Crochet Baby Toy – Noise Makers

One of Munchkins favourite toys was this Pram Necklace from Littlephant that we bought her for her first Christmas. She adored the colours and the textures of the toy hanging over her pram. And apparently it tasted delicious too!

But as she’s gotten older it has fallen out of favour, she’s now showing preference for toys that make a noise or that we build towers out of and she knocks down. So I decided to make her a toy. One that combined the tactile nature of the Littlephant pram necklace along with a rattle and shake!

The fact that they’re also round and can roll a little way from her is also a good thing as we’re trying to encourage Munchkin to move. At present, she’ll just happily play with whatever she can reach or make big eyes and pout until her father gets the toy she accidentally just launched.

These are what I came up with. They use the plastic insert from a Kinder Surprise filled with various noisy items. For these I used whatever was handy in my kitchen cupboard. Popcorn kernels, quinoa, rock salt and sunflower seeds were put in the shakers and they were closed and taped up. Each has a very distinct sound in comparison to the others.

I then added some decorative embroidery with contrasting cotton. Stitching in and out of the holes between the crochet stitches. This has two benefits, it makes the cotton wadding surrounding the Kinder insert pretty much impossible to pry out by tiny fingers and it looks pretty!

I used some of my remaining cotton wadding from my quilt rather than normal cushion stuffing also because it’s nice and firm, making it hard for little fingers to get out and it makes crocheting the Kinder insert into the ball much easier as you’re less likely to get your hook caught up in tons of little fibres.

To start with, I put a small amount of my selected seed into the Kinder insert. I taped it up to make sure that it didn’t come open inside the toy and spill it’s contents. Mainly because this would stop it making a lovely rattle noise and as yet another safety precaution.

Crochet Baby Noise Maker Pattern:

Stitches you need to know:

Magic Ring

Single Crochet = sc

Increase (2 single crochet in the same stitch) = inc

Decrease (singe crochet decrease) = dec

Materials

Cotton yarn in at least two colours

3.5mm crochet hook

Cotton wadding

Plastic container insert from a Kinder Surprise or alternate small plastic container (the ones in the vending machines that kids love and parents loathe would probably work well for this project too)

Seeds, Grains etc

Row 1: Create a Magic Ring and sc 6. Pull magic ring closed and place marker at end of row. Move stitch marker at end of every row following.

Row 2: inc 6. (12)

Row 3: *sc 1, inc 1.* Repeat *to* 6 times. (18)

Row 4: *sc 2, inc 1.* Repeat *to* 6 times. (24)

Row 5: *sc 3, inc 1.* Repeat *to* 6 times. (30)

Row 6: *sc 4, inc 1.* Repeat *to* 6 times. (36)

Row 7: *sc 5, inc 1.* Repeat *to* 6 times. (42)

Rows 8 to 12: sc 42. (42)

Row 13: *sc 5, dec 1.* (36)

Row 14: *sc 4, dec 1.* (30)

Row 15: *sc 3, dec 1.* (24)

At this point I placed a piece of wadding into the bowl of the ball. Wrapped the shaker egg in wadding and pushed it in. I then used my crochet hook to stuff more wadding in until I had a nice full ball. Then placed another piece of wadding over the top of the shaker, tucked it in nice and firmly and continued crocheting the Noise Maker closed.

Row 16: *sc 2, dec 1.* (18)

Row 17: *sc 1, dec 1.* (12)

Row 18: dec 6 (6)

Row 19: dec 3 (3)

Finish off and sew in the ends. I did this by taking a large needle and pulling the cotton through to the other side of the egg, in between the shaker egg and the wadding, and then cutting of the remainder. This left the ends well out of reach of those cheeky inquisitive fingers.

I did the same thing with the ends of the embroidery I added.

To add the embroidery, merely fasten on, and sew in and out in the spaces between the crochet stitches.

