This is not a post about pyrex...

...that was a lie ;-)

It's been a while since I've posted about my ever growing pyrex collection so I thought I'd share some more pieces...

These pieces have been bought over a while so I can't remember all the prices, I know the lovely little Butterprint casserole was only $1, one of my favourite pyrex finds as I have been looking for this pattern forever! A lot of the other pieces were $2 - $5 with the set of mixing bowls being the most expensive - an Ebay purchase at $15. All other pieces were bought at Op Shops.

My little collection is but a drop in the ocean, for some serious pyromaniacs visit Erin, Vonlipi or Madge.

In the Kitchen

I have found some lovely vintage kitchenalia over the past while...

This fab red Persinware scales was $6 in Vinnie's - Made in Australia :-)

Oh how I love all things aqua - this flour sifter was $3 in Vinnie's.

These retro nesting snack containers were $3.

With new Tupperware so expensive I never turn down the vintage stuff - $2 each.

I bought this beautiful colander quite a while ago and can't remember if I already posted about it, I think it was about $5.

These beautiful solid wooden salt and pepper shakers were $2 for the pair, I love their organic look.

Cute vintage kettle - $3.

A glass half-litre wine carafe - $2.

And finally a couple of Liberty anniversary mugs, the photo doesn't do them justice, they are a lovely mint green - 50 cents each.

The Commissioner

If I had to liken my 3 boys to a particular creature it would most likely be the monkey, non-stop, active, inquisitive, cute little things! Other times, vultures would be the most apt comparison, at mealtimes for example, where, even though they have already been well-fed, they insist on circling around my seat, snatching the food off my plate, until I have managed to eat only about a third of what I made myself. Then there are times where they are all intent on a task, working together, coming up with ideas where they remind me of 3 wise little owls :-)

With owls on my mind I did an etsy search a while back and came across a store called Rochelle's Little Ones. Full of beautiful handmade jewellery, adorable faux-taxidermy and charming paintings I knew straight away I would love one of her gorgeous acrylic-on-canvas paintings. She has a really cute range of animal paintings, birds, deer, owls, such a beautiful sweet style of painting. Then I saw that she does custom paintings by request. I contacted her straight away and asked if she would be able to create a painting with 3 of her gorgeous little owls on a tree and she responded promptly with a yes, at a fantastic price!!! After a few convos where we discussed colour and style etc she completed the work and here it is...

Isn't it just adorable? Without ever meeting or seeing my boys she has somehow captured them all in this painting - the gorgeous, squashy owl on the left is S, D is in the middle with the "pretty" eyes and the wise green-eyed owl on the right is H.

Rochelle also does some beautiful original screen prints and I ordered this one...

I feel so grown up (at 36) to have commissioned a work of art and am so thrilled with the result it is definitely something I will do again :-)

You can visit Rochelle's store here, she is extremely talented and a real pleasure to deal with.

Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Elizabeth of "I Heart Sunny Days", you are the winner of my 100th post giveaway!

I did the draw the old-school way, wrote out all the names on a piece of paper making sure each name was entered the correct amount of times for being a follower, mentioning in their blog etc. cut them up, folded them, mixed them around in a big bowl and pulled one out at random. I had a chuckle when the winner was the very first person to have commented on the giveaway, karma :-)

A big giant thank you to everybody who entered and mentioned the giveaway on their blogs and to all my readers and followers and a big welcome to my new followers, I hope you enjoy my blog and stick around and I'm really looking forward to visiting all your lovely blogs :-)

Email me your address details Elizabeth and I will order the book for you pronto!

100th Post Giveaway!

This is my ONE HUNDREDTH post!!! Who would have thought I'd make it this far? Certainly not me! So I am having a little giveaway to celebrate and say thanks to all my followers and readers, here's the prize!

The Nest Home Design Handbook is 192 pages full of interior loveliness. I don't have a copy myself but have had my eye on it for a while. However instead of ordering myself a copy off Book Depository I will order one for the winner, and yes the giveaway is open to everyone worldwide (don't you just love Book Depository's Worldwide free delivery).

How to enter:

As per the usual blog giveaway format:

Leave a comment and your name will be entered once.

If you are a follower or become one and leave a comment your name will go in twice.

If you mention this giveaway on your blog your name will go in three times.

The winner will be drawn next Monday 31st May.

That's it, good luck :-)

Bunking Down

My 2 older boys will be moving into bunk beds soon! I'm so excited, I loved sharing a bunk bed with my older sister when I was little!!! I was in the bottom bunk and loved stretching my legs up to push her mattress up and annoy her (sorry Rach)!

Being me, of course I went bed linen shopping before we even have the bunks. I found it hard to find something I really liked so went browsing on the internet and got the following gorgeous sets...

This duvet cover and pillowcase has a gorgeous nostalgic seaside design on one side and blue gingham on the other, so sweet.

I love this cowboy set complete with teepees, adorable.

Both sets are from Marks and Spencer in the UK, Yes! M&S are delivering to Australia!!! There is a flat delivery charge of £15 which they drop to £10 coming up to Christmas (I bought a heap of gorgeous clothes for the boys last December, pyjamas, vests, jeans, stunning black cord blazer for H and more...)

The bedlinen sets each came in their own drawstring bags in matching fabric, very cute and perfect to use as library bags.

Our boys will be going into freestanding bunks as we are renting and can't do anything built-in (someday...) But here are a pile of inspirational bunk pics...

I particularly love the rooms with bunks for 4, so lovely for a big family :-)

As usual I just dumped these photos in my inspiration folder on my desktop without keeping track of where I found them. If you recognise them or they are in fact yours please let me know if you would like me to remove them or credit them :-)

Fine Dining

Not long after my first Noritake find I came across this gorgeous tea-set in another Vinnie's Store...

I absolutely love the pale blue band on the outside, platinum rim and delicate flowers on the inside of the cups, so pretty and just $10.

I haven't had much luck finding any info on this particular design, it is marked RC Japan with a little laurel leaf on the base, I have read that this mark was introduced in 1926 by Noritake and re-used in the mid-fifties.

Fast forward a few weeks and back in the same Vinnie's I found...

...a 16-piece dinner service in the same pattern for a grand total of $16! I have been on the lookout for a nice service and don't think I could have found anything even new this cheap never mind a beautiful vintage set in perfect condition!

I particularly love the delicate bowls.

I am really looking forward to cooking a very fancy dinner to use this beautiful service along with these gorgeous linen damask napkins I picked up for $5 still in their box, these retail new in Ireland for EUR 68 which is about $100!

I am thinking that if there were a few weeks between me finding the tea set and the dinner service in the same store they may have some more matching pieces out the back... Wouldn't you just love to sneak into the storage area in your favourite Op Shop to see what's waiting to be priced and found?

Who knows? In a another few weeks maybe I'll find a matching teapot or soup tureen? Wish me luck :-)