{A Little Quickie}

Hello!  It feels like I haven't been here for month and months.  Just wanted to post this super quickie DIY I did this morning.

Take a clothes hanger screw in top bit thingy (I don't know their technical name!) and a piece of driftwood and hey presto! you have a driftwood chrissy card hanger.  Super easy - the sort of DIY I can do.

Not long now until Santa comes - hope you have a wonderful Christmas / Festive Season :)

{That Time I Tried Mosaic}

So I broke a little saucer this week.  It was one of those blue and white willow ones that are a dime a dozen at the thrift stores.  So what did I do with it?  I smashed it up alittle more and decided to try and mosaic something.  I bought a little $1 terracotta pot from Masters, waterproofed it and began grouting broken plate pieces onto it, and added a few sand dollars around the top.

I'm actually a little happy with it, but there were a few things I should/could have done better.  (It certainly isn't my worst DIY work!!)

First:  It is so hard to get these little saucer pieces to sit properly because of the round edgey bit on the bottom, so there are a few bits that poke out a bit more than the others.

Second:  Don't stop work halfway through and talk to your mum on Skype for a few hours, or have visitors.  I sort of left the grout stuff a bit too long to dry and it is as hard as a rock, so its not a smooth as it should be!

Third:  Its a very messy job, so I am glad I used throw away containers and plastic tablecloth when I made it!

Fourth:  Now I have to try and keep this little fern plant alive.

{Five Favourites for Friday}

I've been kinda obsessing over all things Flamingo lately!  My five favourites include:

How gorgeous is this textile art flamingo made by Abigail Brown.  Check out more of Abigails work here.

 Flamingo tea-towel available here.

Flamingo soap available here.

Flamingo personalized phone cover by the super talented Liz of ShorelyChic - available here.

And how beautiful is this Kate Spade Flamingo Handbag?  Available here.

{Five Favourites For Friday}

Five favourites for Halloween:

Source: simplystated.realsimple.com via IHeart on Pinterest

Source: plateandpattern.com via IHeart on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via IHeart on Pinterest

Source: countryliving.com via IHeart on Pinterest

Source: sweetpaulmag-digital.com via IHeart on Pinterest

I'm not sure why we don't celebrate Halloween here in Australia.  It looks so much fun!  Will you be celebrating or doing anything spooky for Halloween?

{Thrifted Finds: Posters, Pyrex and Plates}

I haven't done much thrifting over the last couple of months, but finally got a chance to earlier this week and came across these heart and spine medical charts.

You know I love Pyrex right?  Well after about 6 months of no Pyrex, all of a sudden I found three new to me pieces!  Wanna know more?  Head on over to the Pyrex Collective (where I share my love of Pyrex with lots of other Pyrex-maniacs) to read about these finds.

Last weekend we took a little drive and ended up spending a few nights away (I love it when you just hop in the car on a spur of the moment decision and just drive!). One of the nights we spent in Townsville and across the road from the hotel was a Lifeline store. I just had to go and have a peek, and I am so glad I did. I found a full set of Johnson Bros Lotus dinnerware.

I usually only find one blue and white plate that never matches any other blue and white plate I have, and never ever come across a whole set that matches.  Can you imagine how excited I was!!

{Five Favourites For Friday}

This week iheart:

(*source*)

This (pictured above) DIY tiered hanging pots via Design*Sponge

This driftwood hanging.  (Funny story: I was going through some old magazines from 2009 and ripped this page out of the mag to put in my 'ideas' scrapbook (it was out of a Country Style magazine).  Then about 10 minuted later I have a look-see on Pinterest and the very same image appeared on my feed (pinned by Completely Coastal via Apartment Therapy).  Do strange coincidental things like that happen to you? 

Earlier this week I semi-spring cleaned out my wardrobe and gave about 10 pairs of denim jeans to the thrift shop (I live in and love my jeans but had way too many!).  Maybe I should have used them to make this denim pocket hanger over at 101woonideeen (found via pinterest)

Its no secret that I love Instagram.  I have 'met' some great people through it and found a few more blogs to stalk!!  This weekend I will be reading Fiona's Lilyfield Life blog.  How did I not know about this blog before Instagram?

With November just around the corner (where has this year gone???) this means that for us here in the tropics of Far North Queensland we need to be getting ready for the cyclone season.  Our cyclone season runs from November through to May, so its time to sort out the emergency supplies box.  This weekend I'll be checking batteries, stocking the canned food, long life milk and bottled water.  This is something I do every.single.year at this time and after the scare of Cyclone Yasi in February 2011 its good to plan ahead and be ready for anything!

