Corkboard Necklace Holder

Remember my post way back before Christmas about dee-culttering my Jewellery and making my necklace holder?  Way back then I promised to show you the doona cover that matched... i never did get around to honouring that promise.  Well it is time I made amends.

The cover was made by folding and tie-dyeing a large piece of pale green sheeting with a dark green dye.  Stenciling with bleach paste to make the leavesand blossoms - not very successful.  Then  painting with green, pink and silver to get the gum leaves and blossums.  Then it was a relatively simple task to make it into a doona cover.  Overall it worked and looks great.

I am going back to it becasue I have finally finished off the necklace holder which completes the set.

Here is the happy final result!  

Cork board coverted to necklace holder.

It was a simple and very effective transformation to my necklace storage challenge.  My young adult had originally made it for me, but it needed some refinig, so it is now finished and hanging on the wall.  I love being able to see all of my necklaces easily and in one go.  I really love that the don't get tangled and it makes great art.

It is made from an old corkboard which had been in use for some years and was no longer very attractive due to the creative teen who hot-glued lots of decorations to the cork as well as the timber frame.  When the time came to change it around the decorations came off the frame easily but took chunks of cork out of the board - not so pretty, but still useful.

We cut a piece of fabric to size and cut out and no-sew apliqued some of the left over gum leaves from the original doona cover and hand stitched around them (as can be seen in the pic below).

 Note the necklace holders... more on this to come.

I got out my trusty staple gun and attached the red fabric to the timber frame on the cork board.

I also stapled some cord to hang it up... if you are doing this, I suggest checking which way is the right way up first.

Unless of course you want two cords across the back  ; )

Can you see what we used to hold the necklaces?  Yep it is push pins!  Remember it is a cork board under the fabric, so we recycled the push pins too.

To complete the rest of the set... Wall hanging

I am going to link up with several linky-parties with this one.

 

Sewing Room

It's done!  Today we moved my sewing gear into my new sewing room.  Redy for a tour?  Believe me it is a small room so it won't take long. :)

Standing at the door looking in we see my bright yellow and blue sewing table, oh and the door. The sewing table is 4foot square (120cm) and there is about a foot between the door and the sewing table. The room is a mere 266cm wide - just under 9 foot yep tiny room.

Stepping into the doorway we see the end of the sewing table, the curtains (which I really must hem up) and the mirror-doored robe.  Remember that the sewing table is 120cm Square and the distance from the end of the table to the mirror doors is less than a metre. The room is 237cm accross + 50cm for the robe.
Man that table is bright, remember sponging? yep I used left over yellow paint to sponge over a white undercoat. In my defense it was in 1995 and I was pregnant with my third baby.

Slide open the doors and we see my sewing stuffs, the beloved Kirby and to the right the single mattress standing on its end. I love using clear boxes for storage and it makes moving them around soooo easy too.  Notice some coloured boxes?  I went to purchase some more boxes only to discover that the world had found out my secret and the price had jumped up from $13 per set to $24 in a little over twelve months!!! The coloured ones however were only a few dollars more than they were previously, so I embraced colour. 
The other good thing, there is still plenty of space in the robe.

Standing over by the window looking toward the wall opposite, we see the mattress (young adult will stay on Wednesdays) and the open cupboard with my fabric non-stash.  Again more space in there.

My sewing table in all its yellow glory.  I love its proportions, hubby and I cut down an old bar and made it just the right height for me (I'm 175cm, 5'10"). I am looking forward to being able to sew again at almost any time of the day.  I promise to remove the machines from their cases very soon ; )
...and I think a coat of paint will be happening in the not-too-distant future.
Oh and I will finally get to use my new sewing machine.

strange occurence

the strangest thing happened yesterday...

While chatting to a friend on the phone I was doing a bit of general tidying, put a load of washing on, swept through the lounge, kitchen, dining, hall, laundry, bathroom and toilet.  I put a couple of things away and stood looking for what else needed to be done and.... nothing.  It had only taken me about 15 minutes.  There were no hot-spots piled with clutter.

