nefotlak.

16th b'day party - candy bar / dessert table

2012-03-06T17:21:00.000+11:00

warning - loads of photos! (scroll near the end for all the details).....

glass jars = from dollar discount type store and freedom - found them in the vase section. would have loved fancy jars with lids - however plain jars were by far the least expensive option.

jar labels & lolly bag tags = free download of cath holden labels printed on white card - then cut out and added onto red card. blue ribbons and red & white bakers twine ordered online from sweet style.

lolly bags = blue spotty bags purchased online from the party people.

cake platters (x3) = donna hay.

straw flags = blue straws from dollar discount store - flags made from white washi tape (ordered online from inky co.) - on the night a marker was used to write on girl's initials to keep track of drinks!

16 numbers = paper mache numbers from spotlight - painted red / then painted white / then rubbed back lightly with sandpaper. red & white bakers twine ordered online from sweet style.

lollies / candy = blue jellybeans (ordered online from sweet style) / jaffas and strawberry creams (purchased at woolies) / blue sugar almonds and cool mints and blue choc wedding hearts (ordered online from lollyworld) / choc kisses and freddo frogs (purchased at cosco) / blue sour straps and milk bottles (ordered online from the professors online lolly shop) / cup cakes (made from cosco cup cake mix & betty crocker icing from woolies - super yum!)

cookie pops - made from crushing tim tams with cream cheese - then adding sticks & dipping in melted white chocolate - the favourite item by far (recipe kindly shared on the blog of mrs a. in the cove - owner of sweet style - recipe and great tips found here)

paper lanterns & balloons = from dollar discount store.

paper pom poms = made by me from tissue paper purchased at woolies.

napkins / plastic bowls / paper cups = dollar discount type store.

little tongs = purchased from provincial home living.

this party was all put together in under two weeks - and all the online shopping mentioned above was really convenient and it all arrived super fast. I would recommend any of the above online suppliers.
(if I've forgotten anything - of if you have any questions - please don't hesitate to drop me a message either on this post - or via email)

must again mention the amazing inspiration from Leanne from the blog mrs a in the cove and owner of the online shop sweet style. she does this stuff for a living - and her style is amazing. thank you so much Leanne for sharing your wonderful talent with the world. you make parties o - so - beautiful.

make sure you go have a visit -

I leave you with a picture of my beautiful (now) 16 year old - goob - who had a wonderful party - despite the torrential rain that came down that day!!!!

and I promise to be back soon to show you some of the fun of the photo booth we set up for the party.
(sneak peek seen at the end of this post here)

hope all's well in your part of the world.

loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

linking to these lovely blogs this week.....please do go and check them out......

my head hurts.....

2012-03-05T18:42:00.001+11:00

the downside of the big 16th celebrations on the weekend ........ all day - I have had the headache from hell!!!

me thinks I indulged a little too much in the table of sugar I shared with you yesterday - here.

oooooooo - I'm off to grab some painkillers and then it's off to bed for me.

cheryl xox.

16th party preview

2012-03-04T10:27:00.000+11:00

we survived!!
the party went off without a hitch - apart from the 17 degrees c and heavy rain!!! (eeek - we've plunged straight into winter from a non-existent summer!)
previously billed as a 'pool' party - plans were changed - and we all stayed indoors for the festivities.

also - party participants ended up being only a half of the original 40 that were invited - as there were many last minute messages from unwell girls. with fewer bodies having to fit within our house - it all worked out much better in the end.

all in all - a great night was had by all.

here's a sneak peak of the table laden with sugar......

....and the lounge-room photo booth all ready for photogenic superstars.....

I'll post more about all the fun when I manage to upload more photos.

hope you are dry wherever you are this weekend. Canberra is wet and dismal - I'd advise not to come here for the next few days!!!

loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

some party preparations...

2012-02-24T15:56:00.000+11:00

as mentioned in my last post - yes - we will be holding a 16th b'day party for our miss goob next weekend - and - yes - there have been just over 40 guests invited.
I know. insane.
one thing though - as goob attends an all girl school - and she has lots of friends - she has decided to only invite girls - and I pray that many can't come!!!!!!!
there have been 3 definite 'no's' - my praying thus far has been working!!

here's a peak of the colour scheme we've chosen for party day.....

and there are plans for a lolly table of grand proportions.....

some call them dessert tables.....or candy buffets.....for now let's call it the lolly table!!
and yes - I'm a brilliant drawer - thank you for noticing!!!

a heap of inspiration has come from the lovely Leanne over at Mrs A in the Cove (and I ordered just a few little things from her lovely online shop Sweet Style). I'll update you on those next week when they arrive.

Leanne also shared her recipe for Cookie Pops on her blog - seen in her wonderful image below - and I'll be trying to make some this weekend so I don't have a disaster trying to make them for the first time on the actual party day!!!

photo from here

don't they look amazing - can't wait to try making and eating these goodies. (ingredients include tim tam biscuits and cream cheese and white chocolate - oooooo yum!!!!)

anyhoo back to me!!
I have been gathering supplies and here's some messy pics of the acquired stash so far.....(mostly from discount stores to keep the costs down).....

jars above were great bargain buys from a discount store (similar to '$1 store' or 'crazy clints') - large $13.99/medium $11.99/small $6.50 each. they are the start of my jar collection for the lollies!
(very grotty - and ready for a wash!)

and the below trays were not so bargain - however they are actually made out of melamine - but they look so much like crockery. they are wheel & barrow brand.

the narrow plates were $19.95 each - and the square was $39.95.
(hope you like the artful placement of the crepe paper!!!) ha!!

having a pool and loads of pavers (outside) and tiles (inside) - the option of having platters that won't smash into a million pieces if dropped is a very good thing!! I think these are really lovely. good weight too.

I have started to make some labels - the below will be added onto the lolly bags.....

I downloaded some great free labels (found here) - played around with them a little - printed them out on white cardboard - cut them up - then stuck them onto disks of red cardboard.

a little wonky in places - but I'm pretty happy with them.
I'll be sure to take loads of photos and give you all the details as things move along.

yes - this is all a huge outlay for a party - however all three girls will be having parties this year - and many in the future - so I'm positive all the major items will be used many many times through the coming years.
and besides -there is that mother's guilt thing in play here - they didn't get parties last year - I wasn't working - and we just couldn't afford it.
we're making up for it big time now.

as for activities to keep the teenagers happy - we're hoping the weather plays nice and is warm so the pool can be used. we are also putting together a back-drop and props for a photo-booth of sorts.
other than that - this mob all love to hang out and chill - so I'm sure it will all go well. they're a great bunch of kids.

so that's where we're at with the party plans.

tonight we're off to the first brumbie's game of the 2012 season. (rugby union - our local team - we're members - and the weather is looking great for a lovely evening!)
tomorrow is netball grading for eky early - goob and I are going along to help out.
Sat night - a lovely friend and her baby girl are coming to tea. (her husband has been posted away for 6 weeks)
Sunday - loads of volleyball training for the girls - and loads of homework to fit around in between.

oh - and some huge news - that job I spoke of at the end of the year (here) - well the full-time permanent position (education section) I applied for went on hold - and now it's going ahead again - and I have an interview next Tuesday. (I'm currently working there now - different section - part-time contracted until the end of April. permanency would be great - and the money is pretty good too!).
fingers crossed for me if you can please!!!

have a wonderful weekend ahead where ever you find yourself!!

loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

crazy busy weekend

2012-02-19T21:13:00.000+11:00

greetings from our mad house to yours!!

it's been a super busy weekend - and I think I need another to get over this one.
alas - it's back to work tomorrow. boo!!

saturday saw mr w. and the girls head north to pick up new bikes for eky and goob. no photos sadly - however we will be taking some family rides soon - and I'll be sure to take some snaps along the way and post soon.
early b'day presents for the girls - and they love them. great news.

I stayed home and dabbled with housework and study - procrastinating whenever possible.
I'm good at that!

sunday morning goob and I went for a short bike ride - then both eky and goob had 2 hours of volleyball training each.
hard work - however they are learning so much and getting better with every practice. they are really enjoying this new level of volleyball as they have some fantastic coaches at state level. (fingers crossed the girls both make it onto their age teams)

sunday afternoon - miss eky had 8 peeps over for a pool party.

glasses added by me!

a beginning of the year thing - she had one last year.
they squealed a lot - as girls sometimes do - however they had a great afternoon.
we were super lucky with the weather - it was warm and sunny - phew!!
lately the weather has been mad!
huge storm came through friday night; another on saturday that filled the pool to the brim; then another storm threatened just before everyone was about to go home today.
luckily it blew around us and headed out to the coast.
it's been a terribly non-existant summer down here. green - yes - but not very warm or sunny!

triple j also had a friend over for the fun.

best friends since preschool (age 4) - and still going strong (both turning 10 this year)!!!
it kept triple j busy and out of the big girls hair!

this evening - somehow I got hoodwinked into helping goob make 40 party invitations for her upcoming 16th birthday. (in 2 weeks)

yes - you read that right - 40 invites.
I think I have officially gone mad to allow this to happen.
I'll let you know if we survive this one.
for the invites - goob typed them up online (at invys.com) - we then printed them out on card - did a little hole punching - then added some ribbon for pretties!

oh dear what have I done?!?!?!

the week ahead - we have work, uni, school happenings, more volleyball training for the girls - and the start of netball grading for the year.
oh we're in for another busy week.

hope your weekend and week ahead were/are calmer.

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

progress in the dining room....

2012-02-15T08:08:00.000+11:00

over the last few months we have finally moved forward in the dining room. it's not finished - but we've made huge progress.

today - I reveal that it looks like this....

it used to look like this....(circa 2005)....

