Bridesmaid Dress to Baby Blanket!

Just two short years ago one my sisters married the man of her dreams and I was lucky enough to be one of the three bridesmaids who walked down the aisle before the gorgeous bride.

(That's me and 'the dress' on the far right)

Fast forward two years to current day and more exciting news can now be shared. The 'newly weds' are now expecting their first bubby - YAY!!!

Of course, as 'Aunty Amy' to be, I had to create some sort of unique gift to give the excited parents. So into the depths of my cupboard I went and dug out the very bridesmaid dress I wore for their wedding (and haven't worn once since) and I attacked it with my sewing scissors....

With a few other coordinating and super cute fabrics I pieced together a piece of their wedding day into a quilt for their bubby!!

Lil' Miss Whippy - Cozy Coupe Makeover!

100% inspired by some very clever and creative people I came across online I just HAD to give a Cozy Coupe makeover a go as a first birthday gift for my Niece.
I scored the 2nd hand, ride in (Playschool brand) car, for $20 on eBay. A quick inspection showed me that the two screws on the front of the roof were the only "hardware" so I undid them the the rest of the car kind of puled/popped apart easily. I also popped off the back wheels without any tools - they then literally popped back in place when it was re-assembled.

Master Giggleberry was my little helper for this part and together we got to scrubbing and cleaning and peeling off the stickers. We then wrapped the steering wheel, tyres, and any other bits I didn't want painted, with newspaper and painters tape.

I had decided to turn the car into a mini version of the classic Mr Whippy Vans. You know the kind, pink on the bottom, white on the top playing 'Green Sleeves' as it slowly cruises the streets on a summer night. So a quick trip to Bunnings to find the perfect colours in spray paint and some cardboard boxes thrown down to protect our pavers and I was spray painting away! It did take a few coats to fully cover the blue nicely and I probably went through 3 cans of pink spray paint in the end.

Next I hopped on good old eBay and found stick-on reflector lights and mini mirrors. I also measured up the 'boot' of the car and found the perfect clear perspex icecream cone holder to fit it.

Back together it all went and was starting to look the part!

We needed some 'branding' I thought so with a quick email to the every so lovely Christina of CC Design Management and some measurements I took of the car we created the Lil Miss Whippy, number plates & ice cream stickers.

Now, no ice cream truck is complete without a selection of soft serve cones. This was all sorted by one very talented lady I found on etsy. You must check out Duncan Creative by Karen Swimmer. Her amazing crocheted designs!! Karen made a bundle of soft serve ice creams in different flavors and toppings just as I requested and then even made a sundae in a cup too!!

They fit perfect in the ice cream holder on the back of the car and Ta Dah we were ready to roll!!

Wrapped with a big bow this bargain car I found on eBay was very well received by my cutie pie niece and will hopefully see lots of love!

Toy Tool Bench - take 2!

This weekend just gone my nephew, Oskar, turned 4.
What do you get a 4 year old boy?? How about a bedside table re purposed into a toy tool bench! Remember HERE I had turned an old bedside table we had in our shed into a tool bench for Harris? well that bedside table was one in a set of two so Oskar's gift was all orgainsed - Yay!
To make this one a little different I decided to personalise it. I found the very helpful Dee of Basement Designs and asked if she could help me. Dee came up with a cool personalised 'Warning' decal for the peg board of the tool bench and even express mailed it to me as I left it rather late to get it all done (Thanks Dee). I quick splash of paint, the very cool decal, some hooks and toy tools and I was thrilled with how it all came together!



Needless to say Oskar thought it was AWESOME!
We spent the day together celebrating his day in style at Taronga zoo. We haven't been to the zoo for 2 years so my kiddies and their cousins had a blast!!


Milla is a total map lover so she was 'team leader' for the day sending us of in all kinds of directions to hunt down all the animals.





We watched the seal show, patted the farm animals in the kiddie section, talked to the giraffes and Harris, who wanted to see dinosaurs at the zoo, was satisfied with a few big lizards and some slithery snakes. It was a huge day and both kids were asleep in the car before we got out of the zoo car park!

Bedside Table Repurposed into Toy Tool Work Bench!!

Inspired by THIS very clever re-purpose of a night stand by The Frugal Granny, Papa & Grandma Gigggleberry helped me turn an old un-used bedside table that hubby I didn't need anymore into one groovy Toy Tool Work Bench for my little guy.

This is how is started. A basic, old, dust covered timber bedside table that was destined for landfill!


I gave it a light sand & clean all over then painted on an undercoat.


The next part I had to leave up to Papa Giggleberry as I am no good with power tools & woodworking. With the help of his grandbabies while babysitting last weekend, Papa Giggleberry added a piece of timber to the top bedside table to make it a little wider and then screwed some peg board to the back of the unit.




Next was all hands on deck to paint it. We went with grey & black.


While the kids snoozed the other day I sat in the sunshine and hung all the toy tools on the peg board with hooks. Once I was happy with their placement drew around them with a pencil. With the same black paint we used on the bench top I painted inside the pencil outlines to create silhouettes.


A few hours drying in the sun, all the hooks popped back into place and the tools, we bought for a bargain at Aldi just a few weeks ago, now hanging in their place and it was ready to go!!





Harrison The Handyman LOVES it!! He has been hammering, cutting and 'fixing' non-stop!!