Choc Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

If you are on a diet,

(yes Stacey!)

Look away now!

I told you to look away!

Now, you won’t be able to resist making these sinful truffles!

A while ago, I shared my Choc Chip Cookie Dough for Cookie dough Ice Cream.

Now I am using that same Cookie Dough for these truffles that are perfect for Christmas!

Packaged in an egg carton that I have painted with craft paint, they would make a wonderful gift.

Not only are they yummy but they are really easy.

Just follow the recipe that can be found here.

Make the dough & cover the bowl with gladwrap then place in the fridge for around 10 minutes.

Then roll walnut sized chunks into balls.

Chill them on a tray for another ten minutes.

Melt a packet of cooking choc chips/buttons in the microwave. Do it in bursts of 30 second intervals on high power, Stir after each 30 seconds.

When the chocolate is melted, drop one ball at a time into the chocolate & roll it around gently with a spoon.

Use the spoon to pick that ball up & place on a lined baking tray.

Place in the fridge until set.

How easy is that!!!

Oh my, I can’t resist! I am off to eat one!

Enjoy!

If you enjoy reading my blog & making the things that I share, I need to ask a big favour of you.

Can you please vote for my blog in the Top 25 Aussie Mum blogs?

It will only take a few seconds (I promise), no forms or signing up. Just click on the link & click on the orange vote symbol.

I would really appreciate it.

Please & thank you!

A day bed for the back patio that cost next to nothing!

Ahhhh, this is perfect!

Perfect for those long hot Aussie summer days & nights when all you want to do is lay down & chill.

This day bed cost me next to nothing to make. It is just 5 pallets. Hubby & I spent a Saturday afternoon cruising around the local industrial estate looking for pallets & we scored! Do you know how many businesses have these sitting out the front with signs saying “Free pallets”. More than you could ever imagine!

So all we did to make this bed is painted 5 pallets with white paint (free, leftover from painting the inside of the house). We used one as the headboard & stacked the others, 2 pallets high to form the base. Placed some leftover waterproof sheeting on top (free, leftover from the bathroom reno)

I then used an old double bed mattress (free, it was sitting in our shed) & made a “fitted sheet” cover from some beautiful bright outdoor fabric that I found on special at Spotlight (that was the only purchase that I made)

              

And there you have it! One day bed for next to nothing!!

The headboard works perfect as a magazine rack!

Now, I made this for myself but the chickadees seem to think that I made it for them!

They spent the whole afternoon there & I had to force Georgia to come in after dark!

I can see myself spending most of Christmas day on the new day bed with a fan, glass of strawberries & cream vodka & just relaxing.

Can you please spare a few seconds to vote for my blog for the Top 25 Aussie Mum bloggers award?
It would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks & have a great day!
Make sure you find some "ME" time to relax or create.

Bias binding handbags. For beginners to experts. These bags would make great Chistmas gifts!

  

These handbags are so cute & easy to make. They are also reversible!

 

I made these gorgeous bags using a free pattern that I found over at Prudent Baby.

Here is one of the ones that they made.

This bag is so easy that a beginner could do it with ease. An expert sewer could also knock a few of these up in an hour!

Over at Prudent Baby, there is a step by step tutorial that is easy to follow & you can print out the pattern & enlarge to any size you would like.

I made 3 different sizes. Georgia has already pinched one off me to use as a school bag! Thanks Georgia, it was my fave. Oh well, not to worry. I can make another one!

Now, have you seen the new Simplicity bias tape maker that Wrapped in Fabric has got in? Well, here it is!

    

Oh, this would make life so easy! It is on my 2012 Must buy List!!

You can make your own bias tape in minutes & have it any colour you want! Perfect for all of you sewing & quilting projects. If you head over to Wrapped in Fabric there is a short video on how this marvellous machine works.

Well, I am off to go & make summer P.J's for the chickadees. I can't believe how quickly they grow! Kiara is nearly the same size as me! Boo hoo!

Where did my babies go???

Can you please vote for this blog? Please & thank you!

Who would have thought that when I started this little blog less than a year ago, that it would have grown into this!

This blog has been nominated for the

Top 25 Aussie Mum Blogs

If you enjoy this blog, could you please spare a couple of seconds to click on the link above & vote for Sew, cook, laugh & live?

I am serious when I say that it only takes a few seconds!

There are no forms to fill out, no signing up, just click on the “vote” & your vote will be counted.

You can vote as many time as you want but only once in every 24hr period.

I love the feedback from all of the followers of this blog. My favourite part is jumping on to the Sew, cook, laugh & live Facebook Page & chatting with the lovely ladies who love my blog as much as I do.

I only started this blog to share my sewing & recipes with friends  & family but now it is a huge part of my life. I spend many hours each day working on my blog. I do not get paid for it, I do it for the love of everything homemade.

So if you could just spare a few seconds to cast your vote at

Top 25 Aussie Mum Bloggers

It would be very appreciated.

Please & thanks!

Jos xoxoxox

Kids pocket money pouches & 100’s of other uses!

My chickadees are really getting into the whole pocket money thing now they are 10 & 12yrs old & wanting to buy their own stuff.

Georgia is doing more chores than I ever thought possible because she wants money to spend at local markets & Kiara is wanting a mobile phone now that she is almost in high school.

I found these super cute printable seed packets!

You can find them over at Just something I made.

There is a whole range of designs, not just these ones.

They are quick & easy to make. Just print, fold glue & you are done!

Just pop the money in & they will be surprised when they open them up at the end of each week.

