What is your signature scent?

What is your signature scent?

Last week, I decided that after 10 years, I needed to find myself a new scent. I tried so many! I had to take my chickadees with me as they both have hayfever regularly & certain perfumes can set them off in a second.

I found it.

I found that perfume that is me.

The one that is everything I was looking for.

It is subtle but you can notice that you have it on.

It is sweet yet it is also classy & sophisticated

I smelt it & the first thing I said was “perfect”

It is

Lilabelle by Kate Moss

Right now I am wishing that I could somehow add a scratch & sniff to this blog post!

It is stunning!

It is me.

It is funny how in my life, random things happen. After going through this scent changing decision, I heard something on the radio that made me smile because I know that I am not the only one who feels this strongly about having my own scent.

In the car, on our way to the blogging meet on Sunday, Hamish & Andy (the 2 cutest funniest & sweetest radio presenters in my universe) were discussing how important it is for men to have a signature scent. I thought it was only women who felt like this but no, men too have a connection to certain colognes. Apparently men find it quite heartbreaking to smell their signature scent on another man. To the point where several callers to the radio show had lost friends & also gotten physical with other men who copied their scent.

Now I don’t think I would ever come to blows with someone over a signature scent. I actually admitted to my husband while we were driving along that I would rather know that there was a room full of women wearing the same perfume as me than smell someone who smelt better!

Apparently men want women to smell their aftershave/cologne & know that it belongs to them. A memory. So that the next time they smell it, they can go “I know that smell. That’s Tom’s signature scent”

I can remember one time when I put some lavender soap in the shower & after using it on myself that night, my husband told me that it reminded me of his Nan’s house. Needless to say, we no longer use lavender scented anything!

For Christmas, I took my girls on their first perfume shopping experience for themselves. Now, they did not get to choose the expensive versions but they brought the imposters. Kiara chose a perfume by Kim Kardashian & Georgia chose one by Hilary Duff. Now these absolutely suit there personalities. Kiara is very confidant, brave & strong willed. Georgia is more of a girlie, soft, floral type of personality

Do you have your own signature scent?

Do you find it annoying to smell it on someone else?

Would you ever go as far as to smash someone else's perfume bottle (as one caller did) if they copied your scent on purpose?

2 tea towels = one fantastic pillow!

I think I have figured out how to make the easiest pillow case

EVER!

When I saw these fabulous tea towels on

Hamptons Style

I knew that I wanted to make them into pillowcases.

Now, I have to say that I have never done this before so I played around a bit before I got what I wanted.

What I came up with is SUPER easy & if you can sew a line with a sewing machine, you can make these. Even if you don’t have a sewing machine, you could hand sew them.

Choose one to be the front of the pillow.

I chose the words tea towel.

I un-picked the side seams & cut it into a square shape.

This is where I spent a bit of time playing around. I worked out in the end that if I cut another tea towel in half that I could use the ends that were already hemmed as the opening at the back of the pillow.

As in the photo above, place it to cover 3/4 of the front of the pillow case (right side together)

Do the same with the other half of the tea towel. It will form an “envelope” opening,

I used my overlocker to sew all of the sides but I am serious when I saw that you could even hand sew this!

There are so many fabulous tea towels at Hamptons Style

But you can also buy cushion covers that are already made if you are not a sewer but love the classic Hamptons Style look

You can also find some beautiful products to decorate your home with.

I have also made a subway art from a tea towel that I purchased from

Hamptons Style

And you can find it

HERE

It’s a cinch, bag tutorial. {I think I am in love!}

When I saw this blog post on how to make this bag, I think I may have fallen in love!

A couple of weeks ago, a pen leaked through my fave oversized bag.

My fave gold oversized bag.

Oh how I miss it!

I was a brand new pen that leaked so it was a rather large mess.

I think I may have found the perfect bag to replace it with!

Head on over to

SWEET VERBENA

For this fantastic tutorial (pattern too!)

for the

IT'S A CINCH BAG TUTORIAL

Random, we lead a crazy life!

