Bowznstuff -online childrens clothing, Boutique Custom Girls Clothing,Hairbows

What we are studying.

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 05:55:00 +0000

This year we are following Sonlight core 2. We started Sonlight last year when Henrietta was in Year 1. Looking back I am quite sure we could of started with Core K. It was a bit challenging at the start but we had found our groove by the end. Core 2 is going well but I am much more relaxed about following schedules and the like. The history spine that we used last year was "A Child's History of the World". We also started off reading the equivalent period in Story of the World buy keeping up with both was too much of a challenge. This year we have started with Story of the World - middle ages and are also using the activity book. So far this had been an excellent decision. Henrietta is much more engaged - she loves the coloring pages, and the map work help to ground what we are reading a bit more. The tales of Beowulf and Empress Theodora as have been big hits.

Science is always a hit here and the The Usborne Book of Knowledge is delightful. The animal pages were eaten up - who can go past a sloth fallen from his tree and taking hours to crawl back to it or a camel vomiting on you to express his displeasure. The human body was a favorite topic last year and it is great to revisit it. We even managed a trip to the human body exhibition at Scienceworks on the weekend.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Homeschool Art

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 11:34:00 +0000

Last year in our homeschool we used Artistic Pursuits but somehow it just didn't click for us. Hettie loves art but neither she nor I had much inspiration last year and it was therefore one of our main goals for 2011 to incorporate more art into our day. To this end, I searched around for some books to help us on our way and whilst at the National Gallery late last year, I had an hour or so to spare and spent the time thumbing through the Art books they had in the Children's section. I was particularly taken with the Usbourne books - heck I like them for most other things so why not Art. I then took myself off to the Book Depository and purchased this

As the name suggests it is chock full of, well art ideas. What I like about it is that it is brimming with achievable techniques that a child can look at and work with and I think it will be a great introduction. We had a great time this week with trees working with chalk, acrylic and watercolour using some different techniques.

Smartkiddies has had a revamp!

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 03:07:00 +0000

This time last year, when we started homeschooling, I decided to try out a number of different things to see what worked best. After all, that has to be one of the great advantages to homeschooling - the ability to tailor your curriculum right down to your very own student! We tried two maths websites last year - mathletics, which is widely used in Autralian schools and homeschools and Smartkiddies, which I was introduced to via Loughie's school after they were to stingy to keep paying their mathletics subscription. Mathletics was not a good fit for us - I know some kids find the competing part fun, Hettie was just completely stressed about it and froze whenever she was competing. Smartkiddies, however, worked much better. There were still some timed tests and some competitions but with many of the competitions, you could compete against different levels of imaginary competitors which worked out much better. We used Smartkiddies primarily to drill addition facts but once we moved off into new territory that we hadn't covered before, it wasn't comprehensive enough and we drifted off into different areas.
Anyway, the other day Hettie asked if we could play one of the games we used to play, so I checked to see if our subscription was still valid and yippee it was. I was then double excited to find that Smartkiddies has had a revamp - it now offers, a Maths program, an English program and recorder lessons.

We've had alot of fun on it the last few days. I wouldn't say that you could use it exclusively, but it is definitely good for using as an extra and now with the English and the music, it is fantastic value!

How to do a ballet bun revisted

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:41:00 +0000

For new visitors, here is a revisit of how to do a ballet bun.

I am often asked how to do a ballet bun. So that is what we are going to do today! This is us getting ready for ballet this morning. The twists are totally optional - I just like them and thought I'd throw them in there as they are cool just to wear with a pony too.So you start with the T- part, down the centre and across the head. Then you take the back bit of the hair and put it in a nice tight pony. Then take one of the front parts brush it back nice and smooth and then start twisting in towards the centre of the head - once you get to the pony you secure it in with a second elastic.
You repeat with the other side so that by the end you have a pony with three elastics. This is a great do just on its own.

Then we start with the bun. if you are a little light on in the hair department, it is a good idea to tease the hair a bit to give you some more volume. Start by twisting the hair around loosely - how tight your twist is will depend on how much hair you have and your personal preference. I just do a very light twist to keep everything in place. Wind the pony around the elastic, keeping it nice and loose for as many times as you need to and when you get to the end, pin the bun in place with a hair pin.

