Life Saving Gifts

Okay, so you can't make these gifts yourself, and they aren't all cheap as chips, but they are from the heart, because nothing is more personal than a gift that could protect or save the life of someone you care about. Please keep these in mind when you are deciding on a gift, and feel free to share this post with anyone you love or care for.

Fire Blankets these are wonderful, they fold up small and can be stored in your kitchen, near your fire or heater, and in your car. They are suitable to suppress the flames of any type of fire, unlike water and fire extinguishers which suit different kinds of fire. The fire blanket is universal, and if worse comes to worse you can use the blanket to shield you as you evacuate a burning room. You can find fire blankets in hardware stores, or ask your local fire department.

Smoke Detectors of course every home should have them, and in our state it is illegal to rent a home to a tenant without a fire detector, it should also be illegal to sell a home without a fire detector if you ask me. You need to figure out the number of detectors by the size and layout of the home, and they need to have their battery tested, we do ours each month, and every year on April 1st we replace the batteries, this is a special day used to remind citizens to do the same.

Clipsal Safety Switch we had one installed in our power metre box, they are a terrific defense against electricution as they cut the power when there is a surge due to electrical fault or misuse that causes electric shock.

Senior First Aid Course yes, again with the first aid training! I really can't recommend it enough and as well as coming away with vital experience and knowledge, the course fee acts as a charitable donation to our paramedics and ambulance services. First aid training also looks great on a resume.

Complete Car Inspection tyres, brakes, engine, seatbelts, and child safety seats (these are too frequently inadequately secured).... this is a great gift anytime but is outstanding before a road trip, so if you have a family member about to embark on a driving holiday, this would be a fantastic gift.

Doggy Car Harness saves your dog's life in the case of an accident as an unrestrained dog becomes a projectile on impact. You put the harness on your dog and secure him through the seatbelt, this also means he cannot become a danger to the driver as he can't move from his place in the car. I have seen people driving with their dog (large dogs at that) on their lap, how they can see or skilfully manouvre the steering wheel is beyond my comprehension.

Doggy Life Jackets I know a lot of 'boaties' who take their dog out in the boat, but it is only in recent years that they have thought to protect their beloved pet with a life vest especially designed for dogs. These are terrific and give peace of mind, and in the case of a boating accident you will have one less thing to worry about as you trust your dog can stay afloat.

Baby Monitors easily one of the most popular baby shower gifts, they allow parents and carers to monitor the baby from remote locations, giving peace of mind.

New Shower Screens the glass in modern shower screens is safer as it is much harder to break. Sadly a child in my community died from blood loss after falling through his grandmother's shower screen. Until this happened many of us were unaware of the danger in our homes, we are now committed to preventing similar tragedies.

I am sorry if this post has depressed you, but I see the chance to save other lives as uplifting, and I hope you will consider these and other life saving gifts, until next time, love Starry.

Baby Gear In Store Now

Tommee Tippee teether soft toy, $13.62 at Woolworths. I love this toy, it has a good grip on it, and the handle ring actually allows you to slip the ring through babie's seatbelt or pram strap so the toy can be played with but not lost on an outing. The head of the cow is a rattle, the feet (in the shape of love hearts) have crackle fabric, and the hands are designed especially for relief (or at least stimulation) during teething. There are a number of similar toys in different colours and animals, but this daisy cow was my fave and will suit boys or girls.


These padders are just the cutest things, padders are pre-shoes, not quite booties and not yet shoes, they are soft and as the name implies have a padded sole. They say 'cheeky' and then there is a monkey applique, implying your little one is a 'cheeky monkey'. I bought these for $7.32 in Woolworths.






This Elmo jumper (size 00 and up) is one of my favourite baby items right now. Not only is he such a lovable character, the jumper is so bright, very engaging for the baby, the quality of the stitching is very good, and it will really keep bub warm this winter. I bought this one for $14.88 at Big W.






The best time to buy baby toys and clothes are during special department sales in stores, and when promotional baby catalogues for stores such as Big W, Target, and Kmart are circulated. Each change of season there are quite good sales allowing you to buy newborn clothes ahead of the change in temperature and weather.

Patterned cot sheets are my best tip for baby linens, as they tend to disguise stains, as do patterned sleepwear and onesies.

Although printed fabric bibs look gorgeous they are really quite useless as they don't protect clothes underneath from food spills, and don't catch any falling debris. You can't beat the vinyl or plastic bibs with the catch me reservoirs at the bottom.

A small tuppaware container with bicarb soda in it is a handbag or diaper bag must have, you simply sprinkle on your clothes when the baby spits up on you and you won't smell terrible.

Well this brings my baby news and tips to an end for now, I hope you enjoy the little ones in your life,
Love Starry

Children's Party Activities

How I love a carousel, however, unless there is one in your area, you probably aren't going to be having one for your child's birthday. I'm not going to recommend going all out and hiring bouncing castles in your backyard, or petting zoos, clowns, and the like. I am all about simple fun that is achievable and memorable.

