Showing posts with label creative space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creative space. Show all posts

Sunday, November 17, 2013

A modern shabby chic corner


It's been a year now since I put in my new creative space, so I thought I would show you a bit of an update on the corner I've been adding to lately.

I had some extra stuff sitting around - some Ikea chairs we got from the clearance corner for $15 around 20 years ago, a 10 year old Ikea mirror (there are pic's of it on the wall in the before photo's of the creative space) and a couple of pieces of furniture from Loot I picked up in the last few months.

As I'm going with a modern shabby chic look I thought I would give most of it a bit of a paint to match it in with the rest of the stuff I have.

Paint notes - Ikea chair Taubmans Melody Mint, sideboard Dulux seafoam

It's not so much that I must have Ikea furniture, 
it's more that they are 5 minutes down the road and have free child care. 
Other furniture shops take note what some mums will do to for a few minutes of quite.


I'm using the draws in the sideboard as ribbon storage at the moment until I come up with a better idea. I just cut up some pieces of wooden dowel to the size of the draw, stuck it through the middle of the ribbons and popped the whole lot into the draws. I stuck down the ends of each ribbon so they don't untangle, it's not perfect but it's working for now.

 small bowls from Greengate

Oh and check out this super cute bird topped twine spool and scissors I picked up at Holy Sheet Springwood. Oh my goodness - cuteness much???


If you did not see my original creative space transformation make sure you click here and check it out. Eeek the before photo's are totally embarrassing, but I feel comfortable with y'all so I'm ok with you taking a peek.

Oh and make sure you check out the latest issue of  Tickle the Imagination magazine. I have a marshmallow recipe on page 67. It only took me 8 goes until I was happy with it....phew, I never thought I might be tired of marshmallow but even I have limits to how much sweet soft billowy clouds of yumminess I can eat :)

CLICK HERE to link to the free online magazine and my recipe.

Rose marshmallow variation pictured

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.

Chocolate dipped mint variation link to recipe above

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Pretty pastel party - Lilli's 9th Birthday Party pink and green ruffles and rosette on a budget

Lilli's pretty pink and mint green ruffle rosette party table.

Sometimes I see awesome catchy titles like 'best budgeting tips ever, see how this person paid off their house in 3 years' and I have to click over. I'm always disappointed. One of the top tips is inevitably to stop buying coffee. I'm not sure they fully understand my goal is to magically save money so I can constantly do the types of frivolous things the post is advising against.


Which brings me to today's post, this year instead of trying to top all the previous year's party and be even more over the top I went the other way and did the party on a budget (disclaimer I acknowledge in advance sometimes my understanding of budget may not be the same as yours, or more relevantly Mr Sweet's, but there are some real and sensible cost saving tips scattered in the post).
 

And it still looked good. I pretty much decorated this party with 5 pieces of scrapbook paper, a few pieces of ribbon and twine and a piece of material I had left over from something else.


Ok I admit - there is lots of other stuff on the table but I already had those things and this is my magical budgeting fantasy. It's the story I told Mr Sweet and I'm sticking to it.


Of course I made all the cakes and treats myself as well, plus I was also the entertainment as the party was a cupcake decorating party. Oh my goodness it sounds like I'm a super mum, but we all know that is far from true, y'all have seen my most embarrassing ever messy creative space before shots.

Anyhoo as well as doing all the stuff for the party I managed to whip up a couple of you tube video's to show how I made the decorations. Most of it is pretty easy stuff, but feel free to click through and check me out crafting to save money because it's too much fun not to ;) umm craft that is not watch me on youtube....

See me make DIY Easy cheap Paper Bunting you tube video:

Super cute rag ribbon bunting cake topper tutorial:

Make your own Paper rosette's:

 

Decorating the party table on a Budget 


My brief to myself for this party was to use what I already had, thus the pink and green colour scheme, as I seems to already have a lot of stuff in those colours sitting around.

