Ask Allison Anything: Slip on Sneakers for the School Run

I receive many emails and messages (which I love, so keep em' coming!) of 'help I need to turn my tiny laundry into a glorious, organised space' or 'help I need some casual shoes to do the school run' or my favourite 'Please help me Allison! My daughter has finally moved out and I want to turn her bedroom into a hideaway just for me, while the football season’s on'. Ha. We all know that feeling too well... don't we?!!

 

You get my drift, anyway.

 

So I’m launching Ask Allison Anything. This is where YOU can ask me where to buy a particular item of clothing/shoes, what recipe I use for cupcakes, or about organisational stuff for your life, home, party or anything really!

 

So here goes my first one….

 

Q: Dear Allison, I love the posts that you do on your Facebook page featuring your outfits. You always seem to have cute slip on sneakers. Where are you buying these from as I have only seen these in stores and they are quite expensive at $100+. Hope you don't mind if I ask? Caroline D

 

A: Well Caroline D. I sure do love my slip on sneakers for the pre-school run (which always turns in to a park date when the weather is good).  Here are a few cheap options which will hopefully be a bit better on the hip pocket for you!

  

 OPTION A – PACIFIC PLIMSOLE FROM RUBI SHOES

 

Honestly ladies these Pacific Plimsole Shoes from Rubi Shoes are THE BOMB!! I own them in a cream/navy spot, a navy and white spot and a metallic version. My collection keeps growing as these bring out fabulous new colours and prints just like these silver/white striped pair.

They RRP at $19.95 but often have 30% off, two for $30 (which is on right now so snap them up!)

Purchase or check out the Pacific Plimsole range here 

 

 

OPTION B: CONVERSE DAINTY BALLET FLATS 

 

Cons are the quintessential go with everything shoe. But if you cannot be bothered with the usual laced pair, then their ballet flat version is for you (and me!).

 

 

Now these aren't the most budget option, but at $80 from The Iconic, they are also a wee bit cheaper than the regular Cons!

 

Purchase or check out the Converse Dainty Ballet Flats here

 

 

OPTION C: ASOS DEDE SLIP ON SNEAKER

 

I LOVE a metallic pair of flats - they are so neutral and work with so many different fabrics and colours in your wardrobe. They also feel a little dressier too!

These Dede slip on sneakers from ASOS are an absolute steal at only $33 (free shipping too!). The bonus with metallic is that they repel the mud if you find yourself at the footy oval or park this time of year.

Purchase or check out the Dede slip on sneaker here

OPTION D: JODI LOW RISE SNEAKER FROM RUBI SHOES
 

Honestly I was sold as soon as I saw they were Rose Gold! They do also come in a range of other colours too if you prefer a more classic white, back or denim.

 

Currently on promo for only $20!! But the RRP is usually $29.95 which is still pretty darn cheap. 

 

Purchase or check out the Jodi Low Rise Sneakers here

 

Please keep the emails, requests for help or just your ideas for the blog, coming to utterlyorganised@gmail.com or comment below or on my Facebook page.

NB: Post contains affiliate links in conjunction with my disclosure policy
 

Stockist details for our Playroom and your questions answered!

Blogging TWICE in one week - I know - it is a record for me at the moment! Earlier on this week I shared a look into our Playroom.

You can check out the rest of the pictures and the post here if you missed it.

As promised here are the stockist details and the answers to your questions too!  

 

Stockist details

Cube Unit

Our Cube Storage Unit is from Ikea and is part of the Kallax range. If this one is too big, they also come in a range of different sizes and colours too!

Check out the Kallax unit here.

Masters Home Improvement also sell these storage units too if you are not handy to an Ikea store. You can check out their range here.
 

Fabric Cube Inserts

These were purchased from Bunnings almost 2 years ago and are sadly no longer available. Very annoying as I have a few I would like to replace and I still adore the print!

You can pick up the correct sized fabric cubes for the Kallax unit from Ikea - they are called the Drona Box and come in a wide range of colours. Just be sure to grab the exact number you need (and maybe a few spares) as they seem to rotate their colours and sometimes your favourite never comes back in to stock!

You can check out the Drona Box range of colours here.

 

Toy Kitchen

This is a KidKraft branded item that was purchased from Big W as part of their mid year toy catalogue 2 years ago (was a gift from Santa). This kitchen gets hammered on a daily basis and it is still going strong!

I really wanted something neutral, but this proved so hard to find at the time!

I cannot see my exact kitchen anymore in white, this seems to be the updated KidKraft neutral version which I spotted at Zanui.  You can shop that here.

 

 

Hip Kids also have a gorgeous little grey and white version in their range. You can check that out here.

