How To: My Desk Makeover!

What you will need:

- Old desk
- Sanding blocks (2 medium & 1 fine)
- Wood Glue (Gorilla)
- Screws
- Screw driver
- Nails
- Hammer
- 1 liter Paint (White Pascol Water Based Enamel Gloss)
- Small paint brush
- Roller
- Paint tray

*Please note that for this particular desk I only took apart some sections of the drawers that were loose, the lid part, all handles, all legs, and replaced the base. Your desk may need more or less.

Step 1. First I took apart section by section (whole desk part, drawers parts, handles).

Step 2. I then sanded every side of every piece of the section I was working with first with the medium to roughen it up for the paint to stick, and finished with the fine so it was nice and smooth. (don't forget to sand the handles and legs if you are planning on reusing them)

Step 3. Then with the section I was working with I put a line of glue along one side, stuck the joining piece on and quickly hammered and/or screwed into place to keep secured. I wanted to use screws because it is the sturdiest option, and the glue just to really make sure. 

Step 4. Pour some paint into the tray, get some paint on the roller and away you go! I used the small paint brush first to get into the nooks and crannys, especially with the drawers. Let it dry, quick sand with the fine block, and give second coat.

Step 5. Put back together any remaining parts of the desk. For me my drawers were put together before I painted and my whole desk was still one. The handles, legs, and lid of the desk were painted before screwing back into place. This worked well for me with making the painting part quicker and easier.


Voila!


This took me 1 full day of taking apart, sanding, and first coat paint. Then a second night of second paint coat. And I also did a third paint coat another night. Then one night was quick putting it back together. So for me a total of 1 full day, and 3 short nights.



Good luck with YOUR project! Comment below what you are working on.

Coconut Flour VS Almond Flour - Which is better?

It seems as though everyone is jumping on the Clean Eating band wagon.

There are a lot of new products you will come across that everyone will have only positive things to say... so how do you really know?


Here are some reasons you may want to avoid or limit Almond Flour.


1. How many Almonds?

A cup of Almond Flour = 90 Almonds

Could you sit there and eat even 30 almonds? I would think that as a bit of a struggle, but 1/3 cup Almond Flour in your pancake and you wouldn't bat a lid. Just think of the calories!

2. It is not heat stable

This relates to the fancy shmancy chemistry of breaking the bonds leading to oxidising the fatty acids = free radicals = cell damage = no no!


3. High in enzyme inhibitors

This is a problem for the digestive system. Enzymes are necessary for digestion, such as that of carbohydrates and fats. This can lead to bloating and stomach pains.


4. It has PUFAS 
- slows down metabolism
- slows down thyroid function
- inhibits detoxification
- depletes antioxidants
- encourages estrogen (weight gain, PMS, acne)



Are you picking up what I'm putting down?



If you are going to continue your Almond habit, try soaking them first in water. This will make it a lot easier for your body to digest.


Coconut flour is a healthier choice. It is grain free, safe to heat, and not toxic to the body. The oil in coconut flour is a proven superfood and highly recommended for boosting your metabolism, and yes you guessed it, weight loss!

A little bit goes a long way so remember cooking with coconut flour is not a 1:1 ratio so check your recipe online.



BUT

Ultimately remember that you can have it all... in moderation.




What are your thoughts on Coconut VS Almond flour? Send in your recipes to be featured!

Ways To Entertain Your Toddler While Feeding The Baby

Congratulations on your new little arrival!


Having a new born is a lot of work, so if you already have a toddler as well then have a look at these tips. They may come in handy for when you need to give bub your full attention (such as during a feed).



1. It can be as easy and simple as a Colouring Book with some pencils (no mess, no fuss, therefore does not require 100% attention).

2. Imagination Box - filled with easy to find items, that may or may not have a specific use. This allows for creative play. A hair ribbon can easily become a gymnastics ribbon for them to twirl around with. 

