unleash creative

When a dream calls your name loud enough you follow it. You follow it to the peaks of treacherous mountains, across seemingly bottomless bodies of water and through the driest of sandy deserts.

A dream has been calling my name for some time now. Yet the timing has never seemed right. That is until recently. 

Personal situations and circumstances along with the amazing support and words of encouragement from loved ones has lead me to finally launch a project that is very close to my heart and one that I'm extremely passionate about. 

At the start of this week I officially launched the website for Unleash Creative, a series of full-day creative workshops to get people thinking outside the square, get their creative juices gushing and push the boundaries.

DIY: piñata wrapping paper

Here's an easy and fun way to wrap a birthday gift... make your own piñata gift wrap!

Here's what you need:

• tissue paper in different colours
• scissors (I used herb chopping scissors with multiple blades, but you can use plain scissors)
• glue stick
• kids kraft paper or butchers paper

5 ways to use felt pom poms

pom-pom 
A pom-pom (also spelled pom-pon, pompom or pompon) is a loose, fluffy, decorative ball or tuft of fibrous material. Pom-poms may come in many colors, sizes, and varieties and are made from a wide array of materials, including wool, cotton, paper, plastic, and occasionally feathers. 
source: wikipedia

But you knew that already, right!?

If your house is anything like mine, then you'll have more bags of lollypop sticks, wooden clothes pegs, glitter, tissue paper and felt pom poms than you know what to do with. You might have supplies left over from a creative project, or you may have purchased them with the intention of making something with them but instead they've just sat unused taunting you all this time.

I'm slowly making my way through my craft supplies and coming up with new ways to use them. Today, I've come up with 5 colourful ways to use up your felt pom poms.

make a paper garland using cupcake wrappers, straws and tissue paper

There's nothing wrong with store-bought paper garlands, but I'm all about custom, unique and one of a kind. I also think that being known for being creative amongst my group of friends, there's a level of expectation that I will make most things from scratch myself.

So when I was planning the decorations for my daughter's recent first birthday party, I started making tissue paper flowers. I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with them, but I knew that they would have a place within the overall confetti theme.

But it wasn't until I found some jumbo length straws in a two dollar shop that I got an idea. An idea for a fantastic straw and paper garland.  Here's how to make a paper garland in 5 simple (colourful) steps...

how to make festive cake stands

Here's a fun little DIY from my daughter's recent first birthday party.  As part of her confetti themed party I wanted to have some food displayed on colourful elevated stands. I didn't want to buy something specifically for the party, so I set out to make something unique (and budget-conscious). Here's how I did it and how you can do it too...

5 ways to decorate envelopes

Since starting the Creative Pen Pals project, I've immersed myself in all things snail mail. Because let's be honest, one of the greatest joys of receiving a penned letter is the initial reaction you have when you realise that there's an adorned beauty in amongst the bills.

Something I've found though, is that if you only have a couple of pen pals, the letter-writing kits which come in packs of 10 or 20 certainly start to become less exciting and more *groan* "there's that stationery again".

Don't get me wrong, I love me a cute printed letterhead, but I also love the uniqueness of receiving something that has been customised or is one of a kind. So it got me thinking. How can I easily create some lovely, colourful stationery that can be customised using the same technique but different supplies?

So I've come up with 5 ways that you can embellish standard envelopes (nothing fancy, just plain old envelopes from an office supplies store) with supplies from your craft stash. 

festive party ideas on a budget: theming

Setting a theme for a party or special occasion is important for a few reasons. It enables you to:

• select decorations that will compliment each other 
• stay on track when selecting items and planning the overall day 
• set a menu to match your theme

Please don't be daunted by the task of deciding on a theme. You don't have to go over the top (if you don't want to) and simple ideas such as choosing a colour or pattern such as dots or stripes will help you pull everything together in next to no time. Sticking with a basic theme means it's easier to customise party basics such as plastic cups, cutlery, napkins etc.

Of course if you want to be a little more elaborate and pick a mad hatter style party, then that's great too, but you must be prepared for the challenge, and the work involved.

Below is an example of a theme, menu and decorations that I'm sharing from my daughters' recent first birthday party to provide some inspiration.

festive party ideas on a budget

My littlest one turned one on the weekend.  For a week leading up to her birthday, I was making lots of decorations and preparing for her party on Sunday, using every spare minute possible to cut, paint, glue, stick and create.

We didn't have a budget in mind, but as it was only a small party being hosted at our house, I didn't want to spend too much money. And if I can make it myself, then you know I will always accept the creative challenge.

The theme I decided on was 'confetti' which made it easy to customise the decor and to create a lot of things from scratch using paint and stickers along with some cheap supplies. It made the entire theming colourful, whimsical and fun.

Over the course of the next week I'm going to share with you the menu, decorations and ideas so that you can create your own confetti themed kids (or grown-up) party on a budget or find inspiration in everyday objects to DIY your own do.

You'll be amazed at how easy (and cheap) it is to create a colourful setting that'll have your guests swooning.

handmade nursery

It's been a while in the making, but I've finally taken photos of my daughter's room, to share just how easy it is to create a sweet handmade nursery for a baby on a low budget.

Most of the items which I made were created using existing supplies which I already had on hand. Scraps of patterned paper make festive bunting, fabric scraps turn into cushions and recover an old lamp and felt pom poms float on thread or can be glued to just about any surface.

Let your imagination, with the help of Pinterest, transform existing objects into something new to adorn your little ones' room.

With touches of crocheted, embroidered, quilted and stitched objects, your growing bundle is going to appreciate the textures, patterns and colours of the visual feast you have provided them.

read it: *bespoke* magazine

If you're reading this, then chances are you subscribe to a few creative blogs. But do you always read them? I know I don't or can't always dedicate the time to sit down each day and read my fave blogs.

Magazines both of the physical and digital kind are a great go-to when I need some inspiration or a diversion from chores. They are digestible morsels of curated information, inspiration and beauty. They're easy to read and you can skim over any articles that don't interest you to find ones which are more your flavour.  Mmm, flavour.

There are quite a few crafty magazines out there, but a personal favourite of mine is *bespoke* zine. Why? Well it's produced in Australia and contributed to by the handmade community. People that you may know and interact with on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. All there sharing their tips with you, the reader!

It's packed with tutorials from clever crafters, insights and tips from successful indie business owners, stories to help you start out your own handmade business, recipes (mmm food), links to shops selling handmade, and a butt-load of inspiration.

The cover of each issue is illustrated by a different illustrator, graphic designer or artist. So as you can see it really is a collaboration of creative proportions.  

Now if this sounds like a magazine you'd be interested in, you might want to help out by pre-ordering a bumper issue that the editors are trying to get off the ground.  In order to print a huge 100-page Winter edition, the eds of *bespoke* are calling out for people to get behind them and pre-order before May 31st. Show your support for handmade and creative. Jump over and pre-order now!

The lovely editors at *bespoke* have offered up a 12 month (3 issues) digital subscription worth $25 for one of you to win! 

All you need to do to enter is leave me a comment on this post answering either one of these questions:

Have you read *bespoke*? 
What's your favourite creative magazine?


the small print
Value of digital subscription is $25
Digital subscription is for one year or three issues of *bespoke* magazine
Issue 10 will be out July 31st, Issue 11 is released Nov 30 and Issue 12 will be early next year
Entries close Friday 31st of May at 8pm. 
I will draw a winner randomly through random.org