Tiny Treasures

I'm sure you've all seen the cool 3D plaster impressions you can get done of your child's tiny hands and feet to keep forever. I think are really cute, especially so when you look back and realise how little they once were.  Well, I wanted to capture my baby's hands and feet before he gets too big, and not wanting to spend a fortune, I decided to try and do it myself. I got a DIY kit from Keepsakes to Cherish which came with the moulding powder, casting powder and 4 cups to mould in, enough to make 4 impressions and 1 spare.

I was a tad nervous about doing it, knowing it could go completely pear shaped so when I eventually got around to finding a time when bubs was content enough to make the moulds, I gritted my teeth and hoped for the best! Thankfully I was able to do two hands and two feet, however, it certainly wasn't without dramas! Lets just say its hard to get a 4 week old baby to completely cooperate.. and baby hands didn't like being shoved into cold water. I had moulding paste going everywhere.. and bubs was crying. BUT.. I got it done.

The photos above show my finished hand moulds, which I made by popping bub's hands into the moulding mixture until it set (around a minute).  The moulding mixture looked like a strawberry milkshake!! I then mixed up some casting powder with water and poured it into the moulds to set (overnight). The next day I peeled back the rubbery mould to reveal two little hands and two little feet!

Given its a DIY job, I wasn't expecting it to be 100% perfect, so there were a few rough areas and imperfections, which I should be able to sand back a bit. I'll then paint them silver and find a deep-set frame to pop them in for the nursery wall :) If and when I get around to that, I'll update you all with the finished product!

If you want to make moulds of your own children's hands and feet, you can get your own kit from Keepsakes to Cherish like the one below!

photo courtesy of keepsakes to cherish

Photo courtesy of body-cast studio

Treasury East Addiction

 I am so loving Etsy's new Treasury East where you don't have to wait til a spot becomes available and can therefore collate etsy pretties til the cows come home! You can do multiple treasuries too and there is no expiry! Love it!

Here's a couple I prepared earlier... hehe

Baby Bonanza by Petaliferous (featuring ALL Aussie DUSTers):
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4be269cee56c8eefed4ffd1a/baby-bonanza?sort=hotness&order=desc

and The Retro Kitchen by Petaliferous
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4bdfbdd487808eef6f53beea/the-retro-kitchen?sort=hotness&order=desc

Miniature n' Cute

With my impending 'bump' due to come into the world in roughly 5 weeks, I've been getting a lot of cute pressies! I am fortunate enough to have all these super cute items ready for my bump to enjoy...

Clockwise from left:

• Cheeky Monster Baby Bib by Little Odd Forest - A friend of mine gave me this adorable bib (and matching shoes) for my baby shower. I think its the cutest thing ever!!
• Owl Moneybox from Smiggle - I saw this in my local smiggle store and couldn't resist buying it for the nursery. It looks cute enough as an ornament, but when the bump gets older they can use it as a moneybox too!
• Zanzibar Cot Quilt by Kids Line - my parents gave me this cot set for my baby shower. Its so adorable, and fits in perfectly with my nursery jungle theme.
• Hobo Nappy Bag in Pansy print by Oi Oi - Nappy bags are incredibly expensive so I couldn't resist this funky looking one when it was reduced to a mere $59.00 at Baby Bunting. Much better than the original price of $130!
• The original Raggy Tag Blanket by Raggy Tag - My sister in law is living in the UK currently and sent this gorgeous raggy tag blanket for my baby shower. Mine is a different print but they didn't show that one online. An ingenius idea, since babies inevitably always find the tags on toys much more enjoyable to suck!
• Mothercare (a UK baby store) has just opened up in Australia and I was lucky enough to find these cute sunshades for the car window in one of their new stores.
• Cheeky Monster Mary Janes by Little Odd Forest - got these from the same lovely lady as I did the bib above. I am IN LOVE with these shoes and can't wait to pop them on my baby's feet!
• D'Lish Snap-In-One reusable modern cloth nappy from itti bitti - We bought 30 of these bad boys (in all different colors) so we can avoid completely the need for disposable nappies when our bump arrives. Gone are the days of the terry toweling nappy, modern cloth nappies are so ingenius, easy to use and look adorable!! With snap in liners, you can even re-use the same nappy before washing. Just whip out the soiled liner and put in a new one!
• Gazzle Giraffe Rattle Toy from Gumnut Toys - a dear friend of mine brought this down with her for my "bump" when she last visited Melbourne. It's so cute and will no doubt be a favourite thing for bump to play with.

The Baby's Room

So I mentioned a little while ago I bought some awesome fabric from Ikea, to make some cushions for the couch in the nursery I've been busily creating (some may call it nesting!). Here are the finished pics of the cushions (quite cute I think!) and some other features of this dreamy room that I love; obviously it will be all the more better when there is a baby to actually go in it!!

The finished Cushions with Ikea fabric (they're quite big.. 66cm square) :

Cute little critters adorn the floating shelves :

The cot with colourful mobile and alphabet worm :

The couch with cushions and canvas of a bird I painted :

A gorgeous little blue ceramic owl moneybox I saw and HAD to have (from Smiggle) :