Maker's Giftguide

Christmas is fast approaching & although I want to make most of the gifts I will be gifting family members this year, I think its equally important to support the makers. Those super talented creatives who spend many hours lovingly creating by hand.

1. Mum Sophie from Netherlands makes the sweetest Studio-escargot toys which kidlets are bound to love for many many years.
2. Local artisans sell their wares at these Kalamunda village markets on the 1st Saturday of each month. The light up Leederville carnival & Fremantle Bazaar markets are both coming up & worth checking out.
3. Clean slate skincare (located in Fremantle's Many6160 creative hub) is vegan & free of animal cruelty. I want the mandarin, lime & ylang ylang perfume!
4. Mum Sarah sews the sweetest kids harem pants & makes ceramics for her label sshannah.
5. I look forward to the Turban chopsticks Indian gourmet food stall by local Perth foodies Suresh & Mei-sann at most of the markets I frequent. They are also stocked in various gourmet grocers. The royal festival biryani is my favourite!

Happy Sunday friends!
Grace

Minimizing waste

Originally I was going to do plastic free November which is pretty much plastic free July but thought why am I putting in extra effort for one month only, why not make more changes to reduce waste (then what I already do) & continue on from that.

*Investment pieces which help me tread lighter on this planet by reducing my wastage.
*Drawstring bags to take to the grocery shops to store mushrooms in (so I stop using the brown paper bags).
*Keepcup (or Thermos), to store coffee on the go or if I want to grab a takeaway coffee.
*Bee eco wraps (the blog header photo features a wrap covering the homemade bread); these wraps are an alternative to using gladwrap on sliced fruit/veg, sandwiches, cheese. (They aren't recommended to cover spicy greasy food thou).
*I made cloth bowl covers. Handy to cover leftovers.
*Camelbak drink bottles have a lifetime warranty although I do have to replace a straw because Kobe bit it?!? Still testy over one bottle being lost at prekindy so now I just use them on trips out or at home.
*If I shop at a butchers/bakery, to take a container so my meat doesn't come home wrapped in plastic & paper. I do tend to buy my meat at grocery shops so it comes home in gladwrap:(
**On my wishlist to buy is stainless steel straws. Bit nervous about Kobe chipping his tooth on the straws. But never realised how many straws we sent to landfill a month:( Im a sucker for McDonalds Frappes...

I started documenting what was thrown out in October so I knew what areas I had to work on.

Plastic wastage
*Bandaids- 11.
*Straws- 14
*Grocery plastic bags (used as bin liners)- 14
*Toothbrush- 2
*Gladwrap (single uses on meat & cut fruit bought at the shops)- 9
*Yoghurt soft plastic tops- 9
*Tea foil packets- 3 (I usually don't drink tea but I had the flu & I was desperate)
*Chocolate wrappers (goodies eaten from Royal show & Halloween trick or treating)- 15
*Plastic gloves- 2
*Toilet brush- 1
*Medicine foil wrappers- 6 (from my pain medication after having a C-section)

**The following plastics I recycle at Coles; packaging from bread/pasta/fruit & veg. I save about half a grocery bag of plastic going to landfill a week:)

I know I can always do better.
Anyone have an alternative to bandaids?

Some websites that can help reduce, renew, recycle.
*Eco warrior princess
*Biome
*Ohdeardrea
*Planet Ark

Happy Saturday friends!
Grace

Core values

Something to grow

Something borrowed

Something handmade

Something preloved
Something to share

 

Other than trying to nurture my kidlets in being people who are kind, honest & mindful. I try to live my life incorporating these core values too.

 

Something to grow; Kobe & I are growing a number of herbs & vegetables in our garden bed & we are about to add pumpkin, cucumber & marigolds. I get Kobe to help plant the seeds then tend to them by watering & then picking.
Something borrowed; I like to make fortnightly trips to the library & borrow anything decent. Currently skimming the pages of The honest life. Kobe borrows out a couple items per trip as well, it teaches him we don't need to buy every book/dvd & to look after things that aren't ours.
Something handmade; I love nothing more than throwing myself into a creative project like these calico bags to store bought mushrooms in (& to save me putting them into brown paper bags at the shop).
Something preloved; Kobe loves repeating the mantra "reduce, renew, recycle" so it if we can rescue anything of use (like these toy dinosaurs which are perfect for outdoor play) we will. I also instilled in him how important it is to donate anything of quality we don't need to charity shops & why.
Something to share;  It must be love when I share anything sweet. I made this dirt dessert (caramel yoghurt, biscuit bits, sprinkles of ovaltine, topped with nasturtiums & a carrot top from the garden) for my grubby child.

What are your core values & how do you incorporate them into your life?

Happy Thursday friends!

Grace

 

D.I.Y. Spider Costume

 

I had planned to do a few crafty Halloween activities with Kobe like last year but time got the best of me with the addition of newborn Dylan, we did manage to make eyeball cookies (only 4 as Kobe broke the rest of the cookie pack when I turned my back for a minute... so we ate those cookies plain lol). I didn't want Kobe to feel left out now he has to share my time so I promised to take him trick or treating for Halloween & make him a costume of his choice which was a spider (but not spiderman).

 

 

1.I used an old skivvy, some goggle eyes, felt, cushion insert, elastic, white wool, black fabric and red ribbon.

