Making A Care Package

One of my best friends has been feeling under the weather lately so I decided to make up a care package to take to her to cheer her up and hopefully stop her from going crazy with boredom laying in bed all day long.

 

I went on the hunt for little treats that I could fill a shoe box with and then put the box inside a big paper gift bag with the larger items like magazines.

This is what I filled the care package with:

 

• Toiletries - Delicious smelling shower gel, a pouf and cute tissues
• Nail polish & Stickers - Not just any ordinary nail polish but colour changing depending on your mood and fun peace sign nail stickers
• Scented candle - There isn't a girl alive who won't get cheered up by a scented candle!
• Magazines - A bunch of different girly magazines (even though they were second hand ones I'd already read, I knew she wouldn't mind)
• Typo Notebook and Sparkly Pen - Something to write her thoughts down on
• Morning Tea - Donuts and Cookies and Cream Muffins, ok not the healthiest of snacks but they were delicious. Cranberry juice which has heaps of healthy benefits.
• Chocolate - Enough for the both of us!
• Flowers - Picked fresh from my friend's garden

 

I felt all warm and fuzzy inside when I was putting it together and it put a smile on her face too.

I hope she feels better soon xx

[Image via Pinterest] 

 

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Friday's Letters - Dear Book That Will Not End

Woot woot it's Friday and I'm linking up my Friday's Letters over at The Sweet Season why don't you head on over here and link up some letters too.

I'm imagining I'm writing my letters from this trendy black and white office space tapping away at the computer and sipping on a strong espresso.

Dear Book That Will Not End - Jane Eyre you just keep going on and on and on and without a smile or happy thought I'm not enjoying you as much as I'd hoped. Can you just end already?

Dear Lexi - Week 4 and I have finally heard you bark for the first time this week ... now I know what a new Mum feels like hearing her babies first words so proud of you our little furbaby Lexi!

Dear Greenhouse - Always such a buzzing fun place to meet for breakfast, lunch or rooftop drinks. Your food and decor is awesome, if you haven't been here yet book a table now!

Dear Decor8 E-Course - I'm so excited about enrolling in Holly Becker's much loved Blog Your Way E-Course starting next month. Time to sharpen the pencils and get the brain into gear!

Dear Domain Name - I took the plunge and registered Jarrahjungle.com as a domain name this week, it's sa relief to know my name is secured for 3 years and at only $60 I thought that was pretty good for peace of mind.

Dear Council - Thanks for the second knock back! Guess we're now onto plan C to get our Courtyard approved. Hopefully we can get the extra information to you without needing to spend more money on plans.

Dear Kitchen Design - I received the first look at the kitchen layout this week and I'm really happy with the design. But common sense tells me it's too much money to not get a second quote so that's my next thing to do.

Dear Bogan  Bingo - Tonight I'm off to a work social at the Fringe Festival to see Bogan Bingo, it's going to be quite hilarious I think, looking forward to a good belly laugh!

Phew I had lots of letters this week, sorry about that!

For more Friday's Letters head over here

[Image via Pinterest]

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First Look At New Kitchen Layout

After checking my emails a zillion times over the last 2 weeks I finally got the plans from the kitchen company who draw up a new kitchen layout for us recently.

To refresh your memory here is our humble ole kitchen when we first moved in ... that wall near the fridge is the pantry wall that will be knocked out.

This large window in the Dining Area will be cut into french doors leading out onto a deck.

The basic layout of the kitchen will stay the same except there is more cabinetry being built, the cabinets will go down to the ground (not 5cm off the floor like they are now) and up to the ceiling creating a heap more storage space.

The stove top will be in the place where the oven use to be with cupboards below and above.

The glass cabinet will be replaced with a cupboard that goes up to the ceiling with a built in exhaust for the stove top.

The sink is being moved across slightly to fit in a dishwasher yipee yiyay!

A wall of cabinets will be built around the fridge and will house the oven and microwave with again more storage.

