Christmas Day

Christmas Day

Well it all comes together despite pretty much leaving everything until Christmas Eve! I know....Crazy.....

Isn't this Devine? Perhaps I'll be this organised next year!

Christmas Eve:
I'd ordered a camera this year for my Christmas gift & on christmas Eve day my slip came to pick it up....I phoned the depot & they informed me that It was in their Warragul depot, that's about an hr drive from my house, however I really wanted my camera for Christmas Day, so I pilled everyone in the car & headed of, only to arrive to an unmanned depot. OMG!!!!.............. I was so angry, I phoned the number on the slip,telling them that I had just driven 1hr with 3 kids & a baby (I actually only have 2 kids & a baby!,however I was including my husband as one of the kids [He was shocked that I had included him as one of the children-Please!] in my ranting tirade)
Just as I hung up, a guy in a van pulls up-thank god! I ran to him like my life depended on it telling him my story.....He was actually really helpful & with my persistent coaching he phoned all the contact's he could think of and we located my parcel.
I organised to have my parcel left at my gate (risky I know, however I was desperate & we were now headed to have santa photos taken & do a last minute grocery shop, so I could not go home to wait for it).
So one nappy change & a little milk later (the baby,not me )back in the car we get & drive 1 1/2 hrs to our original destination,(before I took us on a wild goose chase). 
I really should know better than to just take someones word for it & never again will I be sooo trusting (yep this experience has really improved my people skills & positive outlook on life) Even the guy at the depot said I should have made them hold my hot little parcel in their hands,before I went off believing their word! Great system you've got!
Anyhow, on the bright side we stopped off on the way & had some horrible pies & sausage rolls from some little caffe/shop thing..
Grabbed some cherries (grown in the pristine mountain air & then sprayed to death with chemicals!That makes sense!).
All in All a wonderful drive

Christmas Tree Trimmings:

This was my daughters tree this year, she did it all on her own........
Sooo Pretty.

My Eldest 2 got roller blades for christmas & this is what they did all day in the house.............There were quite a few falls! OUCH!!

 Me on Christmas morning preparing the food......

Starting my glazed ham, courtesy of Donna hay.....It was Devine!
 I will definitely be doing this again next year.

Our Christmas table was a bit thrown together this year,nothing like the glamorous table setting above!.....Oh well, the Pièce de résistance is of course the food , wine & company of my family....& I had all that! I love roast potatoes...& have always made yummy ones,this year I followed Donna Hays process & These were the best roast potatoes eva! (I'm starving as I write this & on the menu tonight?......sandwiches I'm afraid! OH & homemade Vanilla Ice cream,that Ive just been reminded about, that's sitting in the fridge waiting to be churned)

Trifle was on the Menu for desert......This is my version of the one that my Nan use to make when I was a child. "Great memories".

It was a really enjoyable day, the kids had fun, the food was great...We had a Merry Christmas.
I definitely think that a new years resolution of mine needs to be better Christmas organisation so this may be on the cards for next year as this year was probably the most disorganised Ive ever been.
Ive declared that next year I'll be starting my Christmas planning in November........Well I guess that I'm accountable now,to you all. so that's a good thing (If I forget can some-one please remind me?)

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas period.
We have had a really nice relaxing time, I've done some baking!
We went on a picnic.....(I'll post this next week) & we still plan to take a visit to the zoo at some stage, & "Christmas Square" -its city square & its been turned into "Christmas square" its still on until the 2nd of January so perhaps well still go and take a look.

New Year's Eve:
We are having a stay at home new years eve. Just us!
and well you already know whats on the menu!  
Happy New Years Eve to you all. See you in the New Year!
LL.

MY FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS THINGS

1 day till Christmas......

MY FAVOURITE christmas THINGS----- 

What I'm loving at the moment.....

If your in Melbourne & you love christmas music, but get a little sick of listening to the same CD's or downloaded music.
The radio station "Light FM" have a dedicated christmas station for the festive season & I'm loving it.
Their calling it "Light Christmas".
My kids love the music & I mean from my 13 yo down.....
And he's not easy to please when it comes to funky christmas music. Its got a bit of everything for everybody. So much better than trying to download all sorts of christmas music.
Its all been done for me.....
Heres the link:
http://lightfm.com.au/lightchristmas.

