The softness of muslin.

I adore muslin. It is a humble and inexpensive thing but so soft and has so many uses!

For years women have used muslin for baby wash cloths as they are so fine and soft. I caught on to this and found them so beautiful to use myself I have used them for taking off makeup and my own face. After you have used them ordinary wash cloths seem really coarse. The thing is the very fine weave is soft but lightly exfoliating and picks up any flakiness on the skin. They are fabulous.

Firstly I bought baby wash cloths and added embroidery to them but in the end I could only find these with terrible coloured trims and so I started to sew my own. Muslin by the meter is only a couple of dollars per metre. Spotlight has it although only in white. Ebay has it in colours and patterns and mostly I am buying swaddling cloths and cutting them into wash cloths to get pink, lilac etc. I make them double thickness so I sew them like you would to make a pillow and turn inside out so your seems are inside. Then I crochet around them.

However now I have made so many I now fold and crochet as I go and don't do any sewing at all as the crochet is holding down the folder over edge. Either way is fine. 

You will find that some muslin is softer than others and finer than others. 

Once I have my size cut out and two layers together I crochet an edge in fine cotton. So far I have never bought this as it is always in op shops. I have purchased pure silk thread on wooden spools for 20c! Mum has given me some fine cottons too as she wasn't keen on something so fine. You need a very small crochet hook and the muslin is easy to get the hook through as it is so soft. An alternative would be to find some fine soft cotton lace and sew that around the edge. This looks just lovely and is very soft.

For babies I do a smaller face cloth and for ladies I do a larger one around the size of a mans hanky. You can do a really large size as a swaddling cloth as a gorgeous summer baby gift. Just divine!

I work a rose into one corner in the perfect colour to match. A tiny bow of ribbon would work or a tiny rose applique. 

I wrap in cellophane and tie up with a lovely ribbon before giving as a gift. My wrapped soaps kind of go with this as well when I am making up a present for someone.

It took me ages to get some muslin in baby blue but at last I have some so that is one of my next projects. Maybe white and blue also would be lovely! This is the problem, so many lovely combinations. I might use some lovely lace if I find some I really like.

It is nice to work on these little light projects in the hot weather too when crocheting a blanket just wouldn't be practical as it would make you feel hot!

Have a lovely Sunday to everyone. We have a really nice day here, so thankful for that!

You can have anything you want (almost) if you don't mind making it!

Most of the time the things I make come out of seeing something I love and looking at the price tag and thinking "I could probably make that for one sixth the price"and that is where it starts!

A while ago I went to the most beautiful garden store. They had urns of ivy topiary in lovely shapes and of course I liked the heart ones. Some were real and growing and others were artificial. All stunning and hard to tell which were which. All several hundred dollars.

But I loved them! 

Now I do think real plants inside are really important. They clean your air. A house needs probably four or five real living healthy house plants. A unit maybe two or three. You can google about this. Nasa have a list of the best house plants for houses and how they greatly improve the air inside your home. Important stuff.

So these are ornamental and wonderful for spots that are not great for living plants ie spots that are a bit dark or whatever. 

In making things I find out so many things. Florists use oasis foam which is great stuff. If I get this I get it for about $2 a block from a cheap shop which is much cheaper.  Last week I went to an Adelaide florist suppliers. It was terrible. I don't know how they are in business. I came home and ordered what I need on ebay for less than one tenth the price. What has arrived so far is also superior to what they have. So don't just pay have a compare around. It is not a few dollars difference it is a huge amount. 

Currently my most urgent "I want that!" is from Pottery Barn online.... they have topiary trees with the large ball on top and some with three balls going up... they are gorgeous. I keep going back to look and have pinned them to my "to do" list. The reason? They all are almost $500 each. So I will post the results and how I did them sometime soon I hope. One thing I needed is sticks. After last nights storm I have a wide choice of sticks on the back lawn!

Anyway these are my ivy topiary from a little while ago.