Some ideas to put in the box include:
- ribbons
- wooden toys
- cookie cutter shapes
- blocks
- maracas (home make with empty plastic bottle filled with rice)

3. Large puzzle piece set.

4. Kid Friendly Photo Album (have one just for the children, or give them some photos so they can make their own).

5. Toddler Friendly Apps for the iPad or iPhone

Try these:
- Dr Seuss's ABC  $3.99
- Wheels on the Bus $1.99
- Kidzongs Preschool sing-along fun $0.99
- Tozzle Toddler's favourite puzzle $1.99
- Toddler Flashcards $1.99

6. CDs (music, or read along books) & DVDs (Baby Einstein, Sesame Streeet)

Good Luck!



What's YOUR favourite way to keep your little one occupied? Comment below and share your fantastic ideas!

 











P.S If all else fails, just give them an empty box. I remember the joys of this as a child! 

And this sums it up perfectly....

How To STOP Telemarketers From Calling

Telemarketer is the profession involving a person or computerised message calling in order to promote or sell you something. The reason why a lot of people do not like Telemarketers, and hence they have a bad name, is because they can be quite pushy, pesky, and almost always seem to call at the wrong time (sometimes innappropriate hours of the early morning or late night). 

If you are a Telemarketer please try not to take offence to this post. I am not trying to further bad mouth you and your profession (we all need to make money somehow), however I am giving some tips in how you can respect a person's wish to not be contacted anymore.



In other words.... Here are the SECRETS a Telemarketer will not tell you.




Step 1: Answer the phone.
Step 2: Speak with the Telemarketer, then say calmly and clearly, "Please put me on your do not call list" and stay on the phone until they've said, "Yes". 

This makes it clear and obvious to them that you are definitely not interested.

All of them CAN do this. There is an internal list, where it is as simple as them clicking a button. 

If you hang up they will call again. If you say you're busy and cant talk right now, they will call again. This happens because they are holding on to any chance that you may be interested. This is just how their job is. So you need to make it very clear and obvious that you are not interested at all, and do not want to be contacted again. Ever. 



(But also don't forget sometimes they are calling you to support a charity, or offering you a free service to see if you can get cheaper electricity with someone else, so don't always reject them straight away. Sometimes. Just sometimes, it may actually be something worth listening to.)



The main thing is do not get angry. Remember, they are a person too just like you and me. And they have a job, just like you and me. If you are nice to them then they will be a nice human being back. And if they are not then go up one further step and ask to speak with their manager.




 


Australia has a website, formed by the Australian Government, that you can register your numbers to help reduce telemarketers. Click here.

FYI Telstra acknowledges this process on their website, "Telstra supports the Do Not Call Register and respects our customers' right to privacy."



America has a website, formed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, that you can register your numbers to help reduce telemarketers. Click here. 







 

What's it like where you live? Comment below if you have this problem and how to solve it, or if you're lucky and live somewhere with laws against it.

5 of My Favourite Wedding Table Decoration Ideas

I don't know why but for some reason I really enjoy browsing through table decoration ideas.
This is a strange realisation because I think I assumed that every bride-to-be goes straight for the dresses but so far my order of events have been 1. Booked venue, 2. Bought the picture frames I want our wedding pictures in, 3. Research the shoes I want to wear (then found them and cried at the price), 4. Ask bridal party, and now 5. Table decorations.... Because this order makes sense.... Right?
(On some level this really tells you a lot about me haha)

Here are some of my favourite ideas so far:

1. Check out this cute idea for the champagne bottles, perhaps it could be for the ones on the bridal party table. The idea is to have two champagne bottles, one covered in a suit and bow tie and the other in a wedding dress. I have not seen this one before and think it is so cute and quirky!

Image from Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 23.

Click here to find these cuties on ebay.



2. This one is definitely something I'll be doing at my wedding because I've seen it done a few different ways and love the style of a very tall, thin vase with big, almost overflowing flowers on top. It would also be really helpful because your guests will be able to see everything including each other at the table, rather than have an obstacle in their face.  This looks oh so very simple yet chic.

Image from http://www.sirromet.com/barrel-hall/w1/i1104343/

3. Another trend going on is to bring the outdoor in. This gives a rustic feel which is a very popular style right now. I don't know why but rustic is everywhere, everyone is doing it, I've always loved it and now that it's my turn ofcourse it's what everyone else is doing. But that's ok because it means easy access and I get to see all the great ideas people are coming up with. It gives a very earthy, warm and romantic feel, especially hanging tea light candles on the tall branches/twigs as well as placing candles around the base.

