That's a Wrap..

Well, yesterday was a very productive day! I finally got my new sewing machine (after my previous one of only 4 months started playing up!) along with my new sander and upholstery gun, which meant I could finally finished Project Number 2 - 'The Toy Box'!

This piece was one of those things I brought home where dear hubby raises one eyebrow and gives me 'that look'. You know the one I mean - the 'That Should Be In Somebody's Dumpster Right Now, Not In Our Living Room' look. And I don't blame him to be honest. It was damaged, a bad colour and just plain hideous.. BUT I saw past all of that and saw the potential in it to be the last piece of furniture I needed to complete Miss 4's new room :o)

I took the lid off the hinges and ripped up that old peachy cover thing, which then turned out to be like 'Pass The Parcel' because after I pulled the first layer off , there was another random layer underneath! Lol
So 4 layers later it was back to the original lid which needed a good clean and sand, and I also repaired the slight damage to the body..

Few coats of paint later and we were getting somewhere! I found this gorgeous chic floral material in my stash that I thought would look wonderful. I then set the lid with padding (to make it more like a settee on top) and attempted my first try of upholstering with my new gun. It went better than I expected, though I look forward to learning some more about it all!

Screwed the lid back on and I was done...  not bad for a couple of dollars & it holds all of Miss 4's goodies with room for more!

I love that is practical now not only for her toys, but as extra seating in her room too - Let me know what y'all think!

Oh, and here is a Project Number 3 sneaky peek :o)

Smiles and Happiness, Haylie xx

Baby Steps...

Well here I am on my new blog mission - 2 posts in 24hrs, not bad hey?! Lol

I thought I would start sharing my new found creative passion with you all as I run with what is inspiring me currently, and post how it actually all started.

Quick Note - After becoming addicted to Restore Interiors by the lovely Kelli Wright only recently, I have since learnt to photograph your pieces in great light before AND after your restoration...  So sorry in advance to the poor pictures I had already taken, and I have put a new camera on my birthday list (hint, hint hubby!).

I wanted a few pieces of wooden doll furniture for my Miss 4's new shabby chic room (which you can see come together here in From Tink to Chic) and knew that I either had find a budget I didn't have to buy them brand new, or try my hand at restoring some pre-loved items.

I found this great little hand made wooden cradle for a steal online just before Christmas. Once again, excuse the picture. I had more on my iPhone but have recently updated to the iPhone 4S and lost my last few shots - so this is all I have of the cradle  before :o(

I then found a cute little high chair on a garage sale site that was only $4!! Bargain...

After sanding & prepping I decided to paint the cradle in a White Gloss (oh my smurf - gloss paint is hideous to work with & I am trying ever so hard to source an Australian supplier of Annie Sloan chalk paints & waxes!!!) - If you find one or know of one PLEASE let me know!!!

I finished off with a light distressing of the cradle and the same on the high chair. I wanted to make the two pieces a little more vintage feeling, so I added these two moldings to both - which I think worked perfectly!

I still have the bedding to finish off, but had the cutest material ready for it - and Dolly was happy to help too for photo purposes! :o)

So all in all, I am happy with project number 1 - Baby Steps - and am actually almost finished project number 2!! A sneak peek of what's coming up perhaps?!?!

HIDEOUS AT THE MOMENT - but watch this space!

Hope all is going well in your creative space!

Smiles & Happiness, Haylie xx

7 Months Later...

Forgive me Blogger Gods, for I have sinned.
It has been 7 months since my last Blog....

Yes, 7 MONTHS!! And yet, when I started this blog, I thought I would be on here a few times a week! Well, at least ONCE a week at a minimum. But life just takes over at times, and until one has been fully bitten by the 'blogger bug' I think it is just another business tool that some of us think of as "I'd better get onto this blogging business that everyone else is doing, to keep up with the rest of the social media world!"

