A Day at a Country Fair

Well the Bungendore Show has come and gone for another year. It was hot, dusty and fun. And yes..we did buy some Bertie Beetle showbags. What a great way to end the school holidays with school starting back tomorrow. Another month down and one more closer to our UK trip.....yippee.

Make your own photo collages at Photovisi.

Making Some Miniatures Of Our Own

India and I have been making a few little miniatures for the dolls house. I wanted to add some old photos because we have some displayed in our house (see last photo in this post).

Instead of shrinking down some photos, we searched through our magazines to find photos displayed in peoples home which would be about the right size. We carefully cut each picture out and pasted it to some backing cardboard destined for the recycle bin and let them dry overnight.


Today India painted this little bookcase cream. I blu-tacked each picture into position until we were happy and then replace each with a thin line of PVA glue. They are still standing, so hopefully it won't be too winding in the little house.

We also made a few of our favourite magazines. We cut out the little thumbnail of the magazine that they have in the front pages of the real magazine. Again, we pasted these onto some cardboard. I glued three together to place on a coffee table etc.


Above are the three little things we made today. The little stool/table was painted white and the top was cut from a picture of a wooden crate.

Above are the photos displayed in our 'real' hallway.

We are waiting on some wall paper and wood before we touch the house. But I have bought a few things already; teeny tiny seed packets, some books, pennant flags (this is homage to Mr T who collects these in real life) and some garden bits. We were initially going to make the house at 1:16 scale but decided on the 1:12 scale as the there is so much more available.

Our wish list includes:
Flamingo for the garden, cream Aga stove, Butlers sink, roll top bath, chesterfield lounge, vintage style clothes hangers...the list goes on. Lucky our doll house will only have 4 rooms :)

Tomorrow is the Bungendore Show. Hopefully I will get a few photos to show you...we will definitively buy a Bertie Beetle showbag (small Australian chocolate with tiny pieces of honeycomb mixed in)..my favourite!



p.s. Cate @ Vintage Mum just sent me a link to some free downloads including wall paper, household packaging, chocolate boxes etc: http://www.jensprintables2.com/

Let the Renovations Begin

India and I are renovating....the dolls house that is. After being inspired by the wonderful miniatures that I blogged about in this post, we decided to pull out our dolls house from the granny flat and give it a makeover.

We will slowly do it over time and will show you some of the new additions along the way. It should be fun, Mr T says that it is going to be expensive :) At least this way we will get our new bathroom..hehehe



Our little gnome will be watching over the garden.

Wishing you all a fab-u-lous weekend!!

The Wonderful World of Miniatures

I spent a good whack of the morning looking at wonderful miniature creations yesterday. Wow! They are so good I am obsessed!

I have added a few new blogs to my blog list, who in turn have links to more talented people and their Etsy shops.

Carolyns little kitchen
The Mini Food Blog
PetitPlat Food Art

If you want to have a go, check out this tutorial on how to make bread or a miniature cake.

Careful....you may become hooked!

Happy Australia Day

Its going to be hot hot hot here today 37 deg C....a good day to stay indoors.

Be safe and enjoy the national holiday :)

Basin Water Feature

I decided that because I really don't have anywhere to put it in the house, and because it does have some damage and it was really cheap, that I would make a water feature out of the basin I bought the other day.

I rounded up a few items that we already had: white ceramic plant column bought at an antique auction at Tarago years ago, cement plinth found in shed when we moved in and a cupid/fish water spout bought at a garage sale $2. All I need now is the pump and away we go.

Mr T may not like me buying things, but he does like it when we can pull things together to make something on a whim from all the bits and pieces that we have around the place :)

This is our last week of holidays. Mr T struggled off to work this morning, next Monday the kids start school for the new year and I am back to work also. Enjoy your week, whatever you have planned.

Y's Buys

G'day! Contrary to what was explained on the Oprah show when she visited Australia, I actually do say g'day...alot :) I also say 'thanks mate! ' too. Well, now that's out of the way, I will show you a few things I picked up yesterday.

We needed our brakes fixed in the car, so we booked in at the ACT Brakes, in Belconnen, so that we could go to the movies and do a bit of shopping too. We popped into Y's Buys , Weedon Close Belconnen, on the way to the mall.

Mr Naggie Maggie was with me though and he was saying, "where are you going to put it" and "aren't we saving money?" Well, as it happens, we did save money because the brakes didn't cost too much :) and phewt what does he know :)....he is also going buying a new PlayStation Game in a few weeks so he couldn't complain too much.

We also went to see 'Tangled'....I know we only ever see kids movies :) I think the last adult movie we saw was Silent Hill and that was in 2006! I always get a little teary, its the stupid music and the sentimental bits that they put at the end. I have to be careful though, each time that Kade sits near me, he watches like a hawk in the sad bits and says quite loudly, 'Mum is crying again!"





