Those 70's patterns and a mermaid too!

Well the mid year school holidays are almost upon us here! I don't have school age youngsters (both Big Little & Little Little are pre-school) but Big Little Miss M goes to 3 year old kinder once a week.

This past Monday being the last day of term for the kiddies was a dress up as your favourite super hero, character, occupation etc... Now, we only had a weeks notice of the dress up day and in part because of what felt like week long birthday celebrations for Big Little Miss M it was mid afternoon Sunday before I remembered that she needed a costume for the next morning.... PANIC STATIONS!!!

Now we have a costume or two about the house but they are pretty much princess or fairy related but my little lovely had specifically asked to go as Ariel... she has a major mermaid thing going on at present and I had told her earlier in the week that I'd make her an Ariel costume for the day!  Argggh!

So, mad dash to the fabric store (approx 75km round trip) just before closing time and surprisingly Ariel wasn't too hard to whip up!

My Big Little Miss (newly 4) M loved it ... (and for some reason insisted on doing a teapot pose 'cause that's what mermaids do apparently)

Oooh... and check out these fabulous (well I think so anyway) patterns from the 70's (click on photo for larger view)! I found them at one of the local op/thrift stores for 50c a piece and the pattern papers are both complete and uncut!  

I love the jacket on the left - the sash belt, wide lapels and the slightly puffy sleeve shoulders - and the dress tunic on the very right - just minus the strangely placed flap pocket smack bang centre chest... 

Actually, I think I love it all... even the wide leg, high waisted pants that may not be all that flattering on me..

The jacket and pant set pattern is from 1974 and the tunic/shirt and pant set is from 1977 but I really do think some of this style has crept back in (it does go in a circle doesn't it?) ... and even if it hasn't I'd still wear it!

Hope your week is going wonderfully and chat to you again soon! 

Cheers xoxo

The teapot cake...

Just a quick stop by to show off Big Little Miss M's birthday cake I made for her party this Saturday.... remember I told you how I had gained my inpiration from the teapot cake?

Well, here's my version of something similar... Big Little loved it (but I have a sneaking suspicion all three four year olds love cake regardless of the shape it comes in!)

It took me three baking attempts to get the ball cake right (first wouldn't come out of the pan - last time I follow the directions on greasing tins... butter and flour all the way!... second one didn't rise enough to be ball shaped and looked more like a flying saucer) BUT I am glad I persisted (I was NOT going to be baking a fourth cake!)

So, what do you think... I'm pretty happy with it and now I have almost a year before our birthdays all strike again!

***You can find the recipe I like to use for both the buttercream and the marshmallow fondant in THIS POST***

Cheers & see you all soon with a refashion or two ☺

More baking, cakes and sweets...

Well, normally I blog about refashions but lately my posts have been a little sparse and sporadic... the middle of the year in our household is just a little crazy - all our birthdays occur in May and June!

Cake Pops with Rainbow swirled butter cream frosted cupcakes ☺

 So... much like my last post this one features some of my kitchen creations for my Big Little Miss M's fourth birthday.

My first attempt at two tone swirled butter cream frosting

Pinterest  and all the lovely eye candy featured amongst its fabulous pins has provided most the inspiration for my cake and birthday creations...

Chocolate Spoons

Now to get them all wrapped for the party... one down 99 to go!

After all the craziness of this week is over I will go a little more in depth with some links to inspiring photo's and some wonderful recipe/cooking tutorials... but for now I still have a cake to decorate for tomorrow so I'll just leave you with snapshots of the finished (or partially finished) creations from the kitchen this week....

Cupcakes 'n' cake pops

CHEERS & ENJOY!

I hope to get back onto a refashion soon - I have a wardrobe full of potential just waiting!!!

xoxo

Mmmm.... cookies... nom... nom...

My Big Little Miss M will be four in a few days :'( 

I'm not quite sure where she learned this kinda odd but so her pose with the hand on the head... but it seems to be her photo pose of choice at the moment!?!

Anyhow, I've been baking so that she could take some cakes to kindergarten tomorrow to celebrate with her buddies.

First saw this on PINTEREST  and since then all about internet-o-sphere... (you'll have to keep reading/scrolling to see what though ☺)

Take a whole lotta googly eyes (made from white choc melts with smaller milk choc melts attached with piping gel)

A bowl of super bright blue butter icing....

A bowl of blue dyed coconut... (I'm thinking you've probably guessed what's coming together by now...)

An oven full of chocolate cupcakes

... throw it all together with some choc chip cookies and there you have it...

"Nom... nom... nom.... I love cookies!!!"

~The Cookie Monster~

Take care... and stop by again soon! xo

Woops... should have given you the link which includes a fab how to video so you can make these super fab cupcakes too! CLICK HERE 

Oh, and just because my girl is such a girly girl and wanted pink... The cookie monsters long lost city cousin, Conchita came by too! ☺

Cheers!

Little Little Miss M is TWO!!!

Over the last week my little bubba turned two...

The time has flown and I cannot believe that she really is no longer a baby but a beautiful young girl with such amazing character and personality...

She is very physical in nature and likes to be hands on... affectionate and loving...

She is wilful and stubborn... which I'm sure will mean that later in life she will be determined and driven...

She has a curious streak and must know how everything works by opening it, shutting it, dropping it, pulling it apart and banging it about a bit...

She is not happy to accept things merely to look at... which I think will translate to a healthy want to find out what makes things tick...

I love the little personality that I can see developing before me, I love the uniqueness of all her quirks and traits....

She is expressive beyond words (which she uses little of at this point)... I love that her eyes tell a story... or give away the mischief...

I am thankful for all the moments that are created... for its the moments that make the memories!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
my little pumpkin... 
I wish you every happiness and for you to know that you are ALWAYS loved...
for every moment of every day... for all eternity xoxo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So now, what's a birthday if there's no cake???
There MUST always be cake!

