Free Christmas gift pattern number 3...

 

With finances tight for many families and singles these days, creating small gifts which can fit inside a card, whether for Christmas or birthdays, means we can still reach out with love to family and friends near or far. 

The three little gifts included in this one pattern today can be sewn using small scraps of fabric, and embellished with beads, lace, ribbons, tiny buttons - the small bits and bobs we save because they are pretty and we hope to use them one day. 

Inside this free pattern you will find not just embroidery instructions, but tutorials for making the sweet gifts. The lavender sachet below can be kept under a pillow, in an underwear or nightgown drawer, or hung as I have done from a coat hanger in the closet. 

The bookmark is a lovely gift to send to an avid reader, and could even be gifted inside a book. Are there some lovely books on your shelf which you will no longer need or read? Consider regifting them with a pretty bookmark, or perhaps you could sew a pretty cover for the book using one of the little embroidery motifs in this pattern set? 

For many years I would gift Blossom one of my vintage novels every Christmas, and she was thrilled to receive the beautiful works of Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott and other favourite authors which I had read with her during our homeschooling years. Now they sit on her own shelves, awaiting the day when she can begin reading them to her own daughters. Perhaps you can do something similar with treasured books to be handed down?

The gift card is such a cute way to dress up a wrapped present, but is also lovely just as it is because it can be used as another bookmark. 

One of my projects for 2024 is to make a box of these kind of gift cards, using small fabric pieces such as vintage or recycled linen, lovely cottons, sweet satins and old lace. I'll also make some of the lavender sachets and the bookmarks, because there's nothing more satisfying than to have pretty handmade, useful, gifts on hand to send away in a card. 

Oh, and I'll also be making cards, something I have planned for the longest of times, but which has not been followed through on thus far.

Use the link below to download the free pattern.

DOWNLOAD We Three Gifts pattern

If you missed the first two free 2023 Christmas gift patterns they are HERE and HERE

Not a lot has been happening here at home. There's been no rain other than the hour we received a week ago, so the garden is a bit worse for wear. My roses easily scorch on the tips of their petals if I don't pick them first thing in the morning, when still at the budding stage, yet they smell divine and grace my desk with beauty and dignity. 

Blossom bought me a bunch of sunshine yellow chrysanthemums last weekend and they are still as fresh as ever! That's what I enjoy about mums - they last and last, decorating your home with their presence for weeks. 

As we need to stay indoors more at this time of year due to the intense heat and humidity, once the housework is done I settle down for a bit of reading and a cuppa. I have all three of Rhonda Hetzel's books, and have read them a few times each, but this little one is brilliant for a condensed read and I have highlighted and made notes all through it - adding more each time I read it. 

If you haven't got her two large volumes, or don't have finances for them, then let me assure you that this small book is simply marvellous for learning of her journey to a simpler life, the success and freedom she and her husband found, as well as the challenges along the way. Its available here on Amazon Australia

It's also available here on Amazon US and I just checked and the Kindle version is only $2.99 at the moment. 

I am NOT an amazon affiliate, just really love her books and think this little one is a great place to start. 

Molly-dog is now one year old, and has become our little shadow, no matter where we are. The funny thing about pugs is that they don't look happy, and yet I have found them to be very happy dogs. Molly loves her toys but her favourite is a piece of checked fabric which I tied with a knot in the centre. She was getting into mischief in my sewing room, you see, pouncing on any bits of fabric I dropped...so I thought, "Aha, you are fabric lover too are you, Missy? Then you shall have your own." Since she got her own large piece she has not touched mine. Yay. 

Many of our sunflowers have gone to seed now, which has brought even more birds to the garden. A gorgeous pair of red-winged parrots visit each afternoon to feast, and they are joy to behold! 

The cockatoos prefer to eat from the bird feeder, as do the rainbow lorikeets, but these parrots swing back and forth on the sunflowers and have dinner there instead. 

I have been doing some more crochet edging, but mostly for my older daughters. I'm sending them new crochet-edged tea towels for Christmas (they live in other states far from us) as they both prefer something handmade for gifts. I bought tea towels on sale at Bed, Bath & Table yesterday, in a mix of styles as both girls (and Blossom too) have very different preferences. These are a few I'm working on today...

I finished this blue one last night. It only takes an hour and keeps my hands occupied while we listen to a sermon, or teaching on various subjects like gardening in the tropics or health related seminars.

