Sugar flowers and Shabby Chic.

One of the things I love about "Shabby Chic" is things don't have to be perfect. In fact that imperfections add to the charm of things. This is such a good thing. It goes in with what Flylady says about we must not let perfectionism stop us from doing things. She says that housework done imperfectly still blesses our family. 

There is a big message here for all of us! We don't do things for fear of not doing a professional job. We don't do things thinking we won't do it right. Just do things with love and do them! 

Happily this makes my life a whole lot easier. And more enjoyable. I always made the girls cakes and attempted ice cream cakes, dolly varden cakes, you name it. They were always thrilled despite some being wonky and interesting! Kids (and adults) care about love and are touched by your efforts. A cake is always a beautiful and caring gift for someone. If you don't know what to give someone for their birthday try making or decorating a cake for them and see the response you get. You will be surprised if my experience is anything to go by.

Yesterday it was Chloe's birthday and she came to dinner. I totally cheated really and bought a ready made fresh sponge. I just decorated it. I whipped cream with two drops of pink colour making it softest pink. I sugared some roses. This is so easy. You whip a couple of egg whites and dip your washed flowers into this, trying to get good coverage. Then let it drip away a little. You can use a paint brush for a finer effect making the egg white thinner.

Then dip into and sprinkle castor sugar to coat. You may need to do this a couple of times. Set aside to dry. Now you want to use edible flowers even though we were not eating them you don't want poisonous flowers with food. Roses and violets are fine. 

A violet you can cover in egg white and sugar and they will keep ages. But a dense flower you cannot hope to get the coating through every petal. Still these today look perfect still. They are as hard as a rock looking unreal.

I filled the sponge with jam I made from cherries. I could have used apricot but I wanted pink to match my theme! Cherries had made great jam, I did the microwave method I have explained before.

It tasted lovely! Such an easy thing to do and she loved it. When she arrived she took photos of it so I think that was a good sign!

The fresh roses here are the same roses. After sugaring they are much lighter in colour and I was pleased as I had been unable to get pale pink which I preferred.

As the flowers are still perfect today next time I could do them a day ahead. 

I am dreaming of doing this with lilac or cream roses! Maybe for Mothers Day this would be a possibility.

The thing is I am no cake decorator but soft cream, fresh flowers or sugared ones, or a soft ribbon maybe, transform a cake into something lovely. The other trick is to use a cake stand. It just looks so special. I used one of my DIY ones I made earlier (the instructions are in an old post) and this means you can have amazing cake stands for a couple of dollars each. Little cakes, desert pies, even chocolates look fantastic served this way. Sitting on the table you have an instant centrepiece as well. 

We had a lovely little celebration especially as it was a working day as well. I love to celebrate occasions even if it is in a little way. These little celebrations make life lovely.

Raining help and money.

I would say my love of rain comes from the fact that I lived on a farm and rain meant my Dad was mostly overjoyed with happiness when it was raining. He would be smiling and cheerful. He would say get out of the rain so it could hit the ground!

So to this day long soaking rain means peace, contentment and happiness to me. I am sure though without a farmer Father by now I would have figured out how much the garden (or farm) benefits, how the plants look, how the birds are thrilled, how things are lovely washed clean, the air is clear and fresh after rain. 

For me watering the garden is both hard work and expensive if I use tap water. So rain is like a day off and a massive saver. I know there are so many Australians who would kill for rain and are desperate, sadly. 

Last night rained steadily and this morning everything looks perky and happy. The lettuce I planted less than a fortnight ago is ready to start picking plus the rocket.

I'm hoping if I snip as much as I need that it will keep going for weeks. There is parsley at the back and I hope I will have that to add to soups etc throughout winter.

The basil is ferocious! I have picked heaps and still it looks like it's trying to take over the house. So it is time to harvest a big lot so it is used not wasted. I can make pesto for us and a jar each for the girls. Apart from over pasta it is so good in a burger or with a steak. My friend at a health food shop, he serves it on the side with eggs, tomato, mushroom and sourdough toast. It makes it into a fabulous meal. I love brunch... two meals in one.

