New Stockist - The Inspired Occasion!

Introducing our latest stockist - The Inspired Occasion.


The lovely ladies behind The Inspired Occasion have talent, talent, talent. The can design and execute an amazing event for any occasion, (including some very yummy treats) just check out some of their past work on their blog here: www.theinspiredoccasion.blogspot.com and now with their new online shop HERE The Inspired Occasion could make your next event and even more memorable one.

New from Old - repurposed suitcase into dress up box!

I couldn't believe my luck when a few months ago my mum gave me some of my old toys, school photos and childhood things she had been storing away at her house forever. The funny thing is the item I was most excited to be getting was the old retro suitcase that all the items were stored in.
This old beauty was the suitcase my parents packed every family holiday we took as kids and those stickers prove it!! How classic is it?!?



As soon as I saw it I knew exactly what I would do with it as I had seen a suit case repurposed by A Girl With A Glue Gun HERE into some very cool and practical dress up boxes and wanted to do the very same thing to try and keep my kids dress up bits and pieces under control.
So today was the day. I pulled out the suitcase and with the kids help we made short work of those stickers.



The fabric on the inside is still in good condition considering it's age and use so I was lucky I didn't have to replace it. After a good clean and vacuum inside we lightly sanded the top and sides.


I then put a base coat or two of white paint on the top and sides with just a regular kitchen sponge NOTE: I am a sewer NOT a painter so any artworks you see from here on in please remember that :)


Next with the only 2 little paint brushes I own and a handful of paint colours I have I painted the words "Lets Dress Up" on the top and "play", "imagine" & "laugh" on the sides. I even got adventures with my limited artistic skills and painted a few dress up items on the top too.





We waited for the paint to dry then filled it with all the dress up paraphernalia - TaDah!!



And it fits just nicely under Milla's bed - perfect! Cool hey?

Happy Friday Find

Planning a party in the near future? Want a fun and easy way to create unique favour bags that can match any theme or colour combo?
Check out these super cute mini bunting favour bags made by The Chaseys!!


Just a piece of twine and some scrap booking paper in the colours of your choice cut into flags then glued onto paper bags - EASY!!

Happy Friday xx

Jr Giggleberry's Dragon Tails

After stumbling upon THIS sewing tutorial for Dragon Tails I knew I just had to give them a go! So I dug through my fabric stash, ordered some bits from The Habby Godess and Ribbons Galore then while my little dragons slept I got to cutting, sewing and stuffing. I was amazed at how simple these were to put together, and I found the step by step instructions in the tutorial perfect to understand.


I must admit I did cheat a little and used large ric rac from Ribbons Galore as the spikes on the tail and the straps that go around the waist are made with gingham ribbon, not fabric as in the tutorial, which was just me being lazy but I think they turned out pretty good.




The kids woke from their snooze to a new addition to their dress up box and played in the tails all afternoon! I'll take that as a successful sewing session :)

Homemade Play Dough!

Last week it rained and rained and rained. I kid you not our backyard was drenched from Friday to Friday! I'm not complaining but my kids were... 'cabin fever' hit around Tuesday, they were over their colouring in books, the dress up box was getting boring, there's only so much cartoons anyone can cope with and the outside cubby house was looking much more fun than the one we built under the dining table! what to do next?.... Thinking cap went on and I pulled out my treasured hand written recipe book my mum gave me the day I moved out of home at 18 yrs old. I flipped to the back page and found mum's homemade play dough recipe and whipped up a batch for my restless kids.
This was the first time I had tried the recipe and I'm hooked! It is the perfect amount, consistency and I can make it in any colour the kids want!


Want to give it a go yourself?

YOU'LL NEED:
1 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup of salt
1 tablespoon of oil
3 teaspoons of cream of tartar
1 cup of water
food colouring

Sift dry ingredients together into a saucepan. Add water, oil & food colouring. Cook over low heat while constantly stirring until really thick - Play Dough thick. Allow dough to cool then you're ready to play!!
Store in a sealed container in the fridge when not in use.
NOTE: it was a tiny bit sticky at first so I did have to add a little extra plain flour to the mix when we first played with it... maybe just flour the surface you're playing with it on.... but now it's perfect!

Happy Friday Find

Baby, it's cold outside! Any excuse is a great excuse to curl up on the couch with my iPad and a cup of tea. The weather has been that perfect excuse this week :)


I've got a good old electric kettle for my cups of tea but if I did brew tea in a tea-pot I'd sooooo buy this Petit Ink Butterfly and bunting tea cosy from Gloaming Designs.
Happy Friday - stay warm this weekend. xx

Run Giggleberry Run!

In about May last year I was floating through the blog & Daily Routine of Sunny Mummy. I LOVE everything Stacey stands for: Mum's should "look after themselves first in order to look after their families best". I adore being a mummy but was not completely happy with how much 'me time' I was allowing myself... It was then I realised I was doing no exercise - seriously NONE. Besides following my kids round at the park I was not active at all and was becoming increasingly un-impressed with my waistline so I decided to do something about it. I set an alarm for some un-godly hour of the morning (I'm NOT a morning person). I put on my sneakers (I had to dig them out of the corner of my cupboard and dust them off first LOL) and I went for a run!
I only got to the end of my street before I was huffing and puffing like crazy and quickly dropped off to a walk. I walked around the block but when I got home I felt great! Sure I hadn't run a marathon or anything but I had got up off my butt for the first time since trying to lose weight for our wedding 3.5 years earlier!!
Little bit by little bit my walking pace picked up each morning and eventually I was getting up at 6am to go jogging around our block 3 times a week. When we moved house in September I found a new route to run and was running 3kms 3-4 times per week... I have since added to it and was happily running 4kms 4 times a week.
NOTE: This all started as a pledge to myself to get fit, lose weight and start taking care of me - I had NO IDEA how much I would actually enjoy it! I truly think I am a happier wife and mum than I was 18 months ago and all it took was a little bit of 'me time'!!


