Insourcing #20...my DIY life...

 

Honestly...why would you give your family memories to someone else to create?

 

In the last month, I've created some lovely ones. And saved a motza to boot!

 

Just this last weekend, I wrestled a virtual carpet of fondant onto a cake for a special someone. Someone elses Nanna wanted $650 for this cake. Well, hers had fondant Winnie the Pooh and Friends on top, but I can do that too..with a bit more notice! Little plastic figurines were substituted this time around, but the rest of the work was all mine. Do you like my freehand fancy Parchment writing? And that impressed design is done using a cake stamping thingy. You're meant to fill the indentations with piped icing, but the Pinterest trends say otherwise.

 

A strip of Winnie the Pooh fabric pressed neatly into shape substituted for ribbon with Poohs face which I was unable to source. A bit of lateral thinking folks!

 

And each of these special someones, had a brooch belonging to Great Grandma affixed to their second birthday cake, so this one had one too.

 

The Diva and I insourced a succulent garden in a bowl for a friends birthday. Having viewed one not nearly as pretty for $65, we had no angst in gifting DIY!

 

Likewise we enjoyed a Mango Strawberry Acai bowl at a nearby fruiterers café`, and loved it. $13 each seemed a little steep though, so we've since made our own. That's not chocolate friends, it's Acai and banana puree`. Very yummy. We've been having a home made one every day, at massive savings.

 

I found a use for my collection of vintage milk jugs and vintage cups sans saucers. So nice to scoop out sugar and dessicated coconut with something pretty. The little jugs and cups live inside the canisters, so no more fumbling for spoons and whatnot to scoop things out. I like :)

 

I found this vintage Californian jam tin label at the local Thrift store. Hung it on twine in my kitchen. Love. I wish I'd kept some old IXL Plum Jam labels from my childhood, but who thinks of it when they're 5 years old?? $12 gave me my dose of nostalgia.

 

I made Victorian posies for the girls that dance with The Diva. Little dried red roses, dried lavender, wired into a miniature bouquet and framed with tiny paper doilies. They were prettier than the photo, and welcomed by all. Saving $10 a piece on other end of year gifts. When there's 15 'friends', that's a lot of saving.

 

I completed my trio of Pyrex mixing bowls. I'd had the biggest one for yonks but hadn't found the two inner ones. I snaffled them on eBay for $10. Thankyou to the nice lady in Gympie. My eye for symmetry is now satisfied. Similarly I found those retro coloured clear acrylic bowls at the top, to round out the display. Same shape as my white ones, but in a complimentary colour to the Pyrex. I love a good sideboard display, don't you? Especially when it's useful too.

 

I made a gluten free lasagna. We detest the gluten free pasta on offer, so I make gluten free crepes and use them in place of lasagna sheets. Leave the sugar out of the batter though, or it's all wrong. Looks and tastes the same, I promise.

 

I grew a rose. I know. Unbelievable. Flushed with success, I've planted three more. A Just Joey, a Red Intuition, and a baby pink Floribunda Bonica rose. Faux Fuschia (see her fabulous blog on the right) says that you really can grow roses around here. I'm testing her theory. I've saved space for a Duchesse de Brabant. I read on another blog that they even grow near the ocean. Goodness! I've persuaded the Musician Husband to plant Hydrangeas too. They're going great guns. I'm turning into my Nanna I swear.

 

Somebody admired my May Gibbs Gumnut Babies spice jars. They've been there so long that I don't think about how pretty they are. I use them every single day. Aren't they sweet? There's 24 of them. all with a different picture.

 

Here's Thyme....

 

...and here's Cloves...

 

 They were an investment back in 1997. They came two a month for ages. $79.95 each pair. An heirloom in the making. I know people knock The Bradford Exchange, and those dolls they do are downright creepy, but who could go past a Gumnut Baby Spice Jar collection? I thought I wanted Wedgewood ones, but these are so much sweeter. Just right for a Nanna like me.

 

I made a feast for the Dance Teachers. Backstage at Annual Concert is mayhem. And who needs another bouquet of gerberas? Food rules, folks. Leg ham with real butter on soft white bread...

 

...and individually wrapped Apple Crumble Pies in cellophane bags with gold hearts affixed. And airy whipped cream too, of course.

 

They were a winner!

 

I fashioned a bold feather posy for another Dance Teacher who is a little more Avant Garde. We saw a similar one for $150. Sheesh. She liked it a lot. Posy or duster or both...her choice. A useful thing.

 

Another friend admired my Eiffel Tower Lamp which took me a whole week of poking with a needle to create. I'm glad I persevered. That saved me a couple of hundred dollars.

 

I finished a kitchen makeover and tidy up, rehoming every little thing in the pantry into vintage pastel canisters. I like it now. I don't feel like something deadly is going to fall on my head every time I open the doors. We were thinking of a kitchen reno at considerable cost...like tens of thousands. No more. All we needed was a declutter and tidy up.

 

I can't decide whether to line the back with vintage mirror tiles (on left) or pretty vintage paper (on right). What do you think?

 

If I had to include the kitchen reno in my calculations for savings over the last month or so, I've saved my family about $40,000. Don't look at me like that. It's true...lol!

 

It just goes to show what a determined soul can do.

 

If I worked outside the home, we'd be spending money left, right and centre.

 

Long live the stay at home Domestic Manager, I say.

 

What can you do to save your family money today?

...Mimi...