Thoughtful Thursday - Imaginative, Innovative, Inspiring

Thoughtful Thursday is a new "My Pigeon Pair" series!

I would love to share with the flock the 

"Thoughtful Things"

I find out their in cyberspace.

Maybe its just an image, an idea or an inspiration!

A Diamond In the stuff - Lamp Revamp

Loving this revamp of some old lamps!!!  

I have literally "burnt" my old lamp covers by leaving the lamp on whilst I am up feeding Little Miss A at night!

Such a gorgeous and cost effective idea that you could customize to any home decor colour scheme!

The DIY Show Off - Pottery Barn Inspired Easter

I have been searching for some Easter decor!  Love this fresh, spring Easter table setting!

Manostiles boxes

Oh the organiser in me is dreaming of these gorgeous boxes!  Love the colours!


and I hope you are sitting down for this one....

A Fairy Door!

In preparation for the tooth fairy, complete with fairy dust so you know she has moved in!

Oh how these stir the imagination.

Your own little fairy watching over you, ready to visit at the very special moment.

This is truly the most inspiring, innovative and imaginative product I have discovered lately!

They are available via

TaDaa Studio on Etsy

or you can make one yourself using a dollhouse door!

This Blessed Nest

Look at this clever Mummy's project!

What is inspiring your imagination this week?

Wordless Wednesday - Play

"Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood,

for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child's soul"

Friedrich Froebel ~ The "Father" of the Modern Kindergarden

Playing along with

Wordless Wednesday

at

Faith, Hope and a Whole Lotta Love

Little Miss A's 1st Birthday - The Party

Part of the table centrepiece, this divine print

From Owly Molly Print

(our lovely sponsors!)

My oh my how the first year flew by!  

So we all say it and even the old Nanna's in the shops will tell you, 

they truly do grow up so quickly!

So this weekend we celebrated our Little Miss A's 1st Birthday!  

We had family fly in, and a full house of helpers, and an absolutely wonderful time!

Little Miss A was in her element and is definitely a party girl 

I can laugh about that now but no doubt 

it will come back to haunt me in those teenage years!

The Birthday girl, ready to party in her

 gorgeous Tara K Designs outfit, shoes and all!

Thank you so much Kerrie, she was a pink birdie dream!

This is what happens when I attempt to get a photo of the Pigeon Pair together

It's my Party, I am way too excited to sit still for a photo!

Master O: Are you excited about your Birthday party?

You bet I am!  I want to dance!!

Check out the feet!!!

Getting the table ready.

The gorgeous buntings are from Anders Ruff, of course!

Centrepiece

A little tree with some sweet birdies 

The birdies are made using the paper in the Anders Ruff Party Package.

A little birdie, watching over the party from her nest.

Logo Bunting and Food Labels from Anders Ruff

Little Chocolate Birds nests

Whats a party without cupcakes?

Some Bickies in cupcake cups, perfect for baby hands!

cupcake cups from Robins Kitchen

Birdie Bickies

Worms in a nest

Prawns in Tart Shells with Lime Aioli

Little Miss A's Great Grandmother sent some "Toroni"

Almond Nougat

A long standing tradition in our family, there is never a party without it!

Party Favours

Some little eggs to take home to your nest.

The Birthday Cake

I am sure it would be easier to buy a cake but it's so much more rewarding to make one!

Icing mishaps and all!

Blow out your candles and make a wish!

The cake knife was an engagement present from my parents.

It has cut our engagement cake, wedding cake, both christening cakes and all of our birthday cakes ever since!

The cream ribbon is from our wedding, the blue from Master O's Baptism and the pink from

Little Miss A's baptism!

so lady like with a spoon for the cake....

Well for a moment at least....fingers work much better!

Did you say photo? Strike a pose!

Is that it? It's all over?  Clearly unimpressed!

Happy 1st Birthday, Little Miss A

May all your birthday wishes come true xx

Wordless Wednesday - Parcels

I LOVE PARCELS!

A Birthday Present for Little Miss A

from her Nonna.

A gorgeous Bebe by Minihaha outfit!

Playing along with

Faith, Hope and a Whole Lotta Love

THE WINNER IS.....THE AMAZING VINTAGE KID GIVEAWAY!

Drum roll please....

Comment #13

dittal86 said...