{Five Favourites For Friday}

With only 80 days until Christmas, this weeks five favourites are about Christmas trees.  Some of my favourites for this week (found via Pinterest) include:

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Source: seasons.nl via IHeart on Pinterest

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Source: anetteshus.com via IHeart on Pinterest

Source: frenchbydesign.blogspot.com via IHeart on Pinterest

Do you think its too early to start thinking about Christmas?

{Take Me To The Beach}

Lately I've been fascinated with these products available from Castle

So I decided to try and make my own version of the cushion.

I used five different colours of wool felt and was going to try and make a cushion myself, but saw a plain white one at Spotlight on sale for $5.50, so used that instead.

I printed out the words and cut the felt, and sewed and sewed and sewed and sewed some more!

Finally after 2 weeks of late night sewing whilst watching tv and pricking myself approximately 20 million times, I now have my own colourful quote cushion!

"Take Me To The Beach"

{Sunday Poll: That Little Annoying Light}

I hate getting in the car and the little annoying petrol light blinks on.  It always seems to happen whenever I want the car. (Yes, we're a one car couple!)

Do you live dangerously and wait until the light comes on to fill the car up/put some petrol in?  We do all the time!  I get annoyed at having to get petrol again so soon after just filling it up a week ago.  It sure doesn't last long - and its so expensive.  Gone are the days of having my first little car and having to dig around for $25 to fill it up.  Nowadays its more like $70 to fill - and we only have a small car!

A few Christmas's ago hubby won a few 20% off fuel vouchers through his work.  They came in very handy, especially at that time of year.  We sent one to his parents and one to my parents.  When I asked my mum about it, she said she used it and got half a tank.  WTF???  Apparently now that they are in their retirement years, they panic when the arrow points to half, and then rush to the petrol station to fill the car back up.  I don't get it.  Half a tank is still enough petrol to do quite a few kilometers over a few days.  And whats the point of getting 20% off the price of half a tank  - wouldn't it make more sense to use that special voucher when you filled up the car completely?

So todays poll question:  When do you fill your tank with fuel?  When its half way, or when its nearly dried up like I do?

{Five Favourites For Friday}

This week iheart...

*  How sweet are these Clam Shell books! Made by Etsy seller Odelae -  See the full story here.

*  A seashell house - in France?  Oh yes please! (as seen on Completely Coastal)

* Currently obsessing over everything in Kara Rosenlund's  NEW Travelling Wares on-line shop

* With the rise in humidity in Far North Queensland, ready for the Wet Season, I'm thinking I will have to make this DIY Bleach Splattered Dress by Julie Ann Art.

* Knitting with wire.  Yes, wire! (pictured below) Check out more beautiful creations on the Nicety Live Journal.

{iheartsunnydays: Feeling Loved at Shorely Chic}

Just a quicky today.  Something terribly exciting happened last night and I wanted you all to know!!

I was featured by the beautiful Liz of Shorely Chic.

Go there now and see what lovely things Liz says about me!  I'm quite chuffed and honoured that I am one of Liz's favourite Instagrammers (yes - my head is big today!!)

And while you're there you'll have to check out Liz's Etsy shop too - jam packed with with coastal/beachy goodness.  What can be cooler than chevron AND flamingos?  NOTHING!  Thats why I have my eye on one of these iPhone cases made by Liz and available here

{Fairy Lights & Shiny Things}

If you happen to follow me on Pinterest, read my Five Favourites For Friday, or know me personally, you would know I have a love of fairy lights and shiny things! 

I have so many fairy lights sitting in the cupboard for Christmas time (and a few around the house that I turn on every now and then) so when I came across this brilliant tutorial for DIY Marquee Lights by Sugar&Cloth featured on Grey Likes Nesting, I knew I just had to give it a try.

Last week, there was a bit of excitement around here as Cairns finally got their own Masters hardware store.  I love this store!  Well, at Masters they have a range of wallpaper, including designs from the Laura Ashley range.  You might say - yeah, but what has that got to do with marquee lights?  Well, I'm glad you asked!  Masters let you take a 20cm SAMPLE of their wallpaper range.  How cool is that? (I won't tell you how many different samples I've already taken!)  So I used one of these samples to use in my marquee lights.

I also bought one of those cardboard letters from the discount store and used some battery operated lights that were sitting in the cupboard.  All up I spent a total of $3.00, which was for the cardboard letter.  So not only was my marquee letter easy to make, it was also so cheap.  Gotta love that right?