Do you realize how easy it is to make a maze out of haybales or cartons? Really easy and fun, if you are using cartons, you could get your children to paint them beforehand so you have a colourful and zany maze, it doesn't have to be too big, just enough to be interesting and don't forget to have something fun in the centre, perhaps a table of toffee apples, or cupcakes.

If you don't want to spend a small fortune booking a petting zoo, you could still use any connections you have in the local area, perhaps someone with a pet donkey, or a pony who will come to give rides for your guests.

Before eating, get the children to sit at the tables you have laid out to make their own party hats. If you have old christmas cracker crowns or pre cut your own crown designs, the children can apply pictures, ribbons, sequins, buttons, feathers, or stick on gems to their heart's content using simple paste. You might need another parent to help make this run smoothly but I think it is a good group activity as no one wins a prize, everyone gets to make their own hat that they can take home.

I bet you grew up with pin the tail on the donkey, pass the parcel, and musical chairs, so I don't need to explain them. I do find they can cause some squabbling, and not everyone can win.... so I like things like treasure hunts, where each child is only looking for their coloured counters or marbles, which are then cashed in for a set amount of booty - ie, no one child can get the lion share of treats, while others miss out, each child can only get a set amount. If one child is having trouble looking they can always ask for help, but not at the expense of their treasure, they still get all their treats.

You could try a caterpillar, snail, or frog race for a boys party (or girls if they are that way inclined) you only need to mark the number of lanes, you could do this with coloured yarn, texta, or paint depending on the race surface.

For girls you could perhaps have nail polish manicures (depending on age), or temporary hair colour sprays (ask other parents before the party if they mind their child having punky hair streaks for a day or two).

I still have the photo of the human pyramid we made for my 13th birthday, and of course, posing for photos is a must, and will use up a nice chunk of time.

I love bubbles, so you could let the kids go to town with bubble blowing out in the garden, another great photo opportunity.

If you have karaoke or playstation singstar, girls seem to like this a lot, and it is good, safe fun. Dance lessons are a good activity too, you could book a hip hop dance instructor for an hour, or buy an instructional dvd (if your living room is big enough).

Pinatas are easily made using crepe paper or you can buy premade ones at Spotlight, Kmart, and other stores. Of course the birthday child gets to crack it open but you can put the party favour bags for all the children inside, with their names printed on them, so no one misses out.

I hope these ideas have inspired you, I will likely have another post like this in the future as new trends come along. Some ideas are timeless though, and I like to encourage good, safe, simple, fun.

Love Starry

Mum's 70th Birthday

No, don't wish her a happy birthday, I am just remembering this day as it was the first family party I was solely responsible for planning and hostessing. It was in July of 2007.

A winter party.... that meant hot food, plenty of tea and coffee but with soft drink for the teenagers. I had to even out the oven temperature between contradictory recipe heat requirements and adjust the time to suit.... I like brain work so making the timetable for that was strangely fun. As was making the shopping lists.

The cake, well, I wanted mum to have a unique cake, not the traditional chocolate that we each have for our days, and not the fruitcake with orchid icing that marks a special birthday. Something that said it was a cake for my mother. This is what I did. I made two large sponge cakes and sliced them into four layers each (if you know what I mean). On a golden foil covered cake board I assembled my apricot cream sponges into one super cake(the layers of the two separate cakes pushed together). The bottom layer had apricot jam and cream applied. The next layer had just cream. The middle layer had jam, pieces of actual apricot, and then cream applied. Repeat until the top, which simply had clear glaze of apricot jam spread all over. Next I applied cream to the sides of the cake and piped cream across the top join where the two separate cakes met. On the morning of her party, I went out into her garden and snipped some fresh white camellias off her beautiful giant shrubs. They were perfect, not a speck or discolouration or water stain on any of them, they sat in the centre of the join in a lovely arrangement. I put a gold 70 from a cake decorating set, and applied golden star candles on toothpicks and one large candle 'happy birthday'.

I even had time to invent an activity at the last minute the morning of the party. I ran to the spare room and found a large white board of fairly stiff cardboard. Then I got lots of different coloured pieces of paper and on each one wrote a lovely memory or achievement from mum's life. For example meeting my father, the day they got married, getting her nursing qualifications, owning a show winning kitten, travelling in her youth with girlfriends etc And applied each paper memory on the board, then I blew up more balloons then one person should ever inflate by mouth unassisted. Each balloon was applied to the cardboard panel so that the whole thing was covered with no gaps (ribbon tied around balloon base then stickytaped onto the board). The concept was that mum had to remove the balloons one by one and read out the paper underneath for all the guests to hear. It was enjoyed by all, whether they shared the memory or were learning of the achievement for the first time, very bonding and enlightening and lots of laughs were had.

I made my first ever party hat for mum, a crown from a christmas cracker, with an aqua star glued on, with the numbers 70 from a cake set glued on, and some sparkly stick on gems, for her to wear while she blew out her birthday candles. I now make many a birthday crown, but that was the first, and she was very surprised.

