Around The World

This have been a little quiet around my part of the blog world lately.  October has been a hectic month for us so I haven't had much time for making or blogging.  The weekend after Imogen's birthday party was my sister's hen's night.  This past weekend we had a little kitchen tea for her and I thought I would share some pictures.  My sister and her fiance are both travel nuts so a travel theme was a must! Apologies for the poor photo quality. I forgot my proper camera so they were all taken on my phone.

It was an awesome day with the ladies and it has made me even more excited for the wedding this weekend.  

Aaaah, Monsters!!!

This past few weeks we have had birthdays coming out of our ears!  The weekend before Imogen's birthday we had to parties for two of the cutest little boys I know.  I decided to make their presents and headed to my pinterest page for some "pin-spiration" (see what I did there!)
I just couldn't go past this tutorial that I pinned a little while ago.  This blog has so many hooded towel ideas that I think I need to make a few more.  You know what, I wouldn't mind a fun hooded towel for myself. I wonder if I could make one big enough??  These were super quick and easy to make and I had most of the materials on hand.  All I bought were the towels and hand towels which came from K-mart.  If you are looking to make one yourself defs check out K-mart because their towels are super cheap but still good quality.

Imogen's First Birthday

So this past Sunday we had a little party for Miss Imogen's to celebrate her first birthday.  To say I was excited about this party would be the understatement of the century!  I had been planning since pretty much January.  I was very happy with how everything turned out.  It may have been a little over ambitious but we got there in the end.  But I will let the pictures tell you the rest....

We had a build your own burger bar for lunch and loads of sweet stuff for dessert.  I rounded it out with some fruit and jam sandwiches for the little ones too.  The lemonade stand was courtesy of my amazing husband who built it for me exactly to my specifications!  The lemonade was just cordial because I ran out of time to make my own.  It went down a treat though so I don't think anyone minded.  I am so happy that the party turned out well and everything looked exactly as I had hoped.  The only thing I wish is that I got a better picture of the burger bar when it was properly ready.  Oh well, you can't have it all!  So now that that is over I can move onto planning next years birthday. It's never to early to start planning is it?!

Practice Makes Perfect!

So remember when I made that mini skirt a few weeks ago? Well before I made that version I whipped together a practice version to make sure the fit was ok.  After making my final version I was so in love with this style of skirt that I decided to finish my practice version as well.
There are two main differences with this practice skirt:-

1 - I did a facing for the waistband instead of lining it; and
2 - I forgot to add a hem allowance when cutting it out so I used bias binding to try and save as much length as possible.
There isn't much to say about this skirt that I didn't say in my last skirt post.  I am pretty happy with how this skirt turned out and don't be surprised if you see a lot more mini skirts from me this summer!

Do you have an item of clothing that you keep wanting to make over and over?

One

Yesterday was a rather emotional day in our house.  Our little monkey turned the big one!  Can you believe it? One year ago today I was in hospital fumbling my way through my first day of motherhood. It was a crazy time of my life but I so wish I could go back there and hold my little baby again.  She seems so old and grown up now.

Last night we had my parents and some of Corey's family over for dinner and cake.  This weekend we are having a little party to celebrate with all our family and friends.  To say I am excited would be an understatement.  I am cracking through my to do list this week and I can't wait to share pictures of the party.  Stay tuned for those early next week!

Flower Power

Lately I have found myself drawn to more seventies style silhouettes when browsing through vintage patterns.  I have had this maxi dress pattern (style 1354) in my stash for a while and have been on the search for the right fabric to pair it with.  I was lucky enough to stumble upon the perfect match in The Fabric Store while we were in Melbourne for frocktails.

I am super duper happy with how this dress turned out! It was really simple to make and came together really quickly.  I didn't have to do any alterations at all which made my life super easy.  Also, when I wore it on the weekend I kept getting told how skinny I looked so that is always a plus.  I am thinking a white broderie anglaise version in a shorter length would be perfect with some tan boots.  Let me just add that to my every growing to sew list shall I?!

There isn't really much else to say about this dress.  It was a straight forward make and will be perfect for summer.  I would highly recommend this pattern to anyone looking for a flattering maxi dress pattern.  If you like this dress and want to make your own (and you're a bust 32.5") then you are in luck!  I found a copy over here on etsy.

52 Weeks Happy (39/52)

This week has actually been a rough week.  This whole full time work and parenting gig is starting to take its toll.  Luckily there were a few little moments that made me smile...

1 - Seeing these two snuggled up after a long day at work brings a smile to my face.  They are just so cute together!

2 & 3 - Hair appointments and fresh new do's are the perfect way to end a rough week!

4 - Baking cakes for birthday celebrations never fails to make me happy!  For more pics of the cake check out my post here.

5 - New journals = new possibilities! What will this one become? Who knows but putting pen to paper in a fresh notebook is one of my little pleasures in life.

I hope your week has been going a little smoother than mine has.  What has been happening to make you smile?

The First of the Birthday Cakes!

So it's official....I am soon to be the mother of a one year old child!  I have no idea how this has happened.  Wasn't she only born yesterday?!  I have a sneaking suspicion someone put a super speed spell on the last year.  If you hear who it was let me know.  I'd like them to put a slow down spell on the next year so I can soak up a bit more of my baby time.  But, I digress.....



The real indicator of the birthday party season having arrived is that I made my first birthday cake this past week.  On the weekend my mummy's group had a bbq to celebrate all the kids birthdays.  It was a fantastic day!  Since being back at work I haven't been able to catch up with them as much so it was nice to see them all.  We decided on a fairtytale theme because the babies were born in the year of the dragon.  Fairytales seemed a bit more unisex rather than just dragons.  To fit in with the theme I made a castle cake.



The cake was my standard chocolate mudcake recipe with chocolate ganache.  The lavender fondant I bought already coloured from Spotlight.  It is by Satin Ice.  All other fondants were by Fondariffic.  I bought mini waffle cones from the supermarket for the turrets.  I used skewers to hold them into the cake and added paper flags to the top.  This is honestly a super easy cake to make!  I prefer cakes that look more cartoony rather than realistic.  They are super cute and super easy to make!