A Simple Christmas

A few months back I rescued a medalta crock pot from my neighbours garbage pile. I loved the look of it but hadn't quite figured out what to do with it decoratively until now.

This year, more than any other, I am drawn to keeping things simple. I don't have a lot of Christmas decorations, but I think that I may keep my tree simple, decorated only by lights. There is something so beautiful about a simple tree with lights.

What you don't see is the extension cord hidden in the crock, and the Pampered Chef utensil holder stuffed with newspaper to bring the tree up to the right height. Oh yes, I can be quite resourceful when I need to be!

In my head I have visions of shabby chic garlands of silver and stars draped all over my living room, but for now I'll just live vicariously.

There's just something about Christmas lights!

How do you decorate for the holidays?

Image sources: Happiness Is The Journey, jekert gwapo, Chris_J, Marcin Wichary, ali edwards

DIY Message In A Bottle

As I was sorting through and decluttering some of my memorabilia, I came across some items that I thought would be beautiful to have out on display. I decided to combine my keepsakes with some spice bottles that I found for 10 cents each at a yard sale this summer.

Special Ingredients:

3 old spice bottles
a ball of twine
mixed amethyst and hematite stones
6 pewter angel coins

I placed the amethyst and hematite stones in the bottles, allowing room to slip the angel coins in at the sides, then put a few more stones on top. It took a little bit of maneuvering to make it look just right. Next up I just cut a long length of twine and wrapped it around the bottle neck, crossing it until the whole neck was covered. Then I knotted it and cut off the excess twine so that only a pretty little amount remained. Incredibly easy!

I love the rustic look of the twine, the little frays flying all over the place. It's a great way to spice up a window sill, plus now my pretty stones are no longer hidden out of sight but prettily out on display. I could use any of these bottles as a paper weight, or choose to keep a specific one close by based on the message of the coins - Hope, Peace, Harmony, Love, Healing, Prosperity.

Not bad for 30 cents!

P.S. Today I am linking up to Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest

My fabulous find on garbage day

Once a year a church in our neighbourhood runs a community garbage pick up where they will take trash from your yard, old mattresses from your basement, etc. It comes in quite handy. Last year they were a huge help to us and they even did yard work! This year they seemed to be concentrating just on taking away the garbage but that was a big help too. They took away the giant pile of wood we had from the demolition of our old porch and a few other odds and ends. I'm always really grateful for anyone who is willing to help out like that, it makes a big difference.

The reason I'm talking about all this is that my neighbour put some things out to be taken away, and I scored something that I think is pretty fabulous - for FREE!

Isn't it lovely? It's quite large and weighs a ton. I think it would make a beautiful planter on the porch in flowering seasons.

Image source: All About Planters

Keeping it inside I could use it to hold some decorative branches or an eclectic collection of umbrellas.

Image source: House to Home

No, I don't currently nor do I anticipate ever collecting umbrellas, but it's just about the right depth to contain some!

I haven't decided what I am going to use it for, but its appearance appeals to me so much I will be keeping it. Any suggestions?

The generousity of strangers

This morning I spent a few hours with my best friend. That's always a recharge for me (hopefully not too much of a drain for her) as I get to talk to someone who 'gets' it. I'm not entirely comfortable with telling everyone when I am struggling with depression, because the reality is that I struggle a lot! I try to put on a brave face and she has told me in the past that once I start complaining about something, it must be bad. It's just nice to have someone to complain to!

I'm feeling grateful today because one of the things I put out in the universe has come back to me, in this case I've received much more than I gave! Back during the free giveaway weekend I decided to put out several bags of baby/toddler girls clothes since although I had been trying to sell them on kijiji, they weren't moving. A lady from down the street came by and picked them up. Since then my Mother-In-Law picked up some secondhand clothes for Desana while she was on vacation, and today Shawna brought over TONS of clothes that she was given by another friend. She sorted through and chose what she wanted, then I went through and picked what I wanted, and there were still enough clothes left to go to another family.

I feel so grateful because Desana is outgrowing everything again, and it's nice for Freya to have a few pieces that are 'new' to us. It also helps me look at what we have with a new eye. Reality is, unless you only do your laundry every two or three weeks, your child probably doesn't need two dozen short sleeved shirts, two dozen long sleeved shirts and two dozen pairs of pants. It's a difficult concept for us to grasp these days, but a person can get by with only a few pieces of clothing.