Everything was neat, tidy, clean.  There was no housework to do!  I couldn't quite believe it.  How did this happen to me?  What had I missed?

so I walked through the house looking for things that needed doing. 
My room and ensuite - check
bathroom - check
toilet - check
laundry - check
dining room - check
kitchen - check
 WOW!!!
    There was no housework to do.

I had moved the things listed in my post from a couple of days ago into the now-spare-soon-to-be my sewing room and stacked them neatly in the robe - so they now have a home and look neat. :)

All of my dee-cluttering has been paying off!  Most things have homes and are away when not in use.
It makes it so much simpler to keep the house tidy and the teens are more inclinded to put something away when the cupboards aren't overflowing. 

There are still areas to dee-clutter and keeping clutter down will be a lifetime challenge. 
The rewards are sooooo worthwhile.

As I was chatting with my friend and exclaimed my surprise that 15 minutes had the tidying done, she told me that it was a blog-worthy story - so here 'tis. 

On the dining table is a vase with four gerberas.  One of them is this unusual pink and green flower. 

Pink and green Gerbera viewed from underneath.

Op Shopping

This afternoon teen 2 and I went op shopping in hope of finding a few things on the list of items needed.  We didn't have much success.  It was just as well though that I had my camera with me to document some of our adventure.

Have you been into an op shop recently?
did you notce anything unusual about the prices?

I am astounded how expensive they have become.  I can no longer afford to shop at the op shops for many household items!!!  now that is saying something.

There were two main items on my shopping list.  A utensils crock for my toilet brush and some kind of shelving for the inside of the robe in the room vacated by our YA. I was also looking just in case I found curtains or a nice small table cloth or furnishing fabric.

First stop was the Endeavour Foundation Op shop, otherwise known as Endos.  Nice and clean and well laid out.  i looked at many items here and was shocked at the prices:

what would you expect  to pay for one of these little crocks in an op shop?  $2-4? try $6-8 at Endos!

small melamine bedside table $20
used double bed fitted sheet $10
70's chipboard laminate sideboard - very ugly and in poor condition $50
set of 5 water glasses (same as ones as Crazy clarks) $6 - they were one $1 each at crazies!!!
chipped blue ceramic lamp with no shade $7

I won't even bother to go into Endo's again and I WILL NOT donate any goods to them.

I faired better at Vinnies - better known as St Vincent de Paul
I found similar crocks to the ones above for $3 and one came home with me. Many of their items were 1/2 - 2/3 of the price of the other place.  But they were a much smaller shop with not a lot of stock, i suspect it has to do with better prices.

Onto Lifeline.  Teen 2 asked, "why is their logo circles made of dots if their name is Life Line? Shouldn't it be a line?"  (Have I mentioned that teen 2 has Aspergers and thinks very literally? )  after we had a laugh and I explained their phone counselling origins she got it - yes the logo is based on the old rotary phone and it was literally a (telephone) line that saved lives.

Their bric-a-brac pricing was similar to Vinnies for some items and closer to Endos on others.

We spotted this little glass tray on the shelf at LifeLine for $4.  It would have been unremarkable except that teen 2 had admired the exact same tray on the shelf at Endos for $8 - twice the price!

Then we saw this little TV unit for $95!  I have been looking at similar things on eBay and similar ones are selling for around $10-30.  Nice, big, timber units sell for around $50-80. 

All of LifeLine furniture items were way over priced.

Onto the animal refuge op shop - the pllace where I had taken a car load full of dee-cluttered items.  It is a small charity shop crammed full with stuff  all over the place and treasures to be discovered at fair op shopping prices.  :) I will donate here again and shop here first.  Pity it is too small a place to sell furniture items. 

I was later told that the Salvos are still reasonably priced so will have to check them out sometime.


