Thrifted Treasure

Schoolboy

2012-02-10T16:39:00.005+11:00

My Little S started big school last week...

I don't think I've ever seen anyone quite as cuddly looking in their uniform - so tiny :-)

In the months leading up to this big day I have been quite stressed as to how it would go, how would he settle in? Would he like it? With him having special needs and not being able to talk yet how would I know the little details of his day?

Well, I needn't have worried, he has settled straight in, no tears on his first day (can't say the same for me), his teacher's daily reports fill me in on exactly what he's been doing and she is delighted with how quickly he has settled in and gotten in to the routine. At the end of each day, when I ask him how he got on I get so many smiles, he loves it! We're very lucky he's in such a lovely school with a very lovely teacher :-)

Phew, all that worry for nothing, thank God!

I can't believe my little man is a big schoolboy, the years are flying by way too quickly, only one year till my tiniest man starts school, please let this year go by veeery sloooowly.

Green Eyed MONSTER!!!

2012-01-25T15:30:00.006+11:00

Look at all this beautiful vintage Le Creuset snapped up for the princely sum of $7!!!

That's right, $7 for the LOT.

Jealous? Yeah? Well so am I! Because alas, this is not my own find.

Now I know one of the ten commandments is "Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbour's Goods" but seriously when I read this post on Flickr I felt physically SICK with envy... I mean a large casserole, 2 pots and 3 pans in great condition and in such a beautiful colour (it's called Paris Blue) for $7!!!

I then discovered Stephanie has a lovely blog called Kitchen Culinaria, she's a brand new blogger and I have a feeling that if this find is anything to go by, this is a blog to watch!

I'm still feeling more than slightly jealous, I will NEVER EVER have a find that good!

Teardrops

2012-01-18T11:13:00.006+11:00

Australia Day is coming up on January 26th and I thought I could take the opportunity to share with you something that happened on this national day of celebration back in 2007.

It was the day an obsession was born.

My husband and I were wandering through the city with our 2 little men, D was yet to be born, on our way to the harbour celebrations. Along Macquarie street every Australia Day, is an exhibition of classic vehicles, cars, motorcycles, buses and caravans. I was oohing and aahing over classic Jaguars, Ferraris and such when I spotted this...

I should explain I have an obsession with miniature versions of anything (seriously I nearly sobbed once at the sight of a tiny tube of Colgate in a hotel) and the sight of this tiny caravan nearly sent me over the edge!!!

I mean seriously, look at the little curtains over the window and the teeny kitchen.

I got chatting with the owner and she explained that these little caravans/campers are called Teardrops and were originally made in the 1930s. They are tiny and literally just have a kitchen space in the trunk and enough interior space for a mattress. They have had a resurgence in popularity and clever people out there are making brand new versions!

Check out these cuties...

Go-fast stripes!

Wood-panelled luxury.

Fully-fitted kitchen.

Hotel-style boudoir.

Why not bring the boat?

It really doesn't help that these are available on the market now at not-ridiculous prices! Check this one out...

Turquoise - check!

Wining and dining function - check!

Even the hubcaps are blue, seriously did somebody crawl inside my head and build this for me? Sob!

And look at the sleeping area, complete with porthole window, bookshelf and bunch of flowers!

If YOUR husband will let you get one of these here is the listing on eBay.

The only possible change I would make to this tiny thing of beauty is the kitchen, I think I would kit it out more like this...

I know!!! Duck egg blue accents and appliances, sigh... This one is for sale here.

I know these probably aren't the most practical caravans for a family of five but I want one soooo badly!!!

Winner!

2012-01-18T08:54:00.003+11:00

Drum roll please....

and over to my little assistant in PJs...

and the winner is...

Congratulations to Tara Beaulieu over at Scarborough Seashells. I sent you a comment Tara asking for your address details so I can order your book pronto :-)

Sous Chef

2012-01-16T12:15:00.004+11:00

For Christmas my lovely husband and tiny munchkins made me up a Santa Sack of gorgeous pressies, all my favourite things, Chanel perfume, chocolate, books, essential oils, homewares, it was so exciting opening each wrapped gift, like being a kiddie at Christmas all over again :-)

One of the pressies was a lovely Jamie Oliver pasta machine, I've been harping on about making my own pasta for a while so yesterday morning I got to it...

You're shocked my pasta machine is robin egg blue aren't you? ;-)

Tossed in cream, garlic and parsley with some zucchini and beef strips it made a yummy lunch. I was surprised at how easy it was, apart from finding places to hang the strips of pasta to dry. I think a pasta rack will be my next purchase!

I'm not the only person cooking up a storm around here, my eldest little man is getting quite into helping out in the kitchen. Here he is making himself a healthy pizza snack, a lebanese bread topped with tomato paste, ham, cheese and olives...

Only about 50% of the toppings make it onto the pizza though ;-)

Pale and Interesting

2012-01-13T12:06:00.006+11:00

Well, I'm trying to get my blog back on track and share my finds more regularly so here's some "stuff" I've bought over the last few months or so...

I think these may well be the cutest egg cups I've ever seen! The perfect colour combination of turquoise and white and only 50 cents each!

This gorgeous robin egg blue bowl is quite similar to a larger one I found a while back - it was $1 in Vinnie's.

I love the colours on this lovely pottery bowl - $1 in Vinnie's.

This juicer is BIG! Maybe it's for juicing giant fruit, anyway I LOVE it - $2 at a flea market.

A lovely aqua chip and dip platter - 50 cents at a carboot market.

A set of four mugs at 50 cents each, I think blue might just be my favourite colour ;-)

This lovely mixing bowl cost $1 at a flea market.

Four gorgeous dip bowls - $2 for the set!

And finally, this cute pair of fish candle holders - $1 each in Vinnie's.

I have lots more "stuff" to share so watch this space.

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway :-)

Blogoversary Giveaway!

2012-01-11T10:57:00.007+11:00

In a few days I will have been blogging for 3 years!!! I can't believe I've been writing this little blog for so long. I have always been dire at keeping up anything like this, my diaries always last a month at most and I initially assumed the blog would suffer the same fate. But I have really enjoyed it, I love reading the lovely comments I have received (thank you) and reading about other people's goings on.

So I thought I would have a little giveaway to celebrate. It's very easy to enter, this is a giveaway to thank my followers, so if you are a follower and would like to enter, just leave a comment to say so. That's it! And if you're not a follower but enjoy reading the blog and would like to become one, it's very easy, there's a link there on the left hand side of the page, just click to follow :-)

And the prize...

I will order a copy of "Happy Chic Accessorizing" by Jonathan Adler for the lucky winner! I don't have this book myself, but it looks fab and is definitely on my wish list.

The giveaway is open to ALL followers worldwide. I will draw the winner one week from today using a random number generator!

Good luck :-)

Resolve

2012-01-07T18:36:00.002+11:00

One of my new year's resolutions was to use my extensive collection of cookbooks more often rather than just cooking the same meals over and over. This evening I served this up to my hungry mob of men...

...it went down a treat :-)

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-06T10:15:00.006+11:00

Happy 2012 to everyone out there!!! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas / Hanukkah / Festivus :)

We had a fantastic Christmas. My little men were so excited, Santa was very good to them and I got very spoiled too :-)

I haven't had a chance to trawl though all my photos but here are a couple of my excited little munchkins just before bedtime on Christmas Eve :-)

As you can see "understated elegance" isn't really my thing when it comes to Christmas decorating :-) I can't help it, it's in my genes!!!

Hope you all have a safe and wonderful 2012 and stay tuned for my Blogoversary giveaway coming up in the next few days. I can't believe I've been blogging for 3 years!!!

