One Cheeky Monkey

This little fellow has only had a couple of market outings to date but every time he heads out, he's snapped up quick smart! Will is our cheeky monkey. He's the one who has found mischief, had a blast and escaped long before you've even realised what he's been up to! I like the azure shirt as often the options for boys tend to be the standard navy/white and red (which I am also quite fond of!). It's just nice to offer some variety for the little fellas. I also get a buzz out of using textured fabrics like chenille and buttons and other embellishments as it is a great way to encourage descriptive language in the smalls eg. The monkey has rough/fluffy/furry hair. His nose is shiny and round. Once an Early Childhood Teacher, always an Early Childhood Teacher!

I've quite recently made a girly version of this for Molly. She has a fetching ric rac bow on the side of her head! I'm not sure how well she'll go but it suits my girl down to the ground. I like to team Will's shirt with a pair of brown shorts from Nan's Garden. I'm also keeping my eye on the goodies from Miriam at Mimmis and Bubba Chenille so I can snap up a pair of shorts in a chocolate chenille.

Handmade Heaven is closing down while Liesa awaits the birth of her new bub. It will be reopening online shortly and our Monkey mate will be one of the new designs available in the online store. Our remaining stock in Handmade Heaven has been reduced to 50% to make way for fresh new designs. Snap up a bargain over here. Lots of other goodies also on sale.

The One That Got Away

Image: Renee

As I was browsing through Renee's photos from the Boutique Markets fashion parade, I spied something familiar in the background of one of the dog shots.

Just behind the the dog leads, at the start of the carpet, you will see the elusive blonde haired and blue eyed model who went to extreme lengths to avoid strutting his stuff. He was caught on camera as he made a fleeting appearance in pursuit of a smooch with a dog. I thought I'd pop this one up so you could see the complete set of Little Buttons.

Thanks to Miriam from Bubba Chenille for his pants. He quite fancied himself. He just wasn't prepared to be fancied by the rest of the world!

If you're looking for us tomorrow you will find us in Ipswich helping Liesa celebrate Handmade Heaven's first birthday. Cute as Buttons has been a part of this heavenly venture since day one and we are delighted to celebrate her success. She has some great giveaways and specials to help celebrate and online shopping is most welcome.

Making My List and Checking Tonight

Tonight I have tucked 3 very weary Little Buttons into their beds and I am sure I will not be too far behind them. We had a great time at the The Handmade Expo and although we were back in Brisbane collecting our Dad by 11:30 it was exhausting.

Just look what we managed to check off our Christmas List.

Presents for teachers from Mango Wednesday. All we need to do is load them up with some homemade yummies and wrap them in cellophane. I love to give teachers decorations or Christmas china as an end of year gift. As a teacher, I loved receiving them and as I decorate my house for Christmas, I remember all the little people who gave me the ornaments and plates that I use at this magical time of year. Incidentally, one of my favourite Christmas plates was given to me by someone who left for Schoolies this morning! I am sure these little plates will also give years of joy.

Christmas gifts for the nieces from Denim by Deborah.

Christmas gift for my sister from Denim by Deborah.

If Deb starts some sort of Loyalty Card business, I am in like Flynn! This takes my D by D purchase total to 8! Each one has been unique and quite hard to give away...I am sure I could squeeze in another bag or two!

Christmas outfits for the Little Buttons from min nah kids. They are cute, cute, cute!

The boys' outfits will match. I am not sure if I am going to get away with that...I have a feeling there may be mutiny from the 6yr old button! I'll keep you posted.

Sadly, there is no evidence of the biscuits from The Cupcake Ladies, Debbie's delicious Fudge from Heaven or Tina's Moreish and YUMMY, coconut ice, cupcakes. I shudder to think of the POINTS value but it was worth every one!

Molly snaffled some Bubba Chenille pants and a necklace from Handmade Heaven but she has gone to bed with them stashed beside her so the photos will have to wait till another day.

Sharon had a busy day on the Cute as Buttons front although, she seemed reluctant to accept my offer to leave one or two of the Little Buttons behind to assist her with her work! Go figure. Our next market weekend is a Double Header - The Handmade Expo on the 12th December and Boutique Markets on the 13th December. I'm going to make sure my Christmas List is ready and raring to go!

Spot the Buttons

Image: Taryn Newland

The Handmade Expo will be on at the Ipswich Turf Club, tomorrow, Saturday 21st November. Sharon will manning Cute as Buttons as I am still taking a break to care for Mr Button and the family. I will be attending the Expo with the Little Buttons in tow while Mr Button is at the hospital for his daily visit. No doubt you will see and hear us coming from a long way off!

We have great plans for present buying from Bubba Chenille, Denim by Deborah, min nah kids, Fudge from Heaven, The Cupcake Ladies and Mango Wednesday. If you see us, do stop and chat!

I am slowly replenishing the stock for Handmade Heaven. Some singlets and a few Christmas tees made their way there today. More will follow next week. We will be fully stocked with our Christmas range tomorrow so don't miss out! The min nah girls will have co-ordinating bottoms and my advice is get in nice and early to secure that special Christmas outfit.

Image: Rachael Zelensky

From tomorrow, entry to The Handmade Expo is FREE! What more incentive do you need to start your Christmas shopping?

Missed It By THAT Much.

I suspect the title of this post will reflect my age and the fact that Maxwell Smart was one of my Dad's favourite TV shows. It's also perfect for the snippet of family life I am going to share with you.

