Vintage Finds

I haven't shared some vintage finds for a while now. Lately I have been going op-shopping every Tuesday as I have a long list of things that I need to find for our wedding and engagement party, and I recently discovered that the city missions in Launceston have half price Tuesday for students. The last few times I've gone I haven't really found much, but today I came home with quite a few lovely things! 

The first items I found were some cute cake plates. I'm collecting these for the wedding and so pick up a few every time I need to make up $10 to use my card. I thought that this trio was very cute together.  

From the same op-shop I also picked up these lovely vintage badminton racquets. These were something on my list today and so I was very happy to find these five for just $1 each! 

Probably my favourite find of the day was this amazing picnic basket! It is such a good size and such good quality, and when I opened it up I was amazed to find all the plates and cutlery packaged nicely inside completely unused! This one was also a bargain at just $7. 

Also picked up this cute summer sundress for $2.50 (I really love student half price Tuesday!). What I love about this dress is that the skirt actually goes to my knees! I'm so over how short most dresses are at the moment are, so was very happy to find this gem.  

And lastly, I thought I would share some cute peachy fabric finds. I'm going to make the peach and white floral fabric into a dress, but am thinking of using the other fabric to make a vintage inspired skirt to wear now that the weather is getting a little hotter. 

Love Eat Make

LOVE | Last week I purchased myself some new Saltwater Sandals (something that has been on my wish list for ages!) I love them so much and already know I will be wearing them all summer long. I think they will make the perfect pair with some of the pretty summer dresses I plan on wearing this season!

EAT | Over the last couple of weeks I have been complaining about being hungry all of the time (I think it might be a side effect of some new medication I've started to take) and I found myself snacking multiple times during the day. I therefore decided to make some healthy coconut and date protein balls as they are full of lots of good things that really help to fill me up! They are actually delicious and taste like they are a bit of a treat even though they are really healthy. I used this thermomix recipe, but I'm sure they would still be easy enough to make without one.

MAKE | Now that uni is finished for the year I'm able to start planing our wedding. At the moment I'm working on an exciting wedding project that involves mint green paint. It has been a dream of mine for a while now to go to a paint shop and buy a pot of mint green paint and this coming Saturday that dream will come true! I don't know yet if I will share many of the wedding projects yet, as I want them to be a bit of a surprise for our wedding guests on the day. But I still like to keep you updated on some of the things that we will be working on and I will be sure to share most things after the wedding next year!

Market Snaps

Last Friday night I had the pleasure of having my very own market stall at the Elizabeth Handmade Market. I really enjoy markets! I loved busily preparing and sewing in the weeks beforehand, and styling my stall on the night (it makes me dream of having a little shop of my own one day!). I also really loved talking to all the different people who stopped by my stall and shared memories that were sparked by the vintage fabrics my dresses are made out of. I was able to debut my new dress design after finally perfecting the pattern and people seemed to really love them! I have also chosen to make my dresses from vintage and pre-loved fabrics only so as to make them sustainable and uniquely one of a kind! I'm planning to have them available in my Etsy shop over the next week or two so if you've got your eye on one keep a look out for that!

Asking My Bridesmaids

I had the pleasure of asking my beautiful best friends to be my bridesmaids over the last week or so and I thought I would share how I ended up asking them here. I knew that I wanted to make my bridesmaids something small and nice to keep as a momento and loved the idea of using vintage hankies when I stumbled across this, however instead of screen printing them, I decided to embroider them. I already had quite a few vintage hankies but I was after some extra pretty ones and so after a lot of op-shopping, visiting antique shops and even looking on Ebay I finally found five of the most pretty handkerchiefs! The embroidery did take a little while, but I really enjoyed it and am very happy with the end result. The girls really appreciated their little gifts and we are now all very excited to start the wedding planning!

A New Favourite

I have been wishing for this beautiful book for a very long time now, and I finally have a copy of my own in my hands. It's a book by the owner of the gorgeous Bluebells Cakery shop in Aukland, New Zealand (somewhere that I'm longing to visit and that looks as though it's straight from my dreams) and I can definitely say that it is now one of my most favourite books! The photography and styling of this book is so beautiful and I am pretty sure I will try at least every recipe once in my lifetime! It has really put me in a baking mood and I'm excited to have a try of  the raspberry and white chocolate lamingtons recipe soon!

New Fabrics

After a months break from sewing and blogging, I'm finally finished uni for the year! I'm very excited about this as now I can get back into the swing of all things 'a mint daydream'. To get inspired, I decided to go op-shopping for the first time in a month and managed to find lots of pretty vintage fabrics for new dresses. I'm getting very busy making lots of dresses in my new design for an upcoming market that I'm going to have a stall at (I'll be sure to share more details about that soon!).

