Creating.

Autumn is finally here, the weather we had this week just made me want to sit indoors and hibernate. So i was snuggled up inside creating...........i just can't get enough. I love it when i'm in a creative mood.

I made a 'hello' sign to spruce up the front entrance - a simple white frame, scrapbook paper and letters stamped with gold paint. Easy peasy, as i always like to say.
It's school holidays here in Victoria so the kids and i made a "Bored Jar".........for you know those 'i'm booooored' days moments. We decorated a jar and then filled it with bits of paper that each had an activity for the kids to do..........blindfolded drawing, face painting, movie and popcorn, write a letter to send in the mail, make an obstacle  course, bake cupcakes, plan a dinner menu etc, etc. But not all activities were as exciting.......we also have - do a chore of mum's choice, search and destroy cobwebs, dust three rooms, give mum a massage (well there's gotta be something in it for me too doesn't there?) The kids love their "Bored Jar" and honestly, i haven't heard the dreaded words since we made it.
I've also been stitching mini embroideries for the girls, i love, love, love hand sewing i find it so relaxing and plan on doing a lot of it this winter. I have found lots and lots of gorgeous vintage embroidery designs that i can't wait to stitch.
And i've also been creative in the kitchen. It's pie season and i prettied the pies up with sweet little hearts.
How about you, have you been creating? Does the cooler weather make you feel more creative?

Our Easter.

So that's Easter over and done with for another year!

I love Easter - much, much less stressful than Christmas and it involves chocolate and hot cross buns......what's not to love really?

We decided to spend the weekend just hanging in our local Gippsland. My hometown has an annual festival every Easter, i have many wonderful childhood memories of the parade they have down the main street every year on Easter Saturday.

My niece is one of those gorgeous little Dorothys and her brother was a scarecrow. Of course the paparazzi was there (that's my sister). Scarlett hid behind my back most of the time, she was terrified of all the people in costumes.

We had a great day hanging out with family, we usually spend the whole weekend with them, as it's about 45 minutes from our town, but we headed home to wake up in our own beds Easter morning. Our kids had never, ever spent an Easter at home and Amity was determined to find out if Easter Bunny came to our home.

Well he sure did! Easter Bunny must've got caught in the door on the way in because we found some fur trailed throughout the place - which the kids thought was more exciting than find the chocolate!

We then headed to my other sister's place to stay the night and to hang out with more cousins. My sister and i always ended up yakking the night away into the small hours.......we love a chat!

It was a fabulous Easter and lucky for us we have a great stash of chocolate and hot cross buns to keep us going for a while!

How about you, how did you spend your Easter?

Happy Easter.

Wishing you all a lovely Easter filled with Hot Cross Buns, family and lots and lots of choccie.

I love Easter. xxx

Caramel Popcorn.

School holidays have arrived and along with them comes the inevitable "i'm bored" and "i'm hungry", you can betcha bottom dollar on it.

So how about whipping up some of this delicious Caramel Popcorn and chucking a movie on?

Nothing like killing two birds with the one stone.

Caramel Popcorn

1/2 cup popping corn

5 tbsps oil

2 tbsps honey

3/4 cup sugar

125g butter

Method:  Cover the bottom of a large saucepan with the oil. Heat slowly. Test for correct temperature by dropping in a couple of grains (and if you're like me, watch them closely and jump out of your skin when they do pop). When the oil is hot enough add all the grains. Cover and shake the saucepan regularly over the heat until grains cease popping. Remove from heat and empty the popcorn into a large bowl.

Stir the honey, sugar and butter in a saucepan over low heat until sugar is dissolved, then boil uncovered for 4 - 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour over popcorn. Mix to coat. Spread over a large tray covered with baking paper and allow to cool. Break into large pieces to serve. Store in a airtight container.

Soooo yummy and always popular with the kiddies!

Caramel Popcorn is great to make for kid's parties too, you can serve individual portions in cute little cupcake wrappers. 

Enjoy.

I have been reading.

A lot. I love reading, but the last few months i've been in a reading funk - apart from reading my fave magazines, i have struggled to be able to get into a book.

Not anymore. I have decided to re-read all my favourites that are sitting on my bookshelf, i only keep books that i'll definitely read again, that way i know i'll enjoy it. Silly aren't i?

So on Friday i started Gap Creek by Robert Morgan. Love, love, love it. This is the third time i've read it and i've enjoy it so much.

Other favourites on my shelf to re-read are:

My Place by Sally Morgan

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (of course)

Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

All the Rivers Run by Nancy Cato

Tully by Paullina Simons

Cloud Street by Tim Winton

The Thorn Birds by  Colleen McCoullough

And all Bryce Courtenay's books, particularly Four Fires, Jessica and The Potato Factory.

So excuse me if things become a little quiet around here, i've most probably got my nose stuck in a fabulous book, snuggled up with my girl in her reading corner. *Bliss*

What are your favourite books? Which book would you read over and over and why?

Source: facebook.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Easter Bunny T-shirt DIY

We love all things Easter and bunnies around here, so i made my girls some cute bunny t-shirts for Easter. They are very simple.

You'll need:

a plain t-shirt

some pretty scrap fabric

vliesofix

needle and co-ordinating thread

small craft pompoms

First of all i found a bunny silhouette i liked.

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Trace the bunny onto the vliesofix (remembering that your design will be reversed once it's on the t-shirt). Cut out the bunny leaving about half a centimetre around the trace line. Iron the bunny onto the reverse side of the fabric and then cut out the design on the trace line. Remove the backing paper and iron your cute fabric bunny onto the t-shirt. Thread your needle and do a simple running stitch around the inner edge of your bunny. Then all you need to do is glue on the little fluffy pompom tail and allow it to dry.

How easy is that? You can use this method to put any kind of fabric silhouette onto t-shirts, bags, cushions etc...  It's lots of fun.

I did it!

I made myself a new blog header (actually i made four!).

What do you think?

I used pic monkey, how awesome is this site?! So easy peasy for an un-techno like me.

I am going to have a lot of fun playing there.
Watch this space.....