Came across these gingerbread kits from Thomas Dux....
LOVE IT!!
Anything that makes my life easier this year, I will more than welcome with a little 17mth old running around, who has time to bake? however I still like to know that If I have to purchase something pre made that its of the highest homemade standard.

 The final decorated product by my 11 yo daughter.......

It actually sat untouched for quite a few days until my 13 yo son  attacked it......& then well.....We all attacked it! YUM!

CHRISTMAS LUNCH....What's on your table this year?

Do you go down traditional path? or do you take on a more modern "Australian" take on the traditional christmas day Feast?

I have usually gone down the traditional path,with the hot roast dinner & plum pudding & I do love that.However this year I've decided to go a little different.

It will be Traditional meets newer Ideas, taking inspiration from Donna hay this year I'm doing her "cheats version" glazed ham.

So today I purchased my "Gucci" equivalent of hams!

I'll do roast potatoes & I will have roast turkey & gravy & am tying Donna hays little stiffing cups.....

I'll let you know what everyone thinks.

Its been an extremely interesting couple of days around here,Let me share.......

CHRISTMAS TREE TRIP....WE GOT LOST!!!

Yes we have been to the same christmas tree farm for quite a few years now (I refuse to disclose exactly how may,as that makes us appear even more stupid).

My son put in the directions into our iphones & of we go (in 2 separate cars mind you).....

Then finally after we had been driving for far too long, on the right road...however the road literally goes on forever & spans many many many suburbs.

WE ARE DRIVING TO NOTHING! How? Well, My son had not put the street number into the map, so we were driving towards a "Pin" on the map that was going nowhere, in fact I said to my daughter "I seem to be following an ever moving pin"---Oh Yes! I was bloody following an ever moving pin!!

GREAT! So I decide to break away from following my husband & go my own way......And after another 10 min of driving like a crazy woman cursing at everything I decided to STOP & gather my thoughts, Grab that damn phone,and start agin,so I re-entered the address (properly!) & what do you, know we have to go back the other way another 17min....

But, its Ok because at least now I have an actual destination,the baby is Finalllllllly asleep & we will have our tree in exactly 17 min!

CHRISTMAS PHOTO FIASCO

We all went of this morning with intentions to have our Christmas photo taken, however we never actually got their as the morning was a bit of a disaster & I was late to everything that I was suppose to be doing,so I gave up & said....... NO PHOTOS TODAY!!

Perhaps I will try again tomorrow.

Have a great Christmas Everyone if I don't get back to you before then!

LL.

ENRTY REVEAL....Painted white walls with chalk paint

House Update...........ENRTY REVEAL:

This is my entry, sorry I don't have a "before".
I'm really bad at remembering to take a before, I don't know how many times I've started a project,then realised....No before photo!

The wall was originally off White, which is the colour that was painted thought out when we built, which looked Ok. However it was always a little to much of a creamy white & I longed for a pure white Entry. 
Then when I was pregnant with my 3rd child, my girlfriends husband kindly stencilled it for me in pure white & even thought I absolutely adored it, the pure white made the wall look really cream & I am really not a fan of cream. So I new I'd have to redo it at some stage.
However with a new little baby in the house, painting really wasn't one of my priorities. Now that she's a Little more mobile, I thought I'd tackle it.

Originally I had a small sofa there and the draws were in the other part of the entry.
I've painted the walls in Chalk paint "pure white" & then re accessorised, Im not sure as yet as to whether or not I'll stencil the wall again??  (that the scones are on) or not?.
I could wall paper however Im going for a really monochromatic look for the wall so I was thinking of stencilling it to be really subtle a "barely there" kind of look. Anyway.......well see!

I think it still needs something on the wall: 
a stencil ?, some prints ?

Whats your to do list looking like??

7 days till christmas:

Whats your to do list looking like??