Image from http://www.sirromet.com/barrel-hall/w1/i1104343/

4. This is a brilliant idea! Again another I will be wanting to do. Having your table numbers as pictures of the bride and groom at that age. I've also seen other ideas where they've used the numbers as significant dates from your relationship. However I am not sure if you could manage this for consectutive numbers, or if you can pick and choose. (I think my OCD would go crazy if I didn't have numbers in order.) What a lovely way to share some history with your guests (and then keep those pictures for when you start having children to see the resemblance).

Image from http://www.weddingwindow.com/blog/what-wedding-flowers-come-in-green/

5. And last but certainly not least this fabulous and creative idea to fill mason jars with glow stick fluid. Simply cut open a glow stick (make sure to wear gloves just incase, and do this over a sink), shake the contents into the mason jar and add a bit of glitter for some oomph. Close it up with the lid, and lastly give it a shake. Now I'm assuming from my experience with glow sticks that this will most likely be a job for on the day of the wedding just to make sure you really get the neon colour and to make sure it will last all night long. This is such a magical idea, and one that no one will forget! I can just see the children in particular loving this one.

Unaware of any copyright. Please comment.

Comment and share below what you are planning or have done for your wedding!

A Disappointing Reaction...

In my previous post I was talking about How I Asked My Bridal Party to be involved in our special day.
I hadn't yet asked my two best friends to be my flower women. We had decided to have our siblings be in the bridal party and we didn't want it to be too huge. 10 people including us was enough!

I came up with what I thought (and still think) was a really sweet way to still incorporate my friends so they felt they were still a big part of this special time. And ofcourse I wanted to ask them in a special way. This idea involved the irony of giving them flowers, accompanied by a poem I wrote (you can read this in my previous post).

Yesterday afternoon I went around to Friend 1's house to give her the flowers in person and ofcourse see her reaction and get all excited and girly with her. She was suprised and confused I was giving her flowers but still smiled as she read the poem. Then she briefly said yes and gave me a quick hug. Then made a comment about how funny it would be if she said no and we had a little joke about that (along the way I too was thinking how awkward if someone said no) and then she made a comment about how she's everyone's bridesmaid and oh how busy am I, all still joking around.
I thought it was odd she used the word bridesmaid and then was worried she was confused about what I had just asked her (even though it was written very clearly 'flower woman').
To avoid any awkwardness I tried to steer the topic into being positive and mentioned it was her and my other friend who would be my flower women because I still wanted them involved, and oh yay how cute you get to walk down the aisle with my little nephew. In saying this I thought I would get the excited reaction I was anticipating.

She didn't respond.

And for the next minute she was completely poker faced, monotoned, and said nothing. Didn't ask me any questions. (Also up to this point she never made any effort to ask about how I was going with everything, had I asked my sister to be MOH, or just anything in general you would think a best friend would ask when there's planning for a wedding. This is also a 'friend' who has been calling me to rant about how she's not engaged and everyone else is... and also made the comment 'oh everyone gets engaged on Valentines' trying to make mine seem less important).

And that was it.
She just brushed it all off, including me, and rushed out the door to go to work. I had planned to have some time before she had to leave so I knew this was odd and out of character for her.

I immediately called my fiancée and explained what had happened and how it was very odd, weird and just didn't seem right. I was really disappointed she wasn't excited (because I was!), nor did she recognise the effort I put in to 1. Ask her, and 2. Include her!

A few minutes passed and I got a text message.

'So I'm not a bridesmaid'


....








Because these are my reactions, I have chosen to ignore it whilst I sort through my emotions and try to get some clarity. It's hard to explain how I'm feeling as I'm sure some of you may be taking this differently, but this is the 'straw that broke the camels back' and it's really making me rethink the entire friendship. Because I have not been happy in this relationship for quite some time now. 

Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, ideas, etc. 

I have a lot of thinking to do...

