Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I hope your weekend is full of love, family, fun and chocolate!

DIY Jewellery Pinboard

Normally I am pretty 'safe' when it comes to accessorising outfits. Boring even. But lately I am loving adding bright, statement jewellery to complete my outfit. I picked up a 6 pieces at chain retailers Equip, Diva and Collette Accessories for a grand total of $32! I have surprised myself by how easily they can be added to a simple outfit.

With these new aquisitions came storage problems. I didn't want to just 'put' them in a box, I wanted them on show. After seeing a few of these lovely covered pin boards on pinterest like this lovely one below from Courtney at Two Twenty One and this sweet cheveron one from Kristen at Bliss at Home, I knew that this was the way to go! 

  

source

source

Looked simple enough. I love their nailhead trim but in my impatience I just used what I had at home... and made up the process as I went! I could easily add it at a later stage.

Freebie for you: Lobster love printable

Yesterday I posted a few of my favourite fonts. Lobster was one of them so during afternoon nap time (love that projects get measured by nap times, this one was a 0.25 nap time project time) I put this print together. I'll photograph it framed next week but feel free to click on it and save it for your own personal use!

I'm going to pop this little baby next to Hubby's bedside, just so he knows he is always my lobster.

**This print has been provided free of charge by Tess Donohue and HeartSoulFamily. It is to be used only for personal use and may not be reproduced for sale or other promotion. Please link back if you use it on your blog/site/social media. Thanks!

love fonts

Admiration Pains, Fenwick, Jenna Sue, All Things Pink, 

Frosting for Breakfast, Lobster, Print Clearly

Peach sundress, Monoment, Simply Glamorous

PS Jenna Sue is a creation of the gorgeous blogger of the same name! She has an inspirational blog and her print shop is a MUST LOOK! We are ordering a Sydney Map print for our next home! Enjoy! 

Little Man is ONE!

Oh my goodness. I have had a few 'moments' this week trying to come to terms with the idea of having a one year old. It seems like only a few months ago he was a teeny, cooing little baby boy. Now he is an almost walking, semi-talking, demanding, full of fun and hilarious Little Man!

Yesterday Hubby took the day off, it was LM's actual birthday. We had breakfast at our favourite local cafe where they gave LM a muffin with a candle! He wasn't really sure what to do but seemed to like it (until he tried to grab the flame?). Then we headed up to my parents where they showered him with gifts and yummy food and a chocolate cake (this time he seemed to love the singing for him!).

I made our sweet little boy a play tent with the help of my dad and will do a full post on it later. We also gave him a few other bits and bobs!

Today is party number one with lovely friends at my parents then tomorrow is a family extravaganza at my in-laws. A busy weekend but a really fun one!

Have a great weekend!

Exploring: Dug Up On Bourke

Last week Little Man and I had a few hours free so we headed to a little nook in Sydney that I've been meaning to visit since we lived in the Eastern Suburbs. It turned out to be not such a little nook!

Dug Up On Bourke.

This place is AMAZING! I had heard of it before and seen it referenced in several home decor magazines. They collect a myriad of items from house sales, theatres, museums, companies, auctions, and accept donations too! All items are 'original' and there are no re-fabricated items. There is an enormous range of just 'things' and loads from pre-1920s Sydney.

For reference, Dug Up On Bourke is located at 901a Bourke Street, Waterloo, Sydney. They had no part in my writing of this article and all opinions are my own (or of the Little Man).

These images are of just the furniture section and indicate the enormity of the warehouse!

This is just a small selection of things that caught our eye...

Old ropes and boats (and crazy little man rocking chairs, yes he is a rocking chair!)

This beautiful and HUGE drawer/hall table was absolutely gorgeous. Very solid and all drawers run nicely. There is some beautiful weathering all over the item and would look amazing in a big hallway of a country farm house.

 Another lovely, solid timber piece. This would be great for storing linens, serving dishes and platters in a dining room. 

This original QANTAS model would look fabulous in a little boys room, perhaps for Little Man's new room when we find our new house?

Typewriters - these were more expensive than I expected! 

Lots and lots of bits and bobs...

Mason jars and milk bottles

Fabulous industrial metal letters

A collection of these spools would look gorgeous on a mantel. I'd like to build our 'family' with them... A daddy spool, a mummy spool and a little man spool. 

Who doesn't love a stack of old suitcases?

This would make a great coffee table (and if its still there next time we will grab it!)

This lovely girl really wanted to come home with us.

This is what we came home with:

A lovely, timber card box for our postcards from near and far. Dove-tail joints and in beautiful shape (no key though).

