I made these last minute christmas gifts for the girls.  A letter for each of their names.  E is for Emily.  I used a vintage Bambi print on a pine letter I bought from Spotlight.

 

 

Framed print is by Sarah Jane.  Rabbit made by me - Pattern by Fiona Dalton.  I also made the small teddy and covered the lamp.  Wooden mouse is from Spotlight, Steiner angel was a gift from a friend.

 

 

 

J is for Juliette and I is for Isabella.  These two prints are also from a vintage Little Golden Book - illustrated by Corinne Malvern.  I would never be able to use pages from a real book...I printed these from a google search and enlarged them to size.  I used wood glue to stick the prints onto the letters, allowed to dry, then cut carefully around the letters from the back with a sharp stanley knife.  I then used spray varnish (two coats) to finish.

 

 

Again, the framed print in the girls' room is by Sarah Jane.  The dolls are made from a pattern by Fiona Dalton.  'Mama Bear' is made from a pattern by nest studio. I covered the lamp myself.

 

I love the simplicity of the letters and the fact that you get great effect for not too much time and effort!  So friends with children, you can guess what your little ones are getting for their birthdays this year!!

 

Linking up here today. (PS. If you use this idea, please link back, thanks).

One of my best friends left to go back to her home in Fremantle on the weekend after a month's stay here in Melbourne with Family.  We met through first mother's group four years ago and have been a great support for each other through raising our girls and life in general.  Karen was describing her poky kitchen to me and was saying she that when she got back she wanted to brighten it up with some little plants and a fresh coat of paint.  Since I have gotten on the crochet band wagon I started crocheting these gorgeous hearts and decided to make a set of green ones to brighten up Karen's kitchen.  They are varying sizes and shades of green.

 

 

 

 

Karen loved them. 

Karen's daughter Alia, Isabella's best friend from babyhood, turned four on the weekend and I made her a new dress and apron for her Poppy doll I made her a couple of years ago.  The dress is modelled here on Issie's doll.

 

And we made her these Hello Kitty cupcakes for her party. 

Orange and poppyseed with cream cheese icing.  The eyes and whiskers are licorice and the bow, nose and ears are made from royal icing.  Isabella had loads of fun making the little bits with me and she and Juliette both loved licking the beaters and tidying up the bowl!

I'll be checking out Our Creative Spaces today.

When I suggested a "Royal" theme to Isabella when planning her fourth birthday party, she was super excited - mostly about having a castle cake.  Of course I should have taken a better photo before all the guests arrived and I was too busy to take the time, but anyway, here it is.  I spent most of the day on Friday in the kitchen.  The girls and I were up to our eyeballs in cake mixture.  Five x cake recipe = 5 cups of flour, 5 cups of sugar, 10 eggs, 200g butter, 200g cocoa, 1 tablespoon vanilla essence, zest and juice of three oranges and 2 cups of milk to be precise.  The icing was made from cream cheese, icing sugar, cocoa and orange juice.  Issie and Juliette thought it was the best day ever.  Licking beater after beater clean of choc/orange cake mixture. Yum! 

Issie and I worked on moulding the mushrooms, doors, windows, flags and princess from royal icing a few days before which was lots of fun.  I finished the cake Friday afternoon and then had the evening while the kids slept to ice it. Unfortunately by morning, the ice cream cone turrets were looking a bit limp from soaking up all the icing, but they managed to stand up to the heat blasting from our heater on the day and all the kids were still impressed!

Isabella loved wearing her princess dress which I made from a recycled skirt, topped with some apricot tuille. (Note the tissue mopping up a runny nose!)

Overall, I think the Royal party was a success, although I think my birthday princess was a little overwhelmed with a house full of people - 16 kids (plus adults) all inside due to bad weather!

And I have to show off my sister Jules' crafty work.  While I was busy making cake, she was busy making this beautiful gift for Issie.

Knock, knock...

How cute is this??? Two little felt girls in their bed with a chest of drawers full of clothes!

Thanks Jules - such a gorgeous gift!

Isabella still in her dress five hours later, enjoying playing with one of her gifts after a big, big day!

Happy Birthday to my first beautiful girl! x

Nappy is approx. 5.5 x 3.5 cm

5.  Using craft glue, adhere nappy to piece of nice card ( I used 10 x 20 cm piece to produce 10 x 10 cm square card) and finish off with writing.