yes please, thank you - Airplane Box Set

This would be for my son... promise.... Ok - it would look super cute on the dining room / play room shelves as well

Available for $40 from MOMA

Thanks @swiss miss for the heads up

Yes Please Thank You!

Indoor Activities for the little ones

So school holidays are well are truly here and the weather is not looking too crash hot for Easter long weekend in Sydney.
So if you find yourself stuck inside - here are some ideas to keep the little ones entertained (will be posting some ideas for us big kids later!)

Balloon Bongo Rice Shakers by Mini-Eco

A Very Hungry Caterpillar egg carton! by Isle Tri

DIY rack track with masking tape by Modern Parents Messy Kids

Or if you are feeling really adventurous - a castle like this one by Chantal Vincent Art

Vintage Toys

Since becoming a mum I have become a bit nostalgic for the toys of yester-year. Even for toys that are way before my time. Whilst today’s toys are bright, noisy and entertaining– the toys of 20, 30, 40 years ago seem that little bit…. je ne sais qua

Here are some favourites on etsy (yes – in case you didn’t know – etsy sell vintage as well as handmade!)

1.      Fisher Price 1972 Happy Apple toy

2.      Fisher Price 1971 Record Player with 4 records

3.      Vintage Fisher Price Cash Register

4.      Fisher Price School desk

These are a few of my favourite (Anthropologie) kiddie things....

Today – a few kiddie things on the wish list from Anthropologie 

1.      Les Oeufs Verts au Jambon

2.      Standout Giraffe

3.      My Favourite Things Flashcards

4.      Alphabet Wagon

5.      Mushroom Pouf

6.      Chatterbox Charlie Puppet

Wall Decorations - Bit of This, Bit of That

For today’s blog I thought I would share with you my efforts at decorating my son’s bedroom walls. It has probably taken me over a year to fill it all– but I have to say I am very happy with the end result (no prizes for guessing my son’s name!)

The short wall has a green painted jungle sillouette (cost less than $5) which I finished before Ollie was born

The window wall has two aqua bump pics which my very best girlfriends gave to us for our engagement and one of my "peg it up" lines which i rotate pictures on (blatant self promotion - you can buy them here in packs of 7 or 10 pegs!) 

The final (long) wall is the one I have been working on. From left to right:

 

1.      Handmade name sign

2.      My Sweetprint Counting Poster which the lovely Janette kindly changed to Portuguese for me - so now was can count to ten in Portuguese when changing nappes

3.      Handmade Ollie’s first shoes – see my blog post about how to make these here

4.      (top and middle) framed postcards from Inaluxe (purchased in a pack of 8) 

5.   Oliver name – artwork by Paul Thurlby

6.      Prints by Red Letter Studio – these were originally greeting cards, but the very kind Samone re-sized them for me to frame

So that’s it. What do you think? I have to admit it makes me smile whenever I go in (maybe not first thing in the morning at 6.30 though).

What great decorating ideas have you seen for little ones room?

Random Etsy Wednesday

So I have decided (and I am going to do my very best to stick to it) to make Wednesday’s posts – “Random Etsy Wednesday”. The idea is I post about random goodies I have come across on Etsy during the week. To kick us off:

Build Your Own Lego Crayon Set of 50 by GaddyNipperCrayons

“Fun, Custom, Recycled Lego Crayons” available in 12 standard colours + pastel colours. Each crayon measures 1.75” x 75” and is approx 5” thick. Better yet – use them as party favours and GaddyNipperCrayons will kindly package them into sets for you with a customized label!

If lego isn’t your thing – you can get them in cupcakes, hearts, starwars, spiders, elmo – I could go on – but why not just have a look yourself!

Fat and Grumpy F.ck Bunny, Apple Green Fleece by spidercamp

These ones are more for the adults (OK definitely for adults) – but what can I say they caught my eye and most of us have at least one family member or friend who we know would appreciate it!

Spidercamp have some weird and wonderful bunny’s and stickers (!?)

owl love you forever no. 4 - tree bark by seekatesew

Best finish off on a sweet note – these cute as pie owl softies would be a perfect addition to any kids room, couch, shelf…. Wherever really. See Kate Sew also has some super sweet baby girl pinafores.

Ok – that is enough randomness for one Wednesday.

Baby number 2 - beware…..

For those that know me well, I am never without a camera and it is often pointed at friends and family. So when my first son was born some 9 ½ months ago I wanted to come up with something creative to capture his life. So every day I take a photo (usually with my iphone because it is never far away) and I send my close family a “Daily Ollie”. The plan is then to create a book at the end of his first year.

Baby number 2 however (no it is not on the way – give me a break)– I am going to take a leaf out of Adele Enersen’s, otherwise known as Mila’s mum, book / blog. Adele was a copywriter and concept designer in a previous life, but is now loving being a mother and housewife on maternity leave. As her maternity hobby, Adele creates amazing worlds around her sleeping beauty when she is napping, and captures it for the world to see. What started as a way to share photos with family and friends has gone worldwide with over 41,000 facebook followerers. The images are super cute and has me itching to take photos….

Mary Poppins

Space Odysee 2010

Bookwork

Paper doll

Check out Mila’s Daydream Blog and Facebook page. Make sure you look at the photos on facebook where other fans have posted photos of their efforts!

Sweet Prints - 20% off

I have been admiring Janette of “Sweet Prints” work for some months now and with her “20% of blog sale” it is the perfect time for me to blog about her (and finally order something). Her work is pefect for that little person in your life’s room. I particularly love the bedtime bus roll print but I am just waiting until my little one is a little older and well and truly in a routine.

In the meantime I think I am going to order the "Counting in French poster" – but with Portuguese (for those wondering why - my father-in-law is Portuguese!)

Check out Janette’s great work on etsy, made it, or on her website. And of course read about her work and life in her wonderful blog. (sale ends 5pm Monday 4^th October so don’t wait)

The Ol' Bronzed Baby Shoes Gets a Revamp

I am getting a bit creative with my wall art of late and steering away from my usual “photographs on walls only” in my son’s room. My latest creation – “Oliver’s first shoes” - a revamp of the ol “bronzed baby shoes”.

I love the fact that they aren’t in pristine condition as it shows he actually wore them. I can imagine this frame one day hanging in my son’s children’s room (now that’s a scary thought!)

What do you think?

Final etsy profile - what the??

So for the final “yeah the aussie dollar is strong so I should buy something from etsy” profile for the week I was going to do something really edgey, design orientated that you would all love and immediately want to buy for your house, but then something caught my eye… Wait for it… “Butt Freckles”.

OK – so it was word “butt” that caught my attention, but then the cute descriptions pulled me in, “All freckles are snatched off quickly and with excessive force. They are then taken to a secret lab where they are exposed to radioactive caju dust which causes the freckle to greatly increase in size. After exposure to the dust, the freckle's unique characteristics become easily visible including their very own butt freckle (a special glass bead sewn on the rear)”

KoolAid butt freckle: This screaming red freckle is not dangerous - just snuggly

Night shift butt freckle

Nori seewead butt freckle: "When I collect mermaid scales I have to dig in seaweed that has washed up on the beach. Here is a freckle I found in the salty bunch of leaves."

The actual “butt freckle”

So who would buy these – apparently 3300+ on etsy! These cuddly and cute “butt freckles” measure 2.5” x 2.5” and apparently are loved the world over. So why not take a chance and bring a “butt freckle” into your life. At a minimum at least you will be able to say “butt freckle” when someone asks you what the fluffy thing on your desk is! Don't forget to check out the flickr group for "butt freckles"!

Have a great weekend everyone!