 

Drinking Jars - I used recycled jars that my friend gave me after one of her parties, which makes them re-recycled. Cute huh! They are decorated with some washi tape I had sitting around and the paper rosette's (see the you tube tutorial link) that I pretty much stuck on everything.


Straw flags - I already had these pink and white polkadot straws left over from a previous party, I added a little bit of green and pink shabby chic floral washi tape from Greengate to the tops and popped them in another tall re-recycled jar decorated the same as the drinking jars.


Bunting - I had been thinking of doing a pretty rag ribbon bunting behind the table but then I would have had to buy fabric - and I was budgeting remember. So I made this paper bunting myself from Tilda and Martha Stewart scrapbook paper I already had sitting around, it was easy, it was cheap, it was really fast to make and it gave the effect I was looking for. It used 3 pieces of scrapbook paper and I saved the offcuts for mini bunting and rosette's. I stuck it to the wall over a piece of ribbon using double sided tape.I did a quick video tutorial on how I made it/


Risers - (these are to give height to the table mostly for visual purposes) this is a bathroom storage box from the dollar store, it was about $9. I painted it pink (with paint I already had sitting around), and then added Tilda scrapbooking paper offcuts saved from the wall bunting above. I used double sided tape to stick on some pink and white twine, added the mini bunting using more double sided tape and finished off with a couple of those paper rosette's. Then in a complete turn around from the famous style tip to finish something and take one thing away - I added a paper doily, adhering it with a little double sided tape. When your decorating with me - 'More is more'.

Tablecloth - this was a piece of Tilda fabric off cut left over from other decorating in my house, it has big chunks cut out the back - but you can't see behind the table so I didn't care - remember I'm on a budget. I cut another strip off (behind the table) to use on the cake bunting. If your fancy you could no doubt finish off the edges with some pretty trim, I'm not that fancy and I always try to avoid sewing. Seriously there was a drink dispenser and candy/ lollies, like the kids were checking out if my tablecloth was finished.


Rag fabric bunting cake topper - Using more of the pink and white twine I tied strips of the tablecloth fabric and a little bit of excess lace trimmed from the bottom of the lace I used on the cake. Note - ok you guys are thinking at this stage I am going overboard using little scraps of left over lace, but there is a method to this madness. By using the little offcuts I am ensuring consistency, it simply matches better. (Link to you tube tutorial)


Hanging lamp frames - Hmmm what can I say, I saw a picture of a naked lamp HERE that I loved and PINNED it inspired these lamps. But remember I was on a budget, I tried checking out some of the second hand stores to find lamps to use but when I had no luck I took my old bedside lamp that I hadn't used for years and made what you see in the picture above. I loved the look but needed another......and I stole Mr Sweet's which unfortunately he still uses. I've been wanting to get overhead wall lamps for a while now so I guess it will be happening soon, and he wasn't upset at all, well not too upset ;)

Pink floral 2 tiered stands - I already had one of these that I  had picked up a while back at the dollar store for around $14. When I went back there was only 1 left and it was wonky, they sold it to me for $11 and I bent it back into shape. I was using the other one to hand sugar flowers off each layer to dry so it is totally multi functional and worth it - *double bargin *.

Drink dispenser - I already had the drink dispenser, although it did take me many hours to find it, you may wonder how something that large can get lost, and I would agree with you. Anyhoo I decorated it with paper rosette's to continue my theme. See reverse styling note above, when in doubt add an extra paper doily - it works for me.

Cake Plates and Jars - I already had all of these sitting around. Beg, borrow or failing that hire some. Discount stores also have these types of things available for quite reasonable prices at the moment, but remember you will have to store them afterwards.

Party Food


Pink Lemonade - The kids made up the pink lemonade the day before the party, they thought it was awesome fun of course, were super proud of themselves and I only had to help out a little. It was win win. Plus there is no artificial colour in this baby - it's hand strained (frozen) raspberry :) Note according to the kids - drink dispensers rock. It was the biggest hit of the party after the cupcake decorating.


