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I have been installing a few new WordPress plug-ins to my blog and doing a bit of behind the scenes fixing up around here:

I sorted through all the plug-ins on my blog and upgraded to newer versions and got rid of some useless ones. You can now see a listing of all the plugins I use on this site (in case you want to use any of them too) and you can use Viper’s Plugins Used plugin to make your own list.

I installed the very handy OneClick Installer plugin - this genious bit of code installs any plugin or theme without having to download, unzip then upload via FTP. Sometimes if the folder structure of the plugin is different to normal, this autoinstaller doesn’t do the job properly (in which case you just download, unzip, upload and install as before) but it works for the majority of plugins and is a real time and hassle saver.

I have done up a new people-friendly Site Map, that displays all the previous posts sorted into categories, using the Site Map Generator plugin.

I did a very quick upgrade of WordPress 2.3.2 to 2.3.3 just to be tidy. If you have multiple posters on your WordPress blog, you need this! Just for info, if you haven’t got yourself the Automatic Upgrade plugin then you are crazy. I used to dread upgrading my blog as I have customised it quite a lot but this tool takes care of everything for you, even ensuring you do all the necessary backups before you begin.

I improved my Contact Form. I used Contact Form with Spam Protection plugin so that it now blocks pesky robot spam.

I changed the Permalinks on my site so that for instance, www.jenleheny.com/archives/158 is now www.jenleheny.com/pillowcase-dress-instructions and I used a Permalink Migration plugin to ensure that no bookmarks or links from other sites were disrupted. This means that if you have a post of mine linked in the old format then you don’t need to update it - the magic of the plugin will still send people to the right place.

I added the fun CommentLuv plugin to show a link to the last post from the commenter’s blog just below their comment here on my blog.

I used the Dashboard Editor plugin to give myself a much more useful first page on the Admin side of things.

I set up a cool StumbleUpon-like random post link using the Random Redirect plugin - you can try it out here.

Can’t have a post without a picture!

Phew! I have been busy.

On Tuesday, there was a session at Brindabella on Bush Painting. Kristy did a great job of taking the class and we all went home with a great piece of art.

Kristy originally learnt this technique from Garry Holmes in her hometown of Lismore and she’s been painting ever since! I took photos of each step so here is a visual guide in case you would like to follow along.

First, we applied a line of blue along the top followed by a line of pink - both applied in turn with a wet brush to create a blended effect:

Next we put some yellow paint on one corner of the brush and black on the other corner and “splodged” some trees along the horizon, followed by a line underneath the trees:

Then we added some fields:

Below the fields, some pink followed by blue - again with a wet brush:

Some more “splodging” for bushes at the bottom of the (yellow) fields and some larger trees along the very bottom:

Nearly finished! A gnarled old tree on the banks of the river was next, done freehand with a thin brush:

Now we need to fill in the middle ground, so we added a few trees using white for the trunk and pink and yellow splodges for the leaves:

Using a thin brush and some white, we added a fence (mine is on the far left) and used a dark grey for some shading. One last thing - a bird on the foreground branch completes the scene:

And we’re all done! A not-too-bad bush painting. It seems a lot easier when it’s broken down like that, huh?

Still with painting, I found an AWESOME paint easel for the kids for just $5 from the local recycling centre. Of course, I then had to make art smocks for the kids - I just bought a couple of op shop shirts for $6 each and sewed them to fit, added a bit of trim and the kids are all ready to paint a masterpiece for themselves:

They were pretty happy!

Lots of concentrating, and then a big cheesy smile for the camera:

Great work, you two!

Oh yes, and I made a hat for Jack the other day too:

I still have to make him another one in school colours (plain navy blue) but I thought this would be good for weekend wear. He loved the tape measure fabric - I knew he would!

Oh, and in case you are wondering about the vintage wallpaper pack competition, I haven’t forgotten. I hope to get to it tomorrow, so until then feel free to leave a comment to enter.

I have finally updated the original Pillowcase Dress Instructions that I put up about 18 months ago. At the time, I was really only posting it because I knew a lot of people were searching for this and to keep it “bookmarked” for myself, to make me get around to trying it out.

Can you believe today I finally made not one, but two pillowcase dresses and yes, they are supercute and supereasy.

Please check out the original post (that I have now updated with new photos and instructions) to learn how to make this easy peasy dress from a thrifted pillowcase.

And it’s no coincidence that tomorrow, I am teaching a bunch of women from my Brindabella Women’s Group how to make this dress! If you’re in Canberra, then come along!

This is what I did this afternoon:

 

I had two very eager (and greedy) helpers of course.  Once we had used up our Easter moulds (must buy more for next year) I hunted around for anything else that was suitable.  The arrows, “donut” shape and stars are from those silicone rubber shape ice cube trays and the numbers were made using some biscuit/sculpey cutters. 

We had fun adding crushed Violet Crumble, crushed nuts, and hundreds and thousands.

 

Making these is easy - first get yourself a metal bowl (if possible, plastic would do) and break up your chocolate into small pieces, or use the “melts” that come in bud form, and put them in the bowl. The bowl needs to fit snugly over the open saucepan. 

You might want to get creative and sprinkle hundreds and thousands, crushed nuts etc into the mould first, or pour some chocolate in, then sprinkle, then more chocolate for a layered effect.  You can also layer white and milk chocolate by letting the first layer set a bit then add the second.

To melt the chocolate just get a saucepan of water and boil it, then take it off the heat.  Put your bowl of chocolate on top of the water and mix and mix until it all melts.  Yum. 

Taste a bit, fend off the greedy children helpers and then pour what is left into your moulds.  Don’t worry too much about the inevitable mess as you pour, just get the moulds filled and then do your best to wipe or scrape around the edges. 

Let them set for about 20 mins and pop/wrestle them out, take photos for your blog, clean up all the messy chocolate everywhere (or let your helpers loose and worry about their teeth later) and then put your feet up with a handmade chocolate.  Don’t forget to send the helpers outside for a run around to get out some of the excess energy that eating all that chocolate gave them. 

Enjoy!  Happy Easter!