All Fired Up!

Since every day seems to be about dads, Father's Day should mean they have to change every nappy, attend to every cry and get her down for every nap.

You see, kids are excited when daddy comes home. 'Da' is generally their first word. Dad is the 'fun one'. Dad is head of the household (well not in this house). 

That cynicism aside, Hubby is a pretty good and hands on dad. So we had to celebrate him a little bit for his first Father's Day.

Boy did he get spoilt. I made him a cherry ripe slice, breakfast, he got to open a new date envelope, received a West Coast Eagles  membership and drank coffee from his new mug, created at Fired Up in Joondalup.

1: My attempt at a hand print card (fail) 2: The rich cherry ripe slice (thanks Taste.com.au)
3: Hubby and Mini Me with the spoils.

 

Creating the personalised mug was a brilliant suggestion from one of my Yummy Mummy Group mums.

With a range including plates, coasters, mugs, cookie jars and ornaments, and most around $20 with a $5 per 'painter', Fired Up helps create a great DIY gift with none of the mess or effort.

Given the area is not big and probably holds 20 people, we booked a table, and I suggest it's the same for even small groups on weekends.

At home I had tired to capture Mini Me's hand and foot prints with little reward for all the smudging and hot pink paint that got everywhere. But Fired Up made it easy.

The finished product and Hubby's present wrapped in a brown paper package (one of my favourite things).

The staff are super friendly and helpful. They actually did the print for us, cleaned up any smudges and we just had to decorate the rest. And given they do this a lot, crying bubs is no worry for them and they can calm them down, or still manage to capture the print from a fussy bub.

You then leave your piece with them to 'fire up' and seven days later you can pick up your dishwasher, microwave proof ceramic.

Given it was a week before Fathers Day they were super busy we didn't expect to get our pieces in time, but I think they moved mountains to make sure as many dads had their own personalised hand and foot print mug, plate of piece of art.

I loved the outcome and think my Christmas presents are all sorted this year!

To top it all off, Fired Up makes a good little coffee and has a few snacks on offer as well.

To other Yummy Mummy Groups out there, Fired Up should be on your list of places to meet up to capture those little hands and feet before they start running around.

Fired Up!
29 Winton Road, Joondalup
P: 9300 1811
E: info@firedcafe.com.au
W: www.firedcafe.com.au

No card required - why we love you birthday print

The past two years have been flirty 30s, dirty 30s, murky 30s and hurty 30s. Now even more so with many of my close friends turning the big 3-0.

Trying to keep each gift personal, fresh and new means the ideas are running low.

For Ms Z's milestone birthday she received a '30 sucks' card the day before her birthday. And I was part of the surprise she received at lunch when our fabulous Sydney friend flew in for her special day.

DIY: 30 sucks card

I LOVE my birthday. It's my favourite holiday. A day dedicated to me, people are nice, there's gifts, there's lunches and lots of free drinks.

The number means nothing.

But for many the number is worse than the childhood monster in the closet. It's ominous, judging and going to expose their life like a bad tabloid journalist would.

I've had a lot of family and friends reach milestone birthdays lately. My young family members use it as their badge into the adult world. My friends fear the big 3-0.

One friend if celebrating her pearl birthday this month and there are a few surprises in store.

And one went in the post - a 30 sucks card.

DIY This Little Pig nursery prints

When I was setting up Mini Me's room I scoured the net for DIY projects because I wanted to be that mum.

They all looked hard and time consuming. So I came up with my own and I'm giving it to you for free. All you need is a printer and five frames.

This little pig prints to brighten up the nursery wall

A year of dates

What do you give a man who has everything? A year long gift.

To show my gratitude Hubby got a leave pass, Liverpool game tickets AND 12 gifts... How great am I!

12 gifts in one - a year of dates!

After 13 years of gift giving I needed a special idea. Yep 13 years. It's not always smooth sailing. Sometimes I've hated him. But he is my best friend and no relationship - romantic, family or friendship - can survive without work and quality time.

That's why rather than one envelope with a card, Hubby was given 12 - each with a monthly pre-planned date of mostly things we've never done, just for us.

The plan is to open the envelope together at the start of the month, look at the calendar and decide on a date.

It was really easy to put together. 

 

An easy idea that anyone can pull together.

The ideas were things we've never done before, some inspired from my 101 in 1001 and others from the Entertainment Book (gosh I love that book).

The brown blank cards and envelopes were from Kmart. The date cards were adapted from free, downloadable Mad Men inspired save the date cards from Wedding Chicks.

Hubby was pretty stoked and being impatient ripped my nice packaging open for July and wanted to crack into August.

Our first date is actually a pre-planned weekend away. He can't get too spoilt now can he?

30 notes in the post

Does getting writer's cramp and posting 30 baby introduction cards mean #82 is almost completed?

30 thank you/announcement cards sent to family and friends