 

If you are after a bit of colour, Zanui have a Pastel and Brights version in the same design as we have available online. You can shop that here.

 

I must admit I absolutely love all of the storage space ours has with the cupboards and the fact it is big enough to have two little bodies play side by side at once.

 

Wooden Kitchen Toys and Wooden Market Stall

I am OBSESSED with Le Toy Van and not just because their coloured wooden toys match my colour scheme - but because they last!

The Stand is called the Honeybee Market Stall  it is available through Lime Tree Kids. You can check that out here.

The stand comes with one crate of goodies and you can purchase the other crates individually.

This is another thing that we use SO much. The kids absolutely love using it as a shop and they use the ingredients to whip up food in their kitchen too!

Most of the other wooden toys on/in our toy kitchen are also Le Toy Van, which can be purchased through Lime Tree Kids.

I also have quite the collection from Aldi who bring out amazing quality wooden food sets a few times a year with their Special Buys. Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Facebook and I will be sure to warn you when they are coming - hope it is soon!

Kmart also seem to bring out some wooden toys from time to time, so keep your eyes peeled there too!

 

 

Play Mat

This is a Bumpa Mat from Ecoviva. One of the best investments we have made.

This mat is durable, easy to clean and so comfy to play on. I love that they are reversible so that you can update and change the look of your room too.

I am waiting for the new stock to arrive so that I can put one of these in our family room instead of a traditional rug, they are that good!

You can check out the Bumpa Mat range here.

 

Dress Up Rack

 

Honestly the day I installed the dress up rack in the Playroom it was like Christmas all over again! The kids were SO excited that they could access all of their dress ups in a little wardrobe.

 

 

It also makes things so much easier to store as previously we had them overspilling in a Trofast box. The dress up accessories (hats, swords, masks etc) all live in the Trofast containers at the top of the Cube Unit.

 

The rack is from Squishy Tots and you can customise the 'tips' of the unit by selecting one of 8 different colours they offer including the DIVINE mint...

 

For a limited time, the lovely ladies at Squishy Tots are giving you 10% off the price of your rack if you enter utterly10 in at the checkout. This is valid until 31 July 2016.

You can check out and shop the racks here.

 

 

Tee Pee

 

Once again when picking the Tee Pee, I wanted something neutral that wouldn't look too out of place at the back of our lounge room!

I ended up deciding on the Mocka Tee Pee in Montana - but as you can see if colour is more your thing - they have stacks to choose from! You can shop the range here.

I also love this neutral version (with white base) from Resort Living. You can check that out here.

My only warning with tee pees is to never underestimate how much room they can take up! As you can see we have quite a good sized room, but this can really eat in to the space. I tend to take it down every few months and pop out our ride on collection or train table instead.

Hopefully that covers everything and answers all of the questions that you had? If not, please feel free to comment below or on my Facebook page and I will be sure to get back to you. Thank you for stopping by!

A look at our Playroom!

As a little girl I was super envious of our neighbour who was an only child. Instead of having to share her space with siblings, she had a playroom! Mind you this was no ordinary playroom either - it had a plastic toy supermarket which was the object of my childhood desires for many, many years...

Now I may have gotten older, but the desire to have a dedicated little play space for me my own kids has always been strong. Finally when we had the chance to extend our house in 2014, I knew that this was my chance to make my dream come true!

Ideally we wanted to have a closed off play space (so I could shut the door on mess), but when we were drawing up the plans we just couldn't make it work. Instead we ended up having to combine this space with part of the existing lounge area. In some ways, this should serve well down the track if we ever decide to sell, or when the kids outgrow their toys, as this space can be converted in to a large theatre room, an open study space etc.

Because the space does sit at the rear of our lounge room, I have selected a colour palette that fits with the rest of the room - soft grey and white with touches of teal and yellow.

My kids are OBSESSED with dress ups so this rack is the perfect way to display their costumes. It also teaches them to hang up their clothes after they have used them - let's hope they remember this in 10 years time?!

The Teepee doubles as a relaxing/reading space as well as a place to hide when you have stolen Mummies phone and you want to play games! I rotate this corner with various items throughout the year such as a train table, ride ons, dolls bed/change table etc.

Our toy kitchen is fantastic as it has loads of cupboard space (oven/fridge/microwave/dishwasher) to stash all of the wooden kitchen items and play food neatly.

We are very fortunate that when we build the extension, we added a mud/storage room. This storage room is where we have our games and puzzles.

We also have an art and craft station and space in our family room. I originally wanted to have it as part of the play area, but with carpet in here (enough said!) it seemed more practical to create a dedicated space where we had floorboards - will be sure to share this space with you soon.