For the past few years family & good friends of ours have trained then run many races in our Running The Marathon Of Autism campaign to help raise money for my step-daughter Felicity's Son-Rise Program for her severe Autism. Each and every runner who has done this for Felicity are NOT professional athletes - They are mums, dads and even grandparents who love Felicity and want to help. This year it's my turn to join them!!

On August 14th I WILL be taking part in the Sydney City 2 Surf and I WILL finish the race one way or another! I WILL enjoy every step and I WILL be doing it for Felicity, myself and my family!


I have added 2kms to my morning run already (go me!) and now run 6kms every morning while I watch the sun come up but I would LOVE your support and motivation vibes please - I, along with 3 others (so far) who are running the City 2 Surf for Felicity would all be so thrilled to know we were able to raise money along the way. Please head HERE to donate to Felicity's Son-Rise Program that she has come so far in already, our family will be forever grateful and I promise I'll run a little harder up 'Heartbreak Hill' :)


THANKYOU Sunny Mummy Stacey for the reminder to take care of myself! I am happier, healthier, 15kgs lighter and thrilled I can support my family this way all because I took a little time out for me!!
Keep watching this space as I'll up-date you all on my training, race prep and our fundraising efforts along the way!!

Customer Feedback Photos

This Safari party by Daneve of Ah-Tissue is A-MAZ-ING!!

Planned and beautifully put together for Daneve's 3yr old little man, no detail was missed! Daneve decided on a safari theme as her son loves animals and bit by bit the party came together with heaps of re-used & recycled items as well as as many items she could use from businesses Daneve has found through Facebook. Check out all the goodies and LOTS of great photos HERE


I was more than happy to be a part of the party plans when I was asked to make some custom animal print bunting - this was one VERY fun banner to fabric shop for :)


Thanks so much for sharing the pics with us Daneve and, again, congrats on a great party and happy belated birthday to your little man!

Happy Friday Find

I'm a total sucker for personalised stuff. When I was a kid I LOVED seeing my name on anything - cups, books, brooches. It was like it was only made for me (because clearly I was the only Amy in the world LOL).
I still love personalisation today but it's so much better now as you can get almost anything made with your name, details, photo on it - just like this VERY cool Flag Banner Custom Rubber Address Stamp from Note Trunk on etsy.


I am totally in love with this stamp and think I need it for stamping Giggleberry Creations parcels before they head out the door!!

Happy Friday xx

Weet-Bix Cake!

Seriously, this is The. Easiest. Cake. Ever!
With just 5 ingredients to mix together and no eggs needed it's the perfect cake to make with your kids and a great one for when the fridge and cupboards are looking a little bare.



You'll Need:
1 mug of Weet-Bix
1 mug of sultanas
1 mug of brown sugar
1 mug of self raising flour
1 mug of milk.

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees.
Combine all ingredients well in a large bowl. Transfer mixture to a well greased loaf pan and put in pre-heated oven for 45 mins or until a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean. Let cake cool a little in the pan the transfer to a wire cooling rack. Slice and enjoy!

Image found HERE

See, I told you it was easy.
My kiddies, hubby and I love this cake - It's also a yummy treat with a touch of butter with that 3:30pm cup of tea I know I can't go without *wink, wink*

SALE, SALE, SALE!!

Over the weekend I did some serious re-organising, cleaning, moving around and tiding of Giggleberry HQ. It just feels nicer to walk into my sewing space with it all in order and ready to be used rather than in a shamble (which, believe me it was!)
In the re-organising process I decided I need to clear some older stock to make room for new designs and generally to create a bit more space to do the Giggleberry thing... Sooooooo it's time for a SALE!! Yay!!


This coming Wednesday the 8th of June at 8pm I will publish an album on the Giggleberry Facebook page HERE with a selection of Giggleberry buntings. There will be bargains galore!!
The first to comment SOLD on the photo will be the winning buyer. If there are more than one banner available the buyers will go in order of comments until items are sold out.
POSTAGE COSTS: flat rate postage costs of $6.50 Australia Wide (regular post) and $9.00 for international buyers. If you'd like express post please let me know after the sale.


So be sure to come over and 'Like' the Giggleberry Creations Facebook Page to snap up a Giggleberry bargain.

Happy Friday Find

I think I could get addicted decorative tape - also known as masking tape, kawaii tape, deco tape or washi tape. I have seen oh so many colours, patterns and designs that would be amazing used on gifts, cards and packaging but have yet to buy any.
I think I have now found the perfect tape to start of a collection...



Bunting Decorative Tape from Dots and Spots - and it comes in 5 different colours - Yay!!

Happy Friday xx

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

On Pinterest the other day I spotted, and the instantly 're-pinned', this image of a Lemon Meringue Cupcake.


Drool worthy right? I soooooo wanted to try and make some but being the only sweet tooth in my home I didn't want to have a whole batch of these in my kitchen, tempting me to eat each and every one of them.
So when my wonderful, amazing, talented, generous, clever (do you think that's enough 'sucking up'? LOL) sister agreed to do my small business tax stuff again this year (Yahoo - I soooo don't enjoy or get that stuff) I just knew this was my chance to bake!
I bundled up all my paper work & receipts etc and took them to my sisters place with a yummy box of 'Thanks For Being Clever With Numbers And All That' Lemon Meringue Cupcakes!


I was pleasantly surprised at how simple these were to put together (following THIS recipe) and think they turned out pretty good for a first attempt!


I did taste just one and they taste as good as they look too :)