(supplies:  cardboard letter, fairy lights, pencil, eraser, ruler, stanley knife, coin.  And glue, not pictured)

First I cut the backside of the letter off, and then covered the remaining with the wallpaper sample.  I used just normal glue to stick the two together.  After waiting for the glue to dry, I then followed the instructions to cut holes for the fairy lights from the tutorial here.  Shove the bulbs through the holes and WooHoo:

My own little Marquee letter, made by me!  Finally a DIY I've done that isn't a total disaster!!

 

Linking up with the Say G'day Saturday linky party held by the wonderful Natasha of NatashaInOz.

{Five Favourites For Friday}

This week iheart...

* Spring is here and I'm loving Jake Evans Flora Sway project (pictured above).

* A Beach House in South Africa - stunning. (Via French By Design)

* I fell in love with Plumo (found via 79ideas blog)

* Two DIY's to try - mini Polaroid charm by Ambrosia Creative.  (Full Tutorial on dotcomsformoms.)   And its only 16 weeks until Christmas!  How about these DIY Ombre Ornaments by Ambrosia Creative.

* Loving this print by wickedpaper on Etsy.

Ok, so that was 6 things iheart this week!  Have a great weekend :)

{Seashell Hangings}

I've wanted a seashell hanging for a long time, and have found some fabulous ones on eBay and Etsy but the problem is, I'm too scared that they are going to break in the mail.

(via Pinterest)

Enter my addiction to seashell necklaces.  Whenever I see one at the thrift store I have to have it.  My collection had started to grow a bit too much so I decided to make myself a 'mini' seashell hanging (a large one would require many more thrifted necklaces and I don't really have somewhere suitable to hang a very large one.)

(part of the 'collection')

I used all the ones that were the same for the main part, and it took me quite a few nights to re-string all the little shells - But I finally finished it!

Ok, its almost finished!  I ran out of fishing line to tie the last couple of bottom star thingy's on (these were off a belt!).  And I need to trim the line, but it's almost finished!

Now what to make out of the rest of the necklaces??!!

{Five Favourites for Friday}

* If I was a fashionable, girly-girl that could walk on 6" heeled shoes then these pom-pom detailed hippy shake sandals would be at the top of the list!  (Available here).  Instead I'll stick to these and delight in the fact that I can walk around confident that I will not break my neck!

* I love easy, peasy DIY's (you know, because I'm hopeless at any type of DIY) - so I love this DIY sisal trivet by Hi Sugarplum! (found via StyleList)

* Still obsessing over macrame - and recently discovered the blog OuchFlower.  Check out this wonderful new creation.

* I can't wait to get my hands on the new 2013 Ikea catalogue!  I've been enjoying this sneak peek from Studio34E.

* After having in-laws staying with us for the past 15 days, I am now exhausted and dreaming of a holiday somewhere away from everything and everyone.  Lizard Island, just north of Cairns, would be a perfect spot!

Have a great weekend :)

{Nuts & Bolts}

When we lived back home in Tassie, every Christmas mother-in-law used to make a large batch of Nuts&Bolts and wrap them up for each of us as a silly gift.  We all loved them and looked forward to receiving our jar full of nuts&bolts every year.  Every year we'd give MIL her old glass coffee jars back and unwrap a full jar Christmas morning!

So whilst the in-laws have been staying with us for the last two weeks, I asked if MIL could make us some, considering we had missed out last year and would miss out again this year.  Whilst she was making them I posted a photo on Instagram, and found that most people had never heard of Nuts&Bolts.  WHAT?  I can't believe it!  Everybody should know about nuts&bolts!!  They are so delicious.

Mrs W's Nuts & Bolts

Mix together 1 x large packet nutri-grain, 500g packet of salted peanuts, 1 packet each of cream of chicken soup and french onion soup mix, 1 tablespoon curry powder (or to taste).  Slightly heat 1 cup vegetable oil and pour over and continue to mix until all are coated.  Eat!

(These are freshly oiled Nuts & Bolts - cant wait for them to dry off, I eat them straight away!)

Note:  Once you start eating them, it's very hard to stop!  If you don't like peanuts or have an allergy to them, replace them with pretzels or mini crackers.  I only eat the nutri-grain and hubby eats the nuts!

{Thrifted Finds}

Its been very slim pickings in the thrift stores lately, so have hardly been going.  Besides being way too over-priced, most of the items have been crappy lately. 

Something that really annoys me is there is this one shop and I have noticed that on their pricetags they have been stating "$__ - sold on eBay for $__" - they should not be allowed to do that!!

