Tea towel swap master plan

Soon, very soon...it is the tea towel swap for 2011. I have been planning my swap for a wee while, thinking if i should make something from a tea towel or simply find the most fabulous tea towel ever to give. The wonderful person i am giving too is quite a special lady, and i believe she deserves something a little extra special. So my master plan is in place *mwahahahaa* and i am pretty excited, i hope she likes it when she receives it in the mail. I haven't actually thought much about who will be giving to me, i am so excited about the giving part. Can you tell i have never done a swap before :D

Unofficial bloggy holiday is over...

*phew* a huge sigh of relief as i sit down and sip a little red wine...

So, i opened a new store, repainted over the first sunday and monday, back open on the tuesday and now have a stinking cold! Here's a before and after of what we managed:

Huge effort to get everything  taken down, repaint the walls, reposition everything and make the store super super stylee. But i managed it with the help of some amazing family and friends (a huge thank you to my long suffering husband!). Two days of non-stop painting and it's all done, never again she says (until next time!). Now, just on to the website and online shop, buzy bee's here!

The hired help having morning tea 

Long suffering husband

 Me, i could only reach the low stuff (please disregard HORRIBLE wooden fish in background, BLUEGH!)

The mighty helpful "nana's" sorting a yummy lunch. 

Hanmer...I love you!

*sigh* is the holiday finished already?? Three days away in the wonderful little village of Hanmer, bliss. Although the 3 1/2 hour drive was a little long for me, it was worth it! Lewis pass was stunning along the way, and the sun shone.  We stayed in a wee holiday home which was very retro to say the least, but it was cute and had a good fire and a baby proof garden with a swing! The good thing about Hanmer is that everything is walking distance, a handful of good shops, cafe's and activities. Although the hat spring pools were a bit steep at $18 each. But once your in the warm water you forget how much your wallet is hurting.

We stayed with another family and their little girl same age as Sabine and they got on wonderfully, little angels the entire time.  They enjoyed the pools, even mini golf which Sabine picked up quickly and could even hit the ball (child genius i think!). We even hired a babysitter and got to go out for dinner...all of us...no sober driver, no one having to stay home, all out until 9:30pm. Oooh late night ;D


When's the next holiday please?

Website making and new challenges

Going from Blogger to Wordpress was a bit of a challenge to start with, but the website i needed really had to go on Wordpress...so i haven't let it beat me and the website i am making for my store is really taking shape!

Only 2 and a bit more weeks till I take over and I am so excited! New adventures in mummy land indeed! A little daunting too as i will be going back to full time work for the first time since having Sabine, i will miss her terribly but financially i need to work so a bit of a reality shock for me.

Here's a snippet of what the website looks like so far!

Pinterest: DIY ideas i found!

My new little obsession: Pinterest (basically anything of interest people "Pin It" on the site you see the picture and follow the link to the page! Great idea!) If you haven't found this new little addictive website follow the links to a few of these DIY ideas i have found to get the drift! Quite addictive! Right...back to pinning!

Source: ideastosteal.com via Ali on Pinterest

Source: ruthiauda.com via Ali on Pinterest

Source: thebridescafe.com via Ali on Pinterest

A simple Mother's Day gift to make

If you or your kids have even the tiniest hint of craftiness they can make this simple but very cute Mother's Day gift for tomorrow! I found all the items around the house and it didn't take long to make!

What you'll need:


Baby food glass jar or similar
Household paint
lace/twine/raffia/wool
A tag (bought or make one)
dirt
Stolen flower from the garden, or you could use a little fern?

1. drop a bit of paint into the clean glass jar, twist the jar around until the paint covers the inside, turn it upside down onto a cooling rack placed on some newspaper. Pop this in the airing cupboard over night to dry.

2. Once dry, tie round the raffia and lace and attach the gift card, i wrote happy mother's day (of course).

3. Much to my husband disgust i used a tea spoon to pop the dirt into the jar, then pop in the flower (don't forget to get some good roots on the plant). Finished!

LOVE love loveing

Linking in with the wonderful Paisley Jade again: Things I'm Loving

Peek-a-boo with Papa

Watching planes from the window

Little fairies playing in their rooms nicely