I always match the cotton yarn with the print of the tea towel, and leave a few pairs on the table at a time so that even if I only have twenty minutes or so of free time (while dinner is cooking perhaps) I can pick one up and make a start for later in the evening.

This is the new runner I'm working on for the top of a chest of drawers in our bedroom. I'll get back to it once all the girl's gifts are made. It's more of the Cath Kidston cotton duck fabric I have had on hand for years. 

Today is Charlie David's 3rd birthday!!

But I am going to ask you to pray for him as he has been ill for a few days - dreadfully high fever, vomiting etc. It has gone through all of Blossom's children, plus Ross (and it was his first week on his new job), but little Charlie got it last of all. So we shan't see him today as he needs rest and healing. Your prayers would be the best birthday gift. ((thank you))

Did I ever tell you that the 'David' in his name was for King David? Blossom always knew that if she had a son she'd want him to be a man after God's own heart and that she would have David in his name so that she could teach him all about his namesake and how God was able to use him. 

(Charlie David pretending to be Nana at her desk - :-)

How are YOU?? What's been happening in your life this past week? Is there anything you need prayer for? Just ask. xxx

My love and prayers go out for all of you who read along, knowing that our God hears them and acts on your behalf because He loves you so much. His answers may not always be what we wanted, they may not come as swiftly as we'd hoped, and for a while we might think He is deaf to our needs...but no, He is our Father and He always answers prayers in the way that is best for us because He is outside of time and knows the beginning from the end. So, we must have faith, hold fast to hope, always choosing to live according to God's Word, and remembering we were bought at a great price by the blood of His Son.

We have a cyclone on the way, and the Bureau of Meteorology expect it to hit somewhere around our region on Wednesday if it follows their predicted trajectory, however, having lived in this cyclone region for more than fourteen years now, I know that cyclones can change their track at any time, so it may move further north, go south, or decide to make landfall here. For the next few days we'll just watch and prepare 'in case' it comes close to home. Thanks for all the emails asking me about it's proximity to us. I'll update on Monday when I share the fourth free pattern. 

God bless you all!

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August arrives, Cully May turns 7, and a memory...

 Yesterday was Cully May's 7th birthday. Can you believe it? Many of you have followed along here since Blossom was 14 (she'll be 30 next birthday) watching her grow into the beautiful woman, daughter, wife and mama that she is now. Along the way there was so much excitement when her long-held dream of becoming a mummy became reality with the birth of precious Cully May in 2016...and now that ever-smiling cherub is seven. 

The most often expressed comment on the blog when I share photos of Cully May is her smile...and to be honest, it has brought me to tears at times when I read how her God-gifted smile made someone's day, or lifted them out of a dark place. What you see in this young lass is exactly who she is...a positive ray of sunshine, happiness and fierce loyalty, and a girl who loves Jesus. We are so blessed that she was born into our family, and I give thanks also for the times she has brought joy to some of your own hearts. If you're a believer, would you join us in praying that the Light of Christ will shine brighter and brighter through her life with each passing year? ((thank you))

AUGUST GARDEN...

The final month of our Australian winter, a month here in the northern tropics where I live when we begin to prepare for the end of beautiful warm days and slightly cooler nights, and plan how to care for the gardens when the intense heat of mid-spring arrives. 

Hubby built a new raised bed near the citrus trees last weekend, so I took the rocket, flowers, herbs and beetroot seedlings out of the very large bed behind the laundry and re-planted them in it. 

Then hubby turned the soil in the original large raised bed and added a lot more fertile soil to it in preparation for late winter planting that will see us into the end of spring. Yesterday I planted out mignonette lettuce and cucumber seedlings in that bed, dwarf beans seeds and winged pea seeds. Today I'll visit Bunnings for flower seedlings and plant them in it as well (no time to wait for flower seeds to sprout as I need good bug attracting flowers before the cucumbers and beans produce fruit). 

I pruned the roses right back in autumn and now they are healthier and producing some gorgeous blooms! One of the ways I give myself a blessing is to fill vases of home-grown roses and display them around the house where they delight my senses with their beauty and fragrance. Do you have a special blessing you gift yourself?

