noel, noel...noel, noel

Christmas is just around the corner and I have to admit, this time of year always get me super excited.

We’re heading out to a tree farm on Sunday to cut down our very own tree.(I’m sure there will be a blog post to follow)
Since buying a house, that is large enough to house a real tree we made the lifelong commitment to always get real trees. My husband grew up with real trees. I was a ‘fake tree’ kind of girl (mind you, our tree was always beautiful when dressed) and since staring our own little family, with our own traditions, a real Christmas tree is one of them. I will admit, that the smell is fantastic and the ‘heading up to cut one down’ process goes on my list as one of the best times of the year.

This year, I’m going with a vintage theme. (I did last year too) It fits the rest of the house decor.

The worst things about getting a real tree is that you can’t get too excited and get one to early on, as they barley make it to Christmas day. And with the Sydney heat the way it is, it never helps. So in prep for the tree coming home, I’ve been getting crafty and creating a few things that will match the tree.

Below is a little something I whipped up last night. I wasn’t feeling very well, so a little bit of crafting needed to be had to cheer me up. It’s amazing what you can pull together with some paper doilies and some vintage lace (I scored a hole bag of it from my Mum and few weeks back).

I was happy with the outcome. Might make up a few extra for Christmas gifts.

pottery...

A little while ago when we were living back in our lovely little granny flat, I enrolled myself in pottery class at my local community college. It was so perfect as it was just down the road, I could have even walked there………….if I wanted to.

The picture above is my on my final piece. After many (and I mean many) pinch pots were constructed, I managed to tackle these lovely 5minute vases. That is what the teacher called them, but I can assure you that they took longer than 5 minutes to make.

Basically I took in an old vintage lace table cloth that I got from my mum. I think it had belonged to one of my Grandmas. Once I had beaten and done all that needed to be done to the clay (there was a lot) I then pressed the lace into my clay and rolled over it. After I had done this, I then rolled up my clay to make the vase shape and then added a bottom. Some of the lace pattern disappeared through-out this process as I had to handle the clay a lot, but I think it only added to the effect. After that It was left to dry out and a few weeks later it was glazed and then fired. I was fearful that they would explode or crack in the kiln.

I was so happy with the final product. I kept the glaze as off white as I liked the pattern to do the talking rather than the colour.

At the moment the two of them sit on a floating shelf we have above our TV. I love to look and them as I’m very proud of the finished products. I love that no one’s else in the entire world will ever have these, as I created and made them from my very own hands. There is something really special in that.

I really loved the course and would one day like to do another. As for the pinch pots, well I was kind enough to pass some of the good ones on as gifts and kept one or two of them just for laughs, as you would laugh if you saw them.

sneak peak

Today was a lovely day!

I managed to score some free tickets to the Better Homes & Gardens LIVE event at Homebush, Sydney, from work. Which is aka: for no-one else loves DIY as much as I do, so they were mine! So I got up nice and early today I headed out with my Mum. It was lovely wandering around looking at general house items getting inspired about all the DIY jobs that I have planned for our little home.

I have a little project up my sleeve, and the picture above is just a little sneak peak at what's to come. I also picked up a handful of succulent cuttings from the event today that will be added to my growing collation that will also go towards my little project.

Stay tuned to see the finished work. If the rain decides to stick around, it might not happen till next weekend as the garden is a playing factor.

exciting news... !

To be honest, we've been though most of the stages of young adult life. We've had the 21st and the parties that followed. The 30th's and the parties that followed. We've had the engagements and the parties that followed, the weddings and the receptions that followed, not the mention the kitchen tea's, hens and bucks day that come with that and soon after that comes the purchasing of our first homes. I'm happy to say that not only have we been apart of all of the above but we've pretty much accomplished all of them too - our 30th's are yet to come, but there is now one stage that has seemed to crept up on us a little sooner than we thought, it's the babies! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE babies. We both come from families with older siblings who have all done their parts in bringing grand babies to the families. 6 and one on the way, with plenty more to come, and I can't wait for it be our turn, but I must admit it did arrive a little sooner than I thought it would. We've have been lucky to have been there for most of the cooking process and all of them that have arrived so far have all arrive safe and are all just precious.

I've had 3 baby showers so far, again with plenty more to come and done a far amount of stitching and sewing for both.

We had lunch with some very special friends last weekend and well....you guessed it, there was hidden agenda....that's right, their having a baby. These friends are particularly special friends. One of them stood next to my husband on our wedding day as his best man, so therefore gives more reason to get crafting.

So above is a little start of what's to come. I'm sure there will be plenty more little projects to come. For now, it's just a little sneak peak.