Happy Happy Christmas :-)

2011-12-23T12:24:00.004+11:00

TWO days to Christmas!!! I'm freaking out with excitement!!! I can't wait to see my little men's faces when they see their pressies under the tree on Christmas morning. It's been unseasonably cool for a Sydney Summer so far which I'm quite enjoying, it feels very Christmassy and it's so nice looking at my little men all snuggled up in their Winter PJs beside the Christmas tree :-)

Here they are with Santa Claus...

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year, thank you all your lovely comments over the past year, I'll be back in January with a 3 year blogoversary giveaway :-)

See you then!

Nom nom nom

2011-12-16T12:38:00.005+11:00

I had a serious dose of baking fever yesterday morning and whipped up a whole batch of goodies for my little men and their pals to enjoy in the lead-up to Christmas!

This Christmas tree chocolate cake was so easy. I bought the cake tin in Kmart, made up mixture for 12 cupcakes (Humming Bird Cafe recipe), poured the mixture into the mould and popped it into the oven for 25 minutes at 175 degrees celsius. Then when it cooled down my two littler boys "helped" me dust it with icing sugar and put some M&Ms on as baubles :-)

Next I made 2 dozen choccie cupcakes (Hummingbird recipe again, always a winner). Things went a bit awry with the food colouring and I now have hulk hands.

Some mince-pies for my hubbie :-)

We're pretty strict with our kids' diets. Our eldest never ate chocolate until he was five and a half, the others younger of course. I wanted to hold off for longer with them too but trying to watch all kids with an eagle eye is impossible sometimes. D had his first taste over a year ago when I saw him ambling past at his friend's party stuffing a Lamington down his throat with glee and S had his about a year ago too when he was handed a slice of cake unbeknownst to me at another party, there he was sitting at the top of the slide with choccie all over him looking like he'd just discovered gold!

So now, we do let go when it's special occasions like parties and Christmas or special playdates. I'm happy to say that they still have very healthy diets and appreciate treats for what they are - special and not the norm :-)

Oh, if you'd seen the happy little chocolate-covered faces here yesterday after all this baking :-)

Living

2011-12-01T13:08:00.009+11:00

The house was looking a bit tidier than usual this morning (not THAT tidy, still could do with a dust and vacuum), so I thought I'd get the camera out and share some photos of our living room before we decorate it for Christmas :-)

Various art is framed and hung on the wall, from left to right, an original etching of a mother and baby from an artist at Paddington Markets, a tapa cloth painting from a holiday in Fiji, an original oil painting of Sydney harbour (one of my favourite finds), an etching I found at a market and some studio photos of my littlest munchkin.

We are lucky enough to have a working fireplace, many lovely evenings were spent last Winter toasting marshmallows with our boys, it's also a lovely focal point for Christmas decorating. I've mentioned before we are renting this house, so I have no choice on the cream carpets and walls and gold-brown curtains. Thankfully they are pretty neutral and non-offensive, so easy enough to work around.

All of our furniture is suitable for our stage of life, i.e. we have 3 little boys who love to climb and race toy cars and jump around, so we don't want to be too precious by having glorious antiques and top of the range designer furnishings, I like that they can play to their hearts content without me yelling "NOOOO, not on the solid mahogany table, OFF the Venetian velvet sofa boys, GET DOWN from that Louis xiv chair right now"!!!

The Christmas tree will go into this corner, I'm itching to put it up!!!

The mantlepiece is a nice spot for displaying "things", such as some of our favourite photos, some pottery vases, my little pair of peacocks, my favourite ever blobby wooden vase and a pair of sandstone candle holders we bought on holidays at Hyams Beach (one of my favourite places in the world).

This table is another nice spot for bits and pieces including the painting I commissioned from an Etsy artist, some photos of our boys and bowls, lamp, books etc.

It's a long room with a space at the end which incorporates stairs down to the playroom, 2 windows, some built-in cupboards and the doorway to the study. This could easily have become dead space with no wall-space for furniture but instead it's become a nice little play-area for the boys when their toys overflow into the living room.

These drawer units are perfect for storing all that random kiddie stuff, bits of lego, blocks, cars etc that we would otherwise spend our lives tripping over. On top are some Schleich dinosaurs (unfortunately not thrifted, couldn't get that lucky ;-) a vintage globe, cowboy lamp and "Melissa and Doug" barn.

That's it! Hopefully by the weekend it will be looking very Christmassy! I will have a little team of helpers, you know what that means, all the decorations will end up on the bottom half of the tree as far as their little arms can reach :-)

Christmas Classics

2011-11-23T13:08:00.009+11:00

For me, one of the best parts of the lead-up to Christmas is watching my favourite festive ads and movies that I can't see or won't let myself watch except at this time of year, it keeps them special not to watch them all year round.

First, there are my old favourites...

Top of these is "The Snowman", a short beautifully animated movie with haunting melodies, made in 1982, it never dates...

From 1989 onwards no Christmas in my home was complete without watching "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", so many lovely memories of watching this with my parents and sisters, all of us in stitches laughing :-)

No Christmas ad will ever beat the 1987 Budweiser commercial for me, it will always be my favourite and this time every year I bookmark it in youtube and watch it almost daily :-)

But of course, I do have new favourites too :-)

My little boys are big train fans, so every December when we take out the "Polar Express" DVD there is huge excitement. I feel a viewing coming on in a couple of weeks, can't wait to see their little faces :-)

My favourite Christmas song? Mariah of course!

But a new contender is George Michael's "December Song", my boys are obsessed with this video for some reason, the animation is beautiful, my littlest man loves the lights on wheels and squeals when he sees them. Something that makes my 3 boys stop in their tracks and sit still? How could it not be a favourite?

My fave newer Christmas movie has got to be "Love Actually". London at Christmas, fab!!!

And lastly, although this little film "Lost and Found" has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas, I think it may become my newest favourite of all. The boys were given the book a few years ago as a gift and loved it, then last year the animated movie was shown on tv at Christmas and they were spellbound.

Anyway, enough about me! This post was a great excuse to gather all my favourites into one place but I'd love to hear from others out there on your favourites at this special time of year :-)

PS. I know I've used the word "favourite" way too many times in this post but the only equivalent I could think of was "bestest" and that's not a real word now is it?

Cosy

2011-11-15T21:59:00.003+11:00

All I want for Christmas is these socks...

Available here

But with temperatures in the late 30s (celsius!!!) this week in Sydney, I think I could look slightly ridiculous and may have to give them a miss :(

Old and New

2011-11-04T16:36:00.007+11:00

Old: Me. I turned 38 today!

New: All the gorgeous pressies I was spoilt with :-)

When I was little, on my birthday and Christmas day I used to love lining up my presents and clapping with delight looking at them all together. Well, today I got such gorgeous gifts, that's exactly what I felt like doing, so here they are :-)

Now I know I recently harped on about building up my collection of vintage Le Creuset but how could I resist the beautiful new coastal blue collection? I got a round casserole and oval French oven, and no, we didn't pay Australian prices for these. The Uk department store John Lewis have started shipping to Australia with a 15 pound flat delivery fee, so these ended up costing us about 40% what they would have at full retail in an Australian department store. They arrived 4 weeks ago and have been hiding under the bed ever since waiting for my boys to "surprise" me with them this morning :-)

I love this beautiful Jamie Oliver bowl and server set from my big sis, it's nice and large, perfect for a salad when we have friends over for a bbq.

How gorgeous is this vintage style mixing bowl by Tala? Very gorgeous indeed!!! Thanks Mum and Dad :-)

And just in case you think ALL my pressies were blue, look what my clever mind-reading little sister sent me!

I have been dying to get this book since it was released!

