Chalk Paint Chair....

So as most of you know I had a list of projects I wanted to do before bub arrives and so far I've been on track but my chair below will be waiting for it's wax coat until after I'm home from hospital and in routine with bub now but it's almost done. The bigger project I wanted to do will  have to wait til after bub is home as I'll need to get into a routine with him and it'll take a week to get it done. However I did start something completely new to me, I've never used it before and being that once again we can't get it in Australia (story of my life being in the west) I've had to do some research into how to make my own....Chalk Paint that is.

 

Now I would like to ask you my lovely fellow bloggers if any of you have had the chance to work with Chalk Paint or made your own to use?? I first read about Chalk Paint over at Reloved Rubbish and Amanda had me intrigued as with this paint as you don't need to sand, there's no need to prime the sufarce before application, just start putting the paint to the piece you want to revamp and it'll adhere.....Sounds great right?? Yep sure did to me too until I went to see if we could get it here and of course we can't. Now I really wanted to try this painting style and as I can't buy it I thought the next best thing to do would be to make it, so after some research I found Liz at Naptime decorator who generously shared how to make Chalk Paint and it really is quite simple. It's basically 2 parts paint to 1 part plaster of paris and if the paint is a little stiff then add slowly a few drops of water and mix. If while painting the paint stiffens a bit just mix it around and loosen it up, it'll remix.

Armed with this new knowledge I thought, right I'm off to Bunnings (naturally lol) to get some plaster of paris and get my chair done. And that is what I did....now my mixture was a little too stiff when I started so I had to add more water to get the right consistency. The first coat was looking a little scary but I was sure once it dried and I got the second coat on things would come good.

One of our dining room chairs...ready to be revamped...

The reason I've only done one dining room chair so far is because our setting originally had six chairs but one night when I was mopping the floor at the old house I accidently knocked a chair off the table and it hit the ground so hard that the wood split and broke the leg......so now we have five and being that five is an odd number (and I don't like odd things, ever) I only have four around the table and the spare sits in the kitchen for when we need it. However if all goes well with the first trial chair then I'll be revamping the whole dining suite.....

After popping out a couple of screws I removed the cast iron work that I love...

With the first coat of my home made chalk paint...I used the duck egg blue...

As you can see with the first coat things were looking a little scary from my point of view and once the paint is dry it feels quite rough but then it is chalk paint...I've been assured that once the wax is on it has a lovely finish and a nice feel to it.

My chair with the iron back in so you can all see how things are going...one more coat of paint and then a waxing and all will be done...however it may be a few weeks before I can finish it..

Considering once again this is a first attempt at something completely new I'm very happy with how it's going so far and I'm loving the colour...it seems the plaster of paris has made the Duck Egg Blue a little lighter once dry but I quite like it as it's a softer blue. Obviously there will be a part 2 to this post once I've finally finished it so keep your eyes open to see how things go once the wax is on....For now I'm off to do a few last minte things before bub makes his arrival so take care for now and Au revoir....xo

Michelle

 

Early Morning Rising...

Bonjour mon ami's....Well it's another early morning wake up for me here at Home, Love & Life and honestly I wish I was still sleeping.....You see the last two mornings I have woken up at 3:45am to go to the loo (as you do when your a week or so off having a baby) and just have not been able to get back to sleep. Whether it's because I start thinking about things I need to do before bub comes or because my body's trying to get used to being sleep deprived already I'm not sure but it's frustrating because what then happens is I'm up for a couple of hours and then feel the need to go back to sleep knowing Bec will be up in an hour or so......then I spend the rest of the day trying not to fall asleep on the couch.

 

{source}

 

Who wouldn't want to sit here on a lovely early morning and enjoy the peace on this gorgeous porch...I have a thing for porches....I've always loved them and I have to admit although mine is smaller than this one pictured I do love sitting out there in the early morning with a cuppa or early evening having a chat with Chris and watching Bec run up and down the drive way...

