Max and Me

Baking with Grandma

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Tue, 21 May 2013 01:43:00 +0000

This weekend just gone my Mum came up to visit. We had such a great weekend, shopping, cooking, eating and celebrating a late Mother's Day as well as both her and my birthday. The absolute highlight of the weekend was Max and his cousin Emmy helping mum make a cake. It was beyond adorable watching the three of them working together, cracking eggs, blending up the limes, mixing it all together. Emmy and Max both took their jobs very seriously and mum managed the whole process with the patience of a saint!

Mum is an amazing baker and the cake was delicious. Perfect parts tangy and sweet. I will definitely be making this one again.

Here's what you need if you want to make it yourself.

375g of Limes (13 ounces)
6 Large Eggs
225g of White Sugar (8 ounces)
250g of Almond Meal (9 ounces)
1 teaspoon gf baking powder

1. Grease and line a 20cm (8inch) spring form tin. Preheat the oven to 190c (375f).

2. Place the limes in a pot of water and boil for 2 hours. Drain, and when cool cut in half and remove the seeds. Blend up the limes, skin and all, in a food processor.

3. In a separate bowl beat the eggs and then add the sugar, almond meal and baking powder, mixing well. Add in the blended limes and mix again.

4. Pour mix into your tin and bake for one hour (you may need to cover with foil after 40 minutes to stop the top from burning).

5. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the tin, then serve warm with fresh cream.

(Adapted from this Nigella recipe)

Nigella says that the cake tastes even better the next day, but ours didn't last that long so I have no idea if it's true or not!!

xx Tamsyn

PS My mum is just about to start her own blog!! I'll let you know when she starts writing posts :)

Lincoln's Half Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:34:00 +0000

My sweet little baby boy isn't a newborn anymore. He's 6 months old, full of beans and into everything!

Lincoln is such a happy little guy now that I almost forget how much of a rough start we got off to.

The first two weeks after he was born were absolutely beautiful. We spent 5 nights in hospital before coming home and whilst he screamed a lot and hated sleeping right from the start I was in that delicious newborn place where everything was perfect. I fell in love with him from the very moment that I laid eyes on him, and in those first two weeks I remember loving when he would wake up to feed in the night because it meant I got to spend time with him.

During those two weeks I was also filling orders for my shop and planing and throwing Max's party and I think I was running on pure adrenalin because the next four weeks were the hardest of my life. Lincoln wouldn't sleep at night, he would feed and then scream for almost two hours, then finally fall asleep only to wake up and hour later and do it all over again. Every single night. On top of that Max started waking up crying each time he heard Link screaming and the only thing he would want was for me to come and lie in his bed with him. So some nights I would leave Sean with a screaming, inconsolable baby and go sleep in Max's bed for half an hour at a time before feeding Lincoln again. It was hard. I took it all out on Sean and would get so angry with him. I think I did just as much screaming and yelling and crying as Lincoln! To his credit Sean took it all on the chin and just keep on trying to help me settle Lincoln, night after night after night.

I was also having a really hard time feeding Link, I had so much milk and it was coming out so fast. He was gulping down so much air with each feed and seemed to have really bad tummy pains. I hadn't been able to feed Max past the four week mark and really wanting things to be different this time, so Sean and I set the goal of making it through to 6 weeks of breastfeeding and then seeing how things were then.

At the six week mark everything seemed to change. My milk started to settle down and Link was finding feeding so much easier. He started to go straight back to sleep after each feed and started to have one four hour stretch of sleep each night. I made the decision to talk to my Dr about how depressed I was feeling and noticed that my outlook changed right from the minute I decided to talk about it. I started to fall in love with Lincoln again and was finally enjoying being a Mum of two.

Since then things have just been beautiful! Link teased us by sleeping through the night a couple of times when he was around ten weeks, but it didn't stick. He generally wakes up to feed 3 or 4 times each night, but he goes straight back to sleep afterwards so it really isn't too bad.