Depending on how much wadding you add and how firmly you pull your embroidery stitches, you’ll either end up with a nice round ball shape (lots of wadding, stitches reasonably loose) or an oval shape (less wadding, firmer stitches). I did two of both as the ball shape are a little too large for Munchkin to hold easily at present, but the oval shape are perfect! And they don’t roll away so easily, encouraging her to move in small increments.

My templates and tutorials are free for personal use only.

Finally finished

They say that every quilt tells a story.

This one certainly does!

I started it before Munchkin was born. Last Summer, my friend and quilter extraordinaire Lynne, went with me via ferry to Thonon les Bains in France to pick out fabric. It turned out to be one of the hottest days that Summer and neither of us was dealing very well with the heat. I was seven months pregnant and feeling every bit of it!

But I was determined to get a quilt finished for Munchkin to come home in. So I waddled around Thonon and we selected the fabrics. Then over the weeks that turned into months, Lynne taught me how to cut the fabric out, sew it together and quilt it.

I struggled though-out the pregnancy. It turns out I’m not one of those people who glows and feels fabulous and honestly, I didn’t like being pregnant at all. Probably because it felt like I was unwell for most of it.

My sewing machine even attempted to die before I’d completed the project! It threw out springs and twisted bits of metal in a cartoonish fashion, only missing the associated “SPROING!!”.

Thankfully we were able to get it working again. And poignantly, this quilt turned out to be the last project I’d do on this machine. My mother gave it to me about 10 years ago, it was second or third hand when I received it and it had survived being lugged halfway around the world when we moved to Switzerland. But I now own a beautiful new machine, given to me for Christmas by DM and Munchkin.

At some point I gave up on having the quilt done to bring Munchkin home in. Only digging it back out to give quilting it one more try the day before I was due to be induced. I’d been having regular contractions for 11 days by this point. I was exhausted… and scared. In an effort to distract ourselves, DM commenced painting a robot and I finished quilting my quilt.

Amusingly you can see when I had contractions in the quilting. In places it resembles the monitor they plugged me into frequently over the last weeks of my pregnancy! The stitching goes from lovely, straight and ‘in the ditch’, to off tangent quite badly, and then back ‘in the ditch’!

Finally I packed it away, a little disappointed that I’d not managed to complete it (I had the binding and hand sewing to do), and we went to the clinic to meet Munchkin.

Munchkin entered our lives in something of a rush as I eventually needed an emergency cesarean. And she came home almost a week later swaddled in a super soft Aden + Anais muslin square instead of in one of my creations. I didn’t have time to feel disappointed. We spent the next 6 months learning about each-other, falling head over heels in love, doing all we could to help her thrive and enjoying our beautiful little spirited sprite.

Then, Lynne came around for one final quilting lesson and, at one point with Munchkin looking on, we made and sewed on the binding using my new machine.

I did the hand sewing, a little at a time, over the following few weeks (I’m not great at hand sewing, particularly when tired! ;))

And it’s complete! Almost a year since it was started my darling little girl is sleeping under it.

I love it. It’s perfectly flawed and I feel it tells the start of our story wonderfully.

I’ve been told it’s traditional to name a quilt and have it embroidered on the back. But I’ve been struggling to come up with anything other than “Contraction Quilt” which isn’t very romantic.

What do you think I should call it?

Quilting details: I used the pattern created by See Kate Sew as a guide but made a few changes. Lynne made up an alternate pattern piece that allowed for the triangle to have seam allowances added, meaning that it was much easier to get the points closer to lining up. The quilt Lynne made up as a test had the points matching perfectly! And I put my quilt pieces together randomly, only ensuring that the same colour didn’t sit adjacent.

Gluten-free profiteroles (choux pastry)

There were a few things I gave up on finding when I found out I couldn’t eat gluten anymore. One of them was profiteroles and a good choux pastry. But a trip to my favourite bakery assured me that a gluten-free choux pastry is very possible. They make the most amazing gluten-free eclairs!

