Wednesday, April 3, 2013

DIY: Canvas 'Pin' Board



I did this painting last year. Being a Canadian with a love for snowboarding, I wanted to bring the mountains into our Australian home somehow. So, I just started playing around with some ideas and came up with this snowboarder in the mountain concept. Not bad since I haven't picked up a paintbrush in long time, but I never really whole-heartedly liked it so, after a year and a half, I decided to paint over it for something new. I wanted something colourful and abstract. I also got some inspiration from Dans le Townhouse.

After placing the finished painting on my desk, behind my laptop, I decided to turn it into a 'pin' board with some string and mini wooden pegs. It worked out really well and it's much prettier than the usual cork pin board - and super easy too. Here's a few ideas for ways to use your canvas pin board: as a note board, inspiration board, photo display, or mood board. My board contains a little bit of each! So, pin - or should I say - 'peg' away.


You'll Need:


  • a canvas, whatever size suits you
  • acrylic paint
  • paint brushes
  • your imagination
  • string / yarn
  • small wooden pegs
  • masking tape

How To:

1) Paint your canvas. A few coats of new paint, and this is what I came up with:



2) Measure out the length of string needed from one end the other. Fasten one end of the string to the back of the canvas with some painter's tape. I clipped a few pegs and hung a few papers to get an idea of how the string will hang on the canvas. That way I would know how much slack to give before taping the other end of the string.

I chose tape so if one day I decided to hang it up just as a painting, I can easily remove the string. You go even further and paint the wooden pegs but I just left them au natural since my background is quite colourful. I went with 2 rows higher up because I wouldn't see the bottom anyway with my laptop in front.



3) Time to hang your notes, pictures, reminders, dreams, goals, inspirations, etc.



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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Printable: Easter Gift Tags


Me with an Easter basket
many years ago
Easter is one of my favourite holidays. I have many fond memories of waking up to find a big, beautiful Easter baskets that the 'Easter bunny' had left my sister and I. Opening it up to find a stuffed bunny, candies and chocolates in little plastic eggs! And with Easter there's spring and also my birthday is usually just a couple weeks away! 

Here are some printable tags for your Easter treats and give aways! You can print them on a good quality card stock and use them as gift tags or print them on sticker paper for stickers.

Happy Easter!












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Monday, March 18, 2013

From Leftovers to Newovers: Creamy Curried Cauliflower & Sweet Potato Soup


Now that's a mouthful! Let's hear you say that 3 time fast! Haha

Today I'm introducing a theme for my blog: 'From Leftovers to Newovers.' When I was as kid, I didn't really like eating any leftovers from the fridge. Now, I've grown to like leftovers and I enjoy finding leftovers to create 'newovers' (does that work?? It's going to be a thing I tell ya haha!). I like to try to use up all the odds and ends I find in the fridge to come up with an new dish. Whether it be a bowl of rice, half a jar of sauce, veggies that are just about to go bad, or a bowl of butter chicken, it's fun to try and figure out what you can make with it all - kind of like my very own little Master Chef challenge. Once it's cooked up, it will last a couple more days in the fridge. Unless of course it's been eaten up, which is even better!

So instead of letting stuff in the fridge go to waste, try to find ways to use it up and you might end up with something delicious and maybe even a new recipe. Trying to find ways to combine ingredients that you wouldn't normally combine, is the challenging part but also fun part because you get to be creative and experiment! It's so rewarding when you've successfully made a nice meal and knowing that you got the most out of your money and groceries.

Here's my version of a curried cauliflower soup with my leftovers, but feel free to improvise your version!

Oods and ends findings: cauliflower and half a jar of butter chicken sauce.
What I turned it into: creamy curried cauliflower and sweet potato soup!

Tip: Having a well stocked pantry (as Jamie Oliver likes to say), helps for turning odds and ends into something yummy.

Serves: 4 to 6


You'll need: 


  • 1 small head of cauliflower, chopped
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium sweet potato, chopped 1 inch cubes
  • 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
  • 500ml chicken/vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp curry powder, 
  • butter chicken sauce (if you have it kicking around like I did, if not you can substitute with 1 tbsp of curry powder / curry paste)
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder (1 tsp if you like some more heat)
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 can coconut cream (optional, but recommended)
  • salt & pepper to taste

How to:


  1. In a large sauce pan, heat the vegetable oil on medium heat and sauté the onions until softened, about 5 minutes. If it starts to burn, add a tbsp of water.
  2. Add cauliflower, sweet potato, chicken stock, spices, butter chicken sauce and if needed, add just enough water so the vegetables are just submerged. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and cook for about 20 to 30 minutes or until veggies are tender.
  3. Once the vegetables are soft, remove from heat. Using a stick blender, purée until creamy and smooth. 
  4. Return to heat and if it's too thick, thin with more stock if desired, add coconut cream (optional). Salt and pepper to taste. Heat for a few minutes until hot.
  5. Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley or cilantro. 
Tip: Alternatively you can use a light cream instead of coconut cream. The soup is pretty good with out the cream but the coconut cream and curry go so well together and gives it that extra creaminess. 




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Thursday, March 14, 2013

Printable: St. Patty's Keep Calm and Pinch on

St. Patrick's Day is only a few days away! I saw this saying browsing around the other day and it made me smile and I thought I might get into the green spirit this year. So I made this quick, fun printable for the the special day and I hope it makes you smile too!  Here's another one to add to the multitude of 'Keep Calm's out there.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I've made this a 5" x 7" print out but you can easily resize the JPG in Word or Powerpoint.
Few ideas: frame it, stickers, cards, share it, phone wallpaper, tags, magnets, etc.

PDF or JPG
PDF or JPG

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

DIY: Jewellery Stand / Cart


I did a simple add-on to this IKEA GRUNDTAL Cart/Trolley a few years ago and it is still one of my favourite things in my room back at my parents' house. It's meant to be for bathroom storage but I use it for my accessories, hair stuff, lotions, makeup, etc. and it sits right beside my mirror so everything is at a hands reach.

How it came to be... So one day, I came across this wire hanger set from IKEA, which hasn't been used and was just sitting in my basement. I was looking at the clips that come with it and a light bulb went off! Why not use these clips on my little cart to hang my necklaces? I thought I was really clever at the time ha ha! Anyway, I thought I should share this quick and easy DIY with you all.

I wish I could have this here with me in Oz, but maybe I'll just have to make another one for while I'm here?

(Thanks to my sister, Tiff, for helping me take these photos the other day since I couldn't, because I'm half way around the world. Someone invent a teleporter already!)



You'll Need

  • A GRUNDTAL Cart/Trolley, from IKEA
  • RIKTIG Curtain Hooks, from IKEA
  • Pliers

How To

  1. Hold on to one side of the loop, using pliers to hold the other side and bend/twist to open gap large enough to fit it over the bar. If you have 2 sets of pliers, it might be easier to use one on each side and it's not as hard on your fingers. 
  2. Hook it on to the bar.
  3. Bend the loop back to its original state with the pliers to close it around the bar.. Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you have desired amount of clips hanging from the bars.
  4. Hang / clip your jewellery.
  5. Voila! Your very own Jewellery / Accessories Cart.

These are the hooks that came with the DEKA Curtain Wire but you can get similar ones such as the RIKTIG clips.
Tiff, demonstrating hooking it on to the bar for us.
Using pliers bend the hooks back to original position.

Like my old school, boxed TV in the background? 


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