 

So this morning I decided to stay as awake as possible and get all the last minute annoying jobs done before bub puts is an appearance....you know the ones....clean the loo out, clean the bathroom...especially the hand basin....oh how I hate a grubby hand basin, make beds, get the last of the washing done, make sure there's enough food in the house so everyone doesn't starve while I'm in hospital. So yes the jobs that tend to go on the back burner at times.....I figure if I get them done this morning then it won't matter so much if I have a nana nap this afternoon....after all once bub is here who knows when my next nana nap will be.

 

Nothing nicer than a clean tidy bathroom....

 

And when all the washing is done and nice and fresh off the line..

 

So today is really a tidy up day with the hope of getting in a little retail therapy a bit later on as I saw a really cute item for bubs room yesterday over at Thingz Living and I'm hoping to get back there to pick it up.....I'll share on instagram later.

 

Well that's it from me for now....I may be back a little later today once the energy levels kick in and I'm more awake....so have a good day and don't forget to enter the Personal Planner give away as I know you'd all love to win one and remember you have to be in it to win it as they say....take care and Au revoir for now....xo

 

Michelle

 



A Personal Planner Give Away For You Stationary Lovers....

Bonjour mon ami's and welcome to A Personal Planner give away...who doesn't love stationary...I know I do and I know there are plenty of you out there who also love stationary whether it be a diary, pens, notebooks, sticky notes or personal planners.

 

So when the lovely folks at Personal Planner Australia contacted me to see if I'd like to host a give away how could I possibly say no if it means all my lovely readers have a chance to win a personal planner for yourselves.

The cover of my planner....

A sample of the many covers you can choose....

 

The folks at Personal Planner have gone to a lot of thought as to how you can design your planner to suit your life....On the inlay you can choose how you want pages ruled up, to do lists, idea notes, change the font, place dates to remember and in the back you can choose from blank pages, ruled pages and even colouring in pages.....I actually chose some colouring in pages so I can print them off and have on hand to entertain Bec with.

 

So how would you like to win one for yourself?? I'm sure you would and Personal Planner Australia are happy to ship to you no matter where you live. So here it is, all you have to do to win one of these gorgeous planners is:

 

1. Head over to Personal Planners Web Page and 'Like' them on Facebook....

 

2. Head over to my Facebook Page and hit 'Like'.....

 

3. Come back here and leave me a message letting me know it's all done....you don't have to follow my blog, anonymous comments are welcome too.....However just make sure there's a way I can contact you should you happen to be the lucky winner....

 

Is this not the easiest competition you've ever entered....so what are you waiting for, go ahead and start entering as of today and the winner will be announced on the 4th February 2013....

 

Michelle

From Drab And Outdated To Revamped And Useful...

Bonjour mon amis...as I said on Friday I've been working on a small and quick project but despite it being small and an easy project anyone could do I have to say I'm very happy with it and love the colour....Now most of you know I love to white wash everything I revamp (hehe) but this time I wanted to inject a little colour against the white.....For ages I've loved Duck Egg Blue so I went with it at half strength and am so happy with the way it came out, especially considering I'm not really a big blue lover...with the exception of the ocean :)

 

Old and out dated...though I kind of liked this blueish colour and that's what inspired me to go with the Duck Egg Blue.....

 

So all I did was remove the backing cardboard, the picture which was just a print and the glass. I threw the glass out as I had no need for it, I turned the print over and glued it to the backing cardboard and gave it a couple of coats of white paint.

A few coats of white paint and the backing is ready to have pics pinned to it....

 

Next I primed the frame with a couple of coats of white paint then finished it with the Duck Egg Blue, popped the painted backing back into the frame and voila done....Now I have either a new notice board or a mood board, I'm not quite sure what it's going to be used for yet.....I'm even thinking about maybe putting it in bub's room where I can put pics as he's changing.

Finished in Duck Egg Blue....

I love the blue against the white...it won't live here but a good spot to get a good pic...

 

This really was such a quick and easy project and I'm still on track for all the things I want to get done before bub arrives...assuming he doesn't come today, that is because today I'm starting on a slightly bigger project that I'm going to need a few days for.....so hopefully he'll let me get it done.

