All Things bright and Beautiful ….

At the start of every new year I get the urge to change things – my nomadic tendencies coming out I guess. If I want change I cannot break down walls or paint as we rent, so I have to find  some ways to make cosmetic changes to our home. I long for the day we can put our own stamp on a home that belongs to us. So I decided to shuffle up some things at home and re-arrange some of our furniture and add some other touches. Soft furnishings are a great way to add colour, pattern and texture to your rooms.

The first room I decided to tackle was my bedroom. I did not want to make major changes but I did want to introduce a little more colour and pattern. I started by buying three really cheap frames from the Reject Store and framing some vintage prints which I also purchased from the same store a while ago. I framed them and put them up over my bed to add a bit of colour to my room – I must say I love how they turned out. Hubby was a bit naughty – he was taking photos of my rear end as I struggled with the frames. Needless to say I had to forgive him as hanging three pictures meant that levels and spacing was very important and to get them accurate  I did need his help. The sweet man obliged!

Then I moved my cute red/burgundy sofa into my bedroom and made a comfortable corner to read/relax. Added to that I put the two yellow cushions I bought from the Op shop on my bed with my Union Jack pillow I made. Now my room is not just white and taupe as it always was but has a bit of colour in it. One thing I will never move away from is my white linen – I love it and wouldn’t change it for anything (except maybe some new, crisp beautiful white linen!!).

In my lounge I needed some furniture – the big mustard coloured sofa has served us well but it was definitely time to go. I quickly found a home for the couches which left me able to  shop on Ebay. I managed to buy two similar colour sofas to my previous couch for $20 and they fit into the space so much better. I decided to add some more pattern and colour into my lounge by making cushion covers for the cushions I had to otherwise the mustard furniture   dominated the room. The fabric came from a big recycle store  and I paid $5.99 for all different designer quality off-cuts. Then I simply ran up some covers and hey presto a whole new look in my lounge. I really was pleased with how the cushions turned out. All that needs replacing now is the ugly green curtains in my lounge. I have moaned before how much I hate them and truly they do not improve with time. Curtains are extremely expensive here, so I am always on the lookout for curtains at the Op shop. Because my window is so huge it is difficult to get enough of the same curtains this way. I will persevere though!! I moved my painting of the Greek Village and replaced it with my Tuscan sunset painting. Goes beautifully with all the colours in the cushions.

I even made a cushion from an old jumper I found at the Op shop – truly people you can use ANYTHING to be creative.

Part of my decorating pleasure always comes from the fact that I will not spend a lot on making our home nice. My bedroom redo cost me $18 and my lounge cushion covers cost me time and about $4 in fabric. Add $20 for the two new couches and the total for the two rooms was $42. If I had purchased new items it would have cost me 8 x $10 = $80 for cushions, A new lounge suite about $1000 and frames $18 giving me a total of $1098. I saved a whopping $1056. Now who wouldn’t want to re-purpose furniture?

I also kept the really ugly square coffee table that matched our old mustard suite – I am hoping to re-purpose this baby and make an ottoman for the centre of our lounge – more about that when I tackle the project. I also need to re-upholster my dining room chairs as they are so tired but first I need to find the fabric I want to use.

Another tip for great ideas is Pinterest – I find this site so inspiring – all the creative ideas people have are amazing – check it out if you haven’t already. So we continue to find creative projects to tackle. Michaela wants to redo her bedroom this holiday – I have an idea for a lovely headboard made of doors – watch this space in the future.

In the meantime … Happy recycling!!

