Lets get the Party started - A Stuck on You Giveaway

Kids party planning can be scary daunting.   

My party planning can go a little something like this....

1.Panic

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2. Pinterest binge

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3. Procastinate

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4. Pinterest binge

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5. Start going crazy overboard with ideas

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6. Get overwhelmed

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7. Start getting it together

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9. Realise it's not going to quite turn out how you planned it - cue disappointment

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10. Manage to throw it together the night before

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Well now there is help for all my party planning needs - our good friends Stuck on You have released their new party range which is pretty super dooper and of course just a little bit cute!  You can choose your product, then personalise it, choosing your own theme, party colour and font! Easy!

A sneak peek...

So in future my party planning will go like this-

1. Head to Stuck on You Party Page

2. Party DONE!

Head to Stuck on You's Party page

Select 3 products you would choose to get your party started

Comment below or on the Facebook Page (justalittlebitcute) which 3 Products they are

Winner will be selected at random on Monday 17th June

Winner will receive a $25 voucher to spend on Stuck on You's new party range

Thrifty Thursday - Dollar Store Finds

I love it when I come across cute finds in the dollar stores, you really never know what you will find next!

Today I found these Jam Pot covers which I already have a hundred many uses for, I just love the cute gingham and floral fabrics.

 And then I found some cute party supplies which I am always on the lookout for.  Polka dot ice cream containers with wooden spoons and stripey party straws. These were a bargain so I snapped some up because I knew they wouldn't hang around for long.  I found these in the Just Incredible store in New Brighton - Lily and I usually pop down there for a walk on the Pier (If its not too windy), check out the Library and then always check out the store to see if there is anything new - there usually always is and I come out with an empty wallet but buzzing with more creativity.

Where do you find  your treasures? Do you have a dollar store that has goodies like these

Feel free to comment below and share the love.

What's for lunch? - Best of British

In honour of Lizzie's  birthday (well her pretend birthday) I thought it was a great opportunity to make Lily a British themed lunch. So cue inspiration and a Pinterest binge....

So shall we have princesses, princes, queens or a kings theme?

Little Prince, Princess Muffin Tin Meal, Queen Elizabeth Bento,
Evil Queen, Little Princess

The Best of British?

British Bento

Or a British TV Show, Movie or Cartoon theme?

Harry Potter Bento, Wallace & Gromit Bento

We decided on one of my fave things which is a High Tea, I feel its important to share these things with your children so they get to love them too. Lily got to share it with her friends

Zoe and Grace which she was very excited about!

Complete with Scones, Castle Sausage Rolls and Crown Sandwiches

The result....

Market Mashup - The Great British Encraftment Market

The Great British Encraftment Market was on the weekend and it was nice to go along and check out what my fellow crafters are up to.  As always I am blown away with what they come up with. And slightly jealous in awe.

Craftylana

I love the cute designs of Craftylana's handmade cards - I loved them so much it took me forever to decide, I bought the oh baby card above and can't wait to give it to someone (so those 3 of you I know who are due in a couple of months...one of you better have a girl!)  I also bought the cutest card complete with sewing machine and to be honest I'm not giving it away I'm keeping it for my craft space.

Bali Suga

The cute treats look good enough to eat but alas they are made from felt!  They would be such a great addition to a little girl's tea party, I can't wait until Lily is old enough where we can play tea parties and I will definitely be buying some of these cuties for the tea party collection.

Ameliorate

I spotted these little Ninjas hiding at Ameliorate, just watching, waiting to jump out and say BUY ME!

Pandemonium

I have a thing for wooden jewellery at the moment so when I saw these little cuties my heart smiled a little!

Queen Stitch

I have dabbled a little with embroidery hoops myself but never made any this cute.  Macarons and Cupcakes are two of my faves *sigh* what more could you ask for?

little Teapot

Its not very often you get to see something cool for the boys, so I was excited to see these Lego Block boxes.  Pop your Lego in the box complete with baseplate and carry it wherever you go - now that is handy!

Crafty Cake Creative

I saw these guys hiding in amongst lots of other cute things and thought what a great way to make something not so cute actually cute!  I love the floral fabrics (bit of a sucker for floral) and could see them brightening up someones day.

Be sure to check out this next Market -

Details here

Thrifty Thursday - Yoghurt Pottles

 Lily likes sometimes likes yoghurt so we have a few pottles gathering momentum in the recycling bin so cue a Pinterest induced binge on how to upcycle yoghurt pots.  And did I hit the jackpot - no pun intended, well not really.  So here are some of the best ones I found, tutorials and links to the original source are found underneath each photo.

