from the blue shed

cubby refurb

Our girls have just celebrated their birthdays and they seem significantly older this time around - just like that! With the beginning of each new year I have this overwhelming urge to purge and rearrange. In with the new sort of thing. In the midst of all the culling we brought up the cubby house with the girls. It hadn't had much attention for sometime so we suggested that the chickens move in. Luckily that idea was met by resistance, so we decided to keep it as is but move it around the back. I stumbled across these photos of the cubby house in its hay-day. When potions were made in it and it was home to every doll and stuffed animal in the house, when I had time to make bunting, scrub labels off old squeezie bottles and sew matching aprons. When did I ever have time for that?!?

When the cubby was moved to a new spot, I had this overwhelming need to sew some bunting - metaphorically speaking. So on a sunny Sunday we set to work. We made a list with a plan of action. We went to buy supplies, everyone co-operating, agreeing on a paint colour (phew) and choosing the extra special touches. It was all going so well. Once home we set ourselves up to get painting with the "adult paint". Now I have to admit that we ran into an anxious, panic stricken slightly cranky bump when the blue covered more than just the sky. Seriously, what did I think was going to happen?? But I took a few deep breaths, pulled myself together and we were off again. I was sure the blue footprints could be scrubbed off of the paving.. (insert panic faced emoticon)

Once the fence was painted, the flowers planted, the clouds sponged, and the paint splattered area repaved (seriously) We stood back and admired our work.
 

Now that the girls are older, they have their own ideas of how they want their spaces to be decorated. The control freak in me just needed to take a step back (take a few quick photos) and let them do their thing. They do know how to bling up the place marvelously.

A new location and a lick of paint and the cubby house is now the hub of activity once again. Just when I thought the Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber posters were going to replace the dolls, they start cranking out potions and playing house.

Change really is as good as a holiday. Thank goodness.

the makings of a suburban farm

A couple of times a year my husband always asks me the same question, "So, wanna move to the country and start a goat farm?" and my response is generally the same, "Um, I don't think so". It's not that I don't get swept up with the romantic notion of country life every time we visit it. It's just that I am a big city girl, now living in suburbia. That is a big enough step for this decade I think. For now we'll just try to inject a bit of country into our little patch of suburbia. 

Step 1. Chickens.

When I first moved to Australia and discovered that people kept chickens in their backyards, I thought it was, well, ridiculous. I didn't really give a lot of thought to all the benefits at first, I just thought they seemed so out of place in a suburban area. Adam has wanted chickens forever. He conveniently found an old wooden trunk (perfect for a laying box) and a few other bits lying on the side of the road. Mix that with the relentless pleading from the children and here we are.

Isn't that just the sweetest thing? My initial hesitation was how our dog was going to cope, Jack Russell's being chickens main canine nemesis. The amount of fun Adam and the 2 girls have had planning and putting it all together though, it's just gotta work. Right??

 

I love chalkboard paint

painted gumnuts

Holiday prep snapshot.

caravan no. 2

I was disappointed when the gypsy caravan refurb came to an end. I know that some of you really enjoyed watching the transformation as well. For those just tuning in, the first caravan was done up as a bedroom for two girls whose family is starting to renovate. Their parents will be camping out in the newly built shed for the duration, leaving only their son without a space of his own. That is until now... 

Mission 

Create an awesome dwelling deemed acceptable by a teenage boy that doesn't resemble a cave.
Reupholster bench cushions 
Make new curtains
Decorate with an automotive theme.....oooh have they got some goodies for that.
Limited budget as this second caravan was quite a bit more than the first (the first being a few hundred bucks I think) That just makes the challenge more fun!

So here is caravan no. 2...

Snuggled up next to caravan no. 1

 
Same fabulous interior but in much better shape.

 
Lovin' the green fridge. That is definitely staying.

 
Fabric chosen for upholstering benches and for curtains.

 
I am so excited to be doing this all over again. Will keep you posted on the progress. Start your engines.

guest post!

 Amy from Dealusional, a great blog full of bargains and giveaways, asked me if I would like to guest post. This is one of those great things about the blogging world. Sharing ideas and finding people with similar interests from all over the globe. Amy and I are on opposite sides of the planet. We have only been chatting for a few weeks, yet here we are! I love this encouraging blogging community.
I put together a little project to share with her readers. Head on over to Dealusional to check out Amy's blog and my little rescue and diy project.
 

