Finishing Off Friday - 1st February 2013

It has now been officially 1 month of me working on my 2013 focus - Finishing Off.  I have to say that it has been great, and I am loving the way lots of my projects are coming together... rather than being put to the side to make way for another new grand idea (which I just don't have time for)!  So, here is this week's progress report:

Nursery

- Mick hung the rod in the baby's wardrobe (the old one broke last year - I had overloaded it with jackets and bags!), so I had lots of fun organising all of the sweet clothes that we have been given.  We are so grateful to have been all of these clothes either brand new as gifts, or as hand-me-downs from people we know.  I just love standing looking at all of the tiny little suits that our baby will be wearing soon!  They are just adorable.

Handmade Gift - Mini Ribbon Paperclips

Last year for my handmade Christmas gift, I decided to make these gorgeous little mini ribbon paperclips.  I thought they looked so cute, and by following this tutorial I found online, I was able to create these little masterpieces!  The only thing that I did differently to the instructions listed, was to hot glue the back of the bow, so that it sat straight on top of the paper clip (otherwise, they tended to spin around).

I mounted the paperclips on a piece of card, with a ribbon wrapped around the middle, just to provide a bit of an added embellishment.

The pink were definitely my favourite...

Wet Weather!

After such a hot, dry summer I guess we all knew that there was going to be some pretty wet weather just around the corner...  This wild weather in the south east of Queensland sure has come as a surprise though!

When we woke up to miserable weather yesterday morning, Mick went out to check and clear all of the gutters, as there was lots of rain predicted for our lovely long weekend for Australia Day.  After raining all day yesterday and last night, and then absolutely pouring for most of today, I thought I would share some snippets of how much water has actually fallen here...

This is our dam in the front yard.  The rock wall that you can see just above the water level is at least 1 metre high usually.  Yesterday our dam was at its lowest point since we have lived here for the past 8 years.  The waterline was well-below the footings for the rock wall.  Today you can see that it might not be long before the water actually breaks the bank!

Australia Day - 2013

Just a quick post today to say Happy Australia Day!

This has always been a special day for my family - we started a family tradition on Australia Day of 1988 when it was the bicentenary.  We had a sausage sizzle, and Mum made damper, and for dessert she made green and gold jelly!  I must go and grab the photos from Mum's house from this day and scan them in, as I hold such fond memories of this day.  Anyway, ever since, we have had a family get-together, with lots of yummy Aussie foods, plus Aussie flags and tattoos to decorate us and our surroundings.

Finishing Off Friday - 25/1/2013

Wow, another week just flew by!  Here is my progress to date...

Nursery

- Assembled the drawers (and so in love with them!)

My Morning Routine

As everyone is setting up their routines for the year, there is a lot of bloggy chat about daily chores and morning/evening routines happening.  I shared with you some time back how I monitor my cleaning routines using the Home Routines App on my iPhone.

I have had some requests to detail my morning/evening routines on the blog, and while I guess I thought it was a pretty boring topic to write about, I guess it is always good to hear how someone else is doing it and if any of their tips can help your own situation!

When I first created my morning routine (many years ago now), I allocated times for each task and set it out like this:

5.25 - Turn on washing machine
5.30 - Unload dishwasher
5.40 - Make lunches  
etc

The problem for me with being time-specific is that I would get flustered if I fell behind schedule.  I have always had issues with 'time', and this system wasn't really helping me to get over constantly stressing about time.

That is when I decided to take away the 'time' allocations and just work through the list...  and that also gave me permission to work on the list in any order and in my own timeframe.  This has worked beautifully for me ever since - both when I was working full time, and also now that I am staying at home.

Obviously, you have to set yourself a realistic routine for the time that you have available.  I have always been an early riser, so I like to get up and moving and feel a great sense of accomplishment when I have done my jobs.  I know there are plenty of people out there who like to sleep in as long as possible, and therefore, they would probably have some of my morning routine jobs included in their evening routine jobs, to allow them to sleep in for longer in the mornings.  You just have to decide what is going to work for you!