The urn was a road side find. It is pretty big and very heavy. I adore the worn edges, cracks and peeling paint. I filled it with packing foam which is much cheaper (well free) than oasis and I made a heart of thick wire which was $40 cheaper than buying a wire form. I filled the pot with moss from the garden store which is only a couple of dollars a bag. The ivy came from Cheap as Chips! This is in our front entrance and I really love it!

This is much smaller and is on a side table. I used a finer ivy which I think came from Spotlight.

And this one is in a narrow pot and has mostly lived on the kitchen bench. I really love it. As I had the two smaller pots and found the big one really they each cost me under $10 and I have loved them for about three years so I am happy with that.

But now I am dreaming of trees! It is almost a challenge to see what I can make them for and compare to the four hundred and something dollar ones. To me that is fun and it means you really can have most things you would love, there is usually a way! Thanks to pinterest, you tube and craft blogs there are instructions on how to do anything online! I am often stuck but you can always find help or an alternative way. I'm really excited to have topiary trees. Give me a week or two and I think I will have them made up. 

Have a wonderful weekend. We have a much cooler day and had an electrical storm last night that was pretty terrifying. The garden is a mess but at least I have a supply of sticks!

Saving your fruit.

The other day I was given about thirty brand new, with lids, little jars. I love the possibilities!

I had the last of the free fruit which was fading fast and some of it imperfect so it was time to quickly make sure I don't lose any. I had to break my own rule of no stove on during the heat but with stewed fruit I bring it to a good boil and turn it off. So it was only on a few minutes.

Chloe loves the individual fruits you can buy and they are good as you don't waste any with single servings. So these jars and the fruit have become a couple of dozen portion servings of stewed fruit. A little gift for her, a money saver and some for me when I'm having a craving.

Now blended this would also be beautiful baby food. If there was a baby about I would love to make that. How wonderful!

I just under fill the jars and freeze them. Being small they will thaw quickly and semi frozen stewed fruit in summer is just gorgeous. 

Another thought would be to blend it and make kids ice blocks. Yummy. A supply of ice blocks ready at all times was a massive help in the hot weather. No trip to the shop needed. Yoghurt added and blended makes lovely ice blocks. Banana added too is delicious!

I just mixed what I had left which happened to be apricots and nectarines. I do this with jam too and every time so far the results have been really nice. 

Jam is brilliant as it is fine on the shelf. Fruits can be canned of course but I find it simpler to just freeze. Either way you have fruit stored away to gradually use rather than waste any. 

I have jars left over but these will be so handy for small amounts of jam like when berries need to be used quickly or something like that. I think a selection of different jams in little jars would be a sweet hostess gift or present for someone who lives alone. 

Your hair is your crowning glory!

I have had so many letters and emails about the days of writing the Beauty Thread.  Thank you to everyone who wrote to me over the last couple of years. You helped me decide that DIY beauty treatments are going to be in my blog again.

Lately with all the hot weather I have been swimming most nights. In a chlorinated pool which is not great for hair. But it makes no difference as I know what to do is it is fine. (unless you count aching legs from swimming so much!)

To write this I thought I had better get an update on hair services pricing. I averaged out a few salons I used to like and got quite a shock while getting myself informed on current prices! Now there is nothing wrong with using a salon. Getting your hair to suit you, in good condition etc is a wonderful thing. It affects how I feel and I know thats the same for most women. Also having someone do your hair for you feels beautiful and is relaxing and pampering and beautiful!

So my tips are if you need to save money, have no time to get to a salon etc. This can happen very easily when the kids are little. In fact this is the time many women cut their hair off as they just cannot manage everything.

My girls work in the beauty industry and have to look very well presented and stylish as part of their work. They have both worked for numerous companies Revlon, Lancome, Napoleon Perdis ... Lucy is quite high up in NP as a creative director. Very handy for me. I have picked up so many tips and insider secrets from them.

None of us ever go to a hair dresser. And according to my calculations today this must save us all at least $6000 a year! I am posting a couple of basic shots that show hair! so you do not imagine we all look like wilderness girls lol

Chloe and I cut our own hair and colour and I do a conditioning treatment weekly. Chloe (not a hairdresser or any training!) cuts her sisters hair and Lucy is particular! 

