April fools day - no fools here

A lot has been going on in "the Hallway" lately.

The rental property I discussed last time, has been vacated and we have had a look.  It is safe to say we were very disappointed with the way the property was left.  But that is a whole other post.  And I want to get some after photos, before I show the "before" photos

We have managed to get a good start on the property, but the next two weeks I am somewhat preoccupied.  Why? I hear you ask.  Good question.  I start a new job tomorrow, and I have two weeks of (intense) training to get through.

I am super excited about this job, it is a work from home position, which is something all "mums dream off, isn't it?  Well, it is for me.  The role a health advice hotline or nurse triage.  But it means there isn't the long 1 hour commute that I am was doing.

On to the serious stuff.

I have bought some great bargains on ebay this week. These are all ebay listing photos, so excuse the varying quality.

Yep, my love of baby blue/duck egg blue continues.  At $25, it was a little gift for me, from me.

 I didn't really need the dining chairs, but for $15 for the 6, I couldn't let them get thrown out. Thats $2.50 a chair, I would only have been robbing myself if I didn't get them.

 Not really a bargain, but I got 8 lights for $120.  I have seen them for around $100 for 1 light.  These are to replace the broken ones at our rental... hmmm, thats for the above mentioned "other post".

I am still devastated, I didn't win this beauty

at $53, turns out this was a bargain, I just didn't know it.  Anyway, I will just need to keep my eyes opened for something similar.

Until next time...

Christmas Wreath for under $10

No, wait, it gets better.  All the items I bought brand new at Spotlight (a haberdashery and craft store here 'down under'), the only items I had at home was my hot glue gun (and glue of course) and a few extra baubles.  I guess Spotlight was having a sale or something 'cause I got everything C.H.E.A.P.

Wreath $7  $3.50
2 metres of ribbon $0.96
16 pc ornament set $2.50  $1.25

Total cost $5.71

I should re-label the heading as Christmas Wreath for a tad over $5.00

I am loving the customised look for much cheaper than mass produced.

This was a project I did with Little Angel.  And when you're three, there is no time to wait, so I didn't get great photos of the during - who am I kidding, I didn't get any.  Here is a rushed before photo.

Little Angel picked the ornaments to glue, I applied the glue to the back of the ornament, and with Little Angel being very careful, she applied the ornament to the wreath (with a little guideance from me).

We measured the ribbon length and tied and glued it to the wreath (the knot is hidden at the back of the wreath). 

We then made a bow, and glued it to the front. 

We installed it to the door using an upside down Command hook on the inside of the door.

By the way I picked up some 12 clear glass baubles for $5.00. I am not sure what to do with them yet, but I love some of the looks that people are coming up with in blog land.

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Advent Calender

To say that I am not prepared for Christmas is an understatement.  In fact, it has taken me a week to post about it.

Last Wednesday night I decided I would do an advent calender for the kids this year.  Then it dawned on me that I had only several hours to make that idea a reality.

I had to use what I had on hand.  Brown paper bags, jute string, and silver ribbons.

This is what I created.

What did I put in the bags I hear you ask.  Well I wasn't very organised with that and so I didn't have any treats for the kids.  I ended up writing them a letter and each day we do a christmas task.  Because the kiddies are little this is working well - I can space things out.

So far we have:

1. Bought a tree
2. Put up the tree
3. Decorated the tree
4. Visited Santa
5. Hung Candy Cane on the tree
6. Put up the remainder of the decorations (I realised that I don't have that much).

I have about exhuasted every form of decorating the tree hehehe.

We will also be:

• Seeing the Christmas lights in the neighbourhood
• writing Santa a letter
• Catch a train into the city and see the Myer Christmas windows
• Open 1 present
• Pack our bags and catch the ferry to Tasmania (little island state of the mainland)
• See Grandma and Grandpa (after our overnight ferry ride)
• Give a gift to a less fortunate child
• Help with some Christmas cooking
• Help mum with some Christmas craft
• Be read the story of Christmas
• Visit Nan and Pop

Much of this list will be doubled up and adjusted as necessary.  Now I just need to think of a craft or two that a 3 year old could do ... hmmmm any ideas??

Pallets Become Outdoor Furniture

This has been one of my biggest challenges so far... and I have loved it.  First here is a pretty "after" picture of the couch.  Over the last week, you can often find me out here having morning tea with the kids.

This is how I went about it. 

I found these two pallets at an industrial park on Sunday afternoon.  Can you believe that they are giving these things away?!