The pantry will be reduced in size by the pantry wall that protrudes out into the room being knocked out, the pantry itself won't be any smaller as I'm a hoarder when it comes to canned goods!

An extra smaller pantry/appliance cupboard is being built next to the main pantry in an otherwise wasted space behind the door. I'm pretty excited about that idea - it's something I hadn't thought of and will be so handy for appliances and smaller kitchen items like spices, oils and even cookbooks.

It's great to do your research and find out what you want in your dream kitchen but at the end of the day the professionals who work with kitchens day in and day out are the ones who can tell you exactly what you can fit in there and to get the most bang for your buck.

We aren't exactly sure what type of cabinet doors we want so we had them quoted in a mid range so we will have an idea of the approximate cost. We also had the bench top quoted in laminate although we are now leaning towards granite because it's only a small bench top it might be worth spending the extra on a small space to get a big impact.

The quote came in at just over $11,000 and that is custom made to order cabinets, drawers, skirting, handles etc but it comes flat packed and needs assembly and installation. On top of that is also the plumbing, electrical, splash back, appliances, french doors, painting, demo work and repairing the ceiling and floorboards.

We are now looking for another local cabinet maker company to get another quote and will compare the two.

I will no doubt be buried under kitchen brochures this weekend!

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[All images my own]

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Decor8 E-course Blogging Your Way: Blog Boss

I have been an admirer of Holly Becker for some time now, author of my favourite design book Decorate and founder of the Blogging Your Way e-courses. Well I finally hit the register button and enrolled in the BYW Blog Boss course which kicks off on 1 March 2013 - registration has only just opened so if you are keen to join in click here to register.

 

Some of the topics the Blog Boss course covers that I'm really interested in are: How to approach your blog like a business and you are the boss; Business etiquette and planning; Pinterest tips and tricks (I still don't know what I'm doing on there!) and Networking events etc.

 

 

I have kicked off this year with my 2013 word Embrace and feel that this course will help me achieve this and more ... Embracing my creativity and doing the things that make my heart sing, embracing opportunities both business and personal that come my way through this blog of mine, embracing challenges and believe in myself and think that anything is possible!

 

I want my blog to grow and become something special, I want to be more open and honest and tell stories from my heart, I want to be helpful to others who are renovating or decorating their homes, inspirational to those who don't even own a hammer but suddenly they're loaning tools and offering advice to others (yes that was me only a few years ago!)

 

I really do have a good feeling about this course helping me to embrace all of these things and to be the best me I can be.

 

 

I am so damn excited for this course to kick off to see where it takes me!

 

Has anyone done a Decor8 e-course?

If so, I'd love to hear about it!

[Images via Decor8]

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Personal Planner & Discount Voucher

Since my Personal Planner Giveway I've now had the chance to create my own planner online at Personal Planner.

It was really easy to do and took me less than an hour to make my own ... there were 7 basic steps.

Step 1 Pick a size, I chose small so it would fit easily into my bag. Step 2 Front cover design which you can personalise from templates already set up or create your own by adding your own photo. I chose one of the girly templates and changed the colour and added my name. You can also change the date range so you can start mid year if you're really unorganised (like me!) and haven't got yourself a planner yet.

 

 

Step 3 Inlay design pages you can personalise by changing the colours and style of the lines. Step 4 Modules which are up to 2 check boxes to add in for to do lists, school tests, ideas box etc. Step 5 Back pages you can chose from music sheets, colouring in pages, name and address etc I went with the traditional option of ruled pages.

 

You can also add up to 10 different lists with dates - I did lists for Birthdays and Anniversaries, Meetings and my Book Club so I never miss an appointment again! These events are added into the  pages on the current date and you can choose different icons like hearts for Anniversaries and balloons for Birthdays to tell them apart. I would suggest having all your dates written down and ready to add in as this is what takes the longest to do and is a bit fiddly if you aren't organised.

