Harrie and Hollie Sombrillos

We are off to the Sunshine Coast next week for a last grab of sunshine before the coolness sets in, and with the beach on my mind, I had to share with you these amazing Harrie and Hollie Sombrillos. You may have seen these beach shades around online (The Design Files, Pinterest etc), but if not, behold the genius of a simple design, beautifully executed with chic fabric and stylish lines.

Melbourne-based Skye and Claire are the epitome of Australian designers, to me. They have created a clean, stripped-down product with 95% UV protection for our climate that is super-chic and yet has all the elements of a good Aussie camping trip. Essential for keeping our little ones protected, and cute to boot. I hope to see our beaches dotted with Harrie and Hollie sombrillos next year.

You can find Harrie and Hollie sun protection products (including cute sun shirts) in the online store and at stockists around Australia.

Images: Harrie and Hollie

Castle homewares and Gorman collaboration

Sydney-sider Rachel Castle is a styling/designing/artist genius, and the recent collaboration of her homewares brand Castle with one of my favourite Australian labels Gorman is perfection. The colour palette of neutrals with pops of bright colour just makes me happy. What's not to love about Castle's collection of bed linen (including a children's range), pillows, clothes, towels, tea towels, totes, art work, garlands and cushions:

The Castle homewares collection has no age limit; great in a child's room, amazing for a teenager, and pretty darn perfect for adults too. Those Castle + Gorman "put the love in the coconut" towels are a must-have. I'm going to stop gushing now, and just pin them all to my wishlist.

You can find Castle homewares in the online store and at stockists in NSW and VIC. Find Castle + Gorman fashion in Gorman stores and online.

Images: Castle

Stylish Kids: Little Mouse Brown

We live near an all-girls high school and on "mufty day" I cringe as a sea of teeny weeny denim cut-off shorts stream across the crosswalk from the train. Tweens and teenagers want to be cool, of course, but there are not many authentic options for their size.

I get excited when I find stylish labels for kids that target that tricky 8-14 years bracket. Australian kids fashion label Little Mouse Brown has done an incredible job of pulling together a chic collection for boys and girls that mixes and matches well with the teen staples (jeans, converse sneakers), and keeps it cool (with nary a short short to be seen).

There are so many items in this collection that I would love for myself. That bat-wing t-shirt dress with cord belt is killer, the carefully placed ruffles, and that great modern check pattern. Love it all.

You can find Little Mouse Brown in the online store and at stockists around Australia and the USA.

Images: Little Mouse Brown

Tutu du Monde 2012 GIVEAWAY! - now closed

Last year I gave you the world's first look at Tutu du Monde's new collection 'High Tea With Madame Woo' - filled with sparkles, pretty colours and white and perfect for your little princess's special occasion. Oh - and definitely for High Tea.

Tutu du Monde's new collection is now available in the online store as well as stockists, and to celebrate I am hosting a pretty fabulous giveaway to win this gorgeous All Things Nice tutu in Berry, worth $159!

To Enter:

To enter, simply comment on this page with your favourite piece from the Tutu du Monde High Tea With Madame Woo collection. Entries close midnight Friday 30th March 2012 AEST, and winner will be announced (based on most interesting comment) on Sunday 1st April 2012 here on Bondville.

Terms and Conditions:

1. One entry per person allowed.
2. To enter, simply comment on this post with your favourite piece from the Tutu du Monde High Tea With Madame Woo collection.
3. Include your email address or a link to your website where I can comment or find your email address.. 4. This competition is open to entrants internationally.
5. This competition is hosted by Steph Bond Hutkin via the Bondville blog at blog.stephbond.com.
6. The prize consists of an All Things Nice tutu in Berry from Tutu du Monde, RRP AUD$159.01
7. Competition opens 6:00am Friday 23rd March 2012  and closes 11:59pm Friday 30th March 2012 AEST.
8. This competition is a game of skill and the winner will be based on the most interesting comment as judged by the Tutu du Monde team, and notified by email and via a post on Bondville on Sunday 1st April 2012.

You can find more images from the new collection in my sneak peak here, and following are a few more gorgeous pieces to feast your eyes on. 

 
You can find Tutu du Monde (in sizes 1-11) in the online store as well as stockists in Australia, the US, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Read more about Tutu du Monde here on Bondville.

UPDATE: Winner of the giveaway was Amanda from Easy Peasy Organic. Congratulations Amanda!

Images: Tutu du Monde

Bunny tails

I've been busy in the kitchen this week making goodies with the girls for Easter. Well actually, it's for an article that I'm writing about activities with kids for Easter. The macarons, Easter cupcakes, rocky road and bunny tails are unfortunately being consumed as soon as they are made. So much for early Easter planning!

These cute bunny tails are adapted from a chocolate ball recipe by Sara Hingle from the excellent Frankie Afternoon Tea book that I adore. Simply mix 3 cups of muesli, half a cup of sugar and 1 cup of dessicated coconut in a bowl. The kids can definitely do this. Then heat 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, half a cup of milk and 125g of butter in a saucepan. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and let the kids go to town making sticky balls and rolling them in extra dessicated coconut.