Ruffle Rosette Cake - The cake was pink and green layers with piped buttercream. Raspberry layer cake and a new pineapple flavour I was trying out - verdict. We won't be trying out that pineapple cake again, but the raspberry layer was delicious. The buttercream was Italian Meringue Buttercream flavoured with real raspberry so once again no food colour. I'm hoping to share how I made this one on the blog soon. Continuing on with my rosette theme I popped a few fondant rosette's all over the cake. The bottom layer was fake styrofoam covered in fondant - we really didn't need that much cake but I liked the extra height.


Macarons - green french almond macaron shells with raspberry white chocolate ganache to tie in with the colour theme.

Cake Pops - White candy chocolate dipped decorated with fondant rosettes in pink and green.


Decorated Cookies - Ruffled buttercream with fondant rosette, still carrying through that rosette theme. And fondant and royal icing decorated sugar cookies.


Candy / Lolly Green apple bon bons, white milk bottle and 'teeth' mix and pink/white swirl marshmallow.

Party Activities

We had a fun decorate your own cupcake party as the main focus of the party. There is a separate detailed How to Host a Cupcake Party Post CLICK HERE


We also had pass the parcel as that is the party girl's favorite party game. The prizes were mostly baking related ie. fondant plungers and cookie cutter sets.

Party favor's consisted of a pink and white bag from the discount store ($2 pack of 10) filled with some cupcake decorating treats like pretty cupcake cases, sugar pearls and a fondant flower or butterfly plunger plus a box of Betty Crocker vanilla cupcake mix.


Where to get stuff or make your own

How to make a paper bunting
How to make rag ribbon cake topper
How to make paper rosette's
Apple Bon Bon's - The Professor'
Other candy - Big W discount department store
Photography by Terri Vandermeer any especially blurry shot's might be by me :)
Fabric for Tablecloth and rag ribbon bunting - Tilda Rosalie Pink
Scrap paper - Tilda I picked mine up at Sewco in Brisbane
All cakes, cookies and macarons - Bubble and Sweet
How to Host a Cupcake Party Blog
Cupcakes at cupcake party and packet mix used for party favours - Betty Crocker
Cake stand's, plates and drink dispenser's bought minimum of one year ago so stockist details are probably out of date sorry. The Cake Stand is Clara French, the Drink dispenser was from Sharnel Dollar Designs (no longer sells to public now party styling services and commercial styling), the white flat plates from Freedom Furniture, the

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

This post is not sponsored. Affiliate links may result in earnings, however will not cost you any more :)

Sunday, March 10, 2013

A pretty white light filled organised creative space

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Welcome to my new creative work space.

Keep on reading and I will share my secrets with you and show how with jut $15, five minutes a day and items you already have around the house you too can have a fabulously clean, organised and gorgeous craft room.


Yup that is a total fib....here is the real story :)

Once upon a time I had no kids and a clean house, then I had some kids and I started to make cakes and blog and my mess and clutter totally won. It was not a happily ever after.



I knew I had to throw everything out or get some serious storage.

So I turned my formal dining room into a kinda extension of our kitchen which can be used for a study or creative space, or even extra kitchen. We never used it anymore because we have a breakfast room and outdoor dining area and hello did you see that before picture above...it was unusable.


I was redoing the kitchen anyway (I have a post coming up next month on the kitchen) so I had Craftbuilt Kitchens pop in an extra wall of storage into the old formal dining room with a built in desk, open shelving and pull out shelves inside the cupboards. We ripped up the old beige sisal and popped down some new flooring.


I'm not quite sure if the before and after photo's do the makeover justice but there is such a different feel to the room now.


See look here it is through the doorway to the kitchen, I know I could have removed the wall, but I wanted a separate space for me.


Although the room was always quite light, removing the sheer curtains, painting the walls white (instead of the previous light blue) and the removal of the carpet has made it feel cleaner, more open with increased natural light.

