snap it 'every day'

Greetings all, 

The Faith Hope & a Whole Lotta Love Snap It challenge today was 'every day' so here's a little trip about my every-day-ness.  I'm extremely lucky my every day is safe, happy, peaceful & free, very different from life in many countries around the world.  I do not take any of the goodness in my life for granted, especially not my beautiful family.

I believe hearing 'i love you' is even more important than just knowing someone loves you.  I must say 'i love you' to my husband & children dozens of times each day.  Ditto kisses.  Ditto ditto hugs!!  

 My children have something home baked for recess, today it was a slice of iced butter cake (i often give them icing-less-cake, they never complain) & i went over the top!!

 I think colour is incredibly important in improving mood & happiness.  I still use the IKEA plates & cups at home, why not, you can't break them & the colours are fun.  Dinner time we use Bison ceramics, the palate of pastels are glorious.

 I try to eat fruit as snacks & vegetables with lunch & dinner every day.  Today we bought a juicer, something i wished we scored as a wedding gift 15 years ago, never too late to get on board right??  

 We spend time curled up on the lounge every night as a family, if only for a few minutes if we have sport matches & homework, most often an animal is involved.  Sometimes just a German Shepherd at our feet (only allowed indoors to sleep) or a little duckling that warms your heart.

 

For a family who spends more time apart from each other than together, right now, having my handsome soldier home EVERY DAY is the most wonderful blessing a wife, mummy & menagerie of animals can have.  Love Posie

things i'm loving . . . 'treats & goodness'

Greetings all,

I've possibly cried more this week than ever, i really miss my husband.  All this festive  'family' orientated vibe only reminds me of who will be absent at the Christmas table this year - my Mummy's Alzheimer's has stolen her away & my husband will be overseas.  I'm just focussing on the children & riding their new shiney bikes!!  If you get the chance to see the New Year's Eve movie, it's great, but think of me when you follow Halle Berry's story (to the end)!! 

I'm taking time to treat myself, facials, massages, walking away from passive aggressive mums . . . stop messing with me, i know better!!  My hands are sore but i'm stocking up on fabrics for future projects - Lotta Jansdotter - you are about to be quilted, hexagons i think, later this Summer.

 I needed new tongs (read: i loathe our tongs, they jam closed) & was thrilled to pick up these beauties for $3 at the supermarket!!  Little things make me happy. 

 While my car is having a major service, it was cheaper to hire a car than get a cab home, so i've been enjoying this new Mitsubishi Outlander, i like it!!

 Loving the extra pretty stationery at Kikki-K & their 25% off days . . .

 & 15% off at Peter Alexander, come on, Babushka pyjamas, as if i could resist!!

 It's official, i'm collecting pears.

 Reading in bed, using her glasses just like she's meant to.

 Ending my evenings with candles & calm.

So PaisleyJade, that is what I'm Loving this week.  You can find those candle paper bags here & if you're into IKEA toys or love baking with Donna Hay, check out my current giveaways below.  Love Posie

IKEA Christmas niceness & GIVEAWAY

Greetings all,

While you're wrapping up your toy Christmas shopping this silly season . . . did you know IKEA is 'giving twice' this Christmas??    

 These IKEA colourful & quirky soft toys help make a difference to children in need - they are the perfect stocking filler & every toy purchased between 1st November to Christmas Eve - the IKEA Foundation will donate $1.40 to UNICEF & Save the Children in underprivileged countries, access to vaccinations, clean water, sanitation, education & protection. 

This season they have released a CIRKUS themed collection of finger puppets clowns, animal softies & musical mice, who are fond of play & mischief.  They are safe, colourful & easy to wash.  Since 2003 Ikea's annual Soft Toys for Education campaign has raised over €35.2million, helping more than 8 million children in over 40 countries.

This year's target is €12million, to empower children in need.  Log onto IKEA FB page fans can send virtual toys with Christmas messages. 

Want to win all the toys pictured on this post??  Keep them for your children, share them with family, neighbours, friends or donate them to your favourite charity, just enjoy the happiness they will bring!!  Valued at over $25, just follow this blog & leave a comment at this post, winner randomly drawn on Sunday 18th December at 9p.m.  Good luck!!  Happy shopping & Allen key twirling with IKEA this Christmas.  Love Posie
Disclaimer: i wasn't paid in toys, favours or cash for this post, just happily spreading good news i believe in.

our creative space . . . 'simple & effective bauble strings'

Greetings all,
Simple & effective is how i'm rolling this week.  I'm living on the edge with my laptop, it's hanging in there but i'm all set to transfer to the children's fancier laptop at any moment.  Just in case i suddenly fall of the blogosphere, i'm busy 'moving' & swearing.  Sorry for the sudden halt of blog love, visits & comments!!  

