My fab new DIY lamp.

I have been reading alot about recovering and renovating lamps lately On blogs like this  and I realy wanted to give this a try.
Firstly, I had this beautiful piece of wood that I found at the tipshop. It was solid wood and I think it may of once been a leg off a small table. I had been using it outside with candles on top and it looked lovely however I felt it was wasted and it wasnt realy working outside.
I decided to paint it white and slightly rub it back. Im kicking myself that I didnt take any before/after shots of this.  My vey clever husband drilled holes in the base to put my lamp cords.

Secondly, I found an old lampshade at an op-shop that wasnt the prettiest,In fact it was quite blah!... but it was the perfect shape for what I was wanting.

 The fabric peeled off the base quite easy, as you can see.

I totaly took the lampshade apart and was left with a skeleton.  I used the backing cardboard as a template for my fabric.

I had some nice fabric that I purchased from Ikea a while back that I measured to fit the cardboard.  Note; if you decided to make this, make sure the fabric is slightlly bigger around the edges of the cardboard.

I sprayed adhesive glue on both the cardboard and the fabric and then very carfully layed the two together so they were neatly on top of each other.

Now, for the fun {but tricky} part.  I wrapped the shade around the two metal rings that form the shade, I sprayed a little more of the adhesive and tucked the fabric under the rim neatly so you cant see it.

Sticking pegs around the shade until it dries just keeps eveything in place.

Not the greatest of pics {sorry} but here is the finished product.  You can see the lampbase and shade all in one here.

I did a simular shade, in hessian...it wasnt the best result, but Im determand to give it another go and perfect it LOL.

Sorry this wasnt the best tutorial, but check out this FaNtAsTiC tutorial here
that helped me with my lamp.

~Have fun xo

A day in the life of our spring holidays.

School holidays again! yay! Once again we've had fun! Here I will share a snapshot of one day during the holiday that we had at home...

I had a delivery in the morning which came with dry ice.  I put the dry ice in a polystyrene box and added a bit of water and a drop of red food colouring {just to add to the fun}.  I was very definite in explaining to the kids DONOT TOUCH!!!!  They had so much fun just watching the ice "steam" up.

My crazy nutter kids! We did some art and they discovered the 'crazy' eyes...

The rightful owner of the 'crazy eyes' and the beautiful art we made with them.

We then finished with a face for lunch! 

My new fav. hang out (with the kids)

Ok, so I am going to plug a place here that I have no affiliations with except that I went there today and had an absolute ball with the kids.
Its called Gov's Espresso.  You can check it out HERE .  Make sure you click on the Photos here to realy see the place.
The reason for the plug and rave review is because it is just plain awesome and the people who own/run it are just the lovliest people.
They are a small local business and I think thats just great!
Those are the reasons I want to show my support.
They are VERY child friendly, very retro/vintage and warm and homely.  The food is great and the tea/coffe is to die for.  The service is personal and very friendly.
When you enter the store it has different rooms (as it used to be an old house) each room has a cute theme and alot of it is repurposed items which I just love!
I must metion too, all the amazing little treasures...Old and new that you can buy in this great place.  Its like a treasure hunt looking through it all. :0)
Out the back there is gardens and a huge big sandpit for the kids.  They welcome mothers/dads/children/families yet still has a relaxed feel for childless people to also feel comfortable.
I did a google search on these guys and there are alot of rave reviews for this place...esp from locals, which is always a good thing.
So, if you are ever in queensland, on the gold coast pop into

 Gov's espresso

2457 Gold Coast Hwy

Mermaid beach 4218

Phone...07 5667 9018



10 things I am thankful for today.

1. For my 2 wonderful children. I love how they make me laugh, cry and feel all warm and fuzzy. The chance to be a mummy is somthing I am truly thankful for. Yeah, its hard work but somthing I cherish for they are the most amazing people Ive ever known. Im also thankful that they are healthy, happy, energetic individuals.

2. Chocolate ♥...what more can I say. Chocolate is the soul of life! LOL.

3. My husband. My soul mate, my rock, my buddy. We laugh together, cry together, play together and I look foward to growing old together.

4. Jonah our puppy. Yeah, he smells, farts and escapes out of our yard...but he is also smooshie, fun and our baby. He shows each of us unconditional love and he sure knows where his home is. We'd be lost without him.

5.Flowers...they bring sunshine to any room.

6. Our home. In this day and age we are very fortunate to have our own home. A place in this huge world to call ours and ours alone. A place we can put our own mark on. A place that we can come out of this crazy fast world and retreat. Im also thankful that we are close enough to walk to school and our friends homes.

7. Hair straightners. Heehee, just for those days when my hair is not behaving, i have my trusty ol' straightner to tame it. It straigtens, waves and makes my hair go from blah to whoop whoop!

8. Tea. Mmmmm, you have to agree theres nothing more soothing than a real cuppa tea. Perfect with that piece of toast and marmalaide for breakfast or when you are feeling low and for some strange reason a nice warm cuppa makes things just a tad better. I love my tea in a tea pot, with tea leaves...not bags. I like 'em all...green tea, black tea, herbal tea....whatever the time of day....mmmmm, might go have one now,(mayby with a small piece of chocolate lol)

9. Spring and autumn. Those inbetween seasons are the bomb arnt they? Theres somthing snuggly about the autumn evenings, looking foward to soups and blankets...but then once spring arrives...the flowers bloom, butterflys are out and the beach is nice. Those seasons are not too hot or too cold. They are perfect.

