New hairstyle and some school holiday fun

So we are down to one more day of school holidays. A three and a half week mid-year winter break. As with all school holidays at first they seemed to stretch out before us in the most glorious manner. I LOVE school holidays - well I don't love the juggling my Bowznstuff duties with being all entertaining director of fun BUT I love just hanging out, having fun, NO LUNCHBOXES....BLISS! So what have we been up to the past few days.

Well first up, a new do! A nice little headband/low side Spanish pony. The first part of the hairstyle is a fun and easy way to keep the hair off the face and works just as well if you leave the back of the hair down as if you pop it up. So to start with you divide the front section of the hair off and then divide that small section into three. Pop the middle section into a pony.


Then take the side section and twist it upwards and towards the front of the head securing it with an elastic to your little pony.


Repeat on the other side


and there you go, a quick and cute headband.


Because we were hanging out and wanted to keep the hair from getting dipped into paint and whatever else the day had in store we then swept it back into my current FAV do. I losely gathered the hair into a low side pony.

You know I have a penchant for side pony tails but up until now I haven't used the low pony that much - I like it for its Spanish feel. So you simply gather the hair into a low side messy pony - meaning that on the last pull through you don't pull the hair all the way through but rather leave it half way through.

I added a rose to compliment the Spanishy feel and we were good to go!


In other news in my capacity as director of fun activities I pulled out a box of my old toys. Imagine our joy when we discovered my carefully preserved eraser collection. Check out that eraser incarnation of the early electronic games - move over Nintendo DS, the Nintendo Game and Watch is BACK!

Also in the box was my old Matilda furniture. I don't know if you guys had or remember Matilda dolls but I treasured mine. I have since found the dolls so I'll have to post a snap of them too.



Hettie was also kept busy this past weekend with some paper maiche projects with daddy, who is suprisingly or unsurprisingly depending on how well you know me much better at this kind of craft than me! Here is their unpainted castle- the painted version is coming!
Back soon with some new Bowznstuff :)

Corseted Crown and more Andlucia Love

Something for everyone today :) Lets start with sewing and move on to hair :) So to start with the second of my Andalucia sets - this time another Bowznstuff Petal Top and Applique Jeans set -the theme - Birdie Tea Party. You can see more here.

And a new do - I know I'm over achieving - two new things in one day - what can I say...I'm on a roll. This is a pretty fancy do - special occasion for sure - it would be darling for a Flower Girl but equally lovely for something a bit less formal.

So let me see. Start with a centre part. Working down each side of the head section off the hair and make mini ponies BUT on the last pull through leave a little loop - I made mine quite a big loop but you could easily make it smaller and change the look a bit. So here we are with one pony


And here we are with a whole row.


And from the other side you can see the little loops.


Now repeat on the other side so that when you are done it looks like this.



Now you take a piece of ribbon and here is where the corset part comes in. You could use a large needle with your ribbon threaded through which would be especially useful if you do smaller loops. But seeing as mine were big and I was just playing I just threaded the ribbon through. When you get to the end you pull the bottom two loops together and tie a bow.



You can curl the cascading crown or leave it straight - I think curls work pretty well for this one. The end result is a gorgeous crown with cascading ringlets.

Fairy Sweet, Fancy Nancy and a new do!

So much to report - SO much to report! So first up it was a big day today for Bowznstuff and the Sugar Cube! Fairy Sweet - our own personal Fairy has been revealed. Our launches are going to be so much fun now as we explore Fairy Sweet's world in the Sugar Cube! I have two new listings today - the first is little Fairy Sweet's outfit - lovingly recreated in kid size. Click here to see more.

And the second is for all those Fancy Nancy fans out there - I am so excited about Fancy Nancy's dress! Talk about fancy - the set includes the peasant top, the twirly whirly skirt, the cute apron, the flower belt which can be worn with other outfits too just like Nancy and a corsage! Plus I have also listed a mega fancy bow and clippie pack! And do you like my Fancy Nancy Hair? I'll post some instructions soon to show you how to do a Fancy Nancy Hair style! Click here to see the outfit and here to see the hair accessories.



And to celebrate Sugar3 are giving away some Sugar Bucks - $40 is up for grabs for any bid placed on a Sugar3 Auction. Click here to see all the fab goodies.



Oh and also I just have to point out this FAB Cinderella Bowznstuff resell - a OOAK and what a fabulous opening bid!
So now onto the new do! You might remember my obsession with the side pony - well it continues! but I've fancied it up a bit. Start with a t-part - sectioning off the front of the hair but rather than a middle part, do a side part like so. I have put the back section of the hair into an elastic to keep it out of the way.