(These roses in the vase are Blue Moon on the left and Perfumed Passion on the right - Perfumed Passion is my favourite rose because it has such a strong and heady fragrance and blooms abundantly most of the year. I bought a second one of these roses last month, a bareroot one, and it's just beginning to burst forth with lots of green leaves and new stems.)

(This red rose is called Black Madonna, and is a long stemmed rose for cutting, As the flower opens wider it gets darker and darker. So lovely!)

(This rose is a Blue Moon and was the first rose I grew about four years ago. It starts off a vibrant pink, then as it opens wider a blue tinge comes into the pink. You notice more if you hold it next to a true pink rose.)

I always know when spring is around the corner because that's when the chives begin to blossom. Last year I made chive blossom vinegar and it is so good...I will make more this year. 

EARLY AUGUST STITCHING

Well, it's been a few years since I had my original online Stitchery Club, which ran successfully for almost five years. The decision to close the Club was difficult, but we'd just bought this house and had a complete blank slate when it came to building gardens because there was none here...so I knew my time would be needed elsewhere for a while.

But, after much prayer, and more than a few in-depth conversations with my dear husband, I have decided to open a brand new online Stitchery Club. It won't start until October, so there are no sign-ups open yet, but I am busy each day working on some lovely projects for the Club which I hope you'll love. But I shan't say anymore about that until September. 

Sneak peek...

EARLY AUGUST KITCHEN (and READING)

Earlier in the week I roasted a whole chicken with lots of veggies for a yummy dinner, then the next day I made a large pot of the most delicious herby chicken noodle soup from some of the leftover chicken meat.

I've never added so many herbs to a chicken soup before, but wow, this was incredible! Into the broth I put generous amounts of fresh rosemary, parsley, bay, sage and native thyme...plus three times more garlic than usual. To serve I scattered more parsley and native thyme across the top. Hubby loved it, and the next day I had another bowl for lunch with some of that delicious grape focaccia bread I'd baked last Sunday. (I cut the focaccia into generous pieces and freeze it the day it's baked and then take out pieces during the week for times such as this.)

One of the books I bought for a couple of dollars at the op-shop recently has become my lunchtime reading. The stories inside have caused me to shed a few tears sometimes, but they are so inspiring, these strong Jewish women who survived Auschwitz and immigrated to Australia to begin a new life, a life which helped them rebuild their Jewish customs and faith through traditional Jewish food. They share their stories and their recipes throughout the book...

The remainder of the roast chicken is in the freezer to be used in a cous cous salad later this month, and the bones are simmering to make bone broth.

We've already eaten some of our own home-grown beetroot, and the next crop is not ready so I had to buy a bunch of good beetroot from the store this week as my husband simply loves the stuff when it's roasted or pickled. What I love most about beetroot are the leaves because I use them to make pesto. 

Upon cleaning out the fridges I was able to use up the last of the parmesan cheese, pine nuts and a handful of macadamia nuts, along with fresh garlic and plenty of perennial basil from the garden. A good lug of olive oil, salt and pepper, a lemon from our tree, and now I have a large jar of pesto which will last all month. I also added a 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast at the end for some extra cheesiness due to not having enough parmesan. 

Years ago I always made protein balls for my husband, but since moving here in late 2018 I'd succumbed to the store bought versions. Really not as nice, but quite convenient because over time I didn't even think of making my own again. Until now, when I assessed all the 'regular' items on my shopping list and made decisions about what not to buy anymore. 

These are so easy to make, and my husband is a very happy man! In a food processor I blend up natural almonds, fresh medjool dates, cacao, coconut, hemp seeds, vanilla essence and dried cranberries - all ingredients which are permanently found in my fridge or pantry. I can make forty large protein balls for the same price as buying twelve tiny ones from the supermarket. Double bonus - healthier and cheaper. 

I'm a cake kind of gal. Love a good cake. My man is a biscuit fellow (cookie). I do make them for him every so often, though I'm more inclined to bake a slice (traybake/bar) because that's a middle ground we both enjoy...but after considering 'why' I don't enjoy baking bikkies very often, it became clear that I don't want to spend too much of my precious kitchen hours mixing and baking fancy ones. Well, that was eye opening!

So a couple of weeks ago I baked a batch of "plain" gingernuts and hubby loved them. They are simple, plain, and stay crips for about ten days. This week I baked "plain" malt biscuits (cookies) because we've long enjoyed a store bought pack with a cup of tea (and they dunk well, a must for plain biscuits in our house)...

