hungry caterpillar party...

Finally getting round to showing you some photos of the Hungry Caterpillar party (based on the well loved book by Eric Carle) that was featured in Mathilda's Magazine. We had heaps of fun creating all the decorations, food and take home baskets - it was so colourful and bright - perfect for a 4 year-old's birthday party.

Place settings consisted of a painted cardboard leaf, a white paper plate with petals cut out and a red plastic plate for the food...

The happy sun was cut from cardstock painted with watercolours washed together - a technique used in Eric Carle's illustrations...

Caterpillar decoration created from tissue paper pom poms in different shades of green and red made a eye-catching backdrop...

A leaf garland was created for along the front of the table from more painted card, stitched together. Punched holes made it look as though a caterpillar had nibbled through them...

Lots of the food served was from the story - individual serving cups made it easy for little hands...

Cheap cotton fabric rectangles were painted with rough water-coloured stripes and detail was added with a black Sharpie. Gathered together in the middle they made colourful butterfly wings...

Little take home baskets were decorated with fringed green card and filled with goodies to match the theme...

Chuppa-chup lollipops were given some personality with cardboard wings. Our kids loved helping paint these...

Visit the Mathilda's magazine here to download the printables we created for this party.

10 green bottles...

Well, actually only 5 green bottles so far... but I am loving my little collection, picked up at the Camberwell Markets,and dating back to 1890. They are all quite small - the littlest is only a couple of centimeters high - but they are just the perfect size for a few blossoming sprigs picked from the garden.

hessian and flowers in Richmond...

On the weekend, we finally managed to get over to Richmond for a spot of shopping along Bridge Rd, a lazy brunch (or as lazy as brunch can be with two kids in tow!) and a trip over to the old Channel Nine television studios where a series of pop-up events and installations has been running for the month of March, all with a seriously funky design vibe. Commissioned by Lend Lease, (the firm in charge of redeveloping the site into apartments and townhouses while retaining the heritage feel), The Richmond Weekender is a cultural event celebrating the unique vibe of the area and includes a cinema and cafe (with seating created from old wooden pallets) and a homemakers market. I loved this hessian covered wall with pockets for growing flowers - would be cheap and easy to replicate at home if you have a ugly fence or wall!

There is only one more weekend to visit The Richmond Weekender, head over to their website for details.

confetti present wrapping...

Sometimes it is nice to do something different when wrapping a present and confetti is an easy and colourful way to jazz up a gift. We simply made our own coloured dots using a hole punch and some scrap paper and card (a great job for the kids!) and stuck them on using double sided tape (best for the stripes) and glue (for the heart). The confetti does have a tendency to stick up at funny angles, so you have to tap it down well and fill the odd hole. It is also a good idea to go over the dots with a layer of pva glue or similar to make sure that they stay well and truly stuck! Punching the dots yourself means you can easily get different looks - try black and white for a smarter look, different shades of pink for a little girl's gift, yellow and grey to be right on trend, or go bold and do every colour of the rainbow.

all sewn up...

I have been totally inspired by this gorgeous book called "all sewn up" by Chloe Owens that I stumbled across in a book shop recently. Chloe is an incredibly talented textile artist who has a wonderful way with fabric, applique and embroidery. I particularly love her designs which have been "drawn" upon using delicate machine stitching and black thread. Chloe says in her book "This way of working came much more naturally to me than using pencils and paints".

There are 35 exquisite projects in this beautiful book, all with beautiful photos and styling. Even the book cover is just so pretty.

Using a few scraps of fabric and a bit of thread I had a go at making a little bird using this technique. I certainly need a lot more practise before my birds are as cute as hers, but it was certainly fun trying!

a colourful market...

Off to the Boutique Markets at Malvern Town Hall, Melbourne tomorrow with lots of our most colourful artworks, cushions and paper goods. The doors are open from 9am to 1pm so there is plenty of time to browse through all the stalls selling a wonderful assortment of clothing, accessories, home wares and toys - all unique, stylish and not available on the high street. Come and say hello and receive a little gift from us!

a tidy desk...

I have been working at home today (on a red blossom heart order) as Clare has not been feeling well. We usually work around at Clare's house as she has a studio room and a lot more space, however I keep some mondocherry supplies here at my place so I can work some evenings when the kids are in bed.

I find it pretty hard to keep this little area tidy and my desk is usually covered in fabric samples and lots of paper snippings. Today I did a little tidying up and it feels great! I am always so much happier working when everything is back in place - I am probably more productive too. Do you work better when things are neat or do you prefer a little creative chaos?

new bedside tables...

After years of frustration with my very small bedside tables, and months of looking for new ones, I finally purchased two chests of drawers to go either side of my bed. I'm really enjoying the extra space for display as well as all that extra storage room. My birthday lamps look more in proportion too. Perfect!

an old lace dress..

Before I moved down to Melbourne from Brisbane, my wonderful friend Chris and I took a morning to browse the shops along Latrobe Tce, Paddington. We saw lots of lovely items but I was quite content to look and not buy until we popped into the Paddington Antique Centre which had three beautiful lace dresses hanging on an old armoire in the foyer. One, in particular, caught my eye, and I wanted it badly! The lace was just so fine and the details was exquisite. I knew it was most definitely a 'want' and not a 'need' though, so I resisted temptation and left it behind (although I did keep popping back in between coffees to check it was still there!).

Late the next day I walked into my bedroom to find the dress spread over the bed - I had told my husband about my strength of will power the night before, and shown him the photo I had snapped on my phone, and he had gone out and bought it for me as a surprise! So, now this gorgeous 1920's dress is hanging on my wardrobe door and I love to wonder about its history - who wore it, where to, and where has it been hiding for the last 90 years?

currently working on...

...and we are loving it! Hope you are having a fabulous day too.

our vintage map artwork in Rowan's room...

It is always lovely to see where our products end up and so we were thrilled to see photos of one of our "Round the World" map artworks (created from an original vintage atlas) in 1 year-old Rowan's special room at his Nan Roberta's house. Roberta (from the gorgeous vintage-inspired children's wear label Rowantree designs) told us that our map artwork was the first thing she bought for Rowan's room way back before he was born! The inspiration she had was for Rowan to grow in a world that is vast, diverse and adventurous, and to understand that knowledge has no boundaries and the people are equal and unique. Such a lovely theme to base the design of a room on.

To see lots more images from Rowan's gorgeous room pop over to Bondville where it was featured. We particularly love the use of IKEA spice racks for bookshelves and the mix of old and new.