"Oh and I forgot to mention I am a follower of your blog"

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You have won an AMAZING prize from the gorgeous

"Vintage Kid"

Some divine Winter Pyjamas!

Please send me a message via Facebook to claim your prize!!!

Thank you to everyone who entered and most of all

thank you to the very generous Bernice from "Vintage Kid" for this fabulous prize!!

"My Pigeon Pair" have a full week this week, starting today the relatives are flying in for Little Miss A's 1st Birthday!!!

The blog also has an exciting announcement later in the week!

Stay tuned.....

The gift of reading....

I have many loves.  

Coffee, shopping, my family, teaching, party planning, blogging and 

did I mention shopping?

But truly the one love, that I strive to pass on to my children, is my love of reading.  As a child I was a self confessed book worm.  Well "book" worm is perhaps not the best term as I would read anything!  Magazines, newspapers, books, even the junk mail.  I loved receiving books as presents and now I love to give books as presents.  They have the ability to transport you to another world.  When reading I am afraid the rest of the world becomes a distant blur.  Now as a mother I am afraid I don't have the luxury of having the time or ability to "transport" to anywhere.  Instead I now get my fix online.  Blogs, journals, online magazines.  I can read them when I have that spare moment...I wish I was Oprah and could "gift" you all with a book but instead I will share with you my latest "reading" find...

This week I discovered the gorgeous "The Party Dress" online magazine or ezine....

it is absolutely gorgeous...pages filled with the most tempting parties, marvellous ideas, divine colour palettes and inspiring contributors (our "One Clever Chic, Sharnel Dollar is a contributor) have me swooning.

The Party Dress

This is the first issue of this divine magazine and I look forward to reading many more.

So unwrap this gorgeous present (click the link above) and enjoy being transported to a world of fine dining, exquisite details and beautiful tablescapes.

Come One, Come all to a Rainy Day Fun Day!

What do you do with two kids, on a rainy weekend?  

Go to the fair of course!

I LOVE where we live!  

Our regular Saturday grocery trip after swimming lessons turned into a trip to the fair!

They regularly hold "Fun Days" at our local shopping centre and best of all it is ALL FREE!

We had FREE Fairy Floss, FREE face painting (An amazing Rocket!), FREE plant pot painting and planting, FREE Hat painting, FREE balloon creations and FREE train rides!  

It was mostly indoors so the rain did not put a dampner on our fun, in fact it added to the excitement!

A game of skill?  or luck?

Love the one hand painter!

excited to be on a train in the rain!

It was more like a theme park ride as every time he went over a speed bump, water would pour off the roof into our little cabin!  My hand bag didn't love it, but the kids did!!!

My Pigeon Pair

(Little Miss A in her Miff Designs outfit)

Now if only every rainy weekend turned out to be this fun!

I am grateful for....the school disco!

The school hall, usually a place of indoor P.E lessons, assemblies and capturing school photos, for one night is transformed to another world...disco world.  

The lights are dimmed.  The darkness broken by the occasional coloured flashing light. There are rumours in the playground, that some lucky schools even get a smoke machine!

The usual drab decor is decorated with balloons or even better in theme!!!  The transformation is not limited to the place but the people too!  Our everyday attire of school uniform has been replaced by a carefully picked outfit, especially chosen for its dance ability of just to make you look like the coolest kid around.  Will it sparkle in the lights?  Will my skirt twirl when I dance?  Are these shoes made for dancing?

Last night "My Pigeon Pair" went to their very first school disco.  Yes they are not yet school students but it is one of the many perks of having a mum who is a school teacher!  I am not sure who was more excited by the event, me, my kids or the students from my class who were so in love with my two little ones.  There was the usual hokey pokey, chicken dance and the occasional conga line but it is 2011 so there was also some Usher, Black Eyed Peas, real DJ's and plenty of floor spinning!

Not to be outdone my Mr Sociable Master O broke out his best moves which are best described as a mix between, break dancing, gymnastics, martial arts and Elaine from Seinfeld.  Miss A clapped her little hands until I am sure they were going to fall off but her signature move is definitely the bounce and bob.

