What a rockin' rocking chair!

So our devoted Facebook followers will know that Josie is on holidays at the moment in her hometown of Sydney...and that leaves 'her baby', aka The Blog a little neglected as we all know she is the one who has a 'way with words' and not moi!!

But, I couldn't leave you all waiting for our next post....so here is a little glimpse into our latest project.

A friend of mine kindly donated a little girls rocking chair to me recently, sweet baby pink with delightful fairies on it. Now those of you who know me...or know Miss Elephant, know that fairies "aren't my bag, baby"...so we had to do away with those and give them a little touch of The Owl & the Elephant of course!

Here are some before shots:

So this morning, a fine blustery Perth winter day...made me feel like tackling a project. Now Mr Elephant is on his last day of holidays today, so Mrs Elephant being ever so crafty (in the evil sense of the word!) only had to utter the words "Honey, I 'wonder' if this rocking chair seat would come apart with a screwdriver?". Of course my Mr Fixit jumped at the chance to whip out the tool box and got to work disassembling the chair for me.

The as you can see in this photo below, there was a nasty crack and bulge in the seat area which had to be sanded...a few more words from the Elephant and he was onto that too!

My oldest Elephant, almost 4 just loves Monkeys, and you may have seen this Sock Monkey Light Switch Cover we made for her some time back (available to purchase here), so I thought it would match perfectly to use that fabric on the renovated rocking chair which will sit in her bedroom. So I got to work....here are some 'during' shots...

Now it should be dry some time today, tomorrow I will finish off trimming it all up and then reassemble it and post the 'after' shots!!

Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think so far. Also if you are in Perth and have a piece of furniture you would like us to add The Owl & the Elephant touch to, contact us here. We love a challenge! 


There is a sample of our current furniture pieces on our website.

mother of the year award....

Do you ever have one of those days where you sit back on the couch at night, your legs ache because your just plain exhausted, your throat hurts from maybe yelling one too many times today and the kids are all in bed despite the fact bedtime does not actually hit for another two hours ( thanking your lucky stars they have not yet caught on to the fact mum has been winding the clock forward!!) You think back over your day and realise that today is NOT the day you will be recieving the mother of the year award!! My (Josie's) most recent mother of the year day started with good intentions.


Maximus woke with JUST enough time for me to pack both him and Bella boo into the car and race to the local shops to buy some craft materials for an after school activity - head held high feeling mighty good about what a great mother I am. I left the shops, put our goodies in the boot, buckled Bella in her seat, buckled Max into his, shut the car door - "click" car locks itself. Hmm ok weird - go to grab my keys and unlock the car.........
The keys which are sitting INSIDE the car next to Max!!!

Moment of panic followed by MANY moments of insanity "Bella, sweetheart, see the red button on your seat? Yes that one - press it! no two hands sweetheart! yes thats it - yep REALLLLY hard" tears - not happening, Bella looking at me like I have lost the plot, Max screaming wondering what the hell mum is doing, Bella realising something is going wrong and screaming too!!

I turn helplessly to the man returning to his car beside me - "please will you go get someone - I have locked my kids in the car!!!" to be met with a "Sorry I'm in a hurry" followed by him speeding off!

Next man a little more agreeable, gets security who call RAC and stock up on supplies (water and snacks for the kids for when they get "released"). RAC arrive, kids out of car in two seconds flat, me a sobbing mess blowing big snot bubbles, Max a sobbing mess blowing bg snot bubbles, Bella a sobbing mess blowng big snot bubbles, a kazillon rubber neckers checking out the action. Group hug -  MOTHER OF THE YEAR!!!

Now I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing this will NEVER happen again and offering you all the opportunity to NEVER experience my day of sorrow!!! Check these little doo lackys out:

Our latest product! Key fobs/key rings/wristlets AND lanyards!! PERFECTOMUNDO!!!

Need one ASAP? Head to our website and buy away!!

As they say... the proof is in the pudding - look how beautiful my keys look!!! I solemly swear I have NOT locked my kids in the car since!!!!

Thought of the moment:

Don't lock your kids in the car... they don't like it!!!

beauty isn't in the eye of the beholder - ITS HERE!!!!

So as mentioned in earlier posts we have a side table/ hall table/ doolacky table that we intended to repurpose/shabby chic/ do up/ renovate and make all round amazing..... well we failed.

We did NOT make an amazing table. We make a super dooper ooper beautifully awesomely amazing table!!! We just fell in love with this Michael Miller fabric and new it would go perfectly on this table.

As you MAY be able to tell we are a little excited!!! So tell us..... what do you think??

Thought of the moment:

Everyone has photographic memory; some just don't have the film.
Anon

bubble wrap

The Owl and the Elephant offspring + one gigantic roll of bubble wrap = hours of entertainment!! Now where to post them to......

Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir ?

Ok so I (Josie aka Mrs Owl) have recently become the owner of a new ensemble bed and oh me oh my!! lying on my new smooshy mattress is ALMOST enough to make me forget that 1 to 4 of my lovely children may or may not join me at any moment!!

Wanna see it? :oP

So YES I got a LITTLE over excited and did not iron it as I probably should have but hey - check out those throw cushions! I have a new addiction!

Downside - checkout that boring wall!!

Here starts my newest google obsession..... bedheads!!!

Aren't these BEAUTIFUL?

THEN I came across this......

Does it remind you of anything? Perhaps these STUNNING black & white damask folding screens available from a little company I have grown to love :oP 

If you can get past the blatant advertising *cough* visit The Owl and the Elephant *cough* theyareawesome* cough*

How AMAZING would these folding screens look as a bedhead?

Thought of the moment:

Sometimes its ok to look back, just to remind yourself how much stronger you are now than you where back then....

anon

STOP.. Hammertime!

So you know those days when someone just has to say a word or you just have to see a picture and thats IT! Its stuck... that annoying little song that just goes round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round in your head - even MORE anoying when you only know two words and the rest is all " da da da da dum dum de de da da" .
This did it for me today.....

Now all I can do is - stop! Hammertime! Lucky its such a cool picture hey? (and a cool song *blush* ).
What song gets stuck in your head?

Our kids have been doing a bit of the same to each other - Bella Owl has such an obsession with Michael Jackson she has totally terrified Evie Elephant with Zombies from Thriller and Evie Elephant has such an obsession with The wizard of Oz she has totally terrifed Bella Owl with talk of cyclones and being "swept away" lucky they are so damn cute hey? Do your kids have any fears (irrational or otherwise!) that have been passed on by others?

Anyway fluff and fancy aside - we are VERY super dooper oupper exited to be attending not only Market Girl but also Perth Upmarket  where we will be showcasing our awesomely awesome (orse even!) range of homewares, handcrafted goodies and delectable delightful range of beautiful fabric covered light switch covers, baby wipes cases, chalk mats, fabric baskets, serving trays, glass dishes, screens and more!!!
We so hope to see you there!!! What will you be keeping your eye out for?

Our next furniture piece...commence drooling...NOW!

Simply take this exquisite side table and add an equally as exquisite piece of fabric...........

Then sit back and wait...... finished product coming soon!

Meanwhile....we are so excited our shipment of homewares has arrived... check out my comfy cushiony couch! 

(comfort level as displayed by Miss 3!!)

Thought of the moment:

laugh as much as you breathe 

and love as long as you live

Anon