We lead a crazy life.

We see some of the strangest things & we are also the strange people that others see.

What is a life without laughter!

These are some of the random photo’s that I have downloaded off my phone & camera this year.

These are photo’s that we have taken of some strange things we have seen & done.

Others just make me smile!

Georgia giving our staffy way to much love!

Georgia just being Georgia

Random photo’s of Kiara always seem to appear on my camera.

Yes, that is a clown driving a car. Yes, we were driving next to it! I am sure you could imagine the hysterical laughter that we were in fits of!

Another random photo from Kiara. This is her cover page for her art book. She was so proud of herself for doing it freehand.

This was a walkway, duck pond & creek. With all of the rain we had last week, it flooded.

I think someone was trying out for Masterchef???

A green tree frog was trying to get away from the torrential rain & found a dry spot on the wall near the front door.

Kiara making a DSI bag on her own sewing machine.

That is a picture that Georgia drew of me!

This one just makes me smile.

It is Kiara & Mr P enjoying time together.

Time to make a list {or print one}

This year,

I WILL be more organised

I WILL keep on top of things

I WILL make lists & stick to them!

Now I know an easy way to do that!

I have spent some today getting myself organised.

With a little help from

Tip Junkie

{not as in garbage tip but, you know, that’s a great tip!}

I have even made some

Cleaning checklists for kids

with these great pintables from

Organic Families

The printer & laminator have been running red hot!

Now I just have to stick to the lists & all will be good!

Banana Bread

Now I will let you know from the start,

I can not take credit for this yummy Banana Bread.

Do you want to know why?

Because my bread maker made it!

 {the mark on the top of the bread is from where it touched the glass lid}

I know that I have said it before but I do love my bread maker.

It rocks!

{if you don’t have a bread maker, here is another recipe for Monkey Bread}

It is great that you just put all the ingredients in, close the lid, set the function & walk away.

You may even forget that you are making something, like I did!

This is what I posted on the Sew, cook, laugh & live Facebook Page.

Ok, I just had a moment! I could smell this delish smell, I mean it was amazing! I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I walked out the front, I walked out the back, then I heard a beeping noise. I forgot that I was making some yummy banana bread in the bread machine! Oh, now I can't wait for breakfast to toast some & spread with butter! I do love my bread maker!

Yes, I forgot it was cooking! Lucky it turns itself off!

Now, just to let you know, this is a proper banana bread.

If you want one that is more like a banana cake (dense) here is the link to my Monkey Bread

Ok, here is the recipe.

{make sure to use exact measurements & put them in in the exact following order}

3/4 cup of tap water

2 tablespoons & 2 teaspoons of olive oil

1 egg

2 teaspoons of salt

3 tablespoons & 2 teaspoons of sugar

3/4 cup of mashed ripe banana

4 cups of plain flour

1 tablespoon of dry active yeast

Set your bread maker to the basic bread cycle & start.

This is what you end up with

You will be the envy of all of your neighbours when they smell this beautiful smell drifting from your kitchen.

Tips for successful baking

Always allow bread to cool on a rack for 30 minutes after cooking before you attempt to slice it.

Allow bread to completely cool before placing in a sealed airtight container.

To freeze bread, wrap in aluminium foil then place in a plastic snap lock bag or a freezer bag with a twist tie.

Thaw at room temperature.

Rag quilt tutorial

Yesterday I blogged about a great tutorial for a beginner quilter.

Today it is a tutorial for a

Rag Quilt

I found it on a great blog called

The Complete guide to imperfect homemaking

I think I am going to give this a go!

I am sure some of you will want to give this a go too!

Enjoy!

Quilting for beginners

One of the very first blogs that I started reading was

Retro Mummy

Corrie is an amazing quilter, cook & mother to the 4 most adorable children (& another on the way!)

Everyone has a blogger who was the inspiration for them to start their own blog & Corrie was mine.

