The Engagement Party

OK, I have a confession to make.

I took hardly any photos at our engagement party :O

Sorry guys :-/ Fail! I'll share what I do have at least!

As you know, I made tonnes of decorations! But in the end, we ran out of time getting everything up and organised, even with help from all our parents! Plus, we weren't allowed to stick anything to the walls - boo! I guess that's the disadvantage of having a party at a hall instead of at home. Anyway, here's a piccy of the food table before the copious amounts of hot food arrived!

Like my pennant banner? I wasn't sure how much space we'd have, so I made separate triangles and pegged them straight onto the twine! I also made circle markers with the food names on the front and ingredients on the back (so many friends with allergies, this was the easiest way to make sure everyone ate safe!), and popped them into jars and vases with some paper flowers. It looked quite pretty!

In the background of the pic below you can see my vegan, allergen-free vanilla and orange & rosewater cupcakes and in the front you can see the yummy mini tiramisu I made! Mmmm!

My step-mum second mum was amazing! She took the day off work before our party to help me prepare and spent a heap of time making these delicious cold rolls. They disappeared SO quickly, I only got to eat one!

Here's my nommy chai cupcakes! I misjudged and made about a bazillion of these and still have a stack of them in my freezer! Luckily they're my favourite cupcake, so it's no burden having to eat them all ;D 

And here are my black forest cupcakes and berry lemon cupcakes, so much sugary goodness!

I also made semi-dried tomato, spinach and feta mini-quiches, sweet corn fritters and chicken mornay  vol-au-vents, and we made pork and plum dumplings but didn't even bother to serve them because we just had SO much food! It was all very yummy, but we had a ridiculous amount of leftovers. Luckily, most of it got eaten for lunches and dinners over the next few days ;D I'll share recipes for some of the savoury things in the coming weeks.

It was great having our friends and family together, but I can tell you one thing - I am not cut out for party planning! I'm way too much of a stresspot! ;)

Just Sharing - Party Jars!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I've been busily crafting decorations for our engagement party and thought I'd share tonight's effort. It's so simple that you won't need a blow by blow tutorial to make your own!

Cute party jars! Just pop an LED tealight candle (not a real one, we don't want to burn the paper!) inside a cupcake liner, inside a nice clean jar and use your trusty glue gun to decorate the jar with vellum paper and rick rack in a "bunting" design! Tie a ribbon or (like me!) a "cord" of crepe paper around the top of the jar and you're done! A party in a jar! :D

It's Monday! Pinterest and Baby Bag Progress

A pinch and a punch for the first day of the month 

and no returns for ever and ever!!

And by that I mean, Happy August 1st! 

(Ahh, primary school days ;))

You may have noticed that I have a new button over with my Facebook and Twitter links. I've been playing around on Pinterest! This is one bandwagon I'm excited to be hopping on to - it's such a fun way to organise inspirational pictures! If you want, leave your Pinterest link in the comments so I can check yours out too!

As most of you will know, we've been plotting and planning out this baby bag for quite a while now and we've finally settled on a design! Please excuse my dodgy drawing skills in these pictures ;) Originally I was thinking something like this, with one of the two fabrics we have purchased predominant and the other used for pockets:

Brown being faux leather - faux leather sounds much nicer than vinyl, right? ;) - and with a zippered top, lots of pockets on the inside as well as pockets on the outside front, back and sides. Don't you just love the Joel Dewberry fabrics? These are the Aviary 2 collection in lilac, YUM!

Then my friend decided that she was rather partial to this style of bag:

Brown Bird Diaper Bag from Kaboodle

 So we now have a new plan! 

Except, we've now decided that we only want to use the lighter fabric with the faux leather and leave the darker fabric for making zippered pouches and whatnot, which means we didn't order enough of the lighter fabric the first time round and I'm going to have to wait for a second order to arrive..! BOO! Ah well, perhaps it'll arrive this week and I can get sewing over the weekend.

