Kitchen shelf re-styling

So last weekend Aaron removed everything off our kitchen shelves to oil and paint them. It was one of those jobs that didn't quite get finished in the big scheme of our renovation. We have a few little jobs like that around the house that need finishing off and Aaron is now going through each room and ticking them off one by one.

 

 

After living with it all cleared and empty for a week I decided I was tired of how it was before and it was time for a change. This was the perfect excuse for a total refresh.

I started by putting out everything that was previously on the shelf and piling it up onto the bench in front of me. Then I walked around the house and looked in my cupboards to see if there was anything else that I thought might need to go up there too.

 

It actually took ages. Lots of rearranging and changing my mind and stealing things from other places in the house. But it was heaps of fun! Now I want another shelf to do!

 

 

I reckon it looks a lot better than it did before. See the before photo below. I had just kind of added to it over time without really thinking about how I actually wanted it to look like overall. It looks a lot fresher now, less cluttered, and more balanced. What do you think? Or maybe it doesn't look any better but it's just nice to have a change of view!

 

 

Here are some detailed pics below - and of course most of the items are bought from the op shop, or otherwise they are gifted, or family hand-me-downs (mostly from my Great Granny I've just realised! She did have some very cool stuff and created amazing art!).

 

SMALL GREEN BOWLS - op shop. GREEN PLANT POT - op shop. PLANT - cutting from one growing wild. WOODEN PEARS - op shop (these used to be in the kids kitchen play set. PHOTO OF FORGET-ME-NOTS - taken and developed and printed in the dark room by me! LITTLE BASKET- op shop. POTTERY URN (which holds my eggs) - family hand-me-down from my mum. BLUE TIN - gift from my mum. KITCHEN AID - gift from my dad (which turned out to be the perfect colour for my future kitchen!).

PLANT POT - op shop. PLANT ON TOP SHELF - Mitre 10. ENAMEL FISH DISH - handmade by my Great Granny. LARGE CAT - hand-me-down from my Great Granny. SMALL CAT - op shop. BAG OF COFFEE - gift from my in-laws from the Philippines (I love the packet!). COPPER WINE GOBLETS - gift from my dad. TOY MEN - Aarons from when he was a kid. WOODEN OLD MAN BOTTLE STOPPER - family hand-me-down from my mum (I always thought of this as my Great granddad 'Puppy').

BLUE POTTERY JUG - op shop. GREEN MUGS - made by me, the remaining two of a set of four (I just checked the bottom and these were made in 1997. What! 20 years ago! But aren't I only 21 ?!). HEN ARTWORK - "Fowls" by Ruth Coyle (my Great Granny) family hand-me-down from my mum. NATIVE BIRDS ARTWORK - by Flox (free with Your home and Garden magazine). WOODEN VASE - op shop. POTTERY VASE - op shop (actually stolen from a pile destined to sell in my shop! It just looked so good up there, sorry).

BROWN COFFEE CUPS - op shop. (With two cool tea bag quotes that I needed to keep. "Be giving, forgiving, compassionate and loving." "In all things of nature, there is something of the marvellous. - Aristotle." LIGHT BROWN POOLE CUPS - I have a set of 6 of these, some are op shopped and some are family hand-me-downs from my Great Granny.

WOODEN BOAT - op shop (Liam has kindly lent me this from his boat collection upstairs!). ARTISTS MANIKIN - op shop.

ARTWORK - Oil on canvas. "The drink of milk" by Ruth Coyle 1950 (My Great Granny). Written under the title is 'My son Ewen'. GREEN POT - op shop.

 

And there you have it folks, all you ever wanted to know about my kitchen shelf! And probably more than you wanted to know! Ha!

And as a side note - there still needs to be an extractor fan fitted onto that wall above the oven, and a tile back splash - they're on the list! Oh and a big photograph to be hung on that wall on the right - I have one already bought from this amazing local photographer, just need to get it printed and framed!

Second hand wardrobe - my top tips

 

 

So anyone that knows me well knows how much I like visiting op shops! For two main reasons really - firstly I'm pretty frugal, I'm just not a big spender, I can't justify it to myself, and secondly I like things that are a bit different, I like finding unique and interesting items.

Plus I love that I can find quality items and handmade items that will last, and it's recycling at its best - I'm doing it for the good of the planet! (Can I use this reason when my husband asks about the latest acquisitions?)

 

So with that being said, most of my wardrobe, and my home is second hand. Often when I look down at what I'm wearing it is just my underwear that I have purchased new!

 

I found these Levis just last week, the perfect fit, they cost me $5. See what I mean! Plus that bag on the floor there I found the week before, I think that was about $5 too. And the basket on the stool and the one on the floor are now holding houseplants.

