Monday, November 19, 2012

Step by Step: Double Flower Topper

Well, well, it's been a busy few days for me so I haven't had a chance to update you guys on everything I've been up to. I do have a few wedding-related projects in the works that I can share with you in 23 days (!) but not until then (sorry, but I can't be giving everything away before the big day or there'll be no surprises left). I do, however, have this lovely little tutorial for you to brighten up what is a dark and dismal Monday here in Cork.

Okay, so first things first - what will you need?

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Love: Teal


I really do love the colour teal, so much so that it's our main wedding colour! There's just something so...calm about it. It reminds me of the deepest parts of the ocean, the great below. I also love, love, love Etsy so I thought I'd put together a collection of gorgeous teal pieces sourced only from Etsy sellers*. The best part? Everything here is under €50, so if you're looking for a lovely Christmas gift, look no further!

Not good news, not bad news...

Just no news.

Had an appointment to find out more about the lovely cyst brothers yesterday. It went a little like this...

Monday, November 5, 2012

DIY Yarn Lightshade

Have you guys discovered Pinterest yet? I'm totally addicted.
Every time I pop on there I find another 50 projects that I just have to do and some of them are so simple. There're a few projects on there that come up time and time again and I keep telling myself that I must get around to soon. The other night Big Guy had a lot of catching up to do on the Sky+ box and I figured that it was as good a time as any for me to get stuck into one of the pins that I see all the time and looks easy-peasy. (It also helps that our current bedroom lightshade is YACK and dirty and seriously needs replacing).

Friday, November 2, 2012

DIY Personalised Shopping Bag

If you're not already carrying your own bags shopping with you then shame on you! Hopefully though this project might help you change your ways. I don't know about you but I always find that the same-ness of the shopping bags bores me. I love it when I'm in the supermarket and I see someone with a bag that's a little bit different. It's kinda like your handbag, or anything else that you wear - your choice of shopping bag can say a lot about you - if you let it!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

My Fab DIY'd Wedding Shoes - Part 2

I finally got over the shoe fear and just went for it! They look amazing, I can't wait to wear them. They're drying here beside me as I type and I'll add another layer of glitter, then a topcoat seal and they'll be done! So, do you want a pair of your very own glitter-sole dancing shoes ('cos baby, these are DANCING shoes!)?



Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Long time coming

I've been putting off writing this post since forever. I'm all on for the sharing of anonymous information with strangers that come across the blog but it's much harder to write something personal when I know that there's people in our real lives who read what I put up here. It's even harder when it's information that not all of them will have been privy to (until now). This is not a post that will come easily to me, and I'd imagine it's not going to always be easy to read either. Also, if you're anyway squeamish or offended by the word vagina I'd stop reading now if I were you.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Some shopping (and a doppleganger)

Happy Sunday everyone! This post is a bit late in coming to you, I've actually had it lined up for the last week and kept forgetting to put it up so apologies.

Anyway, when we went shopping for paint testers there were a few lovely bits and pieces that I spotted whilst I was out and about and I wanted to share them with you guys. First up was our trip to B&Q to get the paint. Naturally enough I can't resist a trip around the entire store when I'm there (though the Big Guy was relieved that he managed to keep me out of the garden section for a change) and it was made even better by the fact that they have a big sale on at the moment.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Up-coming Projects

As I've already mentioned we will be painting the house soon. Obviously I'll keep you all updated on that. There'll also be the house-hunting updates and wedding updates, that's a given. Oh, and cooking, naturally (especially now that we have our new oven!).

Love : Yellow

Maybe it's the fact that we're rapidly losing daylight, or perhaps it's the golden quality that autumn sunshine has...whatever the reason I am loving the colour yellow at the moment. So much so that I want to paint our front door bright sunshine yellow (will have to run this by the Big Guy first I think). I love the way that yellow makes everything so happy. Here's a selection of some of my favourite yellows for your viewing pleasure.


House-hunting...(oops)

I've been very bad...(no, not just about updating this blog). We agreed a few months back that we would concentrate our energies on the wedding and then next year we would start looking at houses. That's a fair deal, right? That totally makes sense.

Until I'm at home, a bit bored, and well, the houses are just there aren't they? Online, being all ready with their estate-agent photos going "Look at me, look at meeeee". I caved, I gave in, I folded like a cheap suit.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Tips #2 - How to use paint tester pots most effectively

We spoke to our lovely landlady the other day and have gotten permission to re-paint. Hurrah! As you can imagine we hurried out to the nearest hardware store and bought tester pots of all the paint colours we had narrowed down and brought them home. It was only when I turned my back on the Big Guy for 2 minutes and came back to find him about to paint a big square on the kitchen wall that I realised not everyone knows my hand-dandy way of making the best use of your tester pots. I don't care if you've seen squares painted on walls on 1,000's of home improvement shows...it is not the way to use testers.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Wedding update - the invites have arrived!!

There I was, typing away at the last post when suddenly *thud* BOW-WOW-OW-WOW-OW-WOW-GRRRR. That usually means there's post. Went out to see what joys we had received today and OMGTHERE'SABIGPARCEL-YTHINGADDRESSEDTOMEEXCITING! And breathe.

Pumpkin Carving 101

Halloween is one of my favourite times of the year. I love all of the spooky nonsense that goes on, I love seeing all of the little ghouls, witches and vampires that call to our door looking for treats. Actually, whatever happened to going on the puca (pronounced poo-ka)? That's what we said when we were kids: "penny for the puca", not trick-or-treat! Anyway...that has nothing to do with pumpkins so I'll move on...