How I asked my Bridal Party (Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Ring Bearer, Flower Women)

Today was so much fun...
I was extremely excited as I have been working really hard on how I wanted to ask my bridal party.
I browsed the internet, and ofcourse good ol' Pinterest to get some inspiration, and this is what I came up with.

There are 4 girls in my bridal party. My sister is my Maid of Honor, and my fiancee's three sisters are bridesmaids.

I gave them each a box that on top of the lid said "I can't say I do without you" and when they flipped open the lid the other side said "Will you be my Maid of Honor/Bridesmaid?" Inside the box I layed down yellow shredded paper and sat on top a bar of chocolate, a lollypop ring, an information card with the bridesmaid's numbers and names (at the top I placed an image from Bridesmaids the movie because it's hilarious!), some "I promise" cards, and a minimergency kit which I added in items such as a packet of tissues, bandaids, hair pins, panadol, nailpolish, lipgloss, mirror, sewing kit, deodorant, TOM items, etc. They all absolutely loved it! They were so suprised, excited, happy and honored. Ofcourse they all said "Yes"! YAY!

I told them to close their eyes, handed them the box, said open, and watched the magic happen...

It feels so much more real and exciting now that I have my bridal party. It was such a relief to finally be able to tell them.

I love the even number of four bridesmaids, and in particular how it looks in photos with two on each side of the bride. And I prefer to have family as it's a lovely way to include everyone and will be great bonding time.

As for my two best friends (who unfortunately cannot be squeezed into the bridal party) I am asking them to be my "femmes de fleur" [flower women in french]. I am going to ask them with a boquet of flowers and a lovely poem I wrote - "There is something special I need to ask, And it involves the day I'll say "I do". I need my best friend by my side, And I want you to walk down the aisle too. (name), Will you be my Femmes de Fleur?" 

My fiancee and I both have a young nephew so we will be having two ring bearers. We asked them with a photobook that we turned into a little book about their job as ring bearer, including pictures of them, the bridal party, and ofcourse us. It's like a little story book where we ask them at the end. They loved it! Especially finding the photos hilarious. So cute! Cannot wait to see them in their little suits!

My fiancee asked his Dad to be Best Man, and my three brothers as Groomsmen. 
They were given a piece of paper that said "I (picture of a moustache) you. Will you be my Best Man/Groomsmen?" GET IT?! haha we love it! And so did they. In particular my future father-in-law was very chuffed from this unexpected honor. (I just know he is going to have an absolute blast planning the bucks night)

We asked my future mother-in-law if she would read out a prayer at the ceremony. We thought this would be a lovely way to include her, and even more fitting as she is religious. 


Hope this has given you some inspiration!

I'm Engaged!

This post is wayyyy over due. But I'm in the mood to do some updating as there are big things ahead!

I'll start from the beginning....

There was this boy.
We became best friends.
One night we realised how much more we meant to each other.
We fell madly in love.

On February 14th (yes Valentines Day) 2014 he asked me to marry him...

It all started that morning when I was given a little origami heart with a clue written on it. There were many more to come. First I was sent to Ella Bache (a fancy spa) where I was pampered for 4 hours indulging in a full body scrub, massage, manicure (yes!), and pedicure. When I arrived back home my favourite yellow dress was laid out and the next clue was to get ready like a princess. There was a knock on the door and much to my surprise I discovered a man waiting with a stretch white limo behind him. There was champagne and a rose inside. I arrived at the Sofitel Hotel and was greeted by the General Manager who gave me my final heart along with a hotel key card. I opened the door to see a room full of rose petals, candles, fairy lights, and my love standing there in a suit. He said his sweet speech, "I've loved you since the first night we spent together. You are my rock. You've seen me at my highest and my lowest and you're still around. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want to start that now". Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, "(full name), will you marry me?". I said "Yes!" (through tears of happiness). 
There was a photographer there to secretly capture the special moment, and we ended the night with our own private server in the room for dinner to celebrate. It was more than I ever dreamed of and we could not be happier. We are tying the knot in July 2015.

Here are my precious clues that he hand made. (in order left to right)

Watch this space for my Bride-to-be adventures!