...and for a little while it looked like this....(much of 2010!)....

...yes - a very scrappy mess - piled high with the contents of our study while that room was being painted and upgraded....and no - the study is still not complete either!!!....yes - that's how we roll!!!

we painted - the same as the lounge room (as these rooms are connected) - removing the blue feature wall (yay!) - and we pulled up the carpet (it's currently raw concrete - this will be painted - possibly white) and lay down a rug.

nice change - yes?!?!

I love to walk past this room now (which happens a zillion times a day as it's the main access way between the front door/main bedroom/study to the rest of the house.

the white dots around the edges are putty patches where we pulled up the nail bits that held down the carpet. there was also a lot of glue bits to sand back from the undelay. we'd love to keep it raw concrete - but it's not in great shape - and finishing it by sanding and sealing is just too expenisve and dusty - so we'll paint. (we'd ultimatley love a wood floor - but as finances don't allow for such now - we'll get by how we can - at least the blue carpet has gone - yay!!! - well in half the room at least - you'll see what I mean in the following photos.....!)

here's some more pics.....

and here's the view back to the loungeroom......

and here's the loungeroom today.....(yes I've been playing around with the layout once more - it's an unusual room and difficult to fit it all in with a baby-grand piano - peeking at the left)....

....see - the blue carpet still exists on that side of the room!!!!!

ah - this home reno stuff is mighty slow when you have 3 children, work, uni, sport - life!!!!!

but today - I'm feeling really good at the progress we've made so far.....

hopes and dreams.......white linen slip covers for the dining chairs, new window coverings (perhaps a roman shade), some art and pictures, some kind of pendant light over the table, some larger base boards (they're tiny in the entire house) and of course the painted floor.

love this painted wood floor I found this morning on houzz (and I now have it pinned on pinterest!!)....

we'll see how adventurous I get. perhaps we'll start with white and see how we go from there!!!

will post photos when we tackle some more.

hope all is well in your world.
loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

trying to get back into the swing of things...

2012-02-14T13:05:00.002+11:00

me = slack blogger.

yep - I know - but life gets busy - and if the blog has to go into a holding pattern - so be it!

however - I am starting to get back into the swing of the new year - and hopefully this wee blog will get some more loving!!

huge thanks to anyone still following out there. I check in on many other blogs often - just haven't had the blogging mojo to actually write a post myself!!

a wrap up of the biggest news items around house-o-nefotlak - just to get you up to speed!......

1. the girls are now all back at school.....

triple j is now in year 4, eky heads into year 8 and goob is now a senior in year 11 (and over 6 feet tall!!).
eeek - how does time fly by so quickly?!?!

2. I'm back at uni - and this is my final year - yayayayayayay!!! it's going to be a big one - especially with all the other goings-on this year - but I am so so so so determined to finish this thing. (primary teaching). feeling good about reaching this point.

3. have bought a bike...

love it!!
(it's a 'hybrid bike' - a cross between a road bike and a mountain bike - brand = trek - super large wheels - I really really love it!!)
we have also ordered new bikes for the girls - and we are embarking on a new exercising adventure.
so far it's been loads of fun.

4. I've lost 8 kilos since xmas!! super happy about this achievement!!!
it's a combination of diet, discipline and exercise. (not too much exercise just yet - but I'm getting there!!)
I have started on the dukan diet - recommended by a friend - and so far it's been working really well. (have probably dropped 1-2 dress sizes - feeling great!)
will keep you posted as I go.

5. my contract (work) has been extended until the end of april - but now I'm down to 3 days per week so that I can still attend uni lectures and tutorials and study. super happy about this - as the need for extra money has been something that we really struggled with last year. for now it's working well - I love the people and the work - and the money is great. we'll see what develops over the coming months.

6. sport is going to be yet another huge chunk of our lives this year. both eky and goob trialled for the u15's and u17's state volleyball teams on the weekend. both went really well - and now have 3-4 weeks of training (twice a week) until the final teams are picked. they will also have club and association rep netball commitments - so we're in for a busy sporting time. triple j will again play netball at club level this year as she increases her skills. I envisage loads of car trips around to games and training ahead of us!!

7. goob turn's 16 in march - and is very excited about getting her L's for driving. eeeeekkkk!!

image from here

I can't believe we've reached this point in this parenting adventure!!
pray for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8. we have bought a new camera - finally!!

photo from here.

now I just have to work out how to use the bugger!!!

hope this day finds you well.
oh - and happy valentine's day to you as well.
see you again soon - well - that's the plan....
loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

a very belated merry xmas and happy happy new year !

2012-01-05T00:06:00.000+11:00

greetings from the house of nefotlak!!

I do hope that I still have some interested followers - it's been a long time between posts! (eek!)
starting back at work - xmas - camping holidays - having fun......it was time for me to take some time away from the blog. (hope you don't mind)

I'm back at work again this week - and I'll be working 4 days per week until the beginning of Feb. not ideal (as it's our summer holidays) - but the extra money has been a welcome addition to this household.

job/study plans are still a little in limbo - but for now I've enrolled in Uni full-time for 2012 (which starts back in early Feb) and we'll see where the year takes me.

for right now - I wanted to share the last of our xmas decoration photos from around the house.
the girls and I were very busy decorating and making over the weeks leading up to xmas - and I wanted to document that here as we had loads of fun. (other posts in the lead up to xmas can be found here)

here's our entrance table - (decorations collected over the years).....

.....and here's a little display in our lounge room.....

.....more lights in the family room.....(being summer down here - there's no worry of melting the lighting cables on the chimney!!).....

.....and some makings......loads and loads of snowflake cutouts on the windows.....

.....and awesome handmade 3D card balls.....(free templates found at this site - just print them out on card - cut them out - and put them together - fiddly - but gorgeous!!! great blog - do go visit - How About Orange).....

.....more decorating in the lounge room.....

.....and here.....

.....and most probably the worst xmas craft fail - in that it didn't get finished in time to use this year - in fact I still need to hunt down some magents to use it next year......but here's our 2012 tin advent calender (idea originally found here).....

(we also made some air-dry clay tree ornaments one day - but they never made it onto the tree. better luck next year I say!!!)

so with all the crafting - and decorating - and me working - there just wasn't time for blogging!!! sorry!!

we had to pack up and leave on 23rd December - as we spent this xmas camping with 6 other families in Victoria. I'm hoping to get some photos together for a big post on those adventures ASAP!!

I will leave you with one photo of our little holiday tree inside our pop-up caravan - a very sad and sorry version of our home tree - with a very oversized star up on top - but it was all chosen and decorated by the kids - and it fit perfectly in amoungst all the mess!!!!

I do hope you had a safe and happy xmas where ever you were.
here's to a fabulous 2012 ahead for us all.

loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

paper filled baubles

2011-11-30T20:47:00.001+11:00

more christmas makings from the weekend - paper filled baubles.....

here's how it all went down - in pictures (thanks mostly to the lovely goob).....

got it?!

baubles = spotlight
scissors = probably spotlight (I've had mine for ages!)
paper = unused encyclopedia pages.

any questions - shoot me an email or leave me a message.
would love to hear from you.
(I do hope I'm not alone in here!!)

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

my new/old job

2011-11-29T18:42:00.001+11:00

today was my first day back at a real job.
you know - an office / cubicles / all dressed nicely / computers / printers / lunch breaks - the lot!
and it felt really really good.

the reason for most of my enjoyment was that this job is at a place that I worked at 12 months ago - just for a short 4 month contract (I was replacing someone on long service leave) - but it is a great place to work - and the people are amazing.
today felt like I was coming home!

there were loads of hugz from surprised peoples - the welcoming feeling was amazing.
I only got a call on thursday about the position (I was their first choice to fill in while they advertise the position) - and it all only got confirmed yesterday.
no time for gossip to spread as it does in small-ish office spaces - most didn't know I was coming back.

I won't write on here where I'm working exactly - I'll just say that it's a government agency that may or may not have something to do with this..........

source of pic

I applied for a full time permanent position in another section when I was there last time - and missed out by the smallest of margins. (it wasn't in the section I dreamed of - but it was a foot in the door. someone got the job that had already worked within the section previously)
I was devastated.
at the time I had just met my bio mother for the first time (not a hugely successful meeting) and missing out on the job felt like such a huge personal rejection. I cried at home for hours.

the thing is - I do believe the universe plays out just how it should (on most occasions!) - and if it weren't for that set back - I wouldn't have finally gone back to Uni to finish my teaching degree.

however - today I found out that another full-time permanent position is coming up next week - and it's in the education section of the department - the place that I really really wanted to work all along - my ultimate dream job of the moment. (plus the pay is pretty amazing - about $25 000 more per year than a first year qualified teacher!!).

the hours are quite flexible - so I could definitely still do Uni part-time while doing the job - but I just have to make a decision quick - and get an application together.

lots to think about this evening.

I guess I could give it a shot - and if the universe doesn't want me to have it - then that's the way it will be.

oh dear oh deary me!!!

must go - huge storm hitting down here right now - and I must turn off this computer before it gets fried!!!

(updated - check out the nefotlak. facebook page for an image of the radar over canberra last night - it was a doozy!!)

send me some cyber strength - I need it right now.