Next up start with the front part of the hair on the side where there is the least hair and make a part and create two mini ponies.


Then move over to the front part of the hair where there is the most hair and pop that up into a high side pony - this will form the base of your style.

Now working your way around the head - working with the back section of the hair, continue parting and making little mini ponies right round the head - the size and number is totally up to you.Now the next part could be done with or without twists, it could also be done with corkscrews or braids - totally up to you. Because Hettie's hair is curly I need to do twists in a style like this because otherwise it would just all burst out. Twist each pony and secure it into your high side pony. I used the little coloured elastics to secure each mini pony so I could cut them out easily and then put one stronger elastic over the whole thing for an all day hold.
Pretty cute hey! Later on we popped in a bow and boy did it look nice!

Pierced Ears, a new do and worrying!

So after much umming and ahhing, umming and ahhing, after reading through all your fabulous answers to my Ear Piercing questions, after worrying and worrying that they would be crooked, today turned out to be the day. Henrietta wanted to do it, I wanted to do it, so really there was no reason why not - no point in putting it off when there really was no good reason to. We went to a little children's' salon which does Fancy hair, manicures, hair and make up parties and ear piercing. The ladies were just lovely and favoured the double gun technique which worked well for us - an yes they are STRAIGHT!!! Yipppeeeeeeee! Just look at that smile - like I said really no reason to put it off!


Also today a new do - Hettie's hair turned out to be quite an ordeal for Pete and my mum whilst I was in hospital - sometimes they would bring her hair box into hospital so I could do it LOL! Since her ballet concert Hettie has favoured the side pony as she had to wear her hair like that in one of her dances and obviously took a bit of a shine to it. Fine by me - I love the side pony - shows off her curls, lots of chance for bows, flowers etc - so we have been a bit lacking in the new do front. However, today, we took a break from the side pony and just did something simple but still smart.

I started with a mini side pony - just can't seem to get away from it LOL! I used the spikey end of the comb to pull a few curls out around the hair line. This would also work with straight hair, or you could pull them out and then curl them. The parting for this is off centre with the majority of the hair being on the side pony side.

I then took the left over hair, pulled out some curls and popped that part into a miny pony at the front of the head with a coloured elastic. Then I just popped a second elastic around the whole pony using pink and green elastics.

I then secured the second little pony into the original mini side pony. Cute simple but a bit more than just on mini pony at the front and it sort of looks like a little caterpillar which is cute :)


I was reading a thread on an ebay board I belong to yesterday and it got me thinking about the topic of worrying. There is a show I love to watching called grumpy old women - it is an English show and features a mostly hilarious group of women talking about what makes them grumpy and various challenges they face in everyday life. It is a good laugh and really tickles my fancy. One lady on the show was talking about worrying and was relating that when she was young she used to love to go on roller coasters - going on them without a backward glance, not a worry in the world. Whereas now, just seeing a roller coaster is enough to send her into a panic about how the roller coaster is sure to derail and then the train is bound to come careering out of the park and land right on their car as they are driving by - - not even that they are anywhere near the fun park, just passing by a roller coaster she feels doomed to suffer some misfortune. Whilst I don't suffer quite the same level of panic when it comes to roller coasters mainly as I force myself NOT to think about the potential for mishaps but I do find myself worrying when really when it all boils down to it - it probably really isn't necessary. Just sitting here thinking about which one of my many worries I might like to share with you I have descended into a furrowed brow state - wondering if I might tempt fate by sharing - that if I tell you what I am worried about it might make it happen. I guess the ear piercing is as good as any an example - I worried this way and I worried that about them being crooked - I have 9 holes in my ears - some I did myself, some I had done, one IS crooked but only because I made the lady squeeze the gun in between a bunch of other earrings. After that I did them myself to ensure they were straight. But that really and honestly was my main reason for not having Hettie's ears pierced - I was too afraid, no I was convinced they would be crooked - I almost KNEW they would be - but then I woke up yesterday and thought about all the millions of people in the world that have their ears pierced and how unlikely it is that they should be noticeably crooked. When Loughie first learned to tie his shoes - BOY did I worry how he would get changed into his sports uniform - oh the scenarios I had created - how the class would be finished and he would still be sitting there trying to tie up his shoe as the rest of the kids arrived back red faced in the change room. But of course no he was fine - absolutely 100% fine - see how I haven't told you anything I really really worry about - much too worried it might make it actually happen. I was talking with my Aunt the other day about how she used to be quite good at diving off the 10m board at her local pool - first up can you imagine there even being a 10m diving board unsupervised at a local pool - hey the 1950's what can you say! And we were saying how now we probably couldn't even climb up a few rungs of the ladder let alone attempt a swallow dive from a 10m height LOL! And do you know the what I consider the worst part of this whole worry thing - I suspect it only gets worse. And do you know how I know - my MOTHER. Mothers worry right - we all know that - we have known that since we were kids - it became particularly apparent during the teenage years as they worried about THE most ridiculous things - hey why can't I go to a nightclub and come back at 2am when I'm only 16 - shhhesh! But the scaaaary thing is, my mother still worries WAY more than me - and as you see I worry alot - as I have gotten more worrisome - so has my mother - we are moving towards paralytic worry on some sort of parallel scale. The more I worry, the more she does. As an example, she used to drive quite normally - NOW when she drives she is constantly con viced that everyone on the road simply exits to com mitt some dastardly dead that will in some way impact HER - she drives along in commentating each perceived near miss until I am a total nervous wreck! I'm tellin' ya - its only going to get worse!
On a happier note - I was reading this article in the paper today about 1950's style bathing suits being in vogue - they had THE most gorgeous bathing suit on the front cover - in anycase - just back there when I typed 1950's it jogged my memory and I have just been off googling 1950's bathing suits and happened across the best store - check THIS out. How cute is this!?

