A Few Touches To Our Front Porch

Over the weekend, I managed to sneak in a little bit of time to work on a few crafty bits and pieces - this was amongst playing ‘taxi driver’ for Paul on Saturday afternoon as he had a work function to be dropped off at and picked up from, doing lots of cooking to stock up our freezer and going out on a few little impromptu family outings.

I finally added a few small pieces to our front porch area which was looking VERY bare and not very welcoming at all.  We had changed our door a while back from an ugly cream to a crisper white and grey combination, but aside from a badly neglected pot plant, there was not much else happening in this space.  However with the addition of a cute stand and some healthier looking plants which don’t mind going a few days without a good soaking, things were slowly improving. 

Yesterday, I got Paul to hang a ‘welcome’ sign I made from a piece of jarrah.  I painted it the same colour as our front door and applied a decal in a white outdoor finish material.  I also painted some butterflies I had bought from a seller of vintage wares on Etsy (they were originally a matte gold) and hung them next to the sign for a pretty touch.  I’m much happier with how this space looks now.  It’s definitely more inviting.   

As for sewing, I only got as far as cutting out my material.  Yesterday morning, we went for an early morning ferry ride from South Perth across the river and had breakfast at a café in the Barrack Street Jetty area.  Later in the day, I had a few things to get from Bunnings and then got stuck in the kitchen again cooking.  Then, in the time I had set aside for crafting, we took an impromptu trip to Salt On The Beach in North Fremantle where we met some friends and their children for a little catch up in the afternoon.

Due to a mix up with my decal order, I actually have a spare one like the one I used only in black if anyone is interested in it…  if so, just leave me a comment below and I’ll pop it in the post to the first one who asks…

Hope you are all having a lovely start to the week…  

'Round Here...

Here are some snippets of our week…

… the cross-stitch owl I finished for Sophie’s room (Grace has a matching one I made her in blue)

… Grace’s first piece of art that was actually recognisable – this is her water colour painting of three flowers under a blue sky

… the play tent we bought off ebay which has been getting LOTS of use by Grace and her stuffed toys - there have been tea parties, books read and colouring in sessions held in there

… Sophie enjoying being close to her big sister in her new Bumbo chair – she is so eager to be part of the action

… Grace at the river last weekend - we headed down for an early morning splash on Sunday after another 40+ day had been forecast

...Grace's little cupboard which is still yet to be painted - I tried last weekend and it was so hot the paint was drying quicker than I could brush!  While this colour is not quite right for Grace's bedroom where I'd prefer a pale blue, it is growing on me... a colour option for those kitchen stools of mine perhaps?


We don’t have a lot planned here this weekend although I had thought about taking a quick visit to The Boutique Markets for the first time on Sunday if I get a chance... we'll see... I'd prefer to tick off a few furniture painting projects first.

What are your weekend plans?

A Productive Few Days

This week has been great so far. Rather than just making plans and adding image after image to my ‘Inspiration Files’ (I know, I must set up a Pinterest account), this week I’ve actually managed to get stuff done. I’ve found a great print I want to order for our family room, made some progress on decorating Sophie’s nursery and tomorrow, I’m heading to Bunnings to buy some blue paint to freshen up a little bedside cabinet for Grace’s room. It feels good to have finally brought to life decorating ideas I’ve had floating around in my head for so long.

Today, I whipped up a simple little mobile for above Grace’s bed. Using four inch paper doilies I bought from Wonderland Room and some pink die cut flowers I bought from Gr3een, this little hanging string literally took me a few minutes to put together.

Once I paint the wooden cupboard tomorrow and sort out a bed head, the transformation of Grace’s room from ‘nursery’ to ‘big girl space’ will be complete. I’m so excited and can’t wait to finally share some photos of what I’ve made and bought with you all very soon.

Now it’s onto Sophie’s nursery. I’ve finally settled on grey, white and mint green with some pink accents. I’ll share my ideas with you for her room as they come together...

