messyart

sick kiddies and a broken Xmas tree

I have 2 kids home sick (well , one would be home anyway, he's a bit young for school yet ;). Mind you Tati doesn't look sick at all in the pics, just cute.

Tati loved it when TJ fell asleep in her arms.

We started to put up the Xmas tree, but realised we're missing the most important part.... the centre pole! It must have gotten lost in the move. Bugger!

This is how i got things done all day today....with a sick bub in my arms. He just wanted to be held all day.

 It was so nice this evening that we all had dinner outside on the porch. Love summer for that :)

 So i need to re-think my Xmas tree now. We thought we'd wait till after Xmas to buy a new one so we can get a good one at a decent price (since when did they become so expensive!). So i need a temporary tree for this year....hmmmmmm. Any ideas?

DIY party favour idea: personalised mugs

Recently i helped my step mother plan a 40th birthday lunch for one of her good friends. It was simply done, as it was held in there tiny beachside apartment. With the ocean as their background, we went with auqua, white and silver as our colours. We had a small dessert table with lots of home baked sweetness on it (sadly i dont have a picture :( ) Robyn made some really good food for lunch (she is an EXCELLENT cook), and we decorated above the table with loads of pom poms in the afore-mentioned colours. She wanted some party favours, and we tossed up a few ideas, such as monogramed napkins. However things didnt go as planned and the day before the party we were left with nothing. So a quick stop to my local cheap shop and the florist and we came up with these.... 

They were quite simple to make really. I just got some ceramic paint, a fine paint brush, and white ceramic mugs. For the bouquets you'll need florist foam, lots of pretty flowers, and good gardening hand shears.

Following the instructions on the box of ceramic paint (every product works differently, so read the instructions carefully!) i hand painted on each invitee's initials. You only get one go, so take your time!

Then i let them dry. Once dry the were baked in an oven for 35 minutes. Once they were completely baked and cooled, i added florist foam and water to the bottom of each mug. Dont put in too much water, you want your guests to be able to take them home without spillage! Then add your flowers and your done :)

This would work really well with tea cups or plain white vases would look cute too!

And it's a gift they can use again and again. I had actually written up some cute little tags with care instructions, but didn't have time to tie them on! It was a surprise party, so we were under the pump, and i wanted to be out before the birthday girl arrived. Hopefully you'll be more organised!

ps. If you actually make any, please share your results! Just post a link to yours in my comments, as i'd love to see other peoples takes on this :)

DIY inspirational bunting

Because everyone needs a little inspiration in there lives, no?

I found this cute box of inspirational sayings and drawings the other day, but wasn't sure what i was going to do with them.They come with a little wooden stand, but i knew that if i displayed them that way, most likley my little terror of a toddler would just grab them and use them as inspirational floor confetti. When put that way, it doesn't actually sound that bad tho....until i have to pick it all up. Along with his lunch. And the rocks he brought in from outside. And the laundry that was all folded a minute ago. And the tupperware he managed to remove from ALL my kitchen cupboards in the time it took me to pee.

Anywho...

Tati's wall above her bed has been annoying me, because i just couldn't figure out what to put there. Until this morning when i came up with this super quick and super easy diy project. Really, it could be done with any kind of cute little cards, even playing cards, or ABC cards. Or you could just use some scraps of pretty paper....whatever.

So heres my super eady diy inspiational bunting.

All you need is cards/paper/something cute to hang. Twine. Cute tape (i used silver washi tape).

• Place you cards upside down in a line with the same amount of space in between each.

• PLace the twine across the back of each card.

• Adhere the cards to the twine with some cute tape. The tape will show on the right side, so take into consideration how much you are folding over.

• Fold over your tape. Do this with every card until your bunting is complete. Hang with more decorative tape....and Viola! Cute inspirational bunting! 

Would possibly make a sweet little Xmas gift for someone.

ps. I had the fan on, which is why the right side of my bunting is hanging funny. It kept blowing up, and it was just too hot to not have it on. Not even for a second.

Happy Monday :)

 

I'm thankful for Ashlee Ann and awesome step-mums!

I am American (living in Australia) and sometimes still find it hard giving up my American holidays.

Like halloween.Obviuosly.(see here if you dont belive me)

And Thanksgiving.

Every year i have these great ideas of how we can celebrate our version of Thanksgiving here, but they just never come to fruision. Probably becausae i have a tendency to overdo everything, and being in between Halloween and Xmas, 2 very busy holidays for us, i usually am sparce on time. So when i saw this great idea here, i was thrilled! What a cute, thoughtful and SIMPLE idea!

 The best bit was that i already had everything on hand i needed, and it literally took me all of 10 minutes to out together :) Thankyou Ashlee Ann!

So heres our version of a 'Thankful' tree which will be a new November tradition for us from now on. For a tutorial of sorts (and some really cute pics), visit Ashlees blog.

 

Bear was keen to be the first to put a leaf on our tree...

We made the tree the first week of November. This is our tree now. As you can see, it's growing every day.

I love reading the things my kids choose to be thankful for everyday. They are so sweet. And speaking of things to be thankful for, My step-mum snuck into my house while i was out the other day a cleaned my kitchen, mopped my floors and left these gorgeous flowers for me. And these are actually only part of the bunch she left me...there were so many i split them into 3 seperate containers!

Better go put that one on the tree!