New Set - New Hair - New Products - New Group

ah yes its all new new new new today. First up a new collaboration with the fabulous Kathy of pixie-dust-studios - Ginger Love...the greatest love story never told. You can see more here. I'll be working with a fabulous new group of ladies on ebay from now on - you can search Sugar3 to find all our listings. A new product from Bowznstuff today too - I've got lots more of these to show you soon but I had a little preview on ebay today - Bowznstuff Hair Candy - hair accessories in a tin! You can see them here.

Which brings me to the new hair part of the equation. As I was photographing Christmas themed hair accessories I wanted something a bit reminiscent of Christmas so I went for a sort of Star style. Start with 6 ponies - 3 on each side. Take the bottom two and cross cross them and secure them into the middle two with elastics.


So now you have 4 ponies - take all four into one pony in the middle of the head - so you sort of have a star shape leading into the centre of the head

- decorate and you are done :)

It looks like a pony but with lots of extras.

And finally - the Christmas Fairy set with a fabulous Buy it Now price!

Heute eine neue Zusammenarbeit. Diesmal wieder mit Kathy von Pixie-dust-studios. Mehr kann man hier sehen. Es gibt heute auch neue Haarspangen - die sind die neuen HairCandy von Bowznstuff - Haarspangen in einer Dose! Mehr kann man hier sehen. Heute gibt es auch eine neue Frisur und noch eine neue Kombi - die Weihnachtsfee!

Fairy Twinkletoes - the party!

What a day!!! Hettie's party has come and been and what fabulous time we had! I love to decorate, I love all the planning but I get a bit nervous about parties and the actual event - how to entertain the kids etc etc. Hettie has said for almost a year that for her party - which is the first she has had - she wanted a fairy to come to her house. And so it came that Fairy Twinkletoes arrived today in a dress that even made me gasp! It has been quite the build up, with Fairy Twinkletoes sending a personlized note to Hettie some weeks before the party and even speaking to her on the phone a few days ago. It really was the most perfect party I could have imagined - Fairy Twinkletoes had the kids shrieking with delight - absolute pure joy! But the best part, Hettie really believed that a real live fairy who could do real magic had come to visit her and that she (Hettie) did some magic too. It really was priceless! For all you Melbournite Aussies, if are are looking for the ultimate Fairy - Twinkletoes is the one! The whole party was enchanting.
Here is the birthday girl
The Fairy Circle was a BIG hit!
I asked some of Loughie's friends to help me out - they fitted the little fairies out with tiara's, dangle earings, marabou scarves, sparkle nailpolish and sparkle hairspray - I don't know who enjoyed it more...the little girls or the big ones!
Here is Hettie receiving her winds, wand and tiara - Hettie was enchanted.

The captivated audience
Hettie helping out with some magic
The happy customers!
And of course I'm sure you are all dying to see a close up of the party do! I knew Hettie woudl be receiving her tiara from Twinkletoes so I wanted something that would work well with that.
So we went with the criss cross corkscrews from the other day and some extra criss cross twists at the back.
Start with 6 piggies - two small ones at the front, two small ones at the nape of the neck, and bigger ones in the middle. Do you corkscrews at the front and attach them into the big middle piggies with elastics. Then take the tiny piggies at the back and twist one and cross it over to the opposite big piggie and repeat - you end up with a nice diamond in the middle of the head. Alternatively you could do the two little piggies at the back as corkscrews. Finish with messy piggies and you have a hairdo fit for a fairy!