I'm so keen to get going on it that I've started cutting out the pieces anyway ;)

Happy Monday!

It's Monday! Just showing off my pretty new plates

A couple of months ago Mum came to holiday with us and of course we had to have a "girly day" and go shopping. I fell in love with a set of plates in at General Pants Co. but couldn't really afford them, so Mum offered to get them for me "as an engagement present" (we're not engaged yet XD enthusiastic much Mum?? <3)

Anyway, she did end up getting them for me and I've finally had a chance to rearrange my display bookshelf to show them off! What do you think?

Before            -                                                      After

It's actually a set of four, but I couldn't make them all fit in the bookshelf in a way that I was happy with, so three get to go in there:

And my favourite gets to sit out alone:

Aren't they just so sweet?

Happy Monday everyone!

It's Monday! Nappy Bag Advice Please?

My best friend's big sister is expecting!! We lived next door to each other growing up, so they're pretty much family and I'm very excited!!

She's asked me to sew her a nappy bag - a diaper bag I suppose if you're in the U.S. ;) BUT the trick is, this is her first baby and as you guys already know, I don't have any kids of my own yet, so neither of us know what makes a good nappy bag!

Backpack? Tote?

Big? Small? Ginormous?

Zippered? Magnetic closure? Ribbon ties?

A few big pockets? Lots of little pockets? What type of pockets?!

Built in change mat? Removable change mat?

Too many options..! 

This tutorial from Moda Bake Shop looks pretty cool, with some mods probably like a spot for a detachable change mat and a zip closure. I  do love the colours!! ;)

So... Any advice?

What were the most important or useful aspects for you?

Want To Swap? And I've Been Featured!

Just a quick note to say that if you're interested in doing a guest post for me, swapping tutorials, running a giveaway here or anything really, please let me know! I predict my next few weeks, while I'm on mid-semester break, may actually be busier than usual ;) so I'd really appreciate a guest poster or two! Drop me an email at marissa.milne [at] gmail [dot] com or leave a comment if you're keen!

Have you visited K at The Littlest Crafter lately? She's super sweet and featured me in her Follower Friday post! Head over and check out her blog! It's full of fun crafty ideas - she just finished a week dedicated to revitalising old well-loved Barbie clothes and it was so much fun!

Head over and check The Littlest Crafter out!

A little rearrangement and your opinion please!

Hello again beautiful people! You might notice that I've been rearranging the blog layout again. I can't help myself ;) It was getting too cluttered and was loading too slowly, so some things have been given their own pages and I've cut down to one sidebar - whoo! 

I've added links to connect via Twitter, RSS Feed and Facebook! 

 Twitter and RSS will really just update when I update the blog, but I add extra content on Facebook and have things for sale there and whatnot :)

Now, I'd like your opinion please! One change I've been considering is inserting "Read More" points in my posts - some of the tutorials are pretty long! Doing this would mean that on the main page you'd just have the first bit of the post and an image to show what we're making, then if you wanted you could click "Read More" to see the whole post.

Sort of like this, but mine will be prettier of course ;) :

What do you think? Good idea? Annoying? I really can't decide, so please comment and let me know what you think!

Thanks beautiful people! Please let me know if anything is looking or behaving odd now that I've updated the blog layout so I can fix it!

Giveaway Closing Date & Official Schedule

First off, let me say thank you to all you beautiful new followers for joining us! 

Remember to like the Hazel & Honeysuckle Facebook page as well! 

Another thanks goes to everyone who has entered the giveaway! If you haven't already entered, click here to check it out. There's a cute pendant and fabric flower accessory on offer, and it's super easy to enter!

Giveaway closing date: Thursday 31st of March!

I'll do my best to announce the winner on the 1st of April!

