Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

If you grew up in Australia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it is almost impossible not to know Australia's iconic kangaroo, Skippy, who featured in her own special show.  Even for those born in later generations or who lived in other countries, Skippy became a well known figure care of TV re-runs and revivals and international screenings of the original TV series.

While Skippy picture books are relatively rare, they do exist!  And I am so excited to have found several different Skippy books which have now been turned into fun buntings for a new generation of Skippy fans!!!  These photos show just one of the available buntings in Domum Vindemia, with two more to come.  These books are quite rare, so I recommend that fans grab buntings while you can as once they sell out, chances are they will not be re-stocked.

Bienvenue a Paris!

While the Two Cheeky Monkeys family has been watched ridiculous amounts of Le Tour de France, and I have been ACHING to visit that beautiful country for many years now, currently the closest I'm getting to Paris (or anywhere else in France) is to be working on vintage French-inspired creations for Domum Vindemia.

I found these darling collage prints a while back and have been so excited about turning them into wine glass charms and stitch markers for the store, and here is a sneak peek of some of the new creations!  Along with the French-inspired pieces, there will also be some Alice in Wonerland-inspired ones too.

I've only created wine glass charm sets so far, but hopefully there will be other creations coming soon.  Which ones do you love best, and what other Domum Vindemia pretties would you like to see sporting some French or Alice inspiration?

There's a million things I haven't done

But creating Hamilton-inspired pieces isn't one of them!  Okay, I know that's not how the lyrics go, but I couldn't resist the segue from the post title!!!  This week I've had some fun creating bespoke Hamilton-inspired bag hangers for a special customer.

These aren't the first Hamilton pieces I've created, and they hopefully won't be the last.  I've definitely had a lot of fun creating each one and have loved seeing how my usual creations look when I alter them to suit a customer's special requirements!

Are you a Hamilton fan?  And if you are, what other Hamilton-inspired pieces would you like to see?

Ultimate no knead bread recipe

If you're a long time reader of this blog you'll notice that I post about bread a fair bit.  And that is because, no matter what anyone says about cutting down carbs in your diet, the Cheeky Monkeys family are all huge fans of bread!

Now we do try to be circumspect with our bread intake, making sure to only eat bread made with whole grains or lower GI breads, and I am always on the lookout for bread recipes I can easily whip up on a busy day.  

Which is what got me on the trail of THE ULTIMATE no knead bread recipe.  One which can be altered (including made with whole wheat or other whole grains), forgotten about, put through the ridiculous variables of Melbourne's weather (yes, we get four seasons in one day sometimes) and yet still turn out beautifully every time.  

And today, I'm sharing with you the one no knead recipe I've found which ticks all my boxes!!!  This recipe from Simply So Good turns out beautifully EVERY TIME, no matter what we've put it through.  It tastes great, the bread always turns out nice and airy, never dense and heavy, and you can alter it to your heart's content.  Do you have a favourite no fail bread recipe?

The Avengers Have Come To Domum Vindemia!

Hands up if, like me, you grew up on superhero comics and TV shows!  My dad was a big fan of comics as a young boy, and he was the one who introduced me to comics and superheroes, whilst my mum introduced me to the 1960s Batman TV series.  (I mean, who could resist those on screen "BAMs" and "KAPOWs"???)

As an adult, I am still a fan of superheroes, and Mr Monkeys and I have been avidly keeping up to date with each of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films being produced.  Which got me thinking that I have a serious dearth of superhero buntings in Domum Vindemia, something which I am hoping to rectify soon.

As a start to this journey of adding superhero buntings to Domum Vindemia, I have added an Avengers bunting which features the main characters of Captain America, the Hulk and Iron Man.  I am hoping to soon add Spiderman, Wonder Woman and Captain America buntings to the store, though this will depend on availability and popularity of each character's stories.

So if you're a superhero fan, which one would you or your little one love to see in a bunting?

Literary Coin Purses

Another short and sweet post today, since it's still school holidays and there are Cheeky Monkeys to wrangle/entertain  This one is for those of you who have been drooling over the literature clutch purses - there will soon be new additions to this range!

I have loved making the literature clutches so much, and been so over the moon with how much you have all loved them, that I am adding smaller coin purses to match the existing clutches.  At the moment I will only be making coin purses in the Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice fabrics, but am hoping to expand the range as its popularity increases.  Which novel would you like to see turned into a purse?

Kids' DIY Roundup - School Holidays Edition

We're at the end of the first week of Winter school holidays here at Two Cheeky Monkeys HQ, and I've been ever so glad that our church has been running a school holiday program this week!  But, as another week of holidays looms, I am lining up ideas for keeping my Cheeky Monkeys entertained and not squabbling!

Here are 6 kid-friendly DIYs approved by the Cheeky Monkeys; most of them are more suited to older children, but others can be tackled by little ones with an adult's help.  Enjoy!

1. Stitch up some geometric artwork - Design*Sponge
2. Felt eyeball buttons for adorning your clothes or hair - Bugs and Fishes
3. Harry Potter-inspired polymer clay wands - Doodlecraft
4. Plant-able paper Earth - Modern Parents Messy Kids
5. Papier mache pencil toppers - Art for kids and robots
6. Polymer clay bowl - Swoodson Says

More Mr Men And Little Misses!

I announced about a month ago that I was excitedly adding childhood favourite stories to Domum Vindemia's bunting range, and today I have more additions to show off!  The plan for the next six months is to add to our growing Mr Men and Little Miss range, and I am slowly adding all of my favourites.

Today I am showing off two newbies, one of which was a big favourite of mine as a small child as my family all referred to me as Little Miss Chatterbox!  Mr Happy is also making his debut in-store and I'm hoping to add Mr Chatterbox and Mr Strong to Domum Vindemia very soon.  Did you have a favourite Mr Men or Little Miss when you were growing up?  Which ones should I be adding to the store?