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!!

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!!

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?

A little thanks

It seems that not only does my little girl LOVE her repurposed play kitchen, that my parents made for her, but so do many of you! Thanks to Google alerts, comments left on this blog and facebook groups I have been told by so many people how fabulous they think Milla's TV unit kitchen is so I just wanted to say a little thank you to you all - Thank you!


FACEBOOK:
Made It Baby
Ovaition
Kitchen Monki

BLOGS:
The Insider
The Home Crowd
WTF Daily News
Babble - Strollerderby
Virginia Beach Babies
Sutton Grace
Nut and Bee
Absolute Anna
Little Inspirations
Raising a King


Little Magoolie


Buttoned Up


IZ Reloaded


Design Dazzle


Buzzfeed

KITCHENS WE HAVE INSPIRED:
Seven Little Australians Plus One

If you want to know what all the hype is about check out the original post about the play kitchen HERE
Please let me know if I have missed anyone!

Furniture Reuses - Mum's Amazing Doll House

Remember when I posted HERE about my little girls repurposed play kitchen that my parents made for her? well it was featured just the other day on Design Dazzle blog and has since been an absolute hit around the 'blog world'!! These before and after pictures can be seen at Buzz Feed, Seven Little Australians,Babble Stroller Derby & The Home Crowd... and they are just the ones I was told about!

Before:

After:

I have since been asked if I had any other furniture reuses. At first I couldn't think of any but then remembered my mum's most gorgeous dolls house.
This is not any ordinary dolls house this dolls house is a product of mum's imagination and dad's woodworking skills.
Mum's precious dolls house started out as this cheap, second hand, beat up, old wardrobe.


Then with some handiwork, a fresh coat of paint and a whole lot of love and dedication to the tiniest details, it has become...


...a much loved 5 story Victorian themed dolls house.


Each room even has working light fittings!


No detail has been overlooked.This is the tiled bathroom


The kitchen with the chef baking apple pies


and of course there must be a Santa and Christmas decorations to put in the house just for the festive season


My mum LOVES her dolls house and absolutely adores helping all her grandchildren find all the tiny things inside it... although she does have a smaller 'child friendly' dolls house for the grandkids to get their hands on.