DIY

As much as I love Christmas, the tree is the only Christmas decoration I put up. It was almost the only Christmas decoration I had growing up. There was an inflatable Santa & an inflatable reindeer. But after a few years they stopped being used, I guess they got holes in them. I like to set up my tree on December 1 but of course, it doesn't always happen. Christmas Tree Decorating Tips Pick two (three at most) complementary colours to decorate your tree. Some great combinations are red & silver, red & gold, silver & gold, blue & silver [...]

My friends have just finished building their first house & have finally moved in. I know when we moved in we had to do a massive trip to the supermarket to get everything we needed from cleaning supplies to fresh food. We were lucky enough to receive a huge hamper for our engagement party that had the majority of the kitchen utensils & oven trays.   Here is a list of what I gave my friend: • Bucket • Dishwashing liquid • Rubber gloves • Kitchen wipes • Glass wipes • Air freshener spray • Batteries • Pain killers • [...]

It's December 27 so that means it's time for the often dreaded Christmas clean up to begin. Christmas is over for another year, it's time to pack away the tree and all of the decorations. I like to think that I'm smart by not having any decorations around the house beside the tree. It saves me storage space for the 11 months of the year that they aren't used. I don't have to worry about dusting them while they are on display. And it also means it doesn't take long to set up or pack up. While Harley didn't help me [...]

My brother can be so hard to buy for. So most of the time I just give him money for his birthday. This year I decided it was time for a different birthday gift. Normally, I would just put money in a card. But I recently came across some cool ideas on Pinterest. I wish I could claim this idea as my own, but it wasn’t. Nevertheless, here is what I gave my brother and how I made it. You will need a clean empty jar a cardboard tube (from paper towel or toilet roll) candies money wrapping paper and [...]

My hair is reasonably long and it's nice to get it off my neck when it's hot so I often put it in a bun during the summer. The secret to getting a sleek flawless bun that holds well is spiral hair pins! As they spiral through your hair they create a very strong grip, interlocking each other and the hair strands. To Use: Tie up your hair in a ponytail as high or low as you like. Pull the hair of the ponytail to one side of your head and twist the hair in the ponytail in one direction Once you have [...]

I've found another way to spend lunch breaks. I have recently discovered something new that I can take to work for lunch at the last minute. A microwave cup of rice and a tin of tuna. So far, any combination of rice and tuna flavours have turned out to be fantastic. It will be great to keep a stash of rice cups and tuna in my drawer at work for those days when I run out of time to organise something in the morning. I do have quite a few other items stashed away in my drawer at work too. [...]

Although I only get half an hour, I try to spend my lunch breaks being as productive as possible. I can take my lunch break from between noon and 2pm. And I usually take it earlier rather than later. To make my time as productive as possible I often read. Whether it’s reading a book, crocheting or researching online. Books don’t take up too much room in my bag. Plus, I have set myself a pretty steep goal of reading 100 books this year. Spoiler alert! I am only 16 books away from completing the challenge! It still counts if [...]

My third niece arrived into the world on September 21. I had a bit of a mad rush to crochet as much as I could before the baby shower which was back in July. The baby shower is done and dusted now, I can finally take a bit of a break from crochet. Here are some photos of the things I made (both food and crochet) as well as links to the patterns and recipes. Owl Blanket - My mother in law found this pattern & knew it would be perfect as the baby’s room was being decorated with an [...]

Last week I experimented in the kitchen and purchased lots of things I wouldn't normally buy. Prawns, lemongrass, coriander, sesame oil, fish sauce, leek, and whole red chillis. A few of the items still had their roots attached and it got me thinking. I had seen that you could put spring onions in a glass of water and they would regrow. There should be no reason why anything else with its root intact would be any different. Growing Leeks I did a bit more research and found not much equipment was required. In most cases, just a glass of fresh [...]