Not surprisingly these were delicious, and so now I'm on a roll of baking bikkies every 9-10 days and no longer buying any. 

I save bananas that are over-ripe in a bag in the fridge, and when I cleaned out that fridge yesterday I counted nine bananas. Oh. Wanting to bless Blossom, I chose to bake two of Donna Hay's banana breads, which quite truly is the best banana bread you could ever eat. 

The banana skins go into a very large sealed jug of water for about five days, then I use in as fertiliser in the garden, especially with my roses...they love banana water.

I also baked more of the Cypriot Pitta bread...

...and made another batch of mayonnaise

We're getting plenty of purple and white sweet potatoes from the garden so I baked what was left of the most recent harvest with some beetroot and carrots, plus leftover baby zucchini and very ripe cherry tomatoes. All of these became dinner last night (with the fresh mayo on the side)...

Lovely Queensland winter strawberries completed the meal! In my state we grow strawberries in winter because it's a lot like spring, and in August especially they are abundant and cheap. In another couple of weeks I'll buy loads and make jars of jam to last the next year.

For those who asked, Charlie was much improved until Cully May's birthday yesterday when he spent much of the day vomiting. His immune system took a beating last week and so he caught a tummy bug rather easily after Cully May had it the other night. She wasn't very sick, and bounced back quickly, but it knocked little Charlie around yesterday so we had to cancel the family birthday dinner for a few days. He's a lot chipper this morning Blossom tells me, but for the time being she's going to focus on quiet activities. Thank you so much for praying. xxxxx

I don't know why, but the past few days I've been remembering my Pop a lot. I have talked and shared a lot about Nana here on the blog, and a little about my dear Pop, but maybe not enough. I was reading from 1 Timothy this morning and in chapter 3:3 this just captured my heart because it perfectly described my grandfather..."not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy."

I started to weep and a concerned look came over my husband as he asked what was wrong. I read this to him and shared a bit about Pop, about how I never once heard him raise his voice, how he was the gentlest man I have ever known, how he adored Nana and I, how he worked a very hard low-paid job to support us and not once did he complain but saw it as a privilege, how his greatest joy was to sit at the table with us every morning and evening and share an unhurried simple meal with a big pot of tea and slices of buttered bread being the ever present side-dish. He was a small wiry man, a man nobody would notice. But I did. And I am so grateful that God chose him to play such a pivotal role in my childhood. I very truly have not one bad word to say about Pop...only praise, through these escaping tears which mirror a heart that still misses him so much. 

Dear ones, tell those who are special in your life just how much they mean to you, and tell them why. 

(Nana and Pop just before I came into their life)

God bless and may your weekend overflow with the goodness and grace of the Lord!

hugs

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Blog post number 2502...

 Well, that's an awful lot of blog posts, even if they have been spread across almost 15 years. Some of you reading today have been here since I began this online journal of life, and some have only recently dropped by, so whoever you are, and from wherever you have come, welcome.

In those almost fifteen years, the blog has been viewed nearly ten million times...and when I saw that number a couple of weeks ago, I kind of retreated, or perhaps hibernated is a better description, within my mind so that I could pray and deeply consider whether or not it was time to sign off on the Elefantz blog and close it's door. 

Mmmm...some days I thought 'yes' it's time to wave goodbye, and other days I thought the complete opposite because sharing about God, homemaking, and sewing still feels so important, and I genuinely love to encourage women in those areas. So here I am back today after an intentional break, inspired also by Jesus, who often went away to pray and separate Himself from the world, having decided to leave the door of Elefantz open a while longer. 

You may have noticed many of your favourite bloggers closing their doors these past few years? I sorely miss a few which spoke deeply into my heart, writers who broadened my homemaker eyes, and threw the  light of Christ into more than few dark valleys - however, I understand why some quit blogging as they needed more time for family and responsibilities, and then I discovered a few others chose to go the route of social media instead, which is not my thing so I soon lost touch with them. Life is a series of seasons, and though I seriously considered saying farewell, now is not that season for me. But one day it will be, and that's fine. 