So when the latest issue of Delicious magazine graced my letterbox with a Better Cook Challenge on choux pastry I was determined to try and make a gluten-free profiterole. We had some friends and their gorgeous offspring coming for lunch last Friday, so I seized the second wind I got on Thursday night after putting Munchkin to bed, and tried.

And it worked! *cue cheer and happy dance*

Honestly I can’t really remember exactly what the glutenous version tastes like, but both of my friends and my husband assured me that my version were delicious. And my husband advising that I could make them again very soon convinced me of it.

As per usual I used Schaer patisserie mix C as it’s the best commercially bought flour mix I’ve come across for pastries and cakes (and Sonja in Cully wouldn’t divulge her amazing recipe ;))

I finished them with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce rather than the chocolate one in the magazine. I’ll write up the caramel recipe for next weeks gluten-free recipe post.

Profiteroles with Vanilla Crème Pâtissière‎

Ingredients for the choux pastry

100ml of cold water
45 grams of unsalted butter
60 grams of Schaer patisserie mix C or your preferred gluten-free flour mix
1/2 teaspoon of guar gum
2 medium eggs

Ingredients for the Crème Pâtissière

2 egg yolks
10 grams of Schaer patisserie mix C or your preferred gluten-free flour mix
1/2 teaspoon of cornflour
35 grams of caster sugar
150 ml of whole milk
half a vanilla pod, split lengthways
100ml of double cream

Method for the choux pastry

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees celsius (180 fan forced) and line two baking trays with baking paper.
Put the water and butter in a saucepan and bring to the boil, ensuring that the butter is melted and combined.
Remove from the heat, and immediately stir in all of the flour and guar gum. Stir quickly until the mixture thickens and starts to come away from the side of the saucepan.
Place back on the heat and cook whilst stirring for a little longer, just to dry the mix out a little. A minute or two should do it.
Put the pastry into a large mixing bowl. Leave for 2 minutes to cool. This ensures that when you add the egg it doesn’t cook immediately.
Add eggs, one at a time, and stir in quickly with a whisk until well combined.
Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fit with a 1cm plain nozzle.
Pipe the mixture onto the baking paper. In the photographs I made large profiteroles, and so piped them about the size of a large walnut. Pipe them about 4 cm apart.
Using a finger, wet with a little water, push the spikes down so that the top of your profiterole is smooth and not peaked.
Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 200 degrees celsius (180 fan forced) and then turn down to 140 degrees celsius (120 fan forced) for another 20-25 minutes to dry them out.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on trays.

Method for the Crème Pâtissière

Place the egg yolks, flour, cornflour and sugar in a bowl and whisk until combined
Put the milk and vanilla pod in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Pour the milk mixture over the egg mixture and whisk to combine.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and put back on a gentle heat, stirring continuously until very thick.
Take off heat, place in a bowl, discard the vanilla pod, cover with cling wrap and allow to cool.
Whip the double cream until you get soft peaks.
Fold in the cooled custard mixture and push through a sieve to get rid of any lumps.
Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm plain nozzle.
To fill the choux buns, make a small hole in the bottom of each cooled profiterole and insert the piping nozzle. Gently squeeze in filling.
Serve on a plate or platter with your choice of sauce. I used a salted caramel sauce (recipe in next weeks blog).

Recipe adapted from May 2014 issue of Delicious Magazine.

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My greatest project

Nicola Pravato by Hayley Hay Photography

Many of you who have followed ‘next to nicx’ over the years have probably noticed that it’s not plastered with my photograph. In fact, I’ve actively avoided putting my face on the blog as I’ve rather liked hiding behind my creations. I’ve loved letting them do the talking and showing off, particularly as I’m not comfortable in front of a camera and have tended to prefer being behind it. I am something of an introvert.

I thought that if my ‘face’ didn’t match what you thought it would look like, you’d be disappointed. A little like when someone creates a movie adaption of a book you love and they put what you feel is entirely the wrong actor in the part. The book is forever tainted by the awful actor and the mental image you had created is slightly overwritten.

