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| Home grown roses |
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| Hand made brocade heart decoration |
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| Home made raspberry muffins |
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| Potpourri made with roses and lavender from the garden |
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| Home made Petit Fours for a High Tea |
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| Hand embellished French inspired Torsolette |
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| Wrapped and embellished Lindt Chocolate bar for gifting |
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| Lavishly wrapped gift using butchers paper, cellophane, white organza ribbon, and metallic Christmas bauble |
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| Rolled crepe paper rose using hand dyed crepe paper |
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| Home made Cherry Ripe Fudge |
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| A cloud of knitting in marshmallow pink |
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| Home baked celebration cupcakes with edible rose petals and pink pearls |
Hello! What a beautiful blog you have and I loved this post. Yes, we have a budget also and I try really hard to stick to it too. My hubby works very hard, while I am blessed to be able to stay home with my children. I make almost every meal from scratch and I truly believe it's all in your attitude. I love lovelies and a clean crisp house and I love creating a lot of new things.
ReplyDeleteGod has blessed us with so much...we are indeed rich, not poor!
Have a lovely week!
Blessings, Amy
Thankyou so much Amy. Your list shows how blessed you are for sure. A hardworking husband, a life at home with your children, home cooked meals, a clean home and time to create. It doesn't get much better. Love, Mimi xxx
DeleteSo lovely, and so true! Have you ever read the book Frugal Luxuries by Tracey McBride? She has the same mindset of living a frugal and still beautiful life.
ReplyDeleteHi Laurie. I visit Traceys blog from time to time and she has shared at Five Star Frou-Frou, my linkup, once or twice. I must source her book. I agree that she and I think very alike. Thanks for the reminder. Mimi xxx
DeleteBeautifully said and beautifully lived!
ReplyDeleteThankyou Debbie. I hope 2016 is treating you well. Love, Mimi xxx
DeleteMimi, yes, elegance is often about restraint and the negative space, such as the white plate and delicate rose petals around your petit fours. I think you have the art of elegant restraint beautifully developed. Small, beautiful things, simple and made with love, as punctuations throughout the day, to create special moments. Strung together they will make a life of beautiful memories for you and your children that will mean so much more than splashy and vulgar extravaganzas. I also believe that restraints, such as a budget, force us to become more creative, and it is a creative life that makes us fulfilled. I believe humans were made to be creative. Love the little inspirational peeks into your world, as always:)
ReplyDeleteYes Jo. It's the little things strung together like pearls, that create memories. Never a truer word spoken. Thankyou. Mimi x
DeleteBeautiful images Mimi. I find the soft pink knitting heavenly. All so true. It doesn't cost any more to drink from a pretty cup or eat from a pretty plate... and this applies to about everything! Some flowers in a vase, a nicely set table, a tablecloth... much of the loveliness I enjoy everyday is just cleanliness and order! I really love pretty surroundings and nice things. But being creative means we can aspire to it all within our budgets. Its kind of part of the fun! xxx
ReplyDeleteAnnabel, I have you to thank for the words 'cloud' and 'marshmallow' to describe that particular piece of knitting! Cleanliness and order are so important too. In fact, the pretties aren't so pretty if they're not surrounded by an organised home, I think. I love what Jo said above, that humans are meant to be creative. Such a gorgeous thought. Love, Mimi xxx
DeleteWell said, Mimi! Your photos (and the things you photographed) are so pretty! I agree that having a budget means focusing on what is important and what brings joy. Sometimes that is a beautiful home and sometimes it is a beautiful meal or a beautiful trip or blessing a beautiful soul with necessities. Thank you for stating it so well!