How awesome is this? Seriously? I WANT!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Tips #1 - Make your home smell delicious!

Now I don't know about you but I always worry about what people smell when they come into our house for the first time - or any time for that matter! Maybe it's because we have pets, and non-pet owners often comment on "doggy" smells in pet-owners homes, or because we've all had the experience of walking into someone's house and wrinkling up our noses or trying to subtly mouth breathe!

Anyway, I spend a small fortune on plug-ins and sprays, scented candles and all the rest of that commercial junk. I really hate using it though, especially the chemical ones (the plug-ins and sprays) as it just doesn't sit well with me to be breathing in whatever it is they're using to create those lovely scented vapours! So I've been trying to find a more natural way of making the house smell lovely all the time and I've tried a few different remedies. Vinegar in a bowl whilst you're frying? Not as effective as everyone seems to claim. Baking soda at the bottom of the kitchen bin and kitty litters? Nope, does nothing.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Wedding update (and some really Ugly Christmas Jumpers)

Today we finally met with the photographer for our wedding (hooray!). The lovely Philip Bourke of Philip Bourke Photography met us in Cork City to talk through what we wanted for the day. So excited about seeing what sort of shots he comes up with on the day now!

No 2. - The House

Home/lifestyle blog, you've met the residents...now what? Oh yeah, the house.

Right, as mentioned last year we moved in here in a rush and just took the first place that would allow us to have pets in it. Now that's not to say anything against the house, it's an alright place but just very...beige...and the previous tenants had apparently left quite a mess behind them. Our lovely landlady had this cleaned up before we moved in but there was no repainting or really fixing anything a bit broken done at the time.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Random fact for the day

This random fact is brought to you in honour of my groovy socks. Yes, really.

And a Big Hand Goes To...

...Knocklong Development Association! Well, perhaps not as big a hand as they might have liked but certainly a great day out!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

My Fab DIY'd Wedding Shoes

These are my lovely wedding shoes. They're a dark teal-y velvet-like suede-y fabric. I got them in Dorothy Perkins (on sale!) and then added details to them myself to make them tie-in better with my overall wedding look.

Getting Hitched!

As I mentioned in Starting Over we are getting married and I will be adding wedding-related bits to the blog. Originally we were planning on an autumn 2013 wedding. Then we moved it forward to Summer 2013. The best laid plans eh?

No. 1 - The Residents

This is called Finding Home With You right? So... I figured that the first new post (after the where the heck have you been post) should probably be a house-related post. I suppose the first part of the house posts should be the residents of said house. Allow me to introduce you then...

Starting Over

Okay. Ouch! So it's been over a YEAR since I updated this blog. Umm, sorry!

A lot has happened in the past year so let's get up to speed eh?

Monday, July 23, 2012

Chocolate Cherry Box Cake


I was asked to make a birthday cake for a lovely local chef. Now, that's a pretty tall order! The brief for the cake was that they wanted chocolate, cherries, and it was to be decadent. Oh, and gluten-free to boot. The original design I wanted to do I couldn't get everything I needed for (chocolate cigarillos are much harder to find at short notice than you would think!). So this is cake mark 2, hope you all like it! :)

Monday, May 14, 2012

Curried Chicken & Mango Salad



I came across this recipe in the May 2012 issue of Good Food magazine and I just couldn't wait to try it. Mango! Curry! Chicken! Sesame seeds! All things I love, love, love to eat and it was everything it promised to be - light and delicious, spicy and exotically flavour-some. Don't just take my word for it though - give it a go and try it for yourself!

Buttercream

Since I use it so much in my baking I suppose I should give you all some simple variations that you can use again and again!

Let's start with the basic buttercream mix:
225g unsalted butter, softened
1tbsp milk
350g icing sugar
Beat it all together until smooth. Simples!
However, it just takes the smallest of steps to turn this oh-so-easy icing into something more!

Clíona's Amazing Chocolate-Caramel Christening Cake



Hello everyone! I've been a busy little bee the last few weeks - a new job and lots of life-stuff going on. My little niece-to-be had her chistening ceremony recently and her Mum asked me to make a cake I'd made before that she'd really liked. Well - say no more!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Earl Grey Tealoaf



I used to hate things like this, didn't like fruit in cakes and buns at all. In fact, hard as it may be to believe but I used not like baked goods at all. Yes, I was MUCH skinnier back then!LOL I didn't know what I was missing out on though, and once I started to change recipes to suit what I do like then I discovered that actually, fruity cakes aren't that bad at all. So here's my take on the humble tea loaf...made a bit fancier with posh tea and a variety of fruits.

Sticky Ginger Cupcakes



Well, buns really. They were meant to be cupcakes but I had no muffin cases left so I made them in bun cases instead. I LOVE ginger. LOVE it. Ginger bread, ginger in stir-frys, ginger beer, ginger biscuits. It's up there with lemon as one of my favourite flavourings so it will come as no surprise to you all that these buns did not last long in our kitchen...or that the leftover icing was eaten from the mixing bowl with a spoon...

Frosted Yoghurt Orange Cake



I found this recipe in GoodFood's 2012 calendar (it's the January recipe). GoodFood do this calender every January issue and it is month upon month of delicious recipes and gorgeous food photography. As is their entire magazine every month actually. Go on, go out and buy a copy. I'll wait...