The day's not over yet, there will be cake when my hubbie gets home (and surprises according to my little man) and then my lovely friend next door is going to babysit so my hubbie and I can go out together for dinner! Our usual meals out are in kiddie-friendly restaurants with play areas where we wolf down our dinner while our kids run around like crazy, so I'm looking forward to a nice relaxed grown-up evening out :-)

Spooked!

2011-11-03T09:37:00.003+11:00

Hope everyone out there had a fantastic and fun Hallowe'en! The boys and I had a blast, here I am with my terrifying vampire and tiny superheroes :-)

Thumbs up!

2011-11-02T09:37:00.003+11:00

I know it's cheesy but...

When I saw the new Coke bottles with names on them I couldn't resist :-)

Yes!!!

2011-10-20T10:55:00.005+11:00

Look what I bought on eBay :-)

My saved search for Villeroy and Boch Acapulco threw up these beauties a couple of weeks ago. Seeing what I thought was a start price of $35 I put them on my watched list. Then I realised it was a "Buy it Now" price! You have never seen somebody click a link so fast! Yes, this is more than I generally would pay for a couple of pots, but as I've mentioned before I am totally in love with this design and they usually sell for a LOT more than that!

I have a love/hate relationship with eBay, I love being able to sell on bits and pieces I wouldn't keep myself to fund purchases like this, but hate the constant last-minute outbidding that always seems to happen! It's the way it works, I know, and I love when that last minute bidding pushes up the prices of items I sell, but not those I want to buy.

I'm such a hypocrite ;-)

Acres and acres...

2011-10-18T12:45:00.003+11:00

It's a good thing I am GOING TO HAVE acres of open shelving in my dream kitchen some day because with the amount of kitchenware I'm amassing I will need them!

Here are a few more bits and pieces I've picked up along the way...

Beautiful clay spoons for canapés or hors d'oeuvres - 50 cents each.

A lovely robin-egg blue bowl - $5.

I found the beautiful large green bowl and very similar smaller one on the same day in totally different op shops - $5 for the larger one and $2 for the small...

Together they make a lovely chip 'n' dip set :-)

I know, more blue! I can't help it, this cute little set was $3.

This solid granite mortar and pestle was a steal at $3. I know I already have a black granite mortar and pestle but this one is a completely different shape so that's OK ;-)

And finally, this lovely rustic wooden bread board - 50 cents!

Yes, I'm going to need acres and acres and acres....

Curb My Enthusiasm

2011-10-12T10:38:00.006+11:00

Well you knew you couldn't get away for much longer without a Pyrex post! Bear with me, its only my second of the year!

What's happened? Well, I've had to curb my habit a wee bit, it's very tempting to buy so much of it when it's in great condition, so useful and so cheap! But my poor cupboards were groaning under the weight of it all so I'm now only buying pieces I am ABSOLUTELY in love with!

Here are my latest finds...

My first ever piece complete with its cradle! Now you know I'm more of a blue girl rather than pink, but I have the exact same dish in turquoise so I'm going to swap them over :-)

This piece is darker than most of my others, but there's something about it I love. I've never seen this design before, any Pyrex experts out there know anything about it?

A cute bowl with blue swirls, I already have the same design with red swirls :-)

A couple of fluted pie dishes to add to my tiny collection.

I'm still kicking myself for not buying a lovely purple pie dish I saw in Vinnie's a couple of months ago just because there was a big queue and I was dashing to catch the bus.

The bus was late :-(

Close, but no cigar...

2011-09-23T14:27:00.005+10:00

Last year I posted rather excitedly about some beautiful Noritake dinnerware I had found, a complete dinner service for 4 and demitasse coffee set for 6.

Well, ever since I have been hoping to come across some more pieces of the same dinner service so I could have a complete set for 8.

Alas, I have had no luck on this front but have found another very lovely, quite similar set that I think will do the trick!

Not a match by any means, the Noritake plates are a lighter baby blue with pink flowers, whereas this set (marked "Saraband by Ridgway, Staffordshire, Made in England) are a deeper, duck egg blue with white and pink flowers.

But don't they look pretty side by side? I'm thinking alternating designs laid out on a table of 8 would look gorgeous, hmmm, maybe we'll have sit down dinner parties again when the kids are grown up. Meanwhile our entertaining efforts mainly consist of bbqs where kids outnumber the adults big time!

You may have noticed my recent little flurry of posts. I have been trying to regain some momentum in my blogging after a lazy year so expect lots more news and finds from me! But for now, school breaks up for 2 weeks holidays this afternoon and no kid-free time = no blogging so see you all in a couple of weeks :-)

Acapulco

2011-09-22T13:33:00.004+10:00

Today I thought I would share my Villeroy & Boch Acapulco collection with you...

Yep, that's it. One little tiny bowl (pictured from 3 different angles to show the full pattern).

Despite being totally in love with this design and being constantly on the lookout for pieces, the sum total of my collection is this single little bowl. Tragic isn't it?

Oh well, it will make it all the more exciting and rewarding when one day I stumble across a complete Acapulco dinner service for $30 at a car boot market (I can dream can't I?)...

Five

2011-09-20T17:32:00.008+10:00

My little middle munchkin turned five today!

Even though he is still a little package for his age my S is a big boy now :-)

My little man is magical proof that you don't have to have the power of speech to be utterly wonderful, affectionate, witty, funny, clever, empathetic, kind, loving and absolutely perfect.

He has really milked the celebrations this year with a big party on Saturday with 25 of his pals, we had lots of yummy goodies to eat, the kids decorated bikkies and we had a fantastic children's entertainer. He had a lovely day and then today we brought more cupcakes to preschool and I spent the morning there hanging out with him and his brother. The look of delight and joy as all his pals sang happy birthday to him (again) and he blew out the candles will stay with me forever. Now he's busy playing with all the lovely toys he received (and fending off his brothers).

I thank my lucky stars every day that this little man is mine, my Mr. Wonderful :-)

Mischief Makers

2011-09-09T12:10:00.002+10:00

Generally when it comes to photos of my little men, I prefer to take them myself. I love natural shots and have some great pics of them out and about causing mischief in day-to-day life. However I also think it's nice to bring them to a studio and get some professional shots done every now and then. It had been a few years since we had been so I was delighted when a photographic studio we've used before had a fantastic offer - a studio session and 3 8x10" photos for only $59!

My boys weren't exactly on their best behaviour that day, a lot of cajoling and puppetry was required, but I'm delighted with the end results, 3 photos that have perfectly captured the energy, mischief and joy of these 3 little monkeys...

Can't you just sense the mischief?

Oooh!

2011-09-08T17:51:00.003+10:00

Oh my, look what I just stumbled upon on Flickr...

A fabulous retro fondue pot which matches one of my favourite casseroles!

You know what this means don't you?

I shall not rest easy until I have one of these in my kitchen!

I sourced it back to a very lovely vintage blog, if only I could speak German...

Billy

2011-09-06T12:35:00.005+10:00

A few weeks ago one of the mums at the preschool my 2 younger boys go to sent out an email with a list of furniture, toys, appliances etc her family were selling before their big move to Dubai. Unfortunately somebody else was quicker off the mark than me and snaffled a white Expedit the same size as my dark one and a pine bookcase, BUT I did get in first on a set of Ikea Billy bookcases, yay!!!

I bought 2 wide bookcases and one narrow for a grand total of $70! These would have cost $227 altogether new and the best bit is that they very kindly delivered them to us and they were fully built so no assembly required, yay! They fit so perfectly in this space in the study they actually look like built-ins.

