Nesting...on the back deck

I spotted this old toy box at Momle's local oppie a while ago and although sturdy and just what I wanted for a storage box for the back deck I was too much of a Mr. Scrooge to fork out the $40 they were asking. Oh,  but then thought about it for the next week and cursed said scrooginess as I pondered just the space on the deck where I would have put it and how absolutely parfait it would have been!

When I scooted past last week and saw it was reduced to $20...well I ran! Not pretty people!!. All it took was a therapuetic painting in my favourite paint hue, some ripping off of some manky old Winne the Pooh fabric and a metre of this stripey gorgeousness to create a lovely storage box come seat to keep our gumboots, thongs and poppet's plethora of balls out of the weather....and from under my feet. Can't tell you how many times I've stacked it tripping on a wee purple polka dotted gummie!

Feeling full of vim and vigour today! Only have just over a week to go til we meet out new little person and can't get over how well I'm sleeping and how good I feel....fingers crossed that doesn't mean I'm going to be overdue!!

It's gonna be a bright...bright...bright....sunshiney day!

Introducing the Wood family

Warning: This post contains some nudity!

Avert the eyes of your poppets as I initially introduce the Wood family....in the raw!

Those prudish types may now relax as the Woods are swathed in rainbows of craft paint.

Here's Mrs. Wisteria Wood as she spends a little bit of "me" time pottering about on her sewing machine with a watered down Pimms in hand. Apron still on fresh from the kitchen where she just baked an apple pie...from scratch! Can't you smell it?!

And lovable Mr. Wesley Wood....a sensitive new age guy and a half as he bathes the children whilst his beloved wife sews! And there'll be no bonds singlets and stubbies for this Aussie dad. Just night need to have a quiet word in his ear about the old fashion adage of "blue and green should never be seen". Bless!

Baby Warren Wood fast asleep in his cot. Fed like a machine...self settled... and will now be out til morn....late morn! Even wearing a collared shirt and a belt around his wee middle. Dream child!!

Little Miss Wendy Wood relaxing quietly on the lounge after she's finished the dusting for her Mumma listening to a spot of music and contemplating how she'll change the world.

A chip off the old block is Wallace Wood in his dapper outfit and yes ladies...that's right....he's making his own bed! And smiling! Mrs. Wood will have young lasses queing up at her door in years to come what with Wally's domestic abilities...and her apple pies.

Oh, beg your pardon Walter Wood! Ever so sorry young man...we'll leave you to it.

And the Wood twins....Wilhemena and William. Never a happier, more loving to each other, only squabble over who gets to fetch the scabble board from the games cupboard,  pair of poppets.

Missing in action is Winona...the rogue of the family. Couldn't wait to get away from home. No doubt run off with a yobbo of some description...or perhaps..., just rolled under our lounge.

Here's a house with a wall, with a wall, with a wall....

 Renovations have taken on a major (read: loony) scale in our humble abode and Hubby and I have come to the conclusion that we do indeed work best to a deadline!

The front deck which swayed perilously in the breeze for the last 4 years or so making the first little pig's house look like a Boy's Town Prize Home was  replaced in just under a week by a brand spanker complete with railings, privacy screening, a gate for the poppets and lo and behold...a roof!!

And where our open air charmer of a laundry stood complete with gorgeous concrete tubs,  a pristine white walled "room"....yes! it has walls!!! is nearing completion. With two pac finished cupboards for oodles of storage and a new stainless steel sink and a benchtop, let me tell you right now...tears of joy will be wept!

A new wall where once was a hall has been erected, plastered, sanded and painted and is eagerly awaiting a few pieces of skirting. That means with just under two weeks to go til my due date...we finally have a baby's room!!!! I'm sure I heard angels singing!!

We have been like little buck tooted beavers revelling in all our industry and have marveled how much has been accomplished in such a short time...and by bringing in some big guns...namely my wonderful uncle and my cousin...both builders extraordinaire! Who knew there was a screw gun? A nail gun, yes. But a screw gun?.....oh, the marvel of modern man!

And amidst all this building I even managed to find time to work on a micro renovation for mon petit poppet. This perfect little doll's house was bought for a song and needed some attention to "de-80's-a-fy" it and make it all that is good and vintagey in the world.

With a deft hand, a fairly meagre budget and a healthy dose of good old gumption I managed to remove the grey vinyl, grey carpet, maroon and yellow curtains and princess stickers and transform this grand old dame into a homely home full of comforts.

