Nursery Tour: Pretty In Pink + Glimmers Of Gold

Our little jelly bean is due this month and I've finally finished furnishing and decorating the nursery for her so I thought I'd take you on a nursery tour.

This use to be my craft/study room before we turned it into the baby's nursery and the design plan was to work with what we had and stick to a budget which I'm happy to say we've done. You really don't need to spend a lot of money when decorating, I shopped around home a lot using decor and furniture I already had, we purchased furniture secondhand, plus inexpensive stores like Kmart and Target are great for affordable decor and everything baby!

I've added links to similar products throughout this blog post to Temple and Webster Australia's largest online furniture and homewares retailer as they have a great selection of baby and kids products and furniture. I have my eye on a toy box and of course every little girl needs a doll house or a teepee ... there's so many adorable things to pick from!

I wanted to keep the design neutral and calming making it a perfect place for baby to sleep so nothing too bright or out there. The colour palette started as white, grey and black and evolved with added pops of pink and gold to make it feminine and pretty.

We bought and hung new blockout blinds over the silver blinds as it's such a bright and sunny room and we need to make it dark for daytime naps!

Some of the furniture we already had (the bookcase, wardrobe and side table), plus the rug and light fitting black chandelier we kept as it suited the colour theme. 

We purchased some furniture items secondhand from Gumtree like the Ikea wing chair - I did lots of research on a perfect nursing chair and Ikea's wing chair was a winner and it's really comfortable. Although I still need to find a foot stool to go with it.

The bookcase had to stay in this room and still holds all my books but I've kept the top two shelves for the baby's books and decor.

I shopped from home and used my own decor items for the  bookcase - anything white ceramic or animal seemed to fit well as nursery decor. I bought a salt lamp to use as a night light as it gives out a nice soft glow and also has lots of other healing and purifying qualities.

If you're looking for some adorable kids bookcases check out Temple and Webster they have a great range to pick from here.

The Ikea Hemnes drawers were also a bargain secondhand find on Gumtree as they are actually brand new and were still in the original packaging. I decided the drawers will double as a change table with a change mat on top and all the change supplies in the top drawers and then clothes in the drawers underneath. 

I just love how much storage this piece of furniture provides and for a small room it's great having furniture that is multi-purpose. I'm also using the top as a dressing table with jars for headbands, dummies and vintage jewellery boxes.

  

Baby's clothes are so itty bitty tiny so a few sets of the Ikea drawer dividers are perfect for keeping all the clothes neat and tidy. But let's just see how long they stay this way for!

I also typed up some labels for each divider so you can see at a glance the size and what the item is.

Over in the wardrobe there's heaps of storage space as well for all the hanging items like dresses, jackets and sleeping bags. 

I made little size dividers from some butterfly blackboard pegs I had in my craft supplies and tied them to string which hangs down to separate the clothes.

I was lucky enough to get a big bag full of matching baby hangers in different sizes for free from Pumpkin Patch as they were closing down.

I've used a hanging wardrobe organiser that I already had for storing all the baby's linen, blankets and swaddles. 

The vintage bassinet was lent to me by a friend and our little one will sleep in this in the bedroom with Mr P and I until we decide to move her into her nursery and into her cot. 

The purple netting was from when I was a baby and covered my own bassinet. I just love that it's been kept all this time and can be passed down through the generations. My Mum has also unpacked all my old knitted and crochet baby clothes which are just beautiful I can't wait to dress my little girl in the same clothes that I wore over 30 years ago! 

The cot is another special item as it's been passed down in Mr P's family. It's the only timber item in the room so we were going to paint it white but like the contrast the timber wood adds so we've kept it as it is.

Above the cot hangs a bird cage I've filled with paper flowers and bird decor and on the wall are some bird mirror wall decals. Both of these were already there from my craft room/study design and I think fit in nicely with the nursery so have kept them there.

The art in the room I'm sure I'll change around over time but for now I have - 

"The First Kiss" angel print is a special one I brought back from Rome on my first overseas holiday 20 years ago. The gorgeous girl with goose art was a baby shower gift from beautiful friends. An Ikea butterfly wall art I've added some flower vines too. Lastly I DIYed the wooden art from a print I found on Pinterest, printed out and framed.

I really love how the nursery has turned out, the room has such a nice feel to it and hopefully I've got everything ready for when our little bundle arrives this month.


What do you think of our little baby girl's nursery? 

