Donna's High Tea - Bush Style

Last year we held a surprise 40th High Tea for my neighbour and friend Donna.  I have been meaning to blog about it for a while. Donna lives about 20 minutes away ~ just down the road really (well when the creek is not flooded !).  She is a busy Mum to 5 children and wife to a grazier as well as all of the other associated tasks that come with living where we do.

This is no lady who is easy to surprise, believe me when I tell you this took quite a bit of planning. (Including an almost slip up when I ran into Donna at the Supermarket and she was investigating my trolley contents - 'What are you doing with the Smoked Salmon? ', 'That's a lot of different varieties of tea, you must really like Tea" !!).  Firstly we decided that the ONLY way we could ensure Donna actually turned up at her party was to have it at her house. So we set about organising an 'afternoon catch up' with a few other neighbours.  Meanwhile we were busy planning the menu, drinks and how to get Donna out of the house while we set up.  Invitations went out and were hidden from their usual place (the fridge) 'just in case' Donna popped over for a tea. As we rarely have social outings without our children it was decided we would have a ladies afternoon, and the men and children could come over afterwards.  Child care and husbands were also arranged :)

The cat almost came out of the bag when a stock feed agent flew in on the morning of the party, after having been to all of the neighbouring properties he had got wind of a party and proceeded to congratulate Donna on her birthday and 'how many are coming to the party'....arghhhhh, quick cover up needed from Donna's husband and we were still right to go.

Suzanne and Julie enjoy an afternoon out.

As the party loomed closer we still had no plans on how we were actually going to get Donna out of her own house so we could set up.   To the rescue came Donna's son and husband who managed to wrangle her out of the house, I think the words "for once in your life will you listen to your husband" came out as Donna was more concerned about her 'afternoon catch up' than whatever job her husband needed her to do.

We all contributed to a high tea themed basket as a gift for Donna, which was overflowing with goodies that each person had brought along.  It was a great afternoon and Donna was (I think) suitably impressed and surprised at the effort we had gone to. The cocktails were a hit. The men and kids joined us for a BBQ later that night and there were some very sore heads (and eventful trips home) the next morning.

Sharon & Vonda before the cocktail sampling commenced

Hard to grab a photo of the birthday girl, but there she is looking suitably impressed with her sponge birthday cake, made by the talented Elsie.

Thanks Sharon for the photos and apologies for how long it took to get this blog post up.

Madeit Monday - Beautiful Bows

As we head into the show season, naplan tests, minischool, end of a financial year and mustering I find myself with limited time to spare. Unfortunately blogging is one of the first things I find myself bypassing on the way to TRY to complete the never ending Job List. I managed to grab a few minutes yesterday whilst the kids were at Pony Club (under the watchful eye of Miss Emma). This weeks Madeit Monday blog post is all about bows - beautiful, big and little bows. Hope you find something you like :)

oopsidaisi Vintage Bow Singlet $26

Simple Wrap Bow Party Bags $2

Baboom Newborn Bow Knot Beanie $29.50

Pussy's Bowtique Sailor Bow Shoe Clips $8.00

Aussie Arte Canvas Bow Bag $69

The Bear and The Whale Jersey Winter Dress $35

Little Peanut Bow Earrings $8.00

Happy madeit shopping....do you have a favourite madeit seller, we'd love to know so we can feature them in some future Madeit monday blogs.

Malden Makeover

After attending a Shannon Fricke workshop with Angie last year, I have been keen to makeover my lounge room and dining area. Faced with a collection of timber overload (floorboard look lino, timber blinds, timber furniture, timber french doors etc) I set about trying to 'lighten' our living area. We purchased a cream leather lounge (Oh No !! I hear you say, so far so good and the lounge has survived the 10 year old twins !!) and some Providore Furniture from Freedom.  Although I am far from finished (insert gasp here from Mr AnK...what do you mean you haven't finished !!), I am well on my way to creating my own style.  A few weeks ago whilst shopping in Emerald (the big smoke) I picked up this hat rack from Kennedy and Grace (lovely new store with loads to offer emeraldites...must visit !!).