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

christmas tree 2011

2011-11-28T16:00:00.000+11:00

(didn't mean to publish this until tomorrow - but hit publish by mistake!!! - what a goose I am!)

here is our christmas tree for 2011.....(warning - loads of pics ahead!).....

it's very much similar to last year....and the many years before that......we like to stick with the blue/silver & white theme for our lounge room.

we bought the tree for our first-born's first christmas (this is it's 15th outing!) - and it's been a brilliant tree ever since.

the colour choice came from the room coming with blue carpet when we bought it - and we've never had a chance to change it since!
besides - when we do finally change the floor - the kids have made me promise that the decorations stay the same - there's just too many memories and years of crafting in this tree now - and it just has to stay.

apart from the photo I posted on sunday - in this post - here's another two of my santa helpers that are so so so good at tree trimming now. (I've got them very well trained!!).....

we have set jobs - the girls put the tree together - then mr w. adds in the lights. then I add the tinsel - then we all add the millions of decorations.
it's an absolute hoot.....

all the decorations above in the little squares have been hand made by all of us girls over the last few years.

and we always try to make something - however small - to add every year.
(I'll post tomorrow about our latest additions so far - we did a little making on the weekend)

here's some night time magic.....as it's my favourite time to sit and enjoy the sights of the decorations.....

so - thanks for popping by. I do hope you enjoy our tree.

oh - and p.s. - I got the call about the job - I start tomorrow for a 2-3 month contract - YIPPEEEE.
very very pleased to be able to earn a little cash over the coming holiday season.

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

paper garlands

2011-11-28T09:22:00.001+11:00

more decorating from the weekend.....

after seeing oodles of home-made garlands on pinterest and various blogs - I knew it was time to break out the paper punches and sewing machine for some garland fun.

no tutorial here - it's really rather simple - just punch out circles and stars - and sew them together.

I used a variety of white/off white cards and papers - some plain, some textured & some pages from an old encyclopedia that I had on hand! I think having a little variety in the garland (even subtle) makes it more interesting.

I just sewed them together - then hung them over the mirror......super fun, wonderfully inexpensive & it provides instant christmas cheer!

as I mentioned in this post - the yellow has been painted out of the little mirror - and we've gone all white in the accessorizing department in the loungeroom (apart from some blue in the tree decorations)!!!

the room feels so much better - we're all liking the changes. (plus I love christmas time - and all the lights and decorations - so I'm loving this room right now.
I adore sitting here in the evenings - contemplating the world outside. it's so so calming......

reflections of the christmas tree.....which I'll post about tomorrow.....

here's to a fabulous week for everyone.

cheryl xox.

linking up here this week.....

yellow fling is over

2011-11-27T14:42:00.001+11:00

yes - I'm done - my little fling with yellow has come to an end.

getting a new coat of white.....

I tried to really like it.....

tried really really hard.....

it looks so good when other peoples use it - but yellow and I just aren't compatible with each other.
it's time to say goodbye.

with christmas decorating starting in house-o-nefotlak this weekend - some changes have to be made.
lucky for me - the changes were never huge - just splashes here and there.

I asked mr w. to get down the christmas decorations this weekend (we store them in our roof space).
we usually put up our tree on 1st december - but it's a thursday this year - and he will be away interstate with work.

just seeing all the boxes - the kids and I and mr w. just couldn't resist to start right away.

yesterday before they had even changed out of their pj's - the decorating had begun.....

(one star was added to cover up an instance where some underwear may or may not have been showing - then I just went nuts with the stars!!!! hey - it's that time of the year!!!)

blue stars because our tree is decorated in blue, white and silver - and yes - there is some crazy stuff going on with that cabinet on the right - I'll let you know when I have finally made up my mind!!!

apart from decorating madness - we managed to fit in a trip to the movies on friday night (breaking dawn 1/twilight for goob, eky and I - and arthur christmas for triple j and mr w. - both movies were enjoyed muchly by all parties involved) - and we also attended a 4 year old b'day party at the neighbours. good times.

and - I may be starting work this week - a 6-8 week contract - back at a place I worked at last year. amazing money - great people - and hoping for 4 days a week (and still allowed to go away over christmas!)
fingers crossed it all gets confirmed tomorrow. the extra money would just be perfect at this time of year.

so - hope you've all had a great weekend at your place.
hugs from here.
cheryl xox.

copy-cat delight

2011-11-26T08:51:00.001+11:00

I do so enjoy when someone else finds inspiration from the things I blog about. (actually - I'm absolutely thrilled. little old me - inspiring peoples on the other side of the world - who'd a thought?!?!?!!!)

remember a couple of posts ago I wrote about my op art lesson while on prac in a primary school??

well - the lovely April over at Money Pit Love (all the way over in Canada) has created her very own piece of nefotlak. op art - and I couldn't be happier....

Money Pit Love

thank you April - you made this wee Aussie girl a little chuffed today!!

so.....on another topic.....does anyone need some rain?? I've had enough of what we have here!! thank you.

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

a do for the dog

2011-11-23T10:13:00.001+11:00

with the weather finally warming - and the pressing need to find our dog within the fur - it was time for our gorgeous 4 year old spoodle miss molly to have a hair cut.

goob took some photos of the super fluffy hound a fews days before.....

......and a few days later - the after.....

almost a completely new dog!!! (but still loving balls - as you can see!)
it's like an instant super weight loss - just amazing! (oh I wish it were that easy for me!!)

sorry - no photos of the 'during'.
it takes mr w. and I all our energy to clip this girl - it took over an hour on this occasion.
we gave her the haircut with dog clippers and scissors while the girls were at school.

here's a pic from later that day - all four of our 'girls' - in and around the pool!!!

now I'm off to paint some saloon doors.....

catch you again soon.
cheryl xox.

package arrived safe & sound

2011-11-22T17:06:00.001+11:00

today I received a big package in the mail.....

(oh - and I've been testing out that instagram app on my iphone today also!! I like it so far.)

inside this package are two saloon doors from the lovely Sally and Steve at Us+House=Home - which I hope to convert into a message centre near our family room. (doors can be seen in this post)

in other news - we survived the in-law visit over the weekend (and the speaker is all fixed from my cleaning mishap which I posted about last week - love having such a handy husband!) - trying to get back into the swing of things once more.
exam time starting on Thursday for goob (year 10) - and finishing up of assignments for eky also this week.
the year is winding down - and I'm very happy for that.

hope things are well in your world today.
hugz,
cheryl xox.

cleaning fail

2011-11-16T13:48:00.001+11:00

I mentioned yesterday that we're soon to have a visit from my in-laws.
they arrive tomorrow.
they haven't visited for over 2 years due to health issues - and they're Dutch (ie incredibly fastidious about cleanliness) - so I've gone into mega cleaning mode to try to exhume some of the piles of dust and mess that are around the house after ~~weeks~~ months of neglect due to university commitments - and living life with a busy family!

here's a peak of our tv in the family room which I've yet to show here in blogland.....

all nicely dusted - and I grabbed some potato-vine-flowers from the garden to pretty things up.....

here's a super close-up of eky's gorgeous clay bird she made at school last year.....

cute yes??? he sits well with my little collection of birdhouses - including the large one that once sat outside - and then later broken in the shed. (I found it recently - dusted it off - and marvelled at it's nature-made rustic-ness!!).....

and just before I took these photos - I climbed up to give the surround speakers a little dusting - 'cuz once you start looking closely around - you always find more dust around the place.........

here's a pic of one of our surround sound speakers that sit up high near the ceiling.....

that one didn't get a clean (there is in fact lots of cob-webs and dust on top -I've taken this from a more forgiving angle!) - because when I dusted the first one - this happened......

eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkk!!!!
(sorry mr w. I didn't mean it!!! I was being super gentle - I promise!!)

the flippin noggin in the roof came unstuck.......

and now we have a hole (and some touch up painting to be done just for good measure!!).....

I shall try to avert my eyes from the chaos I've caused near the ceiling - and I shall carry on with making rooms look pretty-ish for the visit......

hope you're having a lovely day!

cheryl xox.

op art lesson

2011-11-15T19:34:00.001+11:00

I'm back!!!
did you miss me?!?!?!
I hope that there haven't been any disasters while I've been gone?!?!

I had my last tutorial of the year at Uni today - and my last assignment went in on the weekend.
yayay - I'm finally done for the year. (and I'm just a little relieved about that I must say!!)

lots to catch up on - lots to tell - but let's get back to the art lesson I talked about in my last post - on Op Art!

here's my attempt at some Op Art -(I made this this evening to go through the steps!).....

the actual lesson went really really well. the kids were very focused, and loved all the examples I showed them of Bridget Riley's work. (in my researching - I found out that our own National Gallery here in Canberra holds 14 of Bridget's works. I'll have to pop in over the holidays to have a wee look me thinks!)

I took along a tape measure in class and explained that my little A4 copies were tiny in comparison to most of the works in real life. They ooo-ed and aaaah-ed about that - especially when the little versions played with their eyes and heads on the small scale!!

anyhoo - here's how I led them through the practical side of the intro to Op Art lesson. (the 2 lessons - for 2 separate classes - were for 1 hour each including a talk about Bridget's work and the movement of Op Art / the classes were both combined Year 5/6)

I roughly modelled the following on the white board -

step 1.
take your A5 card - write your name on one side - on the other rule a rough 1cm border in lead pencil all the way around the edge of the card. (this helped so that they wouldn't draw on the tables when the textas/markers were used later).....

step 2.
with the lead pencil - draw concentric circles out from the middle to the border lines. (I explained that they did not have to start exactly in the middle - they could start to one side - and they didn't have to be perfect).....

step 3.
with a ruler and a lead pencil - draw a vertical line through the centre circle.....

step 4.
add more vertical lines across the whole image - varying the thickness. ie make some closer together and some wider apart.....

step 5.
grab a black felt tip pen and start colouring in - carefully. start in the middle....then work your way up and down - then outwards. (white out/liquid paper works well to fix up any mistakes). biggest tip - take your time!!
(from here on in the actual lesson - I let the students run with it - and I circulated to help out here and there - lots and lots of circulating!!!).....

and here's my final pic before I used an eraser to gently rub out the pencil marks.....

if you squint your eyes and look at the pic - you should be able to see movement - ie - waves!! (Bridget Riley is far more clever than I - you don't need to squint at her pics!!! - she's very clever - her lines are meticulous - go back to this post to see again).

some more pics tonight of mine.....

and finally - here's some of the student's work from when I was on prac.....

this was a super fun lesson - I had fun - and the kids loved it. sad I couldn't expand on the lesson and get them to reflect more on what they had achieved and then look at making more Op Art - exploring it all a little more. sadly there was no time to fit such a lesson in while I was on prac. (just wait till I get my own classroom!!!!)

the entire prac was absolutely brilliant. my mentor teacher already talked to the principal about me!!! they want me back when I have my degree! (even if it's just relief work to start with) nice.

one more year........one more year......one more year.......

so - after having such a long break from house business and crafting - I'm raring to get back into it!!!
the in-laws arrive on Thursday for a wee 5 day visit - but other than that I'll be busy as a mad woman around this place! (are mad women busy????? maybe should have stuck with 'bumble bee' !!)

hope I still have some followers?!?! for those that are still visiting - thank you. I promise to be a little betterer with posting - at least until Christmas!! (insert huge cheeky smiley face right here!)