(April fools anyone..?  ;))




Giveaway closed! Thanks to everyone who entered!! <3

Now, I need to apologise for being a bit MIA this week! Lucky I organised my pet week ahead of time, eh? Hopefully having a schedule will make life more organised! Here's the plan:

 Scrap Box Sunday

 Mod My Blog Monday

Whip It Up Wednesday

Favourite Things Friday

Sound like fun?? If you have a particular tute you'd like to see for Mod My Blog Monday (anything HTML, CSS or Blogger related!) or for Whip It Up Wednesday (anything sewing, beading or otherwise crafty) then leave me a comment somewhere on the blog, Facebook page or send me an email!

What Do YOU Think?

Hello lovely people!

I need to get more organised over here, in part so I don't let blogging take of my life entirely ;) So I thought I should set up a schedule for H&H. I'm thinking something like this:

Sunday - Scrap Box Sunday 

(quick & easy project + link party)

Tuesday - Tutorial Tuesday 

(a new project each week)

Friday - Favourite Things Friday 

(this would sometimes feature blogs, sometimes MadeIt or Etsy stores, or other random crafty things)

The other days would either be post-free, guest posts or short, random things like updates on the shop or showing off something I made, but without a tutorial. Of course, sometimes I will scrap the weekly schedule and do "A Week Of ...." to mix it up :)

Is there any other weekly feature you'd particularly like to see? 

What do you think about these ones?

I could also do HTML tips if anyone is interested? I'm relatively new to Blogger, but I'm not new to building websites - I even tutor Web-based Systems at my university so I'm pretty nifty at HTML and CSS. Even if I don't do a regular feature, shoot me an email - I'm always happy to answer questions about this!

So pretty please, let me know what you think!

(P.S. I'm getting closer and closer to 100 followers - guess what that means? A giveaway!!)

Versatile Blogger Award, Take Two!

You may remember that in an earlier post the lovely Alison from Stuff and Nonsense awarded me with the versatile blogger award (thank you!)

Well, the equally lovely Terri from A Creative Princess has awarded it to Hazel and Honeysuckle as well! 

I'm definitely feeling the love! <3 Thanks so much!!

OK, so to recap - I share 7 facts about myself, then pass the award onto some of my favourite blogging ladies out there so they can join in the fun too! Here goes..!

#1 I'm a terrible procrastinator, but when I actually get around to working I'm pretty efficient. This fools people into thinking I'm working steadily all the time ;)

(Pics nabbed from here)

#2 My man and I have decided that our slobby, studentesque ways must end! Today was our first day of getting up at 7 a.m., taking the dog for a walk, and starting work at 9! Wish us luck in turning this into our routine!

#3 I love books. I love reading them (of course!) but I also love the feel of the paper, sound of the pages turning and most of all I love the smell of books! An e-reader will never cut it for me unless they can simulate that! Oh, hang on...

(How weird is this??)

#4 I love animals (in case my posts about my dog's birthday didn't give that away already!) so even though we're students and renting, we still have a menagerie in our home! We have our dog Benny, seven rats and two aquariums, 140L tropical tank and a 100L tank holding an eel-tailed catfish.

(Eel-tailed catfish pic nabbed from here)

#5 I spend a ridiculous amount of time playing Facebook games. But, y'know, you gotta keep your frontier and vineyard running smoothly, right?? *sigh* I think I need help!

#6 I've never travelled overseas, not even to Tasmania! ;)

(Map nabbed from here)

#7 My PhD is on developing software to teach social skills to kids with high functioning autism and Asperger Syndrome. I hope my software can do some good, it's all very exciting!

OK, so I guess if there was a fact #8 it would be "I'm a rambler!" but I'll stop there ;)

Onto the next fun bit - passing this award onto some great bloggers! The rules say 15 this time, but last time said 7, so I'm going to do another 8 to add up to 15 total, OK? ;) It's so hard choosing!

Reenie Jae Creations
My Girlish Whims
Vintage Gwen
Southern Fairy Designs
Craft My Soul
Reasons to Skip the Housework
Miss Lovie Creations
Little Sprinkles of Fun

TAG! You lovely bloggers are IT!

