BABY'S ROOM TIME :)

This weekend we moved my office into our bedroom to create some space for the new baby. He won't have a whole room to himself, but there is a nice little alcove in our bunks room which we can make his.

We picked up an awesome cot for only $35 (just needs a little TLC) so I have decided to base the colour scheme for the little corner around this.

Check out the alcove, the cot and a lamp I made from something I found at the Recycle Centre below:

Our landlord has told us we can paint the wall behind the cot, so I am thinking a pale grey would go nicely with the existing green walls, and compliment the turquoise, orange and brown colours.

There are so many great ideas out there for little DIY projects that I think I can incorporate into the area - one I am loving is the 'paint swatch' dresser.

Here is my initial thoughts for what I will do to the space, the colours on the dresser are the test pots I bought today so that I can start on that project right away:

I also bought some great frames from the second hand store this weekend, so will create something to put into those for behind the cot. I am also on the hunt for a large letter (like the 'B' in that dresser image above) so may incorporate that into the wall as well.

Here are some baby rooms I found online that have some neat elements:

Love the scrabble letters and muted colour palette on this one

Grey walls with decals

Colour scheme!

Gold branch pattern - very elegant

It's another alcove :) And cute mis-matched bunting

Lovely grey with a pop of bright green

Grey and orange. Love the stripes

Same colours :)

Cloud lamps... love

Love the ladder and dark grey walls

Pom poms and silver lettering xx

Grey walls and silver letter

Stick letters!!

Any other ideas for me?

Mx

WEDDING INVITATION

I received two very special deliveries yesterday - my maternity cocktail dress from ASOS for me to wear at a New Year's Eve wedding, but more importantly the wedding invitation for my dear friend Hollie's wedding!

It was with great excitement that I opened the envelope because I had been given the great honour of designing it. We went for a baby's breath theme to tie in with the bridesmaids' flowers and a dusky blue to match the groom's suit.

Mx

DIY HEX NUT BRACELET

I love making bracelets out of everyday objects. A year or so ago I made these Hex Nut bracelets (I made another with a beige string but couldn’t find it today to take a pic) and this zipper bracelet.

I was thinking about making some more Hex Nut jewellery so popped into the hardware store and picked up the smallest ones I could find – 3mm. I am not sure what other people use to make the actual bracelet, but I have found that venetian blind cord is the best. It does not fray or soften, and you can melt the ends with a flame to keep it tidy. I used the smallest width I could find of 1.5mm.

I decided that instead of plaiting them on like last time, they would look really striking stacked. To keep the band delicate, I knotted 15 at a time onto a single strand of cord. I wanted to have two rows that sat together, slightly staggered, so decided instead of making two bracelets I would place two rows of stacked nuts on the same strand. I finished it off with a loop on one end, and tied another Hex Nut onto the other end to secure it.

I won't bore you with the step-by-step pics (because it is very basic) but basically you cut a 50cm or so length or cord and tie your first knot about 12cm in. Stack on the nuts and knot off.

You then need to wrap it around your wrist to see where you want the next stack to start, and put a knot there. Stack on another 15 nuts, and knot off.

To finish, I tied a hex nut on one end, and then made a loop that would be big enough to thread it through (without the nut falling out). I then trimmed and melted the ends of the cord with a lighter to keep it neat.

I’m really happy with the result, they sparkle and reflect light as they move around. I will definitely be making more of these!

  

Mx

A NEW ADDITION

The Veysey family has a new addition coming! I am looking forward to hunting out baby bargains and getting our home ready for the little one.

Mx

RETRO OP SHOP FINDS

I went on a trip to the Recycle Centre on the weekend and found some awesome retro items. My favourite were these Royal Kitchen Scales - the Swedish lady in the shop even taught me how to use them as her mother had some just like them when she was a child. They are a lot more fiddly to use than my regular kitchen scales, so these may just be used for decorative purposes only. I thought the ceramic planter on top matched perfectly, so am going to make some paper flowers or find some faux peonies to put in there.

I also got these scales which work really well!

And I couldn't resist this 'Quickcube' ice cube tray in silver and gold.