Sharing with link parties:
Curly Crafty Mom - Motivational Monday
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

For exclusive extras and daily updates ... follow Jarrah Jungle on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

[All images my own]

Pin It Now!

My Top 5 Slow Cooker Recipes

It's no secret that I absolutely love my slow cooker it is hands down my favourite and most used kitchen appliance.

So today I thought I'd share with you my top 5 tried and tested slow cooker recipes for easy, tasty, slow cooked dinners.

Be sure to check out my Instagram and Facebook pages as I share a lot of recipes on there as well and have included links to more of my slow cooker recipes at the bottom of this post .... happy slow cooking!

Slow Cooked Chicken + Vegetable Curry

I have a Sunbeam Sear and Slow Cooker which means I can brown in it and then slow cook in it as well which is great as it means just one pot to wash up after dinner, it retains all those lovely flavours in the one pot and it makes it quicker and easier to prepare.

For these recipes if you have a normal slow cooker you can just brown in a pan and then add it to your slow cooker.

My Top 5 Slow Cooker Recipes

1.  An Old Favourite .... Slow Cooked Apricot Chicken

Apricot Chicken is a favourite dish from my childhood that I have adjusted with some added spices. Remember to always heat up spices before using them as this releases the flavour and brings them to life. 

RECIPE: Brown chicken thighs and chopped onion, celery and carrot. Add the spices - coriander, cumin and garam masala and heat until fragrant. Stir in a packet of french onion soup mix and a tin of apricots in juice and season with salt and pepper. Put the lid on and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Remove lid and cook on low until sauce thickens. I throw in some extra vegetables at the end like green beans and peas as these don't take long to cook. So tasty served over rice or couscous. 

Apricot Chicken

2.  When You're Feeling Fancy .... Slow Cooked Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore was the first dish I ever cooked for friends I think I was about 20 years old and they were over to watch a Big Brother finale on TV as I recall! I thought it was a very grown up dish as I got to cook with wine!!

RECIPE: Heat oil and brown chicken (thighs or drumsticks) and remove. Cook a chopped onion, celery, carrots and crushed garlic. Add the chicken back in with a jar of tomato passata, 1 cup of red wine, 1/2 a cup of chicken stock, mixed herbs, bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Stir well, put the lid on and cook on low for 8 hours. Add mushrooms and olives in last 30 minutes of cooking. Serve over creamy mashed potatoes and pour the remaining red wine into a glass and enjoy!

Chicken Cacciatore

3.  Easy As Slow Cooker Pulled Beef or Pork

I never knew how easy it was to do pulled beef or pork in the slow cooker and now that I do there's no stopping me! I make this dish quite often and serve with either hard tacos with salad, cheese, sour cream and salsa or with soft tortillas and a coleslaw.

RECIPE: Coat the beef or pork roast in a dry rub made from chilli powder, mixed herbs, salt and pepper (do this the night before if you can for extra flavour). Heat oil and brown the meat all over and then put in the slow cooker, lid on and cook on low for 6 hours. Just before serving remove the meat and shred with forks and then return shredded meat to slow cooker so it can soak up any juice in the pot and be delicious and tender. You can find my detailed recipe for Pulled Pork here.

Pulled beef tacos

Pulled pork tortillas

4.  Not Just A Sunday Roast ... Slow Cooker Turkey or Beef

Roasts are no longer just a Sunday treat we are now enjoying a roast and vegetables midweek because it's so easy to prepare. I am a fan of the chicken and turkey rolled roasts (like this turkey roast) as they're stuffed it keeps the meat tender. You must brown the meat well before slow cooking so it holds its shape - if you don't brown the meat it will fall apart and be more like shredded meat.

RECIPE: These roasts turkey (first photo) and beef (second photo) I cooked with the same method. Heated oil and browned it well all over and sat it on top of roughly chopped carrots, potatoes and onions. Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 7 hours. I use some of the lovely cooking juices to make gravy and keep the rest of the juices to use as stock (it's a delicious stock to add to soup).

Rolled turkey roast with vegetables

Beef roast with vegetables

5.  Best Ever Pasta Sauce ... In the Slow Cooker

I can whip up a pretty quick pasta sauce on the stovetop but a pasta sauce slow cooked all day tastes amazing as it makes all the difference letting the tomatoes cook out for hours. 

