Freya's room

Ok, I thought that I should show you the rest of my daughter's room. I just showed you the bed etc before because they were all new then I thought that even though the rest is old, it's new to you. I'll start with the pictures over her bed. When I was little (back in Sweden) I used to collect paper bookmarks. The two angels in the frames are bookmarks that I was given when I was 6-7 years old. Initially I was hunting for a more ornate frame but I think that the plain frame works really well.

This is an old shelf thing that I got from ? I can't remember but it may have been ebay. I just painted it white and put the wooden letters in it (FREYA). I also have a confession to make, I am a bit of a figure geek. I love all sorts of plastic figures, mostly ones of cartoons that I grew up with. The ones displayed here are Barbapapa. I used to watch it as a child so naturally I try to force my taste on to my children :) I also love Smurfs but they are safely tucked away and not on display in any of their rooms. Maybe I should loosen up a bit, lol

Ok, this is just a plain wardrobe that I bought through the Trading Post and painted white in the garage. I will get back to the wardrobe shortly. The little desk was a birthday present a couple of years ago, she loves sitting there pretending to write letters to friends. If you are wondering what the curious little figures are, please see below.

Ok, here is another example of my geeky figure collecting mania. These are called Marsupilami and they are from a cartoon with the same name. Another one that I grew up with. Lucky for me my daughter actually likes what I force on her.

This is a coat rack that I bought from Freedom years ago and I use it for her dress-ups and hats etc. Apart from that I like how it looks it is also really practical as it is easy to tidy up afterwards, they all have a spot to hang. (yes, you are correct in thinking there are four little Telly tubbie figures at the top of the bookshelf - they are velour covered, supercute)

Ok, back to the wardrobe. I would really like to do something with it but not sure what to do. I am thinking of the obvious at this stage, changing the door knobs but I would like to do something more. Please let me know if you have any suggestions and once I am finished doing something I will post a picture.


Back soon :)

Sakura attack!

I recently bought a bunch of sakura fabric to make some cushions for Freya's bed. Think I went overboard?! She was thrilled though so all is good. Freya was in desperate need for a new bed (remember old bed not that long ago?) and I bought some new lovely white pin tuck bedlinen at the same time. I needed some colour to brighten things up a little and ... here we are.

There are just a few easy steps

Step one: Buy cheap and ugly cushions from Kmart (on sale $2.50)

Step two: Take out the inserts and discard covers, cut in half if you need a smaller cushion

Step three: Get super talented Amy from Badskirt to make custom hippos to match decor

Step four: Get daughter to name said hippos. Blue is Charlie (girl) and black is Sarah

Step five: Get another super talented gal - Alicia from Stockholm Moose - to make a custom lamp.

Step six: Buy a fab bedside table at Bondi Markets to go with the new bed

Step seven: Show your daughter who is delighted but immediately re-arranges the pillows to the end of the bed and declares that she has made "a celebration!"

Alive (but not well)

I'm bored! I have been in bed for 10 days straight now and it's not over yet. I have a pinched nerve in my back (some people call it a slipped disc) and haven't been able to sit, walk or stand for very long periods of time. I can now sit for about 4-5 minutes without being in absolute agony so I thought i'd let you all know why I have been AWOL. As soon as I am well enough to sit for longer I have several things to share with you so there will be a blog post bonanza here soon.

Take care and spare a minute to feel sorry for me :)

AAAAAARRRRG!

I just need to scream... Four of the fabrics that I use for my clothes have been discontinued. I knew that since a while back but I didn't think it would be this quick before they were hard to get hold of. Anyway, I have a little bit left and that's it. Once it's gone it's gone. I now have to find new fabrics that I love. I know that is not hard as there are sooooo many gorgeous fabrics out there but the fabric that I just found and totally fell in love with, is sold out everywhere.

Seems like i'm not the only one that loves it :(

The fabric has arrived! Sort of...

This is the fabric that I was waiting for about a month or so ago. The parcel never turned up but the lovely seller sent me another batch. Both of the fabrics are from Timeless Treasures Bamboo collection. I just love this kind of green together with pink. I also love the little dragonflies on the pink fabric. I made a dress for the market on Sunday and even though it was a pretty bad day in terms of sales (not many shoppers around) it was the first thing i sold while I was still setting up!




