the annaliah doll

today i made a doll. all by myself! i went to mums to for supervision, so that there was no way i could mess it up but i was pleasantly surprised that i actually managed it! years ago i purchased the pattern for the "elsie" doll from candy kirby designs (before their dolls were available to purchase, the pattern was available) and finally had a really good occasion to use it, to make a doll for a special little girl in our ward. miss annaliah is having heart surgery in a matter of weeks and i wanted to give her something special to take with her.

it was so much fun and i am thrilled to pieces that i managed to get it done, especially all the little details like stitching on her face and adding a little lace collar...

here she is ready to stuff...

and her little mary janes!

and as a little finishing touch i found a ceramic heart button in mums sewing room and drew some little stitches on, so that she really is just like miss annaliah. i can't wait to see her face when i give her to her this weekend ♥

tie onesie

remember the formal onesie i made for baby mason here?

well...

drumroll...

here he is!! wearing it at his uncles wedding! what a doll... can't wait for his momma to bring him home so i can have cuddles again. :)

halloweeeeeen 2012

on saturday night lisa and brandon had their annual halloween bash. it's pretty much the only time i think halloween is allowed to be honest - if an american is doing the party. i mean until a few years ago it wasn't a big deal in australia at all. i don't ever remember getting dressed up or doing something for it as a kid - only being insanely jealous of all the american kids that got to go trick or treating and collect copious amounts of lollies from randoms, just because it happened to be october 31st. i mean c'mon - what kid in their right mind doesn't want that!? damn baby-sitters club books... giving me unrealistic expectations of life in general. haha.

 

so... this year i decided to be minnie mouse - and again my costume cost me pretty much nothing... red skirt and top, i already owned complete with white gloves, black tights and yellow slip ons plus minnie ears borrowed from jen (thanks chick!) only issue was getting white polka dots on the skirt... hmmm i certainly wasn't sewing buttons all over it (see previous post haha) and i wanted to wear it again, so i went to the local newsagent and bought a roll of white circular labels, which of course didn't freaking well want to stick. sigh. out with the stapler - and i proceeded to staple the entire lot on - one by one. oh well - at least it made for a good blog story.

 

lisa and i with ella - the little ladybug. cuteness overload!

our hosts lisa and brandon -

"the birds and the bees" hilarious! such a funny costume. lisa had even posted a pic on instagram of them with ella - with the caption - "the birds and the bees = a little lady(bug)" so fun!

i made another pull-apart cupcake cake (in a circle shape and orange this time) and decorated the top to look as a spidersweb. it looked really cool and i am glad i went to the effort cause it matched seamlessly with all the other orange treats lisa had whipped up. win!

 

 doug decided to be one of bruno mars's backup dancers from the lazy song (mum click on the link and you can watch the video!) and so we searched online for the chimp mask he has on - only problem is that maddie was so petrified of it that we've had to have it hidden for the last few weeks, last time she saw it she cried for almost an hour and then wouldn't go to sleep because she kept checking the corners of her room for it. poor love. she accidentally caught sight of doug getting ready for the party and actually fell onto the floor and sobbed as she was trying to get away cause she was so frightened. looks like we won't be bringing it out again any time soon.

 

and of course - there is always the one that has to look frightening and cover themselves in blood. enter niques. the blood was amazing and i was really impressed (especially since she made it herself!!) but oh dear...

 

thanks brandon and lisa! i know i'll certainly miss your party next year!

buttons!

 

my bestie and her husband celebrated their two year wedding anniversary over the weekend and of course i decided to make them a theme gift. two years traditionally is cotton so i got a cotton cushion cover and proceeded to make a heart shape of all different shades, shapes and sizes of red buttons - sewing them on with what else? red cotton.

 

i began to regret my decision pretty quickly - after the first two hours or so in fact - when i realised just how long it was going to take. but considering i decided to make it on thursday night - for saturday. what the hell was i thinking?? seriously...

 

cause this is what it looked like an 12:36am saturday morning. but... nonetheless, it was totally worth every stitch, cause i was so happy with the final product that i was also tempted to keep it. love love love! and thankfully, she loved it too.

 

and just cause i can't resist showing off yet another photo of this gorgeous girl... maddie and aunty jen had a lovely afternoon together during our lunch at the mahogany inn.

 

p.s. most amazing banoffee pie ever... can't wait to go back for some more. or at least try making it their way - which i am totally going to get to work on. yumm

susie & kevin fornever

 

susie in my office got divorced on friday and today we celebrated! and ate...

drumroll... divorce cake!

