My Bling, Bling Birdhouses

Hooray time to show you all what I have been working on the last week and a half. I started off by putting these two together (hammer, hammer, drill, saw and lots of glue)

to make this -


and I added this one -


Now this is what it looks like all together
I added a few butterflys and dragonflys, I wasn't able to find any birds though. The stand I already had but it needed adjusting (saw, saw, hammer, hammer) and some holes for the flowers (drill, drill, drill).

I even added window boxes with flowers, sorry the photos aren't clearer but the light wasn't to good to take photos today.

I can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with, this one has a lovely home just inside my front door. Thank you to Karla and Beth for hosting I had so much fun.

Cheers,

Oops! silly me only just realised that the "bling your Birdhouse" party was not till the 27th March so I am a little early, like a month, oh well I hate being late anyway.

What is your favourite childhood toy?

Jayne from http://countrycottagechic.blogspot.com/ has invited us all to do a post about our favourite childhood teddy or doll etc with a photo either a "then " or "now" if you still have the teddy or doll. I thought that this was such a wonderful idea and decided to join in. Hope you all will too. Just leave a message on her blog so that everyone can find you.

I would like to introduce you all to "Golden Teddy" I have had him for as long as I can remember, can't even remember where he came from he has just always been there for me. We have been all over the countryside together, even quite a few trips over to New Zealand, now he prefers to stay at home with his mates.

These are his mates, couldn't tell you what their names are don't even know which one is my husbands and which is his brothers (I don't know if Paul really can't remember or if he just doesn't want to admit to it).

I hope you will all join in, it has been fun reminiscing.

Cheers,

I did, I did see a Snowman!

As you might see be my last post I was having trouble finding things starting with the letter "I" for my A to Z of my home. Well the thoughts of ice, freezer, igloo and seeing everyone else in other countries playing in the snow are playing in my head, so while my oldest son was defrosting the freezer for me, we came up with this -


We had a hard time keeping the buttons on because he was melting faster then we could make him, (it is 30 degrees Celsius and very humid .) I think that will be the only snowman we will ever see around these parts.

Cheers,

Yeah I see they have fixed the problem at blogger with the spellcheck.

More A to Z of my Home

I spy with my little eye,
nothing begining with "I"

I have looked and looked but all I came up with was -

ice (only have it in the freezer),

idea (have lots of them but they are a bit hard to photograph),

infant (my boys are getting to big to pass that one off),

insane (yep thats me sometimes), oh i've got it, what about

igloo (no don't see to many of them around during an Australian summer)

Oh I give up!

Here are just some random photos from around the house I thought that you might like.

"Love is a celestial harmony of likely hearts." - Spenser

Isn't this sign sweet, it is hanging in our hallway.

This poster was given to me as a gift from a friend at my 21st Birthday it is titled "the railway children", it hangs in my bedroom.

These gorgeous cups where given to me by my wonderful mother-in-law when they downsized from their house to their unit on the beach.
And lastly this little guy sits at my front door, doesn't he look like he is smiling just at you, I hope he has put a smile on your face like he does mine. (If you look closely enough he might even give you a cheeky wink.) Hope you have a wonderful day.
Cheers,

Bling your birdhouse (the challenge continues)

Wow who would of thought it would be such a challenge to just find a birdhouse to use for this challenge let alone decorate it, actually I wanted two for what I had planned. Well after looking at Spotlight, Overflow, and 2 Bunnings stores I have so far come up with these -The large one is a tissue box and the small one is a money box, I have a couple of ideas in mind so hopefully it will all come together, luckly I know my way around Pauls power tools (I have actually used Pauls dropsaw more often than he has!), because I will have to use them.

Thanks to Natasha for your helpful comments on where to get some houses.

Cheers,

Bling your birdhouse

The following is an excerpt from Karla's blog about the Bling your birdhouse challenge.

Celebrate Spring with Beth and Karla for their
“Bling your Birdhouse” Challenge!
(Other wise known as “What do you LOVE about your birdie’s home?”)
This is a SELF-linking and SELF-swapping challenge.
Show photos on your blog of a birdhouse you have embellished, in any way your artistic heart desires. If you aren’t an artist, you can share pictures of your favorite bird’s happy home.
Leave a comment with Beth or Karla (or both) on THURSDAY MARCH 27TH. Both artists will be showing their own blingy birdhouses that day. This is where the “self linking” comes in. Make sure that your URL is in the comment so everyone can come to visit and admire your birdie’s home after reading your comment.
If you want to buy/sell/or trade your creation with another artist, make sure you include that info in your post. This is where the “self swapping” comes in. If you are up for a swap, want to sell the house, or simply want to keep and enjoy it yourself, let everyone know.
Want some help with ideas for birdhouse décor? Bling kits will be for sale at Karla’s Etsy Shop and at Beth’s too. They will be filled with fun vintage touches to make your bird’s abode something really special.
And for a tutorial before the big day, join Karla on her blog Monday February 25TH. She’ll take you through the steps on a couple of different birdhouse styles. Also check out Beth’s blog posting HERE for photos of a Shabby Chic neighborhood she has designed for her feathered friends.

I was hoping to join in on this challenge as I have many ideas about what I was going to do but so far I have been unable to track down any wooden or even paper mache birdhouses in my area, they just don't seem to be the in thing at the moment. I will however keep on trying.

Thank you to Karla for your help with adding the button, although a blogger account must be slightly different to a typepad account, or I am just reading all the instructions wrong.

Cheers,

H is for

Hallstand, well I call it a hallstand but it is not actually in my hall but in the front enterance way. This stand was origanally timber stained until I changed my decorating style to a more french country / shabby chic look, it was then one of the first pieces of furniture to be painted. I love it in white it makes the chrystal look so much better.

I also love the little rocking chair to the left of the photo it belonged to my mother-in-law when she was a little girl.

This cute little tea cup and saucer is one my Mum bought for me when I was born it is very special to me.

Aren't these little spring girls cute? I can't remember where I got them from I have had them for as long as I can remember.

This pretty plate I picked up in a thrift store in Woodford, a quaint little country town.

Cheers,

G is for Garden

I use to spend a lot of time on my gardens when the kids were younger, but unfortunately as they have gotten older I seem to spend more of my time running them to their various sports that I don't get to spend as much time in the garden anymore. Hopefully now that can change since I have just quit my secound job last Monday (working for an internet vet supplies company). Now I will have more time to spend on the house and gardens while the kids are at school.

The drought has also taken a toll on our gardens. I always favoured snapdragons, pansies and various other annual flowers. Now I have found that with having to hand water with a watering can and only on certain days that it has become way to much work. So gone are all the pretty annual plants in favour of more hardy drought tolerient plants. Here are some photos of some of the flowers that have managed to do well in our gardens despite the drought and lack of TLC.

Cheers,

(P.S. In the top photo there are a pair of Pauls old work boots. My friends and family have learnt over the years never to leave anything lying around the gardens for too long because Linda might put plants in it. I will have to show you in another post what other stange things I have put plants in.)