the girl with the kaleidoscope eyes

I've always been a fan of styling with the five senses....even down to writing about it on my college entry form, many, many moons ago, so it was with visual delight that I recently visited the kid's Kaleidoscope Art and Colour exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria.  This wonderful little display of colour and art probably took more of my interest than the little one's, however it was such a lovely stimulant to my visual sense I was happy to while away the time in there.  If you haven't already, go check it out....especially if, like me, you love a bit of colour therapy occasionally.

hillbillies come to town

...another shop window and this time I couldn't help but bring out a little bit of country.  With some vintage inspired rustic jugs, character ducks and terracotta potted flowers for inspiration I went off on a hillbilly whim.  I searched high and low for a preloved little wheelbarrow and already had this little bike at home, for my props.  I even threw in my daughter's first little faded gumboots, planted up with some greenery just for fun. Just add some dirt and straw and there you have it...country stylin' in the middle of little ol' Canterbury!  Fun!  I also got to play with some gorgeous Samantha Robinson porcelain, and as this stuff is so divine itself, I just used the plain white background to highlight it...

...enjoy?  Immensely!  Loved it.

anyone for tea?

Has anyone noticed there aren't many Vintage teacups out there anymore (when thrifting)?  I mean, Vintage  these days is a broad classification I guess, but I'm talking really olde worldy ones, you know pretty little  floral patterned, fine bone china, tea-cup-and-saucer teacups?  Or even 60s or 70s cutesy ones?... sigh.  On the flip side though there are some fabulously clever peeps out there doing something very AMAZING with these, slowly disappearing, tea cup and saucers.  Take Gregory Bonasera for instance, his light installations are just gorgeous and clever...and then of course there's several folk dabbling in candle making out of them...such as this little online shop making teacup candles in the UK, and this gorgeousness a little closer to home, with a name like Whiskers Lane how could you resist? meeeeooooooooooow!   I mean what about this little DIY project to make your own tea cup bird feeder!   Pretty quirky huh?!

These are just a few i've stumbled across in my travels....feel free to share anymore you've seen, it's inspiring and very very clever.

In my browsing I did come across this fab little page from the US of A, called Domestic-Construction.  I just have to share it with you.  Their "Domestic-construction" apartment is well, just my cup of tea (pardon the pun :-)...I also love their little opening philosophy, they are doing some fantastically, inspiring creative projects and they will even make tea cup chandeliers to order!  ....go on you know you want to....sigh.

...i'll buy that for a dollar!

In a recent grocery stop I found these awesome little lemon (and apple!) storers, for a buck!  Yep, folks, One dollar each! Eek!  Think of all that horrid cling film you can do away with!  Love love love it!  Clearly though I should have used some of the lemon juice on the apple first, before storing it....hmmmm.

Lemons, lemons everywhere...it seems there's an overload of the lovely little yellow things at the moment.  Every little Thrifty shop I visited today had some on the counter...4 for a $1 and some even free (which i found after paying for some, doh!!)  

So with my little storers, and a string bag full of golden juicy ones, it was time to make some  "memomade"  (or 'lemonade' to those that don't quite catch on to 3 year old speak).  It's her favourite "treat" to drink at the mo.  So whilst we're not quite ready to set up a stall out the front garden to sell to passer by's....(and i'm unsure we'd get a roaring trade mid-Winter out in these here hills!!)  I would like to compliment my little concoction, it kept some of us happy, and well, it didn't take too much effort neither.

Lemons, water, sugar....stir.  Add more sugar, or water, and keep on stirrin' Mmmmmemondae!

..a glass jar obsession.

I know it's been done before but lately i've been obsessed with re-using glass jars for styling little events, and even my most recent shop window.  Trust me, no empty pesto, pasta sauce or vegemite jar is safe around me! Before you can say "another one for the recycle bin" i'm soaking them in the sink and scrubbing the labels off with a scouring pad!  (Any sticky bits can be further removed with our trusty friend, Eucalyptus Oil :-).   Once clean - and I mean sparkling, no foggy bits allowed... the lights are barely out and i'm filling them with tealights and grouping them together to make little clusters, the more random sizes the better (i like three or four, all different heights or widths).....i'm completely obsessed!  Don't get me started on those little Italian juice bottles, I had them strung up and filled with fresh orchids before you could say "bellissimo!" Its just there is a certain rustic-ness about them, and the fact that you're doing your bit for the environment always helps too...  Try them at your next party, or dinner, or heck even just do it for yourself at home, to give it that extra special ambience. 

....there's something about glass and light that just does it for me...sigh.