I got straight to work making them "nice" with all my husband's books and some of my vintage "things". As you can see I kept it "man style" with mostly wooden and industrial items (I did sneak one of my typewriters onto the bottom shelf, you may notice it if you look carefully :-)

It's great for all of the books that were stuffed away in boxes and the vintage items that were hidden away in cupboards to finally have a home. See that pink book? It's called "The Speed Reading Book" by Tony Buzan, my husband has yet to finish reading it ;-)

Retrolicious

2011-09-02T09:31:00.008+10:00

Look what the postman delivered yesterday!

Isn't it FABULOUS?!?

I spotted it online last week, my hubbie was out for the evening playing soccer and I was aimlessly perusing eBay when I stumbled upon it.

I love the atomic retro wing handles!

It's a heavy cast iron enamelled casserole, made by Cousances, I've mentioned them before, a French rival of Le Creuset who bought them out in the 1950s.

The great thing is that while Cousances is very collectible, the seller didn't mention the make in the title, which means that people searching under "Cousances" wouldn't have found it, so I snapped it up for $40 (hubbie, if you're reading this, I love you very, very much ;-). Yes, that is more than I usually pay for a casserole but I have NEVER seen this style before, I have googled and googled and still nothing, so I knew if I didn't buy it I would totally regret it and obsess in the future about finding another.

If anybody out there has the same one or knows anything about the style or date it was made I'd really like to hear from you :-)

Those Clever People...

2011-08-25T15:58:00.004+10:00

Calling all Aussies! Have you seen the new Ikea ad???

Can you see me???

I'm the one in the pale green jumper and jeans behind the guy who runs into the fence!

I had better explain how I found myself running through fields and housing estates, screaming and holding a blue kiddies chair over my head :-)

A couple of months ago I got an email from Ikea which they sent to members of Ikea Family (their loyalty card scheme). It asked if I would like to be in their next ad (Would I???) and if so, to email my details and a photo back to them. I didn't expect to hear anything back but a few weeks later I got a message to say I was one of the lucky ones who had been chosen :-)

It was a really fun morning (apart from the 6am start and freezing cold), we were given a lovely brekkie, met a lot of fun people and got an Ikea gift card for our "hard work".

I love the result, I think it's a really funny ad (so do my boys) and was very excited to be able to see myself in the final cut, even if it is only from behind, I'm really enjoying my 0.015 seconds of fame!

Hanging Around

2011-08-24T11:09:00.007+10:00

I am constantly moving things around in my kitchen, depending on my mood or the season I have different things on display all the time. This can lead to some lovely things ending up in piles while new favourites take their place on my limited shelf space.

I thought this little pile of pots deserved better than to be left in a heap like this...

So they now have a lovely new home thanks to a recent eBay find...

I spotted one of these on a website a good while back and couldn't find one here in Australia for ages, eventually I saw a couple on eBay but they went for a LOT so I decided to spread my wings and have a look overseas. I was very fortunate to be the only bidder on an eBay UK auction (Le Creuset is a lot more common and less ridiculously priced over there) and won this fab Le Creuset chrome pot stand.

It has space for 4 pots/pans, 3 lids and a casserole, perfect!

I have kept my collection of cast iron cookware to reds/oranges, aqua and cream, they just look so gorgeous together.

Now they are within easy reach for regular use instead of hiding away in a dark cupboard :-)

My tip for Aussies looking to find items like this that are rare here? Go directly to the UK, USA and France eBay sites, do your search, if you find what you're looking for contact the seller and ask them if they would be willing to post to Australia. Often the answer is yes, and even taking in postage costs you can end up saving a lot! I bought this for 7 pounds sterling / about $11 plus $20 postage whereas they were selling for over 60 dollars here plus postage :-)

Cabin Fever

2011-08-19T10:31:00.008+10:00

This is day 3 of being stuck indoors with my snotty, grotty little monsters. There has been crafting, plotting, board game playing, puzzle solving, chasing, racing, eating of treats, watching of tv, cuddles, tantrums and so much snot my kids look like there's been a snail convention on their clothes. I think we are starting to get cabin fever, so I thought for a change of scene it would be nice to build a little house within our house :-)

I posted a good while back about teepees and had finally decided to make my own so I bought this fab cotton tapestry from Urban Outfitters for $19.99 last year and 6 bamboo poles from Bunnings for $7 earlier this year. Being the fervent crafter and creator that I am that's as far as I got until today.

A bit of tape, a hair elastic, some manoeuvring and ta daaa!!!

Look at that workmanship! I'm not denying it's pretty basic but the boys are having loads of fun playing in it and I found this tutorial online for making a teepee, so who knows? Maybe in time for my youngest's 21st birthday?

Fancy a fry?

2011-08-08T15:37:00.006+10:00

My husband thinks I have enough frying pans...

Copper pans - $3 each in Vinnie's.

Corning Ware pan - $4 in Salvos.

Little Le Creuset omelette pan - $20 on eBay.

Massive Descoware cast iron pan - $3 at a garage sale.

Large Le Creuset skillet - $20 in Vinnie's.

Small Le Creuset skillet - bought new in Ireland.

Maybe he has a point...

mmmmmmmm

2011-07-21T11:41:00.005+10:00

Everything about this picture is perfect, the lighting, the hearty beef & rosemary pot pies, perfect for a rainy day like this and how beautiful are those duck-egg blue ramekins, sigh...

You can find the recipe over at Real Living Magazine and the clever lady behind the styling and photography is the well-known Katie Quinn Davies of What Katie Ate. I only just discovered her blog, where have I been?!?

Use the Force

2011-07-13T15:38:00.013+10:00

I think it's safe to say there is a Star Wars OBSESSION going on at our house at the moment, it's been here a while and isn't showing any signs of going away. I don't mind one little bit, I'm a bit of a Star Wars fan myself, more so the original 3 movies, seriously who cast the 3 newer episodes? All time classic scene - Anakin Skywalker yelling "What have I done?!?"

I can be found many a day at 7am having light saber battles with my eldest, constructing battleships out of lego and having deep and meaningful conversations about the benefits of Darth Maul's double ended light saber over the Jedi single ones.

Anyway, I have gathered a cute little assortment of some of the Star Wars items available on Etsy right now that other parents of tiny "Jedi" or Star Wars geeks like myself might like too :-)

here

I'd love to buy them ALL for myself, I mean for my boys ;-)

Casserole Central

2011-07-05T13:55:00.004+10:00

Now that it's Winter here in Sydney the cooler temperatures call for heartier meals. Cheesey potato-bakes, rich casseroles and roasts all make for a happy family (and thicker waistline in my case). I am well-prepared for this cook-fest with an array of casseroles fit for a feast!

Here are some favourites...

A cute cast-iron casserole by Cousances - originally a rival to Le Creuset who bought the company in the 1950s.

A lovely Noritake casserole, I love the crisp white and dark blue.

A fab enamelled casserole with cast-iron body and steel lid, I love the retro pattern on this, it was made by Swiss company Von Roll.

I'm sure I've featured this beautiful green casserole before but couldn't resist showing it again, fab!

This lovely aqua blue baking dish is perfect to make a pie for two :-)

A Denby casserole in a lovely steel blue/grey.

Initially I loved the retro pop-art look of this casserole but eventually decided it wasn't for me and sold it on eBay, it now has a new loving home :-)

And last, but definitely not least, ANOTHER Raymond Loewy Le Creuset Cocotte, I LOVE it! It's wider and flatter than my turquoise one...

Don't they make a lovely pair?

Blues, greens and a little white

2011-06-29T14:04:00.007+10:00

I don't think anybody's going to be too shocked to learn that my favourite colour is blue, followed closely by green. I also love subdued greys and whites. Here are some favourite finds from the last while in these lovely colours :-)

The colour and shape of this jug are absolute perfection, $1 at a Church Op Shop.

These lovely green casseroles were a couple of dollars each in Vinnies.

