Browsing Category

Make It Perfect

Make It Perfect

.December Cool Shops! Iszle.

My last Cool Shop! for December is ISZLE…

Before you get confused, yes, I did review Iszle last month, but this month I am back to review a different section of Iszle – Scrabble Tile and Charm Pendants.  On Etsy, this store is known as The Pendant Factory and on Made It it goes by Iszle and includes magnets and pocket mirrors aswell.  Got it?!

Nadine kindly let me choose any Scrabble Tile necklace I wanted to review and it was a tough decision but I went with Retro Ride.  Very funky and beautifully made and yep, it’s a necklace made using a real scrabble tile!

Iszle has tonnes of different images to choose from, making it very easy to select a gift for a friend or something special for yourself.  A girl can never have too many necklaces, you know?!

These necklaces are an absolute bargain!  Great for gift giving…especially for a special event like to present bridesmaids with as a thankyou.
Some of my favourite necklaces…
Butterfly Tree:

 Bird Prince Charm Pendant:

 Lotus:

Sewing Machine:

GIVEAWAY

As part of her Cool Shops! review, Nadine is giving away a Scrabble Tile Pendant + Silver Curb Link Chain – winner gets to choose the design!!

To enter, leave a comment with your favourite Iszle product.  Giveaway will close on Tuesday 14th December and winner will be drawn randomly.

Important ISZLE links:
December 9, 2010
Make It Perfect

.Glimpses of Christmas.

There’s a bit of Christmas Cheer in the Coward household…
For the last few years the tree has been a blue and silver colour theme.  It just didn’t go in the new house so we revamped and went red, lime green and silver.  Love it!
(and yes, the tree is a little sparce at the bottom.  We tend to have a good year and then a bad year with decorations…this year is a bad year with Tommy dismantling the tree!!)  I was going to make a tree skirt but ran out of steam so wrapped a bit of Michael Miller Ta Dot fabric around the bottom instead…tree skirt, next year!
The Willow Tree nativity is on display and as much as I tell the children it is not for touching, it is arranged in a different format every time I walk by!  It actually makes me laugh every time and they do tell me they are very careful when they do touch it…
 
When we were in Melbourne, Kate told me about a cute family tradition they have started at Christmas time.  I loved it and have instigated it with my own family.  We told the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus and then focused on the Three Wise Men and talked about how they bought gifts for baby Jesus.  Then we told the children that the best gift they could give Jesus on his birthday was to be kind and loving to each other.  Every time I catch them doing something kind or loving towards another family member, they get to put a “warm fuzzy” (pom pom) in the jar.  Then on Christmas Eve we will place the jar underneath the tree as a gift to Jesus.  The kids are loving it and trying extra hard to earn warm fuzzies!  Kate has written more about her tradition on her blog here.

      

 
I did, however, keep my blue and silver “Joy” letters and have popped them in the front entrance.  You might also notice a sneak peek of another very cool decoration for our house.  Will be back to share more about that with you soon – I love it!

December 9, 2010
Make It Perfect

.December Cool Shops! Frock.

The third Cool Shop! for December is FROCK…
Frock is a funky boutique run in New Zealand by Angie.  Angie started out creating the most adorable frocks ever which are dedicated to celebrating the important moments in your little girl’s life.  Angie’s frocks are so cute – and the good news is that she will be launching a new line early next year!  There was a disappointing mix up with the post and the item I was supposed to be getting to review is floating around the world somewhere and will hopefully turn up in either my or Angie’s letterbox very soon!
You may remember Frock on my blog earlier this year when I won a giveaway from their blog.  It was a good thing that I won because I still have something to review for Frock!

This is the “Pretty in Pink Bubble Frock” and it is the sweetest thing ever.  Although I enjoy sewing a lot of Lil’s dresses, it is always refreshing to enjoy something that someone else has sewn.  And Angie’s workmanship is impeccable.  The entire frock is lined and perfectly stitched.  Lil and I both love it and it has received quite a work out in the 9 months that she has had it, but still washes up as good as new every time.  
A Frock would make a lovely Christmas or birthday present and is sure to be loved by all who receive it.

I love these little frocks too…Beautiful in Blue Swing and Gorgeous in Green Wrap:

As well as creating lovely Frocks, Angie has recently started to make and sell these AMAZING art canvases.  Dancing Dollies 3D Canvases are a unique art work to make a statement in any little girl’s bedroom.  The dollies bodies are printed on the highest quality canvas using non-fade pigment inks, then Angie hand makes the gorgeous hats, hair and heads.
I have never seen anything like this before and love the bright colours and whimsical feel.
Dancing Dollies 3D Canvases can be purchased in Large, Medium or Small sizes.

