, the times when we all laughed together, the times when you think this is it, we are happy.
I found myself on New Years day sat on the sofa with my laptop, the kids happily watching a movie, the fire was lit, we were warm, we were full of food, a moment of calmness. I found myself going back over my Instagram account, laughing at some of the photos, smiling at others. It was good, as lets face it most of us that have Instagram accounts use them mainly to show moments of joy, of happiness, snap shots of our 'perfect' lives! So I set about making a photo book using only photos from my Instagram account to remember our best bits of 2014. And there a couple of weeks later it was. My first ever photo book. And it couldn't be any more perfect. So easy to make, I used Blurb Books and found it very straight forward to use. It's the first of many to come. It's such a lovely reminder of our year. A reminder of the good times, glimpses of the past, a great way of capturing time and giving us memories and reminding ourselves that sometimes we do get it just right!

New Baby Bandana Dribble Bibs

Say hello to my new collection of bandana style bibs. 

As soon as I saw this gorgeous flannel I knew that it would make for the softest of bibs. And this style of bib is not only perfect for a dribbling baby they are also very suited to a teething toddler!  Made with a layer of 100% cotton flannel, three of which also have the wonderful look of herringbone wool weave, and backed with a layer of organic cotton fleece these bibs are soft to the touch making them extremely comfortable to wear. And made with only cotton fabrics no polyester in sight you can be confident that you are putting only the kindest natural fabrics next to your babies delicate skin. In lovely Autumnal colours they can be found here in my shop.