I'm really happy with how it came out and now to find the right home....it could still go in bubs room yet....

A possible home for my new notice/mood board....

 

So what do you think mon ami's are you a blue colour lover or do you prefer to stick to all white or perhaps you have another colour you love to throw around the house....I'd love to know what your fave accent colours are.

 

Well I'm off for now so take care and I'll be back asap before bub has me in hospital and I can't do anything for a while.....Au revoir ami's....xo

 

Michelle



A Quick Visit....

Last Sunday I got a call from my awesome daughter asking me if she could come down to stay for a week or so as she's just recently broken up with her boyfriend and needed some time out of the city. Of course being the awesome mum that I am (hehe) I said of course she could come and stay so two and half hours later she turned up on our door step. Admittedly she caught up with friends and spent a few nights at her cousins house and I haven't seen her as much as I'd like but there comes a time where you have to let go and it's not always easy. We have been spending yesterday and today just hanging out though and it's been nice having her back at home. Now she's heading back to the city tonight as she has some stuff she needs to sort out....I'm kind of hoping I go into labor so she'll stay...lol....I miss having her to hang out with and go to town and do all our girlie things we used to do when she still lived at home.

 

Me and Lol (Lauren) not long after moving to Busselton...was a good afternoon at the beach with Luke too...

 

Although it's been a quick trip home for Lol and I wish she was staying longer it's been so good to see her and she's been doing the big sister thing with Bec and Eva....she always wanted a little sister when she was little and now she's ended up with two and a baby brother on the way....

 

Eva and Bec hanging out with big sister Lol....they were having such a ball together especially when Lol took some photos on her computer...It's amazing how much can change in three years..

 

Well I have to go as Chris will be home soon and it won't be long before we have to take Lol to the bus station and see her off so I better go spend some last minute time with her.....Don't you wish sometimes you could make the kids stay small so you didn't have to let them go?? Sounds weird I know but hey I've been doing this lark since I was 16yrs old......and about to start again hehe....

 

Tonight I'll be finishing off a small project I started and I'll be back to show you  all tomorrow so for now take care and Au revoir....xo

 

Michelle

 

 



Junior Yuppy Bubby Designers In The Making.....

Bonjour mon ami's....I hope you're all enjoying your Friday knowing Saturday is literally around the corner.....I know I'm particularly looking forward to tomorrow as I get to finally go and have my pedicure I've been waiting so long for.....I don't usually get one very often but with not being able to reach my own feet now I thought what the heck....I'm 37 weeks pregnant I deserve it...woohoo..!!

37 weeks today....the count down is really on now...

 

Today I thought I'd do something creative with the girls and being that Eva in particular loves craft and I completely lack crafting ability I came up with an idea to suit us both and Bec of course. For ages the girls have been watching me sew and make things for Yuppy Bubby and asking me all sorts of questions about sewing (don't you love it when kids think you're an expert and have all the answers..lol...if only they knew..) and why I do this and how come I do that....so I thought I would teach them a very basic sewing skill that once learnt they'll always have...I thought I'd teach them to sew buttons. Now not just any boring old buttons on a piece of boring old fabric..no...not my style...I thought I'd get them to make a headband each....that way it's something they can use and say they made themselves. I had plenty of calico and I knew just where to take them to get some cool buttons so that's exactly what we did this morning.....and being that my niece was coming over I got her some buttons as well so she could join the girls in their sewing adventure..

 

The start of their headband project...

 

 



Working hard at keeping their buttons on without getting stabbed...

The girls really enjoyed themselves and did such amazing work, I was very surprised how quick Pia and Eva became with stitching the buttons on as neither of them have hand sewed before and I was very impressed with how nimble fingered Bec became as she went on......admittedly she did prick herself quite hard at one point, so to say...hehe....but after a few tears she shook it off and got back to work and learnt to watch where her fingers were. For four years old she did extremely well and almost kept pace with the older girls. I think there's going to be a lot more sewing projects they'll want to do now but that's fine with me if it keeps me away from the fiddly craft otherwise I'm sending them over to mum...lol.

