Cake - it's art!

So my dear dear friend Mel is getting married in 2 weeks time! Yesterday we had her hens night celebrations!

To start the afternoon we went to Crumbs Cake Art. This place is just amazing! Jon and Lexie worked with us to make 2 flowerpot cakes and another pot to take home. Below are some pictures of what I made. Everything you can see is edible!!!!!! The first picture is my flowerpot with mum's real african violets! The others are the creations up closer.

It actually wasn't as difficult as I imagined it would be... partly I think it was the clear instruction we were given and all the tools we had right there in front of us.

I think I could get into this. I've always been fascinated by cake decorating and love looking through my endless cake books but always though it to be beyond my reach. Perhaps not! Can't wait to try something again.

If you are interested in doing a course Crumbs Cake Art offer all sorts of things and they are so easy to work with! All the supplies are there and you seriously needed no pre-requisite skills to do the course we did yesterday! Give it a shot!!!!!! They are awesome!

Check out their facebook page for some of the AMAZING creations they have done including an xbox cake, a dalek cake (for all you Dr Who fans), weddings cakes, disney cakes! Just amazing!!

De-cluttering week 1!

Uh oh... that sounds ominous! But it wasn't too bad. Although, I managed to fall behind almost straight away! I sprained my hand this week so a lot of my time has been spent not doing things and being chauffeured around the place! But a quick catch up!

Tuesday – Be courageous ~ Declutter and item that someone else gave you that you are only keeping out of fear they may notice it gone.

I was given many years ago by a student a wooden photo album. It's not really my thing, I prefer to scrapbook and most of my photos either sit in a frame or in storage before that! Except for my really special albums! So I am selling it on ebay. I'm not sure that it will sell but hey - it was kinda fun!

Wednesday – Be generous ~ Donate something today that you are considering selling. It is quicker to donate anyway.

I have lots of doubles of books, lots of doubles - maybe even some triples! So I thought that I would start by looking in my bookshelf. I was thinking that I could sell them on ebay - but instead I'll give them to our minister. I'm not really sure of someone they would benefit at the moment and he might have a better idea! So, A Sneaking Suspicion by John Dickson is the first one to be given a new home!

Thursday – Be impulsive ~ Declutter an item today that you have never really considered for decluttering before. Go on there is bound to be something you haven’t noticed that really is excess to your needs.

I thought about this most of the day, but was coming up with blanks. So I'm going to do another book today. It was something that, until yesterday, I hadn't thought of. So the next one is Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris.

Friday – Be decisive ~ Find an object you have been procrastinating over decluttering for some time and get it out of there.

Well today, it's not really a single item. But something I have been procrastinating about is the paper build up in our study. Gradually over this week I've been attacking it and we are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. So today I am going to spend 5 minutes more working on this paper back log and declutter. It's such a good feeling.

So, there you go! My week of de-cluttering so far! If you or anyone you know could benefit from the two books that I mentioned about let me know! Happy to pass them on to where they might be used!

360 less things!!!! Whoo!

The list that never ends, the house that is never tidy....

Have you ever sat down to think that there is always something more, something else that we "must have", something else that "must be done", something else that is so important we can't do the things we love, or perhaps ought to be doing?

Well. You're not alone - and it seems I'm not either!

Today is Monday, the start of a new working week. So, it's time to do something! But this time not something more, something less.

My inspiration? 365 Less things! This great blog began in 2010 with a lady who wanted to reduce the clutter in her home. She decided to de-clutter one item a day and blog about it. I LOVE this idea and I have a feeling that getting rid of one item not only de-clutters the home it is probably great for de-cluttering your mind!

So today Colleen has given us 7 mini missions. Today is Be Realistic! Declutter an item of clothing today that no longer fits, is probably never coming back into fashion or really never suited you.

Probably not hard given my abundant wardrobe of pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy and post pregnancy clothing!!! So today this is my goal. Today I am going to declutter a dress. I love this dress, but to be honest... no.1 it doesn't fit me anymore, no.2 a friend of mine wore it and boy - it looked better on her! So Amy, this is for you!

In other news, Phoebe is almost 7 months now. This morning she woke at 6:10am. Not my ideal time to start the day. So I got up and lay on the couch. I dozed off and woke to find no Phoebe! So naturally I got up to find out where she was and found her halfway down the hallway. And so it begins!

We took her to the beach yesterday for the first time. It was great fun - especially having Jono's side of the family all there. Phoebe loved the beach, especially the sand. She wasn't quite so keen on the waves coming at her - but she had only slept 1.5 hours during the day and it was about 3pm!!

Chillin' on my towel "Oh hello!"

Playing with the sand and Daddy

Some of you also were asking how Phoebe's new routines went. Well, she almost always goes to sleep in her cot without being held and she's actually much happier. We have less tears, less stress and I have more time to myself!

She's eating like crazy now! She LOVES food and chews like nothing else. For dinner last night she had the same roast as Jon and I. Tonight, Chicken Parmigiana! We're doing this thing called "baby-led weaning". Probably doesn't work for all - but for us it's been great! There's lots of information on line for those interested.

Anyway, now that I've made my de-cluttering decision, there is a bit more tidying to be done before bible study tonight!

Also, if anyone is interested in joining me on this de-cluttering mission I'd love to hear from you!!