Overwhelmed!

Hi Everyone!

Lately I have been feeling overwhelmed….do you get that feeling?

I think we try to fit so much into our lives and every now and then we get a wake up call….in our house it has been sickness that made the call this time.

When you get sick you only do the bare minimum of housework, you drag yourself to work and school…and that is about all that happens. Then when you start feeling better and you notice the dirt on the floor, the mountains of washing and all the jobs that you have let go….and your sewing mojo comes back too! So what do you do?

I found some great organising tips on Pinterest and some links to great free printables to help me along the way!

So this month I am following the Clean and Organised calendar that you can get here at Clean Mama! So far so good!

I am also trying to be more organised with my blogging so that I can post more regularly. I found this great weekly calendar for blogging here at Living Locurto.

This week I set myself a cleaning goal – to clean out the pantry. And you know the week ticked by until it was the last day….so I rolled up my sleeves and got the job done!

Beware! Before photos!

It is amazing how much stuff gets dumped in the pantry!

So I took everything out, washed all the shelves off and put the shelf mats through the washer and dryer. And I threw out 3 big garbage bags of empty glass jars, old papers and out of date items. Don’t worry the geese and chooks got a feed too!

Then I put the good stuff back!

Look, you can see gaps!

Wow! What a difference…there are even empty trays! I am so glad that job is done!

Since starting my new cleaning and blogging schedules I feel more calm and in control. And that has to be a good thing!

And I even got some sewing done too! More on that next time!

Cake decorating!?

I know, I know, cake decorating is not sewing. But I have wanted to try this out ever since I stumbled across it about 6 months ago….yes, it has taken that long!

 
Does it look yummy yet? Let me tell you – I think I have a sugar hang-over today, honestly I feel terrible, but that is neither here nor there. The boys loved it, all that bowl and mixer licking! I’m surprised they aren’t sick!

 
This is my first ever attempt at decorating a cake, and this method is super easy. I made a chocolate cake, from a new recipe which I don’t recommend as I wasn’t 100% happy with the cake, so use a recipe you have made before!

I even made chocolate ganache, which was pretty easy and super yummy!

And then I followed the tutorial over at Texas Monkey for the dressing up part, I used M&M’s and Corinthians wafer sticks. You really need to check this blog out – the cakes are gorgeous!

So, Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad!

Be happy,
Jess

Rainy day companions!

G'day,

Take a look at my company....


A movie and Choc Cherry Slice, yes I made it myself. Yummo!


A little stitching to do while watching the movie! I managed to squeeze in a movie while my youngest "BW", who is 20 months, was asleep this afternoon. It was a miracle!

I have also managed to get BW's satchel bag finished this week too!


It is the same as TP's except for the snail fabric where TP's has turtles.

As you can see, it is a little big yet! But I'm sure he will grow into it in no time!

Yesterday I was scanning an older issue of Aus Country Craft and Decorating magazine and came across an article called "Craft Blogs: a domestic fantasy?"
The author Karina May sayes we "tend to skip over the 'sticky' bits and reveal little about their lives. Although they may have a hectic household and be up to their necks in washing and ironing, by not divulging details of their day-to-day activities and chores, they project and image of a perfect existence."
I have to agree that this is true for most of the blogs I follow. But maybe I wouldn't be so inspired if I knew their lives where as chaotic as mine.

Now just so you know I'm not a Domestic Goddess I'll tell you a few things that have happened while writing this post.....
1. BW is chucking some major tantrums at the moment, so one them had to be dealt with!
2. TP created a huge puddle of juice and water on the bench which spilled over to the kitchen floor!
3. Dinner nearly burned, then got eaten! There is still the after dinner mess to be cleaned up yet!
4. There are towels in the dryer waiting to be folded, they have been waiting a while!

I'd better leave it at that or you might get depressed! LOL!

Be Happy,
Jess