Saturday, October 8, 2011

more tea cup candles & my wall of mirrors

hi and happy weekend to you all!
i visited a church garage sale this morning and came home
with some lovely goodies including these 2 awesome mirrors.
you may remember a while back when i did my first mirror display
on this wall. you can see what it looked like here.
i decided to expand my display and here's how it turned out.
i think it makes the ceiling seem higher and the room bigger.
i hate the air conditioner. what an eye sore.
when we paint this room, i'd love to paint over it.
has anyone done that before?
i couldn't imagine it could look any worse than it does now!

a crisp white fluffy chenille bedspread found at the church garage sale too
and some vintage linen. the floral sheets are a little worn, so i
plan to cut them up and make some cute carry bags.
another batch of teacup candles made this morning.
great for stocking fillers, secret santa or teacher pressies.
i used soy wax and a lovely floral scented oil.
the house is smelling so good!
you can see how i made them here if you would like to give it a go.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

super quick OTTOMAN makeover

i love to inject a bit of colour into the house over Spring, and i've
come up with a quick and easy way to do it. (i'm sure many of you bloggers out there
have already done things like this anyway ;)

NO spending necessary!

what you need:
*tablecloth or single sheet
(i prefer vintage ones of course :)

fold in half then tuck neatly around the top of your ottoman.
that's it!
in the above pic i used an old tablecloth.

here i've used a pink stripe single sheet


Laura Ashley comes to the party here!
i found this gorgeous tablecloth at a half price sale.


here's an old favourite. almost identical to one of
Cath Kidston's prints, but was a cheapy from Pillow Talk years ago.

i also draped a cream chenille bedspread over the lounge for a cosy touch.
the girls think it looks like a throne now!

from table....

to ottoman!


before....

Kate x
head over to Ness' blog Marley & Lockyer
she's having a giveaway!
linked up with A Stroll Thru Life
Very Merry Vintage Style
House of Grace
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Monday, October 3, 2011

what to do with a random basket?

this little wire basket was found in a Noosa op shop for $1.50.
i have many different baskets and boxes around that i use for decoration and storage.

here are some ideas for those 'random' baskets you might have lying around.

use them to hold old jars

and maybe fill with flowers

display or store your face washers and towels
(for yourself or guests)

hold children's craft bits and pieces

or a toilet roll holder!
(still looking for my galvanized pail :)

cute. just as it is :)

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Sunday, October 2, 2011

a treasure box of treasure!

i came home with some great treasure this morning! it paid off getting
there with the early birds that's for sure!

my first find was the cute tin above. i love old tins, but have never come across one
as pretty as this and as cheap- $5!

it was definitely a morning for old boxes.
here's a peek of the biggest one i came home with!

this one is perfect for the side of my lounge.

another box. this time a timber hat box. sadly it was missing it's
leather strap.
a little pie crust dressing table tray. matches my vintage mirrored
box to a tea!
another teacup and a billy can. hmm.....
probably didn't need the billy can lol!
and here's my biggest treasure of the morning and
I LOVE IT!!!!
love it, love it, love it!
can't wait to paint it up this week.
here are all my treasures stacked up, so get get an idea of how big that box is!!
the husband isn't too sure about it ;)
he was thrilled when we had to return with the trailer to pick it up haha!!
stay tuned for it's makeover!

oh and see that book?
it's called the "LADIES HANDBOOK"
apparently 1st printed in 1912, this copy was done from the original
in the 1940's in preparation for the baby boom after the war.
it's a ladies handbook of home treatment. it covers topics from the founding of a home,
pregnancy, caring for your infant, diseases, cures and simple 1st aid in the home.
i will enjoy flicking through this one! apparently quite a sort after book too.
back to school tomorrow!
Kate x

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Saturday, October 1, 2011

the holidays have been good to us!


we are home! what a good feeling after being away for almost the entire
school holiday break.
we had a fabulous time in Sydney staying with my brother and his family.
i took masses of photos, but i won't bore you with all of them!
here's a few to show you a little of what we got up to.

my brother has a boat, so we kept an eye on the forecast and picked
the BEST day for our day out on the water.

here's little Indi. such a treasure. such a cruisey baby.
this was her 1st trip out on Daddy's boat.

Josh enjoying the crystal clear water.

the girls found lots of starfish while searching through the water.
that was pretty exciting!

we also spent an afternoon down at "The Rocks" where we met up
with my Dad and Rhonda for lunch and a catchup.

standing just under the Sydney Harbour bridge i took this pic of the
Opera House.

after a jam packed week,
we were up before dawn to board our plane back to Brisbane,
where we unpacked, had a nanna nap, repacked, and headed 1.5 hours north
to beautiful Noosa.

here i am supervising pool play at the resort where we enjoyed a FREE holiday stay.
now this "FREE holiday" has a story behind it!

earlier this year, i sold some lovely shabby pieces to a lady through eBay.
her name is Cherry. she lives in Noosa. the day she drove to Brisbane to pick up her purchases
i was working, so left them at my front door for her to collect.
we had spoken once on the phone, and txted each other many times- one txt from her informing me that she would like us to stay in her little holiday apartment at a time that suited us.
no charge! well, we were pretty blown away to say the least!
we collected the key, opened the door and this was what i saw!!
decorated so nicely for a holiday unit don't you think?!

main bedroom. with towels folded up like bath robes!
shabby oars

and we still hadn't met Cherry at this point!
my 1st morning walk down the the river.
this was about 30 seconds from where we were staying!



Cherry called a few times to tell me about different shops (including op shops)
that i MUST visit.
her friend Jan owns "The White House" at Noosa Marina.
the girls and i couldn't resist taking home a few souvenirs.

yesterday's weather was stunning, so we decided to head
to Sunshine Beach. Is that not the perfect name?!
the last time we visited this beach i was 36 weeks pregnant with Kace
and Em was 3!!

wave jumping
love this "hey let's hold hands and jump together" pose :))

i treated myself to this yummy french looking tote i found another
cute shop called"bella rustique"
and finally, on our last day, i met Cherry!
she picked me up and took me back to see her place.
she poured us both a glass of wine and showed me around. and what did i photogragh 1st??
the toilet of course! love this old pail she uses to hold the toilet rolls.
a rusty old pail is now on my list of things to find!!

her laundry and bathroom are combined. she's made the most of the
space by using shelves and baskets to hold everyday items. she painted this slate wall white.
can you see the shower curtain in the corner of the pic? it's just a curtain liner
(apparently easy to find on eBay) which Cherry has threaded with rope to hang it.
love it!
she has a loft style bedroom. soo cute!
the bedroom floor, ceilings and stairs all painted white.

love the pops of colour. here's the vintage candelabra Cherry bought from me.
as you can see, it fits into her decor perfectly :)
so there's a snippet of our last 2 weeks!
i hit many op shops, but didn't find much. i have a couple of things that i'll show you
later.
now onto the washing, picking the birdies up from their sitters,
and getting my baby packed for grade 5 camp!
Kate x

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