Merry Christmas!

It's that time of the year again, when we retreat to our families and take some time out. I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas and happy new year; may 2011 bring all that you wish for - good health, good luck and happiness. Thank you all so much for your comments, support, best wishes and friendship over the year. It means so much to me that you take some time out from your busy lives to share a little time reading Bondville. I'm taking a wee break over the holidays and planning some really exciting things for 2011... watch this space! Take care and see you soon,

Love
Steph
xxx

P.S. Gorgeous personalised star ornament from my friend Kylie, the ever-so-talented artist at paper boat press.

Craft: The Cupcake Dress

It's been a loooooong time since I have done any serious sewing. And recently I bought this fabo dress kit from Aunty Cookie to make for my big girl. But I was too scared to cut into the divine fabric straight away, so I bought some practice material, my Mum helped me make a pattern, and this is the practice dress that I made! I'm totally thrilled with it. In fact, this will be the Christmas dress, and the real thing might get made in the new year ;)

Image: Steph Bond

Baby Bondville's First Birthday

The cake! Melt and Mix Chocolate and Coconut cake from Donna Hay Modern Classics Book 2* with vanilla bean buttercream frosting from Donna Hay Kids magazine volume 7.

My friend Bron provided the cups and I provided the retro striped paper straws (from Lark). Tablecloth from Dandi. Hydrangeas from our garden.

I just love this bunting. It's a printable (my new secret weapon), which means you can print the design on your own printer. Download from the Ruffled blog (thanks Carolynn of Two Brunettes!), choose the letters you want, print on your own printer, cut each letter out, hole punch the corners and string with baker's twine. Soooo easy.

My friend Bron made the blue smartie cake which was so popular with the boys, and the matching patty cakes.

Fruit skewers courtesy of Mr Bondville. I think he did an amazing job.

Super-sneaky chocolate brownies (laden with pureed spinach and carrot) from Deceptively Delicious* by Jessica Seinfeld and Bron's palmier-style cookies.

I used icing sugar to spell out the initials of the two birthday babies on the brownies.

The cake! That's me cutting a slice for my big girl who is a fantastic big sister.

The lovely birthday girl enjoying eating (and smearing) her food.

Baby Bondville turns One! Well, almost. Her birthday is actually 28th December, but as it's such a tough time of the year to get everyone together, I banded with my buddy Bron whose little boy is also just One and we hosted a wee party together at the park. It was a great, low-key way to share the day with friends, split the hard work, and the hosting. We're already planning to do the same for the number 2's!

Images: Steph Bond and Carmen Lee

P.S. Slightly bigger images posted over on my personal site.

* = Amazon affiliate link for the books listed above. If you are kind enough to click on the link and end up purchasing from the store, I receive a small commission which goes a little way to keep this site running.

Weekend Wishes: Christmas is Coming

Wishing you all a lovely weekend. We're celebrating our little one's first birthday a few weeks early while everyone is still in town, so no doubt I will be baking and threading fruit skewers and making bunting. Love a party!

This week we've been in full craft mode at Bondville with a crafty tree, a crafty wreath and a crafty advent calendar (well that one was pretty easy as it was a printable). Let me know if you had a chance to make your own tissue paper pom wreath, I'd love to see pics (I'll post them below). It's time to wrap up the Australian Christmas 2010 series, so if you haven't finished your shopping, now's your chance.

Take care and keep well,

Steph

x

Image: Steph Bond

First wreath by Jenny Butler! Beautiful job Jenny - colour combo is amazing...

Australian Christmas 2010: Another Donkey Design

You might remember Kate who won the Polli Christmas Wreath giveaway (read about it here). Well Kate is also a creative soul who has a great collection of goodies in her etsy store Another Donkey Design for Christmas 2010. Hop over to check out her greeting cards, gift tags and ever-so-clever Peg-It-Up hanging set. I looooove the chalk board gift tags and the hand-stamped birch tree cards.

You can find Sydney-based Another Donkey Design stationery goods in the Etsy store. And a special bonus - use the coupon code “MERRYCHRISTMAS” until midnight 19th December 2010 to receive 10% off (plus free shipping Australia-wide). Check out the Another Donkey Design blog here.

Check out more Australian Christmas 2010 ideas here on Bondville.

Images: Another Donkey Design

Craft: Recycled Tissue Paper Pom Wreath Tutorial

Here is a quick and easy Christmas project that you can make at home *tonight*. I was trying to think of a craft project to make at home with my big girl using only items I had around the house. This Christmas Wreath is made using the same principles as for tissue paper poms (still a big trend) and only recycled/upcycled material. I think it looks pretty nifty.

All you need is a piece of cardboard (I used a mango tray), used tissue paper from all the presents that you have been receiving (I fished my crumbled tissue paper out of my wrapping paper stash), some old ribbon or string, scissors, a pencil and two pot lids (one big, one small). I even nicked an ornament from our tree to give it a little pizazz. Give it a go!











