Life Got In The Way (and Minecraft)

As regular visitors (hello Shell and Kate) will be aware it's been a long time since I've managed to post anything.  This is partly because I've been exhausted from a rough few weeks and partly because my creative efforts have turned to things that will make it a bit better.

One good reason to not be sewing so much is my missing of seeing live bands has finally overwhelmed me and I've done something about it.  After years of wanting to see The Herd I heard last Wednesday morning on the radio that they were doing a free gig in Bondi that night.  The fact it was free, drivable to and parkable at got me over the nerves of going on my own, and I'm so glad I did, I loved it.  I loved it so much in fact I went to see Big Scary supported by Courtney Barnett on my own a couple of days ago too.  This was also fantastic, but sitting around between acts pushed my self consciousness limits a bit.

However my eldest's ninth birthday rolled round, we hadn't thrown him a party for three years and he really deserved some spoiling so it was time to pull my finger out.  He (like every other 8 year old I know, and in fact people of many other ages too) loves Minecraft.  He had a party at the local BMX track with a few Minecraft touches, and I'm still surfing on the high of not having had to take anyone else's child to casualty.

I made some Minecraft coloured bunting to decorate the site, but this was clearly more for my benefit than his.  Bunting's not hard, but I'm always a bit nervous when making something for the first time so I used this tutorial.  Nine year old boys are not known for their love of bunting whatever colour it is, it made me happy though.

I also made a pinata, which had a much bigger impact, it's not often something I make gets called sick by men, teenagers and boys.  In case you know even less about Minecraft than me its a Ghast.  Unfortunately I can't claim any of the credit, I followed this tutorial, thank you very much Domestic Femme.  I made a Power Rangers pinata a few years ago from papier mache and it was destroyed pretty much by the same group of boys in about four hits.  This one took about 40, everyone got a go and sometimes it was open just enough for the less confident kids to send heaps of lollies flying.  Whacking something with all their might over and over again is exactly what a group of over-excited 8/9 year old's need.

And finally there was the cake, modelled on a cake within the game of Minecraft.  As with every year I set about decorating it with low expectations, but got even them dashed.  Luckily the kids were very easily impressed, and it tasted alright.  You can also vaguely see the party bags in the background which were Ghasts in creative mode as opposed to the pinata which was a Ghast in survival mode (apparently).






My next project is a weighted vest which are recommended to help calm kids with SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder),  ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) or ADHD (we all know that one), the poor old alphabet kids.  My son has a few letters to his name, some useful, some not.  I've made him a weighted vest in the past, which typically was too small pretty much from the moment I finished it.  So now I'm knowingly making him two which will be far too big. They work on the same of principle as feeling safe curled up under a heavy blanket, I know this isn't just me.  However there are lots of fiddly pockets and weighted bags so it's not going to happen quickly, don't wait up.