Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Winter!

A sight that warms my heart, my boys throwing pebbles into the Irish sea :-)


We're spending our Christmas in Ireland, having a lovely time with our family, so excited for the boys to experience a Northern Hemisphere cold, wintery Christmas!!! Logs on the fire, rosy cheeks from the cold, perfect (ignoring the fact that we've picked up every virus going so far, but are all on the mend :-)

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Dear Santa...

This year, I ask nothing of you. I have more in life than I could ever have possibly wished for.

So I repeat I ask absolutely nothing of you...

BUT

If you did manage to fit any one of these in your sleigh just for me I would not complain one little bit...







Not one little bit  ;-)

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Kids' Study Nook

For quite a while now I've been on the lookout for a sweet little desk for my boys to use for doing homework, looking up "stuff" on Google and working on projects. I have been very inspired by cute study areas such as these...


















Aren't they all GORGEOUS?!? I have been itching to create a cute little study nook of our own and finally in Vinnie's this morning I found this...


A gorgeous wooden vintage desk for just $10!!! AND they now have FREE delivery! I LOVE it, 4 drawers for lots of paper and craft supplies and the 2 shelves will be perfect for books, mini-figs, pottery creations and whatever else the munchkins deem necessary :-)


I also spotted this fab chair last month at council clean up, FREE on the side of the road!

I am planning to paint the desk a lovely pale vintage blue (I won't need to bother giving it the distressed look, my boys will sort that out ;-), red gloss on the chair and lots of little bits and pieces on the desk such as the lovely retro orange lamp I got earlier this year at a flea market.

Tip: If you are ever looking for inspiration to decorate your kids' rooms you need look no further than The Boo and The Boy - a fantastic blog full of gorgeous rooms, designs and ideas!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Here and there

There is no particular theme to the little collection of things I am sharing today, just some pretty items I have picked up here and there...


A pair of pretty dishes - $1 each.


A gorgeous turquoise Royal Winton jug - $4.


Another vintage Persinware scales - $3. I already have one of these in red, I love the fact that they were made in Australia.


When I found this little clay snail for 50 cents at a market I couldn't resist painting him blue :-)


A cute little birdie - $1.


A pretty jar with etched floral design - 50 cents.


Yes!!! Another Figgjo piece in the Market design - this little square bowl was only $1!


And finally, at last a piece of Pyrex in the Butterprint design in TURQUOISE! I have wanted this design and colour forever and was lucky enough to win it over on Emma's blog! Thanks again Emma, I love it :-)

OK, a little warning - you know I am a Christmas FREAK and with it being November I am officially excited and feel a festive post coming on very soon!!!

Monday, October 29, 2012

My Le Creuset Addiction - New Additions

I LOVE cooking with cast iron cookware, especially Le Creuset, it is an absolute pleasure to use so when I see it at bargain prices I can never resist.




I bought this fab retro Le Creuset roasting tray/baking dish on eBay for $24.99. It is from the "Mama" range by famed Italian modernist designer Enzo Mari, I've been looking for one of his pieces for ages so was overjoyed to get such a great piece in such a fab colour for SUCH a low price!! The eBay seller didn't mention the designer in the item description or title, if he had it would have sold for a lot more! I know from watching Enzo Mari pieces on eBay a lot!



This lovely pink ceramic mixing bowl with handle and spout is from the new Le Creuset "Junior" range, aimed at kids, well I'm a big kid at heart and this is MINE!!! I got it on Amazon in the UK, their prices are a fraction of what Le Creuset costs here in Australia, even taking shipping into account.



And finally, another teal / Caribbean blue piece to add to my collection. This lovely shallow buffet casserole was another Amazon purchase. How I LOVE shopping online :-)


Thursday, October 25, 2012

White

Well, it's no secret my absolute favourite colours are blue followed closely by green. I'm usually drawn to items in these shades when shopping but sometimes I see beautiful elegant items in white and can't resist...



How lovely is this rooster platter? It cost $1 at a flea market, perfect for serving up scrambled eggs to my hungry boys :-)



At the same market I bought this lovely cake stand for $1. No, I didn't NEED another cake stand but it's so pretty...


I bought this large mixing bowl this morning at Vinnie's for $5. I think I may need to cover my mixing bowl addiction in another post.