I've wanted a cook's measure for ages and was holding out for one in blue or green, I'm delighted to have picked this one up for $4 in Salvos.

I love the organic blobby shape of this salt crock - 50 cents in Vinnies.

These adorable pale green ceramic little mice are for holding cocktail sticks, cute! - $1.50 each in Salvos.

Beautiful duck-egg blue cups and saucers found in Salvos for $2 a set. There's a surprise...

... a heart on the inside :-)

A lovely little leaf design dish - think I paid $1 for this.

I think these are Sake cups - 50 cents each.

More Sake cups? - $1 each.

Lovely bendy vase - $3 in Vinnies.

A nice ceramic container for my bamboo utensils - 50 cents at a Church Op Shop.

A teeny pot - 50 cents.

A pair of gorgeous organic-shaped Alex Liddy milk jugs $2 each in Vinnies.

And finally a cute little pottery bowl - 50 cents at a market.

Pure Gold

2011-06-23T12:28:00.010+10:00

Our little family took a long overdue holiday a few weeks ago. We drove up to the gorgeous Gold Coast in Queensland and had a BLAST!!!

We stayed in a fantastic apartment complex with a gorgeous pool!

The fantastic rides and stunt show at Movie World were a MASSIVE hit!

More cool rides, activities, funny seal show and amazing dolphin show had the boys (and us) in raptures at Sea World.

Loads of fun splashing and sliding at Wet 'n' Wild Water World.

Beautiful Main Beach at Surfers Paradise.

The Gold Coast is a 12 hour drive each way from Sydney and to be honest I was dreading the long journey with three young kids but the boys behaved really well on the drives (miraculously), yes there was occasional whinging but they were easily distracted with the bag of toys and books we brought and passed around in rotation and I think hubbie and I may have played about 100 games of "hangman" and "road trip treasure hunt" with my eldest. We broke the journey overnight in each direction which was a great opportunity to see some other lovely places such as Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.

We all came back refreshed and full of happy memories, I'd love to go back right now!

Soulmate

2011-06-21T15:32:00.008+10:00

Nine years ago today, on Midsummer's Day, I married my man. It was a wonderful day, celebrated with close friends and family. By no means a whirlwind wedding, we'd already been together 8 years, we both knew we had found our soulmate.

I love this man, he's a wonderful, fun, caring and affectionate Dad to our 3 little men and works hard for us all, which allows me to be a stay at home Mum to our munchkins, something we both feel strongly about.

We are very different people but feel exactly the same about the things that matter.

I'm so glad that all those years ago, the guy reading Margaret Thatcher's memoirs, the man with the bright blue eyes, gorgeous arms and opinions on everything was the one who stood out and stole my heart :)

So childish!

2011-06-10T13:24:00.007+10:00

I LOVE finding cute vintage children's toys and decor for my boys, things just seemed so much more well made in the past. Some of our most enduring toys are ones I have found at markets - when the batteries have worn out on their flashing, beeping and squawking new toys, the boys keep going back to the lovely old wooden cars, trucks and puzzles that never lose their charm.

I have featured lots of my kiddy finds in the past, here are some newer ones (forgive me if I have posted some of these before, I am getting forgetful in my twilight years ;-)

This beautiful wooden toy piano is a big hit with my littlest man - it cost $3 at a market, about the price of a pack of Paracetemol (I need them after listening to him hammering away on it all morning).

This wooden "mouse" is beautifully crafted, when it's not being played with it just sits there looking lovely on the toy shelf :-)

A complete Ravensburger Fairground puzzle, made in 1973, the same year I was born. See? I told you I'm in my twilight years!

A pair of wooden wobbly headed Korean dolls, I know there's a name for these but can't remember it.

Bambi was one of my favourite movies as a child, I was delighted to pick up this vintage edition of the story.

Board games are always popular with my eldest son...

...but it's my middle munchkin who's the biggest fan of these giant chunky dice as you can see.

A little man can never have too many cases to put his things "fings" in.

Another charming little vintage child's chair to add to our collection...

...Hoot likes to hang out here.

A cowboy lampshade, Babar height chart and globe add more vintage charm to our playroom.

Cute blue cars!

How cute are these dinosaur fairy lights? I will never forget the smile on my S's face when he saw them lit up for the first time :-)

I plan on doing something crafty with this cowboy fabric, at the rate I complete craft projects perhaps something for my grandchildren?

Comeback

2011-06-07T16:44:00.002+10:00

Hello everyone, just popping in to say, yes I know I have been an abysmal blogger the last couple of months, it's been a VERY busy time but hopefully all will settle down in the next few weeks and normal blogging will resume, look forward to catching up and sharing some lovely finds with you :-)

Huh???

2011-05-14T12:47:00.002+10:00

Did anybody else have problems with Blogger the last couple of days? My post about my boys totally disappeared for a day and then reappeared with the comments gone. For one horrible moment I thought all my comments on all posts would be gone, but it's OK they're still there. It's made me think about doing a backup of my blog though, does anybody know how to do that? I'd appreciate any help :-)

Wonderful

2011-05-12T16:58:00.000+10:00

I'm not sure what I have done in life to deserve these 3 magical little monkeys but whatever it is I am VERY glad I did it :-)

What if...

2011-05-11T11:03:00.006+10:00

My love of vintage Pyrex is no secret. The fab colours, retro patterns and shapes are so visually appealing and still functional. So why, oh why, is new pyrex so BORING??? What executive meeting resulted in the decision "Let's just make plain glass". Boring bowls, baking dishes and casseroles, all look the same.

Lots of companies looking for a sales boost have turned to a new generation of designers to give their products a new lease of life, so why can't Pyrex do the same?

Imagine elements from these fab patterns applied to your new bakeware and mixing bowls...

I think if Pyrex commissioned the likes of Cath Kidston, Orla Kiely, Amy Butler and Liberty of London to give their products a new lease of life, their sales would go through the roof.

Just a thought, sigh...

My Little Kitchen

2011-04-13T15:34:00.008+10:00

Out of nowhere today I got a major cleaning bug and gave my kitchen a massive cleanup. It looked so shiny and tidy (for once) that I thought it would be a shame not to do a little photoshoot and share it.

So here's where I spend a LOT of my time in the house, cooking, fetching, preparing and washing up after my 3 hungry little horses...

As you can see the cabinetry and worktops are pretty dated but we're renting so there's not much I can do about that. At least they're white though so they provide a nice blank canvas for all my vintage "stuff".

My fab toaster, along with salt & pepper shakers from Freedom and adorable egg cups from Target.

A collection of enameled items, all vintage except for the olive green Jamie Oliver tegame.

Two thrifted glass jars, a Nigella Lawson cookie jar and "Retro Kitchen" cocktail shaker. The gorgeous tray behind them was a gift from my middle munchkin :-)

On the window sill - Matryoshka measuring cups - a gift from a lovely friend, vintage Melmac sugar bowl and milk jug, a Pontessa jar and a spoon rest.

I love all the shades of blue and green hidden away inside this tall cupboard...

On the top shelf are various thrifted jugs, mugs etc. Underneath are little bowls from Victoria's Basement, a Laura Ashley 2-tier cake stand, a large jug from Freedom and a thrifted vase.

Next shelf down has an assortment of bowls by Jamie Oliver, Victoria's Basement and Target and a little thrifted jar. Underneath is a white Alex Liddy jar, all other items on that shelf are from Vinnie's!

Next down is a lovely vintage cast iron enameled casserole, another Alex Liddy jug and a duck egg blue storage jar. Underneath are some plates and bowls from Victoria's Basement.

The pride and joy of my kitchen - My Kitchenaid mixer, on top of a trolley from Freedom. Behind it is the notice board I made from the coffee sack I got at a market.