{they do not normally get that much each but I owed Kiara $10 because I had run out of money for tuckshop & Georgia gave me a foot massage for an hour trying to earn extra!}

These little envelopes would be perfect when giving cash as a gift, gift cards, small trinkets, seeds, hairbands, movie tickets, etc.

I am sure you could come up with 100’s of uses!

Festive Friday, advent calendars

So my kids have already started on the begging & pleading every time they see one of the chocolate advent calendars at the shops.

This year, I said no.

This is why!

I brought this beautiful advent calendar tree!

I love it!

It is over 30cm tall & has a little pull out drawer for all 24 days on the advent calendar.

I brought this beautiful new family tradition from Avon.

(this is not a sponsored blog. I just wanted to share this with you all because I am in love with it!)

It is made from wood & is very sturdy so I think it will be a family tradition that will hopefully carry on for many years to come.

Each box is beautifully decorated.

I have put 2 little chocolates in each drawer, one for each of my chickadees.

As the time to start the calendar gets closer, I am going to also put some little trinkets in the boxes as a surprise as well.

I have seen quite a lot of these types of calendars in the shops lately so why not start a new tradition for your kids!

If you are wanting to make your own,

head on over to Donna J. Craft

& buy one like this that is ready to be decorated!

Take one pattern for many different looks. {Part 1}

I decided the other day to make a denim dress. I was a little worried that it would look like an 80’s flash back gone wrong. It doesn’t look like a bad flashback!! It was exactly what I wanted! That is because I made it using one of my most loved patterns. I brought this pattern..

{New Look 6980}

a couple of years ago from my little local fabric store & it has become one of my most used patterns. It is a very easy pattern that can create several different looks. It can be long, short, halter neck, shoe string straps, wide straps……. it can basically be anytime of dress you want!

Not many patterns come in a wides size range but this one is ladies size 4 all the way up to size 16. This makes it easy to customise the dress to your body shape & size. I have trouble buying dresses off the rack as I have a true hourglass figure. My boobs are the same dress size as my hips but my waist is 2 sizes smaller. This pattern helps so that dresses fit like a glove!

On the back of this dress is 2 rows of elastic so that it fits perfectly.

I think this denim will look great with some red & white accessories for a nautical look

or even some brown chunky beads for a more bohemian chic look.

Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to show you some variations of this dress so stay tuned!

Boys onesie with a funky tie!

A couple of days ago I shared the

Girls ruffled Christmas onesie

that I had made & today I am sharing a boys onesie.'

Here it is!

You can find the pattern for the tie & instructions over at

Crap I've made

I have made so many tie onesies & shirts over the years.

My girls love to wear them too!!

It is a quick & simple way to update a plain onesie.

I am not going through the whole thing as there is a great tutorial & pattern over at Crap I've made.

I will just show you the basics.

You could have one in every colour!

The fabric used for this tie is

Trick or treat black by Riley Blake

You can find it at

This would make a great gift for a newborn baby boy!

My fave dress, no pattern required. A different look!

Do you remember when I posted the My fave dress, no pattern required a while ago?

It sits at number 2 on the most viewed posts that I have done on this blog.

I wanted to show you a dress that I made & wore on the weekend.

I used the same pattern with a few slight changes.

I live this dress! I received so many compliments & quite a few, “Can you make me one?”

The above photo is the same dress but shown with 2 different coloured accessories.

I put the call out on the Sew, cook, laugh & live Facebook page to help me decide which look was better. I had to go to engagement party & then a Good Charlotte rock concert. This dress suited both occasions better than I expected!

I just made it a little more slim fitting than the original My fave dress, no pattern required

And I made it shorter so that it sits just above my knees. It has 2 layers, one of chocolate brown broderie anglaise & a layer of plain brown cotton fabric under so that it is not see-through & the lace doesn’t get uncomfortable.

I did add some little straps just a couple of hours before I wore it. I thought it would be a safer option for the rock concert & I was right! There was a lot of dancing & arms waving so I was very thankful for the straps by the end of the night.

This dress took well under 1 hour to make. If you didn’t need to have a second layer of fabric, you could make this dress in 30 minutes.

I have never worn a brown dress before, hence why I asked for help with choosing accessories! I am now in love with chocolate brown! I ended up wearing the silver accessories & I personally think it looked fabulous!

The basic “no pattern” for My fave dress, can be tweaked in so many different ways for so many different looks & I will share those with you through out this long hot Australian summer. I think that I am going to have one of these in every colour of the rainbow! It is such a light, comfy dress & it is

My fave dress.

This dress would suit any occasion, I even did an engagement party & rock concert in the one day! If it can be worn to both of those events, it can be worn anywhere!

You can wear this type of dress at any time of the year..

throw on a light cropped cardigan in the autumn months…

A denim jacket & boots in winter…

a nice crochet shawl in spring..

& just with a few pop of colour accessories in summer!!

A whole new world!

I have been a follower of a fantastic blog called Beach Vintage for a very long time.

The use of fabrics that are shown on this blog are amazing!

Everything that I am trying to achieve in my home, although the whole Paris theme is slowly being added to my Beach Vintage look!

I love the fact that they live on the other side of our beautiful city. We are all from the same great sunny place!

Now these 2 lovely ladies, Simone & Jody, have had a small boutique online shop for quite a while but now they have a new look store with so many new products & fabulous fabrics!

They stock everything from

designer fabric

ribbons

An amazing range of oilcloth

They even offer a service where you can choose the fabric for your new cushions & have them made for you!

Why not pop over & say hi to Jody & Simone & let them know that you heard about them here!