Garden Party Invites

My God-daughter Sam is having a Garden Party theme for her birthday in March, I posted some cute invites here and her mum Kim drew inspiration and made these gorgeous invites with black and red card.They were a little time consuming to cut out all the circles and glue but as you can see the results are worth it, they even have a magnet to stick on the fridge

Check out this great site for ladybug decoration and party game ideas.

Kim and I also talked today about a ladybug headband to adorn Sam's head so that she feels like the star of the day or should I say bug of the day! Similar to the headband on this little lady.

This picture comes from The Party Dress I fantastic Blog that I subscribe to with such classy event ideas click here for more Ladybug party ideas

I found this great blog called Paper Glitter - My free Printables Blog which had this free ladybug party hat printable template

Check out this cake how fab is that!

New Years Resolutions Number 1

OK OK, I finally need to start on my New Years resolutions. They are pretty much all in my head - in draft form. I will share a few via my blog. I find the key to setting acheivable goals is putting effort into writing out all the steps, for example......

One goal for me this year is to decorate Bianca's Dolls House, (I will upload a pic at a later date).

It stands to Bianca's hip and has three rooms and a bathroom, I want to paint the outside cream and then wallpaper all the interior walls, in different designed paper, but obviously tying all the colours in so it looks cool.

I have collected Four Sullvanian Families so far and need to buy the furniture

I want it to all be ready for Bianca's third birthday in September

So my main goal would read: Have Dolls House ready for Bianca's 3rd Birthday, and then all of the steps in italics I would write underneath the main goal. Having it in list form, makes it not so overwhelming and I can start with one step at a time, maybe doing one room a month.

But what will happen is that I will start it and then get enthusiastic and just get it done, I hope.

There is a saying "If your goals are unacheivable then they are hurting you" I think that is so true, when we set goals we can reach it boosts our confidence, when we make them too broad or difficult it just makes us feel bad about ourselves when we dont reach them.

I set 10 goals for 2009 and acheived 7 of them. They were a mix between personal, relational, spiritual, decorating projects, craft projects.Check out the images for this dolls house! When I was searching for dolls house inspiration online I found incredible stuff that would blow your mind. Heaps more photos can be found here of this lady's Blythe dolls and house.

Second Hand Junkie

Before Bianca was born Sunday mornings were for nursing a hangover or a lazy sleep-in. Today I was up with a bright eyed and bushy tailed toddler at 6.30 and we were ready to head out the door at 8.30 down to the Sunday market but it was raining so disappointingly I missed out on my weekly fix of bargain hunting.

I am passionate about second hand stuff. I love visiting the recycling centre, auction house, market and garage sales. Most of my favourite items have been gleaned from these places or online at Trademe.(I love retro toys - Bianca loves this ducky trundler and pushing her Ernie and Bert around in the dolls stroller)

The first thing I love is the money saving of course, I brought a jolly jumper last week brand new in its box with price tag still on it for only 15% of its original price. Its also the aspect of it that my husband appreciates as well, which is why he doesn't roll his eyes too much when I come home with another supermarket bag of 'must haves'.

The other aspect is buying something that is beautiful but just needs a bit of tender love and care, a print that needs a new frame or piece of furniture that needs a paint. I have included some pictures of some of my favourite market purchases.




These ballet prints go for up to $40 on trade me I got this one for $3


You don't always know at the time you are buying something that you are going to love, until you get it home and find it a place to live. But all these items I got for under $5 and they were worth every penny



I brought these two mirrors at a garage sale a year ago and have sprayed them both and turned one into a jewellry board for Bianca


The aqua floor lamp isn't everyone's cup of tea but it works perfectly with the aqua accents in my lounge, as does the aqua floral vase that I picked up for $2.I picked this cabinet up from a garage sale for $20, I was hesitant at the time but it has worked perfectly in our lounge with a new lick of paint and handles from the $2 shop. This Crown Lyn Vase I picked up for $2 at a garage sale they sell for up to $100 in the antique stores, and the french trug was perfect for the space I had free.


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You can have too much Pooh Bear!!

One of my biggest passions is interior decorating. I have especially enjoyed decorating my daughter's nursery. One of the things that is hard in a small city in New Zealand is finding the 'right look'. Everywhere I turn there is Dora the Explorer and Winnie the Pooh, duvets, curtains, wall decalls. Dont get me wrong if you are into that sort of thing, good for you but I appreciate a more eclectic style, veering to the side of vintage I suppose you could say.

This has led to my other great passion, finding old furniture and home-wares to restore and reinvent. I love scouring the markets, recycling centre and the internet for great ideas that I can piece together myself.




This picture is of two pieces of art I made for my daughter's nursery to hang eitherside of her window. I brought the art canvases on special. I used silk flowers which I cut the heads off and arranged on the canvas using a hot glue gun, with a lick of paint on some timber framing both of these cost $30. I always get comments on them.

They were an easy project that I did in front of the TV in the later weeks of my pregnancy.