My morning routine list consists of these jobs, which I complete in any order, although most days the order is pretty consistent, as shown below:

Turn on washing machine
I load the machine the night before and just press start in the morning - read more about that here

Eat breakfast

I usually have a bowl of cereal and two pieces of toast, plus a glass of orange juice.  I generally wake up starving (and always have done), so a big breakfast is a must if I want to make it to morning tea without getting hungry!  While I eat my breaky, I like to sit with Mick before he goes to work (this is another reason why I always get up early), otherwise I feel like I don't see him enough if I only see him in the afternoon/evening.

What Should I Do With This Bowl?

I have had this bowl for years!  When I lived at the beach, it was my table centrepiece, filled with sand and some shells.  However,  it has now been sitting in my cupboard for years, and I don't quite know what to do with it...

Finishing Off Friday - 18/1/2013

Week 2 of Finishing Off Friday, and I have lots to report!  This is 2013 focus is working great for me!

My Baby's Nursery

- I bought these gorgeous cot bags this week - aren't they sweet?!

How to Keep Hair Ribbons Crinkle Free

This is the best little idea!  One of my girlfriends let me in on this one...

Use your hair straightener to iron your hair ribbons flat!  It is the best trick!  I usually have my straightener on every day, and if I decide to wear a ribbon in my pony tail, it is so easy to just run my ribbon through the straightener, and it immediately removes any creases and kinks that were left over from the last bow that was in there!

Finishing Off Friday - 11/01/2013

Are you jumping on board with my Finishing Off focus for 2013?  On Fridays I am going to post an update of how I am going with my Finishing Off projects...

Macy's Baby Album
My goal is to have this album complete for my niece by her 2nd birthday on the 23rd March.  It was meant to be done for her 1st birthday last year, but time just got away from me!

My progress for this week:
- Re-glued some embellishments that had slipped out of position
- Printed photos for each month of her first year
- Sorted the photos into monthly categories

Cake Pops

Cake pops!  They are so cute... but after a late-night affair with them last Easter, I must admit I was happy to say I am NOT a cake pop maker - give me cupcakes any day!!  The baking of the cake, then the crumbling of the cake, then the mixing with frosting, then rolling into balls, then dipping, then decorating - sorry this was just too much work!

But then my beautiful sister-in-law surprised me with a Cake Pop maker for Christmas!  And I will say that I was very impressed with the outcome!  

Summer Rolls Recipe

Rice paper rolls are all the rage at the moment, and these satay chicken ones are just the best around!  I love that they are so healthy and full of veggies.  They make a great summer dinner, or a fabulous plate to take to an event - they never last long!  Thanks to my friend Mel for sharing this awesome recipe with me.  The recipe is pictured below - if you would like me to email you the printable template, just contact me :)

The Year of Finishing Off (2013)

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will remember that 2012 was the Year of Good Hair.  I learnt how to curl my hair and do a few different hairstyles, which was lots of fun!

I decided, however, that 2013 needed a more serious focus.  As I am constantly guilty of starting new projects before finishing the ones that I already have going, and I have dozens of things that I would like to get finished (or at least make some progress on) before the baby arrives, I have decided that 2013 is the Year of Finishing Off!

I am not allowing myself to start a new project until I finish another, that includes buying things for a new project to 'put away' for when I am ready.  I have a tendency to get inspired for a new project, buy the bits and pieces and then it sits there forever waiting to be done!

Obviously, I have some big projects on the go, as well as some small ones - actually lots of small ones! I have a big tub overflowing with bits and pieces to be fixed/assembled/made/sorted.  Eek!

A Little Nursery Update

I realised that I haven't really been keeping you in the loop with the nursery!  I have popped a few pics on Facebook randomly, but I thought that I might put a few pictures up here to let you know how we are travelling....

So far we have the cradle (isn't it gorgeous?!)