If you want to play along, here's the rules:

1. You have to thank the person who awarded you & link them back in your post and let them know you "accept" the award

2. Tell everyone 7 random facts about yourself

3. Pass the award to 7 lovely bloggers (or 15, depending on what version you get!)

4. Contact each blogger and let them know you have passed this award onto them (if I haven't got to you already, I will very soon!)

Linking up at:

Benny's 10th Birthday

So my lovely boy turned 10 today! 

We had to celebrate a bit since double digits is a special achievement ;)

First, I made him a quick early birthday pressie - monkey pillow! 

Monkey pillow promptly had his stuffing removed.

His special on-the-day pressie was Black Cat, who has a special pocket in the front for holding nommy treats! It kind of looks more like a bat or a Pokemon or something. That's what you get for free-handing a design straight onto dark fabric using a dark pen, LOL!

Black Cat has already lost his treats and his bow, but still has all his stuffing!

Benny had a lot of fun tearing up the paper we wrapped Black Cat up in. 

Finally, my lovely man cooked the woofer some (read: a huge amount!) of liver and bacon fudge. To us, it smelt revolting! Poor man was dry retching making it :P But Benny *LOVED* it, and it's actually pretty healthy for him (shh! Don't tell woofer that bit!)

He spent a good 1/2 hour licking out the dish :)

Tomorrow we'll take a walk to visit Benny's friends and take some fudge to share with them.

After a busy day of destroying toys and eating tasty food, he's all zonked out!

Aww! <3

Thanks to everyone who wished Benny a Happy Birthday!

No, you're not imagining it...

... and yes, you are in the right place!

I've updated the look of the blog again (already?!) I loved the Shabby Blogs header image, but really needed a banner that was unique to me. So, I hope you like it! Updated the background to match :)

On a side note, it's this dude's 10th birthday tomorrow!

Happy "Double Figures Day" Benny!

Allan's cooking him a cake and I'm sewing him a new toy, but shh! Don't spoil the surprise!

Sassy Sites Header Competition

I'm going to join in the fun at Sassy Sites! 

Marni is looking for a new header graphic for her blog and is offering a pretty nice prize in return!

Check it out and join in!

Trash to Treasure - from Grandma's House!

Grandma has decided it's time to move from her two storey home, with a huge shed and yard, into a much smaller unit in a retirement village. She's also decided that the family can help her by raiding her house and taking the bits and pieces they want for themselves, so we had a bit of fun on Monday "adopting" things that she didn't have room for and was going to throw away. I thought I'd share my new treasures with you!

First are these gorgeous old books. Now those lovelies are mine, miiiine! :D In the first picture, there's also a little spinning wheel pencil sharpener and tiny jug that were too cute to pass up!

I know you'll all think I'm really sad, but I looooove chooks! So I had to have this cloisonné style plate. Love!

How the book shelf is looking now, after all it's new additions:

My OH couldn't keep himself away from some of Grandpa's old reference books, and we nabbed a sturdy wooden crate that for now is housing a lot of the new books (sitting under the printer right now, no better home for it at the moment but I couldn't pass it up!)

I found a great shadow box shelfy thing (oh I'm awesome at technical terminology!) and since no-one else laid claim, it's now organising my fabrics! I'll sand it back and paint it at some stage. I also nabbed some matt antique gold coloured chain, but I forgot to take a photo. It's very sturdy, the links are soldered together, and it's just beautiful! So will definitely be making some jewellery out of that!

We also inherited a lovely little side table made by my Great Grandfather. It's French polished and needs a little touch up, but I'm not brave enough to do anything to it just yet. I'm going to make a runner for the top of it to keep it protected. Excuse the candleless candle holder ;) The entire house is a work in progress!

Aaaaand I finally got around to putting those blue paper flowers in a vase!

Pride of place on top of the T.V. cabinet ;)

Pay It Forward - Versatile Blogger Award

Thanks so much to Alison at Stuff and Nonsense for this..!