Room makeovers

In one way this post seems totally frivolous and ridiculous when my last post showed the poor of India, but I guess that is also the irony of life and how we live so differently to much of the world. I know that we are blessed and that we have so much, and I know also that God does not begrudge us the pleasures of having a home we love and enjoy being in. My challenge is to always remember this and to always appreciate what we have while praying for, sponsoring and contributing to orphans we have “adopted” and by going to these places and blessing where we can. So after all that explanation…. here are my rooms that I have made over while hubby is in India. I have found some creative inspiration this week and got much done. I have redone our bedroom – it will be a treat for hubby when he comes home and hopefully a sane place for him each day after teaching. I recently posted some photos of the bed I picked up on ebay. I have moved the bed to in front of the one window just for a change. A friend took me op shopping the other day and I managed to find some amazing bargains that have all worked well together. I found the fabric that I used on the window for $5 and I sewed it up to hang like a blind against the window.  The sheer white curtains are from IKEA – I was going to make my own but it was cheaper to buy them instead!!. The bed cost me $40 on ebay.

I found the beautiful white pillow covers with the embroidery at the op shop (3 of them) for $3 and the crocheted cloth for $5. They look amazing and the colours match my room beautifully.

This storage box was from IKEA  – it reminds me of Africa somehow!!

I still have one of my most favourite art works on our wall – a mixed media that I did when we were going through a hard time – this picture still speaks to me.

I have also done another smaller art work this week – it took me about an hour and was impromptu but I like it as its curves accentuate my bed. It is a tree with the fruits of the spirit written on it.

I still have the ugly pair of green curtains on our other window, but I have some good white sheets from the op shop and so I plan to run up some simple curtains for those windows eventually.

I managed to find some things for the children’s room while op shopping as well. I hadn’t planned on buying anything but everything was so cheap and I found just what I needed that I went ahead. I found a tartan duvet cover for Aaron – not exactly what I wanted but it will last till he starts needing a big boy duvet ( in other words a plain simple duvet minus teddies and characters). I liked the red and blue which has been my goal – to make their room red, white and blue. Then I found four red and blue teddy cushions and a white duvet with blue embroidered stars for Zoe.

 

IKEA sells cardboard boxes (2 in a pack) for next to nothing and we are using these for storage next to their beds – very effective.

So all in all it has been a productive week and two rooms have been tackled. Michaela is in the process of wanting her room redone – she hates her green curtains too, but she has some great ideas so we will work on that this next term. My last piece of trivial news is that we ate lettuce from our kitchen garden tonight – our first taste – it was delicious!! Oh yes, and the highlight of Aaron’s day was seeing Shrek and Fiona at the shopping mall – he thought that was awesome!!

22 days …. Fabric covered diary

As promised, I am sharing my teacher gift project that I tackled yesterday. I decided to make a fabric covered diary for Zoe’s teacher. I was delighted with the results. It was very cost effective too. This would make a cool Christmas gift for anyone you know or a teacher gift as I have done. Here is what I did:

I bought my materials from Spotlight and Sam’s Warehouse. I chose a page-a-day diary and a small square  of 100% cotton fabric in a pattern I liked. Add a few ribbons and glitter stickers, some colourful paper, craft glue and voila – a fabric diary in the making.

I started by measuring the fabric and making sure there was about an inch of fabric right around the diary.

Then I glued the one side of the diary with craft glue using a paint brush.

Next you slowly cover the glued side with the fabric, making sure that it lies flat and smooth. Repeat the process with the spine and the other side of the diary.

Then cut around the spine as you would if you were covering a hard book with paper. Fold over the edges and glue them down.

Paste the first and last pages of the diary over the cover to neaten it and keep the fabric stuck down.

Now the embellishing and decorating starts. I glued some black ribbon onto the diary and folded the edges over to the cover pages. Then I glued a piece of pink weave paper over this to make it pretty and  to cover the ribbon ends and hold it in place.

Lastly I added some glitter stickers to decorate the cover. Some other ideas would be to use letters or initials, buttons, craft embellishments like butterflies, flowers etc. There is so much you could do.

This is the costing for my diary:

• 1 diary                      $3.99
• piece of fabric       $1.25
• Glitter stickers      0.25c
• Weave paper          0.85c
• Ribbon                      0.25c
• craft glue   (had in my cupboard)

TOTAL COST                  $6.50

This was a very quick project – it took me no more than half an hour to do and the result was lovely and very budget friendly. I reckon that buying this is the shop would be about $20. Happy crafting everyone.