Start off with something simple like Sensory Play - kids LOVE water so scooping, pouring and usually drinking the water with yoghurt pottles is always fun.

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Yoghurt pots are the perfect size for storage of crayons, felts and crafty bits.  

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They are also great for sock, underwear or jewellery storage (if you are that organised)

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They make great herb pots for you and seed pots for the littlies

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Make inexpensive toys like this train or hot air balloon - I love the dolly passenger in the hot air balloon.

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Seeing as Fathers Day is around the corner how about a trophy for Dad or anyone you think deserves one!

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Something nature inspired like this Bird Cake recipe will keep the birds coming back for a snack and hanging out in the garden.

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Yoghurt Pottles  also make great serving containers for a dessert at a party - you could use ice cream, jelly, fruit, mini trifles or all of the above!

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For more ideas check out my Upcycled Yoghurt Pottles Pinterest Board

Happy Upcycling x

I'm back!

After a bit of a break, to sort out a few things (basically sort out my crazy busy life, and by no means does crazy busy mean glamorous!)  and to refuel the inspiration tanks I am back and I have so many cute things to share so I thought I would give you a sneak peek........

With organisation being the keyword around here, I have come across a few cute ideas to organise things in the home, I not only fell in love with these gorgeous blue kitchen utensils but the idea of a baking corner - that blue is gorgeous *sigh*

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It's no secret Washi tape is HUGE right now and I have come across the cutest little Washi tape projects you ever did see (and upcycled too!)

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I have fallen in love with wigwams, tablecloth houses, pup tents and hula hoop hideouts, keep your eyes peeled for this feature, there is sure to be something cute for everyone (even me!)

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And there will always be Thrifty Thursdays, with upcycling ideas galore.  I am always amazed by how many cool upcycling ideas there are out there, not much actually makes it into the recycling bin these days, I always pause before I throw it away and think to myself 'I wonder if there is an upcycling idea for this?' and yep usually there is.

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And last but not least I am finally going to start a Quiet Book for Lily.  She is at that age where sometimes she needs something to keep her occupied for when we are at appts etc.  So I am super excited to be starting it but sharing my progress along the way. I am thinking the first page might be something simple from over at Imagine our Life, I do quite like the Mailbox or the Sock Dryer or the...you can see where this is heading don't you?

Mailbox Quiet Book Page

With all that said I am happy to be back sharing all the things I find, and I hope this blog continues to be for some their happy place and also becomes a happy place for a few more of you.

I also hope you like the blog's new layout, (it has now hit a few of you that things are looking very different around here) thanks to my friend Kim from Hello Lemming who helped me with the design, it has been on my to do wishlist for ages!

Top 7 Web writing tips–keeping it natural while sticking to the ‘rules’

Top 7 Web writing tips–keeping it natural while sticking to the ‘rules’

Learning about Web writing has been a bit like learning a new set of road rules.  Before working through the Writing for the Web course I drove pretty casually with my writing like off road on the farm.  After learning Web writing skills it’s a bit like driving on the road using road rules.

A bit of background

I generally like to write about cute things and share them with people on my blog.   This is where I write naturally and mostly write and let the words flow onto the page never thinking about ‘rules’. 

At Not Socks I write copy and articles related to gifts and I work to rules and guidelines as outlined by my Manager so I had a few ideas about web writing.

What I have learnt

The most interesting part about web writing for me was learning that there are lots of rules and guidelines for how you write for the web, basically so that people will:

a.            Read your content

b.            Find your content interesting and easy to read

c.             Traffic will be driven to your site

d.            Get as many of your Web pages credited by the search engines with the

right keyword phrases on each page.

The top 7 most important writing rules I have learnt and will continue to use in all my web writing are:

Headings and subheadings – See if you can spot these above.  People don’t have time to read lines and lines of writing – they want to know quickly what your content is about, the headline grabs them and pulls them in.

Write less! 

Bullet points – breaking up is hard to do….but making it easy for the reader to scan your content is important

Short paragraphs – try not to fit it all into one BIG paragraph.  Make it easier for the reader to scan your writing

Use hyperlinks and anchor text – to important links. 

Think about what search terms – what do you think people will use - put yourself in the mind of the user to find key word phrases.  What keyword phrases would you enter if you were looking for a product or service on Google

Create trust – with the reader by writing good content, using simple design, and checking grammar. 

So now I have my set of ‘road rules’ I am writing better content that will be seen.  And eventually after you have been driving on the road for a while it becomes a little bit more natural every time you drive.