Actually Lucy is very particular! She always looks beautiful. She will kill me if she reads this.

Before making any decisions based on the condition, manageability, lack of shine (or anything else) of your hair you need to get all the years of conditioner, hair spray, products that build up in your hair. This makes your hair dull, un manageable and ick. You can buy special products for this but Apple Cider vinegar works so perfectly I cannot imagine shelling out money for this. Wash you hair and for the first time use at least a cup of Apple Cider Vinegar through your hair. try to get it on every strand and rinse. Then go ahead as usual. I do it weekly with about half a cup of the vinegar in a jug of water. Now and then I will do a full strength one. There were times I considered cutting my hair because it wasn't going "right" and this fixed it. Nothing wrong with it except product build up! So do this first of all.

So really the thing is trimming your own hair is ridiculously easy. There are even free hair dresser instructional tutorials on you tube. I began with my bangs as actual hair dressers always cut them too short and that drove me crazy. Bangs are very flattering for most women. As are layers around the face and softer colours around the face. 

Colour is also ridiculously easy. The actual process is terribly easy these days and very good quality products are on the shelves. I have fine hair. A colour gives me more volume and shine. Even if I coloured my hair my exact present shade I would do it for the shine and texture improvement. Read the pack thats about it, if unsure phone the number on the pack. That sounds over simplistic but seriously that is it. Choosing a colour is a much harder thing. Over all a general guide is to go lighter and softer as we get older. If we knew everything when we were young we would keep a snip of our hair from when it was our personal best colour. My niece Alex a few years ago when she was about 13 had the most glorious honey hair. I told her to save a sample of it as when she is older and darkens this sample will give her the perfect shade to go back to. Perfect for her as it is natural. 

When I was little my hair was basically white. It looked like I had none for a while! Then it was really light blonde then medium blonde in later teens. Now it is mousy blonde which I feel blah in. So for me I have lightened to where I was in my early teens. Doing this, staying in your own natural colour range, is a big help. It will work, suit you and be not too hard to maintain. As I do it fortnightly this is where it would be costing me too much time and too much money at a salon.

The next thing is hair can make you look younger or older. I am 51. Dry hair is my most likely big problem. So I do deep conditioning treatments at least once a week. And to swim I put my hair up with conditioner through it. So with the conditioner and the warmth I basically get a treatment every time I swim. But I swim without going under the water... if you want to do that then do all this and wear a cap.

My conditioning treatment is simply warm oil massaged through to the ends and kept on for at least half an hour. You can use olive oil. I do like nut oils ie almond oil or something like that. Coconut oil is good. You can wrap it all up in plastic or a shower cap. There is a great product called Wondercap that comes from NZ I think. It is like a shower cap except you heat it in the microwave. I love this! The warmth makes a huge difference. This is as good or better than any salon treatment. Doing it at home could mean you can leave it on much longer too. Of course you look fabulous while doing this so I figure I might as well have a face mask as well. 

When finished wash it out with warm water and shampoo and condition and style as usual. If your hair is really dry it may take a while to get it back to beautiful healthy hair. But you will. Then healthy soft shiny hair is lovely. Girls with dark coloured hair can achieve amazing shine which I envy. But whatever colour we have healthy hair just is the best thing you can do.

I am very big on eating heaps of protein. That is a big thing for your hair. Eggs, nuts, oils, avocado... just like we used to give the dogs cod liver oil so their coat was shiny... we are no different!

Ok I know this is basic but it's a start. My post will be too long! I am happy to answer any questions or at least point you in a helpful direction. The point is there is so much you can easily do yourself and each thing is a massive time and money saver. It is never necessary to give up on your hair due to time or money. And having it in a way that makes you feel good has a million benefits!

In answer to Kaye... 

Kaye no I don't do any foils at all. I have natural variations in my hair. So I have lighter darker and some that are reddish too. So when you colour each of these takes the colour yet turns out slightly different and so you have subtle variations on a theme which is really good and better than one flat colour. Most people have some variations if you look closely in the light. So you will keep the variation when coloured too. Lucys is great... recently I took this to show her as we don't see the top of our heads very well and I was impressed by all the lovely tones. And she does her one colour throughout no highlights or low lights it just happens naturally!

