my all time favourite opshop buy

all of my friends know i am an addicted opshopper, so i am often asked what my all time greatest bargain has been. there has been many things i've loved over time, but i must admit, this takes out first place. many years ago at the salvation army jumble sale in york (i mean before madeline was even born and i used to make road trips out with my girlfriends) i picked up this gorgeous tooled leather satchel bag. its just the right size to hold my purse, sunglasses, keys and lippie. and... it cost me a grand total of about 20c. not even lying. it was back in the day when it was fill a bag for $5 and upon counting up my haul that day, my average cost was about that. i can't remember exactly (so long ago!) but definitely well under a dollar.

i have used it and used it and i can guarantee that without fail, every time i use it, someone will ask where i got it from. makes for a few sad faces when they discover it was opped many years ago. i have used it so much in fact, that last year, one of the studs holding the handle in place broke and i had to pay ten odd dollars to have it replaced, which enraged me, but even with that, it's still the best bargain i've ever had. no doubt about it!

vintage love

can i just take a minute here to talk about how much i love this dress madeline has on? i picked it up at the local salvos in ellenbrook just after we moved here about 2 years ago. it was absolutely love at first sight and i have (very impatiently) waited for it to fit her! today was the day and thankfully she loves it just as much as i do. it's a genuine vintage dress, complete with a scratchy tulle lining (she wore another favourite skirt underneath it) old labels and buttons and hooks up the back. absolutely perfect and just my thing.

maybe this opshopping is hereditary cause she seems to be picking it up just fine. i found a letter in one of her notebooks to one of my friends who promised her a girls day out soon, including a list of possible options for their day including: we could go opshopping. definitely not my friends thing, but it sounds like it is maddies! ♥ 

renays bridal shower

on saturday, i got to help out when my friend dom was asked to throw a bridal shower, for her friend renay. i was so stoked, because there's nothing i love more than helping to throw a good party!

we decked out the house with all kinds of goodies from both of our houses... 

made pink lemonade with sliced lemons and

water with strawberries and mint

set up the backyard for high tea with vintage trios

and gleefully displayed the goodies that we had spent the last two days baking! ♥

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we played a few games that we'd found on pinterest:

how well do you know the bride?

he said/ she said

and kiss the groom (this was definitely everyones favourite, dom had printed off a giant picture of the groom to be, with her brother, plus a whole pile of lips to pin to the picture. top prize was for getting the lips on the groom, with a booby prize for her brother. it was hysterical!)

add a little signage...

and our beautiful bride to be... 

it was a great afternoon!

a baby sprinkle for jamie-lee

look at that belleh!

my friend jami-lee is having another (what i am 100% certain will be another stunningly beautiful) baby in a few weeks. so yesterday her clever mama threw her a baby "sprinkle" in honour of the little ones imminent arrival.

jamie-lee and her awesome mama deb ♥

deb is quite the pro at parties and threw one heck of a little bash, high tea style, complete with epic goodies (including this gorgeous chocolate sponge cake pictured above) and a multitude of other amazing things

i helped out a little bit by loaning someof my hire items, including the gorgeous vintage trio sets that mum and i have 

and snapping pictures as the day went on

seriously yum!

set up and ready to go!

some snaps jamie-lee shared at the end of the day

i am so excited to meet the new little miss v when she arrives and was thrilled to be a part of today. thank you to the hamon crew for inviting me! ♥

my new old cupboard

a few years ago i was driving home and went past a beat up old cupboard on the side of the road not far from our old house. i quickly called a friend with a ute and begged him to come and help me collect it so i could take it home and put it in the garage. he thankfully did and it remained there until a few weeks ago when we moved and my parents took it home to begin the restoration process.

i have put the pictures of  it looking lovely up first, but it was so so so beat up. the tin side which is now chalk board was almost completely off, dad had to reattach it before mum could paint it for me... there were paint stains all over the door inside and out, more than half the shelving was missing, the door was terribly hard to close once it was open because it's so heavy that it buckled the cupboard as it opened... and the paint job was cracked, peeling and looking like crap.

but yet again my dad undertook a job he really didn't want to do, all because i asked. he reinforced the cupboard to make it stronger, he painted the inside, replaced the shelving, painted it, fixed the hinges, fixed the door and then delivered it back to me. what a legend. i am completely in love with it and can't wait to fill it up, with my kitchen things... i have attached some pics below so you can see just how bad it was and some of the process... i love my dad! he truly is the best. thank you! xxx

sky & hayley got married!