Now you will need a hair net - bun nets work best as opposed to full hair nets when you are starting out. Place the bun net over the hair and then start pinning.

These open hair pins as opposed to bobby pins are the only pin worth using in a bun. These above are the kind of hair pins you need but they they are a bit squished together, you can see the one in my hand below it is much wider apart. I'll try and take a better picture. The trick is to lean the pin in towards the bun, so that you sort of have it making a V-shape with the head. The bottom of the V would be where the two prongs of the pin sit at the edge of the bun. Stick it in and then pull it so that it is back parallel to the head and push it into the bun. This is how you really get security for your bun. Use as many pins as you feel you need to make it secure.And then look at that, you are all finished!.

Add some bows, flowers or if you never know whento stop like me..both! and your ballerina is all ready!

iPad and homeschool

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:25:00 +0000

As part of going to his new school this year, Loughie was required to have an IPad. We had planned to buy one as a family present and to cut a long story short, we ended up with two, one for Loughie and one for Hettie and I.. As Loughie would be using his at school, I decided that perhaps I ought to also research how we might use the IPad in our homeschool. Hettie adores Peter Rabbit and we started off with the Peter Rabbit pop up book. This is very young for her but she just loves it, and I must admit, so do I!

From there the obvious step was to search out ebooks. Through the Amazon kindle app, we have found several books for Hettie. Currently she is reading Judy Moody on the IPad.

Two spellings apps have been a HUGE hit. Montessori crosswords and Spelling 1-2 from School Zone. The Montessori app is delightful the spelling words are very comfortable for Hettie's level so it would be ideal for a younger child. After each crossword is completed which requires only a maximum of 3 words, a beautiful interactive pattern appears to play with.

School Zone spelling is set in an underwater land and involves lots of prizes and to win and a section where you can set up your prizes in an underwater oasis. The beauty of this app is that you use the set spelling lists or type in your own. The app is clever enough to recognize most words I have entered so far and can speak them for the various games which is helpful.

The Ancient Egypt app from Brittanica Kids has also been a big hit. There is a wealth of written info which would be ideal for an older child and lots of fun activities which are great for a range of ages.

The famous classical paintings app is working in well with our Art study plans and brain pop is good for the odd moment here and there.

This is What we have been using this week and is, of course, just scratching the surface. There are so many possibilities going forward but so far I think we have made a good start at integrating the IPad into our daily homeschool.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Homeschooling 2011.

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 09:12:00 +0000

Last year was our first year of homeschooling and I decided to purchase a curriculum from Sonlight. By and large this went well and so I decided to opt for Sonlight again. Sonlight is divided up into what are called Cores. The Core is built around a history and geography study and then you add on your language arts, science, maths and electives. Last year we did Core 1 - an introduction to world history which took us up to the Roman Empire. There were many times during the year when I did wonder how much Hettie was absorbing of the information we were learning but time and time again she made a believer out of me - suddenly likening something we saw during the day to something we had learned about Ancient Egypt and so on and so fourth. This year we will work on Core 2 - which is a continuation of World History starting with the Fall of Rome. I am quite excited about the periods we will be covering. Sonlight Language Arts did not work out for us at all and we used instead First Language Lessons and Writing with Ease plus some material from Evan Moor and she also does Kumon. This year we will continue on with the Sonlight Readers 2 Intermediate, which we started last year and then maybe move on to the Advanced Readers depending on how that goes. I cannot praise the Sonlight Science program enough - we had a fabulous time with it and look forward to starting Sonlight Science 2 this year. One of our main aims is to find more time for Art - we used Artistic Pursuits but it wasn't a great fit for us. This year we are really looking forward to using the Usborne complete book of Art ideas. For Maths we will continue with Kumon, Dreambox, some Math U See and some Singapore Math. Dreambox is a wonderful, wonderful online learning program which takes you through all the K-3 concepts and skills and has lots of fun characters and games and worlds and stories. It adapts itself to your individual learner and motivates the student with lots of rewards and goals. Hettie loves it and I love that we can use it to go back over concepts and really make sure they are solid.