So here's a quick little Christmas decoration idea for you - i picked up these cute coloured felt baubles at Lincraft this week, half price = $2.50 for a set of 16.  I thought they'd look cute on twine, hanging around the house this season.

 I snipped off the silver strings & measured out a length of twine.  Then from the centre , i started tying the baubles at even spaces in each direction towards the ends, to create this bauble string.  They look like a rainbow of lights.

 I was catching up with a friend last night - she likes quirky crafty cool things, so i made her one & popped it in a shallow box (paper bag cut down).  Took all of 5 minutes, yay!!

I met up her between 4-back-to-back-children's-dentist-appointments & my son's junior choir concert. Deep breath, i was chanting my 'simple & effective' mantra. It was a Christmas Carol concert with audience percussion participation (i was on the triangle).  It was really was sweet but we were home late & i still had to pack the car for today's market. Naturally while i'm waving arms around ushering children into showers & jammies, of COURSE they were hungry again, even though they had post-dentist sushi, then sausages & snacks at the concert . . . my husband rang SO i'm juggling baskets of market goods over the bike rack & tail gate with one arm (& you know my hand issues!!) Simple & effective, i'll get there, maybe Monday??
Want more crafty goodness, check out Our Creative Space, love Posie
Stay tuned folks, next week i have some cool PR + giveaways for Donna Hay & IKEA!!  Follow the blog so you don't miss out, they will both be quick drawes, so they can be shipped in time for Christmas.

our creative space . . . 'Spring cleaning & sticky hook magic'

Greetings all,

In my huge effort to Spring clean the house, declutter & get-things-up-off-the-floor . . . i've been busy with those sticky hooks.  We live in a rented Army house, we have to leave the walls unmarked (ha, our children would have to wear straight-jackets not to mark the walls) but those 3M hooks allow us to hang things, then remove them without a trace.  I wish this was a sponsored post, they're expensive but so good!! 

 Our study nook consists of 2 cheap IKEA desks; Flash Trash old trunks as seats; cheap finds from TYPO;  bird cage from The Reject Shop; Provincial lanterns; & cork board decorated with sports ribbons.  Everything but a power point, which would be handy, so we have a fantastic tripping hazard of an extension lead across the hallway.  Perfect - child trips & drags laptop off desk, both crash onto tiles together!!

 For authenticity - school holiday child in jammies at midday with unbrushed hair.  Child: stylist's own.

I found this TOWELS hook contraption at Bed, Bath & Table, $25.  Stick up a couple of hooks, hang rack & da dah, 4 towels for 4 children & they have each discovered the ability to hang their towels, all week.  Their arms aren't painted on after all.  It's meant to sit on screws/ bolt to the wall, but the hooks are holding nicely.  One day i'll hammer & bolt as many things i want to MY walls.
For more crafty creative spaces (not just peeling & glueing hooks to walls) visit Our Creative Space today, i'm just offering a public service of how to get things up off the ground to free up more time to be creative!!  Love Posie  

BEST Father's Day idea EVER at IKEA (i think it's really for the ladies)

Greetings all,

OK, so IKEA are the kings of invention, reinvention & thinking up new brilliant ideas to make shopping with them a bigger & better experience.  They've set up the IKEA Family programme, which in short, gives you easier access to product discounts & specials, free coffee & every swipe of your card donates money to charity, win win.

More recently, they've set up a parent programme, with pamphlets & forums into what parents like/ use/ want from IKEA nursery/ children's furniture & toys. 

 For disclosure i was sent these goodies in the hope i'd tell you about the Children's IKEA focus.  Just saying!!

 I have no issue promoting IKEA, it's budget & child friendly, just like me!!

 Of course, there was the fantastic IKEA SleepOver which i was a lucky attendee.

NOW . . . to celebrate Father's Day . . . the Sydney IKEA store is launching . . . MÄNLAND . . . no kidding, a place for ladies to sign their husbands into a Man Creche for 30 minutes of massages, games, on screen sports, table football, arcade games, drinks & a hot dog!!  Ladies - you'll even get a buzzer to come & pick up your man when his half hour is up.  See why i really think this Father's Day idea is really for the ladies!!

