Sampler

I have a few projects on the go at the moment, none of them are completed, some are not even started yet. I am very much an "ideas person" rather than a "doer". However I am trying to get my act together and recently even took the huge step of purchasing a sampler pot of duck egg blue paint for a toy cupboard I am planning to paint. The colour is really gorgeous but probably a little pale for the terror it is going to suffer at the hands of my little rascals. However, I did put it to good use on a few other, littler projects...

First was this lovely shelf for the boys' den. I didn't have the foresight to take a "before" photo (bad blogger) but it was an ugly brown and pretty faded and patchy. It's lovely now and the display pieces change daily according to my sons' whims, one day it's dinosaurs, next day half-chewed sandwiches (ugh).

I posted about this little shadow box last year, it was part of a fab market haul. Well, sixteen months later and it's finally gotten its makeover.

A couple of coats of paint and some Cath Kidston patches of fabric (from swatches I got in the Dublin store) and it's now a cute little display box hanging up in "le chambre des munchkins".

I love this little corner of the boys' bedroom. The vintage car illustrations were a recent market buy, $2 each.

And with the remainder of the paint I gave a few op shop kitchen finds a new lease of life. Again, no before photos, but the kitchen roll holder was ugly yellowish pine and the cake stand was brown.

Now I just need to find the perfect paint colour to tackle the toy cupboard, oh well, what's the hurry?

Earth

I really love finding pottery pieces to display in our kitchen, there is something so earthly and wholesome and organic about unique handmade pieces and even factory-made pieces that use natural materials such as clay. I just realised looking around our home that I am building up quite a collection and thought I'd share some recent finds...

These 2 pieces go beautifully with the little collection of earthenware I posted about here. The bottle was $1 at a market and the little covered bowl was $3 in Vinnie's.

A pair of retro milk jugs, little and large, they are Royal Doulton and cost $3 and $2 respectively.

I love the gorgeous blue hues of this Pontesa covered bowl - $3.

On the lookout for a salt crock / salt pig for ages I finally came across this one, I liked the shape but it was a really ugly unglazed brownish-beige colour, a couple of coats of pale duck-egg blue paint fixed it right up - $2.

Within a couple of days of course I came across another salt pig, and have seen several since (isn't it always the way). This one cost $1.50, it is made by a company called Ecology who use environmentally-friendly practices and materials to make a lovely range of elegant, simple kitchenware. This costs $15 in David Jones, so I saved 90% ;-)

This cute little jug cost $3 at a market, the colour is so much nicer in real life (I am having camera issues, I dropped my SLR and broke the lens and am using a compact point and shoot for now).

A set of 4 cups and saucers, Staffordshire Iron Stone - $6 in total.

This beautiful casserole is made in France by Arcopal. I love the vintage elegance and simplicity of the flower pattern, $2 in Vinnie's.

A tiny cute pair of bowls, perfect for toothpicks, 50 cents each.

And finally, a set of lovely duck-egg blue canisters for the kitchen, again the photo doesn't do the colour justice. These were $10 at a market.

That's all for now folks, I am on the lookout for a new lens for my SLR, wish me luck!

Perfect Baby Shower

I would like to share a very lovely website with you today.

A friend of mine is a partner in Perfect Baby Shower, a beautiful online store specialising in everything you could possibly need to host an unforgettable baby shower as well as adorable baby gifts, gorgeous hampers and gifts for mum too.

It is a beautifully designed website, easy to navigate and to be honest, after browsing all the teeny-tiny baby loveliness I'm feeling all fuzzy and clucky :-)

Look at the beautiful stationery, tableware and decorations, how wonderful would it be to host a baby shower for a family member or close friend and for her to arrive and see all this?

So many beautiful gifts to bring to the shower or order after bubs is born.

If you're thinking of throwing a baby shower, feel like pampering a pregnant friend (or yourself) or would like to go shopping for a little bundle of joy you can visit Perfect Baby Shower here.

They will also have a display at the Baby and Toddler Show this weekend in Sydney, so if you're there pay a visit and check out all the baby loveliness in person :-)

A new life...