So that is our basic plan for this year, I still have some bits and pieces to work out but we have a good start.

First day at high school

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:04:00 +0000

The original plan was to homeschool Loughie this year but things most certainly don't always go to plan do they!? Last year he auditioned for the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. VCASS provides an internationally recognised specialist program for the training of talented young dancers and musicians. Students at VCA Secondary School spend approximately half of their day in their academic studies and half of their day in their specialist area. This means that the workload is heavy and the very significant scholarship gained by students who achieve entry to the school means that they have a high level of obligation towards excellence in all areas. On any given day Loughie does either dance in the morning and academic in the afternoon or vice versa. As well as the dance and music students, specialist gymnasts, divers and Australian Ballet School students also attend the VCA for their academic schooling. You can imagine how proud we were when he was one of just 4 boys accepted into the dance program for year 7. Here is is on his first day.

Fun in the pool

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:48:00 +0000

Pool time fun!

Techie versus old school

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 00:46:00 +0000

Just goes to show doesn't it! Here we are with all our ipads, and iphones and technie gadgets and what to we end up doing...drawing with sidewalk chalk!

A very bookish Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 22:18:00 +0000

Ahh what would we do without the Book Depository. One of Henrietta's requests for this Christmas was for information books about birds in general, flamingos, chickens and giraffes. So off I went to the book depository and made my order - then all through December the books arrived, sometimes one at a time, sometimes two, some days we'd get three or four - made for a very exciting build up!

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 00:50:00 +0000

I have been very nervous about Loughie traveling into the city each day by himself - the commute requires him to get to the station (I will drive him as it is about a 15 minute walk), then he gets on the train, travels for about half and hour, gets off in the city, and then either walks or catches a tram to his new school. I was most relieved that the school had a week long orientation so that we can practice the journey and be all ready for next year. Another bonus, (well I suppose it depends on your point of view) is that I got to spend some time in the city during the day while I wait for him to finish. Hettie came with me one day and we had a very very special visit with Santa at Myer and got to see the Christmas windows.

This and That

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:01:00 +0000

I was chatting to a friend a couple of years ago who was on the verge of moving to Sydney. I had first met her some 7 years earlier when she had moved back to Melbourne from somewhere overseas - can't remember where now. I was expressing dismay that she was moving and she said something to the effect of "mmm you know I find we like to change around every 7 years - move somewhere new or a new job or something - just to mix things up a bit." A bit like the 7 year itch I suppose. It struck a chord with me that statement and I have thought about it often ever since. In part I think I have always been a bit the same but had never verbalized it so succinctly. I don't think I am so rhythmical as to make a change each 7 years but changes of direction have definitely been part of my adult life. There was my Uni/ballet teaching phase, Germany/France phase, a short foray into headhunting and then my Germany /PhD phase which lasted on and off for many years and then came my stay at home bow making/sewing phase. I am proud to say that regardless of the phase, whether I was teaching little girls to do the splits or being a party girl/student or working as an au pair or being a dusty academic or being an ebay boutique custom girl I have always thrown myelf into my lifestyle with alacrity and passion. But every now and again towards the end of each of these phases I get a feeling, a feeling that it is time to move on. Some of these moments I can remember quite clearly. In Paris I remember sitting on the fence of L'ecole militaire on dusk on my way home to my little bedsit thinking that as nice as this way, it was time to go home.

Others creep up on me bit by bit. And so it was with sewing. Last year while sitting at my machine appliquing round some tiny eye of some tiny creature I felt it again. I began thinking of options but couldn't settle on one, plus there was all that fabric, all that ribbon, all those machines! Time ticked by and more tiny eyes were appliqued until early this year when everthing began to fall into place. Homeschooling! A new life and a new direction for all of us. The reasons we decided to homeschool are many and varied and to be honest they don't matter all that much anymore - it was a decision we made and it is the right decision for us. Still, I didn't feel quite ready to let the sewing go and thought we could maybe combine the two but it just wasn't to be. I just couldn't throw myelf into my new life whilst still holding on to the old one. So for now all that fabric will just have to wait a while and my machines can have a little rest (except for Hettie's clothes and the kids costumes!).
I took a bit of time off my online activities whilst we settled in but I would like to get back into it all again now - to catch up with my old friends and make some new ones too. Over the past months we've been busy in our homeschool, reading and writing and experimenting and we've been super busy dancing. Here are some pictures of Hettie from the most recent round of competitions. She took one first, two seconds, two thirds and one HM.

