Evie and Pog paper dolls!

Evie and Pog paper dolls are go! In celebration of the release of Book 3, Party Perfect, here is a treat for you - Evie and Pog playing dress-ups - and you'll find all of these costumes in the first three books!

Just print out, cut out and get busy. I may even add some more costumes these coming months. If you'd like to print out a PDF of the paper dolls, just click here.

Have fun!

Ivy Bird Auction!

In celebration of the release of Ivy Bird, my latest picture book with Jess Racklyeft (Windy Hollow Books), I’m auctioning two of the birds I crocheted to celebrate the book. All proceeds (less postage) will be donated to Bird Life Australia, an organisation dedicated to creating a bright future for Australian birds.

To partake, head to my INSTAGRAM account.  

Auction runs until Saturday 14 September, 5pm, Sydney time. Bids are in Australian dollars.

Each bird has a reserve of AU$50. Bidding must be in increments of $5. Smaller bids won’t apply.

To bid, leave a comment stating the bird you are bidding on and the bid price (e.g. PEDRO $55). Bid as many times as you like.

The last bids for both birds will win – please note that the bids MUST have been placed BEFORE the clock ticks over to 5pm.

Birds can only be posted within Australia.

Winners will find some little surprises in their package along with the birds.

Winners will be tagged straight after auction and will be private messaged for postal addresses. PLEASE NOTE: winners have 24 hours to respond to the message and to send payment before I offer to the next bidder. I will outline payment options in the private message.

ABOUT THE BIRDS

COSSIMA THE CANARY is an actress and singer. She's stylish, sleek and has a magical voice. She can often be found in the world's finest jazz bars (where she's been likened to Edith Piaf), but she loves nothing more than singing along to an audio book. Her favourite book is Ivy Bird. Cossima measures 30cm from head to claws.

PEDRO THE PEACOCK may look showy, but he's humble and extremely intelligent. He likes to spend his time exploring and solving problems, and especially loves analysing the impact humans are having on climate change. At night, he simply adores wrapping his feathers around a good book. His favourite book is Ivy Bird.

Birds are handmade, with no removable parts.

Learn more about the book, Ivy Bird, right here. 

bird costume ideas for little ones - celebrating Ivy Bird

In just two weeks, Ivy Bird will take flight! Release date is 1 September, and in celebration, here are some fabulous dress-up ideas for the little chicks in your life. Or the big chicks. {Watercolour images from the book by Jess Racklyeft.}

Ivy Bird loves to play dress-ups. From warbling in the early morning light like a magpie to donning her owl hat to hoot in the dark at bedtime, she takes great delight in mimicking her bird friends. It might be a very special red robin outfit, a peacock tail of leaves and flowers in the garden, or a rainbow lorikeet cape to help her fly with her feathered friends.

It's time to play dress-ups!

footy banner tutorial

If you have ever found yourself in the position of conceiving and crafting a footy banner, you'll understand that 4 hours (a friend took a week) of wrangling crepe paper and glue--for the sake of 6.7 seconds of paper-shredding glory--is enough to propel one headlong into the liquor cabinet.

Drink no more. Here is a tutorial that will hopefully take you 30 - 40 minutes. Seriously. And you'll retain your sanity, not to mention your liver.

You will need crepe paper, scissors, wooden poles at least a metre long, PVA glue and a sewing machine. Don't even think about sticky tape. Anyone who tries to tell you sticky tape sticks to crepe paper needs to be unfriended on Facebook (and maybe even unfollowed on Twitter).

If you want to make a larger banner, just make two of these and sew them side by side. You'd also need to add more strips to make it deeper.

Here we go...

click to enlarge

I hope this makes your child super happy, and keeps you out of the liquor cabinet. And one final tip, make sure your camera is prepped and ready to go before your child begins running... it's over in seconds!

Kids' Parties: Boys' Ball Party

It's not that I'm tired of kids' parties. I'm just tired in general! I actually really, really love them--they seem to be so much more fun that adult parties, but after 15 years throwing them for my daughter and son, I'm tired of the fuss.

I've been doing Simpler and Easier for a few years now {here is my list of parties, all increasingly easy as the kids get older!} and yesterday's party for Riley's 12th birthday was one of my faves yet. The only prep needed was goodie bags--choc malt balls in a cello bag with mint leaves on top {mimicking dirt and grass} and a squeezy sports ball. I printed 'thank you' labels, folded them over and stapled them to the top of each bag.