Plus there is lots and lots of storage so all that mess is hidden away. I'm not saying that stuff is easier to find, my mess had a method to it and I knew where everything was, well mostly. But the access is way better and now everything has a space and that means it's easier to keep the clutter at bay.


Also I added lots of pretty details so I have incentive to keep it looking good.

In the corner I already had a little Ikea Billy bookcase with glass doors that I stored my cookies cutters and fondant tools in and it worked fine, plus it mostly matched so I decided to keep it as I was working within a budget. But I did pick up a cute and relatively inexpensive plate rack from Ikea to finish off the corner.


Cute huh!

Side story at one of my baking demonstrations someone commented that I get a lot of stuff from Ikea which is true. All I have to say to that is free child minding obviously works as an incentive for me.

Now I know some of you are thinking it's a bit white. I did consider popping some wall paper behind the plate rack, on the backs of the open shelves and glass front cupboards and also the area above the desk. But if I hate the wallpaper in a couple of months time I'll be stuck with it for a while this way I can just change around the accessories and update it whenever I like. That's not to say  I won't change my mind next week and pop in some wallpaper, but for now white is right for me.


Also I hear you, what is with that depressing ceiling light! Well there is a story to the light. I actually bought a fabulous 30% lead crystal chandelier to pop up in the new space which was TOTALLY gorgeous. But according to my electrician it seems most people actually like to walk around without ducking or hitting their heads so he didn't install it. Sometimes I get carried away and don't think through the little stuff. By the way if anyone has seen any beautiful flush fit chandeliers make sure to let me know - really I need to know :)

Anyhoo back to the storage, now I have draws for all my stuff. I have a draw for sprinkles:


The sprinkles are sitting on little wavy racks from Ikea that don't quite fit into the draw flat so they sit on a nice angle. There is a bit of space underneath the top back that I can store other things that I don't access often. I know that there are more space effective ways of storing sprinkles, but this room is not just a storage cuboard it's a creative space and opening the sprinkle draw makes me happy. Yes I do have more sprinkles in other spots, many, many, many more sprinkles.

I have a draw for piping bags and ziplock bags.


Seriously this one has changed my life. For some reason before I had the Wilton bags stored in one spot, the cheaper ones stored in another spot, the box of Kee-seal large bags on a roll (pictured at the back of the draw) in the back of my cupboard and the ziplock stacked up somewhere else. It doesn't look like much but I love this draw. If you are wondering why I need so many different types of piping bags that will take a whole post on it's own :)

A draw for piping tips, fondant cutters and tools and stuff....


A draw for paper doilies and brown paper bags.


I have no sensible excuse for this one, but it's good to be able to find the paper bags for the kids tuckshop at a moments notice, oh and there are business cards at the back - so it's not just totally paper doilies.

I have a draw for ribbon and twine which needs a lot of work. I have another large box of ribbon somewhere and twine and paper ribbon squirreled away in other spots. My ribbon storage needs more work. I do have a ribbon detangle plan underway.


There are lots of pull out shelves, these ones hold big click clack containers of almond meal, bitter sweet chocolate, white chocolate, lindt milk chocolate, hazelnute meal.......y'know that stuff that I always use in my super delicious recipes. Also rolled fondant, more sprinkles, candy melts, modelling chocolate, pouring fondant, food colors...the decorating essentials.  There is lots of stuff in here, it used to be stored in big plastic storage bins underneath my dining table covered by the tablecloth. It was hard to access this stuff when I needed it in the old system.


Pull out shelving rocks - just saying.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and I came in within a couple of hundred dollars of the original budget for the whole kitchen renovation. Here are some hints and extra information:


- have lots of pictures from magazines or pintrest of kitchens that you like. A lot of the kitchens I picked had different features but they all had similar profile doors and a bright airy whiteness. When I was being swayed towards other options I went back to these pictures and refocused on what I wanted.

- do it your way. I got a marble look laminate top instead of natural stone or some other fancy bench top, mostly because I am messy and use lots of stainy type food colour. The profile doors were a lot extra than plain doors but I was willing to pay extra. That was for me, it was something I wanted, however if you love natural products but couldn't give a hoot about the doors.....you know what you have to do.

