New Carpet in our Lounge Room!

This post is somewhat overdue - it has been in draft for a long time, so in the spirit of Finishing Off, I thought I would post it now anyway - even though the carpet is 6 months old!!

Something that has been on our To Do list for years now, is to get new carpet.  When we moved in 8 years ago, we were thankful that the house had a neutral palette of cream carpet and tiles, which meant that we could be flexible with our colour schemes, without having to outlay money for new flooring.

However, with cream carpet comes spills and stains, and after 8 years of 'living' in our lounge room, the state of the carpet was quite embarrassing.  With the news that our little bundle of joy is on the way, we decided that new carpet was now a high priority - there is no way I was putting a baby down to play on this yucky floor!!

Easter Decorating 2013

I think I have been too busy with all of my other projects to get the Easter 'bug' early this year!  I have done a little bit of decorating around the house, but I haven't gone crazy, like I did last year ;)

Finishing Off Friday - 29th March 2013

We have had another big week around here!  The topic of 'Finishing Off' certainly rings true with two of my room make-overs finally being moved to the 'finished' pile!

The Study

- Mick finished putting the workbench together on Sunday night, so on Monday morning I was up at the crack of dawn putting all of my goodies into it!  (In this photo, it is pushed right up against the Expedit, ready for the electrician to install the fan - normally it is right in the centre of the room.)

Laundry Hamper Make-Over

This week, I re-covered an old laundry hamper of my mum's, for the baby's nursery.  It was a fun project to complete, super cheap, and I am very happy with the result!

I Have Been Featured in Party Style Magazine!

Wow!  This is so exciting!  Cassadiva has been featured in the Easter issue of Party Style Magazine!

Chicken & Snow-Pea Sprout Baguettes Recipe

I have a recipe to share with you today... and it is a great one for an outdoor event.  This makes a great sandwich or baguette filling, which is fabulous for a picnic or a snack that you want to make ahead of time.  It is a nice twist on a chicken sandwich, which is packed with flavour and lots of veggies too!

A New Look & A Weekend Update

I guess you have noticed that things are looking a little different around here!  I am so excited with my new blog template, made by the very lovely Sharnee at Suck My Lolly Blogger Templates.  I love everything about it - the pink and brown (my two favourite colours), the layout, the fonts, but most of all I LOVE the little bows!  Aren't they just adorable?!

I went with one of Sharnee's Premium Templates - Pinkaholic.  She was kind enough to customise it for me, making a few slight changes that I requested for a small additional fee, and I am so happy with it!  And I have to say that she is just the sweetest lady to deal with - loved her customer service :)

Other than a new look for the blog, this weekend was heaps of fun around here...

We celebrated my niece's 2nd birthday on Saturday.  How cute are these cakes that my sister bought from Woolworths?  They were so yummy too!

Finishing Off Friday - 22nd March 2013

Another week has zoomed by, and I can not believe all of the jobs that I have achieved in this short time!  I apologise for the long post ahead, but I have LOTS to report.

Let's get to it...

The Study

- I feel like we need a drumroll here.....  The study is painted!!  Yippee!! It looks like a brand new room, thanks to my amazing Dad!  It will take me a few weeks to get everything organised in there, but knowing that I can now start working on everything that I have been planning since completing my online 'Organise Your Creative Workspace' course with Simplify 101 last year is super exciting.  It seems to be just perfect timing, now that the nursery is pretty much finished, that I can spend my time and energy getting my new 'Creative Studio' ready for hours of crafting and scrapbooking fun!!

- The first thing we did after the painting was done, was assemble the 5x5 Expedit cube unit for the back wall of the room.  Poor Mick has had to put together so many flat packs this year - I think he was glad to know that will be the last one for a little while!

Hair - Headbands

Since learning to curl my hair last year in The Year of Good Hair, I have come very attached to headbands!  I find them such a useful accessory, as they not only provide bit of flair to a simple hairdo, but you can colour coordinate them with your outfit, and they also keep your hair out of your face, which I love.

I guess my signature headband would have to be the one that I bought for Christmas a few years back...  I am sure that you all recognise this as my 'Cassadiva' photo!  This was taken on Christmas day, when I was trying on my new apron that I had received as a gift. 

Hair - Hair Donut

It has been a long time since I have done a 'Hair' post, but I found these photos on my computer from last year, and knew that I had wanted to do a blog post using them, so here it is!

Having fairly short and thin hair, I was always envious of the girls who had a big bun wrapped on top of their heads.  Then I learned about Hair Donuts and thought it could be something that might just solve my problem of a puny little bun!  And it did!