Eva with such concentration on her face...watch out prjoect runway...lol...

Bec becoming very nimble after a slight pricking mishap....she's tough...that's my girl...

Pia and Eva having a chat while working....

So after what took the better part of the day to get all the buttons sewn on the girls went off to play while I put the final touches on...otherwise known as the elastic....these are very simple headbands to make and I will be putting a tutorial up in the next few days....this is pretty much the way my mum taught me to make headbands when I was a kid....

Bec, Eva's and Pia's creations before assembly....they all designed their patterns themselves...though I had a little input with Bec's....

After my attaching elastic they were all set and ready to wear....

My Junior Yuppy Bubby Designers in the making...all so proud of their efforts and their creations...xo

So as you can see if things keep going this way I will be able to retire in ten years and let the girls run Yuppy Bubby.....hehe.....No really it was a good day and although I thought to do some of my own sewing while they were sewing I'm glad I didn't because they really did need my full attention as there were almost a couple of disaster but with a bit of guidance they were avoided......I hope this will be one of those memories for the girls when they're much older and they remember sitting down with their mum and Aunty to make headbands....they'll probably think they were daggy but at least it will be a fun memory. I remember sitting down with my sisters and mum one day to make some clothes for our barbie dolls and all was going fine with mine until I went to put the top on my barbie and her head wouldn't go through......I had sewn the hole shut where her head was supposed to go through....even as a kid I was not a patient person when it came to craft or sewing, so I ended up having a hissy fit and giving up and my barbie went without a new top.....I was not impressed at the time but it's funny now 20+ yrs later.......

I figure that with bub arriving in three weeks time I better take each opportunity to do things like this with the girls before my time is cut in half.....so I'm glad the girls had a good day being creative and are proud of their handy work.....I already have another idea in mind for them but will leave it for a couple of days as my wrist is sore tonight now but it was worth it to put a smile on their faces and give them a boost in self confidence.....

So for now Home, Love & Life friends I'm off to rest my wrist and get some girls to bed so take care and I'll be back soon...Au revoir for now....xo

Michelle


Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot & A Tad Sore......

Bonjour mon amis and how are we all doing so far this week? I hope you're all keeping well, cool and safe, especially for all those where there are bush fires burning at the moment....xo

 

Well Saturday we picked up the Eva and Bec from Manjimup to bring them home and while it was a warmish day it was bearable, apart from the part where I spent three hours treating them for headlice...it's always a lovely present to have come home...not..!! So with that done we got on with what was left of our day which wasn't much and went to bed hot and tired.....During the night I woke up with severe pain in my right wrist and could barely move it....Come the morning we decided a trip to the hospital was in order as I was in so much pain and it turns out it's bad tendonitis....So the doctor strapped it and said give it a couple of days and see how I go as there's really not much they can do and being that I'm pregnant it'll be worse because of ligaments in all joints relaxing to prepare for bub.....I've never had tendonitis before but now I know why people complain when they do because it really is painful...

 

All strapped up after a visit to the hospital...

 

After we finished at the hospital we went and had some lunch out and then decided to take the girls and Luke to The Candy Cow and the Chocolate Factory for the afternoon...It was a good outing even though for me I was strapped up, hot and having braxton hicks every half hour for a few hours and my favourite thongs I've had for four years broke on me so I had to squeeze my feet into my flats that are now too tight...aye...and this little man of ours keeps playing games and making us think he's going to come then settles down and does nothing....cheeky monkey...