So, that was my first family party, I remember it fondly, and it gives me the confidence for future party planning. I intend to post some more party activity ideas (mostly for children) down the track, and my idea for a 'no-tears' Easter egg hunt.... stay tuned. Love Starry

Mother Blessings

I have a wonderful friend named Donna, who told me last year that she was making the invitations for her friend's Mother Blessing, she asked me if I knew what this was, and I had to admit I had not heard of the idea. Donna was very kind and told me about the idea and sent the photo of the invitation above.

I have to say, the idea just delights me, so if you are thinking of having a baby shower for someone you know, perhaps you would consider changing the name of the event and incorporating the positive blessings that this special occasion deserves.

What is a mother blessing?

As Donna's invitation explains, "A mother blessing brings together a circle of women to honour and bestow positive energy on the mother-to-be as she prepares for the birth of her child. The tradition began with the Najavo American Indian ceremony 'the Blessing Way'.

It is a celebration of pregnancy and motherhood with focus on supporting and nurturing the mother-to-be. It gives the mother an opportunity to receive these blessings and encouragement for the journey ahead.

What do I bring to a Mother Blessing?

a flower flowers are symbolic of nature's abundance and beauty.

a small bead, charm, or button select one that you feel represents your well wishes for the mother and baby. At the mother blessing, all these trinkets will be threaded to make a necklace, a chain of linked hopes and positive thoughts that can be worn or placed in the birth suite during the delivery so the mother and baby feel surrounded by love.

your favourited inspirational quote or best advice to be compiled in a book for the mother-to-be so that she can read for strength and inspiration.

Mother Blessing activities

Threading the necklace and compiling the book are key activities.

Traditional baby shower gifts may be given to the mother.

Drinking a healthful toast (non alchoholic) perhaps the hostess will prepare a lovely toast for the mother and baby, asking for health, safety, comfort, guidance, and love.

I have heard of baby shower activities you may enjoy, in advance a patchwork square might be made by each guest and then at the blessing the squares are collected to make a finished quilt before the birth. Other activities I have seen include decorating nappies or 'onesies' (one piece baby suits) with non toxic pens or paints, each guest decorates a cloth nappy or a onesie for the baby.

At the end of the mother blessing creating a phonetree and giving each guest a candle to be lit when the mother goes into labour are a lovely touch and create the sense of a community of women channeling love and positive energy into the experience of mother and baby.

I hope you like the idea of a mother blessing, and that it enriches the lives of the precious women in your life, my love and best wishes to all mothers-to-be everywhere, xxx Starry

Gifts For Parents-To-Be

There are many precious gifts you can give those awaiting the arrival of a baby. Anything you can make from the heart - baby beanies, bonnets, booties, shawls, layettes, nappy stackers, bibs, quilts, mobiles, toys, journals and scrapbooks - are all wonderful. Make sure the parent knows the safety ins and outs, from what age can the baby safely wear/play with your gift?

I happen to think the most outstanding gift you can give parents to be, is a senior first aid course/seminar, you pay for it and they attend. It could mean they save their own child's life one day. Babies and children can so easily choke, drown, ingest toxins, etc, don't alarm the parent to be unduly, just encourage them to gain the knowledge we all hope they never need.

Another excellent gift is a nappy service subscription. It is a great way to encourage the environmentally and baby bottom friendly thing, without chaining mum to the never ending chore of washing dirty cloth nappies. Just think how much more enjoyable the early days and weeks with baby will be when the parents have more time to rest and play. If you can't absorb the cost of a service by yourself it is worth pooling for a baby shower gift.

Digital cameras, movie cameras, and coupons for printing, hampers of camera paper, printer cartridges, blank dvd and cd discs are all going to be wonderful to have on hand for all the precious moments ahead.

Child proofing professional services are also a good idea, they can foresee and prevent many dangers in the home and provide the equipment to childproof the house.

In the near future I will be posting an idea I got from a friend, called Mother Blessing, as a variation on a Baby Shower, it is such a beautiful idea I can't wait to sheare with you. I hope these ideas help for now, they are costlier than my usual idea but I see them as being very important, so I hope you give them some thought, I know you will. XxX Starry.

All Buttoned Up

After the button tshirts, I still had a lot of buttons left over, so I bought a chipboard tissue box cover from Spotlight ($3.95), and painted it with a pot of lavender accrylic paint I had on hand.

Once it was well and truly dried I began by pouring my buttons into two shallow dishes so that I could select buttons, one at a time, and attach them with stainless adhesive glue.

I did one side at a time, allowing the glue to fully set before turning the box over to begin the next side.

I find it is a good idea to keep a slightly damp sponge at hand to wipe any wet strings of glue before they set on your project.

I think this would be a lovely gift for a little girl's bedroom, and something your children could easily do for a friend's gift (providing your children can be trusted not to choke on the buttons of course).

Making my box was so soothing, and I completed it just in time before I caught this awful cold, and of course I am seeing a lot of the tissue box, we may run away together in fact. If I get the energy.

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever, it's loveliness increases, it will never pass into nothingness", John Keats