The sad thing about op shopping becoming popular / fashionable / trendy is that the prices have gone up a LOT.
supply and demand?  there is still a huge supply to meet the demand yet the prices are way high.
what about those who shop at such places becasue they can't afford to shop else where?
what gives???
the stock is all donated...
the workers are mostly volunteers...
overheads are low...
sure there is shed rental - but none of these sheds are exactly luxurious.


sigh.

what have you found?

In common...

Can you pick what it is that all of these items have in common?

Kirby vacuum cleaner

Christmas Tree 

Base Guitar 

Assorted brooms and mops

Queen airbed

as yet unpacked but rumaged through boxes of mostly craft materials

Camp mat and camp bed 

Any ideas???

The answer is  they all have no permanent home in our new house.

The vacuum cleaner moves from space to space, gets used and is in the way when not in use.  It is much loved and is not clutter, but it is sadly homeless.  

The brooms, mops, duspan etc are also homeless but since they can lean againsly any wall or corner they are less under foot... the downside is that no matter when any of us wants to use a broom or mop or dustpan and brush, in ALWAYS involves a great search throughout the house to work out where it was last used and where it is now.  This is time consuming and annoying as fequently the wanted item can't be found without ten minutes of searching, calling to other household members and looking in every possible place twice before finding it in an already overlooked spot. This is a daily occurence!

The Bass Guitar and the Maton six string guitar (not pictured) are less of an issuue, they lean against a wall, get moved around and since hubby rarely plays them anymore they take up space with little issue (unless I suggest that he may like to consider selling them).

The airbed (usually deflated and in its bag), camp mat and camp bed also lean against a wall in the hall and are generally homeless visual clutter, but not tripped over.

 Ditto for the unpacked boxes of craft materials.

The Christmas tree is very useful for about 6 weeks a year and for the rest of the year is a storage hassle.  Hmm that sounds like the best case that I have heard for a real tree yet.  But I gotta tell you, real trees in Australia are expensive and sad as they are spindly excuses for evergreens which drop their pine needles in the December heat.

The no home for these items issue has, as you can imagine, been an ongoing challenge.  I can't really dee-clutter these items as they all have a use and purpose - just no where to store when not in use.

This house has no linen cupboard and no broom cupboard.!!!! Don't get me started on this one!

It is also a VERY small house.

Every bedroom has been fully occupied by humans with every robe full.

That creates some storage challenges.

I am a creative problem solver.

Here is how i have partially solved some of our storage challenges.

I had a piece of water-resistant coated particle board cut to the size of the top of our bath tub in the bathroom and put it over the top of the tub to use like a giant storage bin.  A thumbhole was drilled in it so that it could be lifted up to access items stored inside the tub.  As you can guess, we don't use the bath tub and tend to shower.

yes, if you are wondering, that is our bathroom.  It is tiny.  The floor measures just 105cm of  space between the wall and the tiny vanity and another 105cm between the tub and the shower.  To take this pic I leaned the camera into the room with my hand against the wall.  the gap from the wall near the door to the tub is 195cm. 

As you can see quite a few items including the Christmas tree are stored on top of the tub.  

Effective but not pretty.

To put it is perspective (if the brooms and small bin don't convey size) the bedside table used for vanity drawers  (!) is a small one as is the child size collapsable laundy hamper.

All of this is about to change!

With our first born leaving home, we have the robe in her bedroom for some additional storage.  I will be moving some items into there in the near future.

I have concluded that this house was never intended for a real family of five, at least not ones who own broom, vacuums, linen and christmas trees.

BTW if I ever meet the man who admits to being the designer of this house, I will be sorely tempted to strangle him.  I am convinced no woman would design a house (which is less than 10 years old) with no linen cupboard and no broom cupboard.

Tune in next time for more adventures in dee-cluttering and adjusting to one less person in the house.

Setting up house

My darling young adult (formerly know as teen 1) has moved into her very own granny-flat and is setting up house.

