Lilly turns one!

Lilly's birthday party was last weekend and it was the most beautiful day surrounded by people who love her dearly! I spent many weeks leading up to her party getting things ready with zero stress...that was until the day before the party when I realised how much I still had to do!

Thankfully we had loads of help from our families and everything came together just how I had imagined it would in my mind! Scroll down to the bottom of the post for info on where we got our goodies from and for a free download!

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Birthday banner and Pom Poms - $2 shop
Mini pegs for photos: Typo
Cake: Made by myself
Cake topper: Little Paper Stand on Madeit
Quote in Frame: Designed by myself
Play dough tubs - The Reject Shop
ONE letters - Spotlight
ONE bunting on highchair - Made by myself
ONE signature board - Made by myself
Lilly's party dress - Upsy Bling
Headband - Spotlight and Upsy Bling
 
Click the image below to download the printable quote for your own party!

Easter Craft Ideas

I can't believe how quickly this year is going - Easter is just a few days away! This week, I met up with a friend of mine and we did some fun Easter craft together.

First we made some little carrot magnets for Lilly's loved ones! We used orange non-toxic paint to do their little footprints then cut strips of green paper for the carrot tops. Once they had dried, we used a hot glue gun to pop a magnet on the back. I just love how they turned out!

Next we painted two circles onto cardboard - one white for a rabbit face and one yellow for a little chicken. We painted their feet white for bunny ears and their hands yellow for chicken wings. Isn't the rabbit the sweetest!?

Lastly, we did a cute little rabbit with a matching carrot using their little footprints! These will be sent off to Picture Products which will then be turned into a little plate for Lilly to put her Easter Bunny carrots and snacks on next year. It will be awesome to see how much her feet have grown by this time next year! I was so worried about ruining her plate, so Lilly helped me to draw the carrot tops but I think she was more interested in eating my hand.

Lilly's learning corner

As some of you may know, I am a primary school teacher. I taught Prep/Kindergarten for two years before I fell pregnant with Lilly and I always loved making a difference in the lives of our little people. Now that I am a stay at home Mummy, I design and create teaching products which I sell over at Little Lifelong Learners. This has just been a little hobby but I'm thinking of taking the leap and turning it into my very own small business very soon!

I decided to make some cute alphabet posters which I shrunk down and laminated for my home office where I spend a lot of my day. Once they were up, we decided to make a little learning corner for Lilly seeing as though she spends some of her day in here with me.

 

Once the posters were up on the wall, we went to Ikea and got some wooden learning toys. Lilly absolutely loves the abacus and whacks the beads across with a big grin on her face.At Kmart, we got the white bookshelf and the little baskets. I think Lilly actually enjoys playing with the baskets more than she likes the things inside them. They are great for sensory play.

 We are using one of the baskets to keep all her board books and touchy feely books in. It's the perfect size for Lilly to be able to reach in and grab what she wants. Read my Books for Babies post to see what our favourites are at the moment.

The next basket is our sensory play / exploration basket. At the moment, it's full of different balls with different textures. Lilly loves to pick them up and throw them so it's no surprise that some have mysteriously disappeared already!

Last but certainly not least, are my sensory play bottles! The first is just cooking oil and coloured water. When Lilly shakes it, the oil and water starts to mix together then separate again. It's more fun for me to watch and play with but I'm sure Lilly will appreciate it soon! The next is just different coloured rice. You pop some rice in a zip lock bag with some food colouring and a splash of white vinegar and shake it up until the rice is dyed. Then you spread it on some cooking paper out in the sun to dry. So easy and so effective!

The others are my rainbow shakers filled with bits and pieces from my craft cupboard. If you don't have a stash, you can grab some bits and pieces from the $2 or junk shop. I used things like feathers, paddle pop sticks, beads, pebbles, pipe cleaners and coloured pasta. So cheap and so much fun!

So there you go! Lilly now has a little space to play and learn in while Mummy works on her business!

Lilly's first painting experience

As many of you know, I am a big supporter of sensory play for little ones. A friend of mine did some cute little paintings with her bubba which inspired me to paint with Lilly too!

I headed to the $2 shop and grabbed some bright, non-toxic paint (just in case) and some canvases. When we got home, I put an old sheet on the floor and dabbed some paint onto the canvas. Next I wrapped some cling wrap around it and popped Lilly down for some painting fun.

She loved smooshing the paint with her feet and her fingers, but I think Mumma had more fun! This is a great little craft activity and the resulting canvas is now sitting proudly in her Learning Nook.