Indoor rainy day activities for kids

When it's rainy and you're ready to go spare with the kids, these are a few easy activities that should keep them occupied for hours.

Balloon volleyball:

Painting rocks:

Red and white kids' room decorating ideas

I had a lot of fun putting together this cute red and white kids' bedroom for an article that I wrote for eBay's Mum's Business website. It's all candy cane cuteness with a dash of rainbow magic.

Head to Mum's Business to read the article Kid's Bedroom Makeover For Less with all the sources - everything was found on eBay.

Getting ready for the Easter Bunny visit

I put together a guide to getting ready for Easter Sunday over on eBay's Mum's Business website, and included a couple of snapshots of my girls hunting for eggs and goodies from the Easter Bunny last year. Thought you would like them!

Bondville Charity Auction donation to the Children's Cancer Institute Australia

Well the paperwork is finally done and the numbers are in. The Bondville Charity Auction raised $4,713.33 for the Children's Cancer Institute Australia!!! I couldn't be more thrilled.

Thank you so much to the seventy-six Australian designers and online stores that donated product for the auction. One-hundred-and-two products were shipped off to happy buyers all over the country and I'm so grateful for your support and participation.

If you have ever wanted to run a charity auction online, I just wrote a How To piece for eBay's Mum's Business website with all my learnings - head here for the down-low.

I will be keeping the Bondville Charity Auction page with all the product images and links on the website as a permanent visual shopping guide that you can visit anytime for gift inspiration. Please head over and check out all the local businesses, designers and entrepreneurs. They deserve our support!

Thank you again everyone for participating, sharing, commenting, clicking and being a part of an amazing 10th blogging anniversary. It was the best possible way to celebrate.

Steph xxx

10 ways to amp up hot chocolate - mmmmm

I had the best time putting together this article for eBay's Mum's Business website - 10 Luxurious Ways With Hot Chocolate. I used the good stuff - Belgian Callebaut dark chocolate (thanks Dad), and went to town on amazing toppings and flavourings using items you probably already have in your pantry (I did!).

Head over to Mum's Business for the full article and super-easy recipes for: basic hot chocolate, white hot chocolate, malted hot chocolate, turkish hot chocolate, honeycomb hot chocolate, flake hot chocolate, aztec hot chocolate, chai hot chocolate, hazelnut hot chocolate, salted caramel hot chocolate, and gingerbread hot chocolate. You know you want to!

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

I made four Easter hats in one night - you can too

Last week I made four Easter hats in one night using an old nappy box, a few sheets of card stock, bought shredded paper, one cheap chicken in a nest, and the contents of our craft box (ribbon, washi tape, paint, broken butterfly, broken flower clilp, feathers). You can too!

Make: get crafty with old tshirts

I've been getting crafty over the school holidays. There is a big pile of Mr Bondville's tshirts sitting in my fabric stash that I have been meaning to upcycle for a long time. Well an article that I wrote for eBay's Mum's Business was the incentive I needed to start cutting into those tshirts and to get crafty.

As well as framing them, using them for rags, and making an apron, I cut the tshirts up to make tshirt yarn, and tried weaving, knitting and sewing with it. Here are some of my fun projects:

1. Coil bowl
After a bit of practice, I whipped up this cute coil bowl to hold my rings using this great tutorial by Lisa (the red thread).

2. Braided bracelet
I love my new braided bracelet, inspired by this tutorial by Henry Happened

3. Tea cosy
I knitted a simple rectangle using the tshirt yarn and secured with neon Brickie's Line to make this stretchy tea cosy for the tea pot. Super easy.

and.... Baby wipes
The simplest of all - I cut a soft tshirt up into 15cm squares to make a pile of baby wipes. Just add a little Sorbolene and you have an eco-friendly, inexpensive and kind-on-baby's-bum way to clean that little toosh when you're at home. (you could also parcel up in your nappy bag).

As my friend Steph (Moobear Designs) said, I'll never throw away another tshirt again. Head over to Mum's Business to read the whole article. How do you upcycle your (or his) old tshirts?

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

All about blog etiquette

I guess I have some pretty strong opinions about blogging. Most of them revolve around the concept of 'Respect'. Respect for others' words, images, ideas, talents, skills and effort. So when I had the opportunity to write a piece about blog etiquette, I jumped at it, as I hope that I can share my experience with respectful blogging, in particular with those new to the game. If you're interested to find out more (I have a large section on the legal issues around copyright, words, and images), head to eBay's Mum's Business for the full article "Blog Etiquette - a How-to Guide". I would *love* to get your input too. Please comment away...

Image:  PublicDomainPictures via pixabay.com

Make: The Bondville Christmas Tree Branch

It's a yearly tradition for the girls and I to go hunting together for a large fallen branch and drag carry it home to decorate as our Christmas tree. 

This year we decided to add a little glitter action for some added sparkle. We argued over gold or silver and of course my big girl won, so gold glitter-dusted tree it is.We started with a base of a few favourite decorations and a sprinkling of Polli Christmas decorations (see the pics). Then I let the girls go to town adding as many decorations as the tree can hold, as well as new decorations that they seem to be making every day, and gift tags from opened presents. All good fun.

If  you would like to make a glitter Christmas tree too (it's never too late), head over to eBay's Mum's Business website where I have written a full tutorial using both glitter paint and loose glitter and glue.

And one branch in silver for good measure (a lot messier than the gold dust paint!)

Did you go with the glitter this year? Silver or gold? Let me know if you give it a go.

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

Garage Sale: Oobi, Gumboots, Seed baby and toddler

Hi guys, I'm having a mini Garage Sale clear-out before Christmas and thought you might be interested in a few of the pieces including these baby and toddler clothes and shoes from Oobi, Gumboots and Seed....