On the shelves of the trolley are various bits and pieces, the Union Jack tray I got at a market, the Le Creuset mini-cocottes my little sis got me for my birthday, my aqua Le Creuset grill pan, a citrus press I bought in Ireland, some teapots I got at Vinnie's and some cute enamel tin bowls and tumblers I bought at a lovely little homewares store in Palm Beach.

Beside the trolley is the fridge, on the front of it I have the closest thing I'll have to a gallery wall in a rental where I can't add any screws or nails into the walls.

The side of the fridge is overloaded with works of art by my little rascals :-)

On top of this cupboard is my little collection of scales and the lovely goblets I got in Vinnie's a couple of years ago.

A girl can never have too many utensils!

Yes, I do have a thing for duck-egg blue, even my dustpan and brush are that colour!

On top of the pantry is my little pottery collection along with a couple of colanders and my favourite find - the Raymond Loewy designed Le Creuset cocotte.

I even tidied inside the pantry!

More tidy cupboards!

One of my favourite things about this kitchen is the stable-style door which leads out onto a covered deck with the most beautiful views of a nature reserve.

Needless to say, whilst I had this cleaning frenzy my boys were busy messing up the rest of the house so I'm off to sort that out!

Vintage Stores of Sydney

2011-04-11T16:30:00.012+10:00

Whenever I see a beautiful vintage or retro item featured in a home or stylist's shoot in one of the 2 interiors magazines I subscribe to, it is usually from one of the following stores - Vampt Vintage Design, Ici et La, David Met Nicole or Doug Up on Bourke.

For a while now I have been dying to visit some of these stores and have a wander through all the vintage loveliness and finally last Saturday I got the chance!

First stop was Vampt Vintage Design...

Located at 486-490 Elizabeth Street in Surry Hills, this store is a stunning showroom full of high-end designer retro pieces - credenzas, lamps, sofas, everything the mid-century enthusiast could wish for. Their prices are pretty steep but they do have every piece beautifully refurbished and polished, they are definitely catering to the buyer who knows what they want, has the money to buy it and is not interested in the hunt and thrill of getting it for a low-low price that I love. I have no problem with these stores charging these prices, these are the antiques of the future, all their pieces are in top-notch condition and to be honest, if people are willing to pay a premium then why not charge it?

I WANT that lamp!!!

Those green upholstered chairs...

And that orange lamp too please.

Moving on to the next store - David Met Nicole, a small charming vintage store located at 382 Cleveland Street, Surry Hills.

This gorgeous space is chock-a-block with beautiful vintage items. The prices again are aimed at people who prefer to get what they want pronto and pay the premium for somebody else to do the hunting, not crazy prices though.

Those light bulbs can go straight on to my shopping list...

A girl can never have too many globes, right?

I have a real thing for vintage educational charts and maps, what a collection!

Printers blocks galore!

Industrial letters...

Fab suitcases...

Pendant lights...

These rubber stamps would make a gorgeous feature on the desk I still haven't found for my hubbie...

I'm not a fan of taxidermy as decor but love these numbers...

OK, next stop, Ici et La...

Located at 7 Nickson Street, Surry Hills, this is a gorgeous rustic Aladdin's Cave of beautiful vintage items with a French twist.

How fab would those doors look in my dream house?

Again with the lamp love...

My favourite corner of the store was this gorgeous, old-fashioned fabric department, lovely! Again, prices similar to other vintage stores, you pay them to do the hunting and you reap the rewards. And, why not?

Are you tired yet? I was at this stage, I had done a LOT of walking and nearly considered giving my last destination a miss. I am SO glad I didn't...

Doug Up On Bourke located at 901 Bourke Street, Waterloo is an emporium of retro and industrial delights. It is HUGE and I literally felt like I'd died and gone to vintage heaven when I walked up the stairs and saw what awaited me!

I know!!! I think the pictures say it all! I wandered for AGES in here, the focus here is on industrial vintage items, there's rust, dust 'n' grit, it is FABULOUS! If you have been dreaming of an antique set of plan drawers (I know I have) this is the place to come. The prices aren't crazy either, the furniture is above what I would pay as I prefer to hunt these things down at markets / Op Shops myself but the smaller decor pieces are within range. Gorgeous blue vintage oars were on sale for $45 each, typewriters for $70, shoe lasts for $15 each and so on...

OK, so what did I buy? Well, nothing. This was just a relaxing, window shopping sort of day for me. I'm still thinking about those oars though...

Pretty in Pink

2011-04-02T09:01:00.005+11:00

I'm long overdue for my first pyrex post of 2011 so here goes!!!

I'm not usually a pink kind of girl but there is something so pretty about pink pyrex, I have only ever found one other pink piece (my Gooseberry cinderella bowl), so I was delighted to find these 2 pieces in the space of a couple of weeks, $3 each.

I don't think it's a secret that aqua is one of my favourite colours - love this casserole - $4!

Finally!!! A black Gaiety piece - this has been on my wishlist for ages - $4!

A fab Horizon divided dish - $7.50 on eBay, it was in the next suburb so I was able to pick up :-)

And this cute yellow casserole - $2.

Such colourful gorgeousness - don't forget to visit The Pyrex Collective for more Pyrex madness!

Thank you :-)

2011-03-31T13:43:00.003+11:00

I would like to say a big huge thank you to everyone who left such lovely, comforting comments regarding my Nana. She had a long life and was very unwell at the end, so it wasn't a shock but still very sad when she passed away. Your words meant a lot to me and it was so lovely to receive condolences from all over the world.

And I was also very touched to read Erin AKA Toronto Yardsaler's post regarding the linocut prints I made for her "Pay it Forward" gift. She has them beautifully framed and hanging up in her lovely home (I made the black and white ones), very exciting for me to see, thanks Erin :-)

Nana

2011-03-24T14:36:00.001+11:00

In loving memory of my Nana who passed away yesterday at the age of 87. Here is a beautiful photo of her looking radiant on her wedding day with my very handsome Grandad. Please God they are together again and happy.

Dad

2011-03-22T16:57:00.006+11:00

My Dad left this afternoon to return to Ireland after a 2 week stay here in Sydney. This was his 7th visit in the 7 years we've been back here, and as always we had a fantastic time. My Dad is a very wonderful man, the best Dad a girl could wish for, an amazing, caring husband to my Mum and a fantastic Grandad to my little men and his other Grand-children back in Ireland. We have had a fantastic couple of weeks, hanging out, eating out, chatting, playing with the boys and spending quality time together. He and my hubbie get on great too which makes me very happy. We all love his visits and are very sad when he leaves.

We miss you already Dad and are counting down to your next visit. We love you very much :-)

Bowled Over

2011-03-08T16:59:00.004+11:00

At a Church sale a couple of weeks ago (screechy kids in tow), I came across a lovely teal bowl I just had to share with you...

I nearly didn't even bother picking it up, it was low down on a shelf and from above just looked like a triangular bowl, but I loved the colour and had a closer look...

It has sections cut out of it and really is stunning, it looks completely different from every angle...

...and it's big, big enough to use as a fruit bowl perhaps?

The best bit - it cost 50 cents, ridiculous!!!

I'm off now to count down the hours till my wonderful Dad arrives from Ireland tomorrow, we're all very excited!!!

Today I'm over here...

2011-02-23T14:40:00.004+11:00

Hello, today you can read a bit more about me and my love of vintage as part of a "Thrifters Around the World" series over at the very wonderful blog Thriftcore...

If you don't already read this fantastic blog you SHOULD! Van shares her beautiful vintage finds, gorgeous decor and great tips on thrifting, so go on, quick, visit... now!!!