She was over after uni today (I have seen more of her since she moved out than i was seeing before she moved out... teehee hee).  I should have taken a photo of her littler car loaded to the hilt (if that metaphhor can be stretched that way).  It was just as well there were no other pasengers!

Who knew a teen moving out and setting up their own place could be such a great way to de-clutter?! Today I sent many things onto a new and excited home....
5 mismatched but cute drinking glasses
6 coffee mugs
the remains of my floral dinner set - now I can justify using my 'new' white one all the time ; )
4 tea towels (old, not so pretty but made her happy)
4 hand towels
4 'rag' towels
5 standard bath towels (which i had previously packaged up in a bag with her name on for just such an occassion - each of my girls had been given towels for gifts at various stages and just couldn't manage to use them all up,so I sorted and bagged them for the day that they left home)
mixing bowl
7 wine glasses (she bought these herself a while ago to paint for her friends birthdays but they were in my space)
large crate of dress-ups (yep she wanted to take the dress ups and her two younger sisters had long ago 'outgrown' the desire to play dress-ups)
5 photo albums of her life
her accademic file out of the filing cabinet (to which I will add her birth certificate and several other important documents)

Young Adult (YA) thought it was as good as Christmas and I thought so too.  I got (lots) more stuff out AND got to feel good about it.  AND most of it was still in perfect working order but had been for a few trips around the sun (if you get my drift) AND my head is brimming with all sorts of other things that I can send her way... kitchen utensils, knives, plastic stuffs... I have now started a box to put stuff in for her in setting up house as I find suitable things.  It is wonderful.  !!!

She did ask if I had a spare clothes dryer I could send her way, along with a microwave oven. She shrugged her shoulders and said she was obliged to give it a try and certainly would have says "great!" if I had said "sure darling".

She's coming for dinner tomorrow night after uni, and asked if she can come on wednesday nights after uni and sleep over since it is a late night at uni and she works locally on Thursdays at 10am.  So it looks like I will get to see her saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday... who knows we might even get friday in at this rate.  I am seeing more of her this week than I have seen of her for many weeks ; )  No complaints here.

Oh and have I mentioned that I now have an empty room which is soon to be my new sewing room?  I am starting to get excited about that.  And YA has offered to come and give me a hand setting it up - she insists that I do it SOON.  
Life is GOOD.

Adjusting

I am getting over the shock of my darling young adult leaving home.  I need to change some of the way I think about my teen 1, she is a teen, but she is also a young adult and she will always be mine but not mine.  Letting go of my baby is sooooooo hard.  At each stage of parenting I gain an even greater appreciation for my own darling mother. 

I have known for some time that she needed to spread her wings.  Part of me was wanting it too.  She has been pushing for some time, stretching her wings, testing her skills and independence ready to fly from the nest.

A big part of me just wants to keep her close to me and safe.  I know I can't protect my babies for ever.  I know they have to learn and make their own mistakes.  I know she is ready.  She is as well prepared for this step as she will ever be. I am telling myself that we have done a good job of helping her grow into the wonderful young woman that she is.... even if in my head I still see my sweet, little, curly headed, sparkly, brown eyed, cheeky, mischief filled, little girl. 

Hubby often describes a time when she was about 12 and  I was away.  He was getting everything ready for a family vacation when I returned.  Darling teen 1 drove him crazy by organising him and telling him "that is not how mum does it" at every step of the way.  She bossed him around and got things done.  He later told me it was frustrating and funny at the same time and that if not for her he would have forgotten quite a few things.  This skinny legged little girl knew what to do and how to do it and was making sure her daddy got it right.

She is a beautiful, intelligent, capable young woman who is ready to take the next step in her life.

Darling young adult wrote a letter to hubby and I.  It made me smile and I want to share it with you.

Mum and dad,

I don't want to be leaving on bad tearms with you.  My relationship with you both is very important to me.  I am sorry that my actions or lack of haven't shown you that,  I want to keep in regular contact with all of you and come and see you perhaps weekly.