I love it. So nature and colour combine to get this effect and I think sticking to your colour or a colour you once were helps with this effect. 

Gift wrapped soaps.

We have a gorgeous gift store down the road which is the source of lots of ideas. They have lovely wrapped soaps for $20 EACH. As I am crocheting face cloths and hand towels I thought pretty soaps would go in with these quite well. 

I began saving boxed soaps with a $1 per soap limit. It was easy and mostly I got soft moisturising pink soaps with a lovely perfume in nice boxes. And some vanilla scented.

Most of the papers I have used are left over scrap booking paper from card making and ribbons from various projects. I bought some small buckles as some of the bling.

Being so hot the great thing is that the Australian Open Tennis is on. I really love that. So while this is on I have a tray of soap and a tray of papers and ribbons and I sit and wrap and decorate.

This goes well until the tennis gets really exciting then I have to concentrate!

Mustn't have been too exciting last night as I wrapped a whole tray of soaps...

Things I have discovered so far.... soaps in boxes wrap nicely and the boxes have to be perfect too, no dents or anything like that. The scent comes through which is nice so choose beautiful scented soaps.

I have used scrap book papers and gift wrap. Gorgeous glossy magazine pages could be stunning also. I think I will try that next. I use tacky craft glue to secure the ribbon at the back. Beneath that I have used small amounts of sticky tape and placed it in such a way it it 100% covered then by ribbon so you don't know it is there. 

I want to move on to some blues later today or tomorrow as I have blue ribbons and stick on bling but I will need to buy a little blue paper. I will try to find some today. I also have gorgeous thick navy blue velvet ribbon and I would love to use that so I need to keep my eye out for a combination to use that in. 

Now I'm not saying they are worth $20 each but neither are the ones in the gift store, I'm pretty sure. I will imagine they are worth half that and be happy!

Apart from adding them to towels and face cloths to give I think a set of three would be a sweet gift or a good hostess gift maybe. It is lovely having things to give. They are really fun to wrap and experiment with what looks lovely.

We have around 44 today and 46 tomorrow so apart from evening swimming and doing what has to be done outside staying inside and trying to be cool is the only thing to do. Working on something lovely helps. I never feel bored but I know time passes so slowly in the heat or when you feel stuck indoors so getting stuck into something lovely is a big help!

Beautiful water.

Of all the beauty or health tips I could offer really drinking your water would be number one. What would be your own average number of glasses of water per day? For many people it is zero or one.

It can be really hard to start to a new habit and keep it going. One thing is you have to make it easy to do. For me a glass of water from the tap isn't appealing. I am good if I have been at the gym I always drink after a workout as I know the workout I have just had will do me so much more good if I have a big drink. So I do. Other times I need help.

So yesterday as I made up my afternoon water I thought others probably struggle with this too. Added bonus... as well as health and beauty this comes under budget. We do not buy soft drinks. I haven't been drinking soft drinks for ten years or more. Once I thought zero calorie ones were ok and now I think they are worse than the sugar ones. Sometimes these things are hard to give up! 

Ok so as a habit I always freeze into ice cubes things like the juice from a can of pineapple or tinned fruit, any lemons that are fading fast I slice and freeze in snap lock bags, same for cucumber. We had orange juice Christmas morning and I froze all the left overs. And I always keep plain ice cubes in abundance on hand.

I start with a half full jug of cold water and add some mint leaves (which grow at the back door) and a heap of plain ice and a few flavoured cubes. My favourite is unsweetened cranberry juice. I get this especially as one bottle will last ages when most of it is frozen this way. The benefits o this stuff! It is yummy, pink and it has a diuretic effect on me which is great as I seem to retain water in the hot weather.

Over all I aim that 80 or 90 percent of the jug is water and the rest is lemon, a juice or whatever. This makes it tasty and lovely and I will drink the lot.

Mostly I also add white tea. I do this by steeping one or two white or green tea bags in a cup with boiling water and letting it cool. I add that when mixing this up. It adds a whole lot of health benefits. 

