Five things Friday – I want to create a;

1. printed candle thanks to Sparkle and Hay.

2. gift wrap station in a small suitcase, like this one here.

3. tea-cup light like this or a lamp like this.

4. tea towel pillow for the couch.

5. spoon or fork ring like this one here.

As the images/ideas are not mine I am linking to the sites where I originally found these ideas.

Tea Towel Love- Mondays Child

I have a small collection of tea towels that I want to get framed and hung throughout the house. I certainly don’t own 300 odd tea towels like Richard Till, however in an odd twist of fate I picked up his book “Every Tea Towel Tells a Story – Richard Till’s Special Collection” for $4.99 a few months ago and discovered two of my tea towels are in his book

First up is this cute tea towel that “Save The Children” put out . Mondays child is full of grace………what day are you? I am Friday’s Child – Loving and giving.

Next up is this Kiwiana tea towel, that I bought two years ago for around $3.00. I liked this tea towel because of the colours and it matched the colours of our old kitchen at Newlands Road. This will form the basis of the colour scheme for our new kitchen.

This tea towel is a bit faded, however once framed it should be fine. I bought this tea towel as a slice of New Zealand history and I even remember some of the packaging. This tea towel is in Richard’s book, and he paid $106 for it. Um, I am pleased to say I didn’t pay anywhere near that.

Last but not least is this Home League tea towel. This I bought for sentimental reasons. This tea towel celebrates 100 years of  “The Home League of New Zealand”. Besides it being the 100th anniversary tea towel, I bought it because my nana was a home league member until her death. I have many memories of attending home league with her. This was another tea towel in Richards book.

While, I may collect a few more tea towels, they will be to use and not be used as artwork for the home. Do you have any special tea towels?  I wonder would there be any interest in a “tea towel and send a little something extra nice swap”?

***Edited to add: The tea towel doesn’t have to have a kiwiana theme. I envisage you would send one tea towel to one person. I would match people up and info about fav colours or interest could help with tea towel selection.

A cup of positivi-tea

Last year, I collected words of wisdom, prints and canvases, for some reason or another they haven’t quite made it onto the wall.  Mike helped me out tonight by hanging this trio on the wall at the end of the hallway.

I find that having inspiring words around the home acts as a visual reminder for those days when the glass is half full.

Now I just need to get some of my other prints framed.

Oh the games people play

Thank You for the recommendations of books to read. I will add them to my list of books to read.

Hi, my name is Janine and I am addicted to Phase 10. It started innocently enough, I wanted a card game for my mums Xmas stocking. I went to Whitcoulls and browsed the games and picked out Phase 10. I hadn’t played this before nor had it been recommended, but I read the blurb on the back and thought its kinda like a runny game mum should like that.

On Christmas Day, Mike and I and my folks sat down to play this game. It took us a few hands to get into the swing of it. It didn’t take long before all four of us were hooked. We all played several games a day during my parents stay. During that time Mike won the majority of games and mum a few. Dad and I didn’t stand a chance!! However, the  time came when my parents returned home and took the game with them.

When Joel and Jaime stayed I grabbed the game again and we taught them how to play it. Everyday we would play a few games and like us they quickly became addicted and bought a set to take home. Since they have gone Mike and I have continued to play a few games in the evening. It has been fun and finally I have been able to beat him.

Today we took our addiction to a new level and bought the “Phase 10″ app and downloaded it onto the iPad (that’s a post for another day).  In between chores today, Mike and I have taken turns playing against the other three players, throughout the day. It’s been good fun pitching our skills against virtual players.

Details of Phase 10:

• I bought this for $14.99 from Whitcoulls, Joel and Jaime got this for $12.99 at Farmers.
• The details of the game can be found here.
• A card game for 2 – 6 players. We have played this with, two, three and four players.
• The iPad App costs $2.59

Did you buy a card game or board game for Christmas? Have you got any new games you can recommend?

Celebrate – week four

I celebrated my love of reading on Friday by coming home with this pile of books after a visit to my local library.

Interesting how most of the books I got are about things to do around the home. This year I have set myself two challenges for the year, reading;

• A to Z authors of young adult fiction (Initially I will do this by surnames).
• First in a series – reading the first book in a series.

So far I can cross of the ” Hunger Games” from both challenges. If you have not read “The Hunger Games” I would highly recommend this book. I can’t wait for the movie to come out in March. I have already downloaded a song from the movie soundtrack onto my Jan/Feb Playlist.  Bev and I had a discussion about these books the other night.