10.God...for without him, Id have none of these things so for that, Im thankful to him.

What about you...?

New Name...?

Ok so as Ive gone along, Ive relised that I needed a change for my little blog.  Organised chaos 'sounded' like a good idea in the begining but now Im thinking that 'Our nest' seems a little more...well, calmer.  It also I think describes my blog a little better.Our nest, to me describes our little home, our security and our love.  It just has a warmer, calmer feel to it...dont ya think?  Please let me know, am I doing the right thing in changing...I feel happy with it, and I like it. 
I hope you do.
♥♥♥

Can you smell that...?

Mmmmmm....Yes, i think its the sweet, sweet smell of SpRiNg!!  WOOP WOOP!  The month of September has started and I say a hearty farewell to winter.

The birds are chirping, the flowers are starting to bloom, butterflies are flying and I can smell Jasmin.  Oh how I LOVE this time of year...Apart from Autumn, this is my fav season.
Ive been cleaning windows, throwing out excess 'stuff' accumulated from dreary winter and the spring cleaning has begun.
The sky seems a little bit bluer and sun seems that little bit warmer.

Salads and BBQ's are back on the menu and alfresco dining is a must!
The big wooly heavy blankets are getting kicked off a little more now.
Im looking foward to getting in the garden and digging in the dirt after so much frost and rain.
 Swimming pool and beaches are starting the warm up and the days are just a little bit longer.
My motivation to move is slowly returning.
Balmy nights are on their way and early morning jogs are once again appealing. 

 YAY....I ♥ Spring!

♥Today all thoughts go to Nunu xoxo

Our little spidey man Nunu...

All thoughts go to my little baby nephew whom we affectionatly nick name 'nunu'.  Yesterday morning early (4am) he woke up with extreem temps (39.8*) and about an hour later had a seizure.  He's never had this happen before and was quite scary.
My sister was beside herself (as you would be) and he was uncontrollable for a few mins.  I recieved a text mesage from her a little while later saying they were up at the hospital.  I freaked and went straight up.
The poor little man.  He's only just turned 3 and he is a tiny little thing.
He has a red rash all over his body and a sore, sore throat, vomiting and the fevers arnt subsiding.  The docs at that stage were unsure what it is.
Now here I am over 24 hours later and they have admitted him in and put him in isolation.  They're thinking its one of 2 things...1) Swine flu  Or 2) Scarlet fever...I didnt know what scarlet fever was so googled it.  I do think it is this, but Im no doctor.  All I can say is all the symptoms and pics on google look alot like Nunu's rash.
My heart is breaking at the moment for this little guy...he's like my baby. 
Today we have his big sister with us and looks like she'll be with us for a bit this week.  She's worried about her little bro, as we all are.
Today I thought we would all make a big special get well card for him to cheer him up.  I'll post pics later to show you what we did.
**UpDaTe** I just got a call that the little man has been put into an isolation room at the hospital, and we still wont know 100% sure untill tomorrow what he's got :'0(

We love you little Nunu xoxoxoxox

Framed vintage art.

So... being the start of spring and all (yay!!!) My arsty, fartsy side has been coming out and Ive been indulging a little in my whimsical love.

I've had a heap of heavy wooden frames I bort years ago just sitting packed away in a container.  I had them on my wall for some time but after a few years I took them down as I like to constantly change the feel of my place.  I was going through this box a few days ago and thought...hmmmmmm, they are very dark stained wood, and Im not too sure if i like the colour of them anymore *blush*

SO, I thought I would breath new life into them and give my home a few new wall hangings.  Give my walls a beath of new life.  As you can see from the pics I went a little crazy. LOL

Here is a before pic of the frames...

Just before their makeover.

I painted them white with an undercoat paint.  once dried I lightly sanded the edges to get that vintage look.

I then printed out some awesome pics from  The graphics fairy . I spent hours trolling thru amazing clipart that was on this site.  I printed out a few pics I realy liked and had a bit of a play.

I relised printing them out on plain paper was, just a bit too plain.  So I used an old french bible that i found at a second hand store for $2 and printed each of the pics onto a page from the bible.  It was very different.

I was quite happy with the end result.

 This was what the end result was...

The one above with the little sparrow is my absolute fav!

Im now tempted to do a frame collage on one of my walls as they all look so great bunched together...hmmmmm, another thought for another day....

Apricot Balls~YUM!

Last week Little T had to bring in a simple recipe, to share with his class.  We didnt have to but the teacher said if we wanted to make it we could and bring it in.
We decided to make Apricot balls.  An oldie but a goodie.
Here's what we did...

500g of dried apricots
1 tin of condensed milk
4-5 cups of desicated coconut

Place all of the apricots & condensed milk in a food processor and wizz untill completly mixed to a paste.
Pour into a large bowl and pour in the coconut.  Mix with your hands and roll into small bite sized balls and chill in the fridge.
~simple~


They are great and simple for a morning tea, the lunchbox etc.
They were a hit with the class...