These gorgeous Villeroy and Boch mugs were also a find from today, I got them for $2 each at the same Vinnie's where I bought a gorgeous collection of Villeroy and Boch cups a while back.


A small mixing bowl with a spout, very useful! $2 in Salvos.


I love lotus shaped bowls, these were $2 at a market.


A tiny bowl - 50 cents.


I love the retro shape of this teapot - only $4 at a market.


These soup cups were 50 cents each in Vinnie's


A cute little birdie - 50 cents, he lives with my little collection on the windowsill of our laundry room.


I love this little dessert bowl, I have a nice collection of mismatched bowls in this style, the boys know when I take them out of the cupboard ice-cream is on its way!


I have a weakness for ceramic tumblers, these ones are particularly nice, 50 cents each in Vinnie's.


And finally a cute birdie shaped platter - $3 in Salvos.

So much for decluttering eh ;-)

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Declutterbug

Well, I know things have been a bit quiet here on my blog recently. The truth of the matter is I have been taking stock of all my "stuff" and decided that a big declutter was in order! Now I've never been prone to the tendencies that lead some people to be featured on shows such as "Hoarders" but having watched a few episodes I could see how it may have started out for some of those poor folk, "oh I'll just hang on to all my magazines even though I've read them to death", "hmmm there's still a few mls in the bottom of this tube I may squeeze out some day" and "so what if I don't have a record player anymore, I've been collecting these LPs for years, they're MINE and I'm keeping them"...

Anyway, it did get me thinking of a "less is more" way of collecting. Rather than having a huge stash of vintage bowls, plates, casseroles and cookware why not pick out my favourites and let them shine, let them be used instead of stuffed away behind other stuff"? So I have dedicated a few spaces to my vintage kitchenware collections, a few kitchen cupboards and the sideboard in the dining room. The other cupboards in my kitchen have been pared back to leave the day to day stuff I use accessible.

This has made a huge difference to how I use my kitchen and serve up food. I have bought some lovely new crystal glassware by Royal Doulton which contrasts nicely with my vintage glasses and have bought a lovely duck egg blue dinner service by Royal Doulton which looks pretty mixed in with my vintage plates and cake stands. I have sold off or donated a lot of my less favourite Pyrex pieces and am now limiting my collection to certain shapes and patterns (the Cinderella bowls in my recent post are STAYING). I have also cleared out ALL of my home decor magazines and made enough from selling them on eBay to buy a few gorgeous new quality pieces for my kitchen (I know, I know, more "stuff" but quality over quantity right?)

Anyway, the decluttering is an ongoing project, it's harder to clear out toys because I'm so sentimentally attached to them but my boys are getting bigger now (my baby will be FIVE next month) and the cutesy vintage puzzles and wall hangings are gradually being replaced with Darth Vader, Spiderman and Lego decor (still trying to keep it sweet and tasteful though as long as I have a say in it ;-)

I have enjoyed this process immensely, most of my cupboards are neat and tidy, I know where everything is, I still have a large collection of vintage items, but the ones I have kept are of a higher quality than some of the "junk".

This is not to say I will be staying away from markets or op shops from now on. NO WAY!!! I love vintage, I love retro and I have no intention of stopping my little hobby, I think I will just be a bit more discerning from now, just because I see something fab at a good price doesn't man I have to buy it - it has to fall into one of the following categories before I do, be useful as well as gorgeous, be resellable on eBay for a good profit or be able to displayed in the space I have available NOW rather than tucked away in a cupboard for the future.

So, sorry about rambling on so long and for a pictureless post (very boring I know). Ironically I do have lots of fab stuff to show you and will do so the very second I get a chance!!!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Yet more kitchen finds!

Hmmm. I'm starting to think I should change my blog to name to "Thrifted Kitchen" :-) But when there is so much gorgeous kitchenalia out there for such ridiculously low prices how's a girl supposed to control herself?

This gorgeous Saturnia dessert bowl, made in Italy, was $1 at a rummage sale.

This gorgeous little retro canister - $1 in Vinnie's!

How funky is this retro salt crock? - $3 in Vinnie's.

Lovely red ceramic tumblers - 50 cents each, they contrast really nicely with all the aqua in my kitchen.

A cool chopping board in the shape of Australia - $3 in Salvo's.

And a lovely bowl featuring bird of paradise flowers - $2 at a rummage sale.

All this loveliness for $12! See what I mean?