Romancing the 80s, Iron-Ons and Old School

Did you have iron on clothing in the 70s or 80s? Why did this crafting genius ever go out of fashion? I had so much fun, I may have gotten a little carried away. Just cut out the picture, turn iron on high (turn steam off), sit garment on wooden chopping board, place transfer on item of clothing, press down with iron all over transfer firmly for a few seconds, peel away backing. Hey Presto. Boring purple windcheater be gone.  Be careful with the placement, once ironed on there is no going back.

 There are many more, let no plain windcheater, t-shirt or singlet go unadorned.

Wow indeed! Thanks Sukie. Bought from here and chocker block full of great child friendly, non-Disney, non-super hero, non-stupidly-sexy designs. The garments with transfers have been in the wash a few times and so far come out perfectly. I'm also tempted by the look of these GamaGo instant iron ons - which can also be found at Book Depository. I have also just purchased some laser printer transfer paper after being inspired by this wonderful creation with felt, the iron-on possibilities....

Image source http://alljoinin.blogspot.com.au

An awesome makeover for some thrifted plain tops. Cue this song which is very popular in our house, especially with the middle Bowerbird, he likes the naughty bits and chuckles his head off at the swear words, hmmm perhaps not the best family song choice (be warned). I do love the songs Op Shop pride, and the You Tube spoofs are hilarious.

We've also gone old school by baking some bread in the breadmaker. It took a little dusting off but has had a regular work out since we baked the first loaf. Whack in some ingredients and press the button. Three hours later, yummy fruit bread sending heavenly yeasty smells through our house, these two couldn't contain themselves. I love how I know what's in a simple loaf of bread - none of the supermarket breads have wonderful sounding ingredients lists. The Breadmaker loaves don't have the beauty of a free form sour dough, and the hole in the bottom looks weird, but for simplicity, they are hard to beat, and with the right recipe, they do taste good.

 They couldn't resist pulling a piece of from the base - that bread blade hole just screams poke me.

 The Big Bowerbird made this perfect ginger cake while I made dinner, moist and super gingery, just the way we like it.

Some old school crafting by the Little Bowerbird. An untouched sticker/craft book found at the op shop has been keeping this little one entertained. What sane child doesn't use their craft books? Sometimes I am bewildered by what I find at the op-shop, things never used, or too wonderful to have possibly let go. The little Bowerbird is enormously enamoured with scissors and sticky tape at the moment, and loves perusing books for ideas on how she can use them. I thought (perhaps hoped) she might be getting her crafting urges fulfilled at kindergarten, but instead, she comes home inspired to make more things. I'll be happier when she gets better at cleaning up after herself. Once the creations were made we sang mother duck went out one day, over the hills... over and over again, the little one loved playing with her hand made finger puppets.

A yummy Autumn dinner with all the produce of the season - I'm not sure what you would call this creation.
To re-create
Roast mushrooms, walnuts and cauliflower with thyme, garlic, olive oil, and a little balsamic vinegar until golden.
Roast cubes of pumpkin separately with garlic and olive oil,
Scatter with crumbled Danish fetta and a little parmesan.
Have on pasta, or rice or quinoa if you're feeling a little bit trendy.
The little Bowerbird chose macaroni, and just had hers with cheese, old school style.