But I have discovered recently it can be much, much more than that. I'd watch others on Facebook or Pinterest talk about how they LOVE such-n-such's blog, or that they are excited that (insert business/person)'s new blog post has just been published. And honestly to me, it seemed like a LOT of random reading trying to keep up with all these writings!

 

You see, I was feeling a little lack of inspiration for Little Miss Fascinated since the Christmas break. Well before then even to be honest, and those of you that are avid followers of my facebook page would have noticed the lack of posting and goings on with it all.

I think the hardest thing to do was to actually admit it.

Being a WAHM comes with a lot of guilt that you're not pulling your weight work/financially at times for your family when you lose your creative mojo. And as much as I tried, I just couldn't find ANY inspiration to feel creative again. Suddenly, just opening the doors to my office came with this overwhelming feeling of sadness, frustration and guilt for not wanting to even enter the room. And the LAST thing I ever wanted to feel was pressured & burdened into being creative..

Then something interesting happened... I discovered another passion that has simply engulfed me!

I am in love with restoring furniture....   Yes, TOTALLY random I know. And not really a money maker (as of yet) but I am slowly becoming ok with the fact that more than anything, it has finally restored (no pun intended! Lol) my creative mojo. And I have one person to thank for helping get to this place recently..  And that is the GORGEOUS Kelli Wright from Restore Interiors.

This fabulous mother of 3 has one of the most amazingly creative talents I have ever seen - she literally breathes life into old pieces of furniture and items, giving them a whole new lease of life.

I have always been a garage sale/op shop queen and on many occasion have brought something home with a vision of what I could creatively do with it to re-vamp some new life into it. Though I never thought I had the craftiness or talent to actually do something totally new & transforming with something from start to finish. The mental picture was always there, I just didn't know where to start. Until I found Kelli's blog!

So now I can confidently say, I have been bitten by that earlier mentioned 'blogger bug', because the day I discovered Kelli's blog I literally read the ENTIRE blog from start to finish in one go and am now waiting on baited breath for her next post! Lol...  NOW I UNDERSTAND, FELLOW BLOG ADDICTS!!!!

So I look forward to getting this blog & my creative mojo back up & running, and although it may not be about hair clips & fascinators like I originally intended - it will be about me, and the new life I am breathing into myself and my creative side once again. For those of you still trying to find your own mojo, all I can say is don't be afraid to look in directions you never possibly thought of before - it may not be in what you want or even expect, but it is there waiting for you and you will find it again...

Thanks to you all for popping over here & I hope you all stick around - I think it's going to be one heck of a ride!

Smiles and Happiness, Haylie xx

From Tink to Chic..

The Renovation is Complete!! I had so much fun on Saturday transforming Little Miss 3's bedroom into a shabby chic wonderland, with everything coming together perfectly! I have a space on one wall where I would like to put a big print, a chandelier to purchase and a few slight touch-ups to perform, but I wanted to share the almost finished product with everyone that has followed me on the journey thus far....


So, firstly - the BEFORE pics!

 A bit of mix matched furniture from over the years!

 

 Little Miss 3 in her Tinkerbell bed!

 

 This is the set of drawers she had as a newborn!

 Even Tinker on the walls too of course! Lol

And now THE NEW ROOM!!!!

This is the spot on the wall I am yet to find a picture or print for..

I LOVE that she has proper curtains instead of blinds! 

(Thanks Nanny for your awesome sewing efforts!)

This mirror is my favourite buy of the new room - I LOVE it!

Her gorgeous new tallboy...

I LOVE this this little set of drawers!!

I love that my mother is as sentimental as me - this was MY bedspread that was on my bed 30+ years ago..

She had kept it all this time packed away, and now my little miss has the same bedspread her Mumma had as a little girl...

Her Earth Angel from Made By Niss - one of the first things I ever bought off Facebook!

 This was her new-room-warming present from her Nanny..

 Some quick do-it-yourself Art Work (Thanks Nic from Buttons Dior for the tutorial!!)

And finally, her new hair accessories box!