I didn’t feel like the face of this blog. I was pregnant and fat and I’m still not back to my ideal shape. I’m sleep deprived, tired and have struggled with an iron deficiency. I’ve used all these as my excuses for leaving my face off the blog and to keep hiding in relative obscurity.

But all that comfortable anonymity has recently been stripped away. I was asked to complete a project (rather a splediferous one I can share with you in August) and they wanted to put my photo on it. After the subsequent panic attack, I realised that I can no longer hide. And whilst I’ve no plans of plastering my face over every post, I probably do need to share a little more than I have been.

Thankfully I’ve recently become friends with lovely and insanely talented Hayley Hay. She’s amazing! Hayley came to my rescue and took some really great photos of the Munchkin and I. Many more than was needed for my project. And so I’ve decided to share some of them with you and to say;

“Hello, this is me. Nice to meet you”.

As well as; “Check out my greatest project of all time! Isn’t she adorable?!”

Because Munchkin is by far and away, my greatest creation/ project/ job.

She is a handful. Just like her father and I, she knows her own mind and makes sure we know it too. She is also gentle, generous and kind. I’m adoring the personality that is emerging every day and seeing just how excited she gets as she learns something new. Just last week she learned how to clap her hands and so clapped proudly whilst saying “Yaaaaay” for about a day and a half. She clapped even whilst crying!

I’m a firm believer in “Do it once. Do it well”. And I’m doing my utmost to do it well with Munchkin. We have our good and bad days, and I’m learning to go with the flow a lot more. My perfectionist self has had to learn to be happy with ‘Almost perfect’ and more often with ‘Good enough’. It has been a challenge.

Just minutes before we were to start this shoot, my daughter decorated her outfit so badly it had to be changed entirely. And it was washing day. So she end up wearing a t-shirt, baby Converse and spotty tights in this shoot instead of the pretty dress I’d planned. I was a little disappointed. But after seeing the end result, I’m so glad! They show every gorgeous little squishy baby roll and her beautifully chubby belly. She’s thinning out a little now as she’s starting to move around a bit more.

This beautiful little one has taken all of my days and a fair number of my nights. Any any spare time I’ve had, I’ve been making but haven’t had time to blog.

It was starting to get to me. I hated seeing the blog stagnant. Even though I told myself it was only ‘maternity leave’, I seriously considered giving up next to nicx. Being an expat and not having easy access to family had meant that I’d not had time alone to work etc. I couldn’t see a way to make it work.

But a couple of my friends and my husband gave me a serious taking to, I’ve decided to keep it going. And I saw a need for a little me time as I’d started to feel like I was losing myself. Consequently, we’ve made some lifestyle adjustments. My husband comes home early a couple of nights so I can get in a swim/ workout and we now have a sitter come to look after Munchkin a couple of half days a week so I can get back to ‘work’. Munchkin has made a new friend, and I’ve finally got time to bake/ blog/ make and create!

It has the added benefit of making me feel a whole heap better and therefore, I’m a much better mother.

Good news! This means that the blog is going to get busier than it has been. All those half finished projects are starting to be completed and photographed. And I’ve a whole heap of new ones. So you should start to see a craft/ GF baking blog post every week or so. And I’ve a list of splendiferous things I’ve found whilst wandering around this new world inhabited by little Munchkins, I’ll share a few of those with you too.

Thanks for following next to nicx and for being patient all these months!
So see you next week; right now I’ve a tiny skirt and post to finish!

Nicx

All images in this post are Copyright to Hayley Hay Photography

Because sometimes you need to cheat

Hello lovely ladies and gents! I had intended this blog post to go live in time for Mother’s Day, so that all of you out there who wanted something a little more tasty than burnt toast for breakfast could stock up on ingredients, print out this post or email it to your partners and suggest that they make this with the kids.