I had big plans for this hat rack, which I shared with Miss Emma (aka Malden Governess extraordinare).  Since finding some fab fabric at Shannon's gorgeous attic workshop abode I had been on the hunt for something similar.  Last year I purchased some fabric samples from ebay store The Persian Bazaar

It is the most beautiful, soft fabric which I instantly fell in love with.  Only problem is, when I went to purchase more (with the aim of upholstering some chairs and getting some cushions made) ....the ebay store was closed !! I'd appreciate any leads ANYONE has on sourcing the same fabric (yes I have tried to contact the store) - it is an upholstery fabric that has been treated with a mould inhibitor and scotchguard and is so very soft.  There is no name on the fabric but I'm almost certain the seller mentioned the fabric was from overseas - China or Japan maybe !!

Anyway after trapsing all over the internet to no avail trying to find something similar, I decided to go with what little fabric we had.  We upholstered the hat rack (envisage The Block style challenge, with the addition of 2 not so helpful children and a spilt glass of water !).  Here is the end product......

VERY impressed with how this turned out...what do you think ?? I was pleased to see my idea actually came to fruition and with the help of Matt (Miss Emma's husband) is now hanging on our wall, directly above our new piece from Freedom.

Miss Emma was also able to whip up some cushions with the remaining fabric (it's all gone now ...oh no ! ).  She is certainly a whiz on the sewing machine (thanks Mum for the lend of the machine and Angie for sending over the wadding used in the hat rack.)

Next project...curtains !!  Apologies for the photos (I need to master inside shots !!), I did learn a few tricks from Emma Steendam Photography in the process ;)  Hope you all had a relaxing Mothers Day, I enjoyed lunch with a friend whilst admiring the new touches to our living room and some flowers from our garden :)

Madeit Monday - Denim Delights

Kids have been dropped off at camp, house is VERY quiet !!  Browsing on madeit this morning I found these gorgeous denim finds.  I'm in LOVE with this gorgeous denim pinny :

Lili V ~ Girls Denim Pinafore Szs 2, 4, 6 ~ $45

Small Designs ~ Reversable Denim Market Bag ~$35

Little Star Clothing ~ Unisex Denim Lounge Pants Sz 2 - 14 ~ $48

Sew Angie ~ Peg Bag ~ $16.50

The Wiggle Tree ~ Birds & Tree Cushion ~ $79

Ollien Lil ~ Vintage Rose Denim Dress ~ $40

Happy madeit shopping, we would love to hear about your purchases,

Madeit Monday - Winter Wear

Browsing the web looking for Winter wear for Miss M (difficult task as she approaches tweendom !) I was pleased to see some beautiful classic jackets and coats on madeit.com.au

SANDPIT KIDS  Navy Flower Swing Jacket $80

TWO LIDDLE BIRDIES Peach Melba Jacket $60

RIZZA Cord Ruffle Jacket $60

CHARLI MARLI Winter Wonderland Jacket $40

MALAHN Raspberry Bolero $66

RUBY & SAM Vintage Floral Capelet $30

 Hope you enjoy shopping on madeit, we will be adding some winter beanies and tops to our madeit store over the next few weeks :)

Madeit Monday - Easter Bunnies

Good morning! Miss Emma here, Kristy's trusty governess, taking the blogging reins whilst Kristy and her family are in Brisbane. With school wrapping up for the term here in the schoolroom it's a reminder that Mr Easter Bunny is now only two weeks away! So I hopped on over to madeit to find these gorgeous Easter lovelies...

Make A Wish Bunny Romper or Tshirt by LA Crafts $20.00



Easter Bunny Cupcake Picks by Red Elephant Creative $5.00

Rosie Bunny 3/4 Sleeve Top by Butterfly Bees $35.00

Easter Bunny Gift Boxes by Pixels Plus Paper $5.00

Upcycled Crochet Doily Easter Bunny by Vintage Chenille $18.00

1/2 Dozen Wooden Eggs by In My Village $11.20

Happy hopping over to madeit for some Easter shopping. Hope you find some chocolate eggs at the bottom of your garden...

Madeit Monday...Crochet Creations

Apologies again for being missing in action with our blog posts.  Once again QLD is getting a drenching.  66ml meaured here in the last few days, but lots of rain all around.  Still very overcast and cool, maybe some of these crochet finds will warm us up.

C Percy Designs Cocoon & Knit Beanie Set $48

Adorable Crochet Crochet Ballet flats $20

Plushka Crochet Coaster $9.50

Baboom Acorn Crochet beanie $27.50

Three Beans In A Pod Crochet Capelet $35

Moonflower Crochet Cup Holder $8.00

 Happy madeit shopping, hope you find something to warm you up :)