birds n' the bees party

I have themed party obsession. I remember friends telling me they were nervous turning up to my 'from the musicals' themed 30th just in case I felt they hadn't put enough effort in. That's not so good, AND it's worsening rapidly since giving birth.

So today we had our mums group joint 2nd birthday. Original plans were rained off so one of my lovely girls volunteered her place. I insisted on a theme, to which there are always a symphony of sighs, which was ladybirds and bumblebees (my two favourite bugs, in fact the only bugs that don't get 'Mortein-ed' beyond recognition in my house). Leaving everything to the last minute, I managed a scoot up to Spotlight yesterday and grabbed some fur from which I made a simple 'Pebbles' style getup. BUT she wouldn't keep her antennas on. Not part of my plan. Theming obsessed mummy and independent 2 year old= not a happy mix.

The gorgeous Seth kept his bumblebee wings on the whole time.
For a touch of nostalgia I made a washing line of all our bubs at 6 months old, complete with bumblebee and ladybird pegs!
I even made the mummys bring matching food. Deeper sighs.
BUT, best dressed for me had to be Hannah. She looked so sweet in her bumblebee cossie and swim hat.

kitty's drawers

Kiddies can never have enough books can they? I recently joined the library and borrow 3 a week to mix it up a bit. I find they bore easily of the same ones at 20 months!

I'm a sucker for an old photo. This is daddy as probably Kitty's age now. Kitty can't really work out how daddy can be that small but she will still say 'daddy' when she sees it. The bookends were a dollar from Vinnies.

I always had a vision that my child would only own wooden toys. Until I realised that plastic things made in China that make lots of noise and flash lots of lights keep them quiet for a lot longer! Damn. Behind is mummy's token baby shot.

Babies receive way too many softies when they come into the world. But some you just fall in love with. Zelda (left) was made by big sister Ashley. I totally love Zelda's unnamed friend that my friend Taren bought for her first birthday. How cute is her crochet flower in hair/ear??

These crayons are the best! They are honeysticks and totally natural and actually fill the whole room with a honey scent! They draw well, and are super easy for little ones to grip.
The drawers were $30 from Vinnies. I painted them Olive by Nippon Paints and covered the knobs with fabric scraps. They were those nasty plastic things before that. The drawers were the off-est white!

my kitchen cupboard

I made a new mat for my kitchen cupboard yesterday. I really loved this fabric from Spotlight and thought it was quite kitcheny with some lovely retro tones put together. I sewed a double edge of rick rack around the edge so it looked like a mat, and not just a piece of material.

Unintentionally, it matches everything that lived on top of the cupboard anyway! I think it all looks good together.

This little Pinocchio hangs from one of the handles. I picked him up on a family holiday to Sorrento in Italy when I was 8! Like me, he's getting on a bit. But his hair stayed black, mine turned grey. Wish I was made of wood and looked the same 26 years later!
The cupboard is a roadside find. It weighs a ton and was a mission getting in the back of the car but I fell in love with it and had to have it. I painted it blue and was going to sand down the wood bits and paint them a different colour but haven't got round to it yet. Maybe one day....

a friend for tea

It's pouring with rain and today I'm having my friend over for a cup of tea. As I was setting up, I realised how much I love loving old things.

You see, it came to me that when you love old things, you are surrounded by stories.

So the story of the tea set goes like this.....the ridiculously gorgeous tea cosy was handmade by Matt's great grandmother (it's my all time favourite hand me down-how sweet are all the different patchwork pieces, there's a lot of work in it), the tea cups are from a set of 6 which were handed down by my late grandmother, Marmar. They are such vibrant colours each with a different floral design inside the cup. I love them! The sugar pot is an op shop find. It is an old souvenir from British Columbia in Canada, which I'm sure someone would have brought back from a holiday once ( I love to imagine who has housed it before me!).

Even the teaspoon is Matt's 1st birthday present (it has his name engraved on it-bless!). 42 years old and still stirring strong!

I have so many old bits and pieces in my kitchen, from op shops, markets, but mainly from my English bone china loving grandmother. I'm so happy I'm not one of those 'save it for best' type people as I get to put it all to use daily.

Now that was so much more fun than sharing my brand spanking new tea set from Myers wasn't it?!?

a cushion, a winerack and something very small...

3 new things in my house this week.

I found a cushion insert in Vinnies with all intentions of making a patchwork chenille cover (coming soon!). I also bought an olivey green (my new favourite colour in ANYTHING) velvet cover in yet another Vinnies. So I brought the two together and sewed on a sparkly black bow and some black pom pom trim and Im left with a sultry boudoir style cushion with nowhere to live as it doesn't match anything in my house....but who likes matching anyway.



I found this wine rack in an antique shop at the fabulous JindyAndy Mill east of Nowra. Have no idea of its origin, but it's yellow, and a bit wierd so felt the need to bring it home. It is also a complete mismatch with anything in my kitchen....but nothing matches in there anyway!

My father in law just returned from England and brought home this super cute pigeon pair. A mini beach house and a mini yacht. This does match my nautical themed bedroom and they sit nicely on top of our nautically welcoming bedhead. ps. how cute are the proverbs?!

And that's it!!

rocking horse

I found this little lady (i think it's a lady!) on the roadside this weekend. I think it's pretty charming and looks family crafted (wonder why she was dumped?)

I've always had a slight obsession with rocking horses....and carousels for that matter....(but strangely have never taken to real horses for some reason). Im in a quandary as to what to do with my new friend above. I want to make her cute for Kitty, I'm thinking this thing will become a Pearce family heirloom!! Serious stuff.

So, it prompted me to do some research on rocking horses (this was fun) and I found two condenders for inspiration. Do I keep it simple and make her less 'worn out' looking, something like this divine rocking horse designed by Danish designer Kay Bojesen;

OR, due to having a slight aversion to 'anything' minimalist, I was loving this little man (i think it's a man?) designed by US artist Linda Spillum;

I really feel like giving my horse a bit of personality...and I can paint and I love doing it. I think I'll stick it on my list of crafty things to complete this year and before long she may have a mane, tail and maybe even a neckerchief of her own!

Any thoughts/ideas????