I predict this will take over from the “Twilight” series. I prefer the main character of Katniss in the books. She is strong-minded, loyal, stubborn, opinionated and doesn’t do my head in as much as the angst ridden Bella in the “Twilight” saga. I loved this series and managed to read all three in four days. Even my nephew who is not a huge reader got sucked into the “Hunger Games”.

Wondering what the fuss is all about? The following blurb was taken from here.

“In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death– televised for all of Panem to see.

Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly    hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must  weigh survival against humanity and life against love.”

On my reading radar now are “The Maze Runner” recommended by a friend who read this with her class last year and I am in the middle of reading book one in the “Game of Throne” series.

Do you have some suggestions for me that would fit the above reading challenges?

Celebrating my inner child

I will confess that I am a big kid and I constantly let my inner child come out to play. I am not ashamed of this and in fact I embrace and celebrate this.

When summer appeared earlier in the week, I was thinking how lovely it would be to pop up one of these

up in the back yard, grab one of my crochet blankets, some pillows and a few books and magazines and just read and relax.  I have dreamed about teepees ever since I saw these in the Homestyle magazine.

Yesterday this arrived.

For now it is in the lounge, waiting for a summer day to reappear with no wind. I could be waiting a while  . I know that this will be a hit with our friends children when they come to play.

Details:

I bought this TeePee from Mocka who are based in Christchurch. I placed my order on Tuesday and it arrived Thursday. The cost for the teepee was $129.95 which included delivery. I got the girly girl version, however they have a selection of other teepee’s available. The instructions are clear and the teepee is easy to put together. However, I will confess my stupidity, I was so excited that when it arrived I opened it, glance at the instructions and got stuck in. Then realised, um that not all my poles had holes at the top as they should. Ooops epic fail on my part.  Note to self - look at the instructions don’t just assume you know it all lol. The service was seamless, efficient and I would highly recommend Mocka.

The equipment and the poles I connected before I realised the error of my ways.

Dimensions – Height approx – 155cm Base approx – 170 x 170cm. Comes with 5 wooden poles. The doors have a tie at the bottom on each side for easy entry, and the floor of the teepee has ties on each corner to make sure it can be secured easily. I can easily imagine that several small children can play in there. I love that this is portable and can be used indoors and out. I plan to have this erected indoors during winter and used as a reading nook.

So how do you let your inner child come out to play?

Why I love High Tea

The last few years I have become enamoured with “High Tea”, and living in Wellington has allowed me to indulge in this ritual. Since attending my first High Tea around five years ago, I have been able to experience High tea at the following venues;

• Mojo on the waterfront and Willis Street,
• Martha’s Pantry
• Wellesley Hotel,
• Hippopotamus
• Kirks,
• SweetPea
• James Cook Hotel.

I was thinking about why I love High Tea so much and several reasons spring to mind;

• the atmosphere
• my love of vintage
• a chance to indulge in a ritual with friends
• drinking and trying new teas

With so many local Wellington places offering “High Tea”, it got me thinking about what is important to me in a high tea experience. A few things that spring to mind are;

• atmosphere/setting
• service
• food
• table setting e.g.cups and saucers and cutlery
• tea menu
• the “special” factor (hard to quantify, but I just know if the place as it or not).

If I had to name my top three venues in Wellington at the top of my list would be;

• Sweet Pea:Bev and I went here in December.  The service was fantastic, the food fab and overall this was good value for money. They have an extensive tea menu and have a great description of the types of teas. I liked that when I asked the staff member if she could recommend a tea she had an opionion and gave this. On the day that we attended that we got to use two brand new tea cosies that had just been picked up that morning.

The staff member/owners nana had made the ones you see in the photos. I love that these were handmade. I liked the space at SweetPea and the inside decor. It felt fresh, and uncluttered. Even better when you finish your High tea you get to pick a cup cake to take home, like the one Bev chose in the photo below. I found it hard to choose one, there was an extensive range to choose from. This place as that “special factor”.

• Hippopotamus: This is another favourite venue for High Tea. I love the french elegance of this experience from the great service to cloth napkins being used whilst my cup is  being continually filled with tea. I especially like that they offer Madeleine’s at the end of the High Tea experience. These are a taste sensation. Hippopotamus offers four High Tea options as a result they have something to suit everyone.