I respect you mum and dad, and I'm sorry for not really showing that.  I am going to work harder at that.  I love you and miss you already.  I feel sad to leave you.  I need to figure out who I am other than your daughter. I am hoping we may be able to have an even closer and richer relationship than before."

Mum I want to help you move your craft stuff into the room.  Can we hang out this week. 

Dad, I'm gonna need to come and get daddy cuddles fairly often, only you do them right.   I want ot hang out with my sisters at least fortnightly if not more often.  i believe that is really important. 

I don't want any of you to think or feel that I'm abandoning you.  But i know some of you are probably already struggling with this.  It's a big adjustment for all of us.  Please know that I love each of you vey much and that I am especially fond of you!  I'm gonna come away for a few days over the easter break.

Thank you!

Thank you for loving me, caring for me, looking after me. Thank you for helping me, for raising me, for providing for me.  

I know that I'll never fully understand what youve gone through for me until I have kids myself, and maybe not even then. I am appreciateive to the best of my ability.  Even though it often doesn't seem like it.  I do love you.  

Lots of love, 

Even as she is stepping out and asserting her independence she is thinking about how hard it is for the rest of us.  I love her sooooo much.

A family member has gone

This table has been in our family for nearly 17 years.  The stools were born 11 years ago when I had them made to match the table.  This morning at 9am they have gone to another young couple who were very excited to be taking it away. Their excitement was similar to our own when we took possession of the table - bought from an older friend who was downsizing after raising her family around that  for over 40 years. 

The nice young couple said they had been searching for some time for the perfect table and were very happy to have found just the right one.  They were interested in all  my raving about its history... or at the very least they humoured me in a convincing manner.

What is it about furniture that we get so attached to? 

We have decluttered many items over the last few months but this one was harder than most to part with. 

We had bought a smaller dining setting since this beauty is too big for our small dining space.  we moved this to our outdoor area, but didn't really need it there.  We just didn't want to actually part with it.

I figure I am more attached to this setting because we have sat around it eating many meals, making craft, sewing, doing our budget, studying, sorting our lives, meals shared with family and friends, laughing, crying... 

Just because it is going out of our lives doesn't mean that our memories of its significance are also going out - we get to keep all of those.

By the way, just as the young couple arrived to take possession of this set, teen 1 arrived home to announce she was also moving out and on with her life... and was gone in a little over an hour.

Look what I found today - take 2

Look what I found today... The Red Chair Blog  check out this blog for lots of great de-cluttering ideas (as well as clever tutorials).  This clever blogger has been in my HEAD! 

I am in LOVE!  This is just the coolest pic... and it's free... and it's cute... and it's BIG.

Throughout my dee-cluttering, I have been asking myself and teaching my family (especially hoarder hubby) to ask these same questions.
Do I love it?
Do I need it?
Is it useful or beautiful?
Would I buy it if it were in a store in front of me? 
Would I keep it if it didn;t come with emotional strings?
Can I buy it again if I find I really did need it?

Now I can print a pretty picture and stick it on the wall and simply point to it instead of doing my cracked record routine.  (my kids sooooo don't get that image so I have to say scratched CD routine - somehow it just doesn't sound as poetic).

Is this kind of love normal or natural?  who cares!

Look what I found today... The Red Chair Blog

Better?

I am not sure if this is an improvement.  What do you think?

 

  

  

  

 

The dark curtains seem to frame better.

The light ones blend better into the walls.

Ideas?  suggestions?

Lounge Room

I have been gradually culling and sorting and trying to make our new home work for us for the last few months since we  moved here.  It still feels like I take 2 steps forward and one back, but it is at least going in the right direction.

Whilst no where in the house is done (is a house ever done?), parts of the house are starting to look ok. It is functional,  BUT...

Every where I look I see things that need to be done.  I am feeling frustrated with it all. 
Perhaps i need to have a look at some ofthose befreo photos again...
Still, i can't deny that I am feeling restless and frustrated with the house.  It is time to address what is underlying this. 