RECIPE: Heat oil and cook crushed garlic, chopped chilli, finely chopped onion, carrot and celery. Add chopped chirozo or bacon for extra flavour and some Italian style sausages (skins removed and cut into bite size pieces) and brown. Add a cup of red wine, tin of tomatoes, jar of tomato pissata, mixed herbs and fennel seeds. Put the lid on and cook on low for 6 hours. Add a handful of olives in the last 30 minutes. Cook pasta, drain and mix into your delicious tomato sauce and serve topped with cheese.

Sausage, Tomato + Olive Pasta

I have not given exact measurements for these recipes feel free to add a bit of this and a bit of that you can't really go wrong with one pot dinners like these. If you have any questions or want to know quantities please leave me a comment :)

What is your favourite slow cooker recipe?

Check out my other slow cooker recipes:

Best Ever Bolognese Sauce in Slow Cooker
Slow Cooker Sausage Stroganoff
Slow Cooked Old Fashioned Curried Sausages
Slow Cooked Chinese Chicken Hot Pot
Slow Cooked Beef in Orange and Soy Sauce
Sear and Slow Cooker Recipes


Sharing with link parties:
Curly Crafty Mom - The Creative Corner
The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

For exclusive extras and daily updates ... follow Jarrah Jungle on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

[All images my own]


Pin It Now!

Nursery Inspiration + Organising Ideas

As I've officially hit the third trimester of my pregnancy I'm getting into nesting mode and going on an organising spree throughout the house - the linen, kitchen and bathroom cupboards all need a good tidy up so I can make room for the baby's things!

But first things first I want to finish setting up the baby's nursery and have found so many great ideas on Pinterest to get me inspired. Here's my organising ideas for the room so far ....

As you will see in my earlier post I'm having a chest of drawers that doubles as a change table. For this I purchased the Ikea Hemnes chest of 8 drawers on Gumtree brand new at a fraction of the original price!

I have also purchased some Ikea drawer dividers as the baby's clothes are so tiny the drawer dividers will help keep everything neat and tidy. I've seen some great ideas for organising everything in these drawers with the baby change items like nappies and creams in the top drawers and then clothes in the bottom drawers.

I'll share my chest of drawers and change table organising on the blog once I have set this up in the coming weeks.

We moved an Ikea 2 door wardrobe we had in the Guest Bedroom into the nursery for our baby's pretty dresses, coats and anything else that needs to be hung.

I scored a heap of matching coat hangers for free from Pumpkin Patch who are closing down their Australian stores so I have all nice matching coat hangers in different sizes which is perfect.

I also want to install some shelves in the wardrobe as the hanging space won't take up much room as the clothes are so tiny and I want to make use of all the wardrobe space.  The shelves will be perfect for baskets and storing the linen, boxes of nappies, toys etc ... I have discovered baby's have so many things!

My Ikea 10 cube bookcase will be staying in the nursery (which use to be my study/craft room) and the baby and I will need to share the bookcase as I don't have anywhere else to store my books.

Bookcases are a great addition to a nursery because I can add some decorative boxes or baskets to store toys as well as pretty decor items and books on the shelves.

I want to keep everything baby related in the nursery so whatever I can fit in this room with clever storage I will as I figure it will make it a lot easier to find things if they're all kept in the one room.

Do you have any organising tips for a nursery?

Sharing with link parties:
Curly Crafty Mom - The Creative Corner
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays
The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Mondays

For exclusive extras and daily updates ... follow Jarrah Jungle on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

[Images via my Pinterest 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]

Pin It Now!

Nursery Design: Drawers + Change Table

To come up with a design for our nursery I've been trawling through Pinterest admiring the most adorable nursery rooms and getting inspiration for setting up a nursery for our new addition.

It's not hard to see that I really love the look of a chest of drawers that doubles as a change table with a change mat on top.

Not only is this a great use of space as you don't need a separate change table which will take up room but it's also budget friendly as it's less furniture to buy.

I have chosen the Ikea Hemnes 8 drawers (see first photo above) as it's the perfect size in length to accommodate a change mat and change supplies at easy hands reach.

The height also had to be considered and it's a perfect height as it's the same height as most change tables - not too tall for me to use and not too low for Mr P.

As I'm trying to design the nursery on a budget I have been keeping an eye on Gumtree and managed to find the exact drawers I wanted, brand new, still in original packaging, on Gumtree for almost half the price.

Now I'm impatiently waiting for Mr P to assemble the flat pack drawers so that I can set them up and share them with you!

What did you use as a baby change table?

For exclusive extras and daily updates ... follow Jarrah Jungle on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

[All images via my Pinterest 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]


Pin It Now!