Pinterest Challenge # 5

I have so many exciting projects on my pinboards that I should probably be working on right now. But with being 38 weeks pregnant I decided to tackle a nice and simple (and very sweet) project that I've wanted to do for just about ever.

A pretty little birdie jar.

I originally made it as a gift for Georgia's first birthday, but it accidentally got broken. Re-making it gave me the perfect opportunity to also use it as my pinterest challenge project :).

The inspiration came from this gorgeous Aussie blog and as you can see I really didn't vary mine much from the original at all. The main thing I did differently was use red and pink so that it would look good in Georgia's very gorgeous red and pink nursery.

Supplies:

•  mason jar (I used a large moccona coffee jar)
• fake moss 
• stick / branch
• fabric scraps
• needle and thread
• ribbon
• birdies (I found mine at spotlight)
• hot glue
• tacky glue (optional)
• iron on interfacing
• small plate or circle (for tracing)
• scissors
• rubber band

I started out by brushing a layer of tacky glue into the bottom of my jar, I then poured in a heap of the moss and pressed it down into the glue. I wasn't completely happy with the coverage though so I ended up pouring in a heap more moss and just leaving it loose in the bottom of the jar. In hindsight you could probably leave out the glue at the start and just go ahead and leave all of the moss loose in the bottom of the jar...

For my branch I used this fake Christmas branch that I got on sale at spotlight. I just chopped off the bit that I needed. It had wire through the centre of it which made it really hard to cut, so I pulled the wire out with pliers and then had another go at chopping it. Much easier without the wire!

Next up I used the interfacing to fuse my fabric scraps back to back, then cut out some teeny little triangles. I hand stitched them into a little bunting garland and then tied it onto the branch.

Using hot glue I stuck the branch into the inside of the jar. It took me a fair few goes to get it right. After each failed attempt I would scrape the dried hot glue off the inside of the glass before giving it another go. I got there eventually!

To get the birds perched nicely on the branch I just squeezed some hot glue onto the bottom of each and placed them onto the branch.

To finish the jar off I traced a circle onto the red fabric, cut it out and then secured it to the lid of the jar with a rubber band. I tied a pretty ribbon around the lid to hide the rubber band and voila - all done!

 

I'm seriously in love with this little jar. If I had little girls of my own I would definitely be making more of these for their rooms. They're perfectly equal parts pretty, girly and whimsical :)

I've linked this up with Katie, Sherry, Sarah and Carmel for the Fall Pinterest Challenge. Make sure you go and check out what these very talented girls have made for the challenge. There are already hundreds of projects linked up... so much pinspiration!!

If you'd like to see any of the projects I've made for previous pinterest challenge projects you can see them here:

TeePee - Height Chart Ruler - Laundry Gallery - Star Mobile

 

Country Wedding Inspiration

Celebrating my fourth wedding anniversary the other week has got me thinking about weddings more than ever. I absolutely love everything about them and if I was a more organised person I would definitely look into being a wedding/event planner. Who knows, maybe I will evolve into a more organised person and start a career as a planner one day. In the meantime I'll make do with pinning gorgeous images and dreaming about planning weddings.

Although my best friend's wedding is over I still keep adding images to the pinboard (aptly named 'my best friend's wedding' - a name that I blatantly stole off the lovely Laura).

This week I'm dreaming about an idyllic country wedding and I thought I would share some of my favourite images. (All images can be found here, or you can click the link under each image to go directly to the source.)

{kuku couture invitations}

These invitations are elegant and sweet, setting the scene for a gorgeous, simple country wedding.

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 The dress would (of course) be vintage lace. I absolutely adore this dress and could never pull it off in real life, but it's absolutely perfect for my imaginary wedding (or someone else's).

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{Wedding Day}

I love loose unstructured bouquets filled with soft pinks, creams and pale greenery.

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 The ceremony would be outdoors amongst the trees and the recpetion in a gorgeous big barn. It would be strung with hundreds of fairy lights and be decorated with lots of tea light candles.

{style me pretty}

{the knot}

These favours are just perfect for a country wedding and would help bring a touch of nature into the reception.