Images and Tutorial (c) Steph Bond 2010

Easy Peasy DIY Christmas Tree

Ta da! Our made-in-one-hour easy peasy Christmas Tree. Simply take one big branch, pop it in a vase filled with pebbles (for stability), and pop on the decorations. You could also string it with lights, paint the branch white or silver, or wrap the whole thing in ribbon. Simple, and my big girl did a great job helping out.

Photo: Steph Bond-Hutkin

Australian Christmas 2010: Edward & Lily

I just love the embroidery revival that's part of the greater craft-is-cool thing. And Edward & Lily's Rebecca Cason is truly an embroidery inspiration. Her Christmas 2010 pieces include hand-crafted purses, necklaces, tissue cases, and of course her well known lavendar-stuffed bird decorations (the white and linen bird is a limited edition - get one quick!). Each item is touched with Rebecca's sweet embroidery.

You can find Brisbane-based Edward & Lily goodies in the etsy store. Read more about Edward & Lily here and here on Bondville. Check out more Australian Christmas 2010 ideas here on Bondville.

Images: Edward & Lily

Australian Christmas 2010: Earth Greetings

Who says that Christmas has to be red and green? Or even red and white? Eco-friendly stationery company Earth Greetings brings us a very Aussie Christmas in eucalyptus green and gold, Barrier Reef blue, bottlebrush red and outback orange.

The lovely range of boxed Christmas cards, gift tags and wrapping paper is perfect for our lifestyle and environment. And $1.65 from every Christmas card pack is donated to Trees For Life to plant one tree for every pack sold. What are you waiting for?

You can find Earth Greetings paper goods at stockists (check the website) around Australia, the UK, Hong Kong and online.

Read more about Earth Greetings here on Bondville. And check out more Australian Christmas 2010 ideas on Bondville too.

Images: Earth Greetings

Hip Products: bonnie and neil

Can you please stop it. These Australiana homewares and storage boxes from eco-friendly designers bonnie and neil are too much for me to bear. I literally want every piece.

I know, I'm a little cockatoo-mad, but these pieces are all so spot-on with their screenprinting-on-eco-plywood and sepia native birds on natural fabrics. I also adore the charcoal + yellow + raspberry colour combination. Possibly my favourite Australian-designed products of 2010 - I love them that much.

Check out the bonnie and neil website for a whole range of reclaimed Tasmanian Oak shadow boxes , timber table-ware, storage cubes, napery, tea towels and cushions designed by Bonnie Ashley and Neil Downie in their Coburg, VIC design studio. I really can't talk about them anymore. Go see for yourself.

You can find bonnie and neil products for home in stockists across Australia and Norway.

Images: bonnie and neil

Weekend Wishes: The Whoopie Pie extravaganza

Happy Weekend my friends! Hope you are having a great silly season - it's in full swing at our house. This week I finally made whoopie pies (after my post about them back in May) for our little friend Archie who turned One. And let me tell you... they were INCREDIBLE. I used the The New York Times recipe (buttercream filling instead of dubious marshmallow + synthetic mystery ingredients filling) and we all thought we had died and gone to sweet things heaven. I'll have to find a better buttercream recipe as this one required taking the egg + sugar mixture to 180 degrees in a double boiler and then whisking until cool etc etc.. fiddly. But give it a go - they suited Archie much better than cupcakes and apart from the filling, were easy to make. Let me know if you do!

Only two weeks until Christmas and I hope you've been getting the most out of the Australian Christmas 2010 series. From your comments, it sounds like you have been picking up some goodies. Another congrats to Kate for winning the Polli Christmas Wreath giveaway this week - lucky thing. And a shout-out to the Finders Keepers gals for featuring my top picks for kids on their gorgeous blog.

We have some more one-year-old celebrations to attend in the next few days and some family time at the beach planned. Hope you have a restful and special weekend. See you here next week,

Steph
x

Australian Christmas 2010: Blossom Creations

Counting down! Only 2 weeks until Christmas Eve which means I am in big trouble as I still haven't ordered any presents yet (despite my best intentions on the weekend); although I am doing some sewing that will hopefully be finished time. So here are some more last-ish minute Australian-designed goodies.

Erin from Blossom Creations is one of my favourite designers and I just adore the placemats and napkins that I have bought in the past. Her designs are sophisticated and I respect her strong environmental conscience. Erin has some divine eco-friendly cards, stickers and goodie bags for Christmas this year, and lucky for us, is having a huge sale in the online store until Christmas 2010! (hemp napkins usually retailing for $50 now only $15 - amazing value).

Read more about Blossom Creations here on Bondville. And check out more Australian Christmas 2010 ideas here on Bondville.

Images: Blossom Creations