I danced too, twirling kids under my arms, showing them some vintage moves like swimming and the lawn mower, and dragging those reluctant dancers up to do the twist.  We sang, we danced, we sweated and got huge blisters but we had the time of our lives.  In between all of this I noticed something...these children were aged between 4 and 7.  It is a magical age of innocence.  Self esteem is at an all time high.  Every child there boy, girl, co-ordinated or not so much, thought they were the best dancer in the room.  Nobody was judging. I get goosebumps thinking about it.  I wish I could capture their joy and bottle it.

They don't just say it they live it.  They truly danced like no one was watching.

Playing along with "Maxabella Loves"

Fashion Finds Friday - Vintage Kid

Vintage Kid Bib and Pants

I have often thought that I was born in the wrong era.  The fashion of the bygone days of roses, frills, and cutesy patterned fabric has so hastily been replaced by licensed "cartoon and movie" products that lack individuality and innocence.  Whilst searching for some "vintage" fabric outfits for my pigeon pair, I unearthed a treasure trove of goodies at "Vintage Kid".  These gorgeous fabrics are reminiscent of a time when boys played cowboys and indians and not Buzz Light Year vs Ben Ten.  Roses and ice creams for our little pink pretties, which now at most department stores, you will struggle to find, amidst the Hannah Montanna and Hello Kitty.  

Boys Apron

Girls Apron and Ruffle Pant

 Owner of Vintage Kids, Bernice is a mother of 2 kids (Eli 4 and Eva 2). Bernice and her husband  Sean are both educators. He still works full time and Bernice (who was an Early Childhood teacher!) is fortunate enough to stay at home and follow another passion of hers Children's clothing!   

After searching for unique products for her own children (sound familiar!) she stumbled upon Vintage Kid.

"Vintage Kid was actually started in 2006 and we bought the business in 2008 after starting our own online boutiquewww.thebeeskneeskids.com.au. I wanted to stock Vintage Kid products as I just loved how different and unique everything was. At that stage Vintage Kid mostly stocked hats, nappy covers, bibs and 2 styles of dresses. I have really enjoyed growing and expanding the range to include many more gorgeous designs in fabrics. We have also expanded our range of dresses have now included pajamas, library bags, long ruffle pants and so much more!"

Ruffle Pants

Vintage Kid and The Bees Knees Kids are located in the Northern Suburbs of Perth where Bernice operates the business from their family home. " I have our games room set up as our stock room. I manage everything from the selections of fabrics and trims, labels to marketing, promotions, sales, customer service, postage everything even maintaining our Facebook pages!"

A creative Mum, Bernice loves to be involved in the design process, especially shopping for new fabrics and viewing the completed products.

"I really like our Long Ruffle Pants and Swing tops. My daughter has so many of these as they mix and match so well, as well as attracting many compliments about how great they look!  Our pyjamas are a newer product that have just passed through all the Australian and New Zealand safety testing.  My kids love their pyjamas!"

Winter Pyjamas

So what does a typical day look like for this clever Mum?

"Busy!! Usually I am multitasking as any other Mum with school runs, washing, cleaning and running 2 businesses from home. Some days it can be a real juggling act trying to fit everything in especially when we get lots of wholesale orders as well as retail orders that need to go out the same day! We also offer exceptional service.   The great customer service we expect to recieve ourselves, which is really lacking these days!" 

So what does the future hold for Vintage Kids? 

We would like to expand our range to include manchester and bedding so that is something to look foward to in the near future!

Vintage Kids is stocked in store and online throughout Australia and even in South Africa!  For stockists visit

The Bees Knees Kids

or

Vintage Kid

But wait.......there's more

 "Vintage Kid" are generously going to giveaway a pair of their

 divine winter Pyjama's!!!

Valued at $44.95

Girl's Pyjama's

Simply

1. Like the "My Pigeon Pair" Facebook page.

2. Like the "Vintage Kid" Facebook page. (Tell them who sent you!)

3. Visit the "Vintage Kid" website and find your favourite product!

4. Leave a comment on this blog post telling us which product you love 

OR

5. Tag Vintage Kid AND My Pigeon Pair in your Facebook Status Update and then let us know you have done so on the My Pigeon Pair- Facebook Page.

BONUS ENTRY

Sign up as a follower on the "My Pigeon Pair" Blog

- Leave an additional comment on the blog when you have done so!

Conditions

Only open to Australian residents due to postage.

Winner chosen via Random.org

Competition opens 11am Friday 18th March

Competition closes 7pm Tuesday 22nd March

Happy Entering!