Huge Edwardian pitcher and basin set. Also picked up the matching soap holder (not shown). I love anything with birds on it.

Hard to find ceramic jelly mould in a small size. I have a collection of these too, which I will show one day.

Edwardian Jardiniere

Vintage clothes hangers, these I also collect when I find them (another post).

Mac Robertson chocolate box.

I was going to post last night but my Inari that I had for lunch was saying I-NO-i and I had the worst belly ache all night :( ps Tracy, don't buy the Sushi from Sushi World down stairs in the new bit :(

Be good and have a great weekend :)

The Original Accessory

I love this photo. This little chap belonged to my mother's Aunty, Ivy. The photo was taken in England in the late 1940's/early 1950's. The original fashion accessory. Look at the little jacket, isn't he too cute?

Wishing you a wonderful week, Tamara

The big clean up has begun, QLD Floods 2011

Photo source

It doesn't seem right to post at the moment with so many people in Australia affected by floods, many have lost their lives, their loved ones and/or their homes.

The Queensland clean up effort has begun, with many volunteering their time to give a helping hand. It is expected to take years and cost billions of dollars to rebuild their towns and homes. Towns in Victoria at this moment are being evacuated, Tasmania and South Australia are also battling floods.

If you would like to make a donation to the Qld Flood Appeal, please do so here. Every little bit will help, especially for those who are left with nothing. Our thoughts are with you all.

Lastest Finds in Goulburn NSW

There a fantastic junk/second hand store in Goulburn, NSW, called Trish's Trash and Treasure. It is situated at 1-3 Fenwick Crescent. A pure treasure trove, packed full to the bring of all sorts of goodies. I took along my camera to take a few photos, but the battery was flat. Typical!

We bought the 2 early 1900's swan oil paintings above for only $40 the pair! The flamingo painting, in the centre, I bought at the Canberra Swap Meet a few years back. They are all the same size (my camera is playing tricks with the illusion that they are bending) and look perfect on the wall in the hall.

Very few, if not any, of the local op shops were open. I forgot about that. It was the same last year when we were there just after Christmas.

A fantastic place to stop for lunch is the Lotus Chinese Restaurant (80A Auburn Street). We usually have the lunch time special, drinks all round and an entree to share, and it is hard to crack $40. Great value, delish and the fried rice is the best! Or grab a Bryants pie, they are also very good.

The Lilac City Cinemas is nice a cheap (Kids $7, Adults $8) and great popcorn deals. We went to see Gulliver's Travels, I did laugh quite a lot even though I didn't really fancy seeing it.

There is also the very best Reclamation Yard (The Old Woodshed, 18 Common Street) and the coolest house just out the front. I will have to takes some photos next time we are there. We walk around drooling at the bits and pieces and the proprietors think we are mad!

Don't forget the Goulburn Swap Meet is rolling around again soon, save the date for Sunday 3rd April :) Its not too far away! Maybe we will see you there :)

9th Birthday Pool and Slumber Party

Today Kade had a few friends over for a pool party and a sleep over. He had 6 in total but only 4 are sleeping over, easy peasy. It wasn't too hot today so we pretty much had the pool to ourselves, it was ideal. After a few sausage sandwiches and a few hours swimming we headed back home. The pool attendant said as we were leaving that they were the best behaved pool party kids they have had all summer!



I bought this from Target yesterday for only $17, the kids loved it. Four can play at once, so its great for a group. The challenges are really fun too. Its also good because it is only rated 'G' so it would not upset any parents.

Kade had a Pokemon theme running this year. We bought some popcorn bags to hand out for lolly bags. Kade cut out a few Pokemon pictures and stuck them on. We filled each with a glow stick, finger lazer, parachute men, and only a few lollies, they have been eating them all day!



As our oven still is not working, we bought a chocolate mud cake from the Cheesecake shop and I double iced it (using Betty Crocker Vanilla Icing) to make a Pokemon Master ball. We stuck down some Pokemon figures around the board with icing. The cake was so delicious with the extra icing layer...I know! There goes the diet!



We ordered a few pizzas, and they watched a Pokemon movie, again only rated 'PG'. Two went home at 8:30, and we have settled the others into their pj's in front the telly to watch another Pokemon movie. In between they have been playing Pokemon on their Nintendo DS's. Blimey.

I just took this photo, its nearly 10:30. Looks like it is going to be a long night!

It's been a wonderful day and quite surprisingly relaxing. I am planning our UK trip at the moment and watching my Ebay items, which are only going so so.

I hope they go to sleep soon...I don't think there is much chance of that, but we can hope :) Have a great night!