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

just an update

2011-10-30T12:02:00.000+11:00

all is well in house-o-nefotlak - just thought I'd pop in for an overdue update.

teaching prac is going brilliantly - loving the school, my mentor teacher and the kids. actually the whole school is pretty wonderful - very very lucky with this placement.

this coming week will be my last - and I'll be teaching almost full days all week. lots of planning to do - but as it's loads of flow on from last week - I'm sure all will go well.

I get to finally do some art lessons tomorrow (yay!) - and I'll be teaching 2 classes back to back with the same lesson plan.
year 5/6 are looking at energy this term - so I've planned to do a lesson on the 'Op Art' movement - specifically on the work of Bridget Riley - exploring the use of line to show movement.

here's a couple of Bridget's amazing works from the 60's..... beware - they can make your eyes hurt!!!.....

'Movement in Squares' - 1961 - Bridget Riley

'Intake' - 1964 - Bridget Riley

'Blaze 1' - 1962 - Bridget Riley

in class - we'll look at these and other examples of Bridget's work - discuss using lines to show movement and 3 dimensional shapes on 2D paper - and I'll attempt to work them through making their own Op Art pieces to display in the classroom.

when it's done - I'll be sure to take some photos of the completed display to share the fun.

in other news - my heart goes out to those Aussie families today that lost their soldier husbands/fathers/sons/brothers yesterday in Afghanistan. absolutely heart breaking. let's get all our troops home safely and soon please AUS government. our boys are doing an amazing job - but this war (which is not ours) has gone on far too long.

*sad*

have a safe week everyone.
cheryl xox.

lesson planning - electricity

2011-10-23T18:28:00.000+11:00

yes - sadly I'm spending my sunny weekend on lesson planning for the week ahead.
my university liason officer is coming out to observe me first thing Monday morning - so I want to make sure things are all organised. eeek!

the classroom I'm currently in has a smartboard (yay!) - so finding great electronic resources to share with the class has become a big priority. (I wish we had such things back when I went to school - I would have been much more engaged with the lessons!)
the class is also looking at electricity this term - so hands-on experiments are also on the plan.

whenever I'm on prac - my own kids want to be involved with what I'm currently teaching at school - especially when they spy a great interactive website that I find for the lessons. (who'd a thought - learning can be fun!!! ha!!)
so - I thought I'd share a couple of good finds here for anyone interested......

http://energyquest.ca.gov/index.html

http://www.andythelwell.com/blobz/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/changing_circuits.shtml

http://www.hyperstaffs.info/work/physics/child/index.html

http://www.culverco.com/sse/

http://yarrileess.eq.edu.au/home/rneis3/itselectrifying.html

off to finish things up - I want to have a swim - the girls just yelled out that the pool has hit 30 degrees c!

YES - things are finally heating up.

cheryl xox.

my 100th post

2011-10-20T21:04:00.001+11:00

I've made it to my 100th post and I'm still here! Very tired from almost a full week of prac - but definitely alive and kicking!!!
YAY me!!
YAY you - for hanging in with me here. Thank you.

goob and i - New Year's Day 2011 - on top of Australia - Mount Kosciuszko

In keeping with my current theme of keeping things real - I thought it was time to share 20 things you may or may not know about me - because I don't think you or I could really cope with 100......so here goes.....

1. I was born in Sydney, Australia.

2. I was adopted soon after my birth. I am what is known online as an 'adoptee'.

3. I lived for the first 4 years of my life in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. I remember that we lived in a cul de sac. That's it.

4. My dad died in a helicopter crash just before my 1st birthday.

5. We lived on the North Shore in Sydney for the remainder of my childhood - with my mum, brother and sister. It was a happy life.

6. I studied piano for most of my youth - getting up to the 7th grade level (AMEB). Those exams took all of the fun out of it - I rarely play now.

7. I attended an all-girls Anglican high school. It had it's good and bad moments. I was a troubled teen - but I made it through. (I just don't want my daughters to find out about it.........)

8. I lived near Stockholm in Sweden as a Rotary Exchange Student for 12 months after high school - an amazing experience. I learnt to speak Swedish. I never get to use it!!

9. My mum died from breast cancer when I was 18. I miss her a lot. We were never able to be adults together - she didn't get to meet my amazing husband - nor my awesome kids.

10. I met mr w. when I was 19 and fell completely and madly in love. Every now and then I am petrified that he stays with me only because he perhaps knows that I'd fall to pieces if he left me. Most of the time I know that's nonsense.

11. We married when I was 21 - 6th October 1990 - at HMAS Watson on Sydney's south headland.

12. I worked in the travel industry before we had kids - including ground jobs with Eastwest Airlines and Ansett. Both airlines are sadly no longer with us - perhaps it was something I did..........jokes! :)

13. We had our 1st daughter (goob) when I was 26 - our 2nd (eky) when I was 28 - and our last (triple j) when I was 32 (a surprise natural breech birth - butt first - over 10 pounds of baby - can I just say ouch!!).

14. Since children, I've mostly been home - although I've dabbled in office administration and I was an Enjo consultant for a number of years. I've coached and managed netball teams and I've also ~~stupidly~~ been on many preschool, school and netball committees. (I've finally learned my lesson - I'm currently on none)

15. My bio parents married 6 months after my birth (they are still together living in Queensland) and I have a total of 6 siblings. 1 brother and 1 sister in my adoptive family - and 2 brothers and 2 sisters in my bio family.

16. I have met all of my bio family apart from my father and 1 sister.

17. I finally met my mother in November 2010. I don't think I'll ever see her again. Her choice. Enough said.

18. I absolutely have no regrets with searching and finding my biological family. I now finally have answers.
I know who I look like, have traits like and have the all important family medical history which I didn't have for 35+ years of my life. (I can finally not cringe when the doctor asks me that question). Stuff that is also really important for my kids. It was however an incredibly rough roller coaster ride that consumed me for many, many years.

19. I started blogging in October 2006 - in response to some lectures and tutorials at Uni - and to help me through the journey of searching. That original blog is still around - I just haven't posted there since March 2009. It's under another blogger name - it's a very raw read!! I also set up some other blogs for netball associations and teams.

20. I love to be in front of a classroom - I love kids - but some days I don't know if I still want to teach. However I do have to finish this degree as I already have a HECS bill for it (university fees) - with no pretty framed degree paper to show for it. Maybe I should have looked for one on etsy..........

So that's me - in a nutshell. A little battered and bruised on the inside - but hanging in there and getting on with life.

I share this stuff as it's much of what has shaped the real me.

I've had a heap of therapy through the years - perhaps I'm ready for some more?!?! I've been stewing on this post for a few weeks - and point #17 probably dragged up some stuff I've been avoiding for almost 12 months now. (lucky I'm entitled to free counselling at Uni - that's always a bonus!!!)

Sorry for the heavy post, but it's been good for me to write it all down.
My belief - a full and real life is about acknowledging all the good and all the bad. Sh*t happens - it's no use trying to pretend it doesn't. Putting it out there helps to get me though it.

Thanks for hanging in there if you've made it this far.
And thank you for just 'being there' - whether you comment or not. It feels good to know that I'm not talking/writing to thin air sometimes.

OK - back to the usual programming until post 200! :)

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

the going is good!

2011-10-18T18:56:00.000+11:00

it's been 2 days down of this 15 day prac - and all is well!
great mentor teacher - wonderful kids (year 5/6) - really lovely school (just 30 minutes out of Canberra in a local country town) - the going is exceptionally good.
I could use more sleep - my brain is racing with lesson ideas - luckily we've planned for very quiet weekends to have loads of downtime ahead.
and my gorgeous triple j and miss molly currently lie beside me on the mat on the floor in our office this evening as I think me up some lesson plans.........

LOVE!!

I hope this post finds you all well and happy this fine evening.

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

home hair salon - we survived!

2011-10-16T16:38:00.000+11:00

It's so useful when the kidlettes grow up so they can help out with things.......including colouring and cutting your hair!!!

Yes - you've read that right - I let one of my girls be a hairdresser on me last night!

* pause for effect *

With money tight - and me in desperate need of some beautifying (especially with starting 3 weeks prac at a local Primary School tomorrow) - drastic measures were taken to help me look my best.

My 15 year old goob was my co-conspirator - and eky and goob also both got the home hair salon treatment in preparation for going back to school for Term 4 this week. (their hair is gorgeous super blonde - and in no need of chemical enhancement. Yes - I'm very very very jealous. I had super blonde hair until hormones got the better of me when I chose to have kids!! You can see their natural hair colour in this post)

Some background - I always do mr. w's hair with clippers - and also have cut the girls hair at various times in the past (no formal training - just trial and error - which there have been some - but not many - errors I mean!!!) - but I've never let any of them touch my hair - so this really was a first.

