Will you be my bridesmaid?

That magic moment when the man of your dreams is down on his knee asking to spend the rest of your life with you. My husband proposed over a year ago and we have been now been married 7 months. I wanted to share with how I asked my close friend to be my maid of honour (matron - as she was married).

Given we'd been through so much together since first meeting at kindy when we were 4, I didn't want to just send her a text saying "wanna be my bridesmaid?" I wanted to ask her in a special way.....so I found this gorgeous idea when searching google and decided to go with it.

Bethany's gorgeous idea.

I found a box that had a lid, some colour pallets from the local colour shop, downloaded my photo ideas I had been collecting, and wrote some information. I wanted her to feel special and comfortable on the day, so we both searched for a dress and shoes that were her and comfortable, so she felt beautiful. It was so wonderful giving it to her, knowing all the love I had put into trying to creatively ask her. Of course the best part is she said YES! :)

The day was absolutely amazing, and it was so precious knowing she was by my side the whole step of the way! If you are getting married and have yet to ask your bridesmaids, be creative when asking them. Go on - I dare you! :)

My gorgeous bridesmaid!

Surprise those beautiful girls in your life that you want to pop the b-maid question too!! :)

Arohanui,
Anna xx

Joyful Ornaments

Christmas had snuck up on us, and we had a Ladies Night for all our Mum's, and I was in a last minute dash to produce a craft the Mum's could make on the night. As always, I went straight for my favourite place - Pinterest, and many ideas caught my eye. But two stood out as a craft that would be awesome to do with a large group these cute joy ornaments and these gorgeous joy to the world blocks. I joined these two ideas to create these Christmas ornaments. Don't be limited to the word JOY, we also used - NOEL, LOVE + PEACE.

Materials Needed:

• wooden blocks - as many per letter (we hunted out for wood at ITM in their scrap bins and had a local handy man cut the wood into blocks 3cm x 3cm)
• PVA glue
• paint brush
• christmas craft paper
• jute
• beads
• glitter pens and/or embossing pen and embossing glitter
• drill and drill bit

1. Drill a hole through all of the wooden blocks. 
2. Cut the paper to the size of the block (front, back and sides x2).
3. Using the paint brush, spread PVA glue over each of the sides of the wooden block, then place the paper on (press down hard as it can bubble). Make sure you don't place the paper over the holes. 
4. PVA glue over top of the paper to finish it off giving it a glossy look. (if you love the plain simple look without the letters skip to step 6)
5. Using glitter pens wait until the glue has dried then write on your letters.
6. Tie a looped piece of jute near the top (to be able to hang on the tree) - make sure it is tied bigger than your hole to avoid it slipping through. 
7. Thread wooden blocks, and then add beads at the bottom.
8. Tie off after the wooden bed.
9. You have a beautiful handmade Christmas decoration - hang it up and admire your decoration :)

***Doesn't matter if its not perfect - its rustic!!! :)

Happy Crafting!!!

Hope you've had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to seeing in the New Year!!!

Arohanui,

Anna xx