Great fun! :D Now I have to share 7 random facts about myself with you all, so here we go!

1) I'm an only child. My parents tried for 7 years and were a week away from going on IVF when mum found out she was pregnant.

2) When I was little I wanted to be an entomologist! The thing that changed it all - I learned that to study bugs, a lot of the time you have to.. uh.. make them not-alive :P No thank YOU!

3) I do many of the "manly duties" in our house. These include but are not limited to: catching spiders and other creepy crawlies that get into the house, opening jars, unwrapping Chuppa Chups and investigating the shed when we suspect there's a snake in there. Lucky I'm so tough ;)

4) When I was little I jumped out of a tree because I thought Astro Boy would come and catch me. He didn't.

5) I'm terrified of public speaking. Sooo... I became a teacher and will have to talk to a large group of people everyday, YAY! Hang on, I see a flaw in this plan..! Not really, teaching is incredibly rewarding and I just love little kids! I can't wait to finish my PhD and get out there!

6) TMI Warning! I'm allergic to myself! Not in a life-threatening way (phew!) but I have lots of pigment-free white patches on my skin where my body attacks it's own cells and I'm allergic to the natural oils in hair. I get all sneezy :P

7) The thing I want most in the whole wide world is to have kids of my own. I would love to be a stay at home mum. BUT we need to get the whole financial security thing, and the engagement/wedding thing for that matter, sorted out first ;)

Well, I hope that wasn't too boring or weird!

Now to pay it forward! I would love to pass this award on to these lovely bloggers:

Silly Precious Piggies

The Littlest Crafter

Grey Luster Girl

Backstitch Baby

Crafty Ady

3 Sweet P's

Adelaide Lemonade

I really enjoy reading all of your blogs, thanks so much for doing what you do! <3

Rules:
1. You have to thank the person who awarded you & link them back in your post and let them know you "accept" the award
2. Tell everyone 7 random facts about yourself
3. Pass the award to 7 lovely bloggers
4. Contact each blogger and let them know you have passed this award onto them

We'll forgive you if you don't feel like playing though ;)

Google Follower Widget Added!

Since I've actually been sharing my blog with people lately (and a big THANK YOU to everyone for their lovely, encouraging comments! It's been just wonderful!) I decided it was time to add the Follower widget (see the left side bar). So if you'd like to follow through that, please do! I'm only just starting out, so it's a little lonely ;)

Today I busily worked on making some flute board boxes for my cubed bookshelf, so I will share how I did that tomorrow!

Here's a sneak peek to keep you going:

Subway Art Offering

I had big plans for crafting today, but alas! I didn't get into my craft room much at all, other than to sketch out my latest handbag idea (for tomorrow hopefully!!)

To make up for the lack of handbag or other crafty offering, I made myself some "subway" style art using Love Actually movie quotes and a few other bits and pieces and decided I'd share them with you too :) Use these however you want! If you do use them I'd love to hear! I made them in a few Valentinesy colours and other basics, but let me know if you want another colour! I'm going to print out this green one for myself, yum!

To save the full-sized version, click on the picture to open it, then right click on the picture and select "Save As". They're set up to fit on an A4 page when printed, but you can always scale it.

What I actually spent my time on today was pimping out the rat cage. I'm a bit over the little sods flinging their kitty litter, food and other "stuff" out the side of the cage, so hopefully these barriers will help! I didn't want to cover the front because I like to see them when they're in their cage and give them pats as I wander past, but if it's still too messy I have enough flute board left to do the doors too! I completely covered the back so they can't get to the wall behind their cage either!

Poor Benny doesn't understand why we got the rats in the first place.

Why mum?

Since we had flute board in the house, I got all inspired and started a mock up of those book shelf boxes that I've been dying to make for ages! It worked quite well, so if I can con the other half into another trip to Bunnings (that's going to be SO hard ;)) then I'll get some more flute board and some fabric and see if I can knock them together sooner rather than later. I'll take photos while I'm doing it so I can share :)