Thursday 29 May 2014

Thrifted Fashion

Wow, things have gotten busy lately and, clearly, I have been neglecting my blog. Here is a quick little outfit post to try get back into the swing of things. This outfit is almost entirely thrifted from Salvos in North Adelaide. The shoes are, of course, my old faithfuls from the Shoe Shed  and the scarf is another favorite that I got so long ago that I can't remember where I bought it.


Monday 5 May 2014

Little Things make an Outfit

I love layering my clothes. Why? because it's the little additions that make an outfit for me. A cute dress or top only goes so far an outfit needs a great necklace or a hat to finish it off. For this outfit I added a black wool beret I found at Salvos for $1, a pretty scarf and some pattered stockings to make an alright outfit into something really nice.
Hat and Belt: Salvos // Dress and Stockings: Big W // Scarf: Random little shop i.e. I can't remember! (Similar found Here or Here)


   To get this look with the scarf i looped it round my neck and tied the ends together to make it a temporary infinity scarf! This outfit really has my favorite accessories: hats, scarves, belts and pattered stockings - the only thing missing is a statement necklace!

Friday 2 May 2014

Cinnamon Rolls

The other day I made these amazing cinnamon rolls based off of a recipe I found on one of my favorite blogs The Cloakroom at Victoria Station:



Cinnamon Rolls

From The Cloakroom at Victoria Station

Dough:
1 cup warm water
2 tsp honey
2 tsp yeast
2 cups of white flour
1 tsp sea salt
2 Tbs olive oil
Combine yeast, warm water and honey and proof for ten minutes until foamy. Add 2 cups of flour, salt and olive oil and combine until it forms a soft dough (you may need a little extra flour to keep the dough from being sticky). Let dough rise for 1 hour until doubled in size and then punch it down and roll it out into a rectangle. I rolled it out quite thin which made it hard to handle but they tasted fantastic in the end.

Filling:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Pour butter over rectangle of rolled out dough. Spread around with your freshly washed hand. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over dough making sure to sprinkle all the way to the edges. Roll the dough up, making a long skinny roll (you want roll the short sides together of the rectangle so that you will have lots of cinnamon rolls rather than a few very fat cinnamon rolls). Cut with a sharp knife to make 2-3cm wide wheels. Let rise for another 45 minutes and then bake in a preheated 180 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

Icing:
2 cups of powdered sugar
2 Tbs butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (opt, but recommended)
1/4 cup milk

Whisk ingredients together until smooth and pour evenly over baked cinnamon rolls about 5 minutes after pulling them out of the oven. I used half the icing recipe as I had run out of icing sugar... it was fine but I highly recommend following the full recipe, it sounds like a lot but it's really yummy!

They are best eaten fairly quickly but I was eating them at the end of the week after a 30 second burst in the microwave to freshen them up and they were just amazing warm!

Sunday 27 April 2014

Closet Orphans Outfit and the ultimate distraction!

Wow, I meant to post this at the beginning of the week but I just didn't get around to it! This is one of the main reasons:
Meet Tribbles! 
 She is very cute... but thinks my computer key board is a playground! But, on with it, you remember this top:

I wore it into town to do the grocery shopping (yes I lead a highly exciting life!) I figured out my biggest problem with it was the fact it was strapless... I just don't wear strapless tops very often. How to fix this: I wore it over a black tank top. The colour still makes it hard to pair with many outfits but I felt comfortable and was very happy with how it turned out:

Friday 18 April 2014

Last Minute Meal - Alfredo Pasta for 2

Sometimes when it gets to the end of the shopping week and there isn't much food around and it's been a busy day I have to find something quick and easy for dinner. When this happens I turn to Alfredo Pasta. It's so easy and still tastes good! This was one of the first things I learnt to make when I left home as my housemate at the time gave me the recipe!



Alfredo Pasta for 2

Ingredients: 
  • 250g Pasta
  • 25g Butter
  • 150ml Cream
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese 
  • Pinch of Nutmeg (or more to taste)
  • salt and pepper to taste
 Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water until al dente. Drain and keep warm.

Heat butter and 2/3 of the cream in  a large frying pan. simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the pasta to the warmed cream and toss to coat. Add the remaining Cream and slowly add the Parmesan stirring as you go to ensure it melts evenly. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper, toss again and serve immediately.

I serve it with more nutmeg and some pepper sprinkled on top but my husband prefers more Parmesan.

Have a great Easter everyone!    

