Winner Winner Chicken Tattoo

I've found people to be very divided when it comes to tattoos. There's a few different camps out there, of which I belong to the "I would be covered in them if I had the money and I wasn't so indecisive" group. If you're not in to them, or have nothing nice to say, you might wanna go watch cat videos or something and skip this.

Recently I entered a competition on Instagram to win up to a full day sitting with Darcie Kapor, the legend who did the tattoo on my foot - the one that Tricky chose at the Kustom Kulture Festival. Because doesn't everyone let their 7yo choose a tattoo design on a chocolate wheel? You know, the one Bobbin keeps copying? 

"I got a bird tattoo just like you, Mum!" Naw, my kid is so bogan 🤘🐦👩‍👧

A post shared by G L O W (aka Trae) (@wheres.my.glow) on Feb 21, 2018 at 3:47am PST

I was so pumped when I found out I won. Because a) a new tattoo from Darcie, and b) free! I had an idea based off the designs of artist Jason Freeny, who makes sick AF anatomical sculptures. I follow his social media channels and he had mentioned he was cool with people using his designs as a starting point for their tattoo art. I gave Darcie the brief: Rosie the Riveter, as a LEGO person, with the anatomical cut out ala Freeny. 

She nailed it. She came up with this full upper arm piece that included elements to represent my love of galaxies, plants, the mother/child bond, and love. It was insane. The second I saw it, I was lost for words and replied to her in heart eye emojis only. It was booked in and everything was hunky dory.

Narrator: But everything was not hunky dory, for Glow had a midnight freak out.

A few nights before I was due to go in, I flipped out. The piece was in effect a half sleeve, which I have wanted for ever, but being face to face with the prospect I wondered if I was doing the right thing. Was I just getting it big because I wanted it? Or because it was free? Or because I'm a bit manic? An arm is not as easy to cover as the tiny tramp stamp on my back I got when I was 18!

Darcie was so lovely, and said we can just leave the background pieces out for now, and if I want they can always be added in later to make a sleeve. 

So with my anxieties calmed I headed in, and we got down to business on my fifth tattoo.

I generally don't find tattoos too painful on the day (hit it when it's fresh and I'll cry though). They're not fun, but I have this insane pain threshold and it comes in handy sometimes - tattoos and giving birth come to mind. This tattoo design didn't have much combining of colours (ink over already inked skin gets a bit ouchy), so it was a breeze compared to my galaxy on my other arm where all the colours overlap and swirl together - with that I was trying hard not to squirm. 

At a few points I had this weird as fuck referred pain in my opposite arm! I have never felt that before! It was as if I was having a tattoo done on both sides at once. 

I read a few chapters of my book, ate chocolate, made slow motion videos and generally laid about chatting to Darcie about how awesome dogs are. It was basically a four hour, one armed break. 

I am SO happy with how it turned out.

Wyldstyle Rosie the Riveter Anatomy Tattoo - a bit bloody and puffy

It's Wyldstyle wearing the Rosie the Riveter shirt and headscarf, with anatomy cut away. I couldn't decide if I wanted lips on her or not; on the drawings and stencil it looked perfect but now that it is on my arm, I think she needs lips and the edge of her eye poking out from under her hair. Darcie said I can think about it and come back in a couple of weeks to add them if I still feel that way.

What do you think? A friend said it was "weird, unusual and quirky... much like you... I like it" and I have to say that has to be one of the best compliments I've ever gotten! 

The 2015 #GlowHoliday has been decided

MapGuy is itching to go on holiday.

Every day he checks out the discount websites, the deals, travel blogs and more. He has racked up long service leave, so there are all these luscious paid weeks of holidays hanging tantalizingly over his head saying "Go on a little trip. You've worked hard. Go on, mate, you've earned it".

I'm a little less eager, purely because I'm a bit anxious about flying right now. I know statistically it's safer than driving my car, but with all the stuff in the news lately; hijackings, missing planes, crashes, homicidal co-pilots and what not, I'm a bit nervous. I'm not usually afraid to fly, so this is a bit of a foreign feeling for me. I keep telling myself that if we die, well, we all cark it together. Strangely, there is comfort in that for me.

Despite the anxiety (hello, Valium), It's a great time for us to go on a trip, because we don't have to pay for Bobbin's flights or accommodation. Score. We did the same thing when Tricks was just about to turn two. Related: um, my baby is almost two. Whut?

We considered going two weeks in the snow, because MG's never seen snow before, but that idea was quickly quashed thanks to fabulous advice (along the lines of COLD, WET, WHINGEY CHILDREN AND HOLIDAYS NO NOT MIX), and very helpful tips on the WMG Facebook page. Thanks, people!

I wasn't fussed on the destination, because wherever we go will be fun, so I left him to book it and surprise me. He almost booked a trip to Bali. Then he almost booked a trip to Canberra with a day trip to the snow (because I could handle the cold/wet/whingey trifecta for a few hours). Then he almost booked a fly drive holiday up the East coast.

