5.25.2014

Organising 'that' draw...

Do you have "that" draw in your kitchen?
 
The one that is chaos.
 
Not an organised chaos that you apparently know where everything is... A chuck it all in and then rummage for ages to find anything kind of chaos.
 
I had one.
 
It was the top utensil draw, BUT I am happy to report that it is no longer!
 
Sharing with you all in case you needed some inspiration to tackle your "that" draw.
 
Before
 
 
 
After
 
 
 
 
The containers used were $5.00 each from Kmart. Score!
 
Happy organising.
 
xx

 
 
 
 

5.10.2014

My tips to an organised pantry.

 Sharing some pantry love today...
 
There is nothing I love more than a well organised pantry.
And Tupperware.
 
A while back I even dabbled at being the Tupperware lady. That's how much I loved it.
 
Here are my tips of keeping a well organised pantry:
 
  • Labelled containers. They don't have to be Tupperware but storing everything in like containers will have you off to a flying start to having an organised pantry. It makes life so much easier, to be able to see exactly what you have. Not to mention, being able to retain the freshness of your items.
  • Baskets. These are great to contain like items all in the one spot that can't go into a container. I got mine just from Safeway for $9.00 each and I love them. I have one for bread, potato's / onions, lunch bags and condiments [including: oils, salt and peppers ect]. I feel a few more will be introduced in the near future as there are a few area's in my pantry that need reorganising.
  • Wire rack / shelves. I don't have any in my current pantry as I designed my shelves so I didn't need them. I had them in my previous home though and they worked wonders. They provide you more space, especially in storing cans ect. If you have deep shelves, or a lot of space between your shelves, they will use up the empty space. They are available at Ikea and are an inexpensive way to increase your storage capacity without storing items on top of items.
  • Weekly tidy ups. Like all of the different area's in my house that I like to keep organised, none of them would stay the way I like without weekly attention. If done weekly, it literally takes a few minutes of your time to get it looking beautiful again. With my pantry, I do this before food shopping day. It is  helpful time to take stock of what you already have [which helps with meal planning] and what you need to buy. Having everything in containers also makes this process easier as you can see exactly what is there.
 
 
 
 
 
 
In my pantry, I also designed myself "housewife station".
 
I didn't need or want a full study, but I really wanted somewhere to do my meal planning, keep my diary and everything homely and comes with being a housewife. I figured I loved my pantry, so why not put it in there?
 
Above my bench is a shelve designed for all my cook books.
 
Underneath, you will also see a basket [which came from the Reject Shop for $10], which is designated to all the kids artwork that comes home from Kinder. If it isn't getting hung up on their artwork display wire,  it goes in here. From here, once the basket is full, I will take photo's of the piece to add to a photo book. Kinder and school mum's will know that it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep every single piece that comes home.
 
Under there is also a hook to the left, that is my handbag hook. I have quite a thing for nice bags so decided I needed something to keep them off the floor. A $5.00 hook from Bunnings does the trick beautifully.
 
I hope that has given some insight into how I organise my Pantry and maybe shared some inspiration.
 

5.06.2014

Holidaying in Singapore... Here is how it went!

Our family holiday this year had us returning back to somewhere special, back to where Dad'n and I got married... back to Thailand!

The way the flights happened, it also had us in Singapore.

Why just fly through we thought? So we stopped over for four days on the way home.

Here is what we thought of it.

* It is amazing. Every second corner gives you something to wow about.

* It is beautiful. Everything is beautiful.

* It is the cleanest place I have ever seen.

* It is the easiest place to get around. Whether you brave the MRT, or get in a dirt cheap taxi. It is all easy.

* It has so much amazing food.

* Shopping... everywhere!

* Pricing... I would say is equivalent to Melbourne prices

* So many different things to do and see. So many that it is overwhelming to chose what to do when you are only there a short time.

* We stayed at the Swissotel Merchant Court which was in Clark Quay. We found the location really good. Rooms were really large which is rare in Singapore apparently. And the pool was a big hit at the end of a hot day out and about.

* And last of all... We will definitely be back!


Here is a bit of a look at our time...
 
 
 // Singapore
 
 
 // This is the highway. Can you imagine our highway lined with gardens like this?

 
// This is one of my favourite buildings we found. The Park Royal. Covered in beautiful greenery.

 
// Bugis Cube and Junction. A great shopping district.
 
 
// Chili Crab @ Jumbo's Seafood in Clark Quay - Bookings essential!
 
 
// We caught the cable car over to Sentosa Island. Beware if you are scared of heights. Lots of deep breathing required on my behalf. Views were worth it though.
  
 
 
// A day at Universal Studio's - Sentosa Island. A must.
 

// Hire buggy at Universal Studio's - Best $20 ever spent. It is a BIG day for little legs.
 
 
// Marina Bay Sands. What can I say. This building is breath taking to see in real life.


 
// A day on the "Hippo Bus" [Hop on Hop off bus]
A little exxy but it is a fabulous way to see EVERYTHING. It is a double decker bus that travels the whole town. As the name suggests, you hop on and hop off when ever you please. Your ticket is valid for 24 hours. The kids LOVED this day. 

 
// The Swissotel Merchant Court. We were very happy with our accommodation choice.
 
 
I hope that gave you a taste of Singapore.
 
If you are thinking of hitting it up, I highly recommend it. It's a pretty fab place.

5.02.2014

Cloud play dough.

It is a seriously dreary day here today.

Constant drizzling and COLD!

As soon as we got up this morning, Boo requested a home day. Who was I do argue ;)

Friday's are go with the flow day's here with nothing scheduled, so a home day it was.

Home days often coincide with pyjama days also. Do they at your house too? MMM pj's.

So with not much on for the day, I thought I would checkout my Pintrest craft board for some inspiration. We all scrolled through and decided to give "Cloud Play Dough" a whirl.

What you need:

Cornflour
Conditioner
Food colouring.

That's it!

That is half the reason that I sold the idea to the kids so hard... It was simple.

What to do:

Put your corn flour in a bowl...
Mix in conditioner until you get a dough consistency...
Knead in some food colouring...It is hard to give amounts because I only made a small batch with what corn flour I had in the pantry. Apparently it also depends on the type of conditioner you use to how much you need. It really is just a "mix until it feels right".

As simple as the instructions are, it was quite messy. I feel messier than normal play dough.

The dough became VERY sticky before it made a good play dough. I had to keep adding flour to help with it sticking.

It reached its best play probably after 30 minutes or so of playing. It stopped sticking. It was soft. It was "cloud" like.

I tell you what though, it was the best smelling play dough I have ever smelt :)

And I had two very happy little people.