So there is my mix and I do it everyday through the summer months at least!

Making sure a jug of water and ice is on the table encourages everyone to drink. If the girls were little now I would call it fairy water. For myself I call it vitamin water :)

During the day I keep it on the bench so I see it as I go past and then a jug is gone pretty quickly. 

Andy loves it with a couple of tea bags or lemon. He drinks a huge amount of water per day which is wonderful.

As I do this I will fill at least one water bottle to be ready to go with me in the car or to the gym. Another saving I don't buy a drink a the gym. I will always drink it all before I have made it home which is great. I just grab it as I go out the door.

This morning Andy left with half a dozen bottles of water. Some frozen and others with ice. A damped hand towel frozen in a snap lock bag and frozen blocks to keep his lunch cold. The girls always had frozen drinks and frozen flannels. All this was a night before ritual and still is. 

Today when I made my morning coffee I steeped two white tea bags ready for todays jug. I know it is good for me and this little habit does the trick. Whatever it is we need to be doing finding a few tricks to make it happen seems to be the thing to make it a reality! Oh ... I just thought to say the pretty jug and glass ins't for the photos sake, that is what I use. This lovely jug was an op shop find for $2 and I collect the glasses from op shops too. I am just a sucker for things that look nice and it makes it nicer for me.

Being 42 today I am mostly staying in today except for the watering. I have plenty of crafts and letter writing to do in between jobs. Stay cool everyone!

A nutritional boost that fills you up!

Whenever I want to lose a few kilos I know I need to get back on to my smoothies. If I have drifted away I end up paying for it, usually by feeling hungry and eating something I shouldn't. On them I don't get so hungry and feel great.

I worked for Curves for several years and taught classes on weight loss and it was really fantastic. Overall the ladies who had their shakes daily did much better and that included me. 

Why? Well they are protein shakes and protein fills you up. Generally carbs make me hungry. Bread is my kryptonite it seems. 

So here is my homemade recipe that I use after trying lots of things. You can use the milk of your choice, I use no fat soy.

You need a protein powder. Something with out artificial sweeteners. I say something with less than 3 g carb per serve and over 15 preferably 20 of protein. Protein is the thing that fills you up.

I add a spoonful of flaxseed oil (a desert spoon) some LSA (linseed sunflower and almond crushed) some yoghurt, a heap of berries as my fruit mostly. Berries are lower GI so I prefer them and a teaspoon of chai seeds. Blend. Thats it!

There are a couple of ways to use this. If you replace a carb meal with this you will normally lose weight. Breakfast cereals are my number one hate! I mean I used to like them but then I am hungry all day! So an egg is breakfast or a smoothie. 

The other way to use them is if you know your normal time of the day where cravings hit and the wheels fall off for you. For me this is late afternoon. Diet wise I am fine before mid afternoon. Then I hit the danger zone! So if I have a smoothie then I am fine. If not I am hungry and start thinking about food and feel starving at dinner and it's all a slippery slope from there!

One extra way is to have a smoothie before a problem time. ie have one half an hour before facing serious temptations. It will seriously slow you down and you will make less ridiculous choices and you won't wake up the next morning wondering what ever happened to all your will power and good intentions!

You can buy frozen cubes to add to your smoothies. If you keep ice cube trays just for left over fruit or yoghurt then you always have things to use and never waste anything.

This tray went in the freezer with left overs from the pavlova I had decorated. 

My smoothie yesterday was mainly strawberries so it's lovely and pink.

Another option is to blend up extra and freeze as ice blocks with the little handles like we had when we were kids. They taste lovely that way.

There are lots of versions of this to suit your own nutritional needs. These suit me, fill me up and the extra protein is great for my hair and nails etc. The flaxseed is for omegas as I am unable to eat seafood. A healthy oil like this also adds to the fullness feeling factor. 

For anyone that struggles at times with cravings (like me) a protein shake can be a huge help.

I have to post some roses Lucy gave me for my birthday. As they are fading they are so delicate and lovely! 

That only just, milk shake pink, is my favourite!