What a young wife ought to know.

Ok, so I may not be that young anymore but the title of this book intrigued me

I couldn't find a publication date but the last copyright listed was 1902.

Who wouldn't read further after this dedication

The chapter titles are so quaint

Did you know there were such things as the evils of dress?

I love the feel of this book and the age and I love thinking about the young ladies who would have read this book in preparation for their marriage and I imagine what they must have been feeling.

I decided to use my new book in a coffee table vignette.

I used pages from an old bible I bought from the Op shop because of its colour and the texture of the cover. The pages in the bible were falling out and perfect to use for my display. I rolled the pages up and tied them with ribbon or string to create my bowl of wisdom.

I can't remember where I saw the idea but I loved it, so if this is your idea, thank you.

I used the bible, the adorable book of knowledge for young wives and my gorgeous cloche and stand that my WH bought me for my last birthday to make a display of some of my favourite things.

Have a great weekend everyone!

xx

I am linking up to Jessica's Favourite things Friday, pop over and have a look. Great weekend reading!

Vanity

I mentioned earlier in the week that we manged to get a bathroom project finished. It isn't a huge project but it is another one done and dusted! The bathroom is not finished we still have things to do in there before it is but we were so happy to be able to cross one more of the list! This is our main bathroom vanity before It was nothing special, the vanity that was installed is a stock standard size of 750mm. The next standard size is 900mm. The space we have to work with is 880mm.

The space either side of the vanity really bothered me, it was a trap for dirt and the vanity top didn't have enough space to place anything like a liquid soap dispenser. Not to mention the taps leaked at some stage and the inside and back of the cupboard was stained and starting to rot.

Ever since we moved in I have kept an eye out for something we could use to replace the existing vanity. I was hoping to find an older piece of furniture to convert into a vanity but a few weekends ago Mitre 10 (hardware store) was having a sale and in their catalogue was the perfect sized vanity including ceramic top for $299.

While we were there we also found a Dorf basin tap set marked down from $247.50 to $30. Thank you very much!

The handles that came with the vanity were too modern to suit us so we picked up these four from Bunnings. Unfortunately they were not a bargain at $9.95 each, but they suited us and made a huge difference.

Nick spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon making the switch and we are both so happy with the difference. The bathroom is not big by any means and this vanity makes such a difference in the amount of floor space when you walk in.

We are still to get a glass shower screen installed and are just waiting on another quote. I would have liked to get a clear glass screen however the glass will have to sit as close to the vanity as possible and we will have a small gap between the glass and the vanity that will be impossible to keep clean. I know that it will bug me seeing the dust gather there and not be able to clean it properly so we will have to get frosted glass, that way it won't be visible!

I know it is such a little thing but it makes such a difference! WH and I were so happy we sat on the bathtub on Sunday evening and just admired the new vanity!

Yes it did cross my mind that perhaps we need to get out a bit more!

One last time...

BEFORE

AFTER

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

xx

I am linking up to White Wednesday at the Faded Charm. Head over to have a look.

Wall Art

Happy Monday everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

We had a productive weekend and got another bathroom project finished, I am very excited about it and I will share it later on in the week.

Today I thought I would share my artwork I created using the free downloads from the Paint Place.

I can't remember who I got these from originally but a few bloggers have shared this site before.

You can find them here.

I chose the prints I wanted to use and re sized them as required.

I printed one on plain paper and I printed the other one on an old sheet of music. I bought a music book from the 2nd hand charity store specifically to use for craft projects.

I embellished both prints using items from my scrap booking and card making supply.

They didn't take long to make and I did one each evening after work.

We had the frames from a previous trip to Ikea and I had all the craft supplies.

I had this blank wall that was just begging for adornment.

Please ignore the lack of pelmet, another project that we are yet to finish!

I spread the frames out on the floor and played around with them until I found a layout that I was happy with and that fit the space. We will put some New Zealand photos in the empty frames. Just waiting on WH to finish editing them.

I am thinking that I may cut the dividers out of the matting in the long frame and use the frame for a panoramic photo. The top wall hanging was given to us by WH's lovely parents when we bought this house.

It is a beautiful saying and a great reminder to have.

Thanks to everyone who stops by to read my ramblings and thank you to all of the lovely people who leave such encouraging comments. I enjoy reading them all and appreciate that you take the time to leave them.

I am looking forward to catching up with everyone through the week.

Have a great Monday!

xx

Labels and tags

Happy Friday!!!

I am so glad that it is Friday, it has been a long week and I am looking forward to the weekend!

I finished these little projects a few weeks ago and I am still loving the result. Amazing how such a little thing can bring happiness whenever it catches your eye!

Firstly I put my scrap booking supplies to use and made these very simple napkin ties.

I used my round cutting tools and some scrapbook paper to cut out two different sized circles

Then I played with my new foam stamps and monogrammed each one with an M (for McCarthy, just in case you didn't pick that up, it is Friday after all)

Punched a hole through both circles and used some string to tie them both together To tie the tags around the napkins I attached some more string with the hot glue gun. I added some buttons from my stash of spare buttons over the spot where the string is attached (using the hot glue gun)

I discovered the amazing Graphics Fairy Blog

You can download all sorts of graphics and templates for free!

I thought I would play around and create some labels for my cleaning products.

I printed out a page full of the round labels onto plain paper and cut them out.

You can re size them as required.

I made my labels double sided and then laminated them to make them last longer. I punched a hole in them and using the trusty string tied them to my spray bottles.

Another little project finished! Yay!

Hopefully soon we will be starting and finishing some bigger projects that I could share with you.

Have a great weekend everyone.

xx Linking to

Head over to have a look.

Holiday House

What do you think?

WH emailed me with a link suggesting we should buy this house for a holiday house...

I would need to redecorate but I am sure I could work with that space!

You can find out more here.

xx