DIY Wall Hanging, a quick and easy project

Today I want to share with you a quick and easy project that I made for a Christmas gift. I can't believe we are in November already, it feels like we just had Christmas! The reality is we have only about 8 weeks left! I have 8 grandchildren that I need to buy presents for so I've had to put on my thinking cap. Their ages range from 21 down to 18 months.  I have a few members in my family that love homemade gifts especially my Ellie who is 18 because they know that a lot of love goes into making them. She has an all white bedroom and every time I visit she has  changed something. At the moment she has shells hanging on twine, so she loves decorating with natural elements.  I've been seeing blues used in autumn decor instead of the traditional autumn colours and I really love it. Maybe because blue is my favourite colour! So this is for Ellie, I hope she likes it!  OK let's start:

Supplies needed: 

. Hessian (burlap) cut to size

. A small branch

. Craft Paint

. Paintbrush

. Glue

.  Embroidery thread

. Pearls

. Twine 

Instructions:

Firstly cut your hessian to the size you require. Mine is 1 foot long x 8" wide. Next I painted my autumn leaves with blue craft paint.

The branch I used

Pearls and embroidery floss

Once I'd painted all the leaves I glued them onto the hessian. I used a waterproof glue which dries clear because I didn't want any glue to show where it wasn't meant to show. I am very messy!.  Then I applied my pearls to the hessian, again using the same glue. I already had these in my stash. They are flat bottomed and have glue already on them but I added mine as well to make sure they were well and truly stuck on!

After all the glue had dried I attached my branch to the hessian with embroidery floss in the same beautiful blue shade as my leaves.

 Once I'd sewn on all the embroidery floss I wrapped twine to each end, tied it and it was ready to hang

Here is the finished product! Quite rustic. What do you think? Do you think Ellie will like it? I'll have to wait and see, I'll let you know after Christmas.  
  

Chicken with roasted cherry tomatoe and basil sauce, so quick and using only 6 ingredents

It's a glorious warm day here in my part of the world. As it gets hotter I like to cook easy and quick meals because it gets very hot in the kitchen and who wants to spend hours in a hot kitchen? Not me!

I have a number of main course recipes that have few ingredients but are full of flavour. Would you like a recipe that everyone loves using only 6 ingredients? I have one for you today called Chicken with roasted cherry tomato and basil sauce. This recipe uses fresh herbs that I picked from my garden and even my grandchildren love it, it's so creamy and delicious! My whole family loves me making this when we have "get togethers". It's super quick so I can spend the time with them and not in the kitchen. 

 This recipe is for 4 people so double it for more. Here are the 6 ingredients you need to make this delicious meal:

                  

Chicken with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Basil Sauce

    

 Ingredients:

     500 grams cherry tomatoes

     5 cloves of garlic, unpeeled

     2 tablespoons olive oil

     4 x 200 grams breast fillets

     1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

     1/4 cup (60 ml) cream

    Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celcius or 180 degrees fan- forced.

2. Combine tomatoes, garlic and oil in large shallow baking dish. Roast uncovered about 20 mins. or until tomatoes soften.  When garlic is cool enough to handle, peel,

3. Meanwhile cook chicken on heated oiled grill plate (or grill or barbecue) until cooked through. Cover: stand 5 minutes

4. Blend or process garlic and half the tomatoes until smooth. Place in medium saucepan with basil and cream: cook, stirring over low heat, until heated through. Serve chicken topped with sauce and remaining tomatoes.

Mashed Potato, rice or pasta, spinach or beans are all great accompaniments to this quick and easy main course.

I personally love Parmesan mash or mash with Greek yoghurt (in place of cream or milk) and whatever greens I have on hand. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

  

If you'd like to try Parmesan Mash, boil 1kg. potatoes. When cooked mash until smooth then stir in 1 cup grated parmesan cheese, 40g soft butter  and 3/4 cup of hot milk.

     

            

What do you think? Try it, I'm sure your family and friends will love it! Happy cooking! 

Table Centrepieces, 7 simple, easy and inexpensive ideas

Hi there everyone. It's winter here in Queensland and we've had temperatures of 27 degrees (celsius)! It hasn't really felt like winter which I love because I hate the cold. I know I say that a lot! Sorry! In a few more weeks it will be spring which is one of my favourite times of the year. Flowers and trees blooming and nothing is nicer than having beautiful flowers in the home. Life in Queensland is very casual and we do most of our entertaining outside on the patio or deck taking advantage of our  beautiful sunshine and gardens.

Anyway I was picking some lovely pink roses from my garden and decided to put them on my dining table which started me thinking about table centrepieces.

I thought I'd share with you some of my ideas for simple and affordable table centrepieces. Sometimes for special occasions I might do something a bit more elaborate but mostly I like to stick to simple. 