Questions?! Please feel free to fire away and I will be back with a dedicated stockist post as well as addressing any questions you may have on the room too. Like the dress up rack?! I will also have a special reader offer to purchase one too on the blog!

 

Big W Family and Friends Weekend - 10% off!!

I am a bit late with posting this (blaming a crazy day involving a load of washing with a nappy in it - enough said!!). But this Family & Friends offer from Big W is valid tomorrow too (Sunday 29th May 2016).

 

To download your 10% off voucher click here.

 

Amid the chaos that was today, I did manage to sneak down and get a few cute things for my Winter wardrobe and a few cute basics for the kids too. I will be sure to share my buys over on my Facebook and Instagram during the week.

 

Hope you enjoy the discount if you get in to stores tomorrow!

Seed Family and Friends 30% Off!

You know that you are a bit of a Seed fan when your local store sends you a message on Instagram to let you know when there is a discount day - fantastic customer service!!

 

30% off is a HUGE discount for one of my favourite chains, too good not to share...

 

 

The online code is 10402 and this kicks off tomorrow (Wednesday 25 May) and runs until Sunday 29 May. I am not affiliated with Seed but gee I wish I was - that place is a money pit for me!!

 

Happy shopping :-)

Part 2: Miss C's Pink and Gold Minnie Mouse 1st Birthday Party!

Thank you so much for the lovely comments on the Part 1 of Miss C's First Birthday post. If you are wondering what Part 1 was about, you can catch more details about the party, why I chose the theme, who designed the printed materials and just view more photos of the event here.

Today I am going to share a few more details about the food and drink side of things!

 

The main feature of the event was the Dessert/Candy buffet table that I designed and put together ( a little under the weather with my pregnancy sickness mind you!).

On this table we had an assortment of candies/lollies, wrapped chocolate, cookies and cupcakes- all that matched the soft pink, gold and white theme.

I don't think you can have a party without jelly - so we had some pots of pale pink jelly on the table with super cute Minnie spoons created by Merc and Jones.

The personalised wrapped chocolate bars were simply Aldi Choceur bars that were wrapped with a personalised wrapper by Mint Imprint. This design co-ordinated with the candy jar tags, banner and table signs. More details on the printed materials over in the Part 1 post if you missed it.

 

I had someone ask me specifically about the lollipops on the table. These were purchased for $1 from Kmart. They weren't a perfect colour match, but with a cute little sticker they easily tied in with the table theme.

 

The cake was made by BJ Cakes who also did the super cute mini cupcakes too. The inside was a Chocolate Mudcake and it was divine!

The cake topper was designed by Merc and Jones who used the same font as the printed banner to ensure a consistent look (I am a sucker for matchy, matchy!). They also did the little 'Chloe' and Minnie Mouse head cupcake toppers too.

One of my favourite things on the table has to be these cookies created by Sweet Creations by Sharms - how adorable are they?! I have had the pleasure of working with Sharmila on nearly every single party/event I have had over the years (big or small) and she is just beautiful to work with and a pretty darn handy cake maker too!

Sweet Creations by Sharms also made these divine macarons. I always love to have macs on my table and inevitably they are the first thing eaten, especially when they look this good!

We also had a second, less styled table at the party. This table was primary for beverages, but also had the plates, cutlery etc.

 

You can see below that there were some empty spots for the little dishes friends and family kindly donated to the party - some hot finger food, fruit skewers and an amazing cheese platter were added to the table after this picture was snapped.

 

Pink and gold bubbles for the adults were very popular. Unfortunately this mamma (being 9 weeks pregnant) had to go without.

 

 

My beverage dispensers were filled with water and my Festive Fizz punch (non alcoholic version). If you are after a crowd pleasing drink at your next event - this is it! You can grab the recipe here, never lets me down!

Another super easy sweet treat that I put together were these rice krispie treats - so easy and so yum!

Also on the table, my strawberry mouse with super cute Minnie spoons. I always try and stick with items that can be made ahead the night before so that on the day all I have to do is set everything up and enjoy the party.

I think that covers all of the food and drink details. Don't forget if you want more details, feel free to check out Post 1 here.

 

You can also check out some of my other parties on the blog here including Mr B's Peter Rabbit Baptism, Miss C's Glitter and Lace Baptism, Mr B's Elephant Themed 1st Birthday and Mr B's Modern Farm Yard 2nd birthday- there have been a few celebrations!

 

All photos have been taken by the amazing Emma from Haven Lifestyle Photography. Emma is also a regular fixture at every single milestone party we have hosted and just captures the most beautiful images.

 

Of course if you have any questions, please feel free to comment below. I cannot believe I am now just over 3 months away from having Mr T's 1st birthday. Time to get cracking on that...