this week one of my dearest friends got married... in tasmania! hayley and i have been friends for 24 years and counting, so when she asked me to come to her teeny nearly all family wedding i clearly had to go. lucky for me one of mums dearest friends lives in tassie, about 15 mins from the venue, kindly let me stay with her and babysat baby j for me, while i thoroughly enjoyed myself. i was even luckier that a friend here in perth watched madeline for me while doug was at work each day... :)

what a perfect day it was! cloudy (makes for beautiful photos!!) and crisp but not too cold. 

and what a beautiful bride she made! it was so great to be there and see the smile that just couldn't be wiped off her face for the whole day. there is no doubt in my mind that she and sky were truly meant to be.

the ceremony and reception were held at the red feather inn in hadspen, near launceston. it's a gorgeous old inn built in 1842 and is everything a bride could dream of. vintage styling, old buildings, on site accommodation, amazing food...

the ceremony was in the courtyard, where we played lawn games whilst the photographer took her snaps afterwards, then we moved into the barn to have our meal at this gorgeous old long table, heated by a log fire.

hayley was a dream in her gown and sky looked gorgeous (he scrubs up well)... the bridesmaids were beautiful and tyson (skys son) the best little man was perfectly behaved and looked so sweet.

i was thrilled to be allowed to take some sneaky snaps during the day (thank you hayley!) and also to have been asked to give a speech at the reception. i dragged up some good stories and got some laughs, but definitely felt so privileged to be there. watching someone you have known and been friends with for so long, marry the one they want to spend the rest of their life with is just something so sweet to be a part of.

bridal party

the sweet reception area

first dance, i love that look of pure joy on hayleys face in the photo below.

sky's mum even made their cake and it looked amazing, what a sweet mother in law hayley is scoring!

and here we are together. congrats hayley! enjoy your happily ever after. xx

dress making!

it's been a goal of mine for quite some time to sew myself a dress. not just any old dress, but an awesome vintage inspired one, in a funky as fabric. i've been looking on pinterest for quite some time now for inspiration (and hoping madly that i would find a pattern some day) and i finally found one!

all 3 of these dresses are made from the same pattern and found on different blogs, but i love them and i am so excited... because i found the pattern (simplicity 1652) on ebay and bought it! i am going to make one - this year. i assume i am fairly safe saying that, as it gives me just over 8 months to do so. so stay tuned... i am going to do this... and you will all be my witnesses as i show it off some time in the (hopefully near) future. ♥

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a trip to clackline

there have been massive amounts of bushfires north of perth this past week. it's been awful, with so many homes threatened and people having to leave with a risk of never coming home. my poor husband has been out helping with the problem that come afterwards, that the wooden power lines need to be replaced. not that we have anything to complain about, our home is safe and we are well, but when he comes home late, covered in ash, i am certainly sympathetic.

i felt like a night off from climbing (often whiny) children was in order, so last night i took the kids to my parents house in clackline, where they played with nanna and grandad and i sat back and enjoyed the surrounds. (...would you believe they even have wireless internet now?! this is new)

it's the first time we have been to visit since they came home from their mission a month ago and to be totally honest, it's like they never even left. there are little bit of mum everywhere, and it's so nice to come home to.

i wish i had have taken my actual camera with me and not just my iphone, but i couldn't resist taking some snaps as i walked around with joseph hanging on my side. there is just so much to see!

dad made this little chair and as it's perfect madeline size, she has decided it must be her designated chair.

a gorgeous wire bird cage my mum made years ago... if you look carefully, there is a twisted wire dragonfly on the side closest to the camera.

their newest bird bath

outdoor sinks, some of which actually work i believe.

a little man made from terracotta pots that sits under their trough filled with fish and water plants.

a fountain in the car port, pumped through an old water pump. so cool.

the people who were renting the house whilst mum and dad were away left this gorgeous mat for my parents... so suits my dad!

and... my newest disovery, filing that away, for next time i need some vintage items. so cute, right?

i could spend days looking at everything and probably still not see it all, i love mums collections... she can find anything a home - and she has certainly passed that trait on to me!