Felt Santa Hats

In preparation for Christmas, I needed a pattern for Santa hats for my, I mean, Santa's little helpers. I couldn't find any patterns readily, so I made my own. You can too. These are my easy step-by-step instructions for sewing a felt Santa hat.

What you need:

* Red felt

* Whit felt

* Scissors

* Red thread

* Whit thread

* Needle or sewing machine

* Tape measure

* Pins

* Bell or white pompom

How you do it:

Measure two isoceles triangles out of the red felt. Each triangle must have a base of 12" and a height of 15". Cut them out and stitch the edges together, leaving the base open. Turn the triangles inside out so that the seams are on the inside.

Measure a long rectangle out of the white felt, 24" by 3". Fold in half and stitch the short edges together. Now fold the rectangle in half lengthways so that the stitched seam is on the inside.

Slip the base of the red triangle into the white rectangle base so that the open edges are together. Stitch the white felt onto the red felt.

Turn the white felt down and iron flat. Stitch a white pompom or silver bell on the end of the hat to finish it off.

Merry Christmas!

Sosatie Party

It's time for another "foodie" idea.

Our sosatie party came as a result of Dad wanting to have an interactive meal, and with the inspiration of Chef Sam on our side, we ended up having a superb evening meal with everybody involved in the preparation thereof.

What you need:

* Enough metal skewers for everyone to have at least two each.

* A variety of different chopped-up foodstuffs. Here are some suggestions: MEAT: skinned, deboned chicken thighs, bacon rashers, cocktail viennas, diced beef. VEGETABLES: mushrooms, pineapple, diced butternut, baby potatoes, baby marrows, onion, baby tomatoes, diced red, yellow and green peppers. DESSERT: marshmallows, jelly tots, melon balls, papaya balls, strawberries, chocolate for dipping.

* Coarse salt and black pepper.

* Olive oil.

* Marinade (if preferred).

* A prepared barbeque.

What to do:

* Wash hands.

* Place all ingredients in easy reach of all dinner participants.

* Provide each person with a plate to work over and their metal skewers.

* Let everyone prepare their own skewers. Encourage a varied combination of ingredients.

* Suggest inserting onion and green pepper squares in between the cubes of meat - this adds to the flavour.

* Lightly season the prepared kebab sticks with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

*Drizzle olive oil over meat and vegetable kebabs. Marinade can be applied to meat kebabs if preferred.

* Place prepared skewers over hot coals. Turn regularly until cooked through. ( *Allocate an adult to supervise this activity closely!)

* Enjoy your fun-to-make and fun-to-eat meal!

Pet Rocks - Ladybirds

This was a fun afternoon project which my girls took to quite enthusiastically. We collected the stones while on a beach holiday, and I already had the paint and the varnish, so this project cost me nothing. This is how we did it.

What we used:

* Round stones

* Acrylic craft paint

* Paintbrush

* Black permanent marker

* Crafter's varnish

How we did it:

* Paint the stones in a colour of your choice. You may need several layers to create a smooth surface. Allow to dry.

* Using the permanent marker, draw a face, as well as wing markings and "spots".

* Paint the face and spots in the colours of your choice. Allow to dry.

* Apply a couple of layers of varnish.

All done!