 

 

I know a lot of people are unsure when it comes to buying second hand clothes and in particular op shopping, and I've been told I just have good luck in finding good things. But there's no such thing as luck :) - so I thought I'd give you my top tips, and hopefully inspire those of you who are sitting on the fence to give it a go.

 

 

1.  My number one tip is be patient - don't expect to walk into your next op shop and pick yourself up your whole new summer wardrobe. Sometimes I come away with nothing, and that's ok, because you'll start to realise after you get into the op shopping groove that the dry times are balanced out with the times of abundance!

 

 

2. Visit often - By this I don't mean you have to be constantly visiting op shops, because who has time for that right (although it wouldn't be so bad). But rather, pop in whenever the opportunity arises. If you're driving past and you have 5 - 10 mins, just stop and pop in. You'll be surprised at the turnover in these places, and there is always new stuff coming in. And this goes hand in hand with the next point.

 

 

3. Don't give up on an op shop - give it another chance. Just because your first visit didn't result in any good discoveries, it doesn't mean your second visit will follow suit. Trust me.

 

 

4. Have an open mind - sometimes these places can be a little chaotic, and dusty, and at first glance just look uninspiring. But take your time to actually properly look through the racks and I'm sure you will be surprised at the gems that can be hidden amongst it all.

 

 

5. Be fussy! - just because it's less than $5, doesn't mean you should just buy it. Take time to actually try the clothes on and really think about whether it works for you - does it fit you well, does it suit you, will you actually wear it? Is it in good condition, is it a quality brand? Be critical, pretend you're paying $100 for it - would you still buy it?

 

 

6. If you're after something in particular head for Trade Me (New Zealander's) or Ebay. I have bought some amazing things off Trade Me! - Especially for our house during our renovation, which I will have to share in another post. With this one you do have to be patient once again, there is often a lot of pages to troll through. Also you do have to check it fairly often as items can get snapped up pretty quickly. It's a good idea to actually save a search, that way you can be notified when new items come up that match what you are after.

 

I hope my top six tips are useful to you, and I hope they might motivate you to give it a go yourself!

And just so you can see how all this random collection of second hand item actually comes together for me on a daily basis, I decided to just randomly photograph what I wore for the week (including the top photo). All the items below were bought second hand, (note: I didn't try to skew the results of this, I just wore what I felt like wearing that day), except for the pendant in the last shot which was made by my mum, and the scarf which was a gift from my mum (aw thanks mum!).

 

Wide leg Levis - op shop (the ones from the photo further up). Yellow sleeveless top - op shop. Black cardigan - op shop. Boots - Trade Me (I bought these just last week, and I LOVE them! I just searched ankle boots in my size over about a week, checking daily, these came up with a buy now of only $35, so I snapped them up!). Brass bangle - op shop. Watch - Trade Me (um, this was kind of awesome - check the bottom of the post if you're interested in the story ** It's too long to put here).

 

Green cardigan - op shop. Floral singlet - op shop. Skinny leg jeans - op shop. Black and grey metal bangles - op shop.

White cotton shirt - op shop. Levis jeans - Trade Me. Brass bangle - as above - (its a favourite). Scarf - gift from my mum. And that watch again! - as above.

 

Jeans - Trade Me, (high rise slim leg from Just Jeans - these jeans are my favourite fit, I have a pair already. So I searched Trade Me for another pair in a different colour). Cardigan - op shop (I love this - I'd love it as a cushion cover actually!). White t-shirt - op shop. Dolce and Gabbana shoes - op shop (score aye!). Brass bangles op shop. Pendant - handmade by my mum, the chain for it is from the op shop.

** The story of the watch if you're interested...
So It's my birthday coming up (3 days away now actually) and I asked Aaron if he could buy me a watch, which he agreed to, yay. So I really wanted a The Horse watch, gorgeous, but when I saw them in real life they were a bit too chunky for my skinny little wrist. So decided to go for a Rosefield, just as gorgeous and just a little smaller. Now the only problem with these watches is there's too many options to choose from! So I spent forever looking and pondering, and finally decided which style, frame colour, face colour - but couldn't decide if I wanted black or brown strap. The straps are actually designed to swap out easily so you can have multiple straps for your watch face, depending on your mood, you know! So I was investigating this so I could maybe get the other colour at a later date. The postage was really expensive for the straps so I decided to check if there was anyone in NZ selling the straps - and checked Trade Me, not expecting to find anything... and my watch was there! The EXACT one I wanted, the only Rosefield listing, what are the chances right! Meant to be I tell you! So the strap was brown so that sealed my decision on strap colour and I saved so much that I can afford to buy the black strap too if I want! The woman that was selling it had ended up with two of the same as her husband had ordered one for her not realising that she had also ordered it, so it was brand new. Perfection! Happy birthday me! And it just shows you it always pays to check!