Here's the result this morning - after a little help from the GHD straightener.......

Not too bad I must say. In fact I'm pretty stoked with how well it turned out!
(it does look a little strawberry blonde in some light - but generally I'm very happy with the outcome)

NOTE: I may or may not have just touched up a little with that wonderful photo editing software picnik - just smoothed out my face perhaps - only a little - but I will use all that is at hand to help with my phobia of taking and seeing my own picture!!! For that I make no apologies! I did not change the colouring of the photo in any way. I promise!

Now back to the hair - no in-progress photos - too busy with worrying if it would all work out ok.
Here's how it was done.........first up we used this to even out my colouring.....

Clairol nice'n easy - ($12.60) - from K-mart yesterday. And it was!

We were extremely nervous - I haven't used a home colour since before I was married!! And goob kept repeating that she was really worried that my hair would turn orange. Yeah - thanks for helping me keep the nerves down beautiful girl....!!

But - in the end - we just followed the instructions and it all worked out well. It has really evened out my colour and my hair looks more natural and healthier than it was. PHEW - part 1 complete.

goob then got to work with these.....(more heart palpitations for me).....

Top - hair cutting scissors ($8.61) - and bottom - hair thinning scissors ($8.61) Also both from K-mart yesterday. The top scissors weren't as sharp and crisp to cut with as I'd like - but you get what you pay for.
We'll perhaps look at getting them sharpened - or upgrading to better ones in the future. The thinning scissors were great!

All of the girls in this family have incredibly thick hair (very lucky we are) - however with the very dry air in Canberra my hair often ends up looking like a fizzy mop! (I kid you not!) The thinning scissors worked a treat to settle down the boof-look just a little.

I cut my fringe (I don't let many people touch that!) - oh - and yes - I gave up on the growing-out-the-fringe-caper that I talked about here. I've had a fringe my whole life and frankly feel just naked without it so it's come back to stay!!
goob ended up cutting about 10cms/4 inches off my ends and thinned it out a great deal. I was scared - but it's so much lighter (in weight) and sits well.

She also gave eky a cut and I gave goob's hair a trim ("don't take too much off mum - I still want to have mermaid hair!!!" - from the 15 year old. Give me a break!!!!)

I'm so so so so happy with the results - and relieved. (oh - and so are they - super pleased - they just wouldn't allow me to take photos!) It was hard to put that much trust in my daughter - sad but true - but she came through so well and I really shouldn't have doubted in the first place.

What do you think - do I scrub up OK??
Hell of a lot cheaper - under $30 for all three of us - compared to the over $200 it cost just for me at the professional hair salon last visit!!

Now I have my much needed confidence to take on year 5/6 tomorrow!!! I really am looking forward to it.

Hope all's well in your world.
cheryl xox.
p.s. i was paid nothing by nobody for this post - just in case you were wondering! I just thought I'd share what worked for me.

reflections

2011-10-14T10:45:00.001+11:00

my reflection pool - expensive but oh so peaceful (when it's not summer and screaming kidlettes have taken it over)

I've been thinking a lot about blogging lately (you know - so I don't have to think about studying....) - and there's been a load of posts around blogland that have fed into those reflections.

'10 reasons why I don't read your blog'- at 'Where's My Glow?'.

'....Five tips why I won't leave a comment on your blog'- at 'A Beach Cottage'.

'Getting comments on your blog' - at 'And Then There Were Four'.

'Why I DO follow your blog' - at Catharsis.

'People do not follow blogs; They follow other people'- at 'Writing Happiness'.

'A few tips from a blog groupie' - at 'Karen S. Elliott - The Word Shark'.

A lot of interesting and very insightful reads.
The first link really got me thinking - including all the comments that accompanied that post.

Ultimately your blog is your space. Period. But if you are hoping for more people to join you on this bloggy ride - there's a lot of good stuff in there to have a think about.

My number 1 reason for leaving a blog - when photos take far too long to load. That's just me.
(eeek - I hope my photos don't do that for you...?)
If anyone wants tips on how to make your uploads and reloads of photos better - let me know. I'd love to help if I can.

For this blog, I've decided to give better punctuation a go - sorry if it's been bugging you. When I started this blog I seemed to have an aversion to capitol letters. Did it bug you?????
I do draw the line at nefotlak. and family names - you'll just have to suck it up and deal with those.....
Last night I even went back and fixed up the last two posts - but that's it - I'm not going to fix up the remaining 90+ prior to that. Let's just call it all 'a personal-blogging-growth-spurt' - and be done with it.
No haters - please!

I am a people pleaser generally - but I also thought that I don't really deserve a teaching degree if I can't even punctuate my own blog!

Huge thanks also to Sally over at 'Us+House=Home'- for taking the time to send me an email to let me know that she couldn't leave comments because of my blogger settings. Hopefully it's all good now.

I also feel that I have been hiding behind a lot of fixing and crafting - surface stuff that keeps me busy but doesn't show the real me. There are reasons behind that - I'm working on those. This little growth spurt I'm having has made me see that. I'm going to attempt to be the real me. Cause I'm OK once you get to know me! Promise.

hugz from me.
cheryl xox.

main bedroom - sneak peek

2011-10-12T11:53:00.000+11:00

We spent our first night back in our own bed last night - * bliss * - after bed hopping between the kids beds and the lounges for 3 nights.
We do have a pull out sofa bed in the office, but that was just all too much work!!!

After 3 coats of undercoat and 2 coats of topcoat - here's a little look at how our main bedroom looks this morning.....

ahhhh - so nice!!!
That is just fabric folded over our duna/quilt at the end of the bed. I've had the fabric for a very very long time - waiting for the right moment to come out and show itself!
It will be made into a duna cover sometime this week.
I love how it looks in the room - and thankfully mr w. loves it too. (I was worried he might think it a little too girly - but no - he thinks it all looks great - nice!)

There will also be 2 pillow covers made out of the same fabric - and a long scatter cushion (similar style to the one made for goob here) made out of my huge stash of red fabrics.

On the other side of the room - we have a cabinet that needs painting - and eventually we'll get a comfortable chair.
I need to work on some curtains - and some artwork - painting various picture frames - it's all moving forward slowly but surely.
mr w. is the main room painter (job well done!) - while I work on all the other bits and pieces. Great teamwork really!!
We're absolutely loving the open and airy feel of our new room! (We've been in this house since 2003 - but the room feels bright and new now!)

Ultimately - new carpet would also be our dream - but that's way off the cards for now - so dreary blue it must stay.

Here's a quick before and after -

Posts may be a little slow around here for awhile. I know - sad - I'll miss you all too!!
I have loads of uni work I really need to sink my teeth into - plus I go on 3 weeks prac in a local primary school next week.

Wish me luck.
This time next year I should be all completed and be a real life qualified teacher!

Hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

Linking here.....

WOW US WEDNESDAYS

I'm still here

2011-10-10T09:09:00.002+11:00

I have been a little absent.
Sorry.
We have been in the midst of school holidays here. triple j heads back to school today (she's now had 2 weeks holidays) - while eky and goob still have a week to go.
Last week was the cross-over week and we've been spending loads of time together - just being a family.
It's been really nice. (even mr w. and I had a break from uni and work - super nice!)
We also visited questacon here in Canberra - which was heaps of fun. If you have never been - make sure you add it to your list of things to do in Canberra if you ever head down this way. It's a hoot!!

In other very exciting news - this started over the weekend.....

3 undercoats of white over my dark dark blue bedroom walls!
YES - we're finally brightening up our main bedroom - and I'm so so so so happy to be doing so.
Here's a reminder of what we've had for the last I-don't-know-how-long.....

We originally wanted a dark cave effect - but I think it ended up depressing my entire being!!

We're going white and bright - and I couldn't be happier.

Promise to post photos when it's all done. Final coats will hopefully go on today - yes - I can hear the swish of the paintbrush just starting as I type!!
It's another public holiday down here for those that work and go to school in Canberra - poor triple j goes to school over the border in NSW!! (however she's happy to be showing off her new pierced ears - and she has b'day cupcakes to share at school!)

Hope all is well in your world.
hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

a special day

2011-10-06T14:50:00.000+11:00

The 6th of October is a very special day in our household.

On this day 21 years ago - mr w. and i became husband and wife. (that's half my life ago - wow!!!) We were wed at the little chapel at h.m.a.s. watson - looking over the beautiful city of sydney on one side - and out to sea on the other.
An amazing day surrounded by all our family and friends.

Then on this day 13 years ago - our gorgeous eky arrived into our world - with a beautiful head of blonde hair, a huge loving heart and creativeness oozing from her very being. (we now officially have 2 teenagers in the house - aarrrrggghhhh!!!)

Today - that same gorgeous eky presented us with this precious hand-made gift to commemorate this anniversary.........

.....and goob cooked us up an amazing breakfast of french toast with maple syrup.....

.....while little miss triple j showered us with cuddles, kisses and a lovely handmade card!!

This house is full of love today.
I hope you are having a great day.

cheryl xox.

guest post - holly from 'life as a thrifter'

2011-10-05T12:16:00.000+11:00

so excited to have the lovely holly here today from life as a thrifter. we've done a blog post trade (my first!).

holly was once a teacher before becoming a mum - (well - once a teacher always a teacher - i say!!) - it's no wonder i like her!!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello! My name is Holly, and I blog over at Life as a Thrifter. I am most thrilled to be guest posting today on Nefotlak! My blog is all about repurposing a great find, so I thought I'd share a cheap and easy project from a past thrifting hunt. I hope this fall monogram project brings you a bit of inspiration!