Why? Because it’s insanely easy, looks good and is delicious! But life (or in this case a still teething Munchkin) managed to get in the way of my best laid plans.

So here it is post Mother’s Day. Maybe you can put in an order for one for your birthday?

The main ingredient for this cake?

A cake mix.

Yup, this lady has changed her tune after rather a lot of burnt caramel and cakes that resemble pancakes because the Munchkin decided to curtail her nap and/ or to take up lung exercises right at an essential moment. So whilst I thought that hell would freeze over and be coated in frosting before I’d use a packet, I’ve found myself resorting to using cake mixes in emergencies. I’ve found a couple of fabulous gluten-free ones. But you could use any you find at the grocery or whole-foods.

For this one I used a packet of Ma Vie Sans Gluten Gateau au chocolat, manufactured by Primeal, it’s available at pharmacies and health food stores. But you can use any good gluten-free mix you like.

After following the instructions on the packet to make up the batter, I added half a cup of chopped walnuts and half a cup of chopped dark fleur de sel chocolate. And poured it into a large slice tin before baking at the temperature suggested on the packet. Just keep a good eye on it as it will bake a lot quicker due to it being put in a larger tin.

This meant that I ended up with a ‘brownie’ type cake. I cut it in half, trimmed it so the edges looked neat and layered it with chopped strawberries and whipped cream.

I then covered it with a light dusting of good quality cocoa powder. I use a tea strainer for this as it gives me loads more control and creates less of a cocoa powder cloud in my kitchen. It’s also a really handy thing to give your kids when they’re “helping”.

And finally, I added a sprinkle of some of my favourite decorations… dried flowers/ petals. I bought these from a market here in Lausanne, they’re organic and oh so pretty! But you could probably find them at a local delicatessen or specialty shop.

If all else fails, just attack with your favourite sugary decoration

And voilà! An exceedingly quick (I had this done in one very short Munchkin nap), delicious and pretty cake to serve your friend who is coming for tea. And a really easy cake for you (or your husband *hint hint*) to whip up with your kids for your next Mother’s Day or birthday.

Happy Easter Bunny Milk Cartons

It’s that time of the year! That time when Spring arrives and all the shelves in every store are full of chocolate bunnies and pretty chocolate eggs. That time when we eat too many and then swear never to eat chocolate again.

As I’m something of an enabler when it comes to spoiling ones-self and others; and in order to aid with your chocolate consumption and gifting this year, I’ve made up a pretty little Easter bunny milk carton template that you can customise with the names of both the gifter and giftee… or you could just fill in your name in both spaces.

It’s quite simple and subtle, so it will allow your gorgeous gift inside to take centre stage.

To customise it, just open in Adobe Acrobat or Reader, fill in the fields in the form and print it off.

Or simply print it off if you want them left blank.

The finished box is 9cm wide x 9cm deep x 13 cm high

It’s as simple as printing it out on A3 card stock, cutting it out, scoring along the dotted lines and folding.

Update: I’ve had a question about ‘card stock’. Sorry, I should have been clearer. Just print it out on the thickest card you can get through your printer. Anything about 160 gsm should work well.

Then use double-sided tape or paper glue to stick it together and you’ll have a super cute little box in a jiffy.

In the interest of full disclosure, the inspiration for this little design came from one of my favourite outfits for Munchkin. We bought it in Australia. It’s this beautiful little jumpsuit by Oeuf NYC. I love it so much I’ve plans to buy it in more colours and larger sizes so that she can wear them for as long as possible.

My templates and tutorials are free for personal use only

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next to nicx
April 3, 2014
Craft, Custom, Design, DIY, Easter, Holidays, Packaging, Tutorial
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Fruit printables

I don’t often share the work of others on this blog. But now and then I stumble across something that I can’t resist sharing with you, this is one of those things!

I haven’t made these paper pieces of fruit… yet. Primarily because Munchkin still has a habit of making papier mâché out of everything she can get her hands on. But they’re splendid!