Song and Dance

Jazz

Demi Character

Song and Dance

Classical

Jazz

Tap

Neo Classical

New Bowznstuff!

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:41:00 +0000

As promised, it is time for some NEW Bowznstuff! My goal with this set was to evoke the Boutique Custom of yesteryear my upcycling (see I do move with the times) a vintage piece of Oilily - the Oilily Watercolor "Wish you were here" dress. The dress forms a stunning side panel of a twirly Bowznstuff "Fabrication", featuring Oilily Duckie fabric, Oilily Kimono Blossom reprint and a stunning selection of Euro Popplins. You can find gorgeous fabrics like these at the brand new store Fabric Fairytales AND a super selection at Banberry Place and you can find the latest Bowznstuff right here.

Tea Parties, sewing and writing

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:37:00 +0000

We've been hard at work here at Bowznstuff HQ. In no particular order , I've managed to do some sewing *gasp*, homeschooling rocks AND we had a very special tea party today.

On the homeschooling front, this really has been teh best decision for us. One of the big things we've been working on is rebuilding confidence. Writing has been a particular issue, both the mechanics of handwriting (which is absolutley not an issue these days) and the confidence to produce a piece of written work. In an effort to overcome this, I have been making a big deal about progress and using special pages to emphasise that Hettie's writing is wonderful and deserves to be dispalyed beautifully - so far so good but confidence can be fragile and repairing it is a delicate process. Here is Hettie showing off her beautiful writing.

On the sewing front, a new set is made, photographed and just needs to be edited - here is a super sneaky peak with Mr Elephant!

And on the topic of sewing, Hettie had a special tea party of the Alice variety to attend today. I was thrilled when she settled on the Queen of Hearts - here she is all dolled up for the party :)

Where in the world is Bowznstuff?

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 08:28:00 +0000

This has been without a doubt my longest blog and sewing break EVER! Even last year after almost a month in hospital I managed to take just over a month off. When Bowznstuff turned off its machines and we decorated for Christmas I fully intended to be back behind my machine on the first of January, living pretty much the same life as before, just a year older. However, in the curious way that big decisions tend to unfold, after so many little pieces of a puzzle had been falling into place over the past few years, suddenly the missing piece appeared and the whole picture made sense. For the past three years both kids have been in school during the day - Hettie first in full time preschool and then last year school proper. While they were away at school I sewed, and sewed and sewed and well, SEWED. However, this year for what are probably 100 different reasons we have decided to apply the break, pop off the highway and take a side road and enjoy the view. This year Hettie will be homeschooled. Loughie has decided that he would like to complete his final year of primary/elementary school at 'school' and after that we shall see. I am SO excited about out new adventure and so far everything is going swimmingly. Everything that is except for Bowznstuff! Our Bowznstuff adventure has had to take a back seat while we get our new life sorted out, hence our long absence from the world of Boutique Custom! That and a little vacation thrown in the middle.
Ahh it makes me happy to come back to my blog again. This is Boutique is still going strong and I even have some new hairstyles up my sleeve so hair blogging can recommence :) Stay tuned for some more Bowznstuff news soon AND please make welcome our homeschooling news too.
I'll leave you with a photo of us on vacation.

