Their 2nd Christmas Ever

part 1: WILF

The Receiving

 Wilf and his new old train

I have always LOVED Christmas 

Laughs, good food, giving, receiving, fun, and more good food

Happy Days! 

Wilf LOVES anything with wheels. Trains and Rubbish trucks are his favourite.  (Our rubbish collectors and local train station know us very well indeed)

 So I popped my lucky skirt on and went off hunting.

I bought this wooden train from an old man who made it about 40 years ago.  It is nearly 1/2 metre tall and 1 1/2 metres long and a real corker.  I had to lug it home , give it a quick sand and  wipe down then hide it secret squirrel style in the shed.

Well worth it too, a real keeper, it got a 'WOWIE' from Wilf.

'Best Ever' I was told.. chuffed

 luckiest little gardener

Wilf also scored his own super sweet watering can with his name painted on it so his daddy doesn't steal it; this was from Emma and Frankie and is much loved plus new weather resistant gardening tools (stay tuned for Wilf in the garden part 2 blog!)

The Giving

I made this girly heart mobile for my new very beautiful niece 'Jade'.

The hearts were made with a selection of vintage fabrics then stuffed with hobby fill and it all hung sweetly from a salvaged stick painted white.

Stay tuned to www.birdypopcorn.com for girl/boy/unisex mobiles made to order.

The Fun

We went to Wilf's Uncle's house for our Christmas lunch feast.

Lucky for the kids there was a Santa Pinata full of treats!

Wilf needed a helping hand, so with Daddy guiding him along got the hang of it all too quickly. Cool idea. 

Bubbles

Always a hit! 

Note poor Santa in the background

Raining Rose Petals

Throw them up, watch them fall

simple effective fun

Christmas rules

Part 2 : FRANKIE

This year we flew to Sydney to have a 3 day christmas festival eating extravaganza. 

It was fun to do something different. Just a cozy crew of family; Frankie almost 2 (the youngest) and Sal my aunts mum, Beth 83 (the oldest). Throw in 2 danish travellers experiencing their first aussie christmas and a handful of friends coming and going. All in all a good company and a great day

good times, party hats, and a christmas feast 
outside, poolside with a beachy blue themed table.
Plates piled high with yummy turkey, ham, stuffing, moroccan salad, potato salad, green salad, coleslaw, spicy pineapple salsa, bread, cherry hamjam & mustards...
and more on top of more i'm sure

Wubba-Wing
Otherwise known as a Rubber-Ring.
Soph gave this to Frankie on christmas morning and it was a massive hit. note the a cheeky face

my water baby
hardly left the pool,
think Luke better start digging at our place.

pass the parcel
Frankie was soooo good! She went from person to person, sampling their food and having a play. Colouring books, stickers and play-doh also kept her entertained during our long relaxo lunch.

a night cap
finished the day with a sorbet
to wash it all down

Goji Berry Goodness Balls for Christmas or Anytime

Who says all things yummy can't be good for us? Perfect as gifts wrapped up all pretty for Christmas...these beauties are delicious!

Get yourself a helper

Wilf loves to help me in the kitchen.  It's perfect messy,fun.

Ingredients

1/2 cup L.S.A. (a ground up mix of linseed, almond and sunflower seeds)

1/4 cup almond meal

A bit under 1/4 cup of Tahini (a sesame seed paste)

Handful of chopped up raw macadamia nuts

Handful of goji berries 

For the sweetener we use anything that is natural and therefore better for us.

 a bit over 1/4 cup of organic maple syrup, organic rice syrup OR  agave nectar.  

Tip. I often combine two types of sweeteners and always get a good result doing this i.e. organic rice syrup and organic maple syrup are a great match

Something with texture to roll the balls in.. toasted coconut (our fave), smashed rice bubbles or chopped up nuts

All of the ingredients above can be found at your local health store and if you're lucky the local supermarket

Method

1. Pop the goji berries in a small bowl, top with boiling water, and put aside to add at the end.

This softens them and also releases all their healthy goodness.

