a weekend of garage sales.

i love a bargain and this last weekend was pretty much dominated by garage sales.
first my garage sale with friends  and then the annual Quorn town garage sales which were as epic as last year.

i got lots of new things but i thought i'd share today the magazine rack (above ) and some picture frames. i've just hung them in the hall way for now but am thinking of using the prints to be the background to some inspirational quotes, i just need to work out the right ones. but my personal favourite find of the day was some cute little canisters. they're not a matching set but wherever they end i know they'll look fantastic.

 happy thrifting! im linking with her library adventures and apron thrift girl.

what to do with a giant hole in the wall.

i'm a dreamer and love to think of ways to change up the house without spending a fortune. last weekend my super handy parents, hubby and i decided to redecorate the 'junk/dining room'. 

our house is a beautiful old house with high pressed tin ceilings, wood paneling walls and plenty of charm but it has one ugly old aircon that isn't used so before changes happened it was kind of essential to ditch the air con.

so in a weekend solution: find a pretty piece of leadlight cheap and knock out the aircon. build a frame around it, mount it and smile at a beautiful blank canvas room. 

it took about a day to complete but boy is it beautiful and turning our junk room into a nice sunny winter room where i just want to curl up with a good book and cup of tea and read all day.

before:

after:

i'll show some final transformation pictures of how our 'junk room' has been transformed into a dining room/spare room/ reading nook but it's still not quite finished. above is a small peak but i've still got so many ideas to put into place before it's complete.ah, the joys of pinterest and ideas galore on the net :)

hope your having a good week! x

trash to treasure decorating.

i am the biggest fan of recycling old 'trash' and making it into something beautiful in my home. this weekend  i was lucky enough to have a visit from the number 1 handy man- aka dad, to help me practically achieve my artistic vision and transform our junk room into my dream dining room.

i was fortunate to snag a few old crates from a local garage sale this weekend and thought i'd turn them into a few things round the house.

we drilled 3 crates together to create some cute shelving.

and one of them became a planter box for some strawberries phil received as a gift for helping someone.

and while cleaning up the shed for our garage sale i found an old rake which i spray painted yellow and have set up in the dining room to hang wine glasses from... i just really need to stop breaking wine glasses and buy some more. these sad four are the last left of the wine glass collection we got for our wedding. maybe i'll be able to get some more from another garage sale :)

 i'm linking with her library adventures and apron thrift girl

happy thrifting!!

making plans.

it's been a bit quieter on this blog this year as work has got busier and i've had less time but i thought i'd share a few projects i have going on.

currently there is a large pile of bits and bobs in the middle of my guest room as we are planning for a large purging garage sale in a few weeks. i've been sorting through all the cupboards for the last week determine to clear things if they don't fit my two categories : 1) beautiful or 2) practical and useful. goodbye clutter!

and the other project that i'm feeling passionate about is transforming our dining/second spare room into a more beautiful space. since we've found out we're going to be staying in our country town next year too  i figure there is enough time to change up the room a bit before we pack and move again. i'm pretty happy with our our bedroom but there's definately room for improvement with dining and maybe even some of the other rooms.

i have lots of ideas but it all comes down to what i can find cheaply around the town. i like the idea of seperating the room into two halves so when lots of guests come to stay we still have somewhere to eat! i've also been collecting frames of similar colours from garage sales in the hope of creating a great picture wall. 

well above you can see the before and hopefully the after might look a little bit more like the picture below.

source

have you got any projects going at the moment? 
enjoy the rest of your week!

recent crafts.

i thought i'd share a few recent craft projects. i have many on the go at the moment but these ones have been finished- well until i can work out what to do with my tshirt love heart. the vase was very easy to make- simply wrap wool around an old bottle and seal with mod podge.
for the heart you need:
an old red tshirt
cardboard
staples
scissors
simply cut the old tshirt up into lots of square and then you staple it on to the cardboard backing.
for a great tutorial (and if you want to attach your love heart to a pillow) look here..

i'm loving the fact that it's saturday so i'm off to start some more projects- and hopefully complete a few more too!

home tour: our bedroom

hello there. today i thought i'd give you a little tour of our bedroom since i promised i would in a previous post. it is now complete, until my creative side decides to try some more new things. our walls are a cream colour and full of  thrift shop finds and artworks. i tried to create a clean and inviting space filled with things i love, and husband helped me to decide where to put things too.

the klimt painting we picked up from an artist in vietnam and is my favourite painting. you might recognise the thrifted mirror from a  previous post.

our bedroom is full of thrifted finds like this basket  i use for storing shoes and this darling chair that someone put on hard rubbish.