 

• Rounding off my top three would be Martha’s Pantry: I have a special place in my heart for Martha’s Pantry as it was here that I consider I got to experience what I would consider a proper high tea. I have been here on many occasions with different groups. What I noticed when I went there last year in April, with my niece ”E”, was that they had a child friendly high tea menu for her. As my niece “J” who I had taken the year before wasn’t given this option and as a result she struggled with some of the food in the adult high tea menu. I love the mismatched china and the atmosphere of Martha’s.

If you have been to a high tea what is it about this ritual that you like? Do you have a top venue or top 3?

A few finds

Thanks for your comments on my one word. Trace I like the idea of a “Celebrate” Journal.  Julie, I am starting a soundtrack of songs to inspire me for my one word and Kool and the Gangs, “Celebrate” song is on there

I love going exploring in second-hand shops and finding treasures to bring home. Sometimes I strike gold and other times I walk away empty-handed. But what I enjoy most is shopping with Bev, on these adventures. It’s fun being able to share the excitement, or commiserate at not being able to find a particular treasure or compare what we think of the prices.

I manage to pick up a few treasure before Christmas;

• “Tour of New Zealand”. Love this old school board game. I remember playing this game as a child. My dad bought this game for my brothers and I as a present .I was so excited to find this game again. Mike and I have played this a few times. It’s like snakes and ladders, but with New Zealand towns and cities instead of snakes and ladders. A fun and quick game to play.

•  ”Schweppes Box” An original box which I plan to use  as storage for art and craft supplies.

• “New Zealand Poetry Book” for children. I love the illustrations in this book and the poetry from poets such as James K Baxter and Sam Hunt. I remember this book from my old school days.

I am looking forward to going on more treasure hunting adventures with Bev this year. Anyone else care to join us? Actually this idea just popped into my head, does anyone feel like a girly day or weekend of secondhand shopping later this year, with a high tea outing thrown in?

Celebrate – week 3

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.

-Oprah Winfrey

I spent last year on a “Journey”.  At times I wished I hadn’t travelled down a particular route and at other times parts of the journey were awesome. Overall last year was a great one for life lessons and for which I am grateful. Looking back on 2011, I realised that when the good stuff happened, I didn’t celebrate. It appears that whilst I am a good cheerleader for others and will help them to celebrate their achievements I am not so good at doing this for myself.

Therefore during 2012 I plan to “Celebrate”!!!  While many think of celebrations as centering around special occasions, like Birthdays, Christmas etc, I have decided that there is no need to wait for those times. Afterall everyday is a cause for celebration. Whilst I don’t plan to have a continual party throughout the year, I am planing to praise, exalt, extol;

• my achievements
• friendships
• life

This is where I will need your help. Every now and again I may lose my way or find it hard to see what can be celebrated. If you see that happening please nudge me and remind me to get back on track. Thanks xx

“True celebration should come from your life, in your life….Life should be a continuous celebration, a festival of lights the whole year round. Only then you can grow up, you can blossom. Transform small things into celebration”. -Osho

Highlights of the last six weeks

2012 Word of the Year

Happy New Year to you. I am around but not online much at the moment. Mike and I are entertaining my niece and nephew until Saturday night. I owe a few of you emails and I promise to reply to them in the next few days. As for checking out blogs I shudder to think what will await me  in Google Reader when I check in on Sunday.

Some highlights of the last six weeks.

• The build up to Christmas
• Officially sharing that I will be taking two classes on Saturday and Sunday of Queens Birthday Weekend at Handmade 2012
• Making truffles, spicy nuts, peppermint bark, Strawberry Jam and Limoncello as gifts for friends and neighbours.

• Catching up with friends during December
• Going to SweetPea in Petone with Bev for High Tea. I would highly recommend Sweet Pea as a High Tea Venue, awesome value for money and the service was fantastic and the food divine (another post is required about this)

• My parents coming to stay with us for five days
• Christmas day with my parents was relaxing and we were all spoilt
• Grabbing tickets to see Crosby Stills and Nash in concert in March
• Becoming addicted to playing an awesome card game called Phase 10 (Jaime and Joel have used their pocket-money to buy this  game to take home)
• Catching up with a variety of friends in the New Year
• Joel and Jaime arriving Jan 2
• Mike heading back to work yesterday, I love that he took two weeks off work
• Choosing “celebrate” as my one word for the year (more on that in another post).
• Reading the Hunger Games Trilogy (awesome read and very addictive).
• Enjoying being in the moment – however it means I have hardly taken photos in the last six weeks.

I am looking forward to catching up on the goings on in blogland and finding up what you have been up too in the last six weeks on Sunday.