I found this large embroidery hoop at a thrift store for $1.

Next, using a Word Doc. stencil (much like I did in THIS project), I traced our monogram on a piece of burlap . . .

. . . then painted it with black fabric paint.

And, finally, simply put the burlap in the hoop.

So easy, y'all!

Happy hunting, everyone!!

-Holly

Life as a Thrifter

happy 9th b'day triple j

2011-10-01T13:43:00.000+10:00

my gorgeous triple j turned 9 this week!

she finally got her ears pierced for her b'day - and her and i went out for a shopping and sushi date - just her and i. (we both love sushi!)

triple j was on school holidays for this past week - while her big sisters still had 1 week left of school. (that's what happens when your kids go to school in two different states - triple j goes to school in nsw - the other 2 are in the act.)

we had a very fun day.

triple j has her daddy's amazing chocolate brown eyes. and an adorable, cheeky smile.

love you like crazy gorgeous girl! you'll always be my baby!

(all photos taken with my iphone - and played with in picnik - just fyi)

we're off to the canberra handmade markets ~~today~~ tomorrow.
hope you have a fabulous weekend.

cheryl xox.

blog share thursday - procrastination mama

2011-09-29T14:27:00.000+10:00

welcome again!!
this is the second installment of the new weekly series where i'll post about the blogs which inspire and often make me laugh.
they are blogs which i think are absolutely worth a look - maybe even a bit of a stalk!
these posts are my honest opinion..........whatever that's worth!!!!!

today - we're heading over to procrastination mama

the facts
author: tracey from essex, uk
blog started: March 25, 2009
total posts to date: 412
intro blurb from author:

Design obsessed magazine addict. Online and in print! Wife, friend, sister and Mama to ...3 mini Chalks! I love photography, French and Scandinavian style and making moodboards.

what's it all about: life, family, home, design, honesty, being in & documenting the moment - awesome photos
descriptors from me: vibrant, exceptionally fun, refreshingly truthful, intelligent, colourful, great photos, fantastic blog list, love!
first post: so this is it
not to be missed posts: sometimes it's hard., lola's nursery in our dressing room, scroll down for post archive (right toolbar) & popular posts (bottom)
wonderful blog discoveries i made from this blog: giggles down under, house of philia

following photos all from procrastination mama.....

so - if you hadn't previously found it - i hope that this post has been a helpful introduction.
head on over to procrastination mama - say hi to tracey from me!!

hugz from me.
cheryl xox.

goob's room - turquoise pillow

2011-09-28T16:48:00.002+10:00

quick post - mostly pics - here's what i made a couple of weeks ago for the goob.....

i started off with some white fabric (once a bed sheet) - and i roughly cut out two rectangles to make an insert pillow to the size i wanted.....

i then grabbed my turquoise fabric stash which i've been making things for goob's room makeover - and started cutting random sized strips.....

.....then i just started sewing.....

.....and butchered an old pillow insert to reuse for filling in the new one.....

..........and so i don't have any more photos of the making - cause i just got into the making - but here's lots of pretty pics to follow - i hope you can forgive me for this being a half-arsed tutorial!!

i really really like how it turned out - even if it is a little slap-happy and a little uneven and bulky in places!! (i tend to rush when i'm busy creating!)

i am intending on making more pillows this way - so i promise to write a more detailed tutorial one day.

for those that might be interested - the white fluffy pillows behind - i made out of bath mats.
i posted about them here.

hope your wednesday has been a good one.
it's been super wet here - a nice day for triple j and i to laze around in our pjs all day.
love school holiday laziness!!!

off to cook up a special b'day meal - and a choc b'day cake for afters!!

hugz from me.
cheryl xox.

p.s. linking up to .....

our creative spaces

gifts for a girl

2011-09-27T00:33:00.008+10:00

i whipped up a couple of inexpensive personalized birthday gifts over the past couple of days as triple j had a birthday party to attend last night.

here's what i made.....

on the left we have a button letter c - which i made like the button letter g in this tutorial here.

and on the right we have a jar which i spray painted for the birthday girl to store ribbons - or whatever she likes. i made it as per the tutorial for goob's storage jar here.

we wrapped it all up with a packet of goodies inside like these.....

and a pretty bow attached.....

so, what do you think - have you ever made birthday gifts yourself?????

i do hope they (the parents) don't think i'm being 'cheap'??
my girls would absolutely love hand-made gifts such as these - would yours????
i do worry about such things!
triple j said that casey really loved them at the party tonight. i'm so pleased about that.

with me studying - money is tighter than ever around here. hopefully things will settle into a better pattern soon - or the money fairy will visit during the night!!!?!?!

i can live in hope!

cheryl xox.

linking up here......

WOW US WEDNESDAYS #33

goob's room - lamp upgrade 2

2011-09-26T14:08:00.010+10:00

** this is reposted - as i started using the new view blogger template - and somehow the whole post got deleted - not a happy camper **

here's the second lamp i've made over for goob's room makeover.....

it started life like this.....seen here on my ~~messy~~ creative desk.....

first experimentation phase went like this.....a little turquoise acrylic paint and then sanded.....

here's a shot also with the shade i used from another lamp we had.....

....yeah....it really wasn't working for me.....so i grabbed some paint that i had used on goob's bookshelf and mirror.....painted the base - then roughly sanded......and it came out like this.....

i also gave the shade two coats of the same paint (it's a textured paper shade).....it worked out great.....

it's a super rough paint job - you can still see the turquoise paint at the top of the pole - but hey - i was going for that rustic look peoples - that's how i roll!!.....

here's how i made the little heart decorations.....

easy heart decorations
1. take some leftover tin from a croissant breakfast feast
2. cut a section out and smooth out with your finger on the desk.....watch for sharp edges
3. punch a shape in the tin.....or cut out a shape with scissors
4. carefully punch through a small length of wire and bend - then bend the other end of the wire to make a hook (i just hung them from the inside of the shade - easy to remove)

here's a closeup of the hearts.....

and here's some more photos 'cuz i can.....

not too bad - hey???

here's a wide shot to show you where it's now situated in goob's room - on the right in the below photo.....

this week i hope to finally finish the post about the bottom half of goob's gallery wall (yeah - i never got to that - and didn't think anyone would notice - but yes - someone is taking notice and asked - thankyou and sorry!!!!! it's actually nice to know that peoples are paying attention!)

i'll also post on that little turquoise cushion i made for goob's bed - the one in that shot up there.....

plus it's my baby girl's b'day this week - triple j is turning 9. oh how the year's have flown.

and - i'll showcase another blog on blog share thursday - stay tuned for that!

hope you have a great week - thanks for dropping in.
cheryl xox.

p.s. do the size of my photos drive you nuts??? is it hard to download my posts??? just wondering and would love your feedback.

p.p.s. hooking up to these wonderful link parties this week.....

wow us wednesdays # 33

goob - year 10 formal

2011-09-24T23:23:00.001+10:00

miss goob is getting so growned up!!!

i'm sure it was only yesterday that she was still my baby.......

last night she had her year 10 dance - and she looked absolutely beautiful......and very very tall......

first time she's really worn heels - but she looked amazing. (after this we're keeping her locked up - i'm not liking the way that grown men at shopping centres are starting to oogle at my 15 year old..........)

it was a masquerade theme - though i've heard the masks didn't stay on for long!

some little details......

outfit details - for anyone interested....

dress by witchery (from their latest collection) - $189.95 - you can see it here in white or black
(a little more than we wanted to pay - but it's definitely a dress that she can wear again - and we both totally agreed on it - big bonus right there!!)
shoes from fsw - super cheap bargain at $29.99 clearance - thank you!!
jewelery from deva - about $50.00 worth - loads of bracelets, a necklace, ring and big bling earrings.
hair - by goob - we found a youtube video that showed the best way to make curls with a straightening iron - done!
makeup - by goob - we picked up some great gold eyeshadow - it looked fantastic.
nails (both hands and feet) - by me - with some lovely revlon gold sparkles polish. (it's no use getting false nails - she plays heaps of sport and is not allowed to have them)
mask from spotlight - with some gold glitter (with spray adhesive) and black ribbon added by me.

goob and i spent a few nights checking out dresses online before we hit the shops for this adventure. it meant that we came to an agreement on loads of stuff before we got out in public!!! we picked the dress and shoes from the web - and then hit the stores to try things on. perfect. never ever had something go so smoothly. just good research or very lucky?!?!?! i don't know - but i liked this exercise in teenager and mum shopping - better than any we've ever ever had!!!

here's some outtakes from the impromptu photo session before we dropped her off at school.....

yeah - she's still 15!!! and i'm in no hurry for her to grow up any faster than she already has!!

not many of her friends took a guy to this dance (she attends an all-girl school). the event is at the school and not a huge event as far as 'formals' go.
the big dance/formal for them is in year 12 - in two years time - and it will be at an outside-of-school venue.
she did ask a good friend (male) to attend this dance with her - but he had a sporting event he had to play in.
lucky really - with her heals she would have absolutely towered over him!!!

she now has 2 years to pick a nice tall guy for the next big gig!

goob is 6 foot tall without the heals.
with the heals she towers over her daddy - mr w. - and he's 6'4" !!!

here's a quick photo with me.......as you know i like to torture you with photos.......

and in the interests of keeping things real (look away if you can't handle my truth!)......

i've been studying all day - and i love to have my snuggle socks on when i'm hitting the books!!!!
and molly can't resist any photo opportunity!!
what can i say!!!!!

btw - i'm 5'10".........goob is making me feel short (something i've never felt) and old!
ho-hum!!!

miss goob - i hope you felt as beautiful as you looked. your daddy and i love you very very much. (xox.)