But after much to and fro, a decision was made and MapGuy woke me at midnight to tell me the news. There are only a few instances where waking me is acceptable: If the house is on fire, if someone is dying, if we're being robbed, or if it's to tell me we're going on an INTERNATIONAL HOLIDAY in July.

Destination: Malaysia!

We are going to Kuala Lumpur for ten days, hitting up all the tourist things and then making the journey here:

OMFG LEGOLAND! I don't know who is more excited. Me, Tricky or Map Guy. Bobbin has no clue but keeps clapping and shouting hooray whenever Tricks does. Only one day of the trip will be spent there (because it's a four hour bus ride away), but already I'm pegging it as the highlight of the trip. Because LEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have any suggestions of things we should see or do in KL in July, hit me up! Now, to get a passport for the little one and reread those flying safety statistics.

LEGO birthday party (on a budget)

The last time Tricky had an actual birthday party, he was turning one. I've always said he could have another one when he started school and since we call kindy "school", well, it meant this year he got one. He wanted a LEGO birthday party, I wanted a budget party. We managed to combine the two, HUZZAH!

The very first thing I did was put a limit on the number of kids he could invite. I let him pick nine friends and even went so far as asking for siblings not to come if possible, unless they were babes in arms - some people might think that's a bit harsh, but numbers can double or triple if the whole family comes, and I just couldn't stretch the budget to make enough food, goodie bags and prizes for twenty five children plus adults.

Secondly, instead of buying heaps of ready-made party decorations, I searched for free printables, made my own labels, checked out all the discount and dollar shops, and used what I had available (hello, laminator!) to make it look awesome without spending a fortune. If you're having a LEGO party, everything has to be awesome, right?

The outfit
I couldn't resist making Tricky a pair of LEGO movie shoes for his birthday, featuring Emmet and Wyldstyle! A pair of $2 canvas shoes (complete with a floral insole) and paints from our craft drawer meant he got a one of a kind birthday present and couldn't wait to wear them to his party. I grabbed a yellow tshirt from Kmart for $3, made some eyes, some eyebrows and a mouth in GIMP and printed it on to transfer paper I had in the cupboard. The result was a LEGO tshirt that will fit him for quite a few years to come.

The decorations
By keeping all the decorations confined to one table, I was able to keep the costs down, and again, I used what I had available - a LEGO sorting head (which was filled with prizes!) and a brick lunchbox he was given last Christmas definitely helped the theme! The only thing I had trouble sourcing was a yellow tablecloth and luckily my sister-in-law, Jen, came to the rescue on the day of the party - it helps that she runs a Perth party supply company, Party In A Box, and has a shed full of these sorts of things.

I strung a birthday banner up (free printable available at HaleGrafx), drew minifigure faces on yellow balloons and stuck them in vases, and popped the goodie bags along the back. It might have been a bit lacking if it wasn't for the themed food which actually became part of the decorations. Jen and I set up the tablescape using a diagram I'd drawn in my early planning stages. It was so brilliant to see my messy drawing become a reality and I was so surprised to see it look almost exactly like I'd imagined.

The food
I'm a sucker for themed food, I really am. Food was the most expensive part of the party even though I made as much of it as possible. We had popcorn (containers from BIG W), Brick Brownies, LEGO pizza, cupcakes (toppers from eBay for $7), fruit kebabs and pinwheels. And cake. Can't go past cake. I made a mudcake using a silicon mold I got off eBay almost two years ago, and the leftover mixture went to the cupcakes. I thawed some fondant that I had stored in the freezer, smoothed it on top and voila! Minifigure cake!

Next to the food table was a little drinks table - which was actually a dryer with a red table cloth on it! I put a drinks dispenser with cordial and orange slices in it, and had plastic drink bottles and paper straws because Pinterest told me that was cool. The bottles had gorgeous LEGO labels (available free here from HaleGrafx) and I had black pens on the table so parents could write names on them. I had wanted to display the bottles a little nicer, but it was so windy I had to leave them in their containers.

The games
Can't have a party without games! I wanted to be able to offer some structured "party games" but also allow the kids to just have fun playing, so Tricky's LEGO tables were brought out to the centre and kids were encouraged to build. A colouring in station, with sheets from the LEGO movie (available for free from the LEGO website) and a stack of crayons, textas and pencils was set up, too.

I set up a "guess the number of blocks" jar with a sheet that parents could put their child's name on and we played Pin the Head on the Minifigure (available here as a free printable from HaleGrafx - love that site, thanks Lou for putting me on to it!), pass the LEGO head (each child got to pick a prize from the giant head) and at the end we smashed a pinata I had made from an old nappy box that I'd weakened and covered to look like a LEGO brick.

