I Love You Because… – September Short Projects

Isn’t Pinterest the best? I love browsing the craft and DIY boards and seeing all the things that creative people have made – it’s so inspiring.

A Tale of Two Socks – September Short Projects

A couple of months ago, I went to the Melbourne Quilt and Craft Expo. It was such a lovely day. Mario had to work (or so he says), so I went by myself. It was a revolutionary experience: I discovered that I actually kind of love going places by myself. I could look for as long as I wanted, and not feel guilty! I even went shopping afterwards!

Mid-Winter Warmers: Vanilla and Rose Sugar Scrub

I promised you another home-made winter warmer, and here it is: vanilla and rose sugar scrub!

This hand and body scrub is so easy to make, and it does wonders for your skin, especially in winter. It only needs a couple of ingredients, can be whipped up in a few minutes, and also makes a fantastic gift – although you should make sure to keep some for yourself too!

Back to Blog

Wow. I have not been keeping up with my blog lately. What’s that, you noticed? You’re sweet :).

D.I.Y. Christmas Wreath

This year was the first Christmas that we have spent in our house. We didn’t have much in the way of decorations, and we particularly wanted a beautiful wreath for our front door. I saw so many lovely ones around the shops, but with the price tags in the vicinity of $50 and up, I thought I could do a bit better by making my own. As luck would have it, by the time I got around to it, many Christmas decorations were already on sale (yes, this was still 2 weeks before Christmas!). In fact, this would be a great project to make now in preparation for next year, what with all the lonely decorations still hanging around in stores with their little 50% off stickers! I put this one together for around $20.

Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

I’m baaack!

Merry Christmas everyone and sorry for the unintentional blogging hiatus! I’ve been on holidays from work for the last couple of weeks, and I didn’t realise how much I rely on work to get me in a good routine! Anyway, I have a whole bunch of things that I have been working on that I can’t wait to share with you. :)

Gilded Christmas Pinecones

Happy 1st of December everyone! Only 24 sleeps ’til Christmas! It’s been great doing recipe month, but I am really pleased to get back to crafting! :)

Cake Balls – September Short Projects

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today’s September Short Project is a yummy delight – Cake Balls! If you’re an Aussie like me, you may never have encountered these delicious treats, but Americans are probably familiar with them. I had cake balls for the first time when we went to stay with our lovely friends Bob and Linda in Texas – Linda had ordered a whole range of flavours and we LOVED them. I had a real craving last week, so I thought I would try them out myself.

Provincial Style Chalkboard Frames – September Short Projects

Welcome to another beautiful September morning and the long-dreaded Election Day! Remember to make your vote count for the issues you care about (animal rights, anyone?).

Today’s September Short Project is something I have been meaning to get to for a while. I saw these MDF frames at Bunnings ages ago, and had to get them – I knew they would look great somewhere (although I had no idea where!). They were $12.95 each.

I painted them white with my trusty can of antique white paint that is still going strong. It has a nice gloss to it and really classed up the frames.

Then they sat around the house for about 4 months while I debated what to do with them. Artistic photos of us? Scrapbook paper background? I tried both, but they just didn’t seem right.

Finally, it hit me – I now have some extra chalkboard paint after making my chalkboard wall, and I decided they would make great chalkboard frames!

Being the lazy person that I am, I just painted the back insert of the frame. I didn’t even use a brush – I laid the paint on thickly with a paper towel, so that I wouldn’t have to bother with oil paint cleanup.

Complete with cat hair!

After letting the frames dry for 48 hours, I slapped on a few designs with my chalk, and replaced the inserts into the frames.

Still complete with cat hair…

Needs a bit of a clean up!

I’ve been thinking of these frames for our powder room for a while, and to my happiness they really suited it. We have French provincial bathroom accessories, although you can’t really see them, and I think the frames match well!

The before shot.

I put the frames up using some helpful 3M stickies – what do you think of the final effect?

The after shot.

Check out some other September Short Projects:

• Home-Made Vintage Soap Dispensers
• Planting a Passionfruit

Home-made Vintage Soap Dispensers – September Short Projects

Like my last post, today’s September Short Project is part of a larger plan. If you’re a Pinterest addict like me, you may have seen the idea of turning jars into soap dispensers. I’ve always wanted to try it, and decided to give it a go in preparation for a future project – making my own soap. But first things first.