I have 7 quick and easy styles to show you, that anyone can do, even with no money! I've been reading quite a lot lately about simplifying our lives and getting rid of unnecessary items. I have made one rule in my home and that is if I haven't used it in 6 months then I don't need it. It is amazing how getting rid of excess can free our minds and emotions too. I've been slowly purging my cupboards and wardrobes of what I rarely use. I find as I get older comfortable and casual is more important than glamorous. That's who I am and who I've always been so why change myself?  I can't believe some of the clothes I have kept for "when I lose weight"! Ha! I decided if it hasn't happened in 10 years it's probably not going to happen at all!  Does anyone else do this? Kitchen items? I have a cupboard full of serving plates and dishes that I keep for "good". Not anymore! Instead of having them sit and take up space I have kept a few and use them daily. It makes me feel rather grand eating a meal off my "good" plates! Table centrepieces? Again simple and inexpensive. I love going outside and picking flowers or branches to use as centrepieces. I also love using recycled items and turning them into something beautiful. It feeds my creative side and I love creating on a daily basis

Without further ado I'll show you my ideas!


1.

   

I painted the 3 cans with blue homemade chalk paint then tied a piece of twine around them. I've taken a couple of pictures of how I made the board that they're sitting on. It's and old piece of timber I had on hand and covered it with blue burlap which I also painted with white chalk paint. I wanted it to look "distressed" so didn't cover it completely with paint

As you can see from the picture I cut the burlp 2" bigger than the board then cut and folded it. It actually reminded me of covering my school books, back in the dark ages!

2.

This was really easy to put together. I placed a mixture of shells in the bottom of the vase, wrapped burlap then white rope around the candle and glued a shell to the rope. The base was a concrete pot plant holder that I paid $1 for at KMart. I had a container of the blue glass stones and decided to use them to give it that beachy vibe.

  3. 

  

Again I used a tin which I painted gold and added faux flowers. I sat it inside 2 gold frames that I already had from the thrift store

4.

This is a farmhouse style container that I found at the thrift store. I'd already distressed it with white homemade chalk paint, then I cut out a piece of burlap, frayed the edges by using a pin or toothpick and pulled a few threads out. I stuck it on with concrete glue and then stuck the word plants on but you could write whatever you like on it. Quick and easy

5.

These are the pretty pink roses I cut from my garden and put them in a blue glass. You can't get much simpler than that!

6. 

Again a brass vase I found on a recent thrift store visit with yellow flowers. It's funny but I'm not really a fan of yellow which is strange because I love the sun. If it's cloudy for a few days with no sun I tend to get a bit depressed. Ah well it's a girl's prerogative!

7.

This is a soup tureen that I broke the lid on so decided to pop a plant from Ikea in it and use it as a centrepiece. No work needed on this!

I hope you like my ideas and maybe try some for yourself. Have a great weekend everyone

Easy Vintage Thrift Store Upcycles

Last week I made a deal with myself I wouldn't go to the thrift store until I had finished a couple of other DIYs I had planned. Does anyone else do that? I was being very good until my friend Martha rang and asked me to go with her. Such a bad influence! I said no at first but by the end of the conversation, it changed to yes, but I was only going to buy some books. Famous last words! I started off well, but it didn't take long before I spotted some great timber pieces to upcycle. I was arguing with  myself that they were a real bargain and they would look great after a redo!  So again... I gave in. I know, I know! I also said I would spend my time finishing these projects before I started on anything else! We'll see how it goes.

The great thing about these projects is that they take very little time to do. So for me that's a win! If you are unable to spend any money but would love to update your decor, vintage thrift store finds are the way to go and you can decorate them in your own taste.   

Firstly this timber framed vintage pears print. I've always loved these and I loved the timber frame but I wanted a lighter fresher look. I knew I could give it a new lease of life so into my stash it went.

Wood framed Pears print (before)

Here is the "after". I decided to give it a more distressed look. I did this with dry brushing. I start with a dry brush and only a tiny bit of paint on the end of the brush. If you feel there is too much paint just wipe the brush on a paper towel until you have the desired amount. 

After

I gave it two coats but even so it was a quick makeover.


The next vintage item is a jewellery box. It was a bit bland but I knew I could jazz it up with some paint and paper

I decided to paint it a soft pink colour with a distressed finish. Again I used my homemade chalk paint which is simply acrylic paint, or latex in the USA, and Plaster of Paris mixed together. I mixed about 2 tablespoons of POP into a small amount of water and added this to half a cup of paint. Stir well. Chalk paint is rather expensive and I didn't want to spend money on my vintage thrift store finds plus it is so easy to use

Next to give it some extra character I painted a stencil on the lid.

I had some wrapping paper I'd already used so decided to line inside the top and the drawer on the bottom. I used mod podge, again homemade, to glue it in place. The last step was to spray inside and out with a sealer and I was finished.

If you would like to make your own Mod Podge it's simply mixing a cup of craft glue with a cup of water and storing it in a recycled glass jar.  

Before

After