Baby Shower

Earlier this year I organised a baby shower for my dearest friend who was 8 months pregnant with her little girl (my beautiful little goddaughter). As she was living overseas for most of her pregnancy, I found planning her baby shower overlapped with my own personal excitement for her return. This meant I probably (slightly) obsessed over making the day as special as possible for her.

I held the baby shower on the same lawn where she was married a few years earlier, which made the location (her family home), even more perfect.

The weather couldn't have been better. In fact, it became so hot we had to erect a marquee midway through to shelter from the sun.

As part of the day, I planned some games. It was hard to come up with games which would be easy to play with 20 people, as well as games that didn't take too much organising or explaining.

These were the games I decided to incorporate into the day (may help others planning a baby shower)

1.  Guess the name and weight. Not original I know, but my friend was still uncertain about the name she wanted, so I thought it may help... I made pre-printed cards with the baby's last name, and made little origami envelopes to place the name cards inside.

2. Taste Testing Game. I purchased 6 flavours of food, took them out of the jars, soaked the labels off and replaced them with numbered labels. I then had a jar of popsicle sticks and little pieces of paper numbered 1-6 for writing the answers. This game was really hard, not one person (even the mums) got 6/6.

3. Guess the Belly - again, not an original game, but an easy one. Pass around a ball of string and cut it to the size you think her belly is. Everyone has a turn to try the string around her waist.

4. I can't believe I don't have a picture of this, but I made "Babynairy" cards. My friend LOVES pictionary, and so I made some little cards with baby related items on them and we played a mini game of babynairy. I can't find the file anywhere, so you'll just have to imagine.

I used eat drink chic templates to make the labels and invites for the day. Here is a link to the template  (her website has the cutest range of printable templates).

For decoration, I placed pillows on the chairs in a variety of feminine, summery fabrics and blankets on the grass. I made some bunting to string around the trees, creating a picnic feel. 

My friend now has some of the bunting hanging in the nursery, which is a nice little piece of memorabilia.

New Goals

I like making goals. Small goals and big goals.I make goals really specific and realistic. They are similar to tasks, but they have to  improve your life. 

I have a new goal. I'm writing it down in the hope it will motivate me to achieve it and prove to myself that if I put my mind to something, I can make it happen. It's good to remind yourself sometimes.

I am going to touch my toes with straight legs. Just like this person here. (Maybe not standing on my hands). I just want my fingertips to touch the floor.

 

via  

(you can probably imagine the images a google search produced when I typed in "touch my toes" )

I'm sure most people can already do this, and don't have to think about it. But for someone with a titanium spine, who had a surgeon say "just forget about touching your toes", this is a big thing for me.
I'm confident it will help with my lower back pain and this will improve my life.

I have about 20-30cm to go....

You should all set a goal today, even if it's a little one, like making the bed each day or drinking less coffee (or wine).  Achieving it gives you a little boost and reminds you that you do have willpower and willpower is what pushes us to succeed.

Woah....this is all sounding a little Dr. Phil now, so I'll cut it here.

I'm off to stretch my hamstrings.

Confessions of a Hair Addict

Like many females, I like to change my hair... alot. My family and friends have witnessed several hair overhauls throughout the years. Without going into too much detail, lets just say I've done the blonde, the dark, the awkward ginge in between, short, long, the pixie cut, the rachel cut, the fringe, the bob... so many.

I'm now at the long blonde stage again, satisfied that I have tried every style and colour I've ever wanted to try. My hair adventure days are over. I am back to my normal long blonde style.

Given my addiction to hair changes, and more recently, hair care (as I'm growing it) I have a growing collection of products, some amazing, some O.K, some not so amazing. I have quite fine hair which is neither straight or curly, it's that awkward, in between frizzy style. It is colour treated with blonde, so tends to be dry on the ends. These are products that work for my hair type - so won't be the same for everyone.

I want to point out some that I'm really liking right now. I won't go through all of them as it would be a REALLY long blog post.


Sebastian Volupt Spray
My hairdresser used this last time I was there for a treatment and blow wave. It really gives my hair volume and bounce without feeling product heavy or stiff. I can't do my hair like they do at the salon, but I just spray this on the roots and blow wave up while my hair is still damp. It works!
Sometimes I spray it in the roots on dry hair and put velcro rollers in, then whip over with the hairdryer for added volume on those flat hair days.

 

Kevin Murphy - Young Again

This is AMAZING. I used moroccan oil for a few years which was nice, but made my hair a bit dull after a day or so ( I don't wash my hair everyday). I was about to buy another bottle of morrocan oil, and then spied this stuff. This has heat protection qualities to it which is what I need. I put it in my hair damp, blow dried it off roughly and then ran my GHDs quickly through and created some curls.  I took a smidge more oil and ran it through my finished hair breaking up the curls. The product was not cheap, but it will last for a really long time. You only need a tiny tiny amount.