Anyway - one of my latest finds was a piece of Pyrex (yay for me!  Its been a long time since I saw a piece at the thrift shop)

 *Agee Australia - unknown pattern*

I also saw this faux fireplace and nearly cried when I had to walk away from it.  I stood there staring at it for the longest time, but unfortunately I have nowhere to put it.  Absolutely nowhere.  It made me very sad - it was beautiful and I had so many possible ideas running around in my head.  So very, very sad :(

Hope you are all well - sorry I haven't had a chance to visit and comment on your posts.  I've had my parent-in-laws staying with us and haven't had a chance to do much at all.  We're half-way through their visit, so things will get back to normal late next week.

{Five Favourites For Friday}

Today iheart....

If I had a spare $880.00 then this ring would be at the top of my list!  See more here

When I was about 14 or 15 I made a macrame owl (I wonder if my mum still has it?!).  This week I thrifted some macrame cord.  I hope to be able to make something similar to this (ha - wishful thinking?!!!)

I wish I had a bath.  This one would be nice.

I'm obsessed with succulents.  They are just about the only plants I cannot kill.  I've decided I need one of these hanging on my fence.

Love cookies as much as I do?  Check out these beautiful creations from Whipped Bakeshop.  I wonder if they deliver to Australia?

Have a wonderful weekend :)

{I Have A New Toy}

I love my iPhone.  I can sit on the couch or outside and do just about everything on it instead of sitting at the desk on the laptop. I also love Instagram.  This week I posted my 1000th photo on Instagram - and I've only been using it since late February!  I'm totally addicted.

This week hubby bought me a new toy - which has to do with my iPhone and Instagram.  So now I totally love it too, and am becoming very addicted.  Its called an Olloclip, which is a little 3-in-1 lens kit thingy that clips onto your iPhone over the camera lens and transforms your iPhone camera lens into a macro, fisheye or wide angle lens!

No, I've only really fiddled with the macro lens at this stage, but it is pretty amazing for such a small thing.

*raindrops caught in a spiderweb in the grass*

*starfish*

*green ant*

What do you think - Would you try an Olloclip?

If you dont live near an Apple store check out the Photojojo online store (these guys have way cool stuff!) or try a search on eBay - you'll love it too!

(This is not a sponsored post - just my thoughts on a new toy.  And I know I'm not a great photographer, but I am having fun and thats all that counts - to me anyway!)

{Five Favourites For Friday}

Today iheart...

DIY from Photojojo - How to Make a Gigantic Roll of Film.  This is cool!  And would be handy for storage of all those camera bits and pieces.

I think I need this compass ring by Etsy seller Teri Lee Jewelry

If you don't know about the blog Squeezed Daily - Tropical Living then your missing out.  Did you know Sarah lives on a boat, on a Tropical Island too!

Hand-painted Linen kitchen tea towels?  Tutorial by Jenny of Everyday Occasions blog.  (Found via Pinterest)

Chocolate Chip Cookies are my baking limit, but I'm wishing I was this talented.  How gorgeous are these biscuits!  Made by the ever so talented Krista over at Cookies With Character blog.

Source: kristascookieswithcharacter.blogspot.com via IHeart on Pinterest

Have a wonderful weekend :)

{Sometimes I Cook}

Every now and then I cook.  Not just cook tea, but once in a blue moon* I actually bake.  Yep, I'm very domesticated!  I hate baking cakes.  Not that I don't love cake (who doesn't?), but because a:  they take too long, b: I make a mess and have to clean it up, and c: they just don't turn out how they are meant to. 

So what do I bake once in a blue moon*?  Chocolate Chip Cookies of course.  I've actually had this recipe for about 20 years and have no idea where I got it from.  (Most likely ripped out of a cookbook or magazine somewhere in my travels).

Read It

 Mix It

 Cook It

Eat It

This is one of the simplest recipes ever (so simple even I can cook them!), and they taste almost like Subway chocolate chip cookies - nice and soft.  I usually only cook mine close to the 10-12 min mark, but if you don't like soft cookies, cook for the full 15 mins.  Oh - and I use Cadbury choc chips, I've tried a few other brands and its just not the same.

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FYI * And speaking of Blue Moons, did you know August is one of those months?  Two full moons in one month makes the second one a Blue Moon. (The first full moon was on the 2nd and the second one is on the 31st).  This is not due to happen again until July 2015.  I wish the moon really did shine blue on those nights.  And I guess I won't be baking chocolate chip cookies until then!