Not even a pretty table runner will hide the fact...

Yes, this hoop pine coffee table has seen better days. I tried to pretty it with a table runner made with some Sandi Henderson Ginger Blossom, but there's no escaping it. I think it won't be long before this table gets attacked with some sandpaper and/or some paint!

Stay tuned!

The Blue Room

I call this the "Blue Room", but really it's just a little sitting area off the main open plan living area. I wanted to make it prettier before our visitors arrived to stay over Christmas. So I replaced the old daggy futon cushion with some new foam, which I covered in this lovely coordinating fabric. I was really pleased to find it, as a lot of the fabrics I had my eye on for the job were far too expensive, and I didn't expect to find anything I liked this much at Spotlight!

The other happy find was some blue paint in the clearance pile at Bunnings. Someone's reject is another's perfect shade of blue. So I painted an old coffee table and a couple of frames and so the sitting area became 'The Blue Room' .

I also recovered the cushions on the cane setting in the adjacent outdoor area. I think my husband thinks I'm a bit obsessed with this fabric Having a bit more left, I'm looking aound thinking about what else I can cover in it!

Hope you had a happy Christmas!

I had a busy one, with my parents and one sister up from one part of the country and my other sister and her new husband up from another! Lots of little projects I wanted to get done beforehand, on top of planning Christmas. Including a table runner for my parents inlaw, and some coasters for my mum (photos to follow).

We also had a last minute trip to Noosa - lots of fun!

Christmas is coming!

Presents for teachers have been wrapped and given out...

The girls have written out cards for their friends...

And Lizzie has said goodbye to her kindy/creche, as she prepares to move on to a new c & k kindy next year - the same one Louisa attended...

And of course the tree is up!

Also the girls' new rooms are almost organised. They both chose their own new bedlinen, and I think they did a pretty good job. Louisa's is the top one and is very grown up, I think. Lizzie, no surprise, chose pink with fairies!

The walls are a bit bare, which I don't mind, but I'm planning to get some special prints framed (these ones are 38 years old - pics to come). Lizzie scored a new bed too, and Louisa gained a 'kind of' new bookcase. One that was my parents, which I painted hot pink!

The new paint job

We've been busy.

Moving house for a start, which is always an epic. But add to that, the chaos of having flooring and painting done as we're moving in. So we've not really been able to unpack properly or organise the house. So still quite crazy at the moment and I haven't been able to have that lovely 'Ooh, ahh, I love my new house moment' yet. But I'm expecting it shortly follwing a massive garage sale to declutter the junk we've accumulated - and the possiblity of buying new furniture (yah!)and refreshing some old stuff.

I'm so happy with the colours we've picked. For anyone who's looking for a lovely fresh white for walls, that's Fair Bianca (1/2 strength) and Hogs Bristle (1/2 strength) for the trim, a bit topsy turvy to the way most people do it, but I really wanted a fresh white for the walls, but didn't want it to look too 'refridgerator-like' so broke it up with darker trim and Bluster Blue for the features. All Dulux. Boy, did those decision take some thinking through!

I'll add more photos once it's a bit better 'styled'!

Some pretty mail and some stripes.

With the Aussie dollar so strong, I couldn't resist some fabric from Heather Bailey's online store. 20% of Freshcut fabric and Trash Ties added to the appeal. Having quite long hair, I've always thought about ordering some TrashTies. But I also had to order some Pop Garden beauties as well. I'm planning some Christmas gifts with these. I also made myself a simple tiered skirt, using knit fabric so no need to finish the seams. The gathering was a bit fiddly, but I'm happy with the result. My husband couldn't help comparing the skirt though to some 'pirate cushions' I'd made recently for my stepson's room, using a new tea towel and backed with one of Peter's old grey marle top.

We've had our house on the market, so there were lots of those little projects to make things look a little more pulled together. Also, some stool covers to make some bar stools form Peter's work a little more tasteful.


It looks like we have (finally!) sold, so I'm looking forward to moving and no doubt there'll be more sewing projects for the new house this time.

Another ruffly tiered skirt

One of the issues with having two daughters is that if you make a pretty skirt for one, you have to make it for the other! So I did. This time I used contrasting fabrics, and I didn't use my buttonhole stitch for the top of the tiers, just a simple hem. It worked just as well. I realise now that this photo only really shows the bottom two tiers, the third is the same fabric as the bottom tier. Oh, and the photo also shows a Milo face! Oops.