 Thank you Amy!
 

talkin trash - diy

One of the items on my list of hope-to finds from the big household chuck out was a frame. I wanted to make my very first inspiration board to finish off my little sewing nook in the kitchen. I finally found one;
 
I find that as I get older I have a little more patience (no seriously Adam, I do) when tackling a project. A little patience yields a better result. My wanted it done yesterday attitude is waning. I actually gave the frame a sand before I painted it! (with a little help)
 
I bought a piece of chipboard to staple gun the fabric to and used a couple different pieces of lace and bias tape to make a corner pocket. I am still wondering if I should have added a layer of quilt batting in between the wood and fabric. We'll see.
  
 I have always loved the succulent 'string of pearls', but have never had the right place to put it. I bought these two ceramic hanging vases from Ikea. One to keep all my scissors and pens out of reach and one for a little bit of greenery in the house. These new items mixed with a little desk I found at a garage sale last year make for the perfect spot.
  
Yesterday all of the pictures and ideas that I collected looked like this;
 

Now I have a nice little spot in the kitchen to sew, blog and watch the flocks of parrots out the window. This Canadian loves that!

I wonder if the pile of papers, bills, kids drawing etc. that I took off the desk for this photo will finally be filed away, or find their way back into this tidy shot??

 

talkin trash - before & after

The past few weeks our suburb has been throwing all their unwanted junk onto the verge in anticipation of the household rubbish collection. I love this time of year, watching people slowly scouring the streets in their Ute's and trailers, looking for unwanted treasures. People doing their part to reduce reuse and recycle. I love it! I myself did a lot of slow driving and heard a lot of "We don't need it! Keep going!" I could have opened a restaurant that sat 80 I'm sure with all the great tables and chairs on the side of the road. Someone needed to be the voice of reason though. I did collect a few things; a small bench that needs a paint job for the girls, a frame, a painting and most excitingly, these;
 
 Structurally perfect except for the doohickey at the back of one that adjusts the height. The cushions are very weathered and I don't love the color, but with a little attention and $32 they have become;
 

I had 2 meters of fabric from Ikea. Just enough for the top half of the cushion. I am so impatient (and pool season is coming to an end) that I used an old table cloth for the underside of the cushion. I sprayed them with my favorite flat black spray paint and no more hideous green! A little bit of wild and crazy to wrap up the summer.
 

gypsy caravan ~ update

The caravan refurbishment team has been very hard at work.
    
Turning this into this; 
  
A rug, recycled from their girls room, and some inexpensive faux wood vinyl tiles make a fresh new floor. The caravan walls are a laminated surface that they were unable to paint. We needed some way to try and cover up the drab walls. Zoe and I spent an evening wallpapering, covering the cupboard doors and drawers with wallpaper from Wall Candy. The millions of eyes on the hot pink background definitely distract from the remaining brown walls. These two dressers were found on the side of the road about ten years ago. They fit absolutely perfectly. I still can't get over it! Kurt made a metal shelf for the dressers to sit on to accommodate the caravan wheel. 
  
Some sheer curtains were hung to separate the sleeping area from the sitting area. The sheer curtains give a little bit of privacy while not making the space feel too small.
  
These fabrics were purchased from a very successful trip to ikea. Upholstered bench cushions and some curtains are the final big projects before decorating with all the lovely craft projects they have been creating. With 8 windows, we have a lot of sewing to do.
 
Stay tuned for the final reveal. I can't wait! 

Talkin trash

My weekly web trolling found these great images of some brilliant recycled furniture.
  
I like to give credit where credit is due but google images had me going around in circles. Aren't people cool smart and amazing?
 
 One of my favorite recycled projects in our home, second only to the cubby house, is this beautiful daybed Adam made. It use to be a pergola built in 1950 and painted white. When stripped back to it's original wood, we found beautiful Jarrah. 
 
 This is another project Adam designed himself. He made the width of the daybed the same as our old futon mattress. Once finished, I turned the futon mattress into the base mattress and bolster pillow. I bought some inexpensive fabric from ikea to cover. While my mum was here on her last visit, she finished it all off with some more fun fabric from ikea and some throw pillows.
 

Everyone enjoys this spot.