Hear Ye! Hear Ye! A prince has been born!

It's a BOY! A little prince! 

How exciting for Catherine and Will for the safe arrival of their sweet little boy. Nothing is more special than the arrival of a wee little bundle of joy. 

Seeing the baby cradled in his mummy's arms on the steps of the hospital a short day after his arrival reminded me of the day we brought little man home. Seeing that shot and how carefully Catherine handed him over to Will, really brought home that they are just another new mummy and daddy who, just like the rest of us, have no idea what to do with that small person! Just imagine how much the three of them are going to learn over the next few months (weeks, years, lifetime!) and how their life will have to adjust. Clearly as part of the royal family they will have a slightly different access to help, specialists and pretty much anything that money can buy for their little guy. But just like the rest of us, they know that all he needs are safe arms and lots of love.

Due to the time difference (here in Sydney, Australia) we heard of the little guy's arrival at 5.30 am. For the whole day on Tuesday I was wondering how her first night as mum was going. How much sleep did she get? How was the feeding going? Did the little boy settle overnight for some rest. I bet she hardly slept, and I know she would have spent hours just gazing at that little man just as I did on that first night with my Little Man. 

My family are royalist from way back. My gorgeous Gran, who passed away late last year at the grand age of 103, LOVED everything to do with the Royal family. Everything that happened with the family and most conversations with her would include her opinion on the events or in the least the Queens latest outfit! When Hubby and I took our honeymoon to Europe we saw Buckingham Palace and toured the Mews and saw Kensington Palace. They are seriously gorgeous buildings and I found it so amazing that they are the home for the Royal Family. Now they are home for this sweet little boy. 

My hope is that the media leave them alone enough to learn how to become parents, enjoy their sweet boy's first days and settle into their new jobs. Pfft! Duke and Duchess no longer, mummy and daddy forever! The most important job of all.

Thanks to the fabulous Jodie Vickers Pinterest page for the photos! Fully sourced and referenced below. 

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xx Tess

DIY: Thrift store frame to mini chalkboard

When I was planning a few things for my sister in law’s baby shower this weekend I decided I wanted to have a mini chalkboard for the ‘wear your guess’ table. I have a mini chalkboard but it is currently hanging from Little Man’s play tent and looks super cute there. 

The options were either go to Typo and buy a new one or make one. Since I already had chalkboard paint all I needed was something to make into a chalkboard. Thrift store frames are so perfect for so many DIY jobs and this was a good one!

I scored this frame for just $5 at my local St Vincent de Paul’s shop. The opening is an 8 x 10 inch photo, perfect for this project.

After a quick clean (and removal of the glass) I used my ‘chalk paint’ mix to cover the frame with two coats of Taubmans flat white (special chalk paint mix by me). For more info about chalk paint see my earlier post HERE.

The particle board backing is a perfect smooth surface to make a chalkboard out of. I took it out and gave it two good coats of black chalkboard paint and set it outside to dry.

Whilst it was drying I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration and tutorials of how to do the design bit. I found LOADS of gorgeous fonts but the one I ended up using was Simon Script (available for free at www.dafont.com).

I hand drew what I wanted on a piece of paper and then covered the entire back with chalk from a standard piece of pavement chalk.

I tacked it on to my mini chalkboard using Blu-tack and traced over my design using a pencil. It really worked!

Any imperfections were easily erased using a fine tip paintbrush and water. Perfect!

Here is my finished product. I will add a photo with it styled at the baby shower tomorrow. For now you just get the final product!

Everyone loves a before and after!

xx Tess

DIY: Cheveron Painted Basket

I picked up another of these really cheap, very versatile baskets with faux leather handles from Kmart for a whopping $10. Little Man's clothes hamper in his room has been one of these baskets since he was born, I also painted one for our 'drop zone' at our old house for our Ergo baby carrier to live in.

HSF confession: embarrassingly I have 99.9% of a post regarding that drop zone and a different painted basket finished, without one last picture of the completed drop zone. Since I know I now have said picture, I will aim to get that up ASAP!

Back to basket. I wanted to paint this one for my Sister in law who is about to have her first hub. So, so excited! I have spent the last few week planning her shower with her and creating LOADS of prints, invites, bunting, drink tags, thank you tags and EVERYTHING for the shower which is tomorrow. I have absolutely loved every minute of it and am now scheming how I can somehow make a meager living out of it.

The theme for the baby shower is pale lemon yellow chevron with white, elephant grey chevron with white and some sweet little elephants. The baby's room is planned to be along these colours too so I used white and grey and chevron as my guide.

Before we get started, taping off chevron is hard. Well I always find it hard anyway! Is there a secret to the whole thing? If so, fill me in. The whole thing may have been made harder as the basket is neither flat nor cylindrical...

I then taped off the chevron pattern i wanted, four times. No kidding, I did it, and re did it, and re did it and finally the last time the chevron managed to match up and work. Shesh! I almost threw in the towel (almost people, I battled on). 

Then I used some sample pot paint (white and Stormcloud Gray both from Taubmans) and ta da!

I am really really happy with it!

xx Tess

Vacation time: Packing lists

We are heading off on a family holiday tomorrow! Whoooooo! Off to beautiful Port Douglas for 10 gorgeous days of beach, sun, warm weather and lots of good food. I am so excited to have a break from house hunting and spending time with my two favourite boys. It also is the end of my maternity leave as I am heading back to work in mid July.

Part of me is really looking forward to getting back to work, part of me is not. I love my days with the Little Man and we are so busy with the house hunt, play dates and fun activities it will be a big change. A good change. I need to keep telling myself that.

Back to the holiday prep.

It is no secret that I LOVE LISTS. I make them daily, twice daily, honestly too often. This I get from my mum. She is the ultimate list maker but she is also the most organized person I know. In the back of my beautiful Erin Condren planner I have a list: 'Things We Should Always Travel With' and I add to it all the time. From recommendations and from experience. The balloon is a big one in this family.

For holidays I make three lists, one for me, one for the Little Man and one for the plane/car/however we are travelling. Hubby gets to take care of his own packing. He is one of the those easily organised people, and he is a man so his outfits are a million times easier than mine!

Here are the lists I've just made for our trip >>

Off to pack I go!

xx Tess

Home Design Inspiration: Styled Built-in Shelving

I cannot tell you how much I love the look of built in shelving. Styled, neat, effective storage with a mantle for decorating as the season changes, this is my idea of living room perfection. There are literally thousands of shots of beautifully styled builts in on the blogosphere. Some gorgeous DIY built ins too which might be a good option for us as we are going to be on SUPER budget once we find our home.

Here are some of my favourite inspiration photos...

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xx Tess

Celebrations inspirations: For the Bar Cart

Ever wondered what the perfect bar cart contents would be? Me too! So I did some research and came up with this simple list of nine lovely items...

Celebrations inspirations: Bar Carts

Whilst I was away last weekend in Melbourne, my brother who is a graphic designer and I had a big discussion about bar carts. Yes, bar carts. Before I go any further, we are not big drinkers and I don't condone excessive drinking. We are in the grips of 'Gatsby-world' at the moment and during the roaring forties and onwards a bar cart in the living room, well stocked was a normal situation.

I have been pottering around for inspiration on Pinterest and found these gorgeous shots.

My inspiration, wait until you see what I've found....

xx Tess

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