Don't the experts say we wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time? I think that probably applies to children's clothes as well. I know I have my favorites, the colors I love or love to see them in, the pieces I find particularly adorable. So many things just get passed over, but there they sit hanging in the closet, or buried in the back of the dresser drawer when they could be used by another family, another child.

Something to consider. Are you struggling to find clothes for your kids to wear just because there's way too much in their closet? Pay it forward. Although I always appreciate receiving new clothes for the girls, I honestly prefer to receive hand-me-downs or buy second hand because it is such a huge saving, and the little money I do have or receive could be put towards other things. My kids don't wear rags, but they don't wear princess dresses all day long either and that's just fine.


Image source: Nanagyei

Something Old: Nanna Cannon's Recipe Book

When I moved to Canada in early 2004, I left behind in Australia all of my worldly possessions except for the clothing I brought with me. In December 2007 I received all the boxes of the things I'd packed almost 4 years before. I was roughly 37 weeks pregnant with Desana so unpacking boxes wasn't at the top of my priority list. Now after the birth of my second child I'm finally getting around to really unpacking and looking through everything.

My rule is to look at and deal with just one box at a time, that way it (hopefully) won't become too overwhelming. It is amazing the things you forget about when you haven't seen them in over 6 years. It is amazing how much the sentimental part of me tries to cling on to those things despite my inability to remember their significance or who gave them to me.

The last box I sorted through was a book box. Lots of books from my childhood and teenage years. I had a very difficult time sorting through it because on the one hand, these were books that I loved enough to decide to keep when I packed everything up and sold the rest. On the other hand I don't remember most of the plots and can't see myself re-reading them since I've decided life is too short to waste on bad books. What to do, what to do...

I did find a few treasures, one a published recipe book filled with many of the foods I grew up eating (and haven't had in years since they aren't made in Canada) and the other a handwritten recipe book by my Great Grandmother, Nanna Cannon. For the first five or so years of my life my Great Grandparents were living in Tamworth (which is, I believe where both my Grandmother and my Mum were born).

I have quite a few mental snapshots of memories of the time we spent in Tamworth when I was about five years old. I remember sheep on a hill that we saw from the train. I remember finding the skull of some animal in a tree in the backyard of my Great Grandparent's house and that being the first time someone told me 'you never see cats skeletons in trees'. I remember looking at some toys at a corner store and wanting to stay and play with the little girl whose parents ran the shop. I remember all the beautiful trees with autumn colors, something that you don't see too often where I'm from. I remember playing on one of those spinning playground toys (what are those called?) in the same park with the trees. I remember playing in a water fountain, climbing up on the kitchen counter to reach the container with licorice in it (that's where my love of licorice came from), watching sesame street on the small tv on top of the piano that they would later give to us.

circa. 1989 (I'm the one in PINK!)

Isn't it funny the things we remember and the things we forget?

Nanna Cannon's Recipe Book is full of fairly simple recipes and lots of thrifty tips, many of which make me smile.

I have no idea when she would have written everything that is in this little book as there are no dates any where.

You have to admit it is a lovely keepsake. The idea of making some of these recipes for my girls just makes me smile. I'm sure Nanna Cannon would be so pleased.

Here are a few little things from the book for your perusal.

Cough Mixture

In saucepan   1 cup cider-vinegar

1 1/2 cups honey

Juice of 3 large lemons

Heat, stir till dissolved. Cool. Bottle. Use as required.

Home-Made Chicken Soup

One dozen chicken wings

2 large carrots

1 large parsnip

2 larger onions

celery, beans, peas

Cover with water, bring to boil. Cook 1/2 hour.

Add 3 packets chicken-noodle soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

Cook further 20 minutes. Serve.

