December 12, 2012

Lollipop Reindeer Christmas Cards!

My girl finishes pre-school tomorrow! Where did that year go???
There is a little graduation ceremony planned for tomorrow night followed by a mini Christmas concert and a BBQ on the preschool grounds for the kids and families. I see this as the perfect opportunity to have Milla and I make up some fun and festive Christmas cards and treats to hand out to all her class mates... Enter the Lollipop Reindeer Christmas Card!

When I spotted these (yep, you guessed it - Pinterest!) I was lying in bed ready to turn out the lights but immediately jumped up and put together a tester reindeer card to see if they really are as simple as Missy Mac Creations claims - she was right! So easy and SUPER cute!!
Off the the shops we popped today for cardboard, glitter glue and lollipops and before we knew it our dining table had a parade of reindeers smiling up at us!

Milla was VERY proud of her Reindeer production line and can't wait to hand these out tomorrow to her friends.

For the 'How To' go HERE and have fun :)
Giggles

December 6, 2012

Santa Apron Teacher Gifts!

This is the second year I have had to think of a gift for my kiddies teachers. I automatically think of baking some sweet treats for them but I bet they get sooooooo much chocolate and treats that another bundle would be almost dreaded. So what to do? what to do? - sew!!
After a quick trip to Spotlight for supplies I hit my sewing machine and created a handmade gift for each of Milla's 5 teachers that can be used year after year - A Santa (or Mrs Claus) Apron!!


These were rather simple to put together. A Christmas red basic apron style with red grosgrain neck loop and hip ties. I then added some black ric rac grosgrain ribbon and a yellow felt 'buckle' for the belt. Next I sewed on two lengths of faux fur trim to the top and bottom edges then 3 gold jingle bells on the front for some festive buttons. Each apron also has the teachers first initial appliquéd onto the chest for some personalisation - cute hey??
Our pre-school has had a HUGE renovation overhaul over the past 12 months and is looking fantastic with amazing new facilities for the kids. The renovations have mainly been done by the head teachers' father, whom all the kids affectionately call Mr Wayne. I couldn't leave Mr Wayne out of the gift giving so with some green fabrics, more of the ric rac, felt, bells and red ribbon I came up with a cute elf apron just for the busy builder elf!


Now to wrap these all up and pop them under the pre-school Christmas tree, Yay!
Giggles

November 16, 2012

Happy Friday Find!

Getting close to the 1st of December now... that's when the Festive Season officially starts in our house. The tree goes up, the yard decorations go out, fairy lights galore are hung, advent calendars are begun and the christmas cards are sent out!
I try to send out a little card and family pic each year. A great way to 'catch up' with friends and family we might not see as often as we'd like to.

Maybe this year I need some of these cute Bunting Return Address Labels from Tallulah & Gage to make writing our my cards a little easier and quicker (and more festive too!)
Happy Friday xx
Giggles

November 9, 2012

Happy Friday Find!

I can feel it in the air (and see it in every shop) Christmas is on the way - YAY!!
I ADORE Christmas - every single bit and I have already been making bits an pieces to add to our decoration collection with the kids. I am yet to get our Christmas cards organised and have just a few more gifts to buy but after seeing this idea from Papermash for making your own bunting gift tags I think I will add them to my To Do List too - Yay!


Happy Friday xx
Giggles

November 6, 2012

Bunting Style for Melbourne Cup!

Today is Melbourne Cup - "the race that stops the nation" apparently. There is, of course, the actual race, but I myself am always more interested in the fashions! The frocks, the shoes, the headwear etc etc FAB!!
I must admit I will probably miss the race as we have no TV in our home and as today is really just a normal Tuesday here (catching up on washing, playing with little people and sewing) I will have to check the results online later.
So I figured I would do a little imagining I was at a race day event... maybe a luncheon somewhere with plenty of friends and bubbles? and as this is my imaginary Melbourne Cup day then I can imagine that this would be my fabulous BUNTING outfit...

Bunting dress (found HERE), Bunting Clutch (found HERE), A pair of the AMAZING and perfectly named Jimmy Choo 'Bunting' sandal heels (found HERE) and of course you can't say your outfit is complete on Melbourne Cup day without some king of head wear so some sweet Lace Bunting for my hair (found HERE)
What do you think? too much bunting? LOL, I did say it was imaginary!
Happy Cup Day - hope you pick a winner!
Giggles

November 1, 2012

Trick or Treat!

Halloween 2012 is now all packed away safely for another year but just ask Milla or Harris about it and they'll have you know it was LOTS of fun!
We decorated our house again this year with a few changes from last year and added a bunch of orange, grey and black bunting. The neighbours all followed suite with a few skeletons, jack-o-lanterns and witches popping up over the past few weeks on our street!


There was lots of excitement yesterday afternoon when the kids cousins, all dressed up with buckets in hand, joined us for Trick or Treating!!


Batman, a mummy, a butterfly, a princess, a witch and Darth Vader happily went from house to house knocking on spooky doors and collecting treats - our cousins who had never done this before were AMAZED at what they got!!


We handed out over 50 ghost lollipops to other trick or treaters and had people coming to our place to pose infront of and take pics of our house!! I can see Halloween getting bigger and bigger each year and we are loving it!!


Now I wonder how long we can make the treat stash last???
Giggles

October 16, 2012

Secret Santa planning??

