"Why not upset the apple cart? If you don't the apples will rot anyway."

This one is for the Melbournians amongst us (P-Towners be rest assured I am currently campaigning for these great little apple crates to be sold here too).

These little beauties are made from recycled apple crates by The Little Veggie Patch Co and are very affordable at just $95. Perfect for that bare corner, courtyard, or backyard that is frequently excavated by four legged friends.

They also sell seeds and amazing books to help you become an urban farmer!

Gardening Guide - The Tea Tin Herb Garden

Some of you may have seen one of our very first posts 'Pretty Things', where we posted the idea of planting herbs in old tea tins (courtesy of Apartment Therapy). If not, here they are...

Apartment Therapy

I needed these tins from the moment I saw them and let me tell you, I fought tooth and nail for them on eBay. They finally arrived on Thursday and I was in Bunnings within seconds of it opening on Saturday morning.

Now before I go on, some may think that I am telling you all 'how to suck eggs' (for lack of a better phrase). But I'm not joking when I say I have no idea what I am doing in the garden, so this 'guide to gardening' is for my fellow beginners (suggestions and advice from those more experienced are more than welcome!).

Firsts things first, the shopping list. When two highly excitable people like Geordie and I enter a place like Bunnings, a list is essential for keeping us on course. I would suggest a similar shopping list for your first trip (the strawberry plants and planter barrel were added whilst in Bunnings... once I saw them. That's allowed).

Now get potting. Make yourself comfortable this takes a little while, especially if you're trying to stuff plants and potting mix into tins that are made for holding tea. I would also suggest sitting on something a little comfier than an old milk crate and using a bench that's higher than a kids work bench, but that's beside the point. A cider is a must; this is thirsty work, that's certainly NOT beside the point.

Fill your tins up half way and remove your herbs from their containers. Be sure to break apart the root system a bit before you pop them into the tins. Once it's in the tin, fill the sides up with more potting mix. Make sure your little herbs are up high enough so they look pretty in the tins.

Water. Then water again every day for a few days, then every other day. Follow the same process for the strawberry plants. And voilà!

Now that was easy wasn't it? Stay tuned for ‘The Making Of The Veggie Patch’ (this may be a week or so away as I have many other new house projects to do this weekend which I can’t wait to show you all!)

Let her eat cake!

This Tuesday marked the 25th Birthday of our wonderful friend Faith. In celebration, we are headed out tonight for a sneaky midweeky and dinner.

"But what about the birthday cake?!" I hear you scream. Don't worry your pretty little heads, it's sorted! Thanks to a beautiful photo I found on Pinterest our dear Faithy will be blowing out her 25 candles in style.

Granted my cake doesn't look quite as pretty as the photo
on Pinterest but pretty nonetheless!

All you need is : Your fav cake recipe, about 10-12 Kit Kat bars (if using the 4 piece bars) and a 450 gram bag of M&M's!

Pure Swiss

These cute hessian bags are not only environmentally friendly, but really quite practical. Available in a range of sizes from teeny tiny to ginormous; they are perfect for all of those little knick knacks that are oft strewn across the kitchen bench and the abundance of cushions that naturally collect on your bedroom floor (that may just be me).

What could possibly make these more enticing I hear you say? They are very affordable and available in Perth of all places. Ranging from just $12 up to $39, they can be picked up from Pigeonhole.

Dowdy Office, Dreary Mind

I'd love to make a career out of being a young, old lady but alas I cannot...yet.

So while I wait, I will continue to love working in my beautiful office with my beautiful work mates.

We spend the majority of our lives at work, so don't let your office be dull and dreary, freshen it up with some homemade works of art. I love my Eye Chart Prints and they are just so easy to make.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are grey

If you'd like to know more, please shoot me an email.

(The girl with the) Green Thumb... a progessive post

Green Thumb: (n.) An expression used to describe someone's affinity/skill at gardening or growing plants. Urban Dictionary

Given that my boyfriend Geordie has just bought a gorgeous little cottage with an amazing garden full of fruit trees and spends the majority of his spare time cooking wonderful meals, I feel I have no choice but to cut off one of my thumbs and grow a greener one. My mission begins with a herb garden and veggie patch.

So if like me, you've only ever eaten the produce from a veggie patch/herb garden and left the maintenance up to someone else (thanks Mum), then stick with me and I will attempt to inform you of all you need to know about starting, maintaining and harvesting your very own herbs and vegetables.

Billy Balls

Ok Spring, so you started off all Sunny and living up to your reputation, but I must say, you really disappointed me today. Rain, wind and a chill in the air..... c'mon NOT good enough. Let's just pretend today didn't happen and we'll start fresh tomorrow. Perhaps these affectionately named 'Billy Balls' (real name Craspedia Globosa) will inspire you to show us your true Spring colours again soon. Real soon.

Photography in order of appearance by James Carson, Becky Young and Andrea Dozier

Rewind

I MUST MUST MUST have these Rewind coffee canisters. My two loves: coffee and kitsch! What makes these canisters even more enticing, is that they come full to the brim with premium blend coffee varying from mild to mighty.