Chocolate Easter Nests Gifts

Last Easter I decided to make presents for everyone, rather than buy Easter Eggs.  I chose to make these little Easter nests.  These are all over Pinterest and the internet, probably because they are really simple to make, and quite cost effective too.

 

Easter Cake Pops

Last Easter  I decided to give Cake Pops a try!  I must admit that it was an awful lot of work, but they looked quite pretty and tasted yummy!

A Little Birthday Card Postage Bucket

Yesterday and today, I have spent some time preparing all of my March, April and half-way through May birthday cards for posting.  I admit that I missed two of my lovely girlfriends' birthdays at the start of March (sorry girls!!), so I needed to backtrack a bit and catch up on those, plus I wanted to do the next month in advance, as I know I won't have time to even think about writing birthday cards to send when the baby arrives!!  The end result - this cute little bucket of ready-to-post birthday cards!

Finishing Off Friday - 15th March 2013

What a big week on the blog it has been!  Thanks to everyone who followed along with 'My Baby Shower' posts!  It was so much fun sharing all of the amazing things that happened on the weekend with you all :)  If you missed them, you can find them here.

The day after the party, on Sunday, I admit I was a bit sore and stiff!!  But my wonderful parents came to the rescue and Dad continued to paint the study, and Mum helped me with the final clean up after the party.  By Sunday night, everything was back to normal, and my house looked just the same as it always does!

On Monday I woke up feeling fabulous - full of energy and motivation - yay!  I still have this dreaded ear infection, and it has now also gone to the other ear too!  Double trouble!  However after 2 more doctors visits this week, they are slowly healing and my doctor is regularly cleaning it out, to ensure that it heals properly.  So, while sleeping has been a bit tricky (with both ears hurting to lie on and not being able to lie on my back when pregnant), I have been surprisingly energetic each day!

Ok, so what progress did I make this week??  Let's see...

The Nursery/Baby

- I found homes for all of my wonderful gifts that we were given at the shower, including washing everything new and those things that we already had.  I did around 6 loads of 'cutesy' washing, and now everything is fresh and ready for a new baby to enjoy it!

My Baby Shower - Thank You Gifts (Part 4)

As a little special parting gift, the girls arranged these gorgeous little favours for everyone to take home from the shower...

They were beautifully displayed in this bird cage!

My Baby Shower - Invitations and Party Games (Part 3)

I just LOVED these invitations that my sister ordered online!  They were just perfect for the colour theme, and considering I love to bake, having the preggy girl on the invite wearing an apron and holding cupcakes, it seemed very fitting!  They were just so sweet!

My Baby Shower - The Food (Part 2)

I didn't get a whole lot of photos of the food, as by the time it was put out, I was busy mingling with the guests.  But thankfully between my mum, my sister and I, we managed to grab a few good snaps, so here they are:

My Baby Shower - The Decorations (Part 1)

I was so lucky to be thrown the most amazing baby shower by my beautiful sisters and mum over the weekend.  We have such a close family and I am always thankful for that, but it is the special times like these that really make me realise how lucky I am to have them!

My sister-in-law also helped out so much, sending handmade decorations, food labels, thank you cards and more all the way from Western Australia!  We missed her not being here, but were so grateful at how much she contributed from so far away - it was very sweet and very much appreciated :)

Rather than jam-pack everything from the party into one massive post, I am going to spread it out over the week, and give each little topic the attention it deserves.

Today let's start with the decorations!  I love this part!

We went with a pink and blue theme for the shower, since we don't know what gender our baby is, I thought let's just do both!  That was about all that I knew about the party.  My sisters didn't tell me one little thing about what they were planning, and I wasn't allowed to help at all!  The girls said it was a great colour theme to work with, as there is heaps of both blue and pink around...  And it looked fabulous too!

I will let the photos do the talking!

 

Finishing Off Friday - 8th March 2012

Well, this week hasn't been as productive as I anticipated due to a terrible ear infection taking up residence in my right ear!  It was one of the most painful things I have felt in a long time, and because I am trying really hard not to take any unnecessary medications, I was trying to find natural pain relief - which just pales in comparison to the real thing!!  Anyway, after a few sleepless nights and a few miserable days, I am on the mend now, and ready to stop feeling sorry for myself ;)  So, let's get to it!

This week's 'Finishing Off' progress:

The Nursery

- Mick hung the curtain rod for the valance above the cot, and it looks so sweet!  My mum is just so clever, having made this valance for us!  I just love it.  I think it really finishes the room.

My Maternity Journal

I was given this Maternity Journal at the start of my second trimester by a very sweet cousin of mine, but I was very slack and it sat empty for all of this time!