At about four and a half months he started trying to crawl, which was crazy!! It took him about 5 weeks to work it out and now he crawls around everywhere and gets into everything! He's also worked out how to sit up and he loves it. He will often just sit in the middle of the floor smiling his adorable gummy smile at everyone and everything. He's just started to pull up on furniture this week so I don't think he's got any plans to lie around and be a little baby.

He loves Max and Sean, but I am by far his favourite person in the world and that makes me so happy. We have this beautiful bond and I am so glad that those early stressful days are behind us.

xx Tamsyn

Max and Emmy Being way too Adorable

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Sun, 12 May 2013 22:23:00 +0000

Last week I mentioned that I spent the weekend on the Gold Coast for my Dad's wedding, and showed a couple of photos of Max and Emmy being adorable. And now I'm excited to say that I have something ever cuter to share... a video of them walking down the aisle holding hands :)

Probably completely boring if you're not family and I thought about not sharing it, but it really is so gorgeous!!

Feel free to skip to 2minutes 15seconds to see the real stars of the show (sorry Dad and Cathy!).

I'm so excited to see the professional photos and video now :)

xx Tamsyn

ps the baby screaming in the background is Lincoln, he must have been feeling left out

pps I've gone from having one gorgeous and thin sister to having three of them, too bad they're all too nice to hate ;)

Easy Gold Accent Pillows - Pinterest Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Wed, 08 May 2013 23:22:00 +0000

Over the last couple of days I really ummed and ahhed over whether or not I would join in for this round of the Pinterest Challenge. I really didn't want to miss it because I haven't missed one yet, but time (and my budget) seemed to be working against me. In the end I decided to challenge myself to see what I could make without spending any money (just like I did for the first challenge).

I'm happy to say I did!!

My cushions on my couch have been looking less than impressive lately. The few I had left on there were stained and mismatched... New cushions were well overdue, so I raided my fabric and paint stashes and came up with two new pillows.

It's no secret that I love the combination of gold and white, so inspired by these pins I decided to whip up a couple of gorgeous gold accent pillows.

{source}

Both pillows were super easy and I made them both in just over an hour(plus drying time for the paint).

To make the colour blocked pillow I cut out four pieces of fabric, a 40cm x 40cm piece for the front, two smaller pieces to make up the envelope closure on the back, and a piece of gold lame 1/3 the size of the front piece.

When it came time to make the gold striped pillow I tried out a few different gold paints that I had, the only one that gave me the metallic look I was after was a can of spray paint that I had left over from another project. I taped off the front piece of the cushion with painters tape (using extra bits of tape to make sure my lines were spaced evenly), then sprayed the entire thing with the gold paint. Once it was dry I hemmed the overlapping pieces of fabric for the back and sewed it all up. Easy :)

I'm totally in love with how they turned out and so thrilled that this little mini couch makeover cost me absolutely nothing!! Tonight once my boys fall asleep I'm planning on throwing together a few more pillows for my three seater :).

As always don't forget to go and check out the hosts of the Pinterest Challenge (so excited that one of my fave bloggers Emily from Sparkle Meets Pop is co-hosting this time!!) and see what everyone else has been up to.

Pinterest Challenge Hosts - Emily Katie Sherry and Renee

xo Tamsyn

Check out my previous Pinterest Challenge Projects here

Tufted Headboard - TeePee - Jumbo Ruler - Laundry Gallery Wall - Star Chandelier - Birdie Jar

Happy Birthday Sonic

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Wed, 08 May 2013 02:58:00 +0000

This morning Max came running up to me and said 'mumma we forgot, we forgot that today is my birthday'. I told Max that it wasn't his birthday and he went on to say 'I'm not Max, I'm Sonic and today is my birthday'. How can you argue with that!? So I threw him a little impromptu party :)

Toddlers really are the cutest!

Jumping on the BlogLovin Bandwagon

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Tue, 07 May 2013 00:50:00 +0000

Ok so I am probably the last person in the blogosphere to switch over to bloglovin, but better late than never right!?