Some vintage furniture hunted out on ebay....a few Mumma made wee little quilts, pillows and cushions....

A grandfather clock to keep rhythm of the day. And a sewing machine...bien sur!

And then to attract just the right family....

I'll introduce you to them soon....they're a delightful brood!

Oh so much yummy craftiness over here today :)

Nesting....in the bedroom

I have become the queen bee of avoiding all that is mundane and "must do-ish!" around our wee abode and have frenzified myself with all manner of titivating and nesting.

Hubby and I have coveted this gorgeous old drop down desk at our dear friends' house for many years and when they had a giant clean out preparing for bubby number three we snaffled it up!

It had the most beautiful parquetry work in the timber and although I sanded it back with all that I had in me (surprisingly quite a bit at this stage of my pregnancy when I've got a bee in my bonnet about something!)....a french polisher I ain't!

 Resigning myself to the fact I would never get it back to it's former glory I headed off to the mistint section of ye olde Bunnings and found a peachy shade just perfect for my new "office". Oh yes....remember the craft room becoming le bébé's room....well there goes the study too!

 A few quick coats of said peachiness, a thorough splodging of mod podge and some yumbo vintage wallpaper and I now have a lady's desk to rival any Austen heroine's.

Taking pride of place in our bedroom hiding all and sundry related to Mr. and Mrs. Technology and that horror of all horror....the bills folder! C'est parfait!!!

And no lovely friends...you can't have it back ;)

My Creative Space - Bread Bags

With le bébé's room still requiring painting....after Hubby's frantic week of late night's plastering and sanding, a new front deck needing all manner of splashes of white paint....a laundry that is simply a white room at the moment (read...no cupboards,no taps, no tub....no washing machine!!)...

What do I choose to do?  Pull out the undercoat and roller? Nah!!! Curl up on the lounge and embroider a wee bit!

We've started baking our own bread again and have found it has given a wonderful rhythmic start to the week. The only down side...how to store it? Trying to steer away from plastic and trying to keep it out of the fridge lest we create a brick I decided to go back in time.

What would bread have been stored in many pale moons ago? Brown paper...cloth? With a few white tea towels found in the throw out bin at that abyss otherwise known as Spotlight I set to work.

Folded in half and sewed up the sides....a whisker of vintage fabric stitched rather haphazardly on the back to form a tie ....some matching embroidery....a nod to "carb" lovers across the sea and our bread dilemma is solved. Now onto that laundry....mmmm!
Joining in over at this lovely space today.

Nesting...in the kitchen

Oh how nesty I am getting in this wee little abode! I have a cornucopia of crafty projects on the go at the moment in every nook and cranny of my world.Why is it that when you're in the last stages of your pregnancy and should be lolling about like Migaloo the white whale your energy amps up (albeit...momentarily!) and you plunge into tasks with such zeal?

I, like most of you I no doubt, have a list of proposed crafty projects that would rival Mr. S Claus' naughty and nice roll.  My list also has its fair share of good and bad characters and this Speedy Gonzales one topped the nice list.

A few little mats for sopping up water when the washing up morphs into some blob like creation and not only fills the draining rack but inches its way across the bench top.  I swear one night I'll be taken in my sleep by a groaning, dripping mass of pots, graters and colanders as it oozes its way down the hall to nab me in my bed!

A trip to one of the many "storage worlds" in the burbs for a new, improved bigger than Ben Hur dish drainer? Non! A whisker of vintage fabric and some old towels, inspiration from this book and this gorgeous girl and I have singlehandedly Ghost Buster style zapped that washing up blob into oblivion.  Now if only I can craft up a wee cleaning lady out of such ingredients to do the task for me in the first place....

 

Send in the Clowns!

SO very proud of my girl when waiting patiently for her turn to have her face painted we were informed that the lady was packing up! Were there to be tears and tantrums?  Sure she was disappointed but responded with an upbeat, "Neber mind....maybe next time Mumma?" Broke my heart!!

As a special treat for her wonderful resilience and spunk a quick stop at the local toy shop for a clown wig and some face crayons was in order.

And what a whale of a time she had! Those lips are just magic.

And now it's time for Mumma's transformation.....

Channelling more of a Stephen King's "It" type of clown ...n'est pas?!

Let the show begin!!!