Place your finished bunny tails on baking paper on a cookie sheet and pop into the fridge until they are set. Delicious! And not too naughty either.

Image: Steph Bond-Hutkin

Love Mae children's bedding

First there were the original fabric, removable wall decals in lovely soft hues and unique designs. Then there was melamine dinnerware for kids. And now there is delightful organic bedding for kids from taste makers and northern NSW designers Love Mae.

Love Mae sheets are luxurious interlock and the quilts, duvet covers and bumpers are brushed percale. The collection includes cot sheet sets, cot bumpers, sleeping bags, cot quilts/play blankets, single and king single sheet sets, duvet covers and camper sleeping bags in blush pinks, teal tones and grey.

This is no ordinary children's bedding. Did you see the scalloped duvet cover? And the camper sleeping bags? Both on my wish list.

You can find Love Mae bedding in the online store and at stockists around the world.

Read more about Love Mae here on Bondville.

Images: Love Mae

Sydney abcd Saturday Soiree

Are you a design, art or craft blogger? Are you keen to get out from behind your computer and meet some like-minded creative folk from around Sydney? Or maybe you've been to one of our abcd meetups before?

Well, Lisa Tilse of the red thread and I have been busy hatching a plan for a new-look event and a few surprises.. a Saturday Soirée! We're changing up this time from an evening out at a moodily-lit cosy cocoon to a lovely bright airy atrium bar on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Fingers crossed for a glorious blue sky autumn days that Sydney is so good at, so we can all sparkle and shine and chat and hang. 

Would you like to join us?

abcd stands for artists + bloggers + crafters + designers, so if you blog about any of those topics - your creations or other people's - we'd love you to come! We are a friendly group of (usually all) women and it's a relaxed event where you can grab a glass of something sparkly or a nice cuppa and enjoy the company of like-minded creatives.

Saturday 14th April, 2012

3pm - 5pm

Ruby L'otel

Back bar (atrium)

68 Victoria Road

Rozelle, NSW 2039

Map and Parking

We have exclusive use of the beautiful atrium at Ruby L'otel from 3pm until 5pm. There is a great snack menu available all afternoon, plus dinner of course if you linger longer. As well as the bar there is coffee and tea available for purchase... and abcd cocktails! Pat and Stick's Homemade Ice Cream Co. are generously giving us some of their 'world famous' and delicious ice cream sandwiches and Alison of Alison Lawson Cakes is making a delish confection for us! Lisa and I are styling up the venue and Milk and Honey Photography will be snapping us all at our social best. We are hoping we might be able to convince everyone to wear white, pastels or sparkles - or all of them together to make our Soirée super style-y. What do you think? Are you in?

As always, the famous abcd goodie bags will be part of our Saturday Soirée. The goodie bags are wildly popular and are available to everyone who contributes to them. If you're unfamiliar with our goodie bags your contribution is something for others remember you by. It's more than just a business card... maybe a sample of something you make, or a little something you whipped up especially, a sweet treat... a little memento. Prior to the event we need to know goodie bag numbers so if you'd like to participate let us know when you register.

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If you'd like to join us for our abcd Saturday Soirée - come on, it's going to be fun! - we need to know by Monday 9th April 2012, so mark your diary now and register here. You must register in order to attend, and don't forget to tell us if you'll be adding to (and receiving) a goodie bag. We will email all the goodie baggers on Tuesday 10th April, so you'll know how many items you'll need to contribute. It's usually around 30.

If you have any questions about anything, or are just feeling a bit shy and need reassurance, please email me :)

Lisa and I are very excited and are already wondering what we can do next to go one better. We hope you see you on 14th April.

1. Registere here with "Goodie Bag" if you would like to contribute to (and receive!) an abcd goodie bag by Monday 9th April 2012.

2. We are asking for a gold coin donation on the day to help us cover some costs. Thanks! x

3. And don't forget to wear your whites, pastels and sparkles.

Previous events and goodie bags

Ruby L'otel

Map and Parking

Pat and Stick's Homemade Ice Cream Co.

Alison Lawson Cakes

Milk and Honey Photography

abcd on Facebook

Exclusive: New KatyJane Designs party stationery

Bondville sponsors and creative gals Katy (in Perth) and Jane (in London) from KatyJane Designs have just released a brand new collection of party stationery themes and designs - first look here on Bondville!

Do you have an April baby? This is a sweet bunny design for a sweet girl. The personalised party collection includes a double-sided invitation with, or without an image of your child, double-sided thank you note, double-sided gift tag, and personalised bunny birthday bunting.

A fun dinosaur theme for boys, this T-Rex knows how to party. The collection is personalised with your child's party details, name and age, and includes double-sided invitation and double-sided gift tags with a fun "chomp" bitten into the side for extra fun.

Whether it's a pool party in your backyard, at the beach, of your local indoor aquatic centre, the Pool Party collection for girls is personalised with your child's party details and includes double-sided invitation, double-sided thank you cards, double-sided gift tags and bunting banner flags.

One thing I like about KatyJane Designs stationery is the attention to detail - the invitations come with magnets and matching envelopes, the thank you cards come with envelopes, the bunting comes with matching ribbon and the gift tags come with elastic cord or ribbon. Katy and Jane are happy to personalise their designs to your event needs, so if it's a bunny party that you'd like to use for a baby shower, simply shoot them a request.