{ruffled}

What do you think? Do you love country weddings as much as I do? Did you have a country wedding? I would love to see photos if you did!

32 Weeks

This pregnancy is going so fast now that I'm almost at the end & I am completely torn between wanting to enjoy every moment (in case it's my last) and being so excited to meet my new baby.

I started my maternity leave a couple of weeks ago and I feel so much more relaxed now. Eight weeks of one-on-one time with Max, time to get done the things I want to get done and not having to worry about working is just what the doctor ordered. It's kind of like the calm before the storm I guess!

Max is really excited about becoming a big brother and loves to talk to the baby in my belly. He has his heart set on calling the baby Luca and won't consider any other names. Whilst Sean and I both really like the name Luca I don't know that it will be what we name the baby, hopefully Max is ok with that!

I'm a little worried that the reality of having a new baby in the house is going to come as a rude shock to Max. I was talking to one of the daycare Mums who had just had a baby the other day and she was saying that her 3 year old is having a bit of a hard time adjusting. Things like crying for no reason, wanting to wear nappies again, asking for a dummy have all been happening at her house. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

My belly is so incredibly huge now and I'm getting lots of comments from 'well-meaning' strangers (as you do when you're pregnant). I get things like 'only days to go now!' 'are you sure there's only one in there?' and 'you must be having a girl' from people that have absolutely no idea. Doesn't really bother me though, I love my huge belly!

The one thing I seriously need to get started on is setting up the nursery. At the moment is just an empty room stacked full of every baby item my sister and I have ever owned. I have a pinboard dedicated to the baby's room and so many great ideas. I just need to stop pinning and start doing!! Here's a couple of things from the board that are inspiring me:

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Who knows how the nursery will actually turn out though. The one thing I have done is start to get a piece of original art organised. I am so excited about it and can't wait to share it :). Stay tuned!

Trucks or Fish

This year in December Max will be turning three and I've been thinking about his party for a few months now. Like I mentioned on Monday he is crazy about trucks. Garbage trucks, construction trucks, monster trucks, he loves them all. So I figured a truck party was an absolute no-brainer.

Apparently not. I was talking to Max about his party the other day and he all of a sudden told me he wanted a fish party.

I was completely thrown. So I videoed our conversation (like any good blogger would!).



He'd just woken up, so he was still a little fuzzy and cuddly :)

Which leaves me with a decision to make. Do I throw him a truck party or a fish party?  I really want to start getting things organised because at the time of his birthday I will have a two week old newborn. Better to be prepared early for this one I think!

I have some great ideas pinned for both (all images are from these two pinboards, or you can click the link below each photo to go straight to the source).

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I really like both themes, so I'd be happy to do either party. I think what I'll do is show Max these pictures, ask him again which party he wants and then stick with the one he chooses. Who knows if that will actually work (toddlers are so fickle!), but fingers crossed it does. Wish me luck!

Max's Big Boy Room

I've been planning Max's new bedroom in my head (and on pinterest of course) for quite a while now. I've pictured it with a mix of dark timber, white furniture & navy blue stripes. I want to keep some of the elements of Max's nursery, but also show that he's not a little baby anymore. (Click here for a photo of Max's nursery, it's down at the end.)

The time has finally come to get started on this room and I am so excited! When I first got pregnant and started planning Max's room I debated over whether or not to move him to a new room or re-do his existing room. I read that it's not a good idea to displace a toddler when a new baby comes along, but I really wanted to work with a room that hadn't been painted baby blue. In the end I decided to ask Max what he wanted. The room belonged to his cousin Ava (who he idolizes) for the 6 months that my sister lived with me. So when I asked him if he would like to move into Ava's room he was ridiculously excited about it. Win!!

I was still a bit worried about the whole 'kicking him out for the baby' thing, so Sean and I decided to do the switch well before this baby is born.

We started potty training yesterday (after months of half-hearted attempts) and Max did so well that I decided to reward him with his new big boy room. I've moved the main pieces of furniture into the room and Max slept in there for the first time last night.