Hettie and the dolphins
Feeding the Rays
Me and the kids

Meeting Scooby Doo

Back after a break :)

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:14:00 +0000

The end of the year is always such a hectic time, finishing off ebay sewing, sewing dance costumes, dance concerts, end of the school year - inevitably I have to drop a few balls to make it through and this year, unfortunately it was this blog. But not to worry I am back now and am pleased to report it is officially day one of our big long summer vacation - I have lots to catch you guys up on - Christmas decorating, dance photos and holiday snaps so stay tuned :) To celebrate our first day we went out for lunch - Hettie wore her fav piece of Christmas Bowznstuff, packed up her white Tiger build a bear all done up in his Christmas attire, jumped on her bike and off we went :) Here's to school holidays :)

On Gnomes, Decorating and being spotted!

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:06:00 +0000

I was in a gift shop the other day and they were putting out their Christmas decorations - I couldn't resist a little purchase and then it struck me - coming up is our traditional Christmas decorating weekend. Last year I offically lost my Christmas mojo and decided to put off the deocrating till closer to Christmas - well what a mistake that turned out to be -last year I spent most of December including Christmas chained (literally) to a hospital bed - who knew that putting off the decorating would be such a bad omen! So as I was browsing the Christmas decorations, I felt that familiar tickle of excitment, what is this, I thought to myself, why it is my Christmas spirit - just bursting to come out! So this weekend the household will be given over to the not insigificant task of decorating - let the festivities begin! I found these little gems today to further put me in the mood - how cool are these!?

And speaking of Christmas, will YOU be Gnome for the Holidays? One lucky little Bowznstuff Princess will be, you can see more here - AND she can fit herself out with matching accessories too - see the whole collection here.

And with all this talk about Christmas lets now forget Halloween - here are two Bowznstuff cuties, out and about in their Bowznstuff - little Miss A and little Miss C - you have been spotted in Bowznstuff!

New Bowznstuff!

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:30:00 +0000

It is a rather big day today....an banner day in the Bowznstuff camp...tis the day that the annual Bowznstuff Punk Christmas set is listed!
Before we take a look, lets recap.
In 2006 Santa rocked!

In 2007 we saw the still requested Rudie Rocks set.

2008 saw us all humming along to "Santa Claus is coming to town"

And in 2009 Bowznstuff revisits Rudie with a whole new take - Santa asks "Won't you drive my sleigh tonight" to which Rudie replies "Why sure I'd love too". Meanwhile all of the other reindeers who used to laugh and call him names "swoon", declare that they heart Rudie and proclaim that "Rudie Rocks". You can see the 2009 set right here.

And don't forget to join up the new Bowznstuff Fan page. I had to convert my old Facebook group into a Fan page - we had 400 in the old group and our first aim for the new page is 500! Prizes to be won along the way! Join here.

Bowznstuff new set and new directions AND GIVEAWAYS

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:53:00 +0000

Sorry I've been away from my beloved Bowznstuff Blog lately - you know how sometimes you bumble through life juggling things in a fairly satisfactory manner and then somedays you keep tripping over, dropping the ball, smashing the plate, chasing your tail. That's been me lately so I've made some changes and straightened a few things out. First up for my Ebay friends, it is official, I am now Group Independent - I think we can all agree that the world of Boutique Custom on Ebay has changed enormously in the past year - I mean it is always changing but this year the change has been monumental. Bowznstuff needs to change too, to survive in this ever changing environment, to morph and most importantly to make sure I can keep doing what I do - provide magical clothing for beautiful princesses! Leaving Sugar3 is just part of this change. It is still a work in progress so I'll keep you posted.
There are now more chances than ever to get your Bowznstuff on.
On Ebay we have this explosion of color with a VERY cute hat. You can see it here.

And on Etsy Berry fans will be delighted as will those looking for a special holiday portrait dress - find them here.

There are two great giveaways going on too. First up I need to move my Bowznstuff Facebook group into a Facebook page - first aim 500 fans. We had nearly 400 in the Bowznstuff group so it shouldn't take us too long. When we reach 500 there will be 3 Bowznstuff Ebooks to give away - your choice of Hairbows or sewing. Just pop on over here and become a fan.

Also over at This is Boutique there are two $25 Ebay gift vouchers to be given away when we reach 900 fans so pop on over and join up there too. Click here.

Miss Suzanne's pin curl bun and birthdays.