You can find these new KatyJane Designs in the online store.

Images: KatyJane Designs

Bubbas and Bears 4th Birthday Tea Party

The most popular party on Bondville in 2011 was the Pink Fairy Princess Party for Accalia's third birthday! Accalia's Mum and Dad revisited the pink and added more glorious details for Accalia's fourth birthday party - a bubbas and bears tea party; every child could bring along their favourite baby doll or bear to celebrate. Dreamed up by the birthday girl! Read on for amazing tips and advice from Accalia's Mum, and some beautiful images from Encapture Photography ...

Party: Accalia's 4th Birthday Party

Organised by: Organised by Mum executed by Mum and Dad!

Location: Accalia's Tea House

Theme: Bubbas and Bears Tea Party 

Invitation: The party was very last minute this year so we had to create a little something in Powerpoint and send out via e-mail! I used a very cute photo of Accalia holding her favourite Bubba and Bear.

Cake: Doll cake made by Mum. Once again the guys at the Lane Cove Toy Library located on Tambourine Bay Rd, Lane Cove, NSW helped me out with tin hire.

Party food: Big thank you to My little Cupcake, Neutral Bay, NSW. They are absolute life-savers.  I called them on the Wednesday before the party and they were happy to help me out. I ordered cupcakes with bubbas and bears - they looked amazing and were perfect for the theme.  I also got carried away and ordered some delicious pink and white lamingtons - a hit with both the kids and adults. 

Whilst in the store I also found some wonderful marshmellow bags for $2 each which not only looked amazing but were a delicious hit with the kids too.

A visit to the store is well worth it.  The staff are fabulous, very friendly and help you carry all of your goodies to the car! Aside from the wonderful and very tasty cakes and cookies that they have on offer they also sell party decorations, trinkets, gifts, table cloths, pop corn boxes, ice cream buckets, food covers, cupcake stands, paper decorations and the list goes on.

It would be wrong of me to not give a big shout out to Munchkin Tables - it was their website that led me to My Little Cupcake (via their "we recommend" section of their website)

Fruit and marshmellow skewers were also a big favourite.  I found some cute plastic skewers at Queen Bee Balloon and Party Shop in Rozelle, NSW, and threaded some strawberries, grapes and marshmellows onto them.

I popped some yummy popcorn and put it into small paper cups (typically used for ice cream).  I found these to be much better then the actual popcorn boxes available as they are a much better size for the little ones. 

Decorations: Table and Chairs all sourced from Munchkin Tables. They are very accommodating and organised for everything to be dropped off and picked up.

We strung up paper Ball Lantern Decorations (pink and white polka dot). We have had these for years and re-use them all the time.  I got these from the Queen Bee Balloon and Party Shop.

I used pink Pom Pom Garlands (Martha Stewart) to create a magical entrance into the Bubba and Bear's tea room (our lounge room). They were sourced from a wonderful website Pink Frosting.

Pink polka dot and pink striped paper plates, cups, straws and napkins were all from Pink Frosting and the Donna Hay Store in Woollahra, NSW.

Pink Helium Balloons from the Lane Cove Toy Library. I ordered them Saturday morning and they were ready for pick up at 11am - very helpful!

Party boxes in pink and white polka dot and blue and white polka dot were also sourced from Pink Frosting. I attached an oversized pink plastic safety pin to the front of each one. I found those at The Party People Party shop in Drummoyne, NSW.

I searched everywhere to find miniature toy baby bottles that I could fill with lollies to put into the party bags. I finally found them on a great little website called Once Upon A Party.
I ordered them on  the Wednesday before the party and Lisa kindly arranged for them to be expressed posted to me from Bundaberg. I got them in Sydney on the Thursday. I was so grateful.

An oversized baby bottle filled with Marshmellows was used as a table centrepiece.  The bottle was sourced from The Party People Party shop in Drummoyne, NSW.

For the kids' drinks, I purchased an Italian brand of peach puree (six back of mini glass bottles for $4 per pack) from Woolworths. I used the peach puree to make bellinis for the adults and poured red cordial into the bottles for the children. The bottles were a great size for the kids.

Games/activities: We kept it very simple this year.  The kids played Pin the Dummy on the Baby (sourced from The Party People Party shop in Drummoyne, NSW) and Pass the Baby Bottle (slight variation on Pass The Parcel). We also set up a craft activity decorating paper dolls with all sorts of crafty goodies including stickers, pipecleaners and self-adhesive jewels (all sourced from the local $2 shop). It was a real hit with the children.

Tips: I did not make the same mistake as last year - I baked the cake well in advance the day before with plenty of time to cool so all I had to do was ice it once the kids were in bed. I managed to be in bed by 10pm the night before the party - beats 2am the same time last year!

Something special: Turning our lounge room into a Bubbas and Bears Tea Party room was very special for Accalia and the look on her face when she saw it was priceless.  We used a number of rugs and cushions to do this and tied a helium balloon to each cushion for added effect.

Images: Encapture Photography