Craft and Quilt Fair 2013

Purchased from Dairing and Suzy Hausfrau

Yesterday I ventured into the Sydney craft and quilt fair for the second time in 20 years.  I was only 11 the first time I visited the show and remember thinking how naff the whole fair was… filled with old people who made things I dreaded getting for my birthday.  HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED! Crafting has evolved – or I’ve evolved into a nana!

Now Craft is Cool and yesterday I found myself falling in love with knitting, crocheting and quilting. There are a number of artisans who are bringing these handcrafts into modern times and inspiring people like me to take up crafts I would normally avoid. Considering myself a sewer I’m more comfortable with the sewing machine dressmaking but the ladies at BeBe Bold, Teresa Dair and Bernadette from the Knitters' Guild NSW have converted me to pick up needles and hooks.

I went a bit nuts with the Sashiko kits from BeBeBold as I have this vision of Sashiko napkins at my next dinner party.  I also fell in love with Teresa Dairings modern take on knitted garments and accessories and loved the unique fibers that Dairing use in their creations. My credit card also got a work out at Can Do Books (every craft book ever written) and I missed out on some beautiful double gauze Japanese fabric (perfect for a blouse) from Kelani fabric.

Wish me luck with my newfound crafts and if anyone knows how to accrue some extra time in the day for me to complete these projects please contact me and let me know!

 Book and Elathong and Conchiglia necklace by Teresa Dair

 Sashiko kits and Japanese linens from BeBe Bold

My Week in Pictures

This week has come and gone before I could finish saying supercalifragilisticexpialidocious... I'm taking a breather between selling our unit , packing boxes for our house move, renovating 2 bedrooms in our new place and looking after our 8 month old baby boy. Despite the hectic week I did get to enjoy puppy sitting a friends mini-schnauzer, "soda", eating my dad's super scrummy carrot and walnut muffins, having a sav-blanc at the Newport Arms, enjoying the beauty of the gum blossom my son and husband picked for me, eating my first peach of the season and flicking through old photos of my grandmother from the 1940's! My creative endeavours have been put on hold while life takes over for a few weeks but hopefully I'll have the sewing machine out in time for making some Christmas presents!

Repurposed Formula Tin Can

 The finished product! My formula tin can conversion 

At the moment my little man is chowing through 2 formula tins a week, leaving us with a mountain of tin cans for the recycling man.

A friend suggested the can conversions featured on Pinterest so I did some pinning and decided to give the tin -> vase conversion a crack.

I’m using the Nestle Nan HA tins, which are gold in colour and were a little difficult to cover. I ended up using 3 coats of a metal primer, then applying 5 coats of a gloss white. It was probably overkill but I didn’t want any of the print from the original can showing through.

The can will eventually rust through if you put the water straight in, so you could inserted a glass jar to hold the water.

If you’ve got some examples of this type of a tin can conversion please share! I’ve got a stack more tins waiting for repurposing.

Mum's Super Simple Healthy Quiche

My mum is possibly the most resourceful cook in the world. I can have a seemingly empty pantry yet in a matter of minutes she can whip up a delectable feast. This quiche is one example of her skills, made yesterday out of a few simple ingredients and it tasted so good the recipe needed to be shared!

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 rashers of bacon
1 soft wrap or tortilla (we used wattle valley wheat and rye soft wrap)
1 bunch of silverbeet (or use english spinach) shredded (we just pulled the green bits off the stalky bit)
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated cheese
Parmasen cheese to sprinkle on top
Round quiche/pie dish

1) Fry up onion and bacon until softened
2) Flatten the onion and bacon out on the pan and turn heat down to medium. Place the silverbeet on top of the onion and bacon and let it wilt down. Then gently mix it in with the onion and bacon until cooked.
3) Spray dish with a little oil
4) Place wrap on base of dish
5) Spoon silverbeet mix on top of wrap
6) Whisk eggs in jug. Add in milk and grated cheese (season with salt and pepper)
7) Poor into pie over the silverbeet
8) Squish the silverbeet with fork so that egg/milk mixture goes evenly over the pie. If too dry add another egg (can add sliced tomato on top of mixture at this point)
9) Sprinkle parmasen cheese on top  
10) Bake in oven at 180 degrees celsius for about 15 mins. I forgot to time it, but it was about 15 minutes.

Serve up with a yummy salad!

Please comment on this post if you try this recipe and find any variations that are successful!

DIY Father's Day Mug

It's my husbands first fathers day, so I thought it would be fitting to do the traditional DIY present from his son. The Sharpie pen tutorials on porcelain always catch my eye but I read they dont last and I didn't want all Jack's precious art work rubbing off. For the mug pictured I used a standard white mug from the supermarket and Pebeo Porcelaine markers. I was inspired by this latte quote found on Pinterest and I added my husbands coffee order to the inside base. Unfortunately I smudged a few bits as working on the glaze is slippery and the pens are very runny so take extra care. Hope everyone has an enjoyable Father's Day with their families. We're taking a longweekend in the countryside.