Available from the David Jones Food Court, Re-Store, Empire Stores, Tony Ales, William Topp and Eight Six Eight Gourmet. Not sure how much they cost, but I'm on the case!

Backyard Beauties

Spring has sprung! It's time to start getting your backyard ready for warmer evenings spent sipping cider and eating cheese! (Stay tuned for all you need to know about starting your very own Veggie Patch!).

These gorgeous (and cheap) chandeliers are the perfect way to beautify your backyard.

Picture courtesy Wednesday Custom Design

How to:

Grab some string in a color of choice and run it through a bowl of watered down glue. Wrap the string around an inflated balloon and leave it to dry. Once dry, pop the balloon and carefully pull it out to reveal a stunning chandelier, perfect for hanging from trees or even your porch!

Sassy Sounds and Choir Boys

I adore the sassy sounds of Sydney Songstress Lanie Lane. Her debut album is set to be released in late October 2011 and is a must have on my October wish list. Her latest single 'Aint Hungry', was produced by the great Jack White (love him) and together with her debut single 'What do I do', this album will be a perfect start to my summer playlist.

About Lanie Lane

There are very few men who can sing in falsetto and still sound incredibly sexy. Dougy Mandagi, of The Temper Trap is undoubtedly one of them and the other would have to be Pat Grossi of 'Active Child', whose heavenly vocals are attributed to his earlier days as a Choir Boy.

His single 'Hanging On' is so beautifully haunting, but the chills it will send down your spine are extraordinarily soothing. This song is certainly a contender in my top 10 for the Hottest 100 this year.

About Pat Grossi

One Eyed Blink

Couldn't help myself. Latest addition to my tea towel collection brought to you by Etsy

A Whole Lot of Alessi

When it comes to appreciating wedding presents, my Kitchen Aid (yes, in Almond) would have to take the cake! Gifted so generously from my beautiful friend & fellow blogger- Nicole, I'm sure she fulfilled HALF her lifelong fantasy of owning one by seeing the joy it brought muah!

Another marital gesture that also brought me great joy was our Alessi Kettle with bird shaped whistle. Designed by Michael Graves in 1984, the kettle is patented to its aesthetic qualities. Much like my beloved Kitchen Aid, it is one of those gifts, that will always remain timeless, so practical and so god-damn good looking!

I'm a sucker for all things equestrian - and this jumper is no exception....

Available from ASOS...I'll take one in each colour!

Excitement and Impulse - The journey of a Tea Cupper

Some people collect coins, some collect bugs; some collect Pokemon cards and others just collect dust, but when it comes to me, I’ll search high and low for the most pretty of antique tea cups and saucers.

So today when my friend (and boss), Lesley suggested we begin our Friday Fun Day with breakfast at one of her favourite cafés, Chapels on Whatley, which just happened to serve tea in AND SELL antique tea cups, I almost lost my shit.

To my pure delight (never mind the paranoia felt by my credit card) not only was our English Breakfast served in a beautiful, quaint tea cup and saucer (coupled with a mismatched creamer and sugar bowl), but we were sat next to an open wooden shelf, filled with heavenly Wedgwood and Royal Doulton Tea Sets. Suffice to say my friends, the rest is history. I left this darling new café with a full belly, a weary credit card, a spectacular addition to my tea cup collection and a glittering smile!

Until an hour later when I strolled into David Jones.... A store I KNEW had 30% of the price of the brand I'd just so willingly handed over my 'life savings' for (only because I had been seen ogling a set of pretty little ice cream bowls just one day earlier!)

So once again, even through years of making the same mistake, my excitement and impulsiveness prevailed and my otherwise very practical brain is left but only to mourn the loss of 30%.

Until.....said brain put it’s practicality into play (finally) and within seconds twisted this otherwise dire predicament into the justification (that looking back on seemed only natural) and purchase of another addition to my collection! This time, with 30% off. Well done brain finally, you cotton on, took you long enough.

Chapels on Whatley

Nutcases

I'm sure that back in the good ol' days, Nanna Norma's modest laundry didn't possess the abundant array of cleaning and washing products that are commonplace in today's households. Why do young domestic goddesses of today feel it is so necessary to douse our clothes (and subsequently our skin) in so many harsh chemicals? Are we that much dirtier these days? Don't answer that...

I recently found out about Fair Trade & Organic Nutcases after a quick pop-in visit to Maz and Baz's place (aka Mum and Dad). Mum approached with a little trial pack of these goodies- gotta love a freebie! Now I must admit, I've always been a bit of a sceptic when it comes to things my Mum endorses (magnet earrings do NOT suppress your appetite), but I thought I would give these little Nutcases a go. Derived from a tree called the Sapindus Mukorossi, they produce a berry-like fruit which is encased in a shell. When the shell of this fruit is dried, you get Soap Nuts! Mother Nature's fantastic little invention for washing clothes, hair, carpets- well just about anything! The question was, would my clothes actually come out clean... and smell nice? Peanut butter and nutella aren't exactly my fragrances of choice.

