Polka Dot Party decorations

Party Decorations

So the planning continues with Lily's party - next on the list is the decorations.  With the cake being this one, I have decided on Polka Dots!

Online Inspiration

I have decided to go with a pink and white polka dot and red and white polka dot colour scheme.  Sounds a bit crazy I know, but I love polka dots and can make it work with block colours in the red and pink as well.  So after a bit of online research (where else would I get all my great ideas!) I  found the following red and pink themed party over at www.babybites.co.nz - a great place to start for party inspiration, they have loads of different party themes and real parties to spend hours drooling over! I also found many other ideas on Pinterest.

Red and Pink Party

Online Party Supplies

I found these polka dot lanterns and mini table runners over at Sweet Pea Parties.  There are many other bits and pieces - you can get jumbo polka dot balloons and smaller versions aswell, polka dot tables runners, polka dot cupcake stands............. you kinda get the idea!

Pop Roc Parties and Dots n Spots are also great party accessory stores:

I love these goodies from Pop Roc Parties

 and Dots n Spots

Another place to try is the many $2 shops that have popped up everywhere these days, they are a great place to start and you can often find wee gems for next to nothing.  I found red and white and pink and white spotty napkins for $2 a packet and some cute popcorn bags for $2 a packet as well.

If you know where to get any cute Polka Dot party decorations at other places than the ones listed above please comment below, your fellow readers would appreciate it.

You can read about the Birthday Party here : The First Birthday Party

Pin boards, Style boards, Moodboards

It is amazing how many pinboard/styleboard/moodboard type sites there are now - where were these when I need them when I was wanting to start a moodboard for our wedding!  Would have been so much simpler!  One of my favourites is we heart it and pinterest.  If you are looking for ideas or inspiration for pretty much anything these are a great place to start.

Some of my fav images from weheartit:

Some of my favs from Pinterest:

and always remember...............

first birthday party invitations

Its almost Lily's first birthday so preparations are under way for her first birthday party.  The first hurdle was the theme which took a bit of deciding on - I wasn't sure if she was too young for a theme but I thought about what her favourite things are and the theme was pretty easy from there.  I have chosen a bird theme, as one of Lily's favourite things to do is watch her bird friends eat the bread scraps at breakfast time.  The second hurdle (you can tell I've been watching a little bit too much of the Olympics!) is the invitations.  I hit the internet (Pinterest, Google, Juxtapost, blogs etc) for a few ideas, then the Mall which there are plenty of fairy, robot and PIRATE themed birthday invitations so if you happen to be looking for those themes you won't have any trouble.  In the end I found a cake which led to the invites!

Some of the ones I found:

I found these on Pinterest, Etsy and Google

The cake I found:

The invites I decided on:

One little lala bird from alannahrose.com.au

just a little bit cute went to craft market

Well it's been a crazy month with lots going on around here, just a little bit cute officially went to market and I will be going to a few more.  It was a great night at Shop Me Pretty in Sumner and I enjoyed meeting other crafties and fellow stallholders.  I will be posting about them in future posts! These photos are what I have made so far and there is plenty more in the pipeline.  It all started with a few baby food jars and has snowballed from there, a little bit of recycling combined with a little bit of creativity = just a little bit cute!  Enjoy having a look and if you would like anything please comment below or email me at justalittlebitcute@xtra.co.nz

I am also in the process of setting up a facebook page but these things take time so I will keep you posted for it's launch.  On that note have a happy weekend everyone and if you are in Christchurch there is the Craft Invaders Market on Saturday at CPIT, all the details are here- https://www.facebook.com/#!/thecraftcollectivenz

for your guilty pleasure.............

I love my job, I get to do lots of  research online and come across some wee gems.  Because it's work I don't feel guilty when I come across blogs, and I come across some very cool ones! Sometimes relevant to what I am doing and sometimes not. But I love how there are lots of people from all walks of life doing/saying/making some cool things and thought I would share some of this blog love.  I also discover a few blogs on Facebook that people have shared, so if you see these posts check them out, you never know what you might find or find out and it may lead to something else or something else from there!

made from scratch

http://madefromscratch.co.nz/
  Rachael McMahon and her blog Made From Scratch is her personal collection of treasures kept in one sweet place. Founded in August 2010, Made From Scratch was used to journal the creations, recipes and inspiration that lead up to her wedding day.   But has continued and blossomed into a trove of simple delicious home baking handed down to her by her Grandma, her Mum and recipes she has learnt along the way, DIY, wedding, living and celebration themed treasures to inspire you to live the most beautiful and handmade life.

tartan kiwi

http://craftandnappies.blogspot.co.nz/

 Juliet, a Scot who has been living in New Zealand for the last 6 years or so. 

A Mum to Rascal (aged 3) and Scallywag (aged 1) and wife to a wonderful man.

With the help of the internet, she is teaching herself to sew. Challenging herself to try new things all the time, and trying to prove that the things that she regards as being ridiculously difficult are really not as impossible as I think!

lovely little things

http://lovely-little-things.blogspot.co.nz/
a collection of exactly what it says "a little bit of this + a little bit of that"

the owl and the elephant

http://theowlandtheelephant.blogspot.co.nz
Once upon a time, two friends with a mutual love of drinking tea discovered that this was just the start. Conversations turned to fabric & furniture, revamping & repurposing, kids & craft ... it was here that the tale of The Owl & the Elephant began.........

sophie slim

http://sophieslim.blogspot.co.nz/

A Christchurch woman who is behind an online "sisterhood" who have sent "love bombs" to deserving women throughout the country.

Sophie Laughton-Mutu, 22, founded the group on her blog at the beginning of the year. She now has up to 70 members of the sisterhood, organised into action through postings on her blog

http://craftandcreativity.com/blog/
Gorgeous crafts all the way from Sweden, so the blog is in both Swedish and English languages

http://www.colourmethere.com

Maddie started blogging to share cool things she found with her other Mum (and non-Mum) friends without cluttering up their Facebook walls.

Happy reading and don't be surprised if you lose an hour or two in blog land, I have a disclaimer that says you can't hold me responsible for the loss of time but feel free to thank me for all the ideas you will be full to the brim with...............................

Hats off to you!

The weather outside is frightful, these hats are so delightful............................

With this horrible winter weather it's easy for your babies to look cute and quite often make someone smile with these super cute crochet hats I have found in my internet travels.  Lily was given her owl hat by a good friend of ours and has inspired me to find more for her hat collection which I am afraid will end up like her shoe collection (quite extensive for one so little and one pair of feet!)  Random strangers light up with a smile when they see her wear it because it is super cute and a little bit different.

Top 3 can be found over at:

https://www.facebook.com/Kimscraftcave

These 2 styles can be found over at:

http://www.facebook.com/HattingMadlyCrochet

These 2 styles can be found over at:

http://felt.co.nz/shop/inkoutside

These 5 can be found over at:

http://felt.co.nz/shop/creativeaertz

Just a warning though.......once you start collecting cute hats you might not be able to stop!

It's only Monday morning................

It's only Monday morning and I am inspired already!  Its going to be a great week!  Over at Felt (www.felt.co.nz) I was searching for something else and came across these sailboats - gorgeous, it has bunting and just a little bit cute!

Have a great week everyone!