You can find me here: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

In other (very exciting) news my Dad got married on the weekend!! Being the ridiculously terrible blogger I have been of late I didn't take a single photo (although to be fair I was busy toddler wrangling and then MCing the reception). Luckily my mother in law snapped a few to tide me over until the professional photos arrive.

Add caption

After getting back from the Gold Coast and coming out of my wedding induced fog I noticed that the Pinterest Challenge is on again. I haven't missed one yet, but I have no idea what to do (and if I have time) for this one. Will I or wont I?!

Anyway back to bloglovin (I think this is probably the most rambling and disjointed post I've ever written). I've decided to give my feed reader a really good clean out and am looking for some new blogs to follow. Feel free to leave me a comment with the details of your blog and any favourites you have so that I can read along.

So not ready for this!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:11:00 +0000

So this happened the other day...

I figure I've still got a few weeks before he actually starts crawling, time to baby proof the house I think!

Here's what else my littliest man is up to -

- rolls both ways (and has been doing so for over a month)
- smiles and laughs so much, he seriously is the happiest baby ever!
- loves his big brother to pieces and watches him like a hawk
- LOVES playing with toys and will reach out and grab the ones he wants to play with
- gets distracted in the night and tries to crawl around his cot instead of sleeping
- has recently gone back to waking up to feed four times a night, making for a very tired me...

Easter Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 01:27:00 +0000

I hope you all had a great Easter. We certainly did here! I mentioned the other day that besides Christmas, Easter is my favorite time of the year and this year was no exception! One of things I love most about it is that it brings all our family together.

It's becoming a tradition that I host an Easter brunch each year. After the Easter egg hunt Sean, my mum and sister and who ever else wants to help all work together to whip up a yummy meal. In my mind I always plan it to be an elegant affair with gorgeous table settings and 5 star food. In reality its normally 10+ people crowded around a 6 seat table with bacon, eggs, fruit, pancakes and hot cross buns. It's still perfect though :)

Max woke up super early on the Sunday and unlike at Christmas, he didn't need reminding that it was a special day. The first thing he asked when he woke up in our bed was 'has the Easter Bunny visited us'! He was so excited to find that the bunny had eaten the carrots and left baskets of treats for him and Lincoln.

{The gorgeous Easter bunnies my sister made the girls and the no-sew Easter baskets I whipped up}

Once my sister and her girls and our parents arrived we did the Easter egg hunt. They three of them had so much fun! I think next year will be really special too with Lincoln getting involved for the first time. This year he slept through the whole thing!

After the egg hunt Max, Ava and Emmy sat down at the table to look through their baskets and they were spoilt with even more eggs from the grandparents.

A week later and we still have a house full of chocolate. I'm thinking about whipping up a big batch of something for Sean to take to work tomorrow, otherwise we'll be eating Easter eggs for months!

Easter Round-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:18:00 +0000

Over here at Casa Riley we're in full blown Easter mode. Decorating eggs with the kids, making handmade presents with my sister, cooking big family meals and even whipping up half a dozen batches of fudge to hand out as Easter gifts for the grown ups. After Christmas, Easter is the most important time of the year for me and I love to spend it busy and surrounded by family!

Seems I'm not the only one that feels this way... So many of my favourite bloggers are busy, busy, busy too! I've teamed up with some amazing bloggers to share a round up of some great Easter crafts, DIYs and recipes! Just what you need to find all kinds of amazing inspiration just in time for Easter! Make sure you take a second and stop by to visit these amazing bloggers and check out their great ideas!

**Note: When pinning, pretty please pin directly from the original blog. Just click on the links or image and pin away!!**

DIY Easter Coloring Pack at Hubby Made Me

Rainbow Fruit Salad with Caramel Toffee Fruit Dip at The Baker Upstairs

No Sew Easter Baskets at Max & Me

Kentucky Derby Wreath at Cleverly Inspired

Adorable Easter Cupcakes at High Heels & Grills

Spring Pinwheel Wreath at The Cards We Drew

Easter Hors D'ouevres Party at Strawberry Mommycakes

White Chocolate M&M's Pudding Cookies at The Recipe Critic

Easter Bunny Glitter Jar DIY at A Bubbly Life

Chocolate Easter Bunny Cards at Bloom Designs

Paper Dahlia Wreath at Love, Pomegranate House

Robin's Egg Nests at Mama Miss

Berry Gift Basket at Sweet Rose Studio

Lemon Chess Bread Pudding at Something Swanky

Free Easter Printable Pack at Kiki & Company

So much amazing inspiration! I hope you all have a blessed Easter surrounded by people you love.