Verdict in. I am absolutely delighted to report, that after completing 3 loads of washing this morning (including my husband's stinky soccer gear) the clothes came out clean, fresh and quite frankly, smelling..... just FAB!

 

- 100% Natural so no reactions for sensitive skin or allergies

- No chemicals means your grey water can go straight in garden

- Being fair Trade means you needn't worry about where they are coming from

- Suitable for all types of washing, from Nappies to Delicates

- Hot or Cold water

- Front or Top Loader

- New or Old machines

- Hard or Soft Water

Check out the Kussen web page for Perth Nutcase stockists!

So Much Pun

So Much Pun

9 till when?

When you grow up thinking your going to be a pony, to be told by your Year One teacher, Mrs Wilkinson that you cannot ever be a pony (I never said it was a long lived dream), you know your career is heading down an unknown path and your just skipping haphazardly along it.

After spending 5+ years in tertiary education you would think I would come out of it with more than a thorough knowledge of how to create 62 dishes from a packet of two minute noodles (no mean feat), a general idea of anatomy (very general) and a caffeine addiction. Somehow I expected to breeze through uni quite glamorously, not unlike a slightly less hierarchical episode of Gossip Girl. There I was naively thinking that regardless of what I studied (a decision made whilst in a drunken post-exam haze, two days after the application form was already due), I would come out the other end feeling intellectual, accomplished, full of ideas and passionate about where I was heading. WRONG!

After completing a degree, working in retail, changing study paths, completing a Masters and obtaining a job based on said qualifications, you would think I was well and truly sure of what I was doing and why. Yet I am left with a yearning that I should have thrown caution to the wind and “wasted” a few more years of my youth traveling around Europe like the other 50% of Gen Y, before following my passions. But is there really a career out there where I can take advantage of my ability to knit one kind of stitch in a straight line, love puppies and bake a mean carrot cupcake? If so, my cover letter is enthusiastically filled out and in the post, complete with pretty recycled stationary and hand made stamps… In the mean time I will continue with the humdrum of the coffee fueled nine to five – at least it got me the white picket fence xx

Spring has sprung the grass has ris, I wonder where the birdies is?

Spring is just around the corner and as well as it being a beautiful time of year, it's also a wonderful excuse for a picnic! Now, considering people like us don't like to do things by halves (and quite enjoy crafty projects), I have compiled a fail safe, pictorial, picnic directory to ensure your first picnic of the season is the most memorable.   

Step 1 Invitations: Invite your girlfriends to an afternoon nestled amongst the flowers the old fashioned way, with hand made invitations.  

Instructions available at Eat, Drink, Chic

Step 2 Baked Goods: Now the invitations are out of the way, focus can shift (finally!) to the most important part of the picnic planning...what to bake? The Cake Mistress has it sorted with Katherine Hepburn's Brownies.

Step 3 Beverage Selection: Whilst you're still feeling slightly crafty (and perhaps want to out-do the friend who turned up to the last shindig with something so amazing even you were impressed) dress up some glass bottles ($2 from IKEA) with these awfully cute labels and fill them with your favourite beverage!

Instructions available at Eat, Drink, Chic

Step 4 Minor Practicalities: What's the use of scrumptious food and delights of the liquid variety if you've not got anything to carry them in!? So before you dust off your old tattered picnic basket (but trusty, I'm sure!), check out these Eco friendly picnic boxes by Boxsal

Step 5 Prettifying your location: And finally, before you send your gorgeous invitations, bake Ol' Katherine's brownies or pack your beautiful home made 'fruit' drinks into your environmentally friendly picnic 'boxsal's', be sure to re-visit Caroline's post 'To Picnic' for some decoration, inspiration!

Straight to the top of the Glass

Next time you find yourself perusing your local flea market, antiques fair or Nanna's cupboard, don't overlook the glassware. Australian glassware is set to take off in value over the next few years. As far as collectibles are concerned, glass is where it's at!

Australia stopped producing glassware in the 1980's. In other words, the kitsch transparent goods your Nanna already has are no longer replaceable.

Can't wait to get my mitts on some 'red glass'!

Oh! the Places You'll Go

Even as an adult, Dr Seuss is still one of my favourite authors.

No matter what readers learn from Dr Seuss's books, they will most likely learn it in rhyme. Although his poetic talents receive less notice than others due to his notorious limerick writing style, he is in fact a very powerful poet. His books are predominately aimed at teaching children how to read and think, but cleverly convey messages about the environment, confidence and even politics.

So on that note, I thought I'd share with you a few verses of my most favourite Dr Seuss book... a book which most of my girlfriends will have received from me at some point in their lives, whether it be through breakup's, new jobs or even their wedding day!

"Oh! the Places You'll Go"

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You’re off to Great Places!

You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go...


Oh! The Places You’ll Go!


You’ll be on your way up!

You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.


You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.


Except when you don’t.

Because, sometimes, you won’t.


I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.


You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.


And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)


Kid, you’ll move mountains!

So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!