So we are 70 sleeps away from Christmas!!!! (thanks fellow Christmas lover Dee for the count down). That means there is a pretty good chance you should be thinking about or will soon be involved in some Secret Santa gift givings. Maybe at work? or with your mothers group? or with family?
With a bit of time up your sleeve now why not take the reigns and announce that you will be the 'Secret Santa Planner' this year? (don't panic, I have the perfect idea to help you along the way). Just like me, how about you make the process of the Secret Santa a little more interactive and unique...

Surprise Secret Santa Cookie Mixture!


Just some simple ingredients, a bucket of green and red M&M's (that are now available at your local supermarket as it's so close to the festive season), some cheap glass jars from the $2 shop and the 'How To' from Bakerella HERE and I have a bunch of cookie mixture in jars ready to give out - but wait, the catch is, that INSIDE each jar, among the ingredients, is a name.
Once the jars are all handed out to each member of my Secret Santa group they must bake the cookies in order to find the name of the person they are shopping for! Fun, right? (BTW don't forget to attach the method of baking the cookies also found HERE)
This way everyone gets into the festive mood with a bit of Christmas cookie baking, find out their Secret Santa person and end up with a batch of yummy cookies!
Forget the old and boring 'draw a name out of a hat' for choosing who you will be buying for - this is lots more fun (& yummy)!
Giggles

October 12, 2012

Happy Friday Find!

I have a new sweet, squishy and oh so cute baby niece, Harper, who was born last Sunday. Of course I have had cuddles and kisses already and had a moment of cluckiness too.
Why is it once a new little bubby arrives you start to see so many gorgeous baby things you just want to buy...

Just like this adorable Bunting Elephant mobile by Empire Lane . It would be very lovely hanging above the change table or cot of a little person, don't you think?

Happy Friday xx
Giggles

October 10, 2012

Rainbow Jelly Cake!

October rolls around so fast every year. It's the month of the year which my step-daughter, Felicity, celebrates her birthday and being on a gluten and dairy free diet I spend most of September every year trying to think of a yummy, festive and diet friendly birthday cake to make. This year was no different but I scored (thanks to Pinterest yet again) when I found the idea of a jelly cake!

I needed a jelly mould (I have also seen these cakes done in a bundt tin) and found one at a local kitchenwares store for $15ish and of course jelly.... Areoplane Jelly is gluten free and is loved in our home for treats so I headed straight to the supermarket and grabbed 5 packs: red, yellow, green, blue and purple... yep, a rainbow!
You will need a day that you are at home for a while without too much distraction as it is a little time consuming but oh so worth it for the result.

With my jelly colours, in order of how I wanted the layers to be in the cake, I made up the jelly mixtures and used 150ml LESS water than the packet asks for - this will help the jelly set a little stiffer but still have a true jelly 'wobble'. It also then made up the perfect amount to have all the liquid fit into my size jelly mould.
Pour 1/2 of the first colour (red in my case) into a lightly greased jelly mould and put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes (you can use the fridge but it will take longer to set and with so many layers to go will make it a looooong process). You want each layer to be just set but still slightly 'tacky' to touch so the next layer will 'stick' to it.
While the first layer is setting mix a small amount - approx 1 tablespoon - of greek or natural yoghurt (I used a dairy free yoghurt) into the second half of the mixture until combined. Once the first red layer was set to the consistency I needed it I GENTLY poured the red yoghurt/jelly mixture onto the first and put it back in the freezer for another 10-15 minutes.

Continue just like this for each colour until the whole rainbow is done and the jelly mould is full. Then put it in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours or overnight in my case to really set well.
15 mins before serving take it out of the fridge and leave at room temp. When you are ready to serve find a plate large enough to take the cake and place it onto of the mould then flip the whole thing (plate and jelly in the mould). You might need to give it a little gentle wriggle but it should slid straight out of the mould and onto your plate.

Pop in a few sparklers and wow your birthday girl and guests - This 'cake' was a HUGE hit here and I can see it being made many times over... maybe a different colour combo next time??
Giggles

October 6, 2012

Princess Dress-Up Aprons!

Just 3 nights ago I had a wave of creativity hit me while sitting at the sewing machine and before I knew it I had a Snow White Dress-Up Apron made for Milla's dress-up box.
I thought it was so cute that I sat right back down and made another... this time Rapunzel
I called it a night and went to bed but my creativity was re-sparked when Milla's saw her new 'dresses' in the morning. She LOVED them and couldn't decide which one to wear first. So with a bit more of a dig through my fabric stash to see what I could rustle up I then made Sleeping Beauty
The Little Mermaid (she was my fav as a little girl)
Belle
And Cinderella (use you imagination for this one it was the only pale blue fabric I had in my cupboard)
I shared these as I went on my Instagram and with family and had such a great response that I have decided to make and sell them for a VERY limited time only.

They are so easy to pull on and off for kids with no full outfit change!!!
The perfect handmade Christmas gift? or a cute Halloween costume? email me now at giggleberrycreations@gmail.com to place your order now.... maybe I haven't got your fav princess made yet? email me and I can see what I can come up with :)

Giggles

September 28, 2012

Happy Friday Find!

Spring is here for sure! We have had some absolutely stunning sunny days and the kids even played under the sprinkler last weekend it has been that warm - gorgeous! My girl has been quick to pull out all her favourite summer dresses she couldn't wear during winter and discovered lots now don't fit!
I'm thinking it's time to get the sewing machine into action for something other than bunting and make some pretty dresses.
How sweet would this Lined Bunting Edge Dress be on a little girl? and the pattern is HERE from Sew Set for FREE! Nice!
I can see some brightly coloured bunting edge coming right up!
Happy Friday xx
Giggles