 Kerastase Fondant Nutri Thermique Conditioner
 I have only just purchased this conditioner. This may be contributing to the softness of my hair as well. I haven't used the 'Young Again' and 'Kerastase' independently of each other yet, so I'm not sure of their individual effect.
This conditioner was really creamy, but light. It washed out easily, even with my low water pressure. The conditioner also has heat protection qualities, so again, just what my hair needs.








Note: I have not been paid or reimbursed in any way, shape or form to review these products. (I wish!) They are my own personal experience with using the products and results will differ depending on your hair type and condition.

Madeleine turns 1

This little girl is set to become a big sister in a few weeks time. I can't wait to meet her baby brother - I think you'll agree, these two create cute kids.

If you've got some spare time, take a look back at her as she grew into this gorgeous little girl... (I just realised I never completed the 3 month post...oops!)

As a 'bump'  as a newborn, at 3 months, at 7 months

Happy First Birthday Madeleine x

DIY Birthday

When I asked my little sister what she wanted for her birthday, she asked for some handmade pillows for her house. I'm sure when she asked me, she never imagined the result.

I must admit, when I made my visit to the fabric shop I had a totally different vision in my head. I'm thinking ikat design, yellows, greys, chevron stripe etc... a mile away from what I ACTUALLY ended up with.

I was browsing through the fabrics, changing my vision every 5 seconds, with my mum standing by, becoming increasingly confused as to what it was I was actually looking for. Truth be told, when I discovered how limited the fabric selection was I began thinking of other possible birthday gifts I could just buy her. Just as I was losing hope, I discovered the softest pieces of flannelette fabric, and my homemade pillow plans were back on track...

With the flannelette in hand, I started thinking of textures. Flannelette holds a special place in my heart, and I started thinking about what textures my sister likes. Then it hit me...her cat!

She loves her fluffy Birman, Mikki so much,  it kills her that she can't sneak him across the Tasman in her carry on luggage... so what a better way to ease her breaking heart, than to make a replica Mikki pillow!

So now mum was really worried...

But as soon as she touched the white shaggy fur I had discovered, which was a close replica of my the beloved cat,  she was totally on board with the idea. She knew my sister would love it, as ridiculous as it was, we knew it was perfect.

And so that was that.

This is what I started with;

The pinstriped flannel is the most beautiful, softest flannel. I also got some contrasting polka dot flannel.

I then cut out an M for Mikki and ironed it onto the fabric using heat bonding paper. I also made a C pillow, as I felt sorry for the other, slightly grumpier, but beautiful cat, Charlie. I didn't want him to feel left out... 

I then blanket stitched in yellow embroidery thread around the letters to secure them to the fabric and bring more interest and colour into the pillow.

The pillows are flannel on the front and fluffy shag, cat like fur on the back.

Mum took the pillows over to Australia for my sister when she visited her on her birthday. I was unable to fill the pillows and take decent photos, as they needed to be flat for travel.

I stuffed them with some rolled towels and quickly took a photo before I went to bed that night - (hence the poor lighting and odd bumpy shapes)

The end result...

Two fluffy, 'cat like' bedroom pillows.

She loved them - and I'm sure her boyfriend was equally as thrilled. What guy wouldn't get excited about soft fluffy bed pillows...

Ironically - the pillows also reflect their own initials. So when their friends see them, they think they have personalised snuggle pillows. Again, I'm sure her boyfriend is thrilled... 

Here are the cats behind my inspiration; 

The one she loves the most (don't tell Charlie) and lets her do absolutely anything to him, Mikki. 

...and the grumpy, yet beautiful Charlie

Goodnight x

The Love Game

Mr D. takes the lead in the romantic race...

We had one of those situations where someone offered us something, and it was too cheap to ignore, but too cheap to accept...agonising over whether it was a scam, going backwards and forwards about how it would be possible to offer those prices.  "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" rung loudly through our heads...  so we listened.  We were right, it was a scam.

Sitting on the couch, Friday night, we were discussing the scam and the lengths people will go to make a few hundred dollars these days.

Me: Well, you know what they say... If it seems to good to be true, it probably is. And again, the old saying proved true, again. It was always too good to be true, so we were right to stay out of it. 
Mr D. That's not always right you know.
Me: What isn't right?
Mr D. That saying, about things being too good to be true
Me: Why?
Mr D. Because I thought you were too good to be true... and ...you were true.
Me: ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Mr D.*High Fives.

I should have totally seen that one coming and claimed it myself. Easy points. In hindsight it meant alot more coming from him even if he did kill it slightly afterwards with the high five, as in "YEAH I got that one, I win..."

I had mixed emotions of being so loved yet defeated at the same time.

I like to have images on all of my posts, as words are so boring on a computer screen. Sorry, this was all I could find that was appropriate. A bit of scam, a bit of cute love and a bit of defeat.... it seems to fit the brief.

Source: hahastop.com via Lou on Pinterest

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I have many photos to share from this little person's first birthday... 

Stay tuned...