No Sew Easter Baskets

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 02:09:00 +0000

My lovely sister and I have quite a few family traditions that we enjoy doing together, and one of them is making handmade Easter baskets and bunnies each year.

The oldest three still love the baskets we made last year and they often get used in their imaginative play games. Lately Max's one has been used as a shopping basket, a catapult and as a means to carry the toys he likes to 'reclaim' from Lincoln's room...

This year I wanted to make something again that they could keep using year round, but this time I decided to go down the 'no sew' route. I absolutely love how they turned out!

These were so fun to make and nice and quick too. I did all four in a day (including working out how I wanted to make them).

Here's what you'll need to whip some up:

   - round kraft box with lid
   - fabric
   - batting
   - ribbon
   - fabric glue
   - hot glue
   - scissors
   - wool
   - scrap cardboard
   - paintbrush

Start out by smearing fabric glue around the outside of your box and then wrap the batting around it. Hold for a minute or so until dryish, then trim your batting down level with the top and bottom of the box.

Next up lay your fabric right side down on the table and measure off a section the same height as the sides of your box (mine was 7cm). Paint that section with fabric glue and then wrap around your batted box. You want the edge of the fabric to be even with the bottom of the box and all the excess to be up at the top of the box because the excess fabric will be folded in to cover the inside.

Once you've folded all that fabric in it's time to make the inside base (which will cover up all that extra folded fabric). Take your lid, cut the lip off of it and then trim it down so that it will fit snugly inside the box. Using your fabric glue again stick some more batting to the circle and trim it into shape. Then cover your circle in some more fabric (I used some cheap white poplin I had left over from making Max's headboard).

Leave it to dry from a couple of minutes before pushing the circle down into the inside of your basket.

To make the ribbon handle, attach some ribbon to the underside of your basket with hot glue and then secure the ribbon up the sides of the basket using some more fabric glue. Then glue a thick ribbon around the base of your basket.

Last but not least make a sweet little pom pom (tutorial here) for the bunny tail and hot glue it to the front of your basket.

Done! One very sweet little Easter basket (or in my case four of them!).

Jenny's working on some co-ordinating Easter bunnies to go in the baskets, I'll share them as soon as they're ready to go :).

A Tale of Two Thefts

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:17:00 +0000

Seems I've been a little absent-minded of late...

The other night as I started to cook dinner I couldn't find the bacon. As I was checking the fridge I realised that I didn't remember unpacking it, so I checked the receipt and sure enough it wasn't on there. I figured it must have fallen out of my trolley and made dinner without it.

Late the next day when I picked up my bag to go to the grocery store again (because I'm ridiculously disorganised and tend to shop for dinner one day at a time...) it felt kind of heavy. I fished around in there to see what was weighing it down and I found one kilo of bacon. Whoops! I must have put it straight into my handbag when the lady at the deli handed it to me. I felt even worse when I realised that after almost 24 hours in my handbag it would have to go in the bin.

I went grocery shopping again today (seriously I go every day, I need to do something about that), as I wheeled the pram back to the car I noticed two things. One, Max had fallen asleep in the pram and two, he still had a kinder egg in his hot little hand.

I'd given it to him as we started shopping and said he could hold onto it until we got to the check-out. I was even high fiving myself for coming up with a plan that kept him from asking for every second thing he saw. Turns out he may have been so quiet because he was asleep...

Anyway in that moment I knew what I had to do, I turned the pram around, went back into the shop and paid for the $2 egg. Once is an honest mistake, but two times would have practically made me a career criminal!

