Photo shoot craziness

i get plenty of lovely comments about the gorgeous photos of my girls in my dresses but i'm here to tell you that it doesn't always go to plan!

i hope these pics made you smile as much as they do me!

Pretty in Pastels

I love walking into my sewing room when I'm all inspired to create something new. This morning I had no particular design in mind and instead I turned to my fabric stash for inspiration. Pastel pink caught my eye &, combined with various cream laces, was the basis of my sewing spree today!

Aren't those models just to-die-for.  Love them all to bits!

Suzan

xxx

spring time!

spring sprung up on me a little quickly this year ... & I'm excited!  Not long now until the sunshine hours lengthen and we can take advantage of the beach being within a hop, skip & a jump.

I drive past Terrigal beach each morning & afternoon on the school run & I am constantly in awe of the changing colours of the ocean.  I've taken inspiration from the bright blue sea & the yellow sand for my next creation.

Available in my esty store shortly.  HERE

DIY - rainbow craft

i may be getting a little carried away with the rainbow theme but after discovering the artwork in my previous post I was pointed to a whole bunch of other bright & cheerful crafts.  Can't resist sharing more with you!

This sensory garden  was posted by 'share and remember' (HERE) & is made of coloured rice.  Nice & easy - all you need is food colouring, rice, rubbing alcohol, zip-lock bags & drying containers ... + a bit of sunshine!  I can see my little girl delighting in playing with this rainbow trough & using all her sand toys in there.  Be sure to supervise your youngesters if they have a tendency to put things in their mouths!

The next little project to catch my eye was this pencil necklace by www.minieco.co.uk. Jewellery with a twist!

Actually minieco have a few great rainbow crafts ... I love this easy paper bead idea too.  This is definitely on my 'to-do' list now!

And the last rainbow craft idea I'd like to share (& try myself)  is this cute toddler spray paint idea by 'Sun Hat & Wellie'.  Recycle those used spray bottles, add a bit of paint & water, and you have yourself a little graffiti artist in the making!.  See HERE for more details.

If you have a cool craft you'd like to share ... please let me know!

handbag dilemma!

it's time for a handbag update. What I considered to be pretty cool 12months ago is now drab & has taken a good beating from two little kids dragging down on its strap & stuffing it with countless treasures.  So it's off to the handmade community to choose my new spring bag.  Here's my shortlist ...

Problem is ... I can't choose!  Please help!!!  I'm getting the feeling my colour this season is greeny/yellow/neutrals.

Here's the role call of who made which bag, starting from the top left, going clockwise:
1. Yellow & jade tote by Monkey and Me; 2. Paisley bag by LMcreation 3. Green swirl bag by Nicole Lee Designs 4. Green/white canvas by The Dragonfly Path 5. Olives cream by Minani Emi  6. Honey linen by Maple Mist 7.  Grey bag by Mialie Designs   8. Grey screenprinted tote by HeyBoom  9. Linen shoulder bag by The Dragonfly Path 10. Black with white bow by ickady bag 

And along the way of my search I found some absolutely gorgeous dream bags.  Perhaps to go on my Xmas wish list?!?

1. Green flower print by Chloe and Viscount 2. Leather handbag by Eight Seasons 3. Beige Suede by Retro Blonde Designs 4. Denim tote by iheart charlie 5. Harlow shoulder bag by Ella & Lily 6. Olive knit by My Moms Knitting Shop 

DIY - rainbow artwork

i love the colours of a rainbow so fell in love with this cool DIY art project.

What an eye-catching piece for any room. Relatively cheap & extremely easy!

This photo was taken from a very cool blogger - click on this link to see how you can make this artwork HERE.

Happy hairdrying!

DIY fairy birthday party

I LOVE kids birthday parties.  I remember my mum making a huge deal out of my birthday as a child so it only seems fit that I carry on the tradition with my two little girls. This year we had to stage another fairy party for Miss 4.  Unfortunately for me, her sisters fairy party from last year was on her mind so it was a challenge to top that event in her eyes!

But we succeeded! 

So with two fairy parties under my belt I thought I'd share some party ideas.

1. It's all in the decorating!  This years party was all about balloons, balloons & more balloons!  We hired a helium tank ($40) & used about 60 balloons in shades of pink, purple & white (& a hint of yellow).  We added the strings so the kids could have fun playing with them. Otherwise you could just let them float to the ceiling which is also super cute.

You can create a fairy grotto by draping loads of tulle from the ceiling. Pin some paper cut-out butterflies to the tulle & some rows of fairy lights.

2. The party table. Let's face it, all little kids light up when they see a super cute table laden with scrumptious treats. That's not to say you can't add a good dollop of healthy food amongst the treats. 

Ideas from party 1: Packet of tic toc cookies with the birthday girls name piped on them in icing, musk sticks, toadstool cookies, jelly cups with marshmallow flowers on top, marshmallows dipped in chocolate & sprinkles, strawberries & watermelon.

Ideas from party 2:  Coconut ice, labelled water bottles, wand cookies (stars on pop sticks with edible glitter), marshmallows covered in choc & sprinkles & set on lollipop sticks, fairy bread made from fairy cut-outs and sprinkles, little jars of Skittle lollies (or any other pretty coloured candy!), strawberries & watermelon.

3. The Cake. Now this one usually sends fear spikes up & down my spine just thinking about the what & hows! Last year my cousin helped me create a toadstool cake. The base is actually a tin of chickpeas covered in fondant icing! What can I say, it was the night before the party & I was desperate!

Cake 2 is my husbands masterpiece. And such a good job he made of it, being his first cake & all!

4. Games. There are so many cute games & activities for the little party goers.  Here's a few suggestions:

• Craft corner to make little wands out of cardboards, sticks & glitter
• Musical toadstools (aka musical chairs). I made a few little toadstools to use instead of plain chairs. You could just as easily cut big circles out of red cardboard, paste on smaller red circles & stick that on the floor to use as the chairs instead.
• Fingernail painting (for the older girls)
• Frozen fairies - aka statues. Girls dance around to music & freeze in a fairy pose when the music stops. If they move their out of the game.
• Give each child a little pot of bubbles. Loads of amusement!
• Pass the parcel - of course!

Hope you find some inspiration in our parties.  Feel free to add your own tips in the comments below as I'm sure other readers would love to hear them as much as I would!

Thanks,

Little Tee Tee Boutique