- research appliances, draw options and other nifty gadgets before hand. But only get it if you need it, every extra thing adds $$$. Note: as mentioned above pull out draws and pantries are awesome.


- Get a few quotes and different designs, of course. Price is important but so is the feeling you get for how the company does business. I had one of the biggish flatpack places that offers interest free come out. Wow they are hard sell. At the start I said I had other people coming to quote, so after drawing up the design she priced it and then said she would call her boss to see what the best price they could do if I signed up today on the spot. I said I can't do that I still have quotes to come, she said I'm going to do it, I said but I can't sign today I have more quotes coming, she said but we have a one time special today, I said please don't (really I used those words 'please don't)....despite my plea she called up and gave me a nearly 30% on the spot discount if I signed NOW. Obviously we did not go with that business.

- Tell the designers drawing up your design your budget, everyone that quoted mostly worked to my budget, they gave me options of what I could cut to get the stuff I really wanted. The places I had come out all included the labour costs e.g. electrical, installation, plastering so there were no hidden costs later.


- Have an idea of what you need to store. For example I have some really tall items so I needed some of the shelves to be double the normal height in the cupboards. You want that sorted out before you install fixed shelves. Alternately make the shelves movable.

- I really wanted those handles (CLICK HERE for link). The kitchen design took a couple of hours, finding the handles I wanted took a couple of weeks. As it turns out they were from Ikea. The kitchen store had round silver pull handles that might have matched for the overheads but I felt they were too big or small, I found the ones I ended up using at Big W (discount department store) they were $26 for a pack of 6.

- I liked Sue the consultant that designed my kitchen, she was sensible and warned me about possible issues without trying to sway me to change. The last thing I do each night before going upstairs is wipe down sticky little fingerprints from the handles and dust the little ledges of the profile doors that catch everything - but I knew that going in and I would still choose them again.

- Cupboards up to the ceiling mean no dusting the tops and extra storage. Craftbuilt included and arranged the cornices and plastering in the installation.


- The chair is one of the old dining chairs painted white with the seat recovered in Tilda fabric. I have repurposed the dining table and remaining chairs in the kids craft room. If your on my facbook page you might have helped me out with voting on which you preferred - white or blue. I am actually going to paint one in sea foam (light mint green) next.......if the rain ever stops here.

- The toile curtains and pelment were already in place, I had them custom made at Curtain Elegance years ago. I really wanted new curtains but they still look so good I can't replace them.

- There are built in lights under the open shelves above the desk area. A power point behind the kitchen aid, under the desk and an area in the cupboard that I use to recharge stuff. I like those nifty power points that pull out of the desk like a little tower then push down flush but it's not practical if I'm going to be cooking stuff in this area.


and I'm sitting right here typing this post up - your seeing exactly what I am seeing.

So now I've had this creative space for a couple of months I can honestly say it is way easier to keep clean. Also I have been inspired to declutter other areas in the house.

Is it my happily ever after? Well I'm happy right now and that's all I can ask for, oh and maybe a flush chandelier :)

Shop the Details

The wall is 4.6 meters (over 15 feet) long so there is a lot of cupboard space.
All up the shelving, installation, electrical, plastering etc. cost around $8,500.
Cabinets, installation - Craftbuilt Kitchens
Handles - Ikea and Big W
Fabric on Chair - Tilda similar from Fabric Traders
Pink and Blue folders in overhead cupboards - Bantex
Sprinkle organisaiton - Ikea
Plate rack - Ikea
Most of the display stone wear and tins are Greengate
Mint Camera Bag - Missy Mint by Jo Totes mine from Cambags


Hey check out this bag - it's a camera bag with little inserts to keep your camera and lens etc safe but I love it because it has a super section for my laptop. I picked this one up at Cambags in Australia. If your in the US try Jo Totes.
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Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Link to Amazon:

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)
Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!