In an order to completely divert your's & my attention away from all  things to do.
Heres what I've been up to:
Took stock of a new book 
"French Ties" by Jane Webster:

Not really sure when I'll get to read it,Its so pretty though.
I have her first book & loved it, perhaps I'll get a chance over the holidays!

I've ordered my christmas present for myself....
A new camera, I'm so excited,After SO MUCH research...No I'm kidding, In fact a girlfriend of mine who just purchased herself a new camera had just done all of the research so I just bought what she had & I mean exactly the same: 
I was ticking the boxes on the online order sheet like a pro :
1 camera base...Check!
1 extra lens.....Check!
1 SD card.....Check!
1 camera bag....Check! all done! 
Thanks to my darling friend Helen who did all the research,my present is on its way.


So lets get on with all things distraction:

Media Room makeover----

BEFORE PHOTO:

What a horrible before photo, sorry this was taken at night, however the room was pretty boring.
All I had done was paint the room, had the curtains hung & 2 mirrors & 2 sofa's. apart from that.... Oh and the ottoman that I had made. All of this was done quite a few years ago.
The buffet table under the TV is a relatively new purchase along with the side tables (you can see one lower R/H Side.)
The small white sofa that you can see the back of is temporarily in here, not really sure were that will go!

So far : 
These Floral cushions are a jumping off point for colours for this room as I just love them!

These Mirrors were originally in a gold ish/Bronze hue & I thought that I'd do something different with them......
After doing the painted furniture thought I'm kind of having second thoughts as I really like green & gold/Bronze look ......Oh well....too bad!! 

Mirrors Painted in Gris.

No wax yet, I'll be using the dark wax & that will bring back the antique character.

Bright Green??

Or Cobblestone?? Very poor first coat!!

I picked up 2 of these chairs from an antique shop in Malvern, I just need to use that green as I love it & as I've decided to use the blue on the console,these will be perfect!

Bright Green (1st coat)

Final Coat done...have not waxed yet!

I painted it this afternoon whilst doing this.....

DONE!! 

 I Know......I paint on the carpet,Well on cardboard,On the carpet.....SO NOT GOOD......But I'm so lazy that I just cant be bothered to even take the chair outside, however as theirs no smell, I really have no reason to take myself out of the comfort of my room!!

 I'm loving navy & green........

OK ....so I went with the cobblestone for the T.V Console & green for the chairs, I'm loving this fabric its a Navy flocked what do you think??

The power points need to be lowered above the console!!

So far this is were I'm at ! 

I'll need to do something with this wall to disguise the T.V.....

T.V's are so ugly, I could paint the wall black however I really don't like feature walls (Sorry!!!!).
I don't mind a wall done in a co-ordinating wallpaper (or stencil as the case may be) however I'm not a fan of one solid wall of colour that pops.

I've just ordered 2 more stencils,What the heck am I thinking as I declared that I would Stencil no more! after I did the office that is !! However the reality is that I cant really justify wallpaper as we will be moving in a few years & probably developing our land......and that means that the house will have to go!!
So hence the fact that stencilling is by far a cheaper option for a wall that may not be standing in a few short years.
I am thinking of using perhaps "Nearly Black" or "Bright Green" on this wall for the stencil to create a distraction from that BIG BLACK nuisance of a T.V!
We will have to see.......


I'm really loving these green fabric samples........I think that I'll use both the patterns on co-ordinating cushions for the sofa & perhaps the solid green as well (I've ordered some green cushions on-line & really not sure if they will go, a little bit of pot luck really!!) If not, this one will be fine.

I will keep you updated. Hope you have a great week 

 LL

MEDIA ROOM MAKEOVER STAGE1

BEFORE PHOTO:

All I had done was paint the room, had the curtains hung & 2 mirrors & 2 sofa's. apart from that.... Oh and the ottoman that I had made. All of this was done quite a few years ago.
The buffet table under the TV is a relatively new purchase along with the side tables (you cant see them!)

So far : 
These Floral cushions are a jumping off point for colours for this room as I just love them!

These Mirrors were originally in a gold ish/Bronze hue & I thought that I'd do something different with them......

After doing the painted furniture thought I'm kind of having second thoughts as I really like green & gold/Bronze look ......Oh well....too bad!!