I can’t help but think they’d make fabulous presents filled with candy, or put in a fruit bowl as a table decoration. I only wish I’d thought of the idea! Honestly, though, Mr Printables do some splendid work I’m exceedingly envious of. Go check them out here

Download the templates here

Collection of free Valentines Printables

Valentines Day is fast approaching. Are you prepared?

For those of you who aren’t, I’ve collated a collection of free Valentines Day printables. So if you’re stuck for ideas, why not have a look? Just click on the images to link through to the respective blogs and downloadable files.

My husband and I are a bit rubbish at Valentines Day. It’s often forgotten until the day before or the morning of.

We avoid all the really commercial aspects of the day and don’t go out to crazily expensive and often mediocre dinners or buy each-other expensive gifts. But we do something. This year my husband will have just gotten off the plane after an 11 hour flight followed by a 2 1/2 hour train trip, having spent just 3 days in San Francisco. So we’re going for low key this year. I’m going to make us a nutritious and delicious dinner and then, if my lovely other half can keep his eyes open, we’ll watch a movie.

Usually I make a card. But last year I forgot about Valentines Day all-together as I was suffering from a hideous bout of morning sickness. I have no idea what I’m going to do this year. Some people appear to be using my Little Mr Robot Advent Calendar as a Valentines Gift, so I may do something similar.

Slowly re-entering an altered reality

I feel a bit like Alice. I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole. I’ve met wonderful characters who have helped, sometimes hindered and oft times made my journey fun or just a little less stressful. Everything in my life is the same and different. And I am now slowly waking up to reality. But an adjusted reality. A reality that includes a little person who has no respect for sleeping hours or schedules. Like the little white rabbit, I’m always late (which those of you who know me ‘off blog’ understand is enough to give me a conniption!).

The cause of this adjusted reality, she’s perfectly gorgeous. I’m in love.

Nicola and Munchkin by Hayley Hay Photography

Before Munchkin arrived, I was certain that my life would get easier. After 12 days in the early stages of labour I was exhausted and ready for the next part. And after hearing from others who’d been able to do projects in the weeks following the birth of their children, I was certain that the 2/3rds completed projects and blogs I had would get completed and after a week or two my blog would continue. After all, newborns only eat and sleep right?! I’d get all of my projects done and the blog would continue much as it had been *insert unladylike snort here*.

I should have taken heed to what my pregnant friends who already have children were doing. They were all planning ‘maternity leave’ from their projects and blogs.

Unsurprisingly I was in for quite a bit of a shock. I’ve gone from having many hours alone, to struggling to find enough time to have a shower, let alone finish a tutorial and write a blog. And of an evening I usually resemble a zombie and anything I’ve written makes about as much sense as if it were written by the aforementioned brain-dead one.

So it’s over two months since Munchkins birth and I’m only just making my way back to the blog. The tutorials and templates are on their way. But it’s going a bit slower than I thought.

Thank you to all of you who wrote to ask for the little shoes templates and tutorial. I love that you’re all looking forward to making them! But I have to beg for a little patience. They’ll be done just as soon as I can. Hopefully next week; but don’t hold me to that. The Munchkin may have other plans she’s not informed me about.

All photos of Munchkin and I in this post are by the very talented Hayley Hay from Hayley Hay Photography.

A little robot advent

It’s coming round to that time of year wherein I look at the calendar and panic. I’ve not even started to think about Christmas presents for friends and family, let alone creating an advent calendar. And this year is particularly difficult as I’m trying to do it all whilst sleep deprived and often with a Munchkin who won’t let me put her down. So this year, I’m remaking some of the advents I created last year and thought you might want to do so too.

So here’s a slightly revised Little Mr Robot advent blog post:

A friend of mine dropped into conversation that she thought that I sketch I’d done years ago would look rather cute as an advent calendar. So I spent a little time this week playing with it to see if I could get it to work. Et voilà!! Here is the result!

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