 

Yesterday Chris had the day off work and we decided to go to Bunbury as I wanted to pop into spotlight for some more fabric and needed to do some shoe shopping at Novo as both pairs of my favourite thongs broke in the same week.....damn swollen pregnant feet....If I had known how hot it was going to be yesterday there's no way I would have left the house or especially gone to bunbury 30 minutes.....by the time we got to bunbury it was stinking hot and muggy...not a pleasant day to be out shopping really....thankfully the air con in spotlight was working pretty well and I did my best not to take too long to find some fabric I liked and get out of there as it's not Chris' fave place (just like Bunnings hehe) and the girls were getting bored. So we got back in the hot car and went up to Big W where thankfully their shopping centers air con was working much better.....Luke headed straight for Big W and Me, Chris and the girls headed straight for Novo and thankfully for me there were heaps of shoes on sale and it didn't take me long to find a pair I like and that fitted comfortably and of course they were on sale....

 

New shoes from Novo only $15 down from $40...still one of my fave shoe shops and I'm so glad we have one down this way now as I missed out on many a baragin leaving the city....

 

Nice new fabric I have some ideas for...I just hope my hand doesn't keep me out of action for too long....

 

We stopped at the cafe and had lunch there which was lovely and refreshing and waited for Luke who actually didn't realise we'd gone to have lunch.....So once we finished lunch we found Luke and headed into Big W to let the girls choose an end of year present for each other...once that was painfully accomplished we walked back outside into the heat where it felt like it had gone up another ten degrees and decided it was time to go home but not without stopping at Maccas first so everyone could get an ice cold drink for the trip home and some lunch for Luke...

 

It was ice cold frozen coke all round for the trip home...except the girls had ice cold lemonade...

 

After a hot trip on the road (the air con in the car doesn't really work) we came home to a hot house and that's the way it stayed for the rest of the afternoon, into the evening and all night....there wasn't a drop of breeze around at all last night and no one really slept well at all......Oh and because I unstrapped my hand yesterday I had the joy of waking up to it in the middle of the night again in even worse pain than it had been Saturday night...so I got up hot, clammy, sweaty, grumpy and tired and sat under the cool of the fan, re-strapped my wrist and resisted the urge to grab a pair of scissors and cut my hair off as it was driving me so mad from being stuck to my head...Thankfully strapping my wrist helped alleviate some of the pain but the heat still made it oh so dfficult to sleep......and unfortuantely we have had just as hot a day today as it was yesterday only this time we have stayed home and are heading straight to the beach as soon as Chris is home from work.....ahhh I can feel that cool water on my skin already and if I go into labour then so be it....hehe....Chris will just have to drag me out to make me got to the hospital.....this baby's going to be a water baby.....especially if he takes after me....

 

And we shall be doing a repeat of this day today as soon as Chris is home....oh how I love the water...

 

Well I know it must sound like I'm complaining a hell of a lot but I'm really not, I just can't believe this heat has come out of nowhere pretty much and how sore tendonitis can leave a person...who knew??....not me but I sure as heck do now......well until next time have a great day and a good week and I'll be back soon....hopefully I can do some sewing in a couple of days and I can show you all what I've been doing...take care and Au revoir for now.....xo

 

Michelle

Some More Sewing & A Stencilled Breakfast Tray.....

Bonjour! A couple of weeks ago I mentioned I was trying to get as many projects done as possible before bub comes and so far I'm mostly on track...yey...I've put together another breast feeding cover and matching burping bib and love the farbic I made them in.

 

Love this scribble flower pattern....



Matching Burping bib....these sets will be on etsy soon...

 

I also managed to successfully cut out my very first stencil and I have to admit it wasn't as easy  as I thought it would be but I think it came out well....It's funny that when we look at doing something new, we quite often think 'it'll be easy'...sometimes it is and other times it's a little trickier than expected.....Cutting the stencil itself wasn't too bad but boy did I make a huge mistake in painting it onto the breakfast tray....I have now learnt, yes the hard way, don't leave acrylic paint to dry while a stencil is still attached to your work.....why you ask?? Because acrylic paint dries kind of rubbery and when you lift the stencil, guess what happens.....yep that's right....the stencil peels the paint off when lifted off your work to remove it......Trust me I was not at all happy when this happened...I'm challenged being crafty as it is and to have everything go according to plan and then have this happen just made me even more annoyed and frustrated......