His other tip was to use almonds in place of pine nuts. Pine nuts, here at least, are very expensive. Blanched almonds in their place are so much cheaper and that is what he did and it was yummy. Cafe owners are wonderful for economic tips like that. They know how to use expensive ingredients as the feature or sparingly, not waste, use substitutes, use what is cheap and in season.... there are so many tips to learn from them. Our local health food shop is also an organic cafe. In the past when my herbs have been prolific I have given them huge bunches of parsley, rosemary and bay leaves and been rewarded with free coffees! 

Pesto is such a power punch of flavour, vitamins and goodness so that is one of my happy projects this week that should mean we have this on hand for quite a while.

I am off to try and get my Monday really going. If I achieve lots on Mondays my week just seems off to a great start! 

The garden being soaked and happy is such a help. My newest rose has three roses on it which I have waited for, it's one of my favourites, Blue Moon. 

I have decided to plant some pink climbing roses over the front fence as I have a couple of spaces. Planting flowers, herbs, vegies, they all pay off in so many ways. Taking a little time to plant means you get to sow. It's a little investment in the future and there are so many possibilities. I am sure even a few minutes a day is good for us. Fresh air, nature, sunshine and being outside is so good I know it is like a medicine to me.

Snippets of time.

I noticed a long time ago that women didn't mostly get free afternoons to work on their craft projects so much as they would work on things in the snippets of time that they had. Mum would work on knitting or crochet (and for a few years tapestry) when she had a few minutes here or there and if she sat to watch tv she would work away. And yet her work was (and still is) prolific.

Nan was the same. Pa would sit to watch the news or the footie and Nan would spin or knit or work on something and her work was prolific!

I think when the kids are little we learn to use snippets of time like never before! When I waited in the car for the girls to get out of school I would write letters, knit or crochet. I might only write a few lines or knit a row but it added up. Over time I really learned how much a little here and a little there get things done.

Trying to make my presents meant planning things to make all year round. Just that alone helped so much rather than trying to make heaps of things at the end of the year for Christmas presents. Other things that have helped are to keep something I am working on right where I sit in the lounge. So if I sit down to watch tv it is there ready to pick up. At the moment I have two rugs going...

I don't mind handy work in the lounge, i think it looks kind of cozy and interesting. Even if someone visits they usually are interested in what you are making. I am going between these two rugs at the moment as I like the variety.

If we are travelling any distance I am amazed at how much I get done in the car as Andy drives. I have pretty much crocheted my way around South Australia this way!

Some projects get too big to lug around. Having some smaller projects that are a bit more portable means I get more done as I will take work with me.  I love makeup bags for handy work projects. Little compartments and zip pockets etc they are perfect! So usually I keep a few things made up as little "kits" ready to take somewhere with me. 

Purses and totes I don't end up using as handbags are great for craft projects. They are functional and kind of nice to take with you.

Last week in the city I noticed Typo store (which is cute and funky) featured so many crafts especially knitting. Oh happy day it is cool to craft and young girls are taking it up in droves. Like baking "Nana skills" are so fashionable again and there is a huge revival. I love that! 

I'm often amazed how much I did when away or out somewhere. You just do not have to have a designated time to make lovely things. It's the old wonderful saying of do what you can with what you have where you are.

My plan is to visit the ladies Andy has been visiting and to give them each one of my rugs (when finished). This week I am heading off to meet these ladies. One of them has been sending me little notes and they are up on everything it seems. This lady put in her note "I think Andy will look very handsome at the wedding" !! This cracked me up somehow, she obviously thinks he's lovely. (I think maybe he has a girlfriend?) So I will go armed with wedding photos and take my crochet as well. 

Handy work when waiting is another thing that is just wonderful. All my life if Mum was waiting for something, the doctor, in hospital with someone... out came the knitting. My friend Sue has many times waiting with her husband having medical tests and waiting on appointments and she will knit away. It seriously is a life saver when waiting could be so frustrating yet you are not, instead you are happily knitting away. Very wise I think.

The joy of collecting.

When your heart leaps at the sight of something I think you have a sign that this is so beautiful it will bring you joy and you might have the basis for something you might like to collect. Pink plates with roses do this for me! Also little rosy jugs and crystal jugs, I just think they are gorgeous. And useful. I do use them for milk, flowers etc.

Happily the truly gorgeous plates I love are vintage ones. Even better they pop up in op shops (thrift shops) and I have paid around 50c to $2 for mine. These days country op shops are usually the best as the city ones have become expensive. Still I do find them in all kinds of places.