Super cute original Oobi 1950's Signature Dot party dress, size 0
Silver Seed ballet shoes, size 25
Gumboots summer dress, size 6 months

Silver Seed sandals, size 0-3 months
Orange Seed mary-jane shoes, size 3-6 months
Pink Seed sandals, size 6-12 months

Grab a bargain!

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

MAKE: a cool house doorstop with fabric scraps

I've been wanting to make a fabric doorstop for a while, with all my fabric scraps and lovely samples that I have picked up in abcd meet-up goodie bags and from textile designer friends. There were lots of pyramid-style doorstop tutorials online, but I wanted something a bit different. So I made my own! Presenting, my house-shaped DIY doorstop:

I love it! Useful, cute and reduces waste. I used some great fabric from Sydney quilter and crafter extraordinaire Siobhan (Beaspoke Quilts), and will make more with some upcycled tea towels and left-over deck chair fabric from my stash. I used bits and pieces that I had around the house - scrap paper, an old nappy box and a recycled ziplock bag.

If you would like to make one too, head over to eBay's Mum's Business website where I have written a tutorial for my house doorstop which includes instructions to make a house-shaped template. I promise, it's not hard at all - and may even make a fun handmade Christmas gift for family and friends.

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

I'm selling these Marc Jacobs heels - with charms!

Last shoes for sale - promise! I'm sad to say good-bye to these very special Marc Jacobs shoes that I bought when were were living in New York City. Ther are strappy heels in tan leather with the cutest MJ charms - look great with jeans and frocks; bit perfect for Spring Racing too. They are a size US 8 which are a little too small for me (I'm an Australian size 8 - these shoes are more like 7.5 Australian). I only wore them twice. Get yourself a major bargain over on eBay.

Image: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

Kate Spade NY and Florence Broadhurst sneakers

I'm reluctantly selling these cute US size 7 Kate Spade New York sneakers with Florence Broadhurst cockatoo design. I'm a size 8 and they are just too small. They are Summer 2012 limited edition and you won't find them in Australia - I had to have them shipped over by family. Brand new with tags in box. Head over to eBay if you're looking for a bargain. Did I mention that they are NEON orange?!?! Wishing them to a loving new home.

Image: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

Make: Dip-dye furniture and homewares trend

Have you seen the dip-dye furniture and homewares trend around the interwebs? The idea is to dip something into paint so that the lower quarter-to-third is covered in a contrasting paint. There are some gorgeous commericial furniture versions available (see Koskela) and you can create your own dip-dye look easily at home, both on furniture and homewares such as vases, baskets, wooden utensils, plant pots, tins and jars.

Want to know how? Head over to eBay's Mum's Business Website where I've written a how-to article. Here are some fun projects that I dip-dyed around the house to show how easy it is. Note, that if you don't seal the paint, you can't wash the products, so my chopsticks and tea cups are for decoration only.

 mini milk bottles or juice bottle dip-dyed and used as bud vases

dip-dye wooden chopsticks in pastel colours (not for eating)

mini tea cups dip-dyed (not for washing)

Have fun making! It's an easy project to try with kids too. Next up for me - dip-dying jars for my pantry and empty tins for pen holders. If you have tried dip-dying, post a link to your images below. I'd love to see them.

Imges: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

Easy Easter goodies to bake with kids (and my first macarons)

If you are looking for some easy baking activities to do with the kidlets over Easter, I've put together an article for eBay's Mum's Business that might be just for you. The girls and I made all these goodies together - they are all simple and great to keep them busy over the long weekend.

There are some cute bunny cupcakes to make with things you might have around the house:

(take out the toothpicks before serving to the kids, of course).

Or some super-easy mini chick cupcakes:

And how about some Rocky Road for Dad:

Chocolate muesli bunny tails:

And my piece de resistance! My first macarons:

To make it super-easy to make with kids, I used the Donna Hay macaron packaged mix with a few adjustments:
1. add 2 drops of yellow and 1 drop of red food colouring to the egg mix to make peach-coloured macarons
2. swap out the dark chocolate for white chocolate to make light-coloured ganache to sandwich between your macaron shells

Have you tried making macarons yet?

Head over to Mum's Business to read the whole article. And have a super Easter and Passover weekend!

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin

10 Stylish Children's Room Ideas

While we were packing up our old house, I took a few photos to remember the girls' bedrooms, and just happened to be writing an article about stylish kids' room ideas for the eBay's Mum's Business website that they worked perfectly for. Here's a little peek:

My big girl's bed with gorgeous quilt from Nanna, pillows and Funky Monkey sock monkey.

Tissue paper pom flowers that I made and hung from the ceiling.

Tub Trug storage for all the soft toys.

A small vignette in my little one's bedroom - vintage Royal Doulton dancing princess and prince wind-up piece (that I bought when I was a girl), framed birth print, leather elephant money box from Nanna and Pops, and leather moccasins from my sister in Canada.

Head over to the eBay Mum's Business website for the whole article with lots of idesa for kids rooms - 10 Stylish Children's Room Ideas.

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin

Come to my eBay Garage Sale!

I hope you had a fantastic Easter break. Apart from meeting the Easter bunny, dying eggs, seeing movies and visiting the Zoo, I also managed to clear out some of my baby items for eBay. Big tick for the to-do list!

Please head over to check them out if you are in the market for baby carriers (I have a cool green Baby Bjorn, a limited edition hug-a-bub and a designer aka pipik sling), a jolly jumper, winter baby clothes from Sooki, Minti and Bebe, a Scanpan dutch oven, and a bunch of DVDs (mostly region 1 - NTSC). Happy shopping!

Images: Steph Bond