White paint and Christmas craft

Since finishing full time study and getting past exams and assignments, I have had a bit more time to do some creative things at home and also some crafty preparation for Christmas time.
I painted our brown brick fire place white and I am so happy with the finished product. It brightens up the room and really creates a lovely centre piece.

Brad and I are going over to England on December the 10th (exciting!!!) and so we are having a family and friends (separate) Christmas party. I decided to make my own bon bons this year (first time). I am going for a red and white colour theme and the bon bons in the shop just were not doing it for me.

My freshly painted white fire place. It was a horrid glazed brown brick.
Paint - $8
Brush - $5

My new "love" vase from my visit to Robert Gordon - LOVE!

Bits and pieces involved.

The finished product - just what I wanted!

Poor Girl Gourmet

I was just browsing the net today for a recipe for an apple and ricotta cake when I stumbled across this blog and really enjoyed perusing through it.
Have a look around for your self.
It's all about high quality gourmet food mad on a lo budget...perfect!!
The cake was delish and I have added this little blog treasure to my daily hit list!

www.poorgirlgourmet.blogspot.com

The Sparrows Nest

A little while ago my husband, Brad, told me he had a surprise for me.

I was extremely excited about this and asked consistently, at least every second day for 4 months "So...when will I get my surprise?" (I love surprises!)

One night out of the blue, he decided he would tell me what my surprise was.

I was pretty excited and couldn't believe that after months of asking, he was finally going to tell me...

Turns out, my friend Nimmi, had told him to take me to a beautiful cafe in Melbourne called 'The sparrows nest'. She said it looked lovely and I would be sure to love it!!!

I was HAPPY of coarse with my surprise, but with the built up suspense, I was thinking along the lines of- A hot air balloon ride, a weekend away, a puppy??

Part of me wonders why Brad took 4 months to get around to telling me what the surprise was, yet never took me there (surely we had a spare couple of hours??)

But alas, we are going there for brunch this Sunday. I looked it up on the net and yes it looks fab.

Maybe you too should take a trip to The sparrows nest!!

P.S Thanks Nim for the idea, we'll get there eventually! xx

www.cafesphotoblog.blogspot.com

Baby Shower mood board

I am organizing a baby shower for a good friend of mine in a few weeks time and I thought I would take this opportunity to create a mood board full of my ideas and inspirations. She is having a boy, but we don't want it to be too corny and "baby-ish" so here are my ideas, what do you think?

Lots of vases full of fresh spring blooms.


Delicious and colorful nibbles.

A lovely array of tea pots with lots of different teas to choose from.

A mood board showing bits and pieces about the mum and dad...

And...of coarse a few baby presents to shower the expectant mother to be.

We will of coarse do a few games and things but my main aim to to treat my good friend with a lovely afternoon with her closest friends and to celebrate the new life that is blooming in her belly.
Let me know if you have any suggestions or thoughts to add to my mood board! xx

The scent of spring

I don't think I'm alone when I say that Spring could not come any faster. These cold and miserable days are taking their toll and the winter blues are well and truly not welcome any more. As I sat at a winery with friends last week end with the winter sun warming my back, I feel that the scent of spring is not too far off and I begun getting excited about my fave season.

Montalto winery, Mornington Peninsula - lovely friends, food and wine!

Spring blossoms and sitting in the mild air.

Spring cleaning the house, opening the windows, sun shining through. I want to get my pantry organised!

Good movies! A good friend bought me this book and I am really enjoying it. Cant wait to see the movie!

Freshly picked herbs from the garden.

Sweet smelling spring blossoms.

Happy happy happy!!!

Craving papaya!

I am presently drooling over the goods I stumbled across at papaya.com. I keep saying I will treat myself one day to some of these gorgeous items...hasn't happened yet but I still love to dream about them. Just been browsing their web site and again begin to crave papaya...one day!! Absolutely stunning designs with some simple and sweet messages.

papaya.com

A little dash of colour

For a while now I have been wanting to paint my dining chairs. I originally wanted to paint them all white, until I saw a picture in a magazine of a dining table with mismatched white and colored chairs. This inspired me to paint 2 of my chairs bright yellow, or "dandelion" as purchased from Bunnings. I am so happy with the finished product, and though it was a tedious and long job, I now smile each time I see my yellow chairs. What do you think?

While I was in the yellow mood, I decided to make some lemon curd out of a bowl of lemons my mum gave me. I had such an enjoyable afternoon with all my happy yellow surroundings. The lemon curd was also very delicious!