I for one would love this as my husband HATES shopping, he's a total drag & worse than a petulant toddler!!  Statistics have revealed 26% of couples have an argument in public about shopping (tick), 32% of ladies have lost their husbands while shopping (tick), 6% have resorted to simply abandoning their husband in a store (for peace & quiet, TICK).  So head along to IKEA in Homebush & check your husband into MÄNLAND on Thursday 1st September to Sunday 4th September, only 8 men per session!!  So worth the 3 hour drive, if my husband was home.
This all started out as a joke, mums would say they wished there was a creche for men, like the one they check their children into at the store.  Your wish has come true.  Enjoy ladies, love Posie

social commentary Sunday . . . 'celebrating Mother's Day' & IKEA giveaway winners

Greetings all,

EDIT: SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA GIVEAWAY WINNERS . . .

chosen by me - Jill at deux chiens et un garcon who wrote:
"as an old ikea employee(mid 80's) i still feel connected to those cheery sheets and doonas.  so lovely for you to offer as a giveaway.  I love sun dried sheets, warm bath to get all nice and crispy clean and then rubbing my feet along the goodness and snuggling down. Little man still loves his ealry moring visit/breast feed to begin our days.  Wishing you lots of man cuddles in the near future and for all your dreams to come true.  xo jill"

chosen by my husband - Laurel at Miss Muggins who wrote:
"I desperately need a new doona cover. I foolishly let my 16 year old borrow it (we did a swap for a week)and she got fake tan, blue pen and nailpolish all over it!  I can visualise Mr M and I snuggling in clean new bedlinen - and Miss A can keep her grubby mitts off it! ha ha!"

& chosen by the gadget, 1-93, comment 22, Mikaela at Mikaela Made who wrote:
"At the moment I'm sleeping with a coverless doona, so this would be perfect for me =P What keeps me warm? Like you Posie, hubs is good, but we also have the two labs and kitty cat snuggle with us on a weekend morn under the covers in our big bed, it is bliss! We are savouring these moments now as I guess it will all change in 4.5 months when baby #1 comes along..."

Congratulations ladies, all very special mummies & a mum-to-be, Happy Mother's Day!!  All worthy winners - a former IKEA employee; a mummy whose teenager ruined her linen; & a school teacher sleeping under a coverless donna!!  Please email me your postal address & your IKEA bedlinen will be at your place via courier shortly.
Thanks to IKEA & One Green Bean for this lovely giveaway, pleasure as always.

It's Mother's Day in Australia, yay for we mummies!!  Ever noticed that people poo poo Valentine's Day & similar "unnecessary commercial greed" occasions, yet no one messes with the day we worship our mothers & shower them with cards, gifts, jewels & flowers. 

I'm celebrating Mother's Day without the prompts, pomp or ceremony of my husband guiding the children to present breakfast in bed & behave flawlessly, but . . . some lovely mummies are taking me in for dinner tonight.  I have flowers ready for 3 super gorgeous mummies - mother of Handmade Market, mother of Shop Handmade & mother of my eldest daughter's friend-who-is-a-boy . . . this extra special lady has 4 sons, is living in a barn while they build a house in the country (this is her 4th Canberra Winter, brrrr, she has stamina & oozes positivity) + this week her number 3 son broke his arm, so she's been sleeping in a hospital bed - ONLY a mother could handle all that with grace & a smile. 

 I just adore these women, i'm talking wet-my-pants depth of laughter & our children have sleep overs kind of friendship!!  We're all mums, thrown together here in Canberra, mostly through our husband's work, left to create a community & network for ourselves.  You never know when amazing people are going to drop into your adult life, even when you're not advertising.

Wishing you all sunshine & happy memories today, a bunch of flowers (??), a day off the have-to & swap it with the love-to.  I'm off to Pilates, then bake dessert (meringue mousse), curl up with a magazine on the lounge & hear my children playing happily in the garden (read: away from me, tee hee).  Then jump in the car which has magically filled with fuel & head out to dinner.  I really find fuelling up the car such a chore, it's always so windy at service stations!! 

Remember my measure of motherhood is a full fruit bowl, mmmm, look at this seasonal goodness from the Farmer's Market.  I'm doing better already (thanks for yesterdays comments - you are the best cheerleaders in blogland, i love you!!) 

Finally, last chance to win this IKEA bedlinen, 3 sets to giveaway, drawn at 9p.m. tonight/ when i get home from dinner, just in case, i might be late, can you believe i'm a talker??!!  I should press the school uniforms & organise Monday lunch boxes now, humph.