Houzz

2011-02-12T17:52:00.004+11:00

I have discovered almost all of my favourite design and decor websites through the world of blogging. I sit back on my lazy bum and let others do the hard work discovering these sites and sharing them with the world. That's why I was a bit flabbergasted when my hubbie, of all people, was the one to introduce me to my new absolute favourite, droolsome, time-sapping website www.houzz.com

Visit at your own peril, there are THOUSANDS of stunning home decor images, divided into categories such as eclectic, traditional, contemporary etc. You can browse these beautiful images and add them to your own "ideabook", basically a scrapbook of all your faves. You can browse other users' ideabooks and the search function is fantastic. I am a bit obsessed with open shelving in kitchens and when I searched "Open Shelves Kitchen" over 4,000 fab images were sprung upon me.

I can't believe I've never come across this website through the blogosphere so just thought I'd share in case others hadn't heard of it. They also have a fantastic iPad app that allows you to flick through the images like a gorgeous magazine.

Source

Enjoy! And don't say I didn't warn you...

Le Crusade

2011-02-10T17:13:00.004+11:00

When my husband and I returned to live in Australia in 2004 (having lived here for a couple of years previously) our initial plan was just to stay a couple of years. Everything we bought to set up home was pretty "cheap 'n' cheerful" knowing we wouldn't be bringing them with us when me moved on. One of my el cheapo purchases was a set of stainless steel cookware from Kmart which has slowly been replaced by odd bits and pieces over the last few years.

A while back though I decided, now that I'm a "professional housewife", I would love some really high quality cookware. Top on my list was cast iron cookware from quality French companies such as Le Creuset or Staub. However, EVERYTHING in Australia has gotten so expensive and when I realised these brands sell here for over 3 times the price of Europe in some cases I thought "Sod that, I'm on a mission to thrift the lot" :-)

I've done pretty well so far...

You may remember I posted previously on my first Le Creuset find - the Raymond Loewy designed cocotte, an original from 1959. I think I can safely say this is one of my favourite finds ever! I love everything about it, the colour, the design, the quality, the price - $15!!!

This is the large oval Le Creuset casserole I found at a market last Mothers Day - $20! A gorgeous contrast to the aqua one :-) Tip: Le Creuset guarantee their knobs and handles for life, the knob on this casserole when I found it was a bit bockety, I phoned them and a new one arrived in the post within a few days, that's customer service!

These 2 cast iron gratin dishes were a recent find - $10 each. They are marked on the back with the number 18 in a diamond and "Made in France" but no maker's mark. I'm guessing they're made by Cousances, a rival French company that Le Creuset took over.

My other Le Creuset find from Mother's Day last year - a pair of cast iron pots - I think they were about $25 for the pair.

I was thrilled to find this large grillit pan for $20 in Vinnie's a couple of months ago, it's in great condition - the recommended retail price for these in Australia is $249!

OK, I have to admit that this gorgeous turquoise 20cm grillit pan wasn't thrifted, I bought it new when I was in Ireland last year, I've never seen these smaller ones in Australia and it's the perfect size when I'm using all 4 rings on our hob and space is limited.

And lastly, these gorgeous mini-cocottes were a gift from my little sis on my last birthday, love them!!!

And so much for our 2 year plan, 7 years later and we're still here :-)

Very into Vases

2011-02-04T18:40:00.005+11:00

One thing you can always guarantee finding at any market or thrift store is a vase. They are there in their abundance - the good, the bad and the very ugly. I have dodged many a peach lustre mermaid or mint green swan but wasn't able to resist the following sweet vases...

This beautiful bamboo and ceramic vase was $3 in Red Cross.

This is one of my faves - a lovely wooden organic blobby vase - $4 at a Church sale.

I love the simplicity of this Country Road vase - $2 in Vinnie's.

Another favourite - $2 in Vinnie's.

Don't they make a lovely pair :-)

This teeny tiny bud vase is the most beautiful shade of green - 20 cents in Vinnie's.

These wooden vases work well together - $3 each.

I love the subdued grey shade of this one - 50 cents at a Church sale.

Now all I need is somebody to buy me some flowers ;-)

Catchup

2011-02-01T16:43:00.006+11:00

The school holidays ended yesterday, my eldest went into Year 1, I can't believe he's not one of the babies at school anymore and my youngest baby started 2 days a week at preschool joining S who has been attending for a year already.

The 6 weeks holidays flew by way too quickly. We really had a fantastic time. I know a lot of people get demented during the hols and can't wait for school to start back but I really enjoy the break from routine, the chance to have lazy mornings in our PJs without the mad dash to get ready and the freedom to take longer outings without worrying about getting back in time for the school bell. Although I'm not denying I did collapse on the sofa in an exhausted heap every evening after the munchkins had gone to bed ;-)

Here are a few favourite moments from the hols...

Loved just hanging out with my boys :-)

My little elves and I on Christmas Day.

Impromptu mini-hike on Boxing Day.

Newport.

Yum-cha in Chinatown.

Checking out fishies big and small at Sydney Aquarium.

Chasing pigeons at the playground :)

Luna Park.

The seaside of course.

Walks along the harbour.

The Aquatic Centre - HUGE fun for kids!!!

Australia Day celebrations.

And here is my tiniest man on his first day at preschool, he LOVES it, I knew he would :-)

I will miss my little entourage 24/7 but I am sure I will get very used to having 2 days to myself from now on, how on earth will I fill those free hours?!?

New Year

2011-01-17T10:18:00.003+11:00

Is it too late to wish everyone a happy new year? I have been on a bit of a bloggy break during school hols :-) Normal blogging will resume in a couple of weeks, for now it's all about the beach, aquarium, picnics at the park, playgrounds and fun, fun, fun!

Of course the new year has had a very sad and tragic start for many, with the floods in Queensland and Brazil. I don't usually watch the news much but have been watching the progress, what amazing people have been helping with the clean-up and of course praying for the souls of all the lives lost and keeping up hope for those not yet found.

Keep them in your thoughts and prayers, not being close enough to physically assist with the aftermath there are many other ways of helping, through donations of clothing, toys and of course much needed cash.

Hugs to you all, hope your 2011 is a happy and safe one.

xxx

Loveliness

2010-12-23T11:22:00.011+11:00

Oh I could browse Etsy for hours (if I had the time). The vintage section is full of so much loveliness a shopper could do some serious damage to their credit card. Unfortunately (or maybe it's for the best) a lot of the items are not available for shipping to Australia and if they are, the items I love, such as housewares and kitchenware are way too expensive to post.

But there's no harm in doing a little window shopping, is there? Here are some of my favourite vintage items available right now!

Available here

Sigh...

On the bright side I received a beautiful package in the post a couple of days ago. Kate from I Love You Big held a lovely giveaway and I was a lucky winner! A word of warning, visit Kate's blog at your own peril, she features such lovely things she may lead you and your credit card astray. I hold her personally responsible for leading me to Etsy, Book Depository and Urban Outfitters ;-)

Look at all that stationery gorgeousness! I have lots of ideas on what I'm going to do with all this! Thanks again Kate :-) How cute are those gorgeous lace shapes, map circles and paper butterflies?

Speaking of butterflies, we witnessed one of nature's wonders in our very own garden a few days ago. A butterfly emerging from its cocoon. The boys were agog as was I...

And so, I am signing off for 2010. I hope you all have a very wonderful Christmas and I will see you again in the New Year :-)

Let them eat cake!

2010-12-21T11:45:00.004+11:00

I made my first ever Christmas cake a couple of weeks ago! Usually I just buy them (about 4 times cheaper) but had no excuse not to make one this year :-)

I'm really happy with how it looks. Hopefully it will taste nice, I won't know, I don't like Christmas cake. This is for my men :-) I shall be like a Masterchef contestant anxiously awaiting the taste-test. Oh well, if it's inedible there are plenty of other goodies stashed around the house :-p

Paying up

2010-12-17T14:55:00.003+11:00

If you blow the dust off my archive you will see back in January I posted about "Pay it Forward" a lovely blog event where people send each other handmade gifts.

