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.

{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!

Chocolate Slice.

This is my go-to recipe for when i can't be bothered, but really need to bake something.

It's so quick it literally takes under five minutes to whip up and i always have all the ingredients on hand.

But best of all, everybody loves it! I can't remember where i found this recipe, but it sure is a keeper.

Chocolate Slice

1 cup SR flour

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsps cocoa

125g butter - melted

Method:

Pre-heat oven to mod 180c. Mix all ingredients together. Press down mix nice and firmly in a slice tin. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Allow to cool and ice with chocolate icing and sprinkle with coconut, if desired.

Do not over cook this slice otherwise the base will come out too hard and crunchy.  

Use your favourite chocolate icing recipe - i make a simple one with melted butter, icing sugar, cocoa and a splash of milk.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Tea with me.

Sorry, our cuppa is a day late this fortnight, yesterday i had one of those crazy-busy-in-and-out-all-day kinda days. Actually i've had one of those weeks.
As you know our little Scarlett turned three last week, we had a small party for her with some friends and family. She was just so delighted the whole day, her birthday had finally arrived and she loved every minute of it. As part of her gift we gave her a doctor's kit, so be warned - you'll be getting a full checkup by Dr Scarlett today.

The girls and i had a weekend to ourselves, we had another pretty party to go to and then after dinner we decided to soak up the gorgeous summer evening and drove to a nearby river reserve. Warm summer evenings are just the best.

We also spent a day hanging with one of my sisters and a nephew, we shopped and then decided to go sticky nose at display homes. Have you ever done that? It plants unrealistic dreams in my head but it's fun!

I'll have a little brag about Chas, boy am i proud of him right now. He was selected to represent his school in the local inter-school swimming sports on Tuesday, this was his first swimming carnival - his effort was awesome and yesterday he had his school swimming carnival. He is a natural swimmer and very disciplined, he now needs to decide if he would like to join a swim club.

I'll probably be hand stitching like a crazy woman while we chat - my sister-in-law and i are having a market stall tonight at a fundraising market to support locals who were recently affected by bushfires. I decided last minute to try making some felt bow hairclips..........what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by for the quick cuppa, was lovely chatting to you again, now i really must get organised! Pop over to Em's if you'd like another tea and chat. Don't forget to take another zucchini home with you x

What i am doing...........in February.

So one minute it's Christmas and the next we're in February. Sweet, old romantic February.
Pour a wine, make a cuppa, grab a juice........whatever tickles your fancy and i'll let you in on the goss for this month.

listening ::  To the news, always so depressing.

cooking ::  Tomatoes are finally ripe, so i've just popped some in the oven to slow roast. mmmm.

drinking ::  Sugarless coffee - not as bad as i thought.

reading  ::  'Jessica' by Bryce Courtaney, an old fave i'm reading for about the 10th time.
watching ::  SBS 24hours in A & E. I'm a sucker for these shows.
pondering :: What else i can create in the kitchen with my plethora of zucchinis.....
sewing ::  Going to sew some of these simple cushions.
wishing ::  The house would just.stay.tidy.
enjoying ::  The massive clean outs i've been having.
missing ::  Lazy summer holiday mornings.
waiting ::  For some cooler weather so i can wear my awesome new ankle boots.
looking ::  forward to watching my boy race tomorrow.
liking :: That i won a giveaway and received a sweet little package in the mail.
wondering ::  Where on earth Scarlett has left her new thongs?!
loving ::  That my very talented friend started her own photography business.
hoping :: These beautiful summer nights hang around for a while.
organizing :: A little family get together for our niece's 21st birthday.
believing ::  Some people can never be pleased.
wearing :: Black maxi skirt and tie-dye tank.
considering :: Buying a dress for a wedding that we haven't got an invite for yet. Silly?
knowing ::  Nothing better than home grown corn and tomatoes.
noticing ::  Patterned pants everywhere. So cool.
thinking ::  Three is a wonderfully fun age.
needing ::  An adventure, haircut and new fridge.
marvelling :: At how quickly easter comes along after Christmas.
trying ::  To finish this list before February ends.
feeling ::  Very proud of my three babies right now.

Lots of goodness coming in from The Patch this month.

If you do a list, leave me a comment and let me know so i can visit and read what you're up to.

Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful February too. xxx

This Girl.

Oh this girl! Our Scarlett Isabella..........let me tell you about our little girl.

She loves her dolls, being a little mum pushing them around in their strollers - she'll make a great mum oneday - oh, but lordy help them if they step out of line!

She's a good eater and loves to graze all day, watermelon, potato cakes and  hardboiled eggs are her favourite foods.

She has an obsession with Peppa Pig, bandaids and her nigh nighs.

She has a thing for numbers and counting, she counts almost everything she sees and eight is her favourite number.

She adores her older brother and sister and misses them when their at school and will often ask if we can pick the kids up. She loves her cousins too and calls them her best friends.

She is my mini-me, she looks so much like me at the same age it's freaky.