We've been opp shopping again

So the new school term has started this week, but our first week is quite often nice and quiet and slow as a lot of our external classes don't start until the second or third week. Which means we effectively have afternoons off! It's a lovely way to ease into the new term. And, it means time for opp shopping. Because what better thing to do with a free afternoon right? Fortunately the kids love it as much as I do!

 

We found some great treasures this week, this basket was outside the front door of one of the oppshops, where they often put the plant pots, so it was the first thing I picked up. I wasn't actually sure that I wanted or needed it, so I carried it around while I shopped so I could ponder on it. It was only $3 so in the end I decided to just get it. It actually collapses flat, so I figured it's easy to store if I don't use it straight away. I decided to try it as a fruit basket when I got home, and now I LOVE it! I'm shocked with myself that I considered leaving it behind! Crazy woman!

 

 

 

New green bangle and brass tray. I have a bit of a thing for bangles, and I love buying them from the opp shop as you can find so many interesting ones. And this one actually cost me nothing! The lady just let me have it for free with the red basket. And that green! Well, I have a thing for green too, especially that green. Lovely. All the other bangles here are opp shop finds too, of course.

 

 

I love the handmade-ness of the brass tray, it's a little wonky and the dots are not completely evenly spaced. I've moved the tray around a bit, trying to find my favourite spot for it. That's half the fun of bringing new opp shop treasures home. I think it's found its happy place for now on my dressing table.

 

 

Liam found another boat to add to his collection! The big white and red one at the back. He said it's his favourite one so far. And he found a big tool box which he is super happy with. He has filled it with all his essential items.

 

 

 

 

Isla found a purple skateboard (she's been skating, skating, skating ever since) and some awesome leather boots which I want for myself! Seriously! Why could they not have been in my size?! Check out the close up below, that fabric! Slightly jealous.

 

 

I did get myself a few goodies too though. That green cardi, green, ah yes I love you green. It's super big and long and chunky, great timing since it's suddenly getting a little colder here. I can see me wearing this a lot in the coming months.

I have a pair of classic Levis on my opp shopping wishlist, you know, like a nice pair of nicely worn in 501s, am I dreaming? I've been keeping my eye out. Didn't find any Levis but these Lee will do nicely for now, I love that classic denim colour and they're so nice and soft and comfy, I wore them today.

 

This is a cardigan/jacket haha not that you can tell from this photo, probably should have taken a better photo of it. It has slightly cropped sleeves and just hangs open (no buttons at the front). I love the fabric and it's loose and slouchy and reminds me of balmy summer evenings. (Maybe I will take a better photo of it).

 

Last but not least, a new bag, which really truly looks brand new. And it came with two straps. Cool! A short schmancy  one and a casual longer one. It's kinda like two bags in one! And from memory I think it cost me $1! See, that there is why I like opp shopping!

Un-fantastic plastic

We decided to go for a walk on one of our beaches yesterday, it was one of those beautiful fresh sunny wintery days.
We have had some really stormy weather on and off over the last month so the beach was covered in seaweed, we have been going often to collect it for our garden.
But today we were so amazed and saddened to see how much plastic rubbish was in amongst the seaweed! We had only bought one bag with us and very quickly filled it to bursting.
We are going to go back down with some big rubbish sacks, I reckon that if we spent a few hours there we would easily fill 10 big rubbish sacks full of all the little bits of plastic :(
This beach is normally very pristine, but I suppose all the storms and flooding have just washed extra rubbish out into the oceans and up onto the beach. This beach is actually in a protected wildlife sanctuary, so it is just so sad to see all this rubbish washed up here.
There is too much plastic in the world.
Once plastic is produced, it is here forever.
I can't remember where I heard this quote, but it has always stuck with me - "You can't just throw it away, because there is no away".
We found a lot of:
bottle tops
lighters
pegs
plastic food wrappers
lolly pop sticks

This just popped up on my pinterest page this morning - have a look - Plastics: made to last forever, designed to throw away

And watch this video.
And stop buying plastic, as much as you can.

Sewing again - a winter top

Look at that smiling face, I haven't seen it like that for a few days.  She's been stuck in bed with nasty fevers.  But fortunately this morning she is back to her normal temperature, though a little washed out and tired.

But anyway this post is not about that, it's about sewing!  I've started sewing again! After a long drought. Which was mainly due to my fabrics being all packed away and having no real space to set up my sewing machines. But yay, I now have a new sewing space, which I will have to show you soon, but in the mean time, my first project, a winter top for Isla.



So quick and easy, I love turning old shirts into new shirts.



I handstitched a little bird on to add some cheer.