 

However having said that....I got to work on fixing my work by hand as best I could and in the end I ended up with a stencilled breakfast tray that came out pretty well after all for a first try...And I have to thank my wonderful hubby for putting up with me blithering on about how crappy it looked and reassuring me it was fine....and would also like to thank the lovely Kris at thebouselife for all her advice and tips on how to stencil because without her help I wouldn't have got it done.....

 

So now we have gone from a plane boring $10 kmart breakfast tray.....

 

As it was purchased, plain and with a slight varnish on it....

 

Completely stripped back and ready to be revamped French Style....

 

The finished product.....after much anguishing over mistakes...

 

I have to say in the end I'm quite happy with my first ever stencilling project...

 

So although there were no tears but much cursing I resigned myself to the fact that I have never stencilled anything, ever before, it's harder than I thought it would be and it was my first attempt....therefore on the whole I'm happy with it and I think it came out really well....I'm planning another stencilling project soon, before bub gets here so stay tuned and keep watching...take care for now and I'll be back soon....Au revoir...xo

 

Michelle



2012...A Year In Review.....

Bonjour and if this is your first time visiting then welcome to my first post for 2013 and I hope you enjoy your visit and come back often....xo

 

Well another year has gone by and another one is just beginning....sometimes I think not much has really happened but then when I think about it I'm reminded that a lot has actually happened. At the beginning of last year we found out we had to move and looked at buying a house but that isn't possible for the time being so we found a nice house on a big block to rent and got some chickens and now only live a couple of hundred meters from the beach.

 

It's been so nice living so close to the water...

 

Our chicks the day we bought them home....now they're laying up to four eggs a day...

 

Not long after moving into our new little house we found out we were expecting a little bundle of joy in the form of a boy...yey....after twelve months of trying and nothing happening and then giving ourselves a deadline to be pregnant by our little man found his way and is now due in just over four weeks time....It has been the quickest nine months ever...

 

Confirmation our little one was on their way....such a happy day..

 

12 weeks and his first official photo....not long to go now..

 

As a family we took some much needed road trip adventures to different towns here in our South West and had a lot of fun....

 

At the Apple Fun Park in Donnybrook....

 

Walking the main street of town in Bridgetown...I fell in love with Bridgetown this day...

 

Of course we had to visit the Margaret River Chocolate Factory...

 

Lunch at Bluestone Cafe in Boyup Brook....W.A's capital of country music...

 

This year I also discovered a love of white washing my furniture I wanted to revamp and am so glad I had many fellow bloggers to give me tips on how to do it....

 

I was so happy with the way this came out and the new fabric cover....

 

 

I finally revamped my Pops' cupboard he made though now it has a cool pair of Paris handles....

 

 

Even my favourite mirror was revamped and white washed.....

 

Also I started a new venture which is taking a little bit of time to get off the ground but with some persistence I'm sure it will do well......Yuppy Bubby was born while I was making some bibs for bub and I'm so happy do be making and selling my own wares and I hope you will all enjoy them too...

 

My business card designed by me.....

 

A selection of YuppyBubby bibs....

 

A Yuppy Bubby summer hat....

 

Yuppy Bubby Burping Bibs...

 

Yuppy Bubby sheet sets.....

 

A Yuppy Bubby Breast Feeding Cover

 

And finally a Yuppy Bubby Library Bag for the Kindy kids and up..

 

As you can see I've got a variety of products going for Yuppy Bubby and this year I'm determined to promote them on etsy and my facebook page, YuppyBubby - Bits & Bobs For Bub and really find my target audience....There will also be a few more additions to the school range very soon...

 

Of course lots more happened in 2012 however it's impossible to share all of it in one post as we'd be here quite a while but I think the most exciting thing which is soon to come was falling pregnant with our little man and waiting out the next four weeks a little impatiently so we can finally meet him....

 

Here's hoping 2013 is a great year for us all and that we all have many wonderful adventures along the way....take care for now and I'll be back soon....xo

 

Michelle