 

 

2. I used a dinner plate as a template to cut out a spider body then sewed on scrap red ribbon for the red back spider line.

3/4. For the legs, I measured 30cms length & 12cms width with a stitch length of 1.5cms. Kobe helped me stuff them with cushion insert. I sewed them onto the spider body then onto the skivvy.

5. For the spider webs, I roughly measured white wool along the back of the legs & hand sewed them in place.

 

 

6. The mask was the easiest bit, I cut out 2 bits of felt, measured elastic to go around Kobe's head then glued on the goggle eyes.

 

 

Halloween is clearly a winner with Kobe. Knocking on people's door & being given delicious candy to eat. We are quite lucky a good friend of mine's street goes all out for Halloween, we went early to beat the crowd. Everyone went all out for costumes, I even saw a Mr Potato head! I was a bit slack & went as a cat (which was basically cat ears, some face painted whiskers/nose & wore all black). I think next year I will be a hamburger hee hee.

 

 

Happy Sunday friends!
Grace

October review

*Welcoming Dylan to the family. He is the sweetest thing & completes this family of mine.
*Exhausted by Kobe playing up with the arrival of baby brother. He is so lovely to Dylan but a real pain to his parents:(
*Trying to channel patience & mostly failing.
*Grateful to my twin sister Annie who has been amazing helping out with Kobe.
*Watching Bachelotte. #Team Sasha!!! Although I did shamefully cry when Richie left.
*Making last minute Halloween costumes. I hope I finish!!!
*Farewelling Luke's nana GG.
*Honoured my new niece has my name as her middle name, (FYI she isn't named after me as my sister in law has a sister named Grace too).
*Frightened about this scary fact about baby talc powder. I wasn't going to use it on Dylan but was going to scatter it around the house to deter ants but NOT anymore.
*Surprised by my older sister deciding not to get her whooping cough injection therefore forgoing meeting Dylan until he is immunised as she cant afford it. She instead chose to spend money on getting her hair done & going to see Robbie Williams in concert. #Disappointed.
*Organizing a seed/seedling swap picnic catch up between friends.
*Growing corn, beans, tomatoes for seedling swap picnic.
*Estatic I found this Hershel backpack at the markets for $5. Perfect to pack all the kids stuff for an outing & Luke isn't embarrassed to lug it on his back (unlike the black studded girly bag I carried before).
*Drowning in laundry. Its never ending.
*The child in me is wanting ALL these monster lego figurines...

Happy Wednesday friends!
Grace

Hair Envy

 

After a testing week of farewelling a family member, struggling with hayfever (which I never get?!?) & developing the unbearably itchy condition PUPPP I have decided I need a fresh look as a pick me up. Im loving these hair styles which I plan to choose one & book myself into a salon for a well deserved pamper session once bambino 2# arrives. In the meanwhile Im practising patience so I don't do a Hannah off Girls tv series & cut my own hair in a middle of a nervous breakdown.

 

1. Im loving Lara Bingle (or should I say Mrs Worthington's) bob & natural makeup here in the lastest issue of Harpers Bazaar. What Im worried about is outgrowing the bob.

 

2. My girl crush, raven haired beauty Lily Collins sporting this cropped do. I have had a short do before. Its a gutsy move & requires some effort to style it.

 

3. Eleanor Pendleton always has divine hair. She is the beauty editor of Gritty Pretty afterall. Those sunkissed caramel hues work well against an olive complexion.

 

4. Blogger Jessie Khoo rocking red tresses. If only I can find a salon that doesn't use harsh chemicals to receive the same colouring?

 

 

Whats your favourite look? 1,2,3 or 4?

 

Happy Sunday friends!

Grace

 

 

Waste not, want not

The other month, our area had a verge collection. There was masses of junk (with some decent things) peppering everyone's lawns. I happily watched as my mum's old tv cabinet was scavenged but horrified when I saw our old washing machine being crushed into a bazillion pieces to fit inside the rubbish truck. The bowerbird in me loves a sneak peek at other peoples junk at verge collection, we even picked up some shelves (Kobe my sweet boy carried a shelf home when he saw me struggling to carry the 3 home) & a toy bin (that had a crack in its side) but Kobe loves nonetheless.

Which brings me to, what do you do with excess clutter? It seems like its builds up in the blink of the eye around here. Donate, sell, swap, gift to family/friends?

My sister & I past things back & forth which the other could use. Me its usually magazines (to be read then recycled) & her its herbs & lemons (to which I have been gifting around the neighbourhood). My lovely mummy friend Kaysey has given me a couple comfy pairs of pants & craft lace amongst other things & I have gifted some springrolls & a preloved wooden train set amongst other things in return.

I hate things going to waste so I decided to be pro-active & have a pantry clean out & incorporate into my monthly catch up with my old dear friends from school a waste not want not picnic. The idea being to bring anything (food related that you weren't going to use) that was tin/packaged/fresh to share it with someone who could use it.

And now I plan to organize these waste not want not picnics monthly/6 weekly to start the movement of everyone "taking what you need & sharing what you have". Its such a nice sentiment to look out for eachother. I plan to start off with a small group of friends, then hopefully they will invite friends & fingers crossed it will grow in leaps & bounds from there.

Happy Friday friends!
Grace