i hope your weekend (dear readers) is turning out fine wherever you are.

here it's back to more of the same - busy - but wonderful!!

cheryl xox.

food - easy cinnamon scrolls

2011-09-23T10:26:00.001+10:00

yes - i'm delving into the food blogging realm!! be very very afraid!!!

behold - super yum and easy cinnamon scrolls.......

i found this recipe yesterday - made them that afternoon - took some photos of the makings. (still trying to get the mess out of the camera....it's very hard to make food and take photos at the same time - let me give you the drum!!!!)

i won't tell you the recipe - it's here - go get it - it's so simple - so easy - so bloody yum - you must give it a try!!!!
thank you mel from one crafty mumma! - my children and i love you!!!!

here's our photo evidence of the occasion..........(goob was there - making up the icing - but because of teenager angst - refused to be part of the photos!!!!).....*sigh*.....

that first batch didn't last until the evening. (....many didn't even make it to that plate.....!)
gone. in a flash. (luckily i managed to save a couple for the dear husband)

we made a second batch up fast for the lunchboxes in the morning.
they were definitely a huge hit - and we'll be making them - often.

a reminder - click here for the recipe.

i'll leave you once more with the mouth watering picture - yes i'm cruel - but you love me - i know it!!!.....

you're welcome!

have a super fantastic amazing friday.

hugz from me.
cheryl xox.

blog share thursday - the beetle shack

2011-09-22T11:31:00.000+10:00

welcome welcome!!
here's the new weekly series where i'll post about the blogs which inspire and often make me laugh.
they are blogs which i think are absolutely worth a look - maybe even a bit of a stalk!
these posts are my honest opinion..........whatever that's worth!!!!!

today - we're heading over to the beetle shack

the facts
author: emily from nsw, australia
blog started: April 12, 2011
total posts to date: 240 (which puts me to shame as i started just 1 day before - and i have a mere 83 - *sigh*!)
intro blurb from author:

Hi, I'm Emily and this is The Beetle Shack. The place that i blog from, craft from, cook from, and raise my children. Sun drenched in Autumn light and covered in crunchy magnolia leaves. Join me here.

what's it all about: life, family, craftiness, home, thrifting, food, honesty, being in & documenting the moment
descriptors from me: vibrant, exceptionally fun, refreshingly truthful, intelligent, colourful, great photos, love!
first post: i must write with a pen and paper
not to be missed post: my story
wonderful blog discoveries i made from this blog: baby mac, tim coulson/photographer of the people (who took some great family & home pics featured on emily's blog), our creative spaces

all photos below by emily/the beetle shack or tim coulson.....

so - if you hadn't previously found it - i hope that this wee post has been a helpful introduction.
head on over to the beetle shack - say hi to emily from me!!

hugz from me.
cheryl xox.

shout outs, thank yous and followings

2011-09-21T15:11:00.002+10:00

after a frenzy of crafty posts last week and lots of linking to linky parties - i just wanted to shout out to a few lovely peeps for the many extra visitors i've had popping past here this past week.

firstly - thank you to all those that popped past and left a comment - and some of you are new followers - yay!!
seriously - a huge thank you. i know everyone is busy - and i do really appreciate the time commenting takes.
i'm honoured that you would take the time to leave me a little piece of you.
but thanks also to the stalkers !! those that always pop in quietly - have a little read - then move on for the day.
all are welcome here!

thank you also to those that liked my new nefotlak. facebook page.
when i checked my stats - i've had literally hundreds of visitors from facebook within a 24 hour span - most from hungary!! yes...hungary! odd - but lovely all the same.
hi to all those that visit from far far away! when i see those stats it makes the world seem a little closer.

special thanks to all those that have featured some of my many projects - i'm humbled and thrilled that you liked something of mine that much. i've started adding featured buttons to the top tab (titled featured) of all those blogs that my projects have been featured on (click on each button and it will take you to the blog - clever techno thing - yes?!!!). if you haven't checked it out - go - now.....i'll wait............

.....but in case you're too busy - here's the lovelys that have me featured already (if i've missed anyone - please let me know) .......

another special thanks to the lovely lousie from table tonic....

louise included this here little blog in her weekly bookmark worthy sites she's recently discovered. *blush* - i'm tickled pink about that inclusion - thank you louise.

oh - and some news - i'm going to start a weekly blog share thursday - on thursday's obviously (i'll try to keep to that schedule - eek!) - where i'll feature a blog (just one blog) that i really like - 'cuz i want to share the love around abit!!! be sure to tune in tomorrow for that exciting feature!!!!!! (now i've added pressure on myself to the mix!!)

i do have some more makings to blog about - uni has just caught up on me - and i really need to get some assignments done. which is really hard when there are so so so many wonderful blog posts out there to keep up with!!!
i'd much rather be crafting and blogging!!!
boo!!

hope you're having a great week.
cheryl xox.

nefotlak. on facebook

2011-09-16T13:11:00.001+10:00

morning!!.....(oh bugger - i started this when it was still morning - but now it's afternoon - how does that happen???......)

it's friday - yayayayay!! - and the sun is shining and it's going to be 22 degrees (celsius) today.
nice!!!
i love me some spring in the air!

so - i've finally set up a nefotlak. facebook page for this wee blog.......here's a screen shot.....

pretty basic for now - but it's a start.
if you get the chance - i'd love it if you could 'like' the page - you can do that over in my right hand column - just scroll down and you'll see the facebook icon i've added here.

apparently if you get 25 or more 'likes' on a page (i think that's the magic number?!?!) - you get to request from facebook to keep the name of the page - and that's something that i'd like to see happen.
i have this vision of setting up nefotlak. as a label one day......just a dream......and if i get this teaching degree finished and some rooms in this house in better shape - i can put my head into making some actual things to sell.....perhaps an etsy shop......we'll see.

so for now - please go and like the nefotlak. page - if you feel inclined to do so - and let me know if you have one - and i'll go and do the same.

so that's my self important plug over with - phew!!!

here's some pretties to say thank you!!!
some photos i took last week (it was a rainy and cold day - hence the water droplets on the petals) - gorgeous blossoms on our ornamental pear tree out in our front yard.........

we only planted this tree a couple of years ago and it's been struggling with the drought - but finally with mother nature coming good - the rain has made for an excellent showing of flowers.......

don't forget facebook.........did i just go too far??!?!?!?!............ :)

see you on the flip side - hope you have a fabulous weekend.
cheryl xox.

goob's room - upcycled jar love

2011-09-14T17:38:00.011+10:00

and just to keep the upcycled jar theme going - look what i made on the weekend.....

cute hey?!?!?!?!
super super simple to make.

here's some more pics - 'cuz i can.....

i added a couple of jars with photos also - i first saw these done in a retail store here in canberra a couple of months ago - i guess it's what sparked the thoughts to this project idea.....

and here's how you can make your own........

supplies needed:
clean recycled glass jars (i think plain jars work best for this project) - personal preference!
computer with microsoft word or similar
printer
paper
pen or pencil - and ruler - and scissors
the letters - scroll on down for the ones i've used (if you want the same as mine)

i've made these letters into jpeg files - so if you want your own super version of this little creative number (!!?) - you just have to right click to copy and paste the pics onto a word document.

below is FFF Tusj Font - you can download the entire font suite from here if you want to add it to your computer.....(i likey this font - alot!!).......

below is a graphic i found on the web - you can download it here if you wish to grab from the source.....

below is a font in microsoft word - AR DARLING.....

below is another font in microsoft word - Baskerville Old

making method:
copy and paste the above jpeg files onto your own word document - or pick other fonts/letters from elsewhere if you wish.
place and centre a letter per line - i chose to have only two letters per page (portrait setting for the paper) - then print it out. it looked like this......

then, setting down the jar on it's side - roughly work out where you should cut - and use a ruler and pen to mark out a line.....(make for a wider paper insert rather than thinner - you can always cut it down later).....

then cut along the lines to have a rectangle of paper with the letter centred.....

gently roll up the piece of paper with the letter on the outside of the roll.....

then insert it into the jar.....

and let the paper go to fill the inside of the jar.
pull out and trim if needed.....a little at a time.....

and then you're done.....(no tape - no glue - it just sits inside the jar).....

and that's how they're done.

these are sitting up high behind some molding on the bookcase......(where the bases are hidden from view).....

i'm not going to bother with doing anything more to these.....but you could wrap some twine or ribbon around the bases if you wished to.....i'm thinking.

you could also put different letters in jars to make up names........or to spell out 'halloween' or 'merry christmas'.......the list is endless really.

let me know if you make your own letter jars.......i'd love to see your versions.

i really need to stop with the making and posting frenzy and get some uni assignments done!!!

hope this week is being kind where ever you are.

cheryl xox.

linking this up to some fabulous linky parties - do pop by and show some love.....

goob's room - progress report 2

2011-09-12T23:40:00.014+10:00

thought it was time to check in on the general overall progress of goob's room makeover.
for those that have been following along - there has been lots of busy-ness - and you're all probably thinking - heck - isn't it all done yet???? (so is goob - trust me!!!) - but it is getting there - and today i'll show you the proof!

here's a couple of photos of where we are today - with a list below stating what's been done and what is to do (i may regret making this list - but it's something i just need to do!).

so - here we go..........the view from her door.......

can i say ahhhhhhh! we have come a long long way.

here's a little before and after as a reminder.....

and the other side of the room.....

and another little reminder of where we've come from .....

and here's some various other pics of bits done around the room thus far.....