I left one as is for the base of the couch, and cut the bottom off the second pallet to make the back rest.  To create the back of the couch I removed some planks, and cut the bits of wood underneath, so that the "back" of the couch could fit into the "base" of the couch.  I hope you can follow my technical language.  :-/



I attached the "back" to the base using screws.  The top of the back rest had quite a few issues as seen in the below picture.

The plank I pulled off early was repurposed and I screwed it along the top to hide the mess underneath.

But afterlooking at it for a few days, I just felt that the back rest was a bit top heavy, and the screws holding it in place may not have been able to hold it.  I got out the trusty hand saw and cut the top section off.  I bought a piece of heavy duty foam cut to size, and I literally sat on the project for a week or two, pondering what I was going to cover the foam with. 

Marine grade material, which is weather resistant, was out of the question...too expensive.  But I needed something hardwaring, as it is outside (although protected), it will be exposed to some weather elements.  I have covered a couch using drop sheet material (as seen in this project).  So I was willing to have a go my self, just I lacked this inspiration.  Then one day when I was getting out of the car I noticed the orange and pink cushions ('cause I had them in the garage).  I had bought them for $5 each several months ago at Target - not because I liked the colours, but because they were cheap inserts.  They were in the garage, because I never managed to bring them inside.

Anyhoo, I threw them against the couch, and BINGO they looked great, and then I remembered I had some left over drop cloth, and the colour of the drop sheet looked good as well.  And out came the sewing machine.

I also added some locking castors, so it is easy to move aournd.  And here is some pretty pictures of the finished project.

The flowers are looking good too.

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What to do with an unwanted dresser mirror

I have been MIA lately.  I'm not sure why.  I haven't been away or anything exciting.  I have tackled a few projects around the house.  Some of which are in Little Angel's bedroom, including this mirror.

The first big project was this mirror that came from this dresser I found at an Op shop.

The dresser is very rough and has lots of marks on it.  But I love the shape, unfortunately it came with a mirror.  I haven't done anything to the dresser yet, however, it is being used in the kids play room to store all their bits and bobs.

So then I had this left over mirror

Again it had a nice shape to it but was not a pretty colour.

 Out came the spray paint.

And...I love it.  It is just perfect for a princess in waiting.

 It is hanging in little angels bedroom quite low on the wall.  I did this for two reasons. 

    1. it is at little angels height.  Which she just loves as she is right into dressing up like a ballarina or fairy.  And loves looking at herself in the mirror, so now she has a full length mirror right near her wardrobe.

    2. if it fell off the wall, then it wasn't going to fall far.  I am fairly confident it will stay, I got a hook designed for heavy objects and it has been nailed into the stud.  But you just never know.

Anyway, I have a few more projects to finish off.

Linking it to these great blogs

   

                                                      

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The Desk I Built

Or maybe I should call it the Chameleon bedside drawers??

These bedside drawers started off like this -

And Finished like this -

Not such a dramatic change I hear you say.  But wait.

The original drawers were a freebie from a member off my local freecycle group.  And I was chuffed when I picked them up as the only description was - brown 4 drawer bedside cabinet to give away.  That description could have described just about anything.  I did have to fix the back left corner, as part of the top had chipped away.  I just squared off the chip and ironed on some veneer (which I got from the hardware store)  The veneer wasn't the same colour but I was going to paint it anyway.

I enlisted the unpaid help (who always seems shows up when I have a paintbrush in my hand :-) ).

And set about decoupaging the top with a cute saying by Audrey Hepburn

To finish up with this

errrgh...
I had painted the drawers pink as I was going to put it in little angels room, but wasn't happy with the look.  The ink ran (as I just printed off from our ink jet printer) and the top was lumpy.  A bit of distressing later...still not happy.

So I stripped the top and found some better quality wrapping paper.  Again with Mod Podge and...

Hmmmm.  No, it still wasn't working for me.

On to plan B

Repaint cupboard, add new handles and a piece of board I had from pulling apart our entertainment unit, and tadaaaa

I see a new desk.

I stripped the top of the "table" and added the legs to all four corners of the table (the cupboard was a bit short, yes I know I could have shortened the legs, but I wasn't so sure I could cut them evenly).  A lick of paint to the legs and a splash of stain to the table top, plus I added so moulding to the edges.

The below picture shows where I patched up a dirty great big hole.  I just used the same stuff you patch walls with (not a wood specific product) and stained it.  I think it came up ok.

 And the final product I am very pleased with.

The legs were bought from a hardware store and I attached them to the top using a base plate that the legs then screw into.

I love the daintiness of it.  This is going to be my little sewing table.  I keep forgetting to remove that plastic flooring, I only notice it in the photos.

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