Hopefully now I will be able to start blogging more regularly so be sure to check back soon for some new projects I've been working on and a few sneak previews of some of the dresses that will be available at my market stall!

Wedding Update

I can't believe it has been almost three months since Matt and I got engaged. The weeks are really flying by for me (and I think for everyone else too?) at the moment, as things are starting to get really busy with uni and even though I haven't had much time to do any wedding planning yet, I thought I might give a bit of an update to what I have been working on so far.

We are aiming to have our wedding in November 2015, as it will be spring which is such a gorgeous time of year, it will give us plenty of time to plan and make everything while I'm still at uni, and I will have just finished my degree! I finish uni for the semester at the end of October and hope to use the four months I have off to plan and organise as much of the wedding as I possibly can before I start my last year of uni. I'm hoping to do a lot of things myself, which some people think will become stressful, but it's something I've always wanted to do (I'm still even contemplating making my wedding dress!). I don't really want a fancy, 'traditional' wedding, but instead like the sound of a happy and fun day with good food and the people I love.

Something I've really enjoyed about being engaged is looking through wedding magazines! Two in particular that I really like are Hello May and White (the latest issue is truly beautiful!). I find them so inspiring and have already gotten a few good ideas from flicking through them and even Matt has seen a few things he likes. I definitely recommend them if you're getting married or if you like pretty things.

I haven't made anything for the wedding yet, but I am currently working on a little something for my bridesmaids which is turning out really nicely. I've decided on five bridesmaids and I wanted to make them each something small for them to keep, to make asking them a little bit special. I've had a lot of fun working on their little gifts and I'm looking forward to finally getting to ask them to be my bridesmaids. I will be sure to blog about what it is I've been working on once I've given them all out!

So that's everything that we have been up to so far. We haven't done much at all yet, but I'm really looking forward to the end of semester so that I can start planning a lot more. I hope you enjoyed this kind of post, I think I might do some more wedding updates in the future as they will be really nice to look back on once it's all done!

Spring Wish-List

1. Nadinoo 'Right as Rain' dress.

2. Essie 'Tart Deco' nail polish.

3.Temporary Tattoos by Burrowing Home.

4. 'Everyday Adorable Flats' in Mint.

5. Rose Patterned High-Waisted Panties.

6. American Apparel Scrunchie.

7. The 'Portrait' Backpack.

Spring is here and to celebrate I have put together a list of things that I'm wishing for this season. I think I'm going to have to treat myself to a few things on this list (those shoes are a must!). What's something you're wishing for this spring?  

How to Create an Inspiring Workspace

I find that having an inspiring workspace is one of the most essential ways to stay creative and motivated while working. Here are a few things I do to keep my space inspiring:

1. Keep it tidy. One thing that really motivates me and helps me get started on work (such as uni assignments or dress making) is a neat and tidy space. There is nothing worse then wanting to get started on something only to find you have to clean up your workspace first. A great way to keep your space neat and tidy every time is to clean up at the end of everyday, so that it is clean and ready to go the next day.

2. Choose a space with great natural light. I'm a huge fan of natural light. Not only does it make a space more inviting but it also helps you see what you're working on a lot more clearly, preventing you from having to strain your eyes. If your space doesn't have a lot of natural light, I'd suggest finding a space that does, as it really is easier to get started on your work when you have a lovely light and inviting space to work at.   

3. Stay organised. Having a calendar and some notebooks close by is a great way to stay organised. A calendar in your space (mine is a freebie that comes with Frankie magazine) will help you keep track of deadlines, and notebooks are always handy to write down lists in and little reminders in. I also use a handy downloadable to do list that really helps me to stay on track with the things that need to get done.

4. Fill it with things that inspire you. I think this is the most important step to create an inspiring space. Filling your workspace with things that inspire you will create a happy environment and will give you the creative boost you need when you are feeling a little unmotivated. I like to fill my space with inspiring magazines and books, teacups, flowers and little pops of mint green.

5. Flowers. A jar of flowers really freshens up a space and makes it a much better environment to work in. Not only do they look really pretty, but they smell amazing too. Surprisingly, these flowers lasted a good two or three weeks so it doesn't even require that much effort, as you don't even have to change them every few days. I'm definitely going to keep flowers in my space more regularly from now on.

I hope these tips were helpful for you! What things do you do to keep your workspace inspiring?