goob's room - the list
* ~~bigger bed~~ - done - thankyou ikea.
* ~~white blind~~ - done - thankyou freedom.
* ~~blue walls gone~~ - done - thanks to 3 coats of undercoat.
* ~~cushions and pillows~~ - done - back european pillows are from ikea (plus the white quilt), white fluffy cushions (made from bathroom mats) i've moved in from our loungeroom (posted about here) and turquoise long feature cushion i made last week (i'll post about this one soon).
* ~~lamp makeovers (2)~~ - done - one posted about here - the other i'll post about soon.
* ~~pictures above the bed~~ - done - thankyou ikea - although i have been playing with some ripped bits of scrapbooking paper around the inside of that middle picture - but that will come out - and they will be all hung straight soon - i promise!!!!
* ~~bookcase makeover with fabric and paint~~ - done - love it! - posted about here.
* ~~entrance gallery wall~~ - done - posted about here.
* ~~dressing table with loads of storage~~ - done - thankyou again ikea.
* ~~turquoise bunting flags~~ - done - posted about here.
* ~~large wall mirror~~ - done - posted about here.
* ~~hair stuff containment thingy~~ - done - posted about here.
* ~~notice board~~ - done - will post about soon.
* ~~small storage ottoman~~ - done - thankyou office works - posted about here.
* curtain rod - half done - recycled from other parts of the house - just have to stick on some old crystal door knobs to the ends to finish.
* curtains - half done - already owned these - just need to add some more fabric as they don't currently go to the floor.
* new bedding - half done - the quilt cover shown is actually black and white floral - this is the white underside showing!! i will find a nice white quilt cover at some stage - or make something. this works for now.
* bedside tables with drawer storage - half done - in the process of painting (they're 2nd hand) and changing the knob hardware. these ikea tables (in the photos) are working fine until the new tables are ready.
* turquoise quilt (to fold at the end of bed) - not done - i have the fabric but this project is on the backburner - too many other priorities right now.
* final paint colour picked and painted - not done - most likely very similar to this undercoat - white - but just have to pick the 'right' white!
* window trim painted - not done (dragging my feet on that one really)
* fairy lights around bed wall - not done - will get when we can afford this bit of whimsy - but it will happen. we all need more fairy lights in our lives!!
* chandelier to replace ugly ceiling fixture - not done - had an ikea price gripe about this issue here. for now - it's a 'wait to afford something' deal.
* wardrobe doors taken down and replaced by curtain - not done. (we're thinking of going this way - we'll see how it goes - otherwise the doors and trim need repainting.)
* large g for the door - not done - have supplies but..........
* door and trim painted - not done
* new carpet - not done - and we just can't afford it now while i'm studying - but it's on the wish list so i'm posting it here.

phew!! - i think that's it.
so we are getting there - slowly but surely. i think you can tell i hate the painting - but love the making!!!
ho hum!!

thanks for stopping by - hope you have a great week.

cheryl xox.

linking up to.....

goob's room - upcycled jar hair station

2011-09-11T10:15:00.029+10:00

may i present - the upcycled jar hair station.....

goob wears hair ties, ribbons and hair clips almost every day.
she needed a place to try to keep them contained and under control.
with all the examples of re-used glass jars floating around pinterest - i came up with this.

here's a little of the process involved with getting to this finished product - i haven't got pics of everything (there was also a little trial and error with finishes etc) - but hopefully you'll get the idea.

supplies needed:

various shaped clean glass jars
off cut of wood (cut to the size you wish to fit your amount of jars)
various cabinet door knobs (most of mine we already had - the crystal look knobs i picked up recently from a gift store)
ruler and pencil
electric drill
fabric to cover your wood (with overhang on all sides)
mod podge (either the real stuff or make your own - recipe here)
small paint brush
sharp craft knife
wire
pliers
hooks to attach to the rear of the board
hooks to hang on the wall
ribbons, hair ties and clips

method:

above: position your jars to work out placement - measure and drill holes.

above: check your holes with the knobs and countersink at rear if needed.

above: two of our knobs required countersinking as they had little nuts at the end to secure - the others had a flat screw that lay flat. (my husband had a counter-sinking gadget for his drill)

note: we also had to saw off a couple of the screws to make the right length - check this during this step. thankfully handy-dandy mr w. was on hand to help with all of this - i just wanted to get on with things - thank goodness he's a patient and uber helpful man!!!

above: grab your mod podge or glue - paint it on - then smooth out the fabric over the glue (make sure you leave an overhang on each side to cover sides of board).

above - using more mod podge/glue - cover sides of board - gently stretching fabric and gluing as you go.

above: once board is all covered - wait to dry - then mod podge over the top of the fabric. (i ended up doing two coats).

note: if i did this again - i'd be more careful how i placed the fabric - as the patterned fabric i used got a little twisted and pulled out of alignment. luckily i don't have to see this much as it's in goob's room - but it would be something that would drive me nuts if i had to see it everyday!!!

note 2: i might also pre-paint the board underneath (white?) as this fabric was not very thick - and the finish wasn't as crisp as i would have liked. hindsight and all!!!!!

above: once all glue is dry - press along board with your finger to find the pre-drilled holes - then use your craft knife to make a small hole in the fabric.
then ease through the knob hardware and screw the knobs into place.

above: is the finished board - although we ended up taking the brass-look knobs off again - and spray painted them with two coats of silver. it was something goob requested as she didn't like the brass look in her room.

here you would also add on your hanging hardware to the rear of the board - and add your hooks to the wall. (i didn't take photos of that part!!)

above: next you wire up your jars.
i spent quite some time working out what was best for us. above - this wire worked out to be too thick for this job (i've now used that jar for hanging flowers in my kitchen!) - it was hard to twist - and the ends could have been a scratching hazard for goob as they were hard to bend in. it's a personal choice.

here's a great picture tutorial for adding wire to jars that i found - do what feels right for you.

i've also seen jars on boards which are more fixed - see here - however i thought that being able to take the jars off to empty them or dig around in them was more useful for this application. fixed jars would perhaps be something i'd use in a bathroom - where hard tiled floors could be a problem with smashing glass jars if an accident were to happen.

it's all a personal preference!

below and following are pics of the finished hair station - showing the thinner wire i ended up using. nice and lightweight for this application - and the wires aren't too dangerous for the kids.

we're really happy with the end result - and already the hair things seem to find their way back from around the house to here a little better than previously!!!

here's the wide shot of goob's dressing table once more.......

and below is a list of items in this pic i've already blogged about......

1. simple turquoise bunting
2. tissue paper flowers
3. upcycled door to mirror
4. upgraded lamp

hope you've liked this latest addition......

loads more to come.....hopefully soon!! (it takes time to take and upload all the pics - but i hope it helps to explain the process a little better - i'm a visual girl - so it's what works for me!!!)

have a great day.
cheryl xox.

linking up here............

goob's room - upcycled door to mirror

2011-09-10T10:13:00.003+10:00

as mentioned in yesterday's post - i'm back today to reveal some more progress on goob's room makeover.

today's post is about an upcycled cabinet door - which has been turned into a wall mirror.....

it used to look like this.....

fyi - the cabinet this belonged to is in our bedroom. (we got it for free when we did a cabinet swap with our neighbours!!) under the doors lay loads of flush fit big heavy drawers. it was super frustrating to open the doors and then open the drawers to get to things - so one morning i declared that they had to come off!! the whole cabinet will be re-painted when we get a chance to get to our bedroom! and the other door may be upcycled to a chalkboard in the very near future.

no progress photos of the following process (bad blogger i know...) - but here's my method -

- after wiping down (no sanding - i'm too lazy!!) - i painted on 2 coats of zinsser bulls eye 1-2-3 (undercoat/primer-sealer/stain killer) - love this stuff - and 2 coats of dulux aquanamel semi gloss fair bianca half strength. (both were bought from bunnings)

- i then sanded it back heavily in spots with our nifty hand sander - and painted on/wiped off a little glaze i made with jo sonja's clear glaze medium & semco acrylic paint in burnt umber. (both bought from spotlight)

- we left all the hardware on the door - 'cuz it reminds us of it's former use - and it looks kinda funky!!!

- we then measured up and got a mirror cut to size from a local glass merchant (after getting about 5 quotes from various places) - then attached the mirror in with heavy duty double sided tape. (mirror cost $50 - which was a bit of a bugger - but it fits perfectly & is covered in a special film on the back which means it won't shatter in a million sharp bits if something bad were to happen)

- on the back of the frame - we added some heavy duty sawtooth frame hangers (see here for what they look like - these aren't the exact brand we used - but ask for sawtooth frame hangers at bunnings and they'll lead you to them!) - and using a spirit level - hung the whole thing up on some hooks.

note: it's not in the exact right spot on the wall - it's level but we didn't centre it as much as i would have liked - when i get around to it - i might fix it up!!

here's lots of pics.....

tissue paper flowers posted about here

this mirror not only reflects loads of light around the room - it also allows goob to have a place to do her hair and makeup - so that she's not taking over the bathroom. (3 girls must share 1 bathroom - and at times it can get pretty crowded in that space!!!)

here's a before and after pic for one last reminder......

and here's one more last pic - 'cuz i can.....

i'll be back tomorrow to post about that jar hanging thingy up there!!

hope you're having a great weekend.

cheryl xox.

thrifty finds - glass bowls

2011-09-09T17:49:00.002+10:00

i dropped into our local salvataion army store to see what i could see - and here's what i found.......

and they were all priced like this.....

yes - that's right - only $1.00 each!!
so i snaffled them up - brought them home and gave them a good clean.....

and now they're all being used in goob's room upgrade doing this.....

here's a peek of goob's dressing table as it sits today.....

yes.....i've been very slack with the updates - but we have been very busy behind the scenes!

drop on by tomorrow for another update - blog posts will be coming thick and fast now that i've finally taken some finished project photos.

hope your friday has been a good one!

cheryl xox.