She's scared of spiders, snakes, crabs and Oscar the Grouch.
She's a wanderer. One minute she's there, next she's gone. She loves to explore by herself and does not worry where i am. I need eyes in the back of my head. She'll be a traveller oneday, for sure.
She's becoming a good little talker, we've had some wonderful conversations lately. She comes out with some funny things quite often!
She's a night owl, it's often a struggle to get her to bed and to stay in it - and she's usually always the last one up every morning.
She's a people magnet, people just love her. She'll be your friend for life.

And this little munckin of ours turned three years old today! Happy Birthday beautiful girl, you make our hearts smile every single day xxx

From The Patch..........Zucchinis.

As i've mentioned previously, we've got zucchinis coming out of our ears!

But i don't mind - i'd rather have an abundance of zucchinis than cucumbers, there's so much more you can do with the former. I've made plenty of zucchini slice and chocolate zucchini cake, so i thought i'd try something different this year and headed over to my favourite recipe searching place.......

Taste.com you never fail me.

First i made Zucchini and Mustard pickles. Easy peasey these were, much simpler than what i had imagined and surprisingly my kids love them! I did however, halve the recipe and ended up with two jars.

I also made a delicious Zucchini Bread, that was so sweet and moist and even better topped with a cream cheese frosting. Will definitely be making this one again.

I have kept the remaining humongous zucchini until last, he's still sitting in my fridge and i plan on making a simple Zucchini soup with him - i'm just waiting for this warm weather we are having to cool down. 

So that's it with the zucchinis so far...............i'm not enjoying typing that word so many times! (Try it. Not easy hey?)

 So tell me, what's your favourite thing to make with courgettes? (hmmm, no not much easier).

Tea with me.

I'm linking up with Em at Teacups Too today for her 'Tea with me' posts.

Source: sundayinbed.tumblr.com via Malea on Pinterest

So come sit down and share a cuppa with me......

Let's pop the kettle on and i'll make you a beverage of your choice - heck we may as well even use my  precious teacups and saucers that once belonged to my Gran.
I'll serve you some zucchini muffins with cream cheese frosting that i made yesterday and tell you how we have zucchinis coming out our ears and i'll give you a jar of zucchini pickles to take home with you too, i made those yesterday aswell. Zucchini soup will be on the menu next -once the weather cools down.

Then i'll take you out the back and give you a tour of our vegie patch. The corn is so tall this year and almost ready for picking, tomatoes are finally not far off too and the beans are coming in fast and furious with the zucchinis.
There's nothing better than homegrown produce, my bloke does an awesome job with The Patch.
We'll let the chooks out of the pen and collect maybe two eggs - they're not good layers, my girls.

I'd tell you how the kids started back at school last week and are settling in really well, both so happy to back playing with their friends. I'd have a little whinge about the amount of  notices that are coming home, we are being bombarded with them!

Unfortunately i'll probably be blowing my nose and having coughing fits, i can't seem to shake this yucky head cold. So glad that the kids haven't caught it from me.

Scarlett will probably climb up on your knee and tell you that it's her birthday next week and that she's having a rabbit cake. She'll very carefully show you with her little fingers what number she's going to be.
I can't believe my baby's almost three! I'll reminisce with you about how it doesn't seem that long ago that i held my chubby cheeked, dark haired baby for the first time. Sigh.

I'll tell how i've been busy working lots of extra hours recently, as the boss has been away. And i'll brag about how our little country store won Store of the Year the other day. We are very proud! All our hard work has paid off. I'll also tell you about the exciting new things that are happening with the company.

I'd also tell you that i've been doing lots of walking and really enjoying the exercise, i'm also trying very hard to watch what i eat...........and then i'd probably scoff another muffin and complain about my jeans being so tight.

I hope you enjoyed our cuppa and chat, i really hope i haven't chewed your ears off, please come again x

You'll find me here.

I've found some awesome new places to hang lately and i've also been re-visiting some old faves too.

Come check out my new hangs...........

Moose & Bird :  I'm enjoying Melinda back blogging again, she is a wonderfully creative mumma who turns everything she touches into pretty - even zucchini cake! 

I heart bargains:  A fabulous site full of fashion, great looks and out-fitting advice. Looking for something in particular? All the bargain hunting is done for you with everything under $100. I actually used to work with Chelsea waaaay back in the day, she has done an amazing job with her site.

Pinterest: Certainly an old fave. Whenever i'm looking for inspiration whether it's something to cook, an outfit to put together, new crafty project, ideas for the home............i head straight here. My day isn't complete with out a visit to Pinterest Land!

Under The Sycamore: I have been visiting Ashley Ann's blog for a while now, she is a super-amazing mum of five, who's positivity and gratefulness for everything always makes my heart smile - you just can't help being in a good mood when your reading her blog. And her home..............oh my.......i want to move in there tomorrow.

Katie Daisy:  What an awesome artist! Seriously, i could have one of her prints hanging on every wall in my house. Love what she does.

Oh So Lovely Vintage:  Oh the eye candy! Such a cute place to hang. I've only just recently found this lovely little place (i know, where have i been?), but i'm enjoying going through their achives.

Source: en.www.lensart.ru via Malea on Pinterest

So where are your favourite places to hang in cyberland? Share with me your new cool places to hang or your old favourites...........i love finding a nice new cozy spot.