Angie is generously offering Make It Perfect readers a huge 20% off any item in store!  Simply quote the code “MAKEITPERFECT” when purchasing.

Important FROCK links:
December 6, 2010
Make It Perfect

.Goodbye mullet and he finally walks.

Happy 18 month old birthday to you Tommy!  Lets discuss the last 18 months…
Everywhere we go, you are known as the “Smiley Boy”.  I can’t stop gushing over you and am worried that your little cheeks are getting sore from smiling so much.  You are truly the most adorable little thing ever.  Really.  If I could be guaranteed 10 of you I would probably have another 5 babies (don’t want to push my luck, you know!)
Looking back at your grand entrance to the world, I am more sure than ever that you were premature.  You were mega-tiny and so sleepy.  
I love it that you are tiny because you still seem like a baby, when, in fact you are 1 1/2 years old.  This is good, because it means that I am not wanting for another baby yet.  The bad thing is that I’m not ready for you to grow up.  Which is why it was such a big deal to give you your first haircut.
Check out the divine mullet.  Truly adorable…but as you started to look more and more like a bogan, we knew it had to go.

So out onto the deck for Family Home Evening activity and Dad got out the clippers to trim your mane.  (The boys in our family will never go to the hairdresser…Dad is the resident barber and even cuts his own hair!)
It was a big, wriggly, squirmy, itchy job.  But he did it.

And then you looked like this…all refined and dignified.  And we were all in mourning for 1 week.  And then we got over it and realised that you looked super cute again and your huge smile made up for the lack of mullet at the back.
 
And then it was as if that big haircut gave you lots of strength (like the opposite to when Samson got his hair cut in the bible) and all of a sudden you decided that you would try and walk.  And after about 2 weeks you got pretty good and aren’t as wobbly now but still fall over all the time.  And we clap and cheer “horray” every time you fall over and your smile gets bigger and bigger.

(and you are still wearing that suit that friend Danielle gave to us and you have been wearing it for 1 year!)

December 6, 2010
Make It Perfect

.December Cool Shops! StickyTiki.

{If you were wondering why I didn’t do my next Cool Shops! review on the 2nd December, it is because I have decided to space them out a bit from now on…that way I don’t go crazy writing reviews four days in a row and you can have a bit of time to browse their stores, enter giveaways, etc.}
The second Cool Shop! for December is StickyTiki…
 
Wall decals have been one of my most browsed shopping items online lately.  We have quite a few big blank walls left in our house that I’m not quite sure what to do with and really like the idea of some big wall decals to make a statement.
And I think I’ve found my answer…StickyTiki is a New Zealand based company run by Kim and Simon that create the most amazing wall decals from FABRIC!  Because they are made of fabric, they won’t rip, wrinkle or damage your walls.  They adhere to any smooth surface and can be repositioned again and again…Iove the fact that your kids can play with them.  Mine haven’t seen them yet (they were in bed when I started decorating the wall!) but I know that when they get up in the morning they are going to have a ball making new designs.  StickyTiki wall decals are even washable so I can wipe of any sticky fingerprints that are bound to appear and I just read on their website that they are also weatherproof so you can use them outside too!!  Instead of being totally computer generated, StickyTiki are handcrafted from Kim’s own artwork, showing brush stroke detail and more of a painted look.
 

Being the green girl that I am, I selected the Retro-Kiwi set of decals to have a play with.  My original idea was to put them in Tommy’s room and use them around the fabric-covered canvas above his wall to fill in some of the empty space.  Because he was in bed when I needed to take photos, we popped them onto part of our green hallway wall and I think I am  tempted to keep them there.  The good thing is that I know I can easily move them to Tommy’s room and try them out because they are repositionable!  (Perfect for renters!)

We were amazed at how easy they were to apply.  They are not fussy at all and easily smooth out on the wall.  They can also be stuck on top of each other, which we did on some of the big plain circles at the top of the next picture:

StickyTiki are not too cute or sweet.  They are a little quirky and I have not seen anyone else doing the same kind of thing.
Some of my other favourite StickyTiki designs…
Sleepy Sheepy:

 Space Odyssey 19698:

 Dear Deer Tree:

 Hundreds and 1000s:

Alphabetica:

 A big thanks to Sticky Tiki for being a Cool Shop! on my blog.  Your work is awesome!

And a special offer to you today…for every purchase you make from StickyTiki, Kim will give you a FREE item from their exclusive StickyTINY range valued at $26.95!  After you have made your purchase, message Kim and let her know you want to take advantage of the offer!!

Important STICKYTIKI links:
December 3, 2010