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Wardrobe Orphans

Every time I clean out my wardrobe there are a few items that I just can't get rid of... but, for one reason or another, I never actually wear them. I thought I should challenge myself to find some ways to wear them or I couldn't justify keeping them. So I am starting a series of posts on these wardrobe orphans to find ways to use them. In this post I will introduce you to a few pieces in my wardrobe and over the next few weeks I will show you a few ways I have found to wear them.

So the first item:

I loved this top when I first bought it and I did wear it... back when my style consisted of jeans and top for a night out. Now my style has evolved it seems to casual, on its own, for a night out but I have never transitioned it to daytime wear. Now it's time to do Just that.

The second item:

  I can't remember when or were I bought this top. I love the lace and the design of the top but it has always seemed too gothic for my style. I love the detail of the lace:
I am determined to find a place for this top in my regular wardrobe.

The last item: 
 This top was given to me by one of my good friends. I love the bright pink colour which you can really see in this close up of the lining:
I'm not really sure why I haven't worn it... again I think it has to do with my thinking I should be wearing it out at night not just for grocery shopping and other errands. 

Now I can't wait to try find outfits to wear them in!  

Tuesday 15 April 2014

A Night Out

It's been a busy week, but not in a bad way, my husband has taken a few days off work so we have been doing some shopping and even went and saw a movie. I have been working on a couple of projects... but not quite finished any of them.... will update soon. In the mean time... here's an outfit i have worn recently!
Hat: ebay // Top: ebay //  Necklace: lovisa (sale item - no longer available) // Jeans: Jay Jays (Similar) // Boots: The Shoe Shed

Monday 7 April 2014

A Thrifty Outfit

Hi there, I love fashion and at one point I used to spend a lot of time shopping and trying to scrimp and save to buy fancy clothes. More and more, these days, i'm finding that most of my outfit cost a few dollars from the local salvos. The best part? I can spend more money on other things I love... like shoes!

Hat, Skirt and Belt: Salvos // Necklace: gift from brother // T-shirt: Big W // Shoes: Shoe Shed
 This out fit was very cheep the hat and belt both cost $1 each while the skirt was expensive (for salvos) at $5 I think I paid about $8 for the T-shirt (not 100% sure as i have has it for a while... its one of my favorites)
thanks for stopping by!
A

Thursday 3 April 2014

Men's Shirt Refashion

When I sorted through our closet before renovations (I will post about this later) I found my husband had heaps of old shirts that I haven't seen him wear in years. After checking with him I snatched them for myself. I have seen heaps of men's shirt refashions that I love and have great plans for some of them. For the first shirt I just chopped off the sleeves and sewed them under then took in the sides so it fit nicely. I used the leftover fabric from the sleeves to create a tie around the neck. I like how it turned out but I hate home much it creases up... I HATE ironing!

Love the print on this shirt
 I Paired my new top with a cute skirt I found at Vinnies thrift store for $4!
Shirt: refashioned // Skirt: Vinnies (similar )
Thanks for stopping by
A

Tuesday 1 April 2014

Some Fur

I love pieces that can add interest to an outfit, therefor this faux fur vest is one of my favorite pieces. I especially like it at this time of year when the weather is starting to cool down, it adds interest and warmth!

I found this vest at my local Salvation Army store for $10. this is a bit expensive for me but this vest was so fabulous I was happy to pay that much.

vest: Salvos (similar)
skirt: refashioned from dress
boots: The Shoe Shed (similar)
  Have a great day.
A

Friday 28 March 2014

A New Unit

When we bought our house my husband and I moved from a large four bedroom rental, with massive rooms, to a smaller 3 bedroom home. This caused a few issues as we had bought our furniture to fill the vast spaces of our old house.
 As you can see this TV unit clearly doesn't fit into our more modest lounge room! we had spent some money to buy this one new and I didn't feel like shelling out for another new unit so I started to explore the possibilities (i.e. spending far too much time trawling through Pinterest and some beloved home decor blogs). I found this one on Pinterest from Our Blue Front Door:
  So the hunt was on for the perfect chest of draws for me to turn into a T.V. unit, had just a few requirements: it had to be solid, cheap and made out of wood - to fit in with the country cottage vibe I had planned for our house. Eventually I came across the perfect piece:

  
This dresser was old, dirty and had the most horrible paint job but underneath it was solid wood and with a little TLC I knew it would be perfect. I took off the mirror, stripped back the paint and added a shelf were the top draw used to be. Its addition to the lounge room has really opened it up making it feel much bigger! here is the finished product: 




have a nice day.

A

Thursday 27 March 2014

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my new blog! i'm new to the blogging world and i'm trying to get everything sorted out. will be posting content soon. if you like cooking, craft or refashioning please stop in and check it out.

Have a good day!

A