Wilf drinks the water as a tea when it's time to drain as we only need the berries not the water for this recipe.  It's yummy and super good especially if the sniffles hit.

2. Toast a cup of coconut in a moderate oven, til you can smell the coconut filling your kitchen, bout 5 minutes, and put aside.  I would check it often as it can overcook

Toasted coconut, mine is a tad overdone here, but stil good.

Note the sneaky little hand going in for the attack..

3. Put all your ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine.  Look for a consistency that clumps together

Wilf is spooning out the tahini here, as you can imagine our floor is quite the mixture spectacle, but look at the concentration!

Mixture. mmmm mmmmm

4. Roll your mixture up into balls, it helps to keep your hand a little moist to avoid it sticking.  This quantity should make approx. 15 balls, however if you have a hungry helper like I do, be prepared for a little less than that...!

A little note.. this is a user friendly, add your creativity recipe.  Chop and change ingredients as you please and to what your taste buds prefer.  Above is what Wilf and I have made up over time to suit our likes.  Perhaps throw in chopped apricots or other dried fruits, chopped almonds etc etc

The Best Part 

christmas decorations

The sweetest gift... 

A whole box of vintage christmas friends 

Biancs knew how much I loved this sort of vintage wooden tree decorations. (My mum has a tree full collected over years) So of course with an eye like hers, didn't take long before Biancs had tracked down a whole box of the sweetest little wooden characters to liven up my tree. Santas, bells, snowmen, rocking horses, angles and father christmas himself. I was lucky enough to score these as a 'just coz' present. I didn't even have to wait for the big day... what a legend!

I also did the annual visit to the Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar, with my mum Bup, sister Soph, and Frankie. It's held every year at the Swedish Church, 21 St Georges Rd, Toorak in Victoria on the first weekend of December. 

scandi decorations, by Nordliving ?
I brought one of these knitted headed santas.

It's friendly and super festive, perfect for getting you in the Christmas mood. This year the day was steaming hot, bustling with crowds, mostly of rediculacly good looking tanned, blond haired people.  The food is classic; waffles, hot dogs, meatballs Daim chocolates etc... There was the Swedish inspired stationery shop Kikki K, comfy and handcrafted Clogs, and the most radical Danish  bikes from PS Bikes. 

We managed to have a brilliant time, Frankie jumped in the jumping castle, we patted the animals in the farm, ate sweet treats and came out with some beautifully crafted goodies. I think my favourite purchase was the little toadstools on paper wire. Mutli-use for wrapping presents; for decorating the tree and still cute even not at christmas?

here are some of mine...

LATEST VINTAGE FINDS w many more to come..

Lovers o lovers of all past and gone you are in for a treat
stay tuned to www.birdypopcorn.com for these and much much more!

*pictured above is a vintage single bed size quilt so darn sweet!  Has a cotton underlay and the printed top layer is like the old school sleeping bag fabric 

What d'ye lack?

What d'ye lack?

Come choose your wares from Birdy Popcorn's pack.

1940's loved vintage book, little one's first photo album, vintage cords, vintage unisex cutie rudie summer shorts, classic vintage childhood game 'fiddle sticks' and the cutest pom pom hand knitted booties..

I can't do my spelling, my sums won't come up right.  It's dreadfully hard to keep still.

I just keep thinking the whole morning through

of our PICNIC on Bilberry Hill

picnic reading with 'The adventures of Cheeky' vintage book, 

tupperware tumblers, vintage animal plates, vintage cutlery and a rolling pin from yesteryear

Every mini foodie needs only the best cutlery!

Classic and absolutely gorgeous is this 4 piece steel cutlery set with animal detail

..Daddy always likes me best when in my 

Sunday clothes I'm dressed

vintage floral tutu/apron/cape multipurpose cuteness, muslin and embroidered bubs first blue summer shorts, floral cord overalls for a size 1-2 beauty, denim unisex overalls and baby's first pink embroidered overalls.. these and much much more vintage wonderwear available soon at Birdy Popcorn

fun days

So Wilf and Biancs are away (note: Tassie post to come) So... we are smashing the park everyday and coming up with inventive home based games trying to keep ourselves occupied. Despite missing her partner in crime Frankie is loving it.