So there you have it!! From Tink to Chic in a day (well, over a few weeks of collecting items - Lol) and apart from her tallboy that we got new-ish, everything else was from ebay / op shops / items I re-vamped etc...

A room fit for a princess and she absolutely LOVES it!  Let me know what you all think!

Now for Master 5's room.....  hmmmmm????  Lol

Smiles & Happiness, Haylie x

Just Another Day... Or Not?

I just celebrated another birthday.....   And for all the people that wanted to make a big fuss about it, my single reply was "It's just another day". Nothing has changed, the calender of life has simply clicked over by 365 days and when you get to my age (mid 30's) birthdays are about clowns, balloons & Toy Story invitations for your children - not making a big deal about your own. I am actually looking forward to a quiet day & night of pottering around my house and later curling up with my new book...  boring to some, heaven to me.

My husband comes home from work to tell me he has organised a baby-sitter and we have dinner reservations in a very fancy restaurant this evening. WOW - SUPER EXCITED!! Not only at the fact that I get an uninterrupted night with my super gorgeous husband, but I actually get to go out like a grown-up without hearing 'Put that down / Stop hitting your brother / Inside voice please" come out of my mouth for a whole night!!!!

Dinner is booked for 7pm, so I jump in the shower at 5pm and proceed to do the ritual of hair / make-up / outfit mission, all the while thinking "I will put a little more effort in than the usual slap-on of make-up or tied back hair because it is a special occasion & I am going out as a WOMAN with my gorgeous husband"...

An hour later, there are hair dryers, curling irons, discarded clothes and an abundance of make up from one side of the bedroom to the other - and I am almost EXHAUSTED from this womanly ritual of getting oneself ready! I think to myself while applying a second coat of mascara - "How do woman do this daily for work or even weekly for girls nights out??" because I am ready to put on my Pj's, make a coffee and curl up with my book! All of this effort for "Just Another Day", but instead, we jump in the car & are off to dinner...

Dinner was lovely, and it did feel nice to be out and about in the world, but weirdly enough it wasn't my world. Twenty-somethings running & giggling through the mall... groups of people ready to go out clubbing.... it all seemed so distant from my normal reality. When hubby asked if I wanted to go to the Casino after dinner, or maybe a walk through Surfers Paradise all I could say was 'Baby, I wanna go home'... By this stage, my hair had gone frizzy, my feet were starting to ache from the high heels I made myself wear 'to put more womanly effort in' (instead of my comfy flat lace up boots!), my face felt heavy from all the make up I had on, and I now had a full belly - which in my world, meant bedtime was not far away.

On the drive home I found myself thinking about the irony of the situation...  As a Mum, and a Work AT HOME Mum, you spend a lot of time wishing you could escape those four walls more often, even just to grab a coffee; that you could have more opportunities to be a woman instead of a routine caregiver; that you could leave the comfy trackie pants in the clothes hamper and finally put on that dress you were given for Xmas 2yrs ago but never went anywhere to wear....  And yet, when I got the chance to do all of these things, my whole being was yearning to be home in the comfort of all I sometimes wish to escape.

Flash forward 30 mins and I am stepping out of the shower, hair shampooed, conditioned and tied back in a neat plait, pajamas on, cuppa in one hand, book in the other heading over to our comfy old lounge that is sitting there ready to welcome me back like another member of the family.

I sit down with the biggest smile on my face since 5pm that day and think, is it really 'Just Another Day'??

No it's not. It's my birthday, I'm getting older...  and I'm ok with that.

Long gone are the days of nightclubs, heavy makeup & must have fashion; and honestly, I don't miss them one bit! I now admire Mothers who continue to have a social life, because the tiring thought of it alone makes me reach for my pillow and curl up that little bit tighter.

Laying in bed at 11.30pm as I drift off to sleep I realise...  All of those things I thought I longed for outside of these familiar four walls are so foreign and uncomfortable to me that they could never compare to the safe, warm security blanket I have created on the inside of them - and I so wouldn't have it any other way.
Happy Birthday to me...

Smiles & Happiness, Haylie x