Oh Happy Friday

Pallets are the item of desire this Friday. Sure they are useful as free firewood but these discarded and unwanted items have become our treasures in waiting. Palletts can be so easy to come by, contact your local frieght company to see if they have any unwanted pallets tucked out back, but be quick; they are becoming increasingly popular for use in DIY furniture and decor.

We can not wait to get our teeth into some DIY with pallets, here's just a small snap shot of ways pallets can be used around the home for you to enjoy over your Friday wine or coffee break! Enjoy :)

Pallet coffee table on wheels with a glass top...hmmm a little draw tucked in that gap there?

A rustic and neat way to store those delicious wines

This bookshelf is a great idea to make books a key part of your decor

This pallet garden is just too cute!

This would make for an amazing reading nook...or how about a day bed on the deck?
 

So, will you be scouting some pallets and getting creative this weekend? We'd love to hear and see your pallet DIY creations!

Lisa & Kirsty xx

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Homemade Sangria

Homemade Sangria

Ingredients:

1 bottle of red wine - we used Cabernet Sauvignon but any Merlot or Shiraz will do. You can also use white wine if you prefer (let's say for this recipe pretty much anything goes!)

1 lemon cut into wedges

1 orange cut into wedges

1lime cut into wedges

Splash of orange juice or lemonade

1 cup of grapes or strawberries - we used grapes as strawberries are out of season here and they were delicious!

1 small can pineapple

4 cups of ginger ale

Pour wine into a large bowl and squeeze in the juice from your lemon, lime and orange wedges. Toss in the fruit wedges. Half and de-seed your grapes if needed and pop them in along with your tin of pineapple and orange juice or lemonade. At this point, if you are patient enough, you can put this into the fridge to chill overnight or, if your like us, pop it in for 1-2 hours. Once it has chilled (or you've given up waiting) pour in your ginger ale. Serve in cute jars over a handful of ice and enjoy!

Ps. this is super delicious accompanied with a good block of cheese and crackers. Just sayin!

Lamp shade DIY refresh

I think it's those chilly winter days stuck indoors that make me start to look around my home and desperately want new items! Rugs, lamps, duvets you name it. But new items come at a price so sometimes it's best to make the most of what you have and find a way to spruce it up a bit. 

I am the tad bit embarrassed owner of an old red lamp shade and the urge to swap this out overcame me this weekend.

But what to do, fabric it? Hmmm not so keen on heading out into the stormy deepths of the winter, ah paint! I have a huge albeit random collection of test pots and a fab dark charchol....perfect!

It's so easy too, stick on a coat of paint, let it dry and then pop the light on...you'll then be able to see if you have missed any little bits, touch these up with some more paint. Let dry, and voila, your done!

Polaroid box DIY refresh

Lisa and I found this cute box and the markets last weekend and I just had to have it. I think it was once someones tool box but when I got it home I realised it would be the perfect thing to keep my polaroids in. The only thing was, it did look like it needed a bit of a facelift. I decided to paint it the same colour as my polaroid camera and put a cute printed paper on the lid in the inside (this was a hard decision as I was sorely tempted to keep the cool old worn off stickers!)

So here is a little DIY on how I did this:

You will need:

Wooden Box

Sand paper

Paint of your choosing

Paintbrush

Letter / number stencils

Pencil

Cute scrapbooking paper - I printed my one from here

Sissors

Glue

 

1. Lightly sand and then clean your box. 

2. Paint 1 - 3 plain white base coats depending on the original colour of your box.

3. Mix up the paint colour of your choosing. I picked a light blue to match my camera.

4. Paint around 3 coats onto your box until you get a smooth, fully covered finish. Allow to dry.

 5. Using your stencil, trace the numbers of your choosing on to the top of your box with a pencil, making sure to keep it light.
6. Mix up the paint colour you would like for you numbers and then slowly fill them in using a fine brush. Allow to dry.

 

7. Measure the inside lid of your box and then cut your paper to size.

8. Using a paintbrush spread your glue on to the lid of your box, making sure to get it all the way to the edges.

9. Carefully stick your paper to the lid.

Your done! Now step back and admire your handy work. Kirsty x

 

 

Oh, happy Friday!

This Friday's round up is dedicated to all things tea-party-esc. We're talking delicious treats, cute decorations and lots and lots of tea. Oh and flowers, lets not forget the flowers.

Such cute tea cups and a white lace table cloth set the scene.

Outdoors in the woods would make for a very pretty backdrop!

A flower crown would be the perfect addition to any tea party attire.

Cookies shaped as cute donuts? Yes please!

Flowers for this tea party would be a must. Don't you just love wildflowers?

And finally, lets be honest - what's a tea party without macaroons.

Happy Friday everyone!

Saturday markets

This weekend we took a trip to one of our local markets in Tamahere. This market happens the third Saturday of every month and if it's not raining (ike it has been for the last three times) it's awesome! There are so many cute things to look at and don't even get us started on the food. One word, delicious. So here are some snaps we took while looking around.

These flower crowns are so adorable.

We are seriously tempted to try and make one of these ladders ourselves. So cute!

 

This is such a cute stall - don't you just want to steal that umbrella!

And holy heck they had macaroons! These salted caramel and pistachio ones were amazing.

Then there was this little puppy for sale. If either of us had room I think we actually would have taken him home, look at those eyes!