I love ALDI !!!!

I have been wanting 2 Adirondack chairs FOREVER



 

 I love them, don't remember where I first saw them but I am now the proud owner of two of these beauties.  You may be wondering why the title of this post says "I love you Aldi"  - well keep reading..........

I don't quite have the verandah to sit them on, or the old house or porch that they demand. 

And my lawn does not look like this above - but I don't really care !

 

One day I hope to have a verandah like this to put my 2 Adirondacks - but, if not, at least I will still have my Adirondacks.

 

 

They would go just about anywhere, overlooking a mountain...

 

 

 or by the sea....

 

 

Or even in a paddock, if I had one !

 

They will look gorgeous with black and white striped cushions, or some gorgeous floral ones.   I know what I will be making soon.

 

 At the moment my two precious Adirondacks are still in their boxes in the boot of my car.   I have broken the news to my husband.  He took it well.  I think.  I did it by email.  Is that weak ?  His reply was "Merry Christmas, love you too".  So I guess that means I can keep them and that they are my Christmas present.  I had told him I intended to ring him before I purchased them, but my phone was in the car (true) and there was only 4 or 5 left and they were on sale at Aldi for a bargain price.  Are you ready for it - $79 each.   So this is why I love Aldi.   Can you believe it?  Aldi !!   Aaaaah Aldi.   Thank you for bringing my dream to reality - I never ever thought I would get lucky enough to have an Adirondack chair - let alone TWO.   

Don't you just love them.  I know I do.......

Postscript:  My husband came home from work and asked "where are the chairs", I told him still in the boot, he promptly went to the car, retrieved the chairs and proceeded to assemble them without me even asking.  I think he likes them. 

Playing with Photos

 

I LOVE PHOTOS

 

 

  I enjoy adding special effects to them but just recently I found something even better.

 

 

Adding text to photos.  It's wonderful.  I have played around a bit here but haven't quite got it right yet.  But I am almost there.  

 

You need a photo with a fairly plain background.  If possible also one where the subject is not too big  or does not dominate the photo - you need a lot of background preferable off to the left of the photo.

 

 

You can crop a photo to suit.  You can also type straight over the subject in the photo - as long as the Font Colour shows up ok.  The photo of Oliver holding his red cricket set is quite well balanced - enough room for the text and the background is not too busy.  And I was able to get him off centre. 

 

 

I think this one works well with the white text on the green grass. 

 

Here the font is too pale and too small.  Probably black text would be better here.



I love this one with simple one word text

These would work well printed as a canvas from someone like Snapfish or Big W or Harvey Norman etc.  There are so many places to do these, and they would make a great wall hanging - think Christmas gift for grandparent or even your child for their bedroom wall.  So happy texting......

Old Stuff !

I love to shop.  I love to buy new stuff but I also really love to buy old stuff, someone elses junk could just be your new treasure.  As is the case with all this stuff photographed below.  These are some of the things I have either purchased myself or been lucky enough to inherent from family and friends recently.  

Old electric jug from Yandina Markets

Vase given to me by a family friend

Op shop buy - blanket for my daughters bed
(I love these old style blankets and am on the lookout for one for my sons bed now)

Suitcases from antique shop, op shop and markets

The chair on the right I recovered with Amy Butler Fabric - it was a gift from my Mum last Christmas

Gorgeous old jug given to me by family friend, they used to drink their water from it when they were kids. I feel very priveleged to have been given this family heirloom

Cute little typewriter I bought for $5 from a garage sale - My Mums beautiful blue oil lamp is also pictured in the background - she gave it to me recently and I adore it.  I remember it in our family homes since I was a child. 

Wish I could find myself some teacups like these beauties - picture from the internet.


There is more to come........

Ethan gets a gumdrop

You may remember the gumdrop cushions I made a few years ago - they are from an Amy Butler pattern.  I did one for Oliver and Lucy, also one each for my neice and nephew.  There was also one for our Nonna Julies grandson Noah see here and my friend Yvette had me make one for her nephew Zac - see post here.

They are a great gift, my kids have had theirs for a few years now and they still use them today.  We also have one in our TV room that has matching cushions. So I had a recent order to do one with a matching square cushion for Nonna Julies second grandson Ethan, pictured above, and they are finished and awaiting delivery to their new owner.  - So that's another thing crossed off my to do list - Goody Goody Gumdrops  !!!
 

eleven is our lucky number !!

Postscript :  I wrote this post two years ago but never published it.  I think I just never got around to adding the photos and then forgot about it.  So it was a nice surprise to actually stumble across it today in my drafts folder, quite by accident.  It was even more special  to find it today as today is our 13th wedding anniversary.  And I wrote this draft two years ago on our 11th wedding anniversary. 