Curio Box Transformation

Today I thought I’d share with you a little project I finally completed last week. Back in September using the image at the bottom of this post for inspiration, I bought a little curio display shelf off Etsy as I had been unable to find a similar one in second hand shops. You can see the 'before' version here.

After very carefully removing the remaining glued down miniatures (no easy task due to the strong glue that had been used to adhere them), I gave the whole piece a good scrub with sandpaper. Paul then gave it several coats of spray paint for me. However, the paint didn’t adhere that well to the textured surface of some parts and I ended up using a paint brush to coat the inside walls of each compartment before giving it all one final coat of spray paint. Finally, I cut cute scrapbooking paper to fit the inside of some of the boxes.

I’m really pleased with the end result and now it’s waiting to be hung in Grace’s room. She’s already added a few treasures like shells and leaves and gemstones to it. I also gave her my two precious little owls. Having sentimental value I was always reluctant to let her play with them (especially after she broke one in two pieces when she dropped it on the floorboards and it had to be put back together with Supaglue). However, I recently decided that they would be perfect additions to her ’treasure shelf.’ The smile on her face when I said she could have them was worth more than their sentimental value in the end.

A Balanced Week

This past week has been a good one as I feel as though I’ve accomplished a range of things and balanced everything I’ve wanted to achieve. There’s been a bit of socialising, a bit of fun, a bit of entertaining, a bit of cleaning, some cooking and baking, some organising and some crafting. If only every week could be like this!

My housework time this week saw me put aside a few tasks like vacuuming the bedrooms and instead, I organised our linen cupboard (one of the tasks I said was bugging me back here). It feels so nice to open its door and see everything all nicely arranged on its shelves where it is easy to locate. I've even labelled everything which may seem a bit over the top, but I figure it will stop Paul’s excuse of ‘I don’t know where it is’ when I ask him to get something out.

Also, each day, I’ve worked a little bit on finishing off Grace’s 1st Year Photo Album, something which was actually on my list of goals for 2011 and which I am please to say has now been accomplished. The monthly tags I used on each page were from Elle's Studio on Etsy. Here are a few of my favourite pages…







How has your week been? Which task are you proud to say you’ve completed?

Putting Off Projects

It’s taken me a long while to realise this fact but I’ve finally accepted that my house will most likely never reach the fairytale ‘perfect’ standard I hoped to achieve ‘one day’. Too often, I put off projects I am keen to get stuck into because I think that our house isn’t clean enough to allow myself the pleasure of indulging in crafty activities as there are more important things I should be spending my time on. I’ll often tell myself that when ‘everything is done’, I’ll begin sewing that top for Grace or learning how to crochet.

The day that my sink is empty (and shining), all the washing and ironing done, the floors mopped, the carpets vacuumed, my bathrooms scrubbed and the house tidy is always going to be a long way off. It’s not that such a target is necessarily unachievable, it’s more that there will always be something to clean, something to sort through or some chore that could be done as well as lots of other responsibilities that go with being a stay at home Mum to a toddler.

I’ve decided I’m going to try and dedicate more time to the many crafts and homely projects I’d like to try. There are so many ideas saved in my ‘to make’ inspiration folder that I am itching to start. To begin with I’d like to make the quilt I’m working on for Grace’s new bed and provided that goes okay, I’d like to start a quilt for our new baby. Crocheting is also something I’ve wanted to learn for a long time so armed with the guide and crochet hook Catherine sent me, I’d like to try and make a pretty scarf for Grace to wear this winter. Gift tags, some decorative pieces for Grace’s room and a cross stitch runner are also things I’m planning to make.

I’m interested who else out there has my problem and keeps putting off exciting new projects waiting for that magical day when they have nothing else important to do? Which projects are you keen to get started on?

Also, this week, Homely One is being featured over at The Decorating Forum. If you’re not a member already, be sure to head over and check it out. It’s a wonderful resource for all home and decorating topics and provides plenty of advice that you may need.

Enjoy your start to the week!