Tell me, have you (or your kids) ever inadvertantly stolen something? Did you fess up?

Easy Washi Tape Magnets

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:53:00 +0000

Something happened this weekend that's pretty rare in my house. I completed a DIY project without spending a cent. It's a miracle! Seriously though I almost always get a great idea for a quick and easy project, then it spirals out of control and ends up costing my at least $50-$100 (like the icecream shop for Max that I'm currently planning in my head). Not this time though. I had everything I needed already for these magnets. Even if I had needed to buy supplies I think it would have only cost a few dollars.

I've seen magnets like these just about everywhere already on the internet and they were so easy to make. It was just a matter of sticking the tape on my magnets (which came in a packet with the ones I used for Max's fishing game) and trimming the tape down to size. I cut each one in half and then snipped the ends of each magnet to give it that 'torn tape' look.

It took me less than ten minutes to make them and they look so cute on the fridge!

What do you think about sticking things on the fridge? Before I had kids I was 100% adamant that my fridge would never be covered in photos, invites or scribbled artwork. Of course that changed the minute Max drew his first picture! Now I proudly display everything on the fridge and I wouldn't have it any other way!

(Oh and if you love the washi tape I used you can find all of it at Chibi Run one of my favourite online shops).

Sharing the Love

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:13:00 +0000

This week has been a crazy one. Sean jetted off to a fancy corporate conference leaving me alone with my two gorgeous little boys. We survived (and had fun), but we were all definitely very happy to see him when he walked in the door this afternoon! I was so happy that the first thing I did was palm the kids off on to him and go shopping on my own. I didn't buy anything, but I did get a much needed haircut. My thick glossy pregnancy hair has started falling out in handfuls, and what I was left with was anything but thick and glossy... I had a good 15cm cut off and it feels so much healthier now.

(another awkward selfie taken in my bathroom...)

Anyway seeing as I was solo parenting this week and busy with orders I don't have a 'real' post to share, so I thought I would link to a couple of gorgeous mood boards floating around the web that feature my products. I always get such a kick out of seeing that actually likes my stuff! And yes I still pinch myself every time I get a sale :)

Lil Sugar - Ribbon Mobile

Love & Lace - Pom Mobile - Love Cushion

The Doctor's Closet - Pom Mobile - Love Cushion

The Everygirl - Gold Dipped Jewelry Dish

Johanna Lynn Johnson - Love Cushion

So jealous of all these lucky bloggers that get to plan out sweet little girl's rooms! Maybe one day I'll get that chance, all I have to do is convince Sean that we need more babies. Easier said than done!!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Bite Sized Mini Pavs

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 22:18:00 +0000

Last week I made the yummiest little bite sized pavs and today I'm sharing them over at The Recipe Critic. Go check them out, they were so delicious and super easy to make!!

Happy Tuesday :)

DIY Headboard and Bed Make-Over

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:10:00 +0000

The bed in Max's room at the moment is uggg-lllly. It's functional and actually used to be Sean's bed when he was (a lot) younger, but there is absolutely nothing attractive about it... For ages now I've been planning on making it over, the Pinterest Challenge was just the kick in the butt I needed to get it done.

I ambitiously gave myself a day to do the make-over and even thought to myself 'I might whip up a new doona for the bed if I have time'. Ummm no... It took me two days to get the whole thing done, but now that's it's finished I'm so glad I finally tackled it!

Here's what I started with...

A king single ensemble. Like I said, functional but not exactly stylin'.

I split the project into two parts. First up I covered the base of the ensemble and added legs, then I made a headboard. I got my inspiration from these three pins below.

{source}

Materials:

linen
cheap white poplin
batting
2inch thick foam
mdf board
button covering kit
furniture legs

Tools

screwdriver
drill bit
staple gun and staples
embroidery needle
embroidery thread
nails
plyers
hammer

I started out by covering the base of the ensemble with my cheap poplin, which I used because I didn't want that bright pattern showing through the loose weave of my linen. I pinned each strip in place and then went around with my staple gun to secure it to the underside and top of the base.