My husband was born on the 11/11/66 - all multiples of 11.

On the 11/11/99 he turned 33 - again multiples of 11.

Eleven days after his 33rd birthday we got married - the date was the 22/11/99. We got married, just the two of us, on Hamilton Island. It was a perfect day. No fuss, just simple, we didn't need anyone else.

The wedding date was not planned to be a multiple of 11, it just turned out that way and I don't think we noticed for quite some time that 11 kept appearing in all our special dates.

So you would think that after all the multiples of eleven that on our eleventh wedding anniversary we would do something super special to celebrate ??? No.

It's another ordinary work day for him today and I have jobs piling up left right and centre.

But last night he cooked the four of us a lovely dinner and made a super special trifle to mark the occasion.

The simple things in life are often the best.

The children each picked their favourite coloured jelly. He made chocolate custard. And he dug out the left overs from the freezer of the kids recent birthday cakes. He chose a nice big bowl and assembled the most colourful trifle complete with cream and cherries and toasted almonds on top. Then he put sparklers on top and lit them - it was really special.

Thank you to my dear husband, for eleven years of love, laughter and friendship. But most of all for our two beautiful children.

And just to add to the number eleven thing, when we did IVF to conceive our babies, the doctor retrieved 11 eggs. I remember waking up from the anaesthetic and checking the back of my hand (the nurse told me before going in to theatre that she would write the number of eggs retrieved on the back of my hand so I would know straight away). I could not believe my eyes when I saw our lucky number eleven. And then when I was finally positively pregnant, I was told my estimated date of delivery was, can you guess, 22nd November.

As it turned out they were delivered early on the 5th of November - but I wasn't going to argue about that as I couldn't wait a minute longer to meet them both.

Our miracles - Lucy and Oliver

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Anniversary to my beautiful husband  x x

 

 

From Pillow to Post

 

There is nothing like a hand made gift.  I don't often receive them but I do give them on a fairly regular basis.  My daughter Lucy had a little friend who was having a birthday -Talia - it was her 8th birthday and she is horse crazy.  I was horse crazy too at her age and eventually got my very own horse when I was 11.  

So - what to give her for her birthday.  Obviously something to do with horses would be good.  So  I figured a pillow for her bed made with horse fabric would be pretty good.  So here it is.  I quilted the love heart - I used denim for the front panel embellished with the loveheart and  then a mixture of denim, the horsey fleece and a vintage pink chenille for the back.  I also embroidered her name on the front and I think it turned out kind of sweet.   I would have loved it for my 8th birthday !

Ipad bag for my Mum

My Mum has ventured into the techno world for the very first time in her life.  On her recent holiday here she bought herself an Ipad.  Mum has never ever used a computer, so it was all a new language but she is picking it up and enjoying her new world.  Being able to contact friends at any time of the day was a huge attraction, and I have to say I love being able to flick her an email at any time with just the smallest thought that comes into my head.  Also sending her photos of the kids at the push of a button means she never needs to miss out (she lives in Victoria, we are in Queensland).   She needed a bag to carry her Ipad around with her on her travels.  This is where I come into it.  So I made her this tote bag made to measure from a recycled denim dress.  Complete with the waistband and buttons still intact - I love the finish.  The design came together very quickly, and I have to say I really do love it - wouldn't mind one myself, that would be IF I had an Ipad.  But I don't....

Recycled denim dress and gorgeous Japanese floral cotton

Made to measure to fit her new Ipad

She looks pretty happy about it !!

It's all in the detail !

The girls invites - styled on a 45" vinyl record

And one for the boys

The details of the party were on the back side

The girls lolly bags - inspiration and instructions from here
Made using old sheet music and butterfly cut outs from paint colour chips

Boys party bags- made from old atlas pages

Op shop buy - trophies for the best dancers
 I removed the name plaque and printed my own
Simply used paper and double sided tape

Teddy Cars - inspiration from here

Boys take home CD memento and thank you gift

Take home CD as a memento from the party - one for the boys and one for the girls
These were a hit and so easy to do

Old records from op shop - disco balls courtesy of the Myer Christmas Shop

Great way to decorate with old records and CD's

The Cake up close - Lucy

And oliver strutting his stuff

James doing the limbo

Doughnut eating competition - no hands

We had a dance off between best boy and girl dancer

The girls have a go at the doughnuts - this was a great fun game for everyone !  inspiration from here

So here are a few more pics to show the fun and games we had at Oliver & Lucys recent disco party.  The lights and haze machine really set the scene.  The cake was fantastic.  The kids were gorgeous and everyone dressed up and had a great time. 
It was a fair bit of work - but I started early and it all went quite well I think.  The kids are still talking about it weeks later - no more parties now for a few years me thinks !!!!