And here are a couple of orders going out tomorrow :)

Good night!

I must be in some sort of a twilight zone...

After the last post and complaining that cooking is not my thing, I have been very energetic with the children in the kitchen. The truth is they absolutely love everything that has to do with cooking, but I always feel so stressed about it. When I get home from work they immediately ask me what's for dinner and I have to get started straight away. The last thing i want to do then is to be teaching them things - it has to be quick and easy with minimal mess.

Yes, some of you are thinking that my approach is rubbish, they can't possibly learn anything if i don't teach them. You are absolutely right! I have come to that realisation as well and have decied to take some time to cook with them. You know, they really prefer cooking compared to some expensive outing so it could be a money saver as well.

Last week we made cupcakes - yes, they were from a packet but it's a start! They couldn't agree if they were to be vanilla or chocolate so we did both and after some serious decorating we have the fantastic results below.

Today when i asked if they wanted to cook dinner they just screamed with happiness (made me feel a bit guilty for not doing it more). I told them it had to be something that they would eat. They decided on Indian chicken with rice and corn on the cob. With a fancy chocolate dessert.

Unfortunately i forgot to take a photo and it looked pretty impressive as well. They used a small rectangular container to shape the rice to create a 'fancy' sort of look. They were so proud of their efforts - and rightly so, it was great! We made chocolate mousse - from scratch! No premade stuff in sight. It was delish! This is the recipe that I followed. (I agree with comments that you can leave sugar out, even though I hadn't made it before I decided to only use half of the sugar. I could have added no sugar and it would have been perfect.)

I have done very little sewing this week, I am so behind on certain things. I think when you just go go go you can't keep it up forever. I'll get back to it though (in about 30 minutes actually) I have to finish a couple of orders.

Vegetarian lasagna, yummmm....

Ok, I am definitely not one of those fabulous wifes that cook and bake up a storm every day. It's not just because I am not very good at it, I don't like it at all to be honest. In our house it's like groundhog week. Same dishes week after week. My husband and I want to be a bit more adventurous but it's hard when our children just refuse to eat it. If i don't like cooking meal no.1 I certainly don't like cooking a second meal for our children. I think that I have lowered my husband's expectations since we met because even on days when i have given our children leftovers from the proper meal from the night before and I tell him we are having wraps for dinner he says "Great, that is exactly what i feel like tonight anyway". He is so lovely :)

After having told you all this I must share this recipe for this fantastic vegetarian lasagna that i made last night. My in-laws came over for dinner for my son's birthday. We ordered pizza for our children as that is what our son wanted for his birthday dinner. Anyway, back to the lasagna. It's not my recipe, one of my friends came up with it.

First i am going to tempt you with the photos of the various stages then you can get the recipe below, yummm....

after baking in the oven for 45 minutes it looks like this

What you need:

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

herbs - basil, oregano, thyme etc (italian herbs or herbs that you like)

crushed tomatoes 800 grams

lasagna sheets

fresh baby spinach

carrots

grated cheese (I mix mozzarella with normal cheese)

ricotta

chicken stock - I am not actually a vegetarian, I just don't like a lot of meat. If you are a vegetarian you can use vegetable stock

100ml of double lite cream (or you can use the full cream milk)

pine nuts and sunflower seeds

what you do:

cut the onion and brown it in olive oil with garlic and herbs. Then add the crushed tomatoes. Start layering the lasagna with some of the crushed tomatoes followed by sheets - a bit of grated cheese - large layer of baby spinach - ricotta- more sheets - tomato mixture - grated carrots -
more grated cheese - more sheets and the rest of the tomato mixture - grated cheese (your arteries are probably clogging at the thought of all this cheese) - add pine nuts and sunflower seeds to the top - pour 100ml of stock and 100ml of the cream or full cream milk over the lasagna. Bake for 45 minutes in the oven on 200 degrees celcius.

I hope you can follow this but if you can't please don't hesitate to ask as this is one thing that i can really recommend!