I then did the same thing with with the linen, only I paid a bit more attention to the detail and made sure the corners looked neat and tidy.

As I was going around securing the linen I noticed the staples weren't holding the fabric to the top side of the base. Underneath was fine because the staples went straight into plywood, but on top they were only going into fabric which meant they came out really easily. I ended up using nails for the top because they went through the fabric and back down into the ply. In other words I made things up as I went and wished for the best!!

Once that was all done I attached the legs and moved on to the headboard.

I measured up Max's bed before hitting up Bunnings and decided that I wanted my mdf to be 1100 x 1100 and got them to cut it in store for me. Lucky I did, there is no way I would have fit anything bigger into the back of my car :).

To start off the headboard I measured out where I wanted my buttons and then drilled holes through the mdf (gorgeous hand model used as I was behind the camera, thanks J!!).

I though about using spray adhesive to stick the foam to the board, but ended up using fabric glue. It was raining outside and the house was full of people so I didn't want to fume up the place. No biggie though the fabric glue worked just fine.

Then it was just a matter of covering the board and foam with batting, then my el-cheapo lining and finally my linen (I used the poplin underneath the linen again because I didn't want the batting poking through the weave of the fabric).

Then came the most time consuming and difficult part. Covering the buttons and sewing them onto the headboard to get that tufted look that I love so much! Soooo much harder than I expected, but so definitely worth it!

Covering the buttons was just a matter of following the instructions on the packet, attaching them was a whole other ball game... After a fair bit of trial and error I worked out the best way to do it.

I threaded the needle with embroidery thread and then tied it into a loop. Then I tied it onto the button. I didn't take a photo, but if you can picture the needle with a decent amount of thick thread on it and then a button tied onto the very end of the thread.

To get the buttons in the right place I pushed a nail through the pre-drilled holes in the back of the board, felt where the point of the nail touched my fabric and then pushed my needle and thread (with the button attached) up through the the fabric, batting and foam etc until it came out the back of the board. With one hand pushing my needle through, and pliers in the other hand I grabbed onto the needle and pulled it right the way through. Then I would tie a big knot in the thread, pull it as tight as possible and secure it with staples.

That probably made no sense what-so-ever... If you want to give this a go and have no idea what I'm on about email me and I'll try and explain it better :)

I'm sooooooo happy with how it turned out and Max absolutely loves it! He knows it's the same bed, but he still likes to call it his 'new bed' and he's so excited to go to bed in it tonight. The real test will be whether or not he stays in there the whole night I guess!

Phew, now that I finally have it finished I'm linking up with Katie, Sherry, Megan and Michelle (and checking out all of the amazing projects that have been shared).

Thanks for reading!!

{If you would like to see any of my previous pinterest challenge projects you can see them below}

{link}

It's That Time Again

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:42:00 +0000

Any of you that have been reading for a while will know that my all time favourite 'blog thing' is the Pinterest Challenge. I look forward to it so much! It's the perfect kick in the pants every three months or so to actually get started on those big projects that I tend to put off.

Max's bed is one of those projects I've been putting off. At the moment it's just a plain ensemble, I can't wait to show you how I make it over next Wednesday!

I have big plans for Max's room (huge plans!!), but all I've done so far is make him a tee-pee (which is shown in his old nursery in the photo), and built shelving in his wardrobe.

So much that still needs to be done!!

If you want to see some of the things that are inspiring you can have a look at pinboard here.

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

7/52

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 01:56:00 +0000

On the weekend Sean set Lincoln's cot up in our bedroom and he slept in there for the first time on Sunday night. Seems like it was the perfect time to move him into it, because just last night he started rolling over. Neither of us has seen him do it yet, but we would find him on his tummy sound asleep. Smartie pants!!

Last week was also the week that I finally got a double pram. I've been wanting one since before Link was born, but could not convince Sean to spend over $700 on one. I got this one from a school friend for an absolute bargain, plus it's in incredible condition because they barely ever used it. Max absolutely loves it and will happily sit up the front. Makes shopping, posting off orders and going for walks so much easier!