The deadline? 365 days - One Year!

So here I am, 11 months later, finally paying it forward. I would like to apologise to my 3 participants, Peace, Toronto Yardsaler and Thrifty Ba for taking sooo long on this. My only excuse is that I'm a very disorganised, last minute human being. But let's see the glass as half-full and think, "Wow! I did it a whole month before the deadline"!!! ;-)

My little gifts are all wrapped up and will be winging their way very shortly to Queensland - Australia, Toronto - Canada and Utah - USA.

Thank you for your patience, I hope you like my little efforts :-)

The C-Word

2010-12-15T14:06:00.006+11:00

OK, with only ten days to go till Christmas I think I can safely FREAK OUT!!!! I LOVE Christmas more than any other time of the year. I grew up with magical Christmases, both my parents made them wonderful for us and I hope my kids will have the same happy memories of ours. I have baked a Christmas cake (my first ever attempt), mince-pies, Christmas shortbread and a squillion cupcakes for various school and preschool functions (See? My Kitchenaid mixer was a sound investment :-)

Pressies are hidden on top of the wardrobe, lots of surprises for my boys (including hubbie). And to top it off, yesterday I finally found a bagful of vintage decorations with lots of fab retro mercury glass ornaments, something that's been on my wishlist for ages now...

Aren't they beautiful? So bright and colourful! The whole bag cost $3 and there are lots more than pictured, these are my favourites though. These won't go on our tree, we are making our own memories with ornaments bought on holidays, made by the boys, given as gifts and of course bought annually in the Myer sale! But I'd love to do something lovely with them and may steal Sonja from Dime Store Thrift's idea of making a Christmas wreath out of them. She makes fab wreaths using vintage ornaments and a hot-glue gun. I doubt I'll get it done before this Christmas so will just display them in a glass jar for now (out of the boys' reach of course).

Yelp!

2010-12-13T16:06:00.004+11:00

Have you ever gone into an Op Shop/Thrift Store or to a market and found exactly what you were looking for? I don't mean when you're hoping to find a few plates and get them, or a couple of toys and manage to pick some up. I mean when you find EXACTY what you were looking for? A very definite item, straight off your wishlist?

Well today it happened for me! A couple of months ago when aimlessly searching on eBay for a retro teapot I came across a listing for a Finel Arabia teapot in blue, made in Finland. It was love at first sight. The listing was at a "Buy it Now" price of $95 which I decided would be pretty hard to justify to my lovely husband so I have been hunting online ever since and have seen them in online vintage stores such as this gorgeous shop as well as eBay listings such as this. But I REALLY wanted to find my own. I knew the likeliness of finding such a specific item, a certain make in a particular pattern was highly unlikely but it went onto my mental wishlist anyway.

Then today, with a few minutes to spare before playgroup, we popped into my tiny, local Vinnie's to have a quick look. I didn't see anything of interest and was about to leave when I looked up and there on the top shelf, tucked in behind a couple of vases I saw a familiar blue spout peeping out. (Sharp intake of breath). Moving the vases aside, there it was in all its glory. (Jaw drops to floor). I take it down off the shelf and see it's in great condition (yes!!!) and then I find myself laughing at the unlikeliness of finding just what I was looking for in our own suburb.

Look at that beautiful blue enamel, retro shape and fab pattern? How could I not fall in love with it? And the best bit? It cost $7!!! So so happy :-)

Army

2010-12-10T14:29:00.007+11:00

My eldest son made his Christmas wish official on Saturday by telling Santa in person that he would love a box full of Lego with wheels, windows and bricks. His wish will very definitely be granted but what he doesn't know is that there will be Star Wars Lego AND an army of Star Wars minifigs!!!

I can't wait to see his little face!

Aren't minifigs just so cute? I love surprises!!!

Expedit-ion

2010-12-09T13:17:00.007+11:00

After searching fruitlessly for months for a really nice old pigeon hole unit to use for display and storage in our hallway, I finally gave up and decided to buy the next best thing - an Ikea expedit. I'm not usually into very square modern furniture but what I love about the expedit are the little cubes, each one acting as its own little display/storage space. I wasn't sure whether to go for the white or dark brown but luckily that dilemma was solved when I went to Vinnie's one day and picked one up in dark brown for $70! These retail at $219 in Ikea and it was in perfect condition so as I said to my hubbie "I haven't spent $70, I've saved $149" ;-)

It's now sitting pretty in our hallway allowing me to store a lot of books and display a few little things that had been stuffed away in cupboards...

Dark brown is definitely the right choice for this hall. With cream carpets and walls a white expedit would just have been too much paleness!

Yes, I admit it. I am addicted to cookbooks. There are more in the kitchen. High Australian book prices had curbed this habit for a while but the discovery of Book Depository caused me to fall off the wagon ;-)

Home Decor books are another weakness of mine.

More display space on top of the expedit.

The 3 Ngai Sing painting I posted on previously, a cute fan I picked up at a market for $2 and a beautiful turned wooden bowl I bought on eBay direct from the woodworker. Note the scratch courtesy of my eldest son, it always amazes me how furniture, toys, books etc can last for years and make it to an op shop in perfect condition only to be wrecked/scratched/scribbled on within minutes of entering my home, hmph!

$1 lamp with Target shade, wedding photo, little wooden family purchased on Etsy and cute helicopter bought from a vintage store.

Each little cube makes its own lovely little display space.

Baskets are great for stashing hats, sandals and other random stuff that accumulates in the hallway.

By my side

2010-12-07T19:19:00.008+11:00

I used to be an avid reader before I had kids. I would easily go through two to three novels a week and spent a lot of time in bookshops. But since my little rascals arrived I simply don't have a minute to read during the day and by night time my brain is so fuzzled I can barely concentrate on reading more than a couple of pages at a time. So my bedside "pile" has now shifted from novels to a pile of home decor books, cookbooks and magazines. At the moment I have a few on the go and thought I'd share...

I have had the Nest Home Design Handbook on my Book Depository wish list for ages now, so when my parents asked what I would like for my birthday I promptly sent them the link. It's a great book with so many lovely images and tips, I love it! Thanks Mum and Dad :-)

My Dad knows I'm a big kid at heart and LOVE surprises so when Kirsty's Homemade Home arrived in the post I shrieked!!! I loved the series and had no idea there was an accompanying book so I was thrilled. It's a great read covering the story of how she decorated her family holiday home with homemade crafts and dumpster finds. Lots of great ideas and craft tips, I love it!! Thanks Dadser!

My wonderful big sis sent me this fab book, again it had been on my wishlist and I love it. Beautiful images and ideas on how to make your vintage finds work in your modern home. (Speaking of fab sisters, did you spot the gorgeous set of Le Creuset stoneware mini-cocottes in my Kitchenaid post, my little sis sent me those :-)

I find reading cookbooks (and travel brochures) incredibly relaxing, poring over the ingredients and getting ideas, this book is by Australian uber-chef Peter Gilmore, I go to sleep dreaming of being a culinary genius who could delight guests with his masterful creations, sigh...

I subscribe to both Real Living and House & Garden magazines. I love them in equal parts, Real Living because of the fab photography and the style of homes I love, and House and Garden again with beautiful photography and narrative that really takes the reader on the journey the homeowners took to turn their house from bricks and mortar into a home.

So now that my wee fellas are in bed (although not asleep just yet, I hear chuckling) I'm off to read :-)