 

 

 

 

 

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our bed came with a little leadlight rose in the centre. it wasn't quite my taste so my dear grandpa handcarved ( isn't he amazing!!) this picture for us. it's very special as it has the cameo that was used on our wedding invites and grandpa has added a special touch- an L and P inside an S (our initials). it's so beautiful, we love it to pieces and are so thankful to have such a talented grandpa.

the mirror frame was found at a garage sale in wilmington. i thought the frame was beautiful so i replaced the glass. the artwork on our wall is by my talented friend dave. the other artwork is by me, using a frame and picture i got at a garage sale for only $5, for a tutorial on how to make an artwork like it, look here.

it's really the perfect room now to relax in. and when we decide to hit the lights...

thanks for taking a peek at our new bedroom ♥

notes: doona- marie claire, lights- womadelaide, lamps- beacon lighting, pillows

thrifting finds.

i was pretty pleased with this weeks finds. they're a bit novelty but still very cute. perfect for when i have people round for a cup of tea or when i'm hosting and want to put my snacks in something a little more decorative. and i also got some pretty fake sunflowers for the spare room- when i can't get the real thing in my small country town, at least i can use the fake variety.

happy thrifting!

and as usual i'm linking with her library adventures and apron thrift girl.

new bedroom.

instead of  buying each other christmas presents this year, husband and i decided to get a matching bedroom set. it's been a childhood dream of mine to have a four poster bed since the days i spent visiting grandma and grandpa and sleeping in their four poster 'princess' bed.  previously we didnt really have bedside tables and all the furniture in the room was things we'd manage to convince my parents to give us before we moved. so begins my project...to create the perfect bedroom. 

above is just a sneak peak but i will share photos when i have finished. we spend an awful lot of time in our room so i can't wait to get creative and transform the space. i've been seeking inspiration on pinterest and using the beautiful books husband gifted me for my last birthday:

creative walls by geraldine james

and flea market style by emily chalmers

both the above books are very creative, inspiring and beautiful coffee table books with a multitude of ideas.

from looking at those books i came up with a list of creative decorating ideas that i love. i thought i'd share a few ideas that i'm considering using.

lantern lighting

beautiful lace bedspreads

flowers around mirrors

interesting wall art

and vintage letters (and numbers)

i'm not really sure how this project will evolve as it's still in it's very early stages. i have decided my budget to spend is whatever i can make from selling off old things- like the previous bedroom furniture- and this will mean i'll be looking through lots of flea markets and thrift shops. when i'm finished transforming the space i'll share it, along with some ideas and things we have done to our bedroom to make it special.

when hosting tourists: setting up the perfect guest room.

when we moved to the country i knew lots of our city family and friends would be coming up to visit. i wanted to set up a guest room that’s cozy and inviting. i picked up ideas for b&bs and hotels we visited and have put together a little guide of what we did to set up our main guest room.

1.i bought some nice linen and we were fortunate to get a comfy bed for free from friends. i always make sure to supply lots of pillows to accommodate guests with different sleeping needs and provide fresh towels (and i always add some soap for an extra touch).

2.  i have some spare toiletries in the non working fireplace. you never feel clean if you forget your toothbrush or soap so i always  have spare soaps, shampoos and toothbrushes for the forgetful guest or the person who stays too late and decides to crash.

3. i have a box that’s easy to access with lots of extra blankets for cold nights. i also have a suitcase filled with toys for those times our friends with kids come to visit.

4.i  have a jug of water and some glasses for guests who get thirsty in the night.

5. i always love wearing a robe and staying in my pjs for breakfast on holidays so we have a guest robe for anyone who wants to laze around all morning.

other things i like to do are put flowers in a vase in the room. i also  put a big reading chair in the room, bought some pretty rugs and converted one of the built in bookcases into a wardrobe filled with empty coat hangers. i love having guests come stay and hope that these ideas might be useful for you if you’re setting up a guest room. NB all the backgrounds for the polaroids are old wallpapers i was given by a friend at work. i’m  not sure exactly what crafts to turn them into but that’s going to be my holiday project.

p.s i love this idea for hungry visitors.

decluttering crafts

I am someone who absolutely adores bargain hunting and the thrill of getting something new, yet I hate clutter and when I get too materialistic. When Phil and I first got married we lived in a tiny two bedroom unit in a set of flats.We painted the walls white and it was easy to maintain. The house was filled with wedding presents and bits of furniture donated by parents and friends as the only household items we had before moving out were a cane chair and a giant hello kitty mug that really is too big to drink from. Below are some photos of it.

back when our fruit bowl was filled with bananas, before they cost $14.00 a kilo

However now that we live in the country we have a house that is plenty big enough for Phil, Maisy and I with a large outdoor entertaining area, two sheds and plenty of yard space. Before we moved we only had enough possessions to fill a small unit and even then it was pretty sparsely filled. Now almost 1 and a 1/2 years later I can't believe we've filled up a whole house! So with the weekend looming I thought why not give the house a bit of a 'winter' clean and declutter. However as I went through cupboards I found some craft supplies and decided to get a bit crafty instead.

With a container of harma beads, some ribbon and a small canvas I made a replica Marilyn Monroe pop art picture.

a copy pop art Marilyn in oils picked up from a Vietnamese art shop in Ho Chi Minh City

Then I found all these pretty dollies my Nanna gave me on our wedding day as well as a bunch of other wedding gifts and using silver paint and a canvas turned it into a wedding memory collage (almost 2 years ago now).

 
Next I found some lovely toile material Libby gave me, painted a frame blue and made a toile inspired pin board. I haven't finished the pin board yet but here's a picture of where I'm up to.

Thinking of adding some ribbons and possibly a third coat of blue paint??
Time to rest now and have a curry night with the girls.