I made miniature bunting by printing letters onto card, cutting them out and stringing them between two pieces of dowel anchored in bottles of sand.

I also printed astro turf {for goodie bag labels and invitations} and pictures of soccer balls, AFL and NFL balls. I cut these out and stuck on them on picks for the food. They looked SO effective and are just so easy. It's not often that 11- and 12-year-old boys will come up and compliment you on decorations, but several boys did! So yes, even kids can appreciate lovely things.

Venue: Don't gasp, but ... I had it outside my home! I know! Mildy anal retentive, I can no longer be fagged cleaning the house for visitors, so I chose Bowen Park on Lake Burley Griffin, carted a fold up table and a few cloths, and let the beautiful shores of our capital's lake play host.

It was a good move.

A gorgeous, warm day with a light breeze, sunshine and clouds, the boys descended and set up stumps. They played cricket, then they tumbled onto an enormous piece of red cowboy gingham and nibbled chips, crackers and hotdogs, and opened presents.

snowy village advent calendar

Every year, I love to create a different advent calendar, and this year, I was inspired by the beautiful scenic vistas of some truly creative calendars {see my picks here}, with that almost storybook feel.

I had originally wanted to use some little cardboard boxes, but unable to find any suitable, I decided to use some sweet little cupcake wrappers I've had forever and a day, and can't, for the life of me, offer up to a soggy batter.

For decoration, I used some plastic cupcake toppers I bought on Etsy a few years ago--little deer and trees--so utterly sweet. Some balance on teensy doily mountain tops. Simply snip a small doily from the edge to the centre, curl it around to create a wide cone and stickytape closed. I taped these mountain tops to each inverted cupcake wrapper, and also added white disks of 'snow' to some (above).

The numbers were made by printing out these little flags from Oh Happy Day, and pasting them to miniature straws. You could glue them to toothpicks.

The mountains in the back were made from brown and white paper, curled around, taped and trimmed to sit flat. Very easy.

The garland at the top, which mimics clouds, was simply strung on fishing line and tied to two pieces of dowel. I inserted these into the sides of the basket, but you could anchor them in lumps of plasticine.

To fill in some spaces, I added some little cardboard picks, too--with retro girls in Christmas hats.

The result is a whimsical little scene that makes me want to pack my picture book collection in a little red wagon, and move on in.

When adding the treats to each cup, I simply popped in the chocolates or candy canes, then taped a circle of paper over the top {this is a trimmed doily but you could use card}.

To make the white blossoms, all you need are some small white cupcake wrappers and a glue stick. You'll need seven for each one. Unfold one to make a circle. Fold the rest into quarters, securing with a dab of glue towards the pointed end.

Swipe a dab of glue near the pointed end, and press each triangle to the centre of the open wrapper, below.

Add the last two wrappers, ensuring they overlap, then fluff them all up to create the bloom. Glue to your inverted cupcake wrapper.

And enjoy the fluffiness! You can use upended cups or vases or little cake stands to raise several packages high--this gives a mountainous look.

This was such a lovely, easy creation--just a bit of gluing and poking of sticks! You could use any kind of tray for your display, or simply lay it out on a table top.

I hope you find the time to make a gorgeous advent calendar this year!

Crazy for Advent Calendars

Every year, I make a new advent calendar for my kids {who are, incidentally, now aged 14 and nearly 12}. In reality, I probably make them for me--but the contents are still very much for my babies--and they really do love them. Still.

Things are pretty busy in my world {and my family's world! I know you can relate!} and I can't see this letting up any time soon, yet I still love to hand-create certain items at Christmastime, and advents are one of them.

Above is a simple paper bag advent I made some time ago {see it here}--and it costs virtually nothing to create. We loved the way the bags crinkled when little fingers went hunting for treasure.

This year I have some ideas for a new set-up which I'll do a post on in early December, but in the meantime, here are some gorgeous ideas for your own advent calendar. You might even find a new designer or store you love.

Some are tutorials, some you can buy, some are downloads that you can print and put together. I hope they bring you much advent joy, but get cracking--only 7 days to go!

Love From Ginger

Nido.de

Ahoimeise

Casa di Falcone

Dans Mon Bocal

Delli From the Valley

Hearth and Made

InLittleHouses Etsy

Jesus Sauvage

Johanna Rundle

Lilli und Lotta

LovelyHomeIdea Etsy

Mr Printables

Nem Graphisme

Oh Happy Day

Steffie Brocoli Etsy

Team Confetti

Welke.nl

Pygmy Cloud Etsy