Bake Off - Carrot and Zucchini Bread

This carrot and zucchini bread recipe sounded so delectable I just had to pin it to my Food Glorious Food board. My intention was to give it a go this week but mum beat me to it and kindly made it for our brunch today! Mum could make brussel sprouts taste good so it wasn't a surprise that it was scrummy. Very dense and moist so it takes a bit to cook through.  We served it with some homemade yoghurt and I went back for fourths ... Oink oink 

D.I.Y Pom Poms

Unfinished projects are one of my biggest frustrations, yet I have a habbit of collecting a lot of them! This scarf was one of those projects, started 18 months ago and finally finished last week. Before I could put it away I decided it needed something on the ends to make it pop so I made these DIY Pom Pom's (originally pinned by Etsy) using a fork. To make it easier for you to make the pom pom's, I've put together a short video.

The Melamine Plate

So artistic at only 4 months! #footprints

Messy business... dad and Jack had lots of fun 

Melamine plates always remind me of kindergarten. We made them with drawings of santa and each Christmas mum would proudly put them on display, reminiscing about how small we were when they were drawn. We decided to keep up the tradition and took prints of my sons hands and feet for melamine plates from www.pictureproducts.com.au. I loved watching him squish the paint between his toes and fingers and he showed us his own creativity on a couple of prints. Now we have to choose the print we want to become a plate..... tough decisions!

Great-Grandparents

My son is so blessed to have 5 great-grandparents still around to see him enter the world. I love these shots taken by my husband, Cade Turner, that mark the first time they held our little baby Jack.  Such an emotional moment. 

My Home - Gill Kapferer

A random turn of events introduced me to the gorgeous Gillian Kapferer and her beautiful family. We met in the special care nursery as both our bubs decided to enter the world early. Coincidentally our husbands had been friends in school but grew apart and hadn't seen each other 17 years! We all share similar interests and our love of design and style could keep us chatting for hours. Gil’s gift for interior styling is evident in their family home. From the white washed floor boards to the wallpaper in her baby’s nursery, you can see that each element has been carefully considered. I asked Gill to take a few moments away from her new born, Edi and almost 3 year old,Uli to share her home with us. 

How would you describe your style? I am really inspired by Scandinavian style & nature.

How did you approach decorating your home? Did you use mood boards or clippings? Initially I found a lot of ideas through magazines and interior design books, but recently have discovered Pinterest & blogs, and have become a bit addicted!Some favourites are: scandinavianretreat.blogspot.com ; babyspace.net.au; followstudio.blogspot.com.au  

What items do you like most and where did you source them? Probably the Ivar shelves from Ikea, we have them in just about every room. 

Gill has painted the Ivar shelves white to add to the scandinavian theme  

When you’re at home we’d find you…..? Feeding Edi & on Pinterest at the same time!!

Where would we be without iphones!

  

Favourite retail shop/s? Ikea because it is so affordable, but I love visiting Koskela , Ici et la, Mark Tuckey & Les Interiors.

Gill is also a fan of online shopping. Some fav's are: etsy.com; boden.co.uk; littlebabycompany.co.uk; larkmade.com.au

Websites you like to visit for inspiration? Definitely Pinterest where you can get access to great blogs and online shopping.

Gill's pintrest profile can be viewed here  

If you weren’t an airhostess you’d be…? Interior Stylist, without question!


Below are some photos from inside Gill's home on Sydney's Northern Beaches

Fabric letters from memidesigns.com ; Wallpaper from fermliving.com

Nursery furniture from Ikea (Ivar shelving painted white); Lightshade: Norm 06 by Simon Karkov for Normann Copenhagen from royaldesign.com

Artwork from yumicha.bigcartel.com & etsy shop honey cup

Rabbit lamp from I am Kidz

Uli, Gill's 2+8mth year old loves her special room

Uli and Edi's room share similar elements, yet each room feels distinctly different 

The old wooden box filled with Uli's books was found at an antique store and painted white

Birds wall sticker www.lovemae.com; bed linen by Castle and Things

Uli's room is filled with lots of special finds

Cloud mobile from Etsy shop - leptitpapillon; Edi's first shoes from R.M.Williams

"One of my best friends loaned these cardigans to me to keep Edi warm this winter. They were her grandfathers from Germany."

Gorgeous Uli

Tipi from Cotton On Kids and shelving unit from Ici et la

Kitchen from Ikea 

Wreath from Les Interiours

Laundry sink from Ici et la 

Bedding Castle and Things and Gill made the pallet bed (Gill sent her husband to a pallet manufacturer in Campbelltown, NSW to find these pallet's for their bed)

Cheeky puppy "Millie" 

Storage boxes from Ikea and baskets purchased from a shop in Rozelle 8 years ago. 

Elements hanging in the hall contribute to the natural/breezy feeling of the home 

House cushions from Megan Park and crochet rug from Alimrose

Angel wings from HoneyBee Homewares; Poster from Isak