Melting Moment Biscuits

Cream together 1/2 cup margaine & 1/3 cup icing sugar

Add                    1/2 cup self-raising flour

1/2 cup cornflour

Bake 12 minutes

• Paint men's old boots, with enamel paint. Fill with soil. Useful plant-pot.
• Vaseline keeps eyebrows in line.
• New floral tea-towels make attractive cushion covers.
• Screw tops of screw-top-jars under cupboard shelves. Jars can be used for all small items, to be kept tidy.
• Left-over wallpaper makes attractive hard covers for books. Cover over with plastic.
• Soapy washing water, is good to toss over citrus trees. Helps to wash the bugs away.
• Water is a good cheap window cleaner. Use with newspaper, dry with newspaper.
• Keep broken biscuits separate from the others. When children visit, they enjoy a tin of broken-biscuits.
• Cardboard box, covered with contact or wall-paper, is useful under child's bed, for toys, or shoes.

Aren't those some neat tips? Now I'm off to find some vaseline...hah!

Repurposed Cheese Shakers

I was given a set of matching cheese shakers by my mother-in-law a few months back. As I've yet to tackle the art of pizza making I was inspired to use them in another way!

Cheese shakers turned bath salt holders! Not only does it make for a really pretty little display, but with the holes in the top a lovely smell escapes when you are in the vicinity.

If you had small enough grains of bath salt you should use them to shake salts in to your bath.

What a lovely shape. :)

Another useful idea, you could put tealights in them! Maybe once you've used up a little of the bath salts so the candle can sit in a little deeper.

If you're anything like me you probably have a stash of bath products that could last you for years. You know what they say, out of sight, out of mind. At least this way they are in sight, and a reminder that this Mum needs to take some time for herself once in awhile.

That is all you are going to see of my bathroom, it is going to be gutted sometime in the future. At which point I will take before pictures!

Buying used

I don't think I really believe in buying new anymore. I know there are times where it's necessary, maybe because you're not patient enough to find a used version... but the reality is that buying new just costs way too much money. Over the past few weeks I think I've made about $150 selling things online. Things I don't need or use anymore (if ever). In turn I've been able to turn that money around and buy other used things that I've needed (wanted). I'm slowly moving towards having much less belongings, and not only that but having belongings that I love. Our master bedroom has been my main focus lately because I think that room should be your refuge and a very welcoming and comforting place to be. It's amazing how much more finished the room looks since we picked up matching lamps for our mismatched bedside tables. I also got a beautiful white ruffled bedskirt (ikea), and since I bought a duvet and two different duvet covers(new, and ridiculously expensive) for my birthday, the bed is just gorgeous.

Yes, I will take pictures soon. :)

I'm asking for about a total of $230 for all the things I currently have listed for sale. That is money I hope to put towards painting the girls bedroom, getting the carpet cleaned, buying the perfect used recliner and whatever misc. supplies I'll need for sanding and painting the furniture. I really don't need anything else for them.

Image source: silverfox09

Trash or treasure?

This chair was a 'freebie' that the previous owners left behind in the garden shed.

Isn't it cute how the seat looks like the shape of a slice of bread?

It has really lovely spindle legs and back.

The paint is in really bad condition and needs to be completely sanded away. For now I've put it out on the front porch with an old mixing bowl turned flower pot sitting on it.

It really needs to have a complete transformation Lather Creations style, so if I ever get around to doing it you can check out my inspiration!

The wonders of kijiji

What can you get for free on kijiji?

18 Real Simple magazines, 1 Oprah magazine, 2 what's cooking (kraft) magazines & 1 style Manitoba magazine!

Ok, not entirely free, my friend picked them up for me and I gave her $5 for helping me out, but when you consider that a two year subscription of Real Simple is around $48, Oprah is $6 off the rack, and Style Manitoba $5... free ($5) feels pretty good!

I have a few hours of looking through each magazine to look forward to, then I'll be cutting and pasting pictures that inspire me into my IDJ (Illustrated Discovery Journal).

For more information on Illustrated Discovery Journals, check out The Illustrated Discovery Journal: Creating a Visual Autobiography of Your Authentic Self

Repurposed baby food jars

I'm sorry it's been a couple of days since my last post! I've come to see that unless I place a high priority on making a post every day it is very easy to let life get in the way.

Last weekend we had dinner at my mother-in-law's house. Afterward we were sitting in the backyard and somehow came to the subject of decluttering (which, as you probably know by now is one of my favorite pass times). I mentioned that if she had any glass bottles or jars I would love to take a look at them as I've been looking at lots of Shabby Chic books lately and would love to be able to put flowers in them and such. I also have a craft project in mind that I saw over at Make It and Love It - Treat Jars. As luck would have it she had a bag full of old baby food jars! It took me a few days to get around to looking through them, but when I did I found that amongst the usual plain small baby food jars, there were three absolutely gorgeous little jars.