PS. Michaela loved the diary so much she stole it for her teacher (much to Zoe’s horror) and ordered another one – so now I have two more to make!!

23 days to Christmas… Shop Around!!

The countdown continues and at this time of year we are tying up a million loose ends before we can really enjoy the holidays. The kids need new books for school next year and here in Victoria we have to buy their text books. That is a killer as the books for two high school students are close to $400 and most of them are second hand. Michaela needs a new specialised calculator for maths next year and I can get a second hand one here for $194. This is crazy!!

So one of my tips for this time of year is to look around and see if you can get a better deal than the first thing you see. This applies of course too for Christmas shopping – sometimes doing a little research can go a long way. I have been looking around for Zoe’s gift but what I have seen is too pricey so I decided to wait and watch. My patience has paid off as I have found what I am looking for now and I will save $70 just on her gift. Looking on ebay or auction sites also can pay off. I can get Michaela’s calculator virtually brand new (demo model) shipped for free from the USA for $107 on ebay which saves me $87. All these little savings add up at the end of the day. If you are dubious about online shopping, don’t be. I have become quite good at it and we have never had a problem or been ripped off!! Just make sure that you are dealing with a reputable person or company before you buy, by looking at the feedback and profiles on the auction sites. Usually people will complain if they are poor traders.

Other good ideas for Christmas gifts are to look at markets as they sometimes have unusual homemade gifts that are well priced and great for teacher gifts or stocking fillers. I am at that point where I have to find a gift for Zoe’s class teacher and I am wanting something a little less predictable than chocolate, soap or flowers ( I have been a teacher before, and trust me you can only use so much soap!!). I have a great idea in mind that I plan to work on so I will post on that project in a day or so.

If you haven’t fished the tree out from the attic or basement, now is the time to get it out and check out all your decorations and lights. A little bit of festive charm in the home makes a great difference. Hang in there…. only 23 days of madness to go!!

Spring and other things…

We have been so busy lately and haven’t had time to unwind and relax. This holiday I plan to just relax and enjoy our time. I think some lovely picnic’s sound like a good idea (if spring will actually arrive – it keeps disappearing – today is the first day of spring and it is cold and rainy!! ). We have been told that a visit to the Rhododendron gardens up in the Dandenongs will be superb as soon as they start flowering. I hear there is a lso a Tulip Festival that happens on a farm near here and that sounds like fun too. This is a photo from their website.

There is supposed to be lots of Dutch products as well and entertainment, so that could be quite a nice outing for the family. A few bunches of those beauties would go down well too!!

Some picnics in the country are appealing – I love lying in the sun listening to bees buzzing and feeling the lazy warmth of spring on you. We need to get out into the open for another reason too. We have been blessed again by someone. We have been given a small mini motorbike for the kids to ride on. This will be such fun for Ethan, Michaela and even Zoe – BUT we need to find a very big open space!!

Then of course, hopefully it will be warm enough to get to the beach on the odd day. We have so much to still explore.

I have found some new and exciting things to work on over the next few weeks. I have started on the bedroom makeover for the kids – I have painted Zoe’s bed which is a start but I will save those photos for my reveal.

I was looking at Michaela’s light fitting the other day in her room and thinking – since there are some beautiful features in this rental home that obviously cost a fair bit to install, why did the owner put some light fittings in that actually aren’t even really fittings? I dunno – maybe he ran out of cash. So when I saw this baby selling for 99c on ebay I thought of my daughter and how I hubby could put this up in her room after I gave it an antique white makeover ( Yes I really had to talk myself into not keeping the green to match the ugly curtains!!).  And yes, I did win it for 99c.

Then I found myself a table for our dining room that I want to convert into a farmhouse country table – more about that later. So that is what I have been up to for the last few days. Here’s hoping that spring will find us soon and that those lovely outings will become a reality!!

Treasure Finds…

I popped into our local op shop this morning and hit the jackpot. This shop is really so cheap – it’s no wonder there is hardly ever room to move in there. I stopped initially to see how much the pine coffee table was selling for. Unfortunately it had a sold sticker on it, but even that was only $5. I found the following items.