Cherry Blossoms

On Saturday I decided to take a break from studying and went on a nice outing with Matt to the local farmers market and to a cafe that I hadn't been to yet called Sweet Brew. I chose to wear one of my favourite dresses, a lovely Princess Highway number that Matt bought for me while we were in Melbourne a couple of months ago. I love this dress and have been wearing it basically non stop since I got it. While we were walking through the park on our way to the farmers market, I thought these beautiful cherry blossoms would make a pretty backdrop for some outfit photos. Everything is so beautiful at this time of year, and the days are getting a lot warmer lately which is very exciting as I'm really looking forward to summer this year!

Retro Floral Dress

As mentioned in this post, I have been working on a new dress design, and after a few months of perfecting it, I finally felt it was ready enough to cut into some of my good fabrics with. I picked up this amazing retro floral fabric from an op shop months and months ago and I loved it so much that I knew I would have to make myself a dress out of it. I used my new 50's inspired dress design to make this dress as I wanted to test my new pattern and happily, it turned out just as I was hoping it would!

So I guess this is a little sneak peek of my new dress design I've been working on! As I said, it's a 50's inspired dress and features a gathered full circle skirt that sits at about knee height, a snug fitting bodice, cute capped sleeves and v-back neckline. I'm really happy with how it has turned out and I hope you will be too! I'm hoping to make this dress in sizes 8-18, so once I've tested each of these sizes to see if they all work as good as this one did, and have collected some pretty vintage fabrics to make this dress in, I will have it available in my Etsy shop. I'll keep you posted!

Love Eat Make

LOVE | Now that spring is here, I realised that I needed some new clothes for the warmer months. So last week, Matt and I did a bit of shopping and I picked up a few spring pieces including these new jeans. Usually, I really don't like wearing jeans because I have quite short legs and I find they don't really suit me but at last I've found a pair that I don't mind! They are high waisted, therefore making my legs seam a little bit longer then they actually are, and they are surprisingly really comfy, which is unlike any other pair of jeans I've ever owned!

EAT | My lovely friend Kristy makes the most delicious cupcakes, and for my birthday she gave me a huge box full of turkish delight cupcakes. They were delicious, and didn't last very long at all, as my family also loved them! It was so nice of her to go through the effort of making them for me.

MAKE | Lately I have been working hard on perfecting my new dress design and this week I made one in my size, and I'm happy to say that it looks exactly how I wanted it to! I used some amazing, retro floral fabric that I found at the op shop months ago and I love it. Now I'll just have to check if all of the other sizes work as well as this one and then I'll be able to make some for my Etsy shop.

August Favourites

Here are a few of my favourite things from August...

1. The new Party Party app by A Beautiful Mess. I love this app so much and even though I haven't used it that much yet, I just really like the whole concept of it and how it is completely different to any other photo editing app that I have seen. It's basically a photo booth on your phone and has lots of cool features to edit your photos to create things like this. Love it!

2. My Essie nail polishes. I've talked about Essie a lot this past month and that's because I really love them and have been wearing them all month long. I only have two in my collection so far but I'm hoping to get some more of the pretty pastel shades for spring soon!

3. My new Peter Alexander pyjamas that the lovely Coby gave to me for my birthday. They are so comfortable and pretty that I actually considered wearing them out! I also love the fact that we have a Peter Alexander store in Launceston now. It is also very pretty!

4. A set of postcards from one of my favourite artists, the Black Apple. Matt gave these to me for my birthday which I think is such a thoughtful gift considering I've probably only mentioned to him once how much I love everything by the Black Apple. I'm going to maybe frame them and hang them up because they are just so adorable.

5. This months Frankie Magazine. It's no secret that I love Frankie, and this one is a real good one full of things that inspire me such as cute crafts, creative stories and, to top it off, a poster of cats!  

What are some things you have really loved in August?

August Moments

Here are a few snaps from my phone of some of the things I've gotten up to in August. Some of the highlights were seeing the signs of spring more and more everyday (in particular the pretty cherry blossoms and the longer days), making daisy chains in the afternoon sun, and celebrating my 22nd birthday! Here are a few more things that I have been up to...

EATING | Turkish delight cupcakes by the lovely Kristy Hooper, Raspberry pancakes from the raspberry farm, sticky pork belly bun by Eats with Beats (my most favourite thing to eat ever!), Vietnamese food from the restaurant Mekong, and Tacos de Pancho's tacos, just to name a few! Let's say I won't be needing to eat much during September!

MAKING | My granny square blanket, a pattern for my new dress design, a new quilt featuring squares of my favourite vintage fabrics to be able to keep a piece of them all forever. 

BUYING | A new pair of jeans that I actually like, top deck chocolate, a new Essie nail polish, and vintage sheets to make into dresses.

LOVING | Being half way through this semester already, getting back into blogging again, that the days are getting warmer and longer, the fact that I have finally convinced Matt to read Harry Potter, and that I have mid-semester break this week!

Hope you've had a lovely month too!