The prizes
My prize container had a number of goodies hiding inside and as the guests arrived I let them know that there would be prizes for participating in games, using manners and having fun. Yep, bribes. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. The prizes to choose from included superhero knock-off minifigures ($9 from eBay -took almost two months to arrive!), LEGO keyrings (some I'd won and some I'd purchased for $5) and bits and pieces of LEGO stationery that cost $5 from Target. The biggest prize, for guessing the blocks, was a LEGO movie set I'd won and put away for the party.

The goodie bags
Because I wanted the goodie bags to be a feature of the table, I tried to make them look like LEGO bricks. I sourced all the bags from a discount shop for $8, choosing red and blue not only because of the theme but because I already had cardboard in those colours to use for the circles. Inside the bags were a couple of fruit bars with LEGO wrappers, some LEGO gummies, a double sided bookmark I'd glued to cardboard and laminated (again, from HaleGrafx), a few balloons and a party blower. I purposely didn't put much in them because as the prizes were being handed out to the kids they were encouraged to pop them in their goodie bags as the party progressed - no lost prizes FTW!

I also had an extra stash of gummies at the front door for the parents to take as they left - because it's the parents you have to thank, really! To make the gummies I used molds I'd bought off eBay (that I used to make LEGO crayons previously), six packets of jelly at $1 each, some gelatine that was in the cupboard and fifty celophane bags for $2. A quick label printed off and they looked really effective without costing much at all.

I made name tags using the LEGO font and some tweaking in GIMP and laminated them before tying them on with string. I'd like to think some of the kids thought their name in LEGO font was cool enough to stick it to their door at home.

The result
Well, I think it was a good afternoon. Who am I kidding? It was AWESOME! I was absolutely knackered after just two hours, but I'm pretty sure all the kids had fun and loved the opportunity to play together, run around, bounce on the trampoline, win prizes and play with LEGO. I think the parents liked chatting and eating Brick Brownies. It took quite a while for me to put it all together, bit by bit after the kids were in bed in the preceeing weeks, but I really loved that so much was home
made.

Thank you so much to all the people that helped make the day possible, our fabulous guests, those who gave gifts or cards, and those that wished The Trickster a happy birthday. He has had an amazing time and won't forget it in a hurry. Thank you.

Now to start planning Bobbin's first birthday...

A boy and his LEGO {giveaway}

This is a C1 post

For full details please see my disclosure policy

It is no secret that we are huge LEGO fans in this house. It started with the Duplo but whilst Tricky still enjoys it he doesn't find it challenging any more and is definitely out growing it. Meaning the last few presents he's got have all been actual, small, step-on-in-the-middle-of-the-night-at-your-own-peril, LEGO.

The Trickster was lucky enough to receive some LEGO in the mail the other day for review purposes. When he saw the box he was, well, see for yourself:

Doesn't everyone lay on the floor and hug their LEGO?

What I hadn't actually thought about was that I would have to put those suckers together before any such child-review could take place, and do it whilst a super impatient toddler looked on wondering why they didn't come out of the box ready to play with.

Oh crap, what have I gotten myself in to?

I've never actually put a LEGO design together before. I used to play with it a heap when I was little and build all sorts of things, but it was more freestyle and I didn't have any fancy sets that actually became something specific. But it was easier than I thought and required much less swearing under my breath than anticipated while Tricky pointed and said "What's this piece? Where does that one go? Is it ready yet?" over and over and over again.

Tricky was over the moon when it was all put together and the nee-naw nee-naw of police sirens have been heard here ever since. I was kinda chuffed with my LEGO assembling abilities though I was less thrilled when MapGuy came home and pointed out I'd put the steering wheel in the wrong spot - I was following instructions! I don't care if it was left hand drive!!

Chase McCain on the job

The set was so detailed and unfortunately I think a lot of that detail will just end up being sucked up the vacuum cleaner because a walkie-talkie just looks like fluff when I'm standing up. The one thing I didn't like about the set was the spike strip - although it was hilarious in it's attention to detail, it doesn't do anything else and Tricky just pulled it apart immediately and it's already lost (I'll vacuum tomorrow and it will be gone for ever). But I can't blame that on LEGO, he is under the official age range of the product.

I'm all for free play so I think a few sets of just blocks that aren't shaped to make something specific will be on the cards next, but since Tricky is car mad he has no complaints and has the cops chasing the bank robber constantly (I'll spare you the dialogue from when he catches them and sends the robber to his room - it's a cute-to-the-mother-only kinda thing).

Handcuffed and read his rights

I've got three awesome sets of the High Speed Chase (RRP $39.99) from the LEGO City range, featuring the daring and oh-so-suave, hero cop, Chase McCain. I bet all the LEGO girls swoon over his plastic hair and drawn on chin dimple. I'm kinda taken with the bad guy's mo' to be honest.

To enter click here to go to the Facebook entry page. If you're not on the 'Book (and I really can't blame you), enter via comment below telling me your favourite LEGO memory. 

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