This great bowl that stands in a metal base – I might use it for my glass decorative balls. I paid $3 for it.

Then I bought a lovely Duck egg blue /green cotton blanket (double size) for $3 – these blankets are great for winter – not too heavy but get the job done and we have been borrowing blankets this winter so I am glad to now have some of my own.

Another cotton blanket for a single bed in cream – beautiful condition $3

I found these fabric offcuts – some fairly large pieces that I can use to make pillow slips or a quilt. I loved the rose patterns. There is a large rose pattern and a smaller matching pattern. I paid $1.50 for this. Although I am not fully into the Biggie Best country look anymore ( I was in the 80’s) I still love little pops of floral patterns with stripes  to accent plain colours – mostly white bedding of course!!

This cute little plate caught my attention – loved the rose pattern again – 25c

A cream calico tablecloth that I am planning to use for craft work – I want to make some monograms in frames and monogrammed cushion covers so this fabric will work well. $1

One of my favourite things today was this beautiful white cushion. It goes perfectly with my bed linen and will sit nicely on my bed I think. This was $1.

And last but not least some more books for our bookshelf that needs filling. These books were bundled together with about 6 books in each bundle. They were selling for 25c a bundle – I bought three bundles.

All up this little visit cost me $13.50 – not bad I say!!

I am planning to revamp Zoe and Aaron’s bedroom. Their room has been a mismatch of all sorts as a result of our move. I want to make it into a nice space for the two of them – my challenge is keeping Zoe’s side girlie without making it too feminine for Aaron. I am thinking of neutral colours with a touch of colour – maybe some cushions with the fabric I bought today on Zoe’s bed and some striped fabric in co-ordinating colours for Aaron. Again it all depends on what I can get on a budget – the goal is to make a lovely space for them without costing us a fortune.

Makeshift Headboard

I have been looking for a headboard for our bed on ebay for awhile. Although I have seen some beautiful ones, and even bid on a few, I am not prepared to pay a fortune – I believe if I persevere that I will get something I like at a great price. In the meantime I have made a temporary plan. When I won my 99c couches on ebay, they came with thin foam matresses under the cushions. I pulled them out today and covered them with some fabric I got at the op shop a while ago. I didn’t even sew them – I just pinned them with safety pins at the back. It is very basic and a little crooked in places but it will serve its purpose for now. So all up my makeshift headboard cost me $2 – not bad hey?

I like this fabric – it is lovely and has a bit of colour in the stripe.

This is the abandoned chair I found – it now sits next to hubby’s bed – I have moved the white one next to my bed. I haven’t painted this one – I quite like the contrast between the two chairs so for now it stays brown.

There is something about white bedlinen – not too practical with kids, but I love it anyway.

Creative Shopping…

I have learned over the last few years how to shop more creatively for Christmas and Birthday presents. As the children have gotten older so there desires have gotten more expensive and being able to meet these needs has not always been possible. Over the last year I decided that being stressed out and ending up in debt at these times is not an option and so I have resolved to be organised and shop early using layby as an option. We are currently having a huge toy sale at one of Australia’s big department stores and so I popped in and put aside a few items for Aaron for Christmas. Normally I would not be able to afford these but with 5 months to pay them off it makes it possible. I did this last year and we had a great Christmas and there was no debt left at the end so I am sold on it.

Another creative way to shop is to look on auction sites like ebay or trade me (I realise that my South African family don’t have this option or privilege). My son wants an X Box 360 for his birthday and they are so expensive – over $400 new and then the games are $100 plus – who on earth can afford that?? I went on ebay and managed to win an auction for an almost brand new, hardly used  X Box that comes with 5 games for a fraction of the cost of a new one. I was delighted with the purchase.