When Sean got home from work last night, Max took his hand and dragged him straight down to the room. It was so adorable watching him point out all the things in the room. He is so proud to have a big boy room!

I haven't started to decorate it though, so I'm not going to share photos until it's done (or I at least have some decent progress).

Here's some of the images that are inspiring me (all can be found on my pinboard):

I like the combination of dark timber and white (no giraffe though)

Nailhead trim on an upholstered headboard

Navy and white inspiration for the bedding.

I might have hanging globes instead of a map

White teepee and dark furniture

Large frame filled with photos of Max's art

I love this display shelf.

And here's my to do list:

• Make a headboard and add furniture legs to Max's bed
• Make bedding, pillow covers and cushions - navy blue stripe
• Upholster bench seat cushions
• Turn ugly fake timber blinds into a custom roman blind
• Instal ceiling fan
• Refinish antique desk (made for my Mum by her Dad and used by me when I was little)
• Refinish toy box and add safety hinges
• Add shelving above toy box (ikea lack floating shelves?)
• Make display shelf
• Buy and hang globes or map
• Make floor cushions for teepee
• Print and frame collage of Max's art
• Create a gallery wall of empty frames for displaying more of Max's art
• Add shelving into wardrobe

Phew, the list seems huge when I write it out like that!! Hopefully I will have some of it done this month and can start to share. I've been so busy working on getting my etsy shop going (soon!) that I haven't done a lot of DIY projects lately. I can't wait to get started!

Pinterest Challenge # 4 - Round Up

Did you love this round of the pinterest challenge as much as I did?! Seriously, there are so many clever people out there!

Like I did last time and the time before that I'm posting a round-up of my favourite projects from the challenge. Prepare to be inspired!

Jami from What the Graham created this gorgeous (and huge!) piece of string art. She almost didn't make it because she felt like string art projects had been done to death. I'm so glad she did make it, it's given me the renewed inspiration to give this a go myself.

In my last round-up I featured Rebecca's gift wrap station and she's done it again this time around with a gorgeous alphabet print for her son's room. I absolutely love it, and I think it's also given me some inspiration for the colours in baby number two's room. I'm really liking the green and navy together. Go and check it out at 'the lil house that could'!

This amazing light fixture from Love and Renovations goes in the 'completely out of my league' basket. It is so amazingly good! Read through Amanda's post and you will see just how much work went into creating this gorgeous statement piece.

Number four on my list is another piece of string art, I must have a thing for these! I love how versatile the medium is, you can make just about anything. Mallory used a genius technique for making hers, go find out more over at 'our first nest'.

Cindy from Made to Style is another blogger that I featured last time round too. I pinned her DIY roman blinds and they have been repinned so many times! Her latest project is a mirror made from toilet paper rolls. To be honest I'm always a bit skeptical about projects using tp rolls, but then I see something like this and am blown away!

I am competely in love with this bath shelf from Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia. It is gorgeous!! I think it would look perfect in my bathroom and it's now definitely on my to-do list.

Ok, I hope you're sitting down for this one... Brooke from Killer b saw an adorable scooter online and then made one from scratch for her gorgeous little girl. No plans, she just winged it. How clever is that!! She's since teamed up with Ana White and put together plans for it so that the rest of us can have a go at making one too.

I am a sucker for homemade art and I love making things with Max, so these kids watercolours from Kate at Chic on a Shoestring are right up my alley. My favourite is the 'you are my sunshine' one, Max and I will be making a similar one very soon!

I love this pallet art that Natalie from Handmade Mayhem created. To get the full effect of this project you need to go and see what the timber looked like before she started. An awesome transformation!!

 
Last but not least we have this little drawing of a bird by my clever (and obviously very funny) sister Jenny. She drew it and instragrammed it last night with this caption 'Consider yourself pwned @tamsyn_riley!! Your teepee is no match for my arrow bird of brilliance!! :o)'.  Cute!! (In case you haven't already seen it, you can check out the tee-pee I made here.)

I hope you liked seeing all of these great projects as much as I did. Do you have a favourite project that you want to share?