Crazy Hair Day - Mr Potato Head!!

Today was Crazy Hair Day at little Miss Gigglebrry's school. Most schools and preschools hold a day like this yearly and most kids come with teased up and colour sprayed hair.... I wanted to do something a little different.
Inspired by a pic I spotted on Pinterest we pulled out our mini Mr Potato Head toys and hairspray and started to play!!

This was really fun and different hair style that, let me tell you, got sooooooo many compliments, "wow's", "oh my's" and "how did you do that's" - it needed it's own blog post!!

A basic how to:
* I did an upside-down braid from the base of the head just to half way up the head and secured with an elastic. Then brushed the end of the braid and the rest of the hair into one ponytail right ontop of the head. Secured with lots of hair spray and a tight hair tie.

* Open the ponytail out to find the middle of it and so a little but of hair is hanging down all around the head. Lightly spray the toy potato with hair spray and place it ontop of the opened hair. Close/wrap the hair up and around the potato so you can not see any of the toy. Secure with another hair tie tightly and a bit more hairspray.
* Poke your choice of Mr Potato Head face pieces into the potato.... we decide to not do arms but you absolutely could add arms in the side too.
* Split the hair right ontop of the potato in two and secure with two hair ties.

We then added a little glitter hairspray just for fun too.

Have fun!!

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!

Happy Friday Find!

We are going to pretend it hasn't been FOREVER and a day since my last Friday Find post and move right along here....
How could I not share these fabulous handmade Bunting Earrings from Mujoyas? They have gone straight to the top of my wish list!!

I reckon they would go with almost any outfit!!
Happy Friday xx

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Book Week!

I love a good excuse to create a costume so Book Week for me can't come around fast enough! I fondly remember the characters I went to school as many years ago and I got rather excited when Little Miss Giggleberry bought home a note a few weeks agao letting us know they too were to dress up as a character from a book.
We had a flick through our book shelves and narrowed costume choices down to either Cruella DeVille (from 101 Dalmatians) or Mary Poppins. (I have to be honest I was hoping and pushing for Grug but had not even the hint of a yes on that one. Maybe Master Giggleberry will say yes to that one in a few years time).
Mary Poppins won the vote and so I got to digging through the cupboards.
One white button up shirt - Check. I just sewed a ruffled ribbon to the front to give it a 'Victorian look'
One black skirt - Check.
Black tights - Check.
Black shoes - Check.
Some red ribbon for the belt and neck tie - Check.
Black Umbrella - Check. You could get a little more creative and make a parrot head to attach to the handle too.
Pattern bag to look like Mary's magic carpet bag - Check.
We were on a roll! I dashed out one late Thursday night and spent the total of $6 buying a white gloves, a black hat, some fake flowers and cherries. My hot glue gun made short work of it all and Mary Poppins was complete!

My little Mary Poppins was very pleased and looked the part, if I do say so myself!

She even won best dressed in Kindergarten at todays Book Week parade!

Happy 60th Smurfday Party!

My gorgeous dad is about to turn 60!! That's a pretty good milestone and a great excuse to celebrate don't ya think?
What would he LOVE to do for his 60th birthday? hang out with and be surrounded by his family. So just last weekend my parents, sisters, brother and all of our families headed away for a weekend at Bilpin Springs Lodge in the NSW Blue Mountains. It was stunning and the perfect winter escape for us all to catch up, laugh, eat, play and celebrate!
Between petting the horse, pony & alpaca, collecting the eggs from the chooks, bushwalking, paddling in kayaks & playing in the games room we managed to come up with the excuse of no milk left to get my dad to head to the shop so we could set up his little party.
For a little bit of background here, my dad is called Papa by his 11 grandchildren so when mum asked me to "put a little something together for his birthday" I had the idea of a Papa Smurf theme and ran with it....
Quickly we set up one of the rooms at the lodge with balloons, bunting, food, decorations, drinks, cake and games. Then when dad returned from the shop with more milk he was sent to his room with a mysterious bag of clothes and given the instructions to put it on and wait for a knock on his door.

I had put together a Papa Smurf outfit from some red ski pants I found on sale a few weeks ago, a long sleeved blue top and a red Papa Smurf hat I had made from felt. I also made the rest of the family (that's 9 adults, 9 kids and 2 babies) a white Smurf hat and the girls each a Smurfette dress. Everyone else was to wear all blue with white shorts/pants/skirt.

Once everyone was dressed two of the kids went and collected Papa Smurf from his room and bought him to the party to be Smurfprised!!

Party time!! Most of the blue and red party supplies including the balloons, cupcake cases (I used for the popcorn), serviettes, straws, wooden cutlery etc were from Occasion By Design. The striped milk bottles, blue cupcake stand, cake platter stand, table cloth, trays, buckets etc I had in my collection already.

For food I made mushroom shaped butter cookies and some gluten and dairy free snicker doodles, blue jelly, popcorn, strawberries, juice, the birthday boy's fav dessert banana caramel pie and the cake which I had made blue and red to tie in. The little Papa Smurf ontop of the cake I found on eBay and I made the mini bunting.
The amazing macarons need a mention all on their own! I emailed the ever so lovely Sherelyn from Her Macarons to ask if she would maybe, just maybe, attempt some Smurf shaped macarons for me. I thought I was dreaming, but when I popped past to pick up my order I nearly screamed - Sherelyn had created to coolest and most perfect set of Papa Smurf yummies!

Seriously how cool are they?!? I almost didn't want to eat them but not only did they look fantastic on our table they were delicious too!!

Now, what is a party without a few games? (especially with all of Papa Smurf's grandchildren to entertain!) I made a Pin the Tail on Papa game with cardboard and a blue pompom, Pass the parcel with the final gift inside (A Papa Smurf Jibbet) marked so it was given to Papa Smurf himself and we also had a Piñata! The piñata wasn't Smurf themed (who could whack a Smurf until lollies fell out anyway LOL) but the custom made ambulance from The Helium House was perfect none the less as my dad is a Paramedic.

Notice the 'Papa 60' number plate

After we all had a bash of the piñata it was time to sing happy birthday and cut the cake. It's safe to say we all had a laugh and made a few more memories but most importantly celebrated the birthday of one amazing man. Happy birthday Dad xxx