Learning to shop in ways we are not always familiar with or comfortable with is something that we should overcome. Garage sales, op shops, auction sites, layby – whatever it is can save us heaps of dollars at the end of the day. I am also looking at making gifts more creative this year. I want to make some of my gifts so that they have memories attached to them – my goal is to give each child one special handmade item from us for Christmas – these are a good way to remember special times as a family and to treasure them. Hopefully I can get the kids to make each other a special gift too. As we become more advanced technologically and things become more affordable and disposable, so we become greater consumers and this is not always a good thing. Sometimes it is good to sit back and smell the roses.

Hubby and I were chuckling the other day because we have a TV channel here that has all the really old shows. Shows like The Partridge Family, Jeannie, Bewitched, The Flintstones, the Jetsons and Here’s Lucy are on. The kids just love watching them which amazes us. It tells me that even our kids can enjoy wholesome family entertainment after seeing amazing technology in the cinemas here. Sometimes the good old ways of doing things don’t have to become outdated and old fashioned. So think of ways you can recycle, re-use or create something from scratch or a way to shop creatively that does not put you into debt or leave you stressed at the end of the year. Happy Shopping!!

playing with furniture

As usual I have picked up a some things from the op shop – the latest being an old wooden chair. I have been looking high and low for bedside tables for our room and each time I spot something I like on ebay, the price just rockets. I am not prepared to spend a fortune so in the meantime I plan to use two old wooden chairs that have had the antique white paint treatment as bedside tables. Unfortunately they only had one old chair so I will look for another – I quite like non- matching items. It was a nice wood and I used to love wooden furniture but I have moved on from everything  being brown to painted and distressed wood. I love it when a piece of furniture looks used, old, worn and loved. Sorry if you are a wood fan – I can hear you hyperventilating!! As a teenager I found one of my dad’s old jerseys (jumper) that Mom had thrown out. It was stretched out of shape and had a few holes in the arms where the seam stitching had come undone. I loved that jersey – it had character. Mom insisted on at least stitching up the seams if I was going to humiliate myself by wearing it in public, but I would have none of it. That is how I like my furniture – with a few bangs and dents.

First I lightly sanded the chair with a fine sandpaper.

Then I tackled it with my paintbrush and antique white paint, giving it a few coats of paint. This was not perfect painting as I wanted the chair to look a bit worn. I also painted an ugly brown cupboard that holds our dvd and television in the same antique white paint.

When the chair was dry I took my sandpaper and rubbed a few places on the chair to get it looking a bit distressed and worn. Now hubby has a new bedside table next to his bed that is not your typical bedside table.

This is how the chair and the cabinet turned out.

Cabinet before:

And after:

The bedroom is slowly taking shape – still working on that headboard!!

13 reasons to Op shop

The other day I was at a friend’s house. We got onto the topic of op shopping and before I could own up to the fact that I love doing this type of shopping she blurted out, “I couldn’t think of anything worse than wearing dead people’s clothes!” I must admit, I thought that was a weird statement- I have never thought of the treasures I have found at op shops as coming from dead people – and even if they are from someone who has passed on – I hope I can treasure and love them as much as their previous owners would have. So here is my pathetic attempt to make you wonder whether op shopping could be the latest thing for you:

• There is nothing nicer than getting an item you have looked for new at a fraction of the price.
• It makes you aware how much we spend on brand new things that are not necessary.
• Where could you ever get an entire wardrobe of clothing for under $20?
• Op shops meet  everyone’s needs in the family in one store – from toys to books to clothing to furniture.
• It inspires creativity – there are always items that require revamping to make them into something useful.
• Look for specials or coloured price tags that are marked down that day.
• Sometimes real antiques or treasures can be found for next to nothing.
• It supports community organisations that help the poor.
• Sometimes brand new clothing with the price tags on can be found.
• It does not put you into debt
• It fulfills the need for retail therapy without the depression of an overrun credit card to pay off.
• You get to know the locals by shopping in one store often – it becomes more personal.
• And last but not least – it is great fun rifling through the racks to see what treasures you can find.

So next time you are off to spend a fortune at the shops, think again and pop into that op shop first – with an open mind and an unbiased heart – you might surprise yourself and actually love it.