Step 6 Owner information was my favourite part it had some funny "if lost return to" sayings that you can add in which I tweaked a bit. This is also the place for your contact details.

 

Step 7 Place Order and the planner should land in your mail box in the next 3 weeks. That's it you're all done!

Personal Planner are kindly offering my awesome readers a 15% discount for any orders placed this month up to 15 February 2013, just enter the code D-DMDD-ERAA to get your discount.

Disclosure: Personal Planner partner with bloggers such as me to help promote their Personal Planners. As part of this promotion I was given a Personal Planner to Giveaway and also one for myself to personalise. I have not been told what to say about this product, I am free to form my own opinion and share them in my own words. All opinions are my own.

[All images my own from Personal Planner]

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Idea For Covering An Outdoor Railing

I saw a really clever idea for covering an outdoor sundeck railing on the Dear Genevieve show recently. You can view the episode here (although I'm having trouble downloading it!)

 

The team redesigned a couple's huge 30 foot sundeck overlooking a pool in rural New Jersey. A multi coloured cloth wall was created to surround the decks perimeter.

 

 

The rickety old wooden banister around the deck was transformed with fun and funky outdoor fabric. Before the sundeck looked similar to this image except not yet nicely painted.

  

This Tom Sumbrella bright striped outdoor fabric was chosen to cover the railing. I think bright colour fabrics are a must for the outdoors.

So this is what they did ... The top railing was removed and the fabric was stapled to the top of the bottom railing and then the top railing nailed back on. To keep the fabric from blowing around a cord weight was placed in the bottom of the fabric to keep it down. The fabric hung from the front so you could see only fabric and the view from the other side was of the railing legs with the fabric peeping through. The entire railing was also painted white to freshen them up.

This image is similar, except the fabric covered the entire railing.
 

 

My patio railing is in need of some serious TLC, it's covered in ugly brushwood and wooden lattice that has seen better days. I'm so tempted to steal Dear Genevieve's idea and cover it in some outdoor fabric and create a cloth wall.

I'm not quite convinced on how well outdoor fabrics really hold up against the weather - rain and sunshine.

Have you used outdoor fabric? Does it weather well?

[Images via HGTV, Deck 1,  fabric, Deck 2, Deck 3]

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Friday's Letters - Dear Bus Bitch

It may have been a short week after the Aussie Day Long Weekend but it has been no less frantic in my part of the world ... what a crazy busy hectic week I've had!

I'm getting stuck into some Friday's Letters and linking up over at The Sweet Season why don't you head on over here and link up some letters too.

 

I'm imagining I'm writing my letters from this dreamy feminine office space sipping on a strawberry milkshake and writing in a satin bound notebook.

Dear Bus Bitch - There are 2 bus seats girl -1 is yours and 1 is mine so don't sit sideways so your rude and stubborn body protrudes onto my seat and into my space. Move the hell over already!

 

Dear Lexi - Week 3 and you are still digging and chewing your way through my backyard of delights. All I ask is that you don't dig up my newly planted herb seeds mkay good girl!

 

Dear Hollywood Murder Mystery Party - I can't wait to dress up as Hollywood style icon Audrey Hepburn and Mr P is going to make a sexy James Dean on Saturday for a friend's Birthday Bash!

 

Dear Friend's Nursery Design - I hate to admit it but I had a lot of fun playing around with nursery inspiration for a friend this week ... while I've always said I don't want kids it would be fun to decorate for them!

Dear Girls Night In - It was sad to say goodbye to a great mate heading overseas for new adventures but it was such a fun farewell with lots of laughs, drinks and pizza eating!

Dear My Kitchen Rules - The only reason I turn foxtel off and the TV on is to catch the new season of MKR starting this week. Bring on the drama, personalities, kitchen disasters and Pete Evans sexy face.

 

 

For more Friday's Letters head over here

 

[Image via Pinterest]

 

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