Frankie and Wilf both have just recently decided they can 'do it my own self mummy' in other words, don't help me mum! It's very cute and scary seeing them scale to the highest heights with no fear, only to take a mammoth tumble and come in for a kiss to make it better.

'higher!!!!! - i'm a bird'

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Some fun at home includes; Hide and seek, Playing sleep in a bucket, Wearing bikinis and gumboots to splash in the rain and puddles, searching the neighbourhood streets for local 'scatter cats' and painting up a storm double handed on the easel...

sharp turn at the road
and do it all again

running fast as she can

i'm hiding in here

'If i turn away -
can you still see me?'

Had to post this shot too, it was the day before they left for Tassie, and our last hoorah for a week. Look at the understanding between them its very sweet.

standing on the wobble bridge at the play ground, the calm before the jumping storm!

Patchwork Quilts (wonder quilts)

We have found a new past time, quilt making?? 
Old before our years you say... It might be true, but we're loving it! 

this one was a girly order, pink, red and orange

At birdy popcorn we pride ourselves on creating one-off originals, and each one of our 'wonder quilts' is truly unique. By putting together a patchwork of almost solely vintage fabrics we believe you are getting similar old world charm to that of a special quilt passed down the generations.


For those that have it all, give the personalised touch. It is the sweetest present for a baby shower, christening or birthdays of any age. Available in 3 sizes; small, medium and sometimes large:

small (newborn bassinet/pram throw) 70 x 98 cm
also perfect for tummy time
shown in mismatched primary available on handmade page

medium (cot size) 112 x 126 cm
note it is shown here folded in half

& large but only by special pretty please requests 

(single bed throw/snuggle up couch size) 224 x 254 cm

Info: For the outside we use only 100% cotton. Mostly made up of vintage 1950's-19$80's printed cotton. All washed and smelling sweet.

For the warmth inside; it is an all natural needle punched cotton/bamboo wadding. It breathes beautifully, so no more steamed dim-sim sweaty nights.

'blue green envy' available now on handmade page

So its as simple as choosing yours (or your kids) three favourite colours or a theme; floral, neutral, colourful, animals, boyish, Australiana... whatever, set us to work. & remember special requests and made to order is always welcome

latest vintage finds...

HAPPY HAPPY DAYS

WHEN YELLOW MET BLUE

 Famous 'Zippy the Chimp' 1950's book on the loveable character most renowned in the U.S.A.

 Sweet printed dress in the most beautiful shade of blue (with white) for a size 0 styler

 Wedgwood original bunny mug

Delightful overalls for bubs

 Vintage dolly's clothes

 Vintage children's pillow case 

Coming to www.birdypopcorn.com soon

Little Blue went out.  He went out to look for Little Yellow.

He looked here and there and everywhere

until he found Little Yellow in the park

Little Blue was very happy to see his friend

newly listed VINTAGE items

So a little heads up on a few newly listed items on our melbourne based website www.birdypopcorn.com 

there are some for girls and some for boys... 

FOR THE GIRLS...

$18.00 vintage summer frilled hem tank with key hole tied back
can be a mini dress worn w cute bloomers or as a tank top
marked as a size 1 but fits frankie and she is 21mths

$18.00 little baby dolly very vintage
dressed in a bonnet and frilly dress
approx 17cm long

$14.00 fields a country  with frilly hemline
up-cycled halter neck dress in navy gingham
size 2

AND FOR THE BOYS...

$15.00 mickeys chubby leg delight
long sleeved hooded romper very cool
size 00

$35 karate kid U.S.A 

boys original vintage karate top

the front opens as you would expect and there is a cool smaller

version of the back print (shown above) on the upper right 

To fit a little fella 4-6yrs

$10.00 lego fun! awesome plane 

propellor spins around

two front wheels also spin

14 x 8.5 x 5.5 vintage sweet