How to make a hippy-dippy denim shoulder bag.

25 November 2013

For some unknown reason, denim has a special place in my heart. Maybe it's my 70s Uni days. Maybe it's that my mother abhorred it to the point that when I bought my first pair of denim jeans with my own hard-earned cash, I had to hide them in my bottom drawer and secretly stroke them ... but NEVER wear them.

Sad, but true! Ladies did not wear denim. And certainly not denim with a fly at the front! Ladies wore pants with zips at the side or the back. Zips at the front were only worn by THOSE types of girls. And, yes, my precious Levi's were soon discovered and removed from my possession.

Thus, I become distressed when I wander through the swathes of no-longer-loved and hardly-ever-worn denim apparel at my local Salvos. Jeans, skirts, jackets, shorts, vests ... bought with, perhaps much excitement, then cast aside when jeans suddeny had to be thinner ... or wider ... or lower ... or denim had to be darker ... or lighter ... or ripped.

I have to up-cycle denim. Re home it. Relove it.

And, hence, the hippy-dippy denim shoulder bag was born!

read article

How to make a tee pee ... finally.

15 November 2013

Yes, at last, I've done as promised: I've made the tee pee for my Great-nieces. The tee pee that started the bedroom make over not so long ago. But, not only did I make one for them, I also made one for Marigold's family's youngest, my Great-nephew. My house is, at the moment, under attack by small cone-shaped abodes.

read article

How to make your own dishwasher tablets ... you've got to be kidding!

8 November 2013

I love my sister. She's older, wiser ... most of the time ... and it's seems of late becoming wonderfully eccentric. As I leave from a visit to her home she hands me a gift ... home made dishwasher tablets. "Try them. I'll give you the recipe, if you like."

Now that we're both retired and have, supposedly, time on our hands, we get to dabble in all things obscure. Home made dishwasher tablets was not what I expected her to be making in her non-working time. But, it seems she is.

Carefully encased in a zip-lock bag were around eight strangely ice-cube looking dish washer tablets ... my gift.
"Just drop them in the bottom of the dishwasher."
"What about Rinse Aid?" I ask.
"Nope, you don't need it."
"What, not even vinegar or anything?"
"You could use vinegar if you like, but you won't need it."

So, I mean, I have to give them a go. She is my older-wiser-sister after all. And they worked. They worked, in fact, VERY well. Gleaming dishes and sparkling glasses emerged from my dishwasher, much to my surprise. No vinegar rinse aid, no nothing. I think she's onto something here. I have to give this a go myself.

So, off I go to Woolieworths to get the supplies. I have to venture to my most favourite store, Bunnings for the Borax and I'm set. But I delay. This is insane! Will making my own dishwasher tablets mean I have to grow dreadies, wear weird leather sandals and velvet harem pants??

My ingredients wait patiently for me to make my move.

read article