Mx

THE LOVELY HOLLIE K

In December I have the honour of being a bridesmaid for my wonderful long-time friend Hollie Kay. She has been such a great friend over the years and I cannot wait to share her and Scottie's big day with them! I am also delighted to be designing the wedding invitations which I will share later on.

I couldn't resist showing you the pictures from her engagement shoot which was organised by  The Bay Wedding Collective, a group of the Bay Of Plenty’s most creative and professional wedding vendors. Shot by Greta Kenyon of Vela Images and styling and propping was by Shaye Woolford of On My Hand vintage hire and styling. 

Love this girl xx

San ah saa, san ah saaa, san a saaaaa!

Mx

MY D.I.Y. BARGAIN PUPPY BED

Last weekend we got a new addition to our family - Patches the Blue Heeler pup! Isn't he cute?!

I really wanted him to have a doggy bed, because once he is big enough (and the weather is warm enough) he will be living outside in his awesome kennel with full run of the yard. I thought a nice, comfy spot in the sun  on the deck would be great. But even at The Warehouse, a decent dog bed (with a hard case and pillow) runs you up to about $100! Not really something I could justify. So off to the Recycle Centre I went and came back with the following haul!

Cane Dog Basket: $2

Blue and White check baby blanket: $2

White Sheet: $4

Duvet Inner: $4

TOTAL: $12

Yesterday I set to putting it all together - making the pillow to put inside the cane bed.

There was some cardboard lining the bottom of the bed which came in handy for measuring the fabric.

I laid the baby blanket on top of a single layer of the sheet. I figured that if the cardboard template was the size of the bottom I would allow an extra 12cm for cutting, which should be enough for the seam, and still fill the bed nicely once all the padding is added. I also cut 8 strips of the baby blanket to make ties to hold the pillow in place (as Patches loves chewing and I figure he'll drag it out of the bed otherwise!) 

Once cut, I then peeled back the top layer, placing two strips at a time down on top of each other to make my ties - pointing inwards. I sewed the whole thing up, doing a double row of straight stitching for strength, and then zig-zagging the edges, leaving a 20cm-ish gap to put the stuffing in. Turning it in the right way - I now had the oval shape with the ties sticking out, gap to the back.

Now my preference at this stage was to just stuff the duvet inner inside and sew it up. Done and dusted! But my wise husband came in at the point and made two suggestions/observations.

1. What if the puppy wees all over it - can you wash it?

2. Wouldn't it be better to layer the duvet up then cut it to fit rather than stuff it in?

Both were pretty good observations and that bought about the unexpected second phase of the project - the doggy pillow. This way, I can wash the cover without having to get the filling wet, and if I need to wash the pillow, it will probably dry faster if the filling is laid out nicely.

To make the pillow I laid the inside-out cover out on top of two layers of the white sheet and traced around it with a soft pencil. I then cut it up, and sewed it - leaving about a 15cm gap to put the stuffing through. I then folded it in the right way, laid it on top of the duvet (folded into four layers), and set about cutting around the case.

Once I did that, I stuffed the filling inside then smoothed it all out so it fitted nicely. I figured that seeing as my filling had structure (rather than loose filling), I had better do something to hold it in place, so I put four pin tucks (not sure if that's the correct terminology...) I then hand sewed the hole shut - and viola! One doggy pillow all ready for the case.

For the cover I decided to keep it simple and make a dome fastened opening so that I can remove the pillow when needed. And then it was all done! I put it into the bed, pulled the tabs through the cane and knotted them off, tucking the ends back through to avoid tempting sharp puppy teeth!

So the final test... does it get Patches' seal of approval?

I think so! And he's already trying to pry the pillow of there so those ties were a handy addition.

If you want to make a puppy pillow at home, you will need:

A sewing machine

Polar Fleece Fabric (I would have done both sides in the fleece, but seeing as I was using second hand items went with what I could find)

White fabric (an old sheet is perfect for the pillow case)

Some sort of stuffing - you could empty old pillows or buy it new, or use a second hand duvet inner like me

Some domes (or a zip if you prefer)

A hard bed (if you can find one, however the pillow on its own would still be fine - especially for an inside dog)

About 2-3 hours

If you are not the sewing type - then I also found a great tutorial for a no-sew doggy bed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uVOKTo7iVcU 

Mx