 

 

i saw the coolest idea online, putting patty pans in a large cake tin, then filling each one with enough mixture to rise and touch the tops of the others, so they make a smooth top. then ice the whole thing - and then just break off a cupcake from the bottom to eat. so freaking cool - cause to eat this cake - we had to break susie's heart! hilarious.

 

 

thankfully - she loved it - and we gobbled it up!

susie & kevin fornever & never xx

 

formal onesie

my gorgeous friend bianca has just taken off to south africa with her baby boy mason (who i am notsosecretly hoping will marry miss maddie when she grows up...) for her slightly younger brothers wedding. mason is just under a year younger than maddie and so isn't really fitting into any formal childrenswear just yet - so i undertook the task of making him a formal onesie with a tie on it. oh my... what was i thinking? i don't know... but it worked! and not only did it work, it actually looked good! i totally want to make more of them, and i totally want a baby boy of my own to make them for now - but i guess that'll have to wait! haha.

 

so - i was stoked, our local target has a clearance section and i got a plain white onesie for $1.10 score! and a $2 silver silk tie from the local vinnies. i cut the skinny end of the tie, and used that for the tail, and cut the point off the tie and fashioned it into a knot shape and pushed the lining inside it to make it thick like a regular tie, before stitching that on the top. like i said, it's a long way to go before i have it perfected, but i am happy to keep trying! 

 

so here we have it! my first tie onesie. can't wait to see baby mase rocking it at the wedding!

can I buy a vowel?

my brother aaron used to make jokes about our parents and say "why buy it when you can make it?" and i really took it to heart... so when i saw this amazing idea of scrabble tile rings sweeping about, i got right on that - and made myself one. flipping love it. i'm taking orders if you're interested! x

lisa's having a baby!

my beautiful friend lisa is having a baby! she is due june 14 and i was lucky enough to be able to throw her a baby shower yesterday with our friend dannielle. lisa is from america and she is an identical twin - to the lovely michelle, who was here for two weeks doing a final prac for her college degree, so we took advantage of it for the party. i mean - what's a party without the twin?!

we had so much fun planning and preparing - and decorating... i could not have done it alone though, dannii was an absolute gem, baking a whole pile of gorgeous stuff, including baby cookie shapes (onesies, bibs and bottles), organising some of the games and just generally being a huge help!

it was such a lovely day - and i am grateful for lovely friends and the opportunity to do something like this. i really felt at home again organising it all - i mean in all honesty, that's what being a funeral director is after all - a party planner on a huge scale. i loved every minute of it and i can't imagine anything i'd love more either! maybe that is what i should do with my life one day... event styling! now there's a thought... it would be incredible and could be so so much fun!

i went to a baby shower just a few weeks ago for a girl i work with and she had this incredible fountain filled with juice that i just fell in love with - i was all set to go and rent one, and then found out it was a reasonable priced one from a local store - and that my friends mum actually owns one and was quite happy to loan it to me, so we had a fountain of pink lemonade on the table, which was so cute, i loved watching it.

plus... what's a party without goodie bags! little cookies stamped with a thanku logo, dannii's iced cookies, a pink and white wafer stick and pink swirl marshmallows.

i am so blessed with wonderful friends (and a fabulous husband - who watched miss maddie for the entire day so we could do everything without entertaining a baby as well...) and i can't think of a better way to have spent a saturday. i love you girls!

x♥x

first date preserved

many years ago - there was a first date. i had moved into doug's ward in brisbane and he had spied me and decided i was worth pursuing. (i wonder if he regrets that decision all these years later hahaha) so he asked me to the stake ysa ball. i being rather uncertain of the male species (after having my heart torn out and stomped on by a certain individual that will remain nameless) said, "sure but you'll have to ask my brothers permission." which he promptly did. ugh. having no other excuses after aaron's response of "i don't care, what are you asking me for? ask her!" i agreed and off we went. he arrived promptly looking very nicely dressed and handed me a rose. polite much? i was thrilled. there's nothing like good manners in a potential suitor. 

that night we kissed for the first time and have been pretty much inseparable since. i have always kept the rose for some reason, and even managed to sneak it back into wa through quarantine (shhh - i don't want them to come and take it!!) so today i made the above masterpiece. a few years back i found this gorgeous inch thick shadow frame in the vinnies near our house and knew i could make something fabulous with it, i just hadn't decided yet what it was. so after peeling open the top, sliding in a piece of cute scrapbooking paper (courtesy of my lovely friend dom - who you can get to know here) with double sided tape on the back to press it down and hold it tight - and the rose hotglued in two spots to the front - i hotglued all the openings at the back closed and voila!! a masterpiece for my children! i'm pretty proud. all at a cost of $3 for the frame. paper was a freebie, glue i already had.

and time and all eternity? priceless.

♥♥♥♥♥♥