Over the weekend I also headed down the coast to visit my Mum. She normally comes up to my place so it's been ages since I last went down there. The boys were on their best behaviour and we had such a good time. Mum and I bought some fabric and recovered her dining room chairs while I was there. I loved the fabric she chose so much that I bought some for myself in a blue/grey. My sister and I are planning on swapping dining room tables and I want to recover the chairs before I give it to her. I'm hoping I'll have enough fabric left over to cover a few boxes as well. I'll keep you posted on how that goes :)

I hope you're all having a great week!

The Block Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:20:00 +0000

For those of you that don't live here in Australia, The Block is a reality TV renovating show. It just happens to be my all time favourite thing to watch on television. So you can imagine how incredibly excited I am to be part of their online store!!

The items they've chosen (from my Down That Little Lane store front) are the gold 'love' cushion and my love heart art.

{See it here}

I don't think any of my items have been used in this series of The Block (seeing as it's already finished filming and all), but there's always hope for the next season later in the year!

If you want to check out more from my store you can see it all here at Down That Little Lane (all items are available for international shipping).

6/52

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 11:08:00 +0000

"A portrait of my boys, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Max is so full of character and energy and imagination. This is him giving me his 'angry bird face'. Love him!

Lincoln is absolutely loving this play mat. We pulled it out last week and he loves to bat at the toys and kick his legs in the air. Such a joy to watch him learn and grow :).

(Linking up with Che & Fidel).

Love Bug Valentine and Free Printable

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 01:07:00 +0000

One of my pet names for Max is 'my little love bug' so the other day when I saw this pin I knew it would be the perfect little Valentine for him (and for Sean too).

I was right they both loved them! Well Max loved most of it, he loved seeing his love bug and he loved the marshmallow head, but when he ate the mint choc biscuit he declared 'it tastes like toothpaste!', then asked me to wash his mouth out! Whoops, looks like he's inherited my dislike for mint flavoured things. Max wasn't too traumatized though, he asked for another one the next day and this time just ate everything except this biscuit :).

To make these I read the tutorial from House of Joyful Noise, but switched it up a pinch to include marshmallows (they're Sean and Max's faves).

I used:
- Mint Slice Biscuits
- Choc Mallow Bites
- Choc Fudge Writing Icing (in the little tube)
- Silver Cachous
- Love Heart Sprinkles
- White Chocolate Fondant (tinted rose pink)

Putting them together was super, super simple. I used a little of the choc fudge icing to stick the mallow to the biscuit. To do this I just squeezed on a little icing then pushed them together until the mallow gave way to the shape of the biscuit, then popped it into the freezer for five minutes to set.

I cut some circles out of the pink fondant and cut them in half to make the wings. I stuck them down with a little bit more of the fudge icing.

Then it was just a matter of pushing some love hearts into the icing wings and sticking on cachous for eyes with a bit more of the fudge icing.

So simple and so very sweet!

And... because I love you all, my little Valentine gift for you is a free printable that you can use to make some of these for your own love bugs.

Just click the link below to download it (you'll need the latest version of adobe, which you can download for free here).

Love Bug Printable

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Valentine's Day Chalkboard

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:09:00 +0000

Confession time, I've never decorated for Valentine's Day before. Shocking I know! ;)

This year I decided to put in a pinch more effort and at least switch up my chalkboard to something a little bit romantic.

I've seen this Beetle's quote floating around pinterest for the last month or so, and then when I saw this desktop background I knew exactly what I wanted on my board.

Seeing as it was a nice and simple design I free-handed it. I just pulled my board down off the wall, worked with it flat on the beach and used a chalk pen. It's not perfect, but it's definitely good enough for me!

There are heaps of great tutorials out there if you're looking to do something a little more elaborate on your chalkboard. This one from Ella Clare shows you how to use grids to create your masterpiece and My Sweet Savannah has a great post about how she traces hers.

Tell me, are you planning on decorating for Valentine's Day or do you stick to the main holidays?