We also grabbed that lovely looking, rusted key.

The box and key are sitting on top of our toy storage in our living room which is basically our 'Family Drop Zone'. Look out for a post on our family drop zone on Monday!

We had a blast exploring Dug Up on Bourke. Little Man was not a fan of the real-stuffed camel decked out in full travelling leathers but he loved the super sized Banana in Pyjamas! We plan to take my mum and dad back there soon, they will love it and we will drag Hubby there once we have a home to decorate! Old elements of this beautiful city and Australian life make fantastic additions to displays and nooks at home, and they can be practical. 

Little Man decided as of tuesday this week that he isn't really doing an afternoon nap anymore, we are really gravitating towards one big sleep mid-morning. Any hints on this crazy transition stage? He is so tired by 5pm but cannot go down for a nap because its too close to bed time! Argh!

xx T

Tulips!

Little Man and I took a walk this morning to our local fruit shop to pick up some groceries. It is a God-send this fruit shop. 2 minute walk from our house and has EVERYTHING you could need at the drop of a hat. Of course you do pay a small premium for the luxury of having it so close to home (and it is competing with the big supermarkets that are really not that far away) but the staff are divine and it has such a friendly, local vibe. Plus, they love Little Man. They make him laugh, pinch his cheeks and are just so doting on him!

This morning we were admiring the lovely tulips in the flower section at the front of the shop when one of the ladies said 'You can't buy them! They'll be gone tomorrow! You have them!' and promptly handed me four bunches of (rather open but totally gorgeous) tulips. I wanted to at least pay for one bunch but she wouldn't hear of it and wrapped them up in plastic and handed them to us. Little Man spent the walk home saying 'OOooo..' and touching the flowers.

Here they are! I added the red and yellow bunch to our dining table/Easter display.

Everyone has Cadbury eggs in their Easter displays right? So so good, this jar was not only full but the lid did not fit on when I started. Strangely the number of eggs has started to dwindle...

I love our cute little chickens and the rooster from the dollar store.

Hubby's birthday cards (well two that I remembered to save!). I gave him the one one the left, it reads 'You are the bees knees (Bees have amazing knees)'. The other is from the Little Man, he has amazingly good handwriting for 11.5 months old!

Just another Cadbury eggs shot for you all...

The white bunches I put in one of our (thousands of) wedding vases and popped it on top of the toy storage/drop zone - more on that tomorrow!

Note my new Ikea plant in sweet little silver bucket? Its not real but looks quite good. The biggest plus for this one? I. Can't. Kill. It. Black thumbs here people!

Fake Plant

Real lovely Tulips

Thanks for looking! Leave me a comment... I love comments... this blog is a little 'comment-less' but I'm ok with anonymous readers :)

Hey Mackelmore! Thrift shop score!

Let me start by saying, I love thrift shopping and have done since I was a wee one. Not the freaky sifting through other people's stuff but the 'One man's trash is another man (mine) treasure'...

I also love Young House Love. Seriously this family is not only the cutest on the block but the most resourceful, inspirational, DIY-ing family EVER! So love them! They did a supercool Thrift Shop Challenge a little while ago that I fully intended to do, but one Little Man and one house needing to be sold kinda got in the way! Ugh!

BTW - if you don't follow these fabulous folk, get on the bandwagon because they are amazing, and not only is their blog awesome but they have the 'book of the moment' (its a NY Times Bestseller dude!) YHL Book

So this morning, Little Man and I were having a morning coffee (pre-morning sleep) at one of our fave local hangouts with a lovely mama friend and her toddler and sweet-as-pie 12 day old beauty babe, and we decided to swing past the St Vincent's Op Shop on the way home.

We. Totally. Scored!

Being a bit of an OCD organising nut these items and knowing that in our new place I'm going to need some more bits and bobs to keep everything 'in its place', these are perfect. Without further ado...

I love that these locker bins have name plates on the front so I can label them...

I'm thinking I really need to get a Silhouette so I can label this baby properly... Christmas present anyone?

So there you go! I'll let ya'll know what I do with them when we find/move/live in our new place!

**All photos in this post belong solely to HeartSoulFamilyPhotography and may not be reproduced or used without express permission of HeartSoulFamilyPhotography.

SOLD!

Some great news!

We sold our little house today! We got a great price at auction that we are really happy with.

No more open houses here. No more stressing about toys being everwhere. No more people tramping through my house.

I did love styling the house and I did love that people were seeing our beautiful house (and made some great comments!) AND I love that we have sold to a really nice couple who intend to live in it and not just use it as an investment property.

Now on to the search!