I have been talking a lot lately about the quilting that I have been doing & I know that there is more than a few of you who want to give it a go for the first time.

Corrie has a step by step tutorial on her blog.

How to make a charm square quilt

I tried to take photo’s for a tutorial but when I went through them, they were not the best.

If you are wanting  a step by step tutorial, stop by Corrie’s TUTORIAL & I am sure it will get you started.

Here is a sneak peak at the quilt top that I have been working on.

I made this using 10cm x 10cm squares.

I used some of my stash of scraps & some beautiful fabrics from

Quilting really is quite easy & once you try it, you can’t stop!

Not As bad for you Cinnamon Scrolls

If you follow this blog on it’s Facebook page, you will know that I am on a

“change my bad habits”

eating plans.

I have stopped all pre packaged foods entering my home & pantry, I have stopped eating takeaway,  I have stopped eating chocolate on a daily basis (it is now just a treat or for cooking with) & I have taken my girls on this journey with me. We eat homemade food only. We buy fresh ingredients & cooking supplies.

In 30 days, I have lost 6.1kgs.

WOO HOO for me!

The most important thing is that when I get up of a morning, I notice that my clothes are not tight, I feel fantastic & a have a lot more energy. Everyone around me has noticed too. It is a great feeling.

I have started to tweak all of our normal recipes to be a little bit better for us. Now, I am not saying that we are eating only “healthy food”. I mean, who can give up cinnamon scrolls? They are a regular food in our house & now I have made them not as bad for us.

This is another of the recipes that I use in the bread maker. I honestly think that if you want to make your life a lot easier. You just put all of your ingredients in & press start. With recipes like this one, you use the dough cycle & it does the hard work for you. You don't stand in your kitchen for hours kneading, punching, kneading & rising because your bread maker does it all for you.

This recipe is very similar dough to the Cheese & vegemite scrolls recipe that I have shared before.

So here goes..

Put these exact ingredients into your bread maker in this order.

1 cup & 2 tablespoons of tap water

2 tablespoons & 2 teaspoons of olive oil

2 teaspoons of salt

3 tablespoons of sugar

1 egg

4 cups of plain flour

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon of dry active yeast

 

Press the dough cycle on your machine & let it do all the hard work.

 

When it is finished, take your dough out of the machine & place on a sheet of baking paper.

 

 

Roll the dough out into a large rectangles (40cm x 30cm)

 

 

Sprinkle with ground cinnamon & sugar

(the amount is up to you)

 

 

Roll up the dough to form a long log shape.

 

 

Cut into 1-2cm slices

 

 

Brush the tops of the scrolls with milk. Place the scrolls on a lined baking tray, loosely cover with glad wrap & leave to rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

 

      

 

I put 4 in a round spring form cake tin & the rest on a baking tray.

 

Cook at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

 

         

 

While still warm & in the trays, make a glaze of 1/2 cup of icing sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence & 1 tablespoon of hot water.

 

Pour over the top of the scrolls.

    

 

Now don’t get me wrong, these are not sugar free. But they certainly have a LOT less sugar than your normal Cinnamon scrolls.

My family all love these & for me, they are a perfect way to satisfy the cravings for something sweet.

The smell that will fill your house while you are cooking these will make you the envy of your neighbours & your children/husband/partner/friends will think you are amazing!

Just don’t let them know how easy they are to make!

FREE PDF PATTERNS!!! YES, FREE!!

I was reading through my favourite blogs (yes, I write AND read blogs!)

ETCETORIZE

when I saw the blog title of

FREE PATTERNS

How could I not have a look?

Well, I am so glad I did & you will be so glad that you looked too!

Did you know that

Fabric.com

has free PDF patterns?

They do! Here is a few!

{click on the pics to take you there}

These are just a few!

There is sewing & knitting patterns.

They are all free!

You just download & print.

They are multi sized.

Right now, my printer is running red hot because I am printing out all the ones I love.

Enjoy!