5/52 + Our Weekend Away

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 01:31:00 +0000

Last week I misplaced my camera battery charger so I really didn't get any great snaps of my boys during the week. I did of course get plenty of them on my iPhone. Better than nothing right!?

Max - This weekend a friend of mine and I took our kids down to my Dad's place for the weekend. Max loved playing with his little friend Chloe, they had their moments, but were generally very sweet to each other.

Lincoln - Not a great photo, but I love his little smush-face sleeping on Dad's shoulder. He slept right through the night while we were on the Gold Coast, and I couldn't be prouder!

******************

A weekend on the Coast was just what I needed, I actually felt like I'd had a holiday! We swam, had a barbeque, relaxed out by the water and had some quality family time. Bliss :)

Dad, his Fiance Cathy and my beautiful, chubby little baby

Dad and Cathy's new place on the Gold Coast


Max's first ride on a Jetski. I made Dad keep his speed to 6 knots, but I still found it completely terrifying

The view from the deck

Max and Chloe once they ran out of patience at Church on Sunday morning

I hope you all had a gorgeous weekend too!

Love Bites

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:07:00 +0000

I don't know if I've confessed to this before, but I don't really enjoy cooking meals. Baking on the other hand is something that I love to do, and what better excuse than Valentine's Day! These recipes are perfect for V day and I promise they won't disappoint. Enjoy!!

Skinny Mini Cheesecake from The Recipe Critic

Homemade Valentine's Day Gumdrops from Mom on Timeout

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes from The Baker Upstairs

Valentine's Cheesecakes from Max & Me

Red Velvet Cupcakes from High Heels & Grills

Homemade Cherry Cordials from Inside BruCrew Life

Marshmallow Heart Brownie Bites from A Pumpkin & A Princess

Brown Bag Microwave Popcorn (and a free printable!) from Hubby Made Me

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Blondies from The Recipe Critic

Heart Munch from Crazy for Crust

Edible Teacups from 504 Main

Rice Krispies Hearts from Love, Pomegranate House

Homemade Valentine Gummies from Mama Miss

Chocolate Covered Strawberries from Chef in Training

Vanilla Bean Valentine's Cookies from Shugary Sweets

Valentine's Day Treats from Happy Go Lucky

Happy Baking xxoo

Thrift Shop Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:03:00 +0000

The other day the Heavens aligned and two of my current favourite things (the Thrift Shop Song and Young House Love) merged to create the (completely unofficial) Macklemore Thrift Shop Challenge. Fun!!

After playing the song for my sister Jenny (who had heard of it, but had never actually heard it) we teamed up and hit the op shops (that's Aussie slang for thrift shops).

The plan was this: Head into the shops with $20 to spend, buy some really cool stuff with that $20, and find & photograph some items that were mentioned in the song.

Now when it comes to thrifting Jenny is a seasoned professional. She knows all the tricks and is so good at finding bargains. Me, not so much. I always have high hopes about what I'll find, but never actually come home with much of anything. Yesterday was no exception. While Jen found a heap of cool things (check them out on her blog), all I managed to find was some burlap. Which I love, but it only cost me $2.. I guess I'll just have to spend my remaining $18 next time!!

I had much better luck with the scavenger hunt... Jen found a big a$$ coat and I found myself an all pink outfit (none of which came home with us for obvious reasons!).

End result: thrifting is fun, but harder than it looks :).

I would love to hear about your thrifting adventures too. Do you like op shopping? What's the coolest thing you've ever found?

4/52

noreply@blogger.com (Tamsyn) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 05:35:00 +0000

Max - Oh Max, you have been an absolute handful this week. Naughty, cheeky, and pushing the boundaries left right and centre. I still love you to pieces though :)

Lincoln - Last night you slept for 8 and a half hours straight. Bliss! Back when you were 3 weeks old and screaming for hours on end in the middle of the night your Dad and I thought that a good nights sleep was a distant dream. Oh how you've changed my gorgeous boy!

{I love this photo so much because it shows how similar their eyes are. Lincoln's are getting browner and darker every day :). }