When I set the table for an afternoon tea it looks so pretty, everyone having their own setting. Everyone seems to love it too. A pretty table is so special and inviting.

I also use cut glass plates. I love them. Usually these are so inexpensive. All these plates were 15c each. I use them also on Christmas Day. Little cut glass bowls for jam and cream etc. it all works together.

A few roses in a little vintage jug makes buds from the garden into a pretty feature. This green jug below is Staffordshire and I paid cents for it. I decided the green looks lovely with the pinks and it looks wonderful with pink flowers so I use this all the time.

The thing is collecting is really fun! If you have kids helping them to start a collection is wonderful for them.

For us collecting might be the way to accumulate something you adore that really is way out of reach. But bit by bit and maybe from op shops it becomes a dream you can make come true. The great fun along the way is even better! Like attracts like so once you collect something people tend to know what to give you!

When we go away we tend to drive to country beach towns and stay a few days here or there. I will go into every op shop there and in near by towns as we drive around. And if we see a yard sale or fete or anything I am there! So in the end it means some of my pretty plates or jugs come with the memory of a holiday and the great fun we had. Really I have had some amazing finds! Chenille bed spreads, crystal champagne glasses, vintage rose fabrics... lovely stuff!

Our next trip away is to a far off little beach town where my Dad was born. Last time we found the house he lived, where my Pop worked and brought back photos for him. And we met an old man who remembered my Pop! They have a lovely little op shop that is the kind of one you have to explore for an hour or more and I can't wait to get back there. There are several little near by towns as well. I love our little holidays and really collecting something adds to it. The thrill of the chase maybe? 

Comfort on a tray.

I love trays. We just watched The Butler (with Oprah Winfrey) and I noticed the constant use       of stunning trays. It was a wonderful movie!

Really a tray is a basic helper, saving you lots of trips back and forth, gathering everything you need in one place. It is another example of spending a few minutes planning might save you lots of time and trips in the end! 

A tray also says "nurturing" especially delivered to someone not feeling well, over tired or miserable. A little gathering of things to eat and drink, a flower, tablets to take or what ever is needed.

Nurturing could be breakfast in bed, a tray of tea in the sunshine on a nice day. A tray to sit next to someone too busy to stop or a studying student. What a lovely thing.

Nurturing can be just a cup of tea in a pretty cup and a few minutes to sit and enjoy it. When I am under the weather I will tend to make up a tray so I have everything gathered next to me. 

A year ago I made some it towels and pit holders from pretty materials. Some of it was old curtains. They have been so handy, lining trays, picnic baskets, covering food etc. as the really nicest ones have never been used to wipe dishes! This one with a little bird is my favourite...

If you are short of trays an ornate frame backed with felt becomes a tray or even a shallow box. I have seen all sorts of things turned into trays beautifully. Op shops are full of them even silver plated ornate ones which look like luxury plus! The non slip mating people use in caravans etc is amazing stuff and if someone really is in bed unwell or needs that extra support that works so well to stop things sliding around. Perhaps good for children too. It can be cut just to size. Cheap shops have it for abut $2 a roll. 

I really like gift baskets and themed gifts. Imagine making up a pretty tray with accessories like a cup and saucer, a pretty plate and vase, teabags, sugar cubes and pretty things as a gift. Tailored to suit someone nicely it would be really sweet. I collect so many things in op shops. My prettiest plates are op shop ones I have paid 50c for! Added treats like tea bags, flavoured coffees, chocolates, biscuits, gorgeous tea spoons... so many of us would love a gift like that!

Something about a tray says tender loving care. If you need that make one up for yourself or treat someone to a little delivery of love and make their day. 

De clutter your home and your heart.

The stuff we keep in our homes means something. It is not just stuff! Objects have meanings, memories, feelings, emotions attached to them... they may symbolise something, they can hold us back or bring us joy.

I'll tell you about a very personal example. I was divorced and very depressed and after that divorce I continued to wear my wedding ring and jewellery my x had given me for a year. That was one bad year, by the way.

One day I woke up with a thought that maybe I should stop wearing this jewellery. Take it off! Set myself free and just get rid of it! (about time but still...)

It was a big deal to do it. And it was one of those moments that you remember so clearly. So there I stood and took rings off and placed every item together. Being good jewellery I offered them to the girls if they wanted them which removed them from my home as well. 

