Kangaroo Paw

Sometimes it takes me a while to decide whether to post a set of photos – hence the inconsistency in my posting schedule. Certain details where I’ve stuffed up tend to get on my nerves and I end up scrapping the whole post. Like this set for example. It bothered me immensely how wrinkled the skirt got during the car ride. Then the wind kept blowing it and making it look like a wiggle skirt instead of an a line…And, because I foolishly decided to forgo wearing any shape wear (in my defense, it was really hot…) you can clearly see the lumpy outline from where the bottom of my blouse is tucked in.

So why am I posting these photos if these things bother me so much? Well, for starters it’s because I really love this outfit and have been wanting to document it for a while. I wanted something that I could wear during the festive season that had that Christmas look to it but in a way that was fitting to my surroundings. A while back I blogged a calistemon print playsuit, and I liked wearing it so much that I decided I needed more things with native flowers. Since a lot of them are in colours that work so well with Christmas I decided to pick kangaroo paw for my next outfit.

Kangaroo paw is a very odd looking flower and if you look closely you will see how these plants got their name. I love how vivid the flowers are and the way they rise up like little flames. These come in a few different varieties, including orange and yellow but the red has always been my favourite. Which is why I love wearing this blouse so much! Initially I did consider having a dress made in this fabric, however because it’s such a busy and bold print I feel that it works better as a blouse to break things up a little bit. Otherwise it might be a bit overwhelming!

On a recent antiques hunt I came across a sweet vintage handbag similar to the one here. It had gumnuts glued to the lid and some raffia details. The bag wasn’t in the best condition but I really liked the concept so I took a photo of it to keep as inspiration. Then not long after I actually came across this very inexpensive handbag and I thought perhaps I could try doing something similar with it. I couldn’t find any artificial gumnuts that looked real so I ended up improvising with wattle I already had in my stash left over from a previous project.

The cockatoo ended up being an afterthought that I added just for fun. I have been ordering artificial parrots to stick on my bedroom wall and I ended up ordering more than I needed. This particular one was plain white all over so I used some fabric paint to turn him into a yellow crested cockatoo. I think he looks quite cute perching on the edge of my bag! I love birds and actually came close to adopting one earlier last year. However before we proceeded with that, I had the opportunity to look after an injured lorikeet. I learned very quickly that as lovely as parrots are, they are so noisy! And messy.

So instead I just like to enjoy the birds that visit my yard. We are very lucky to get all sorts of parrot varieties and by putting out fruit scraps and water for them our yard has become a popular destination for birds. Which works well I think, the best of both worlds! Putting this bag together cost me a grand total of $25 which is less than half of the vintage bag I saw. I’m sure I’ll get a good use out of it too as it will work with the rest of my outfits that feature native flowers.