Rose

On Sunday I paid my first visit to the Fifties Fair at Rose Seidler House in Wahroonga on Sydney's Upper North Shore. The house was designed by famed Architect Harry Seidler for his parents in 1948. I was interested in seeing the house itself having lived in a Seidler-designed apartment building when we first lived in Sydney back in 1999.

But the main draw for me this particular day was the fair itself...

People came in their droves (or fab vintage cars).

And dressed to the nines (this fab couple very kindly posed for me and gave me permission to post their photo on this blog).

There was fantastic fifties music beautifully performed.

And stall after stall of vintage homewares and collectables.

Then of course there was the house itself...

Stunning retro decor.

Check out the deck!

Funky kitchen.

Even washing machines were fab back then, sigh...

I really enjoyed the fair, it was my first time and definitely not my last :-)

Atomic!

Calling all you vintage and retro Sydney-siders!

The annual Fifties Fair at Rose Seidler house in Wahroonga on the Upper North Shore is being held this Sunday, click here for more details.

Giddyup

There seems to be a bit of theme to some of my recent finds...

This gorgeous pair of green ceramic horse ornaments were $2 at a car boot market.

A pair of onyx horse bookends for $5 at a flea market.

My boys collect Schleich dinosaurs and animals and they are expensive! This is the first and only one I've ever thrifted - $3. I'm always hopeful of coming across a bag full of Schleich animals at a market, I can always dream :-)

I love this little scene, the teepees, tree and totem pole were in a bag marked 40 cents at a market and the Native American figurines were $2 for the lot. I realised after taking the photo I'd left out the horsey that tied the whole theme together - doh!

On the subject of horses and cowboys, I couldn't resist popping into the Cath Kidston store when I was in Ireland and picking up some items from her retro cowboy range (photos courtesy of Cath Kidston website due to extreme laziness on my part)...

H loves his new cowboy mug, D stores his "things" in the tin...

S loves his little cushion (it's red polka dots on the other side, cute)...

I also picked up a roll of the cowboy wallpaper, I have a specific project in mind for this and the rest can be used on a feature wall someday when we're not renting anymore, sigh...

Somebody stop me!!!

Presenting baking attempt no. 2!!!

I decided on chocolate cupcakes instead of muffins (simpler recipe) and am delighted with the results again. I was under pressure to bake this week, I think every school and preschool in Australia must be having an Election Day cake stall and the note to mums at my boys' school and preschool specified "HOMEMADE CAKES"!!!

I'm so glad this deadline made me give it a try because I've really surprised myself by enjoying it. With my new baking knowledge I have actually managed to make 2 batches of yummy cupcakes and got a real kick out of pulling these lovely treats out of the oven and knowing I made them myself.

Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into a baking blog, just pretty excited with my first couple of attempts!

EDIBLE!!!

Somebody recently told me a very interesting fact - you are not supposed to open the oven (every 30 seconds) during baking. Yes, it took me 36 years to find out this very important piece of information, it explains my cakes resembling frisbees, scones resembling cookies and biscuits, well let's just say - CRUMBS!!!

This fact will change my life, I am in no doubt of it. Apparently I am the last female of the species to know this as anybody I have told about it has had a good chuckle.

BUT NOW!!! Watch out, there's a baker about!!

I bought this gorgeous book...

... and, armed with my new knowledge, attempted their recipe for vanilla cupcakes...

Ta daaa!

I obviously need to work on my decorating skills but these were quite delicious. I'm very excited!!! Next project - chocolate muffins!!!

Splash!

I've mentioned my dream kitchen a couple of times now. The colours I would chose are quite bare and industrial so I like to gather brightly coloured vintage and retro items that would bring a big splash of colour in.

I hit the jackpot at a car boot market on Saturday...

Yes! More Pyrex!!! Aren't they gorgeous?

I know I don't need more mixing bowls (I can barely even bake) but these fab retro colours really appeal to me and the 4 bowls came to a total of $12 (I know!!!)

Good old practical Tupperware was so much cooler back in the day. These 4 large tubs were $8.

I have been addicted to Kellogg's Cornflakes ever since I can remember and now I have a beautiful home for them in this fab cereal tub.

A very happy haul indeed :-)

The Pyrex Collective

Calling all you closet pyrex lovers and collectors out there!!! Erin at Yardsale Snoop has come up with the brainwave of The Pyrex Collective, a gorgeous blog where we pyromaniacs can blog about our finds and share our favourite pieces. There are already lots of fab posts and I have just made my first contribution to the blog. Check it out and if you'd like to join in there are instructions in the blog on how to join.

Enjoy!

Window Shopping

We all have a dream kitchen in our heads, right? I know I do and while my culinary haven is still a while away (we need to decide first where in the world we will settle and then find/build/renovate the house of our dreams) that doesn't stop me dreaming in the meantime...

...solid wooden cupboards painted white, polished concrete benchtops, tarnished silver cup drawer pulls, acres of open shelving, french doors onto the garden and of course all the fab kitchen appliances I can dream of...

I've been doing a bit of online "window shopping" and here are my fave picks :-)

Decisions, decisions... which colour would I get my Kitchenaid Artisan Stand mixer in?

Ice blue?

Boysenberry?

Almond?

or apple green?

And as for my De Longhi Icona 4-slice toaster?

Blue?

Or white?

I don't even drink coffee but that doesn't stop me ogling this Ilve dream coffee machine.

Or this fab Kenwood design.

And I LOVE the retro design of this Waring blender.

Whilst browsing the web I came across the range of Kitchenaid products in Martha Stewart blue, what a gorgeous colour! They don't seem to be on sale here in Australia though :-(

Anybody know if they plan on releasing this range here in Oz?