Aren't they beautiful?

On the outside they have measurements, ml on one side and oz on the other.

The one in the middle has a criss-cross pattern whereas the other two have vertical stripes, but I think I like the slightly mismatched look.

At home in my beautiful little corner of the bedroom.

I do have a confession to make. My backyard is a jungle wasteland with flowers that are mostly composed of dandelions. I don't know if these little purple ones I found out there are technically considered 'weeds', but I think if I find beauty in them I just don't care. :)

Simple Living

I have noticed and am trying to be more aware of the need to fill empty space. Not a physical space that's empty but something lacking on the inside. Sometimes it is the assurance that I have enough money to buy something if I want it (with what can feel like a great sense of urgency). The reality is that our needs are pretty basic. We need water to drink, food in our stomachs, and if we're lucky we have a roof over our heads, a soft place to sleep on and companionship. We have all bought in to commercialism and competing with our friends family and neighbours to have the new and the best. I can freely admit that we've been there and done that. But at what cost?

I'm trying to live with this in mind: All I have is all I need.

When I think about how 'small' our house is and how I wish we had four bedrooms, two or three bathrooms, etc, etc, I remember that people used to have large families in one room houses, and in some places in the world they still do. It's all just a matter of perspective.

Last week I stumbled across two blogs on the subject of simple living. When you've got a few minutes (or hours!) go check them out at http://rowdykittens.com/ and http://walkslowlylivewildly.com/

I read so many blogs and books that sometimes it is difficult to remember where I read something. With that in mind, I read (somewhere!) of a woman's experience of a house feeling unwelcoming to her, as if the house was saying it expected her to not invest in it the time and care it needed, so why would it be welcoming? I've felt for a long time that my house doesn't feel like a home. Now I'm realising it may be my attitude that is the problem. Yes, there are many things to work on but I'm kind of a fixer-upper myself. This is the house my children were born in (just a few feet from where I'm sitting). Considering that for many years I thought I would never be able to be a mother, that alone is a pretty big miracle that has happened inside these walls.

Maybe if I look at my house with eyes of kindness, seeing it that has potential (not flaws) it will welcome me.

All I have is all I need.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cliche/

My small piece of shabby chic

Our master bedroom has been a work in progress for over a year now. It is only a few small projects short of being complete, but I find it pretty livable at this point. For my birthday in June I used some money to buy a duvet and two duvet covers with matching pillowcases (from Jysk). Prior to that we were using two big fluffy blankets, one with a wolf and one with a bear. Not at all my style but appropriately warm for Winnipeg winters. I know, it's not winter anymore! I also had no real desire to make my bed every day using either or both of those blankets. Now I'm finding it much more desirable to do so because the end result is a gorgeous looking bed!

The next step for me was getting matching bedside tables. I'd been living without one, until I decided to use one of our tv dinner trays from the living room as a makeshift table in the meantime. Then I spent weeks searching on kijiji for a pair that was either ok looking or looked as if I could slap some paint on them and would like them. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find TWO matching bedside tables! Apparently people only really sell one! I also set a budget of $100 for a pair.

Then this appeared and I fell, truly, madly, deeply:

A Lather Creations refurbished table by Lenore over at http://latherwriterepeat.blogspot.com/

I spent two days talking myself into it, and ultimately being talked into purchasing it by my Mum (including a majority portion of paying for it, as I was struggling to justify spending so much on one table) and my best friend who was so generous as to put up with our screaming kids while we drove across town during rush hour to pick it up.

Once I figured out that Matt really didn't care that much about having 'matching' tables, and I realised just how in love with it I was there really only was one choice to make.

Here it is in it's new home, by my bedside.

Isn't it gorgeous?

It has a perfect little spot for all the books I always have on the go, and just enough surface space on top for the book of the moment and a couple of loved items.

Now I'm highly motivated to keep our room clutter free and truly the relaxing sanctuary it should be.

What do you need in your space to make it your haven at the end of the day?