{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!

{How To Print Your Instagram Pics}

I'm slightly addicted to Instagram.  To me its like blogging, but in real time, and with no words, just hashtags.  You get almost immediate responses and it takes only a few minutes to answer comments or like and comment on other peoples photos.  I love it.  I take part in challenges (including Fat Mum Slims #photoaday challenge) and take photos of everyday life and random things that catch my eye.  Its a non-themed free for all, and you don't have to have things in order or a set way ready to write a lengthy blog post about or around.

Do you print your Instagram pictures?  I must admit most of the photos I've taken I wouldn't need to print, but some of my earlier photos are from when I was on holidays in the US/Canada, and most of these I wanted to have copies of.  Plus every now and then I really surprise myself and take a good picture!  So it would be nice to have these little reminders around and not just out there in internet cyberspace.

There are some good companies that you can upload your Instagram pictures to and get prints in the mail.  But I'm too impatient to wait for them to come from overseas.  I tried one company and couldn't get it to work properly and even after emailing them for help, received no help at all.  So besides being impatient, I also hate spending money.  If I can't thrift it or successfully DIY it I don't really need it!

Which led me to search for a way to print my Instagram photos at home.  I have a half decent printer (that is quite a few years old, and hardly used!) and photo paper.  I have all I need to print them, I just need to know how.

Enter the wonderful Jennifer from SimpleScrapper.  Jennifer has kindly done all the work and provides a free (requires registration) template to use in Photoshop.  (I have Photoshop Elements) And Jennifer provides an easy to understand video tutorial on how to use the template.

First you will need to download your Instagram photos.  I used instaport.me - this is a great tool to use if you want to download direct from your instagram account (an added bonus is you have options about what you want to download.  Either all your prints, ones uploaded on certain dates, or with certain hashtags). After downloading the ZIP file, saving and extracting the files (takes only a few minutes, depending how many photos you are downloading of course) you now have a copy of your Instagrams ready to play with.  

After watching the video tutorial, and a few minutes playing around in Photoshop Elements.....

Taa Daa!  I now have an A4 size photo page with 12 Instagram prints. (One page printed, another 100 to go!!)  Now my dilemma is what to do with them.  Turn them into magnets, put then into a travel scrapbook, make posters, frame them.....the list goes on and on with whats possible!

P.S.  You can find me on Instagram as @iheartsunnydays or you can see my #photoaday challenge photos on my Pinterest board!

{Sunday Poll: Drip Drying the Dishes}

I had so much fun doing that post about pegs last month, and enjoyed reading your replies.  (Thank you for commenting!)  It seems, like most things I do, I have been doing it wrong.  Well, I managed to take all the pegs off the line and put them in their little basket, and had no pegs on the line for about 2 days. I was so proud of myself, Mum would have very been pleased.  You'll be disappointed to know that that was as far as it got.  As soon as I did another load of washing, out came the pegs and they stayed!!

So todays question is: 

For those of us not lucky enough to have a dishwasher or a maid:  When you wash up dishes, do you dry them as well or leave them to drip dry?  I'm in favour of drip dry.  I learnt this from my mum.  I hate trying to dry dishes with a wet soggy tea towel, so things get left in the drainer until they air dry.

This of course poses a problem when there is not enough room in the drainer for all the washing up.  I end up washing up half now, drip dry that load then wash up the other half!

I have heaps of these dilemma type issues and am thinking of doing a once a month Sunday Poll.  Good idea or not?  But tell me, are you a wiper-uper or a drip-dryer?

{Five Favourites For Friday}

Today iheart....

(source: Scott Coppersmith Designs)

I love fairy lights and shiny things (proof).  So its only natural that I love ALL the creations of Scott Coppersmith.  This anchor would look fabulous on my lounge room wall.

I'd love to try and make this DIY Louis Vuitton Jelly Bag - tutorial by Make My Lemonade.

I want this seahorse print from Etsy seller summerowens.

In love with Lucy Fentons home that was featured in my favourite magazine InsideOut.

The Pintester.  I stumbled upon the Pintester this week and I seriously love it.  What is the Pintester?  Well in her own words she "...tests pins from Pinterest.  Mostly I fuck them up".  This sounds so like me (see here for proof)