Having set the context, let me tell you about my crafting 'miss'. It has become something of a family tradition to have receive a new 'Birthday Suit' to wear on the big day. Of recent years, this is often a request for a new Cute as Buttons design or some sort of Bespoke item. This year, Paddy's plans started out well:

• A red shirt with a desert and a bilby burrowing in a hole.

It moved to this:

• It's night time in the desert, the moon is shining in the sky, there is an owl flying over the hill and the bilby is sitting on the hill nibbling the grass that has grown there because it has just rained.

I was having some concerns about pulling that one off. However, at some point in the negotiations the plans scaled back dramatically to:

• anything you like with wheels and army fabric.

I am not sure if there was some intervention by Mr Button or Nanny or, if my wise little boy just took pity on me and decided I may have bitten off more than I could chew but, I must admit I was relieved not to be coming up with the desert scenario. I decided that a motorbike would do the trick and proceeded to work on it. I eventually produced the Vespa like design in the photo and ignored Mr Button's sniggering everytime I mentioned the Motorbike applique. I really wanted to use some more of the chenille pieces Miriam had given me so I cut the handles and wheels out of a mottled grey chenille which I thought worked well with the army fabric. Sewed, pressed and wrapped, I awaited his reaction.

The morning of the birthday arrived, one of his first selections was the present with the shirt inside. As the paper revealed the gift, a quizzical look appeared on his little face as he smiled and said, "Hmmmm."

Mr Button, sniggering again, asked if he knew what it was. Nanny, always the peacemaker, jumped in and said, "Of course he does Dad. It's a bike, isn't it Paddy?"

Relief all over his face, Paddy ended the conversation by saying, "Yes. It's great, Mum. Just not like any bike I've ever seen in real life."

So, the Vespa hasn't made the Cute as Buttons line up but I am proud to say my boy knows how to react politely when given a present he's not too sure about. He did wear it on the weekend and you can see it in his photo on the previous post. I had a couple of emails about the new design so thought I should explain. Seven weeks after the event I can now talk about the 'miss'. Mr Button, be warned, if I hear anymore sniggering I may not be so evolved.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Hair pretties - Christmas ones available on Saturday at The Handmade Expo

No, they really don't get me down! I love rainy days although I do wish the rain had held off for an extra 15 mins or so on Sunday. It did make the end of the Boutique Markets a little damp! There were lots of lovely things to see and we tried a few new ideas in the Cute as Buttons corner of the world.

Carb free cupcakes

Today was a cruisy Monday. We attended a beautiful family wedding after I'd finished at the markets and we've been moving quite slowly today. I did manage to trek over to the other side of town, with the two small buttons in tow, to source some new display baskets at a cane wholesaler. I'll be looking forward to playing with them at The Handmade Expo at the Ipswich Turf Club on Saturday.

Christmas lovelies floating in the breeze

Tweet treats

Deb's Denim Stompers

Couldn't resist this tea cosy from Maggie of Mags Bags

The Handmade Girls must be feeling fine. They have all been hosting giveaways for various milestones. Lovely prizes to be won at Bubba Chenille, Handmadies and Handmade Heaven.

Heavenly Delights

Handmade Heaven photo - Miriam

I am sitting in my relatively clean and tidy house, with the lights dim and the candles lit and all is right in my little world. Lighting the candles is my sign that it is OK to relax and enjoy some me time. Tonight I am burning one of my purchases from Handmade Heaven - it is a Golden Vanilla, soy candle made by Red Hot Wicks, the scent is divine and is looks great, too.

I also picked up a lovely Bubba Chenille skirt for Molly in lime and purple, and a cupcake tea cloth and matching napkins from Sweet Tea and Roses.

The shop is looking beautiful and I dare you to walk away empty handed. There are so many delighful things inside I just don't think it is possible to resist their charms!

It has just occurred to me that anyone reading the blog may think I only buy presents for Molly! I also buy gifts for my gorgeous Paddy and Will...but the ones for Molly are usually far more blogworthy! Therefore, I am going to challenge myself to buy some handmade goodies for my handsome lads and blog about them this month!

Thought for Thursday

I've learned that even

when I have pains,

I don't have to be one.

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is one of those amazing, inspiring women who seems to write prose that says all those things we're thinking but in a much better way! She has so many beautiful and uplifting

thoughts to share that it is hard to choose just one. Perhaps I'll share some more of her prose over the coming weeks.

I'm trying to keep this thought in mind over the next few weeks. There are so many challenges in life and I am going to handle them graciously. Just watch me!

The beaut May Giveaway is making it a little easier to be gracious at the moment. I'm having a lovely time visiting new blogs and entering. A big welcome and many thanks to the followers who have joined Cute as Buttons. If you're stopping by, we'd love you to stay and play. Just click on the Follow button to the right of the posts. Remember the competition closes at midnight on the 31st May.

Now, yesterday, I told you I was working on some yo yos to use in a little outfit for Miss Molly. I have some photos of the finished project to share. She is going to wear a little pair of pink leggings under the Bubba Chenille skirt that match it perfectly. I tried to get a shot of the hair tie in situ but didn't have much success! The lace is vintage - my Mum used it on my First Communion dress! The pink fabric is from my Aunty Marg's stash which she has gifted to me and I think it comes together beautifully. One photo is the jumbo yo yo I stitched on the shirt. I liked seeing the shirt and hair tie side by side and Princess Molly's head is the best shot I could manage of the hair tie in action.