When I look around I keep thinking "I will get to that eventually."  It is getting to me! Yeah I do smile with each little progression, but it is somewhat discouraging to keep seeing  soooooo many things still to do.


Whilst there is much more to do in general space sorting, I have decided to break things up a bit.  I will alternate between de-cluttering and also focus more on decorating.  I hope that will give me something that will make me smile rather than sigh. 
I have decided to turn my decorating attention to the lounge room. I chose it for several reasons, it is the first space that anyone sees upon entering the house, it doesn't need too much to get it looking fab and  it is a confined area.

here are some pics of our tiny 3.4m (11.15)' x 4.3m (14') entry / lounge room :

 

  

 

It looks OK - not great though. 

Any ideas on what i can do to give it a little more zing?

Considerations:

Our lounge/entry is tiny.

Our house is a rental and the walls and tiles are beige and white - can't change them.  

The style of the house is quite modern, but generic.

Our lounge chairs are deep burgundy/brown leather - they are a keeper.

The curtains are a rich brown, which whilst not the same as the lounge, tones with it. 

There is no ceiling fan so unfortunately the pedestal fan is an essential feature for nine months of the year.

We are utilising lamps for lighting since the electric lighting is via five (!) 12 watt halogen downlights which provide good, but expensive lighting and add much heat, hence we have decided to avoid using them as much as possible.  BTW There are 43 halogen downlights throughout our tiny house!  yes 43!

My previous style had been modern country with lots of happy country clutter in our very large lounge room.  I have got rid of most of it, only keeping a very few favourite pieces.  

I love timber furniture.  It seems to go with most houses and never dates.  I have over the years collected most of my furniture in a "new teak" type of stain. 

I have found that I can add colour in other furnishings.  For many years I have had burgundy and forest green.  I am now quite over the forest green / burgundy combo.
The three remaining cushions are all hand-made and lovely but now quite dated so I will replace them.

  
Ok i think that just about covers the inventory...

I want to make some changes.
I have a few ideas but would really like to hear your ideas.  go crazy as it just might spark some inspiration for me.

One thing I would like to draw your attention to...

 

A few years ago I found this little sweetie table at a garage sale for only $3.  I had intended to paint it, but never did.

Now it lives just inside my front door and is my Dispatch Centre.

The top of the table is decorative.

Underneath is functional.

The baskets are intended to be the storage spot for items which need to go out the door with us as well as things like the cat brush for attempting to remove those hairs before we rush out the door.

I like the way it gives the room a bit of colour and I really like the acqua colour.  I like the way it looks with the burgundy/brown and am thinking of bringing in more of this colour. 

 

I bought the baskets yesterday.

Not sure about colour, keep them black or spray them white?

Not sure about height, I deliberately haven't taken the tags off so I can look at them for a few days to decide if I keep them both or exchange one.  What will work best; two high baskets or one of each?  what looks best?

Happy Birthday Eddie!

My hubby thinks I have completely lost the plot!

Teen 2 and I planned and hosted a birthday party for Eddie the cat today to celebrate his first birthday. 

 

Really it was a good excuse to eat chocolate cake but let's not tell him...

It started out simply enough.  Teen 2 had a a yearning for Chocolate cake and had voucher for a cake at a local bakery .  It is Eddie's birthday so we decided to combine the two and have some fun.  

Teen 2 made a cat sized party hat, we picked up the cake, she decorated it with cake decorating gel... instant party.  The family all got home from work and school and the party began!  

Hubby may have thought I'd lost the last of my marbles, but he was happy to eat two pieces of chocolate cake! 

 

Eddie didn't get any cake

... but he did get to drop a hair on the cake (hubby got that piece) and chew up his hat - what more could a cat want... except perhaps some tuna for dinner. 

 

BTW, his tail is now healed and just has to grow back the hair.

Thank you for humouring me in my strange and unusual cat adventures of late.  I sincerly hope this is my last cat post for a very long time.