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.

{source}

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.....

What i am doing.........In March.

Here we go again..........this is what i am up to this month.
How about you? What are you up to?
Are you celebrating St Patrick's Day? What are your plans for Easter?
Okay, enough questions....

listening ::  to my girls playing mums & dads, quite funny actually!

cooking ::  lots of roasted tomato sauce for the freezer.
drinking ::  homemade juices
reading ::  the latest issues of Frankie, Real Living & Shop 4 Kids
watching ::  An Idiot Abroad series on dvd - hysterical
wanting ::  a holiday in the Greek Islands. wouldn't that be nice?
pondering ::  a blog makeover. help!
sewing ::  some mini embroideries for my girls
wishing ::  i had of travelled way more before i had kids
enjoying ::  the cool change
missing ::  cold weather food - soups, stews, casseroles....
waiting ::  for Easter. i love Easter
liking ::  comments on my blog. say hi :)
loving ::  Macadamia oil for my hair, feels lovely
hoping ::  to oneday be brave enough
organizing ::  an Easter getaway!
believing ::  i will never trust a hammock again! (stop laughing Kristen)
wearing ::  white shirt and jeans - classic
considering ::  writing a bucket list like Sophie
knowing ::  it won't be as exciting
noticing ::  my boy is suddenly growing up :(
thinking ::  a blog makeover is trickier than i thought
needing ::  to spend some time with Joanne
marvelling ::  at Scarlett's drawing - think we may have a little artist
trying ::  to find the motivation to clean out Chas' room
smelling ::  rain
feeling ::  tired

And some pinspiration.......

Source: talesoftedandagnes.blogspot.nl via Malea on Pinterest

I would totally love to have this gorgeous caravan in my backyard - a place for me to sit and craft and drink tea in prettiness (and i can lock the door!).

Happy March lovelies x

All that Glitters........

..............is gold, gold, gold!

How lovely is all the gold that's about at the moment?

I used to be a white gold/silver girl only, never wore gold but now i'm loving it.

I bought this top recently and have some gorgeous sparkly gold ballet flats too.

Gold is everywhere at the moment......

Source: landofnod.com via Malea on Pinterest

Gold polka dots are divine. These decals would look fabulous in any room.

How about this sparkly gold sequined top? Love it.

Source: weheartit.com via Malea on Pinterest

And pretty little gold ballet flats - go with almost any outfit.

Source: thesimplethings.com via Malea on Pinterest

Gold dipped hanging pot plants would glam up any outdoor area. Think i need these in my patio!

Source: honeynfizz.blogspot.com.au via Malea on Pinterest

And not forgetting my little princesses, how pretty is this skirt?


How about you? Are you a gold or silver girl?

Long Weekend.

This weekend is a long weekend in Australia, usually i love a long weekend but i had to work.

Kind of sucks when everyone else has three days off and they're going away and enjoying the sunshine and you're stuck in normal routine.

Like my family did.......yep they ditched me and off they went.

Actually it wasn't so bad - it was so nice to come home from work and just plonk myself on the couch with a DVD and a block of chocolate and sleep in (a bit). Oh the serenity!

I did feel it would've been a wasted weekend though if i didn't do something productive (other than sell clothes), so i finished off my little embroidery that i started a while ago that had just been sitting in the cupboard. I have a bad habit of starting something and never finishing it, so it felt so good to finally complete it.
I decided to wrap the embroidery frame in fabric to finish it off, inspired by this talented lady.
It is now hanging on the wall beside my bed.

I found the pattern on this awesome flickr page.  There is literally hundreds of vintage embroidery patterns on there...........so many i want to do! One of my future projects will be embroidering the below design onto a pillowcase.

Source: flickr.com via Malea on Pinterest

How gorgeous is that going to look on a pretty little bed?
So that was my weekend, i now have an ironing basket of clothes to do........now that's one project i would rather avoid! My babies will be walking through the door any minute now and i can't wait to give them all a squeeze! I hope you all had a lovely weekend too. xxx

Cushions.

Our Amity is a bookworm, always has her nose in a book and i love this.

We decided a cozy little reading corner was needed in our home to encourage her love of books and give her a quiet space to read.

Using this tutorial, Amity and i whipped up some simple cushion covers with fabric from my stash and some cushion inserts i had. They are so simple, can easily be made in minutes.

We have one more cushion insert in the cupboard and soon we'll make a trip to Spotlight and i'll let her choose her own fabric.  I'm thinking these cushions would also look great made with vintage linens......i think a thrift shop visit is needed too.

Her brother has now requested i make him some cushions too, however i don't think they'll be used to read on - more likely his will be used for pillow fights.

Dream Home.

So i've recently been sticky nosing around fancy new modern display homes and i've ohhhed and ahhed over the outdoor baths, the extra butler kitchens and the massive theatre rooms.

I've also been reading the newest Real Living magazine, checking out the latest decorating ideas.

But it's all made me realize more than ever what my dream home really is.

Source: weeklytimesnow.com.au via Malea on Pinterest

It's a big old character filled homestead.

With wrap around verandahs for me to sit and enjoy a cuppa and read a book on.
The roof would of course be tin, so we can drift off to sleep listening to the rain falling on it.

There will be a long hallway running right through the middle with beautiful fretwork archways.

Source: sweethomeandgarden.tumblr.com via Malea on Pinterest

It would have a big separate kitchen (that's right no open plan business for me) with a lovely old woodstove and big table right in the centre.

Open fireplaces in every room with stunning mantle pieces.

Outside would be a beautiful old fashioned garden with lots and lots of fragrant roses and a big old shady tree for the kids to climb and sit under on hot days.

It's all still a dream right now, i'll keep making do with my modest brick home and hope oneday one of my kids will become rich and famous and buy me my dream..........ha ha ha.

So what's your dream home?

Is it modern and sleek or old and charming?

Just whinging. That's all.

I've had one of those weeks. Again.

One of those weeks where my boy goes on his first school camp and they all end up getting gastro and coming home early (yep all six grades and teachers).

And work has been ridiculously busy with tons of new stock and no where to put it.

We've had a little girl who will just not go to bed at night. Grrrrr.

And it seems every place i have purchased at this week i have been overcharged, annoying!

Then my stupid washing machine decides to throw a wobbly. Again. (Don't ever buy a Samsung front loader people, it's been nothing but trouble since day dot).

I have a 21st birthday lunch here tomorrow and i have floors that need cleaning and crap things that need to be put away. So best i stop my whinging and get my butt off of this chair. Thanks for listening.

Back to regular programming next week.

Hopefully.

Source: 27.media.tumblr.com via Malea on Pinterest

P.S   Hello Kristen!