I made some ice cream cone cupcakes and a little cake to take to her playgroup...

For my first attempt at these wonderful little individual cakes I'm pretty happy how they turned out! So easy to make but still pretty impressive (and the kids just loved having their own cone to eat!).
I wrote Little Little Miss M's name across the cake... and if you're wondering why it's looking a little blank it's because I have edited the name from the photo for personal reasons ☺

I might add the recipe and 'how to' for these fabulous cakes in the next couple of days if you'd like to know how to recreate them (I certainly didn't come up with the idea but can give you the how to on how I have made my ones)... Let me know and I'll get onto it!

I also made another 'official' cake for our home celebration on her actual birthday...

It was only a family affair this year (after all she is only two... )

Each year I love creating a different cake for my girls, but at the moment I make the same kind of cake but different designs for each of my girls...

For their first birthday it was princess cakes with the doll (dolly varden style cake)...

Second birthdays were castles... (as you can see from Little Little Miss M's castle cake)...

Big Little Miss M's third birthday was a carousel cake ... (and her fourth which is in about 3 weeks is coming up soon... I know what I'm making but you'll have to wait and see and check back sooner to the date to see a preview or catch a hint at that one!)

I love the thrill and excitement and the way their eyes light up when they see their cake... it makes it more than worth the effort!

This castle cake was a fairly straight forward and quick to put together cake... but I think it still looks impressive enough (especially to a big two year old!)

Cheers till next time xoxo

I love... CAKE!

I've been missing my blog... things are still busy but becoming more manageable (I think ☺). 

We are finally over our shared family flu - we even ventured out yesterday for a lovely day strolling the shops in a nearby touristy town... 

we had ice cream (pistachio gelato - YUM)... 

we had cookies (oh and a heavenly hot hot coffee)... 

we bought fabric from a quilt shop sale... 

got the grocery shopping done and had a wander through the plant nursery...

I even happened upon a little inspiration - which is always nice ☺

I have an exciting week coming up.... My Little Little Miss M will be turning TWO!!! And birthdays mean cake! I love LOVE LOVE cake!

Here's my little pumpkin.... gosh I love her teeth (and the rest of her too - but my, how I hope her adult teeth look as good as her bubby ones!)

(Please ignore that irritating pile of laundry to be folded and my strategic attempt to hide it behind a watermark!)

I can't believe how fast the two years has gone... birthdays always make me reminisce. The memories of the pregnancy, those first contractions, that first cuddle and everything between then and now... Yes, my girls do drive me crazy at times but no words could ever adequately give meaning to how full of love they fill my entire being and world....

Anyway, that's enough gushing for now and here's a look back the cakes I made for my girls birthdays last year:

Big Little Miss M's birthday

Little Little Miss M's 1st birthday 

And here's what I'll be baking this year (small cakes preview only... you'll have to check back over the next week to see the 'reveal' of her actual birthday cake ☺)

Love these ice cream cone cakes... perfect to take along to playgroup to share... I want to make something like this (but just a little different too...) Fingers crossed they work for me - I've never made these before (any tips would be ever so appreciated too)!

SOURCE:  bakerella.com 

And these super cool and fun Cookie Monster Cupcakes...

And to decorate with some gorgeous giant crepe paper pom poms... in purple, lilac and cream...

SOURCE: marthastewart.com

Ooooh, how I love birthdays and creating special memories ☺

Cheers for now and come back soon... and you're more than welcome to leave a comment - I love them almost (but not quite) as much as cake!

How time flies... even when you're not having fun!

Wow... where did the last 2 weeks go? I feel like they just flew by and my poor neglected blog has just sat idle... waiting... waiting... waiting for a new post!

Well, I am still here - trying to sort things and really get organised so that I can manage not only my blog and my online selling of handmade SpaNGle* items but the most important thing of all... homelife with my gorgeous girls and husband. I think I need to come up with a timetable of sorts because lately it seems that one thing bleeds into another and the result is that none of my endeavours or family are really getting the attention they need or deserve.

The house is a mess... it's cold and miserable outside... we are all getting our second round of colds for the year... and yep, this early taste of winter is causing a little of the winter blues to set in!

So, give me a few more days (I've got a bundle of sewing orders to get through), I will be working on a timetable/schedule for day to day things - because it's come to the point that if I don't have one I'm just not going to get things done... and not getting things done is really stressful!

And then, hopefully I'll be back with a vengeance (and a whole lot of newly inspired creations to share) and a plan... after all one of my resolutions was to become more organised this year and at present it's looking like a fail!

I guess we all go through periods where everything kind of takes over and it feels like everything is hurtling along with no real direction or control - I just need to stop, take a breath, look around and find some focus again ☺

In the meantime... here's a few inspiring photo's and links to some really awesome projects and ideas I've come across on Pinterest...

The DIY fingerprint Jewellery tutorial over at Sara Hortega's Photography Blog I am going to have to find time to try this! I've always wanted my girls fingerprints on some jewellery - and this is definitely a cost effective way of achieving some!

And because it will be soon Little Little Miss M's second birthday and a month later Big Little Miss M's fourth birthday I'm starting to think about all things birthday and party....

These Chocolate Party Spoons will definitely be making an appearance at Big Little Miss M's party! The how to on making these simple but stunning party treats can be found at Delicious Delicious Delicious





This teapot cake will be my inspiration for Big Little Miss M's cake this year... I don't know the original source site for this photo but if you do I'd love know because they've done a gorgeous job with this cake creation!

Some party favour cones that can be found at this Finnish site - I think these would look fab in pinks hung above a candy buffet...





So Cheers for now and I'll be back really soon... if time continues to fly along like it has been lately it'll be before you (and I) know it...