Just because it's mother's day, please help yourself to an extra entry, to celebrate yourself or a mummy in your world.  Don't be shy or feel greedy!!  Leave a comment at the giveaway post & come back tonight to see if you're one of the lucky 3 winners at this post!!  Love Posie

PS 'twas carbonara for dinner (egg yolks) so i had the egg whites for the meringue - clear & clever thinking, i feel so alive, Autumn air, fresh produce, sewing, i'm giddy with calm.

snuggle down with this IKEA G I V E A W A Y

Greetings all,

It's IKEA G I V E A W A Y time again!!  Yahoo.  As Australia starts to get chilly in Autumn, it's snuggle time.  What better way to embrace the looming Winter months than with some pretty new bedlinen??

 Remember that really fun IKEA sleepover i was lucky enough to attend a few weeks back, sleeping over night in the bedding department at the Sydney IKEA store . . . well i can assure you the bedlinen is beautiful, comfortable & well priced too.

 The good PR people at One Green Bean & IKEA would love to offer 3 sets of ALVINE KVIST percale bedlinen sets to my followers.  Each set includes a queen 200x200cm Quilt Cover & 4 Pillow Slips, valued at $89.  Yes 3 to GIVEAWAY.

Make sure you're a follower of this blog & leave a comment at this post, simple!! 
Extra entries if you advertise this giveaway on your Blog, FB or Twitter too. 
Lucky winners - all 3 of you - to be drawn 9p.m. on Sunday 8th May (Mother's Day) - a nice back up gift just in case you don't fair well in the Mother's Day gift stakes!! 

I'd love to know which room in your home this beautiful bedlinen will liven up & who will be snuggling down under it.  How do you stay cosy in Winter - under a doona, next to a roasting fire, hot chocolates . . . I can assure you, i miss my husband more than ever in our brrrr Canberra Winter, he's my giant hot water bottle & chief hot chocolate brewer.  Good luck, love Posie

school holiday antics & the latest giveaway winner

Greetings all,
Ok, so it's been raining non stop for days, actually since the school holidays started (typical) & things have taken a turn for the worse . . . kidnapping.  Only not in the low tech fashion of my childhood, where i'd find my favourite toys missing & a hand written ransom note under my bedroom door or maybe an EtchASketch mystery message from my siblings . . . today's children photograph & SMS their siblings instructions on what to do if they want their toy's safe return, or email each other vital clues on where they might find their favourite giraffe, monster or rabbit.   

Upon downloading the latest images on my camera (always cause for concern with my cheeky children) i found some rather confusing images of Raffy Giraffe in all sorts of life threatening scenarios (no 'proof of life' though).  The images were to be emailed to Raffy's owner, our middle daughter, for her to find when she next logged on to her email.  Now just for reference & dramatic effect, this is the child voted by her siblings "Most Likely To Over React About Absolutely Every Single Thing" (especially anyone touching her beloved giraffes) i was thrilled i was able to intercept this evil plot, give stern warnings to the kidnappers to put Raffy exactly back where they found him & she'll never know/ implode/ explode/ over react.  I try to get through large family life by avoiding drama - seeing the train wreck coming & putting on the brakes, stop, deep breath & avert the crisis. 
So why upload this image to the internet??  The damage had already been done, the boy, the youngest, the child voted "Most Likely To Crack Under Pressure/ Dibber Dob" (especially if it involves anything untoward happening to his beloved middle sister) had already run off & told her all about the kidnapping. 

 How did i take my eye off the ball & let this kidnapping plot happen on my watch??

 Oh i don't know, maybe all the gorgeous sewing projects in my new Cath Kidston craft book??

 Reading the background story to the recipes in my new Collected cookbook??

 Wondering/ wishing/ dreaming why my vegetables never look as lush as Jamie's??

Do people really like doughnuts so much, that they'd bother to make them at home??  We're not a doughnut loving family but after seeing the Italian ones those fabulous cooking twins made in Junior MasterChef & now in this month's Donna Hay magazine, maybe they are a homemade taste sensation worth the messy, sticky effort??

So sorry, forgot to publicly announce the 300th Post Hot Pink Giveaway winner - it was lucky comment number 89 who is . . . Rebecca from Sewing Belle blog, a super sweet mummy of 3 all the way at the bottom of Western Australia.  Congratulations Bec & happy travels with your family for your big holiday.
Thanks everyone for entering, i have a couple of new giveaways coming up, from IKEA & Lego - you won't want to miss them, follow & stay tuned, love Posie

the FIRST IKEA Sydney sleepover

Greetings all,
Well what can i say, this was SO MUCH FUN!!  Thank you One Green Bean for inviting me & IKEA for the awesome hospitality at the sleepover last night in Sydney.  10000 ladies across Australia entered & 25 lucky girls were chosen to attend the party with their best friend, for the ultimate sleepover party in everybody's favourite furniture department store. 