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:02:00 +0000

Pin curls, the essence of 1940's glamour and not suprisingly given the era, a popular choice for Tap dancing hairstyles - bet you can't guess where we've been the past few weeks - dancing comps. I've always admired the pin curl bun when little swarovski laden girls pass by me in the dancing world, and though I have always theoretically understood how it works, it wasn't until I observed Miss Suzanne (who really is much more of a hair guru than I) whipping up a little pin curl bun that I finally plucked up the courage to try it out. And guess what it really is quite easy, just like everyone always told me - now I feel a bit of a pin curl whiz, I might branch out into some more advanced pin curling techniques. The pin curl bun is just the cutest little updo, pop a hairnet over it and you've got a fab dancing style or a marvelous flower girl hairstyle and just a touch of fancy for the everyday. You start with a high pony - this particlar pony could have been even a tad higher - I always struggle to get curly tops' hair up when its been flying free.

Anyway once you've got your pony, take a small section of hair - you can experiment with how much you use depending on the length of hair - Hettie's hair is quite long now and this amount made nice big fat curls. Lots of little ones would also look fab.

Get yourself a bobby pin ready (I used these fab new pink ones I picked up so you could see them, but ordinarily you'd use ones that blend with the hair.

Wrap the hair around your finger until you have a nice curl.

Now here is the slightly tricky part. You need to pin the curl to the head. You can either remove your finger before or after you put the pin in. I find it easier to put the pin in whilst my finger is still in there - when you first slide the pin it it might feel like it won't go but just give it a good push you will have a nicely secured curl. Try not to wrap the hair too tightly around your finger or you will have trouble getting it out again.

Continue sectioning the hair and pinning it down - if you divide your hair effectively you should end up with curls spalyed out right round the pony in a bun.

Now doesn't that look nice!

You can decorate with bows or flower or little sparkly pins.

It looks nice too if you curl only part of the hair and leave the rest hanging down like this.

Plus as an added bonus, if you do it wet and leave the curls in over night or even for the day, you'll end up with big bouncy curls when you take them out - cool hey! Thanks Miss Suzanne!

Which brings me to the second part of the post - birthdays. Yesterday was Hettie's birthday! SIX! A big highlight of our day was opening the very big box of AG Girl dolls clothes which my friend Robin of Tallulahsophie made especially for Hettie - I cannot begin to tell you how beautiful they all are - Hettie, myself AND my mum had SO much fun! I can' t wait to share them all with you but for the time being here is a photo of Hettie wearing her requested Doggie suit cuddling Molly in some of HER new threads!

Bowznstuff and the Disney Princesses!

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:35:00 +0000

Its time for an ultimate piece of Bowznstuff Boutique applique disney delight! I have long dreamed of a set including all 4 princesses and when Kathy Fronzak showed me her pixie pals Disney Princesses I knew my time had come! This is another collaboration between Bowznstuff, pixie*dust*studios and creme*de*la*gems.
Each Princess has her own corner of the skirt featuring a piece of her story, a kiss for Aurora, an apple for Snow White, a glass slipper for Cinderella and a rose for Belle. The shirred back top features a fairy tale tree, the words, "Princess Dreams Believe" and lots of fun details. The set is completed by a super sparkly gold sequin mini tutu. You can see this fabulous custom sized set here, and all the other pieces in the collection right here.

Bowznstuff Pixie Wear, Rockin' Rudie AND Website news

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:29:00 +0000

It's all happening at Bowznstuff this week, new girls boutique designs online, a new range of Bowznstuff children's clothing AND a fun new corner of the Bowznstuff website. Hettie LOVES crazy, fun knit clothing - partly because it is comfy I suspect and partly because she can be totally independent when it comes to choosing her look for the day AND dressing herself. So for about a year now I have been whipping up set after set of fun and crazy knit wear - time I think to unveil it and give some more little Princesses the chance to get their Pixie on. Ending soon are two totally FUN and totally cool Bowznstuff knit dresses - you can see them here.