SOOO...here at home it's winter, but it's a very warm one still. I'm continuing to wear cotton shifts and sandals, swimming at least one kilometre a day in our pool, using the ceiling fans in the afternoon (but yay, not needing the air conditioner), gardening every day, eating salads with each meal, sitting out under the poinciana tree in the late afternoon with a book and a cuppa before staring dinner, stitching a little here and there, playing with new bread recipes, enjoying the odd day with Blossom and the children through the week, catching up with Rosie every few weeks, and pondering whether or not to start a crochet rug or wait a couple more weeks and see if the weather cools. 

Remember the Garden commonplace book I began? The free cover pattern is HERE if you missed it...

I listed everything we have in the garden as of this month, and will begin to write notes on the individual plants this week...

Our garden at this time of year keeps me very busy, but it's a real joyful busyness. I'd dearly love a normal cold winter like most of you have, so I can sit by a fire, cook soups and stews, and sip on hot chocolate...but a tropical winter just isn't like that. It is though, much cooler than our spring, summer and autumn, so it's quite natural to want to be outdoors a lot in the fresh air and sunshine without experiencing the "melt". ;-)

Here's some pics from around the garden...

Some things are fruiting now, and others are just beginning. We planted some vegies in the first week of April, and others were only planted last week, so there's a staggering of maturity. There are a few more raised beds and lots of pots with plants that are growing along fences, which I haven't photographed, but I think in another month the gardens will all look abundant and inviting. 

When my husband had a couple of weeks off work in March we were able to drive around a few garage sales. He got ten long wood palings for a few dollars, and he insisted we buy this wooden island for the kitchen. You know, as long as we've been married (in our 32nd year now) I've wanted one of these, but long ago accepted it was not to be. Yet, there it was, quite cheap, and beautifully hand-crafted, at a moving sale. 

It may look like it takes up a lot of space in the kitchen, but that's the angle of the photo. It's actually a perfect centrepiece, holding fruit and veg, a tea towel (hanging on the opposite side) and that deep drawer you can see at the front contains all my pretty tea cups and saucers. 

The top really needs a lovely covering, but I didn't want to just make 'anything'...I took time to consider the design, the fabrics, and the layout. Two weeks ago, when my hand was in recovery mode from the burn, I drew up a sketch and decided yes, this is what I'll make. 

These triangular stitcheries will feature on all four corners, and all are identical. The rest of the topper will be made from 3" squares of some lovely Anni Downs fabrics from my stash. 

I'm not rushing this, and to be honest, I'm not rushing anything 'stitchy' because those days are behind me. Sewing and stitching at a gentle pace, in fact living life at a gentle pace, is normal here. I have lots of delightful projects partially made or preparing to be made, but they'll be enjoyed when time allows...right now my hands are full, in a wonderful way, because there's always something to do around home, in the garden, with family, or in the sewing room. 

I do enjoy my afternoons reading under the poinciana tree, and especially my morning Bible times with hubby after breakfast, but I also listen to audio books or sermons while I'm in the kitchen cooking, cleaning, and prepping for the days ahead. 

Here's my book reading at the moment...

A couple of cookbooks for simple meal ideas (loving the new library at the end of my street!), an evening re-read of an older book by Mrs White, Sally Clarkson's wonderfully encouraging Teatime Discipleship book, which I first read on my Scribd subscription app but later decided to buy my own hard copy...

...and my new Spurgeon Study Bible (bought in March) which ministers in ways that poke and prod me to continue growing more like Christ, shaving away that which must go from my character. As you can tell, highlighting and underlining are part of how I read and study God's Word. Every Bible I own is full of notes in margins, underlining, and highlights. 

I'm still marinating in this thought (above) - that I cannot make something of myself, not if I want to live in the fullness of what Jesus wants to make me. There can be nothing more honouring to God than allowing Him to make me what He needs me to be...all to His glory. 

I shall sign off for today, my dear ones, and pray that you open your hearts wide to the Lord, and allow Him to make *you* into the person He needs you to be. I am reminded of a verse which I stitched a couple of years ago, one that still makes me stop and question my decisions as to whether they are God's choice or my own....

Ephesians 2:10

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

(pattern is here)

Have a wonderful week, and be sure to count your blessings, for even in hard times, there are blessings to be found. I'm going to bake an apricot cake now, as I re-discovered my own recipe when looking for something in an  old blog post! If you'd like to make it, the recipe is HERE. This cake will be dessert for a few nights, and is especially nice with custard or ice-cream. 

Bless you heaps!

Don't miss out on any Elefantz news or free patterns. 

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