 After changing into pyjamas & gowns, we were invited into Smalland where we got to play up like our children in the ball pit, see saws & just go nuts, it was a blast.

 I might mention now we had male models to wait on us all night & play with us too!!

 The night was filled with television cameras & interviews, IKEA will be making a movie & the Today Show will televise it on Sunday morning (channel 9) - their sweet reporter was very brave in the ball pit in that dress!! 

 Then we went on a treasure hunt to find the bedding we'd be sleeping in (& get to keep in an Oprah style "you get a doona" kind of fashion) so a haul of sheets, quilt cover set + doona of our choice (warm for Canberra) & pillow to suit how you sleep (i'm a side/ belly sleeper - i slept like a baby with my new pillow).

 While my bedding was being delivered to bed number 11 . . . we dined at pretty tables with flowers & heard from the volunteer manager of Bear Cottage (the hospice for terminally ill children which IKEA Family supports - they donated $5000 to them on the night, $100 for every lady at the sleepover).

 I was behind a queue of hungry meat ball lovers, but i went for salmon & vegetables, oh & a muffin & a chocolate mousse & a bread roll & a slice of cake & an organic juice - no, i didn't eat it all at once!!

 After dinner we were escourted to the bedding department which was about to be transformed into a massive sleepover party by making up all the beds!!

 Check it out, Johnsons&Johnsons bags filled with incredible products . . . i'm sharing my bounty with my daughters (my son has already taken the toothbrush) & my darling Shop Handmade girls!!  Thank you J&J - loving it all.

 Now where are these guys when i'm making up all the beds at my home??  They seriously took love & care with my hospital corners (they found out my husband was military & knew i'd have standards) & even turned down my bed like seasoned housekeepers at the Intercontinental.

 Oh yes, really, sleeping in the bedding department!!

 It was very well organised, we felt very welcome, thanks ladies!!

 I was bam smack in the middle of all the beds, so guess where the cameraman on the ladder was . . . RIGHT above me, taking all the shots of us ALL in bed at the same time.  I was thinking about the most flattering chin angle i could pose while fake sleeping!!

 Complimentary slippers, check.

 There were activities all night . . . this fortune teller was hilarious.

 Oh heavenly, massages for everyone.

 Manicures were very popular late into the night.

 There were best friends having a great girlie catch up.  Lots of pyjama chat too - i went into Peter Alexander in Chatswood at lunchtime to pick out a new set of jammies & a robe, only to find another lucky IKEA sleepover lady doing the same thing - what are the chances??  So we made sure we chose different sets & caught up at the event - turns out, she teaches as my old school!!

  Girls giving midnight DIY a go, as you do!!

 These lucky ladies had a full room set up as their bedroom for the night, ah serenity (these mummies have 9 children between, a tranquil night off indeed).

 We were all settling in & making new friends, talking late into the night.

 The male models brought around chilled bottles of water & sparkling apple cidar. 

 Mmmm midnight snacks.

 It's not a girlie sleepover without chick flicks - first up "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" & "Valentine's Day" which amazingly are girlie movies i was happy to watch.

 This chill out zone was popular, what better way to spend a Friday night, flopped out with girlfriends in front of big screens - i had a neat view of both from my bed!!  Look at this lovely lady in her pretty night gown, she was gorgeous, truly a night for girls of all ages.

 Oh, more food . . . a full breakfast & no, couldn't finish all this either!!

 Oh yes, we all ROLLED out of IKEA in the morning, so well looked after, filled bellies, whole new range of bedlinen & every possible toiletry a girl could ever want for + new friends. 

 This was how i left my hire car at sunset on Friday night, told you i hired the smallest car possible!!

So there you have it, the first ever sleepover at IKEA in Australia, a huge night of fun & freebies . . . rumour has it Melbourne is next??!!  Stay tuned, love Posie
EDIT: yes, i did get some sleep, about 2-6a.m. - i can't watch Valentine's Day with the soldier reunion part without crying my eyes out so i went to sleep early & . . . yes, i was on my own, i was the only solo girl there, my gal pal Abi couldn't come at the last minute (some excuse about not leaving an 8y.o. home alone, her husband was working, & responsible parenting, whatever) but there will be a GIVEAWAY of lots of IKEA goodies!!