The Winner is....

And the winner of the Frog Goose & Bear Handmade Giveaway is....

Catherine from A Time to Create!


I am pretty stoked that Catherine won as she has been a reader of FGB from the early days and I have always enjoyed reading her blog.  It is a lovely place in blogland that is well worth a visit.

Thank you so much for all of the lovely & encouraging comments about Frog Goose & Bear and the suggestions & support for an online shop.  Truly appreciate! 

Icecream in a Bag & Pasta Jewellery!

Pretty chuffed to see my tutorial for making ice-cream in a bag featured on the home page  over at Kidspot today!  Head on over here for the deets on making your own.

You'll also find there another FGB tutorial, featuring the fabulous Frog, on how to make your own coloured pasta jewellery!

Or for more ways to amuse the kids this weekend, you might like to hang out at the FGB kids craft page. 

P.S.  Reminder - you have a smidgeon of time left to enter my humble handmade giveaway!  I'll draw the winners sometime over the weekend.

Another Sock Monkey...

Meet my latest sock monkey.  

Aptly, and rather embarrassingly, named "Mummy loves you" because quite frankly it took so long to make, Mummy certainly must love you to make one of these!  

As you may have realised, with all of the quick and simple crafts on this blog, I am a big fan of a craft that can be completed in under an hour!  That way you have something to show for your efforts, you've had your craft fix, accomplished something and can move on to the more exciting tasks of folding the washing, but I just couldn't resist these little cuties. 

To be honest, it doesn't really take that long.  You probably could do it in a few hours, or in my case more than a few nights in front of the telly, it really just took me a while to get around to it!  You might remember the one that I made last year for a friend..... it's been promised since then!  I have since made three and the other two are now all bally and loved to pieces, reminding me of one of my all time favourite story books.  

The feeling of accomplishment having completed a slightly bigger than normal craft is definitely worth it!   If you'd like to give one a go - it's made from a pair of socks, 2 buttons and some thread (seriously!) - check out this very well written tutorial.

Linking in today with the new home of our creative spaces over here.

Back to that pile of washing... or should I say mountain... I'd much prefer to be making monkeys from my socks rather than folding them.... problem is you need a matching pair and they are few and far between in this house!

What creative pursuits have you been up to lately? 

Do you prefer the quick and easy craft or the slow and satisfying?

P.S.  Last chance to enter the Frog, Goose & Bear Handmade giveaway - entries close Friday 18 May (tomorrow)!

The bottomless jar of Vanilla Extract

Did you know that you could make your own vanilla extract?

I noticed a few people around the blogosphere making them around Christmas time as gifts and I had big plans to do the same, but I only ended up making one - a gift for myself.

DIY VANILLA EXTRACT

Fill a small jar with unflavoured vodka and pop in a couple of vanilla pods.  You might like to cut the vanilla pods in half lengthways first to let the goodness out.  Pop the lid back on and let it brew for a 3-4 months.

That's it!

The beauty of this method is that when the jar is running a little low, you simply add some more vodka!  A bottomless jar of vanilla!  

I made this bottle back in December and it's ready to use now.  The smell is divine.  If truth be known, I probably went overboard with vanilla pods

They would make a great little gift by adding this little free printable from the Graphics Fairy* of a vintage vanilla extract label.

Have you made vanilla extract before?

What is your favourite use for vanilla extract?  

Mine is adding it to cream and piling it on a bowl full of strawberries.  Yum!

For more easy recipes, head over here.

*If you are a fan of vintage graphics - you will find this site to be your mecca!

P.S.  I have seen many, many tutorials online for making your own vanilla extract and brandy & rum can also be used.  Here is a more detailed tutorial should you need it.

Last Minute Mothers Day Printables

As has become the tradition on this blog, here are some last minute mothers day printables to brighten up that package or that table this Sunday...

You might like these babushka candy wrappers from funkytime, these Adorable free printable cards from tinyme or these gorgeous printable pics from colour me there.

Or alternatively, you might like to check out the last two years, much larger & still valid, mothers day printable collations here.

What are you up to this Mothers Day?

I'm very intrigued to see what comes home from the mothers day stall this year and am very much looking forward to all of the beautiful creations that have been made over the last weeks.

P.S.  I'm having a giveaway.... head over here to enter!

Markets, Blogiversaries & a Giveaway!

Thanks so much for all of your encouraging comments for my first ever real market last Saturday.  I had such a great time!  It was such a buzz that we've booked in to do another!  Thanks to all the people who came to say hi!  So awesome to meet some bloggy buddies IRL* as well!

On another note, over the Easter holidays this little blog turned two!  Life has since continued on at it's usual rapid rate and the blog quietly slid into it's third year with me barely finding time to scratch together a post, but I really wanted a chance to thank you all so much for making this blogging caper such an invaluable part of my journey.

Fortuitously, post market, I now have a nice little handful of goodies that I'd love to give away to one lovely Frog, Goose & Bear reader as a way of saying thanks!

In this 'Frog, Goose & Bear Giveaway Pack' you'll find......

One rainbow cloud vertical garland**, one mini map bunting, one clay birdie, two fabric covered cards, one origami bunting card and two fabric covered hairties.

Simply comment on this post to go into the draw.***  While you're there you might like to share what you would like to see in a 'Frog Goose & Bear' etsy/madeit store if there was ever to be one.

Entries close next Friday (18 May).  
A winner will be randomly selected sometime next weekend.  

* in real life
** 2m in length (unlike the one pictured).
*** If you don't have a blog, you can enter too!  Just make sure that your email address is included in your comment so that I can contact you! 

Made 'n' Thornbury Market

This Saturday my friend Candy and I are going to have a little stall at the Made 'n' Thornbury Mother's Day Market.  Just for fun.  It's a great little community market and advantageously, for the weather forecast for the weekend, it is indoors!

For my half of the stall I've made some fabric covered cards, bunting cards, paper garlands & mini map bunting, little clay birdies and some wheat bags if I actually get around to making them.

If you are in the area - please drop in and say hi!