ReplyDeleteThanks Leanne. (I hope it's Leanne...lol!). I'm glad you enjoyed the post and it's ideas. Mimi xxx
DeleteMimi, this post makes me smile, beauty and simplicity on a budget! You said it well! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou expressed it even more succinctly Patsy, thankyou! Mimi xxx
DeleteLovely, lovely, lovely dear Mimi! Can we make those Cherry Ripe Slices together and wrap and decorate with the soft crepe paper roses! I adore! Xx
ReplyDeleteDarling Flora, of course! What a grand idea! Mimi xxx
DeleteMimi your holiday looked fabulous! This post today sums up why I read your blog. For a while there a lot of what I was reading about how to save money was kind of depressing! Because that was all there was, just tips on not spending. But you don't just save money, you create a beautiful home and lovely gifts, you eat some pretty amazing looking food, and save up,for meaningful trips. I have a young family, so some of our priorities are a bit different, but your approach has opened my eyes. Truly. Last year I started stripping wallpaper in my daughter's room and it turned out to be an awful job that took far longer than expected. So for a while I gave up. Which obviously looked terrible. Then I read some of your posts about what you've done to your house over the years yourselves, and made a commitment to do at least an hour a day until it was done. I finished midway through last year but I'm not sure I told you. And i absolutely love it, it's my favourite room in the house! I'm about to start on another bedroom, and I'm so excited to create another room in our house that I really want to spend time in! Thank you so much for showing so many ways that with a bit of effort and not too much expense we can make regular things in our lives special.
ReplyDeleteJen
Goodness Jen, the last thing I'd want to do would be to write anything depressing...lol! My aim is usually to highlight a common issue and offer a solution, so I'm pleased to hear that I've had that impact. Now wallpaper stripping is why, despite the allure of new wallpapers, I hesitate to use them in my home. Love the look, hate having to remove it somewhere down the track...or even inflict that task on a future buyer! You should be uber proud of that makeover! Any wonder it's your favourite room in the house. It's amazing what you can achieve in one hour, or even half an hour or fifteen minutes each and every day. Eye opening, isn't it! Thankyou for your lovely comment. Love, Mimi xxx
DeleteYou and your daughter made such lovely projects Mimi.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing them at Cooking and Crafting with J & J.
Thankyou Julie. Always a pleasure to visit you. Mimi xxx
DeleteI agree with you, Mimi. Because we have always been a one income family, I have always had to find ways to be thrifty when my children were growing up. They never felt deprived nor did I. Homemade is always better and that included food and pretty things that you can surround yourself with. Thank you for sharing all your beautiful images with us. The fudge not only looks delicious but it's pretty as well. Have a lovely day.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Sandi
You are so right Sandi. With imagination and application, nobody needs to have an ugly life. Mimi xxx
DeleteDearest, sweetest Mimi, how my heart sings with joy to be visiting you today! How are you, my friend? Your comments on my blog are always just a blessing and when I read your words they put a smile upon my face.
ReplyDeleteThis was a wonderful post, my friend. I love how Patsi said it, "Beauty and simplicity on a budget." Only you, dear one :)
Have a blessed week. Love and hugs!
Hello Sweet Stephanie! I'm off to share this post at your lovely linkup. I've missed you! Mimi xxx
DeleteSo true. Beautiful post of truths!
ReplyDeleteThankyou Chrissy. I'm glad you think so. Mimi xxx
DeleteDear Chrissy:
ReplyDeleteYou sure have given some great tips, inspiration and positive teaching here on our attitude about a budget. We just retired and the budget will certainly be there. Frankly, I can tell you that I learned almost everything I know how to do because we never had an abundance. In all the early years I learned to make and do from scratch. I sewed, crafted, canned, gardened, did florals, etc which in time led to me starting a business that I had for 28 years. Retirement is here and guess what I look forward too? Sewing, gardening, canning, florals, tea parties, cooking, baking, etc.
Thanks Bernideen. Abundance is a state of mind I think. We can all live abundantly, without spending much at all. I love your thinking...Mimi xxx
DeleteYou are right.. it is all in your attitude! Great post, and so encouraging for those living on a tight budget, that budgeted living doesn't have to be ugly, it doesn't take much to make things around you sparkle and look good :)
ReplyDeleteYou're singing my song! Mimi xxx
DeleteCouldn't have said it better! A picture tells a thousand words! :)
ReplyDeleteThankyou Jes...xxx
DeleteThis is such a great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Always a pleasure Jess. Mimi xxx
DeleteAll things made with love taste better.If when you look at something and a tiny flutter happens near your heart then this is priceless.
ReplyDelete