Simple Living

As I have finished all my Christmas shopping except for the fresh food I will need on Christmas day, I am staying well and truly away from all large shopping centres.

Luckily we have a small IGA in our local area which doesn't get too busy for day to day needs but as for going near a Westfield plaza - forget it!

Time to get on with some of the craft projects that have been sitting in the cupboard.

One of the easy and quick things I wanted to do was to dress up some of my plain pillowcases.

I like to buy white pillowcases as they are so easy to napisan back to a lovely fresh white again.

But they are oh, so boring.

I picked up a fat quarter in Big W a few months ago with the intention of adding it as a border to some white pillowcases I already had.

Just a bit on the entry side of the pillowcase.

Makes our bed look nice and fresh. Took me about 30 minutes to do the two pillowcases.

The other thing I've been doing a bit of lately is stockpiling.

Firstly, because I hope to avoid the shops as much as I can for the next month and secondly, because the school holidays are approaching and I know I will be grocery shopping with an irritable 8 year old.

Last week, Woolies had this great special on toilet paper. Sixteen rolls for $4. I grabbed two lots.

I also love to grab shampoo and conditioner when it's on sale.

I have absolutely no brand loyalty. I try to buy organic when I can but sometimes the other brands have such good specials it's hard to say no.

My shampoo collection.

I've also gotten back into op shopping. I had given up on it a bit because I wasn't finding much in the stores lately and when I did, I found they were charging too much for vintage items.

But a girlfriend reminded me to just take my time when I'm looking through the stores, don't go looking for a particular item and don't buy anything unless I love it.

Well today I feel in love.

My Nan used to have one of these bags/baskets. Made of fabric with cane looking handles. Nan used to keep her knitting projects in hers. I was walking past the local cancer op shop and saw this in the window. I quickly walked in and snaffled it up for myself.

It's now right next to my bed ready for some Autumn/Winter knitting projects.

And 2012 is going to be the year I learn to crochet. (No laughing)

I'm So Tired

We had such a busy weekend we were all in bed by 9 o'clock last night. On Saturday we had to go up to Rhianna's school to water all the plants. Rhianna has joined the gardening club at school and that means we've ALL joined the gardening club at school. During the holidays the new seedlings and plants have to be watered.

Here's Bill watering in the vegie patch

And here's me watering the new natives

And here's Rhianna, not watering, and playing on the equipment. The things I do!!!

I also won this fabulous 1930's club lounge on Ebay. We had to travel up to Katoomba to collect it.The people we bought it off loved to talk (and talk). We were there 3 hours. But I am in LOVE ,LOVE, LOVE with my new lounges. But boy are they heavy to lift and move around. And that is why we were in bed early on Sunday night.

Not so Fantastic Plastic

There's been a lot of press lately about the dangers of plastic that is used to store our foodstuffs and especially plastic that comes in contact with food when it is being heated.

There is now conclusive evidence that plasticides (DEHA) from some food wraps (clingwrap) leach and migrate into food - particularly when that food and plastic are heated. (Such as in a microwave) Here are some of the steps I have taken to reduce the amount of plastic being used by our family.

If I use clingwrap (rare now) I make sure it does not come into contact with the food it is covering.

I got rid of the microwave and thus the temptation to quickly reheat things.

I use nude food containers for Miss R's lunch or waxed paper if required.

I have now converted my entire pantry to glass storage containers. I did this gradually over time to cut down on the cost. I do have quite a small pantry but because I am at home full time I can pick up what I need for dinner fresh each day. Storing less food means less food waste at the end of the week.

Here is my pantry

Is anybody else reducing the amount of plastic in their homes?

I knew I was kidding myself that I'd have a restful school holidays but today was full on. After Rhianna cooked herself some breakfast, we went op shopping and then to the park.

Back home again, I started on dinner as my energy was getting low. Pumpkin soup and a batch of scones.

A spot of cubby house building and then into the cubby to colour in and play some games.

Then outside for some trampolining and then some ironing. Phew, I don't think I can keep this up for another 2 weeks.

Going Vintage

In my journey to become greener and also to save money I have come to appreciate vintage goods. Besides loving the whole "look" of old things, I can appreciate the workmanship that went into things.


Some of the items I have come from the 1930's. That's over 70 years old and still going strong. It's hard to imagine something from IKEA lasting that long.


These are my vintage bakelite cannisters. It took me two years to find some on Ebay that were in mint condition. My Mum and Grandmother each had a set of these and I love to remember days spent baking with both of them when I look at this set. The cabinet they are housed in is a 1940's dresser which we picked up in an antique store in Hazelbrook.



My vintage tablecloth collection (it's in its early days). I'm also collecting and using linen napkins.
Some of this crockery and glassware is very old and some is just from Spotlight and I liked the pattern. The depressionware pink glasses were a find from an op shop for $4.

This gorgeous eiderdown is from a shop in Springwood called Frou Frou. It's full of vintage wares and my girlfriend and I spend a lot of time in here ohhhing and ahhing over things. The shawl is from a flea market and the vintage bag from another vintage store in the mountains.

I got this old fashioned lamp off Ebay for $20. The shade was an aqua colour so I bought some fabric that matched my home a bit more and recovered it. You might think its a bit naff but it really suits my house.

I am absolutely loving collecting vintage stuff and plan to do a lot more this year.

Back into a Routine

Well the Summer school holidays are officially over and this morning Miss Rhianna excitedly got her uniform on and demanded to be taken to school - pity it was only 7am

From school, it was straight to the charity shop. I hope to make this a fortnightly event until I have fully decluttered the house. This was this mornings stash. This is my clutter and my girlfriend Julie's clutter combined. We sort through each other's clutter before we hand it over to the charity shops in case my clutter is her new treasure and visa versa.




Then to the local fruit store. I am trying to buy local as much as possible but even in the fruit shop you have to check labels. Now, some of the oranges were from Orange (funny that) which I consider local but some of the others were from SA. You have to be careful.





A bit of crafting at lunch time. I chose an easy project that took me just half an hour. I made another pillow from an old jumper for my son's bedroom. Dead easy.



Then finally into the garden. I hung these pots by the pool as the possums won't come near them. At the moment I have strawberries in them and they have been a bit pitiful. The fruit is nice but only about a handful of strawberries a week. Today I will give them a tidy up and a good water.

Then my day is over and I pick up my little cherub from school to hear all about Year One.

Hope you've had a nice relaxing day also.