I must apologise as I have no idea where I originally found any of these images as I've had them in my folder for a very long time. If any of these images are yours, please let me know and I will be sure to give them proper credit.

Trying To Improve My Photography Skills

I was looking back over my list of goals for 2011 this morning and while I have made progress in some areas, there are other items I am yet to work on. I am about three quarters of the way through Grace's album of baby photos and I have plans to learn to crochet (I would love to create a throw rug for the nursery) but I am yet to work on improving my photography skills.

Now that we have a DSLR, my photos should technically be better quality. However, I lack the knowledge about lighting and the way to use my camera in manual mode to achieve the perfect shot. I took the two photos on this post earlier in the week when I was playing around in the sunshine one morning with our camera, but I found I still had to adjust the lightness and darkness of them in a photo program afterwards.



I've decided over the next few weeks to actually sit down with the camera manual and see what I can learn. I also saw this book which I am tempted to order as it has some good reviews. Does anyone know of any good online resources for photography tips or can anyone recommend any good (and simple) photography books?

Au Revoir 2010

Happy New Year to all! After a little post-Christmas break, I’m all set to reflect on 2010, to set some goals for the New Year and to give my blog a little facelift.

I’ve never really been one to make New Year's resolutions. ‘Exercise more’ and similar aspirations I’ve given myself are conveniently forgotten after several weeks or so. I am however a planner and a list maker and I think reflecting on various aspects of one’s life is a good practice to get into and so here is my little list of things I’d like to achieve in 2011…

• Finally complete Grace’s ‘First Year’ photo album


• Begin a ‘cooking club’ with friends (more on this in a future post)


• Be pregnant


• Improve my photography skills through lots of practice


• Implement some of what I learnt from the Blogging Your Way course I participated in
  
• Learn to crochet


• Give myself some ‘non-Mummy time’ occasionally such as going out to tea with a friend or strolling around the shops minus a stroller

What is the main thing you’d like to achieve or are looking forward to in 2011?

Image source unknown

My Creative Space

I've finally found a little project to keep my hands busy at night whilst curled up on the couch watching television. It's a little cross-stitch piece I'm making for Grace's room which I'll reveal more of when I'm finished.

As a young girl, I used to love doing cross stitch and long stitch embroidery. In fact, I think my Mum still has a framed long stitch piece of mine hanging in her hallway.

What craft projects have you been working on this week?

Visit Kootoyoo for more creative spaces...

Ikea Stools Finally Painted

Hope everyone is having a lovely week. Our days of sunshine have continued although I just heard on the radio that from tomorrow onwards, cloudy skies are forecast.

I finally got around to painting those Ikea stools I had bought a little while back (see here for the before shots). Thanks to all your advice, I gave them a light sand, a coat of primer and then two coats of paint (a Taubmans colour called Aqua Chintz).

I was happy with them when I was painting away in the shed, but once they were in our bedroom, I thought they may have been a little too bright and that perhaps I should have gone with the Turquoise Frost sample I had looked at. The photo above makes them look blue but in real life they're actually more of an icy green / aqua shade. However, the colour is really starting to grow on me so I think I'll leave them for a little while and see what they're like once we get our new white skirting boards and replace the carpet.

At least I can finally cross an item off my long list of decorating projects!

Painting Ikea Furniture

A few weeks ago when I went to Ikea, I bought some little stools as a solution to an issue I'd been having with clothes being left all over our bedroom floor. Paul and I need a 'resting spot' each and while not the round vintage stools I was picturing, I thought these would be fine for now.

I'd like to give them a coat of paint in a fresh mint/aqua colour but need some advice from all you expert DIY ladies. Do I need to sand back slightly and prime these stools first? They seem to have a thin lacquer-type layer of some sort on them. Your advice is much appreciated so I can stop procrastinating and actually complete a project from my to-do list!

Hope you are all having a lovely start to the week. I'm in cooking mode at the moment, preparing goodies for Grace's morning tea party.