And ho ho ho it IS that time of year again - time for the Bownzstuff Punk Christmas sets to make an appearance - as this is a time of year where tradition rules, I will, as tradition dictates list the previous rockin' sets and THEN unveil a new one - if it is Boutique Custom Christmas you are after, I've got you covered girls! See Rockin' Rudie right here. Also I've been planning this for a while and I am in the middle of some website rennovations so you will have to excuse my dust but I am officially unveiling the Boutique Corner of the Bowznstuff website. This is a VERY special corner of the site - it is updated regularly with super dooper specials - sometimes a hairbow, sometimes a full set, OOAK's and samples. The trick is you never know what you will find AND you never know how long it will last at that price - things can be taken out of the Boutique corner at any time so if you see something you like, snaffle it before someone buys it OR it suddenly reappears at full price! You can see the Boutique corner right here. Chat soon :)

Book Day fun and old school twirl!

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:38:00 +0000

Lets start with Boutique and move onto life :) What's new in the world of online childrens boutique custom designer clothing at Bowznstuff? This week I am all about old school - on the Sugar3 guest board we were chatting about the old days of boutique and it inspired me to make a classic little Boutique number - far too many yards of gathering and ruffles later - this Bowznstuff fabrications jumper twirlie twirl applique dress is the happy result - the first Bowznstuff Christmas listing and a must have for the Holiday season. You can see the whole thing here.

The machines have been whirring lately not just for Bowznstuff auctions but for Book Day too! This year's theme was Book Safari so the little kids had to go as safari animals and the big kids chose a classic book character. Hettie was thrilled as she has wanted a zebra outfit for some time now - just as with crazy hair day my input is purely in the work horse capacity LOL, creative input - zilch! And Loughie - he changed his mind from Jules Verne to...you guessed it - elementary my dear Watson!

Crazy Hair Day and Charity Auction

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Crazy Hair Day - would you believe I have next to no creative input - both kids have VERY firm ideas about what they want - ya know I could craft Hettie's hair into the craziest of styles but noooooooooo WILD - that was my brief. I tried to pop in a bow, an elastic a CLIP but no it had to be wild and free LOL! Well wild I know - remember way back in the curl chronicals I tested this style - not so good for curls but very good for wild. So Hettie went with wild (she won the prize for best hair!!!!!!) and Loughie went with a sort of Emo Punk.

Also I've just listed a charity auction for Bella. Bella Rose is only 2 and half years old and has been diagnosed with cancer (high risk stage neuroblastoma) that has spread to her abdomen, vertebrae, bone marrow and right leg. She will need some treatments after the chemo that are not covered by insurance with each treatment costing $18,000. If you aren't able to bid your prayers are very much appreciated. You can read all about Bella in the ForBella auctions which you can see here and the Bowznstuff ForBella auction is here.

French Braid ballet bun hair how to

noreply@blogger.com (Bowznstuff) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:37:00 +0000

Okey dokey, time for a new hairstyle - actually I can't take credit for this one - Hettie's dance teacher's daughter turned upwith this fab creation and let me say I was impressed. Hettie was all too pleased to emulate her idol! So to start with you need to section off the front of the hair and do a French TOP braid across the head. It is a rare moment that I do French braids on Hettie's hair - curly hair can make French Braids hard work - but if her hair is all clean and shiny I am good to go. For the top style braid, rather than braiding under you just braid over. There are lots of French braid tutorials out there so I'll point you here if you need further instruction.

So after the French braid you already have a great hairstyle. But it was ballet day so we needed to keep going. I stopped the French braid about three quaters the way across her head. Then you take a thin piece of ribbon and thread it through a large needle. Start at the elastic end and criss cross the ribbon right along the braid and then back down again. How pretty does that look!

You then sweep the rest of the hair into a pony. Again pop the braid into the pony and a great hairstyle. But we weren't finished yet!

Next up you wind the pony hair into a bun and secure it with a pin - you can find further how to do a ballet bun instructions here.

Next you take the braid and wrap in around the bun.

After than you finish the bun using the how to do a ballet bun instructions - pop in any decorations and you are ready to impress your dance teacher and be the envy of all the other ballet mums!

And after ballet or if you don't want to do the whole bun thing you have just about the cutest hairstyle around!