2011 In Review - Photo Heavy

I can't believe that 2011 is nearly over! This year has gone so quickly it just amazes me. I feel like it was only yesterday we got engaged and now we have been married for over 5 weeks.  Crazy!!!  I thought it would be fun to do a quick review post with some of the fun things we did this year.  I am hoping to do a review post for my new years resolutions too before the year is out.  So here goes...

January - taught myself to crochet.

February - spent the weekend at my aunties farm in Wandoan.

March - went to Europe to visit my sister.

 

April - moved blogs!

May - took part in 1 pattern 7 bloggers.

June - had engagement photos taken and made what I think is the best cake I have ever made!

July - Made my first fondant decorated cake and was featured on One Pretty Thing and Polka Dot Bride.

August - entered my first craft competition and came third.

 

September - branched out from crocheting only granny squares.

 

October - took part in Blogtoberfest and had a birthday.

 

November - this was our busiest month of the year.  My sister moved home from London, I had my hen's night and kitchen tea, we got married and had an awesome honeymoon!

 

December - so far December has been busy but I don't seem to have a lot to show for it.  I have done a bit of sewing and a bit of baking but that's about it.

2011 has been a busy year and it has pretty much revolved around prepping for the wedding.  Now that the wedding is over and I am really excited to see what 2012 has to bring.  Hopefully it will mean us moving house because our current one is getting a bit small for us.  I am also hoping we will be able to do some small holidays to explore some new parts of Australia.  Who knows what will happen but I have a feeling it is going to be a great year!!!

Amber & Craig's Wedding

This past weekend my family and I headed south to Evan's Head for the wedding of my aunty.  The wedding was on a lookout over the beach at dusk and was the perfect setting for a perfect wedding.  Here are some photos Corey and I took on the day....

I love weddings and this one was no different.  We had a great time and I am just sad we don't have another wedding to go to for a while.  Congratulations Amber & Craig! We wish you all the happiness in the world.

Marlee's Christmas Dress

Wow that is a very unimaginative title! I hate coming up with post titles. They always sound so lame.  Anyway, as you probably guessed I have finished another Christmas present.  This time a dress for my niece Marlee.

I used a Get Creative pattern from Spotlight and made her a size 2.  She is 18 months so I am hoping it will fit her for a little while.  It's hard sewing gifts for kids cause I can't go measure them to make sure I am making the right size so I just have to wing it.

Marlee is the only girl in a family of 4 kids and everything she owns is super duper girly. I thought this fabric was super cute and the pink trim made it that touch more girly.

I took such great care with this dress to make sure that the inside was just as pretty as the outside.  I think when you are making something for someone else it makes you work that little bit harder to make sure it is right.  When I make something for myself and I make a mistake I figure I am the only one who will know so it won't matter.

With this dressed I made sure all the seams were neat and bias bound the sleeves.  I even went so far as to attempt a lapped zipper.  For my first attempt I think it worked out pretty well!

So that is one more Christmas present out of the way.  I only have one more thing that I want to make for Christmas presents and I have 1.5 weeks left to do it so I think I will be fine.  I have only made 3 full presents this year and a couple of little things to pop in with other gifts.  Next year I am hoping to be able to make a few more things not just for presents but also for around the house.  But I have plenty of time to think about that!

Blogger App & Hair Advice

I have had the blogger app on my phone for a few weeks now but never used it so I thought I would give it a whirl. So for my first post from my phone I thought I'd ask some hair advice. I am totally digging Cheryl Cole's red hair but not too sure if it would suit me. Thoughts???

Read More - November

So I have realised that there is absolutely no way I am going to reach my reading target of 52 books for the year.  After October I had only read 39 books which left me with 13 to read in two months.  In November I only managed 3.  I highly doubt I will get through 10 books in December considering I am still on the first one I started reading this month.  I do however have a long weekend next weekend then a week of holidays both which involve long drives to our destinations so who knows.  Anyway, here is what I read in November.

You'll be sorry when I'm dead by Marieke Hardy was my first book of the month.  I bought this and the next book with money I got for my birthday.  I really enjoyed this book.  It was not what I was expecting at all but it was very interesting.  Marieke talks about her life is such a matter of fact way that even the most unexpected parts of it seem kind of normal.  I don't really know how to describe it but I liked it.

A Life In Frocks by Kelly Doust was another great book.  Kelly talks all about her life and the fashion choices she made along the way.  For someone who is obsessed with clothes it was a very interesting read.  For someone who isn't that big on fashion it might be a bit boring because it really is just all about the clothes she wore during certain points in her life.

I have wanted to read The Help ever since I saw the movie.  I had heard that the book had a lot more detail and it does.  There is so much more that happens in the book that isn't included in the movie.  I know this happens with all movies but I felt like the bits they cut out for the movie were the bits that were most true to that time and truly portrayed what housemaids were put through.  I think that they cut these bits out to give the movie a more disney feel but we all know the history of that time and things were a lot worse then the movie made out.  I think if you liked the movie you should definitely read the book because it has so much more detail and you feel like you get to know the characters a bit better.

Deck The Halls

On December 1st we have a tradition of putting up the Christmas tree, watching The Grinch and baking cookies.  We were thinking of changing our Christmas tree this year but since we only have used ours once we figured it would be a waste of money.  I wanted to get a white one and do rainbow decorations but instead we stuck with what we already had.  Maybe in a few years we will change it up!

I love our Christmas tree! We bought it from Big W last year for $20 and it is the bushiest fake Christmas tree I have ever seen.  All our decorations came from either Big W, Kmart, Target or Myer (on sale).  There are also a couple we got as gifts.  This year I am hoping to make a few to add to the tree but it depends if I get time.  Christmas is fast approaching so I might run out of time before I get a chance.

This year I was super prepared and made sugar cookie dough before going to work in the morning so all we had to do was cut them out and bake them that night.  I made Christmas trees and snow flakes and iced them with royal icing.  These were super easy to make!  I took them to work the next day to share around the office and everyone loved them.

The snowflake cookie cutters I got a few years ago in a Christmas themed apron swap and this is the first time I have used them.  The come in a few different sizes but I used the smaller ones so I could get more out of the dough.

I really love Christmas! It is one of my favourite times of the year.  December is going to be super busy this year but I really just can't wait for Christmas.

Christmas Time Is Coming!!!

Christmas is my favourite time of year!  Everyone is so happy around Christmas and I just love it.  I meant to post these yesterday but pinterest wasn't playing nice with me so you get them today instead.  These are just a few fun Christmas ideas that I found on pinterest.  Not sure if I will get to try any of them out but hopefully I will. I am loving the cupcakes and cookies the best!

Source: thelovelycupboard.com via Emma on Pinterest

Source: craftycupboard.blogspot.com via Kat on Pinterest

Source: sweetlyscrappedart.blogspot.com via Casey on Pinterest

Source: freshpoppydesign.blogspot.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Source: olderandwisor.blogspot.com via Katina on Pinterest

Source: parties4me.com via Kat on Pinterest

Source: christyrobbins.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: buddingbaketress.blogspot.com via Kat on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Dolores on Pinterest

Source: junkgardengirl.blogspot.com via Jodie on Pinterest

Source: purlbee.com via Devon on Pinterest