As I did it I said a little prayer. I said something like "I want to be free now and put all this behind me. I am open to what You (God) might send into my life and ready to move on".

That seemed sufficient. And good. 

I felt physically lighter! And relieved! I was amazed that I FELT different.

Well, this comes with a warning! Do not do this if you are not ready for good things to come into your life! It is true that new good things will come in when you have released old bad things! I am sure this is with physical things as well as things in our heart.

THAT evening I came home from work and I had an email. It was from Andy's secretary and it said "you do not know me, my name is Ruth. I am Andy S secretary and I have listened to him talk to me about you for eight years. Would you like to hear from him?" she was trying to push him to contact me and stop talking about it! 

Andy had been my first boyfriend when I was 15/16. I was happy to say yes! I would love to hear from him and the next day he began writing to me everyday....

Can you believe that was the same day I let go of that jewellery and freed myself up?

Why on earth did I keep, and worse still wear, something that had bad memories? Why do we keep anything with bad memories?  Why do we hang on?

Todays Flylady reminder was about getting rid of stuff. Getting rid of stuff that is useless, ugly, has bad memories.... we don't need negative reminders! So many people have items they don't like, worse they think are ugly. 

I knew someone who kept all her divorce papers and x husbands bits and pieces in boxes in her home and lugged them to everywhere she lived. And she lugged it all everywhere in her heart and daily existence too. I said why not toss it all out and free yourself up? Why keep it? She had not been ready to let it all go in either way.

I am sure physically tossing things out helps you to do it in your heart. 

Now and then I realise an item doesn't make me happy. I had a tray some time ago and every time I looked at it I was reminded of a past friendship that I felt sad about. Every morning I saw that tray and had a negative thought! When I realised it I gave it to the op shop, even though it was lovely. Gosh that improved my mornings!

Instead have things around you that remind you of happy wonderful things. Plan things so you see lovely reminders of beautiful people, times, thoughts, where you know you will see them. The things you know bring you joy... for me they include flowers, family photos, reminders of holidays, things to do with comfort like a lovely cup and saucer, a soft rug. 

I am so aware that things can carry guilt, obligation, resentment and all sorts of terrible feelings. Or they can carry happiness, inspiration, joy, beauty...

I am forever adding photos and snippets to my memory and inspiration boards so that I see them and they lit me up. It really costs nothing to do it. But it has become a conscious decision to make sure I keep these things around me so that I see them all the time.

The cost of lugging a load around of negative things is huge. It really is true that you have to get rid of the stuff you don't want to make room for the stuff you do want! 

All in the details.

Before the wedding I looked for some beautiful bridal charms for over the brides arm. I couldn't find any, except one I loved which was in the UK and over a hundred pounds! I could have been looking in the wrong places but the ones I found looked sort of tacky and nasty.

I made one to be from myself from a vintage chandelier crystal, organza ribbons and a rose tag with my message written on the back. And I made extras fro the flower girls to give. It ended up being cute with my niece chasing the bride to put it over her arm, very enthusiastically! 

To make them I used jewellery wire and beads that I knew would match the dress and wedding. If I had not known I would have stuck to clear crystal. They were very simple but pretty and ended up hanging over the back of the chairs which looked gorgeous. I know they will be kept as sentimental keepsakes.

So many things would be lovely to make these, a few pearls, a vintage brooch or necklace, something special of Grandmas etc and it is going to be nicer than what you can buy.

To me after the wedding when the dust settles these are the little things you look at and read the notes and become the keep sakes of the day.

I have the bridal bouquet drying too to hand back after the honeymoon so it is not lost. Even drying it looks gorgeous! I have Chloe's bouquet drying also. The colours in them were cream through to the softest blush....  

Ohhh I want to show you the cake for which I can claim no credit what so ever but it was just beautiful. It had two flavours which were so divine but it was a tragedy to cut it up!

So you can see the top bit which is cut off above...

Well I am sure that is enough details for one day! In truth I am recovering I am so tired! It has been so emotional, I would never have guessed how much. For those of you with young daughters if they get married you will find out what I mean! I am still looking over photos as guests are sharing them. The look on my Dads face, caught a few time looking at Lucy is just beyond anything. A real heart breaker, so beautiful. Photos of both my parents with Lucy, of Andy holding her hand. Of Lucy and the flower girls who just loved every minute! Maybe I'll share that one then call it a day!