SHOPPING LISTS MADE EASY

Hello! I have been so slack with posting anything lately, things around here have become a bit mundane (work, cook, eat, sleep - you know the drill)  and I haven't been very creative at all!

I went to a friend's house on Tuesday night and she had such a cool shopping list on her fridge! It was a pad with tear off pages that each had a list of all sorts of different grocery items with check boxes beside them - the idea being that when you run out of something you check the box, and then tear that sheet off at the end of the week to do your shopping!

I thought I would create one of my own, a bit more personalised to all the things that I buy - so have a look, and perhaps you could make one for yourself, or you can download mine HERE.

Mx

EASY PEASY, MINIMUM SEW CUSHION COVER TUTORIAL

So last week we moved into our AMAZING new home. We are very blessed to have been able to find this house, and it is now all unpacked and lovely and I have almost finished setting up :) 

I was however, a little disappointed when I went to make the bed in our spare room because I had forgotten that my white waffle knit duvet cover was only a double, and did not fit the queen sized bed! We had recently purchased this granite duvet cover as a spare so it went on instead. (You can see we do not have an iron... I am sure once a few guests sleep in it the cover will soften up!) I still have put my favourite green, white and beige quilt on top, and thought that a nice wee cushion would help to tie it all together.

 A little while ago I picked up some fabric from the Recycle Centre in a green and white check so I used that. I did not have a spare cushion, but did have a very thin old pillow, so folded that in half to get my inner.

Lay your pillow or cushion inner onto your fabric and cut around. I did an inch, but to get a snug fitting cover, only do a centimetre or so.

Once you have cut it, visualise it in thirds, that is where you want your back pieces to go to on each side once you have folded the edge back. 

To cut the two back pieces, get another piece of your fabric and double it over. Line up the first piece you cut with one edge to guide you - Measure out about an inch or so (however much you want to fold under) from where you want the finished folded edge to sit and cut. Then cut down the fold to separate your two back pieces.

Take each back piece and fold the edge over. If you have an iron, iron it now to hold it in place (if you want to be really thorough, sew this fold as well).

Lay them out on your first piece, with the folded edge side towards you, one piece with the gap at the top, then overlay the second piece so the gap is at the bottom. Pin it all around where you want to sew, and sew it up. (Of course when I went to do this my machine broke, so thankfully my neighbour let me use hers!)

Once it is sewn, turn it inside out and you have the finished product ready to use. 

Stuff your pillow or cushion inside...and voila! The simplest cushion cover you could EVER make (well I reckon :)

Now - this cover is VERY quick and rough. If you want to make something more long lasting, make sure you zig zag all the edges (I didn't bother as I was borrowing someone else's machine so wanted to be quick), sew down the edge of the folds, and you can even add button holes and buttons to the fold at the back!

If anything doesn't make sense, just ask :) Hope you like it!

Mx

WINTER GARDEN STROLL

Today it started raining (which it hardly ever does here) and as I peeked out the window I saw the wheelbarrow with a few dainty drops on it and I had to get out there and take some pictures. The light was lovely too.

We are also leaving this house in a couple of weeks so this is a nice way to remember it. I enjoyed my stroll, even though my fingers were nearly numb at the end!

Mx

MY OFFICE/DESK MAKEOVER

Remember this?

Well after $13.50 plus a little bit of painting and craft, I have finished my mini office/desk makeover and I am now loving my de-cluttered and tidy workspace.

PURCHASED:

(All second-hand from The Recycle Centre)

$5 -      Holder for my printer (painted)

$1.50 - Fabric for the bunting (mainly bought to make cushion covers at a later date)

$7 -      Under desk storage container

            Jar for pencils

            Tin bucket for other bits and pieces

            Wine bottle box for folders

            Grey in-tray

            Ring-Binder

I am really pleased at how the painted corkboard looks against my wooden pallet lid, and the wooden pegs make a cute way to hang the bunting. 

I painted the ends of the wine bottle box because they had the winery logo burnt in. Although you can still see the logo, it is much more subtle and adds a nice vintage feel, without being clearly branded (see above).

Mx

THE HOME OFFICE

When we decided to move south, I was very fortunate to have my company offer me the chance to do my job remotely. So happily I entered my fifth year as the marketing executive for Rialto Cinemas, and I also entered the world of The Home Office. Now. I would love to tell you that my office looks like this:

But actually it looks like this:

Not so pretty. 

But the top image is what inspired me to make something more of the space in which I spend at least eight hours a day. Firstly - I need to get that printer off my desk. Secondly, I need to find something to put all the paper and mess in (possibly the bin...). Thirdly (and probably most importantly) I need to SIMPLIFY. This is a working space, so it will never look perfect, but it might look a heck load better if I made more of an effort. 

I visited the local Recycle Centre on Wednesday and picked up the first additional item I will need to kickstart this project. The printer holder.

The restoration project has begun so I'll come back to that one later. In the mean time here is some inspiration for the new Home Office.

I think the key is finding some main items and colours to pull everything together. As previously mentioned, we are moving house in a month - so I am not going to factor the Orange walls into the equation at all.

Things I must/want to keep:

Glass Corner Desk
Computer
Chair
Printer
Small Pin/White Board
(Black pin board belongs to current house...)
Artwork (wedding present from my Sister Rebekah)
Wall Planner (Ugly but useful)

Things I need:

Storage solutions.

Mx