It's Spring here in Sydney, today is a gloriously sunny day, the flowers are blooming and all is good. The start of a new season has inspired me to do a good old Spring clean and clearout. Going through the cupboards really made me realise just how much stuff I have accumulated and made me re-evaluate my thrifting habits. I have always said I am not a "collector" (ignore the Pyrex) so how could I justify having 6 typewriters, a heap of copper cookware and bakeware and more maps than I can shake a stick at?

So I have purged, I sold a lot of stuff on eBay, gave a large box to Vinnie's and dumped a sackful of bits and pieces that were too sad to do anything with.

I made the difficult decision to sell 3 of my typewriters, I can really only have 3 on display without it starting to look like a shop and the others were just sitting unloved in cupboards which kind of defeated the purpose of me bringing them home in the first place.

I am delighted to say they all sold on eBay and each has been given a new lease of life (I couldn't help asking the buyers what they would use them for), so may I introduce to you 3 very different typewriters, each about to embark on very different new lives...

My Adler Gabriele 35 sold to a very a lovely lady who had one for years, it took pride of place on her desk until her husband donated it to an Op Shop without her knowledge when they moved house (grounds for divorce if you ask me). She was very happy to buy a replacement for her long lost typewriter and I am sure as I type it is sitting looking gorgeous on her desk (but steering well clear of her husband).

My lovely Olympia SM3 sold to a guy who will be using it as inspiration for an Art College assignment to take a vintage typewriter and redesign it for the 21st Century (I'm fervently hoping this does not involve disassembling it in any way).

And the most exciting new life goes to my Olivetti Lettera 32, it sold to a lady from the Sydney Theatre Company Props Department (I want her job!!!) and is going to be used in an upcoming play direct by Philip Seymour Hoffman, how exciting!!! I nearly wanted to jump into her car when she came to collect it and go back to the Props Department and raid it!!!

So goodbye my lovelies, I hope you enjoy your new lives, I will miss you and will try very hard not to fill the void by buying more typewriters ;-) At least I still have my Olivetti Studio 44, Litton Royal 201 and Imperial 200 to keep me company!

$20

Here's what I got at the Op Shop today...

A lovely set of retro cups and saucers, I love the citrus pattern, very Summery!

A wire egg basket, can I put eggs in it or would they be too tempting for my boys to use them as missiles?

5 gorgeous little bowls, perfect for dips or finger bowls.

A couple of pyrex divided dishes, the green one came without a lid, but that's OK because I already had a spare! This is very similar to another dish I have with the same lid but the other is lighter in colour.

And yet more pyrex! I already have this exact casserole, now I have a matching pair, yay!!

All these lovely things for a grand total of $20, not a bad day's shopping!

Poh's Kitchen

I just discovered Poh's Kitchen on ABC last week. It's a cookery show featuring the runner-up in last year's Masterchef Australia. Yes, the recipes are yummy, there are great guest chefs and Poh is funny and charming, but most importantly, check out her kitchen, sigh...

Radio Star

I casually commented recently to my husband that it would be nice to have a radio in the kitchen, a bit of background music and chat and something to muffle the noise of the kids a bit while I'm cooking too ;-)

I had in mind a simple little transistor radio and was thinking I might come across something a bit like this at a market or op shop...

Image via Roadsidepictures

But of course my gadget-freak husband had other ideas and now I'm the proud owner of one of these...

It has FM radio, digital radio, internet radio and an iPod dock and I LOVE it!!! I had great fun over the weekend tuning into radio stations all over the world, especially Ireland. I listened to all my old favourite Dublin stations and was cracking up at the accents and colloquialisms. It will be so nice to be able to keep in touch with the media over there and what's going on as reading about it on the internet doesn't really have the same effect.

Thanks to my lovely husband (although being the Francophile that he is, he has already filled most of the presets with French radio stations!!!)

The only thing this radio DOESN'T do is toast bread which doesn't matter as I went ahead and got the gorgeous DeLonghi Icona 4 slice toaster in WHITE last week and it's now sitting looking fab on my kitchen benchtop and it has a BAGEL function (which I have used every day since getting it)! Yaay!