Romancing the 80s, Iron-Ons and Old School

Did you have iron on clothing in the 70s or 80s? Why did this crafting genius ever go out of fashion? I had so much fun, I may have gotten a little carried away. Just cut out the picture, turn iron on high (turn steam off), sit garment on wooden chopping board, place transfer on item of clothing, press down with iron all over transfer firmly for a few seconds, peel away backing. Hey Presto. Boring purple windcheater be gone.  Be careful with the placement, once ironed on there is no going back.

 There are many more, let no plain windcheater, t-shirt or singlet go unadorned.

Wow indeed! Thanks Sukie. Bought from here and chocker block full of great child friendly, non-Disney, non-super hero, non-stupidly-sexy designs. The garments with transfers have been in the wash a few times and so far come out perfectly. I'm also tempted by the look of these GamaGo instant iron ons - which can also be found at Book Depository. I have also just purchased some laser printer transfer paper after being inspired by this wonderful creation with felt, the iron-on possibilities....

Image source http://alljoinin.blogspot.com.au

An awesome makeover for some thrifted plain tops. Cue this song which is very popular in our house, especially with the middle Bowerbird, he likes the naughty bits and chuckles his head off at the swear words, hmmm perhaps not the best family song choice (be warned). I do love the songs Op Shop pride, and the You Tube spoofs are hilarious.

We've also gone old school by baking some bread in the breadmaker. It took a little dusting off but has had a regular work out since we baked the first loaf. Whack in some ingredients and press the button. Three hours later, yummy fruit bread sending heavenly yeasty smells through our house, these two couldn't contain themselves. I love how I know what's in a simple loaf of bread - none of the supermarket breads have wonderful sounding ingredients lists. The Breadmaker loaves don't have the beauty of a free form sour dough, and the hole in the bottom looks weird, but for simplicity, they are hard to beat, and with the right recipe, they do taste good.

 They couldn't resist pulling a piece of from the base - that bread blade hole just screams poke me.

 The Big Bowerbird made this perfect ginger cake while I made dinner, moist and super gingery, just the way we like it.

Some old school crafting by the Little Bowerbird. An untouched sticker/craft book found at the op shop has been keeping this little one entertained. What sane child doesn't use their craft books? Sometimes I am bewildered by what I find at the op-shop, things never used, or too wonderful to have possibly let go. The little Bowerbird is enormously enamoured with scissors and sticky tape at the moment, and loves perusing books for ideas on how she can use them. I thought (perhaps hoped) she might be getting her crafting urges fulfilled at kindergarten, but instead, she comes home inspired to make more things. I'll be happier when she gets better at cleaning up after herself. Once the creations were made we sang mother duck went out one day, over the hills... over and over again, the little one loved playing with her hand made finger puppets.

A yummy Autumn dinner with all the produce of the season - I'm not sure what you would call this creation.
To re-create
Roast mushrooms, walnuts and cauliflower with thyme, garlic, olive oil, and a little balsamic vinegar until golden.
Roast cubes of pumpkin separately with garlic and olive oil,
Scatter with crumbled Danish fetta and a little parmesan.
Have on pasta, or rice or quinoa if you're feeling a little bit trendy.
The little Bowerbird chose macaroni, and just had hers with cheese, old school style.

Confession of an Op Shop Addict

Came downstairs this morning to this funny picture.  Kids dancing to "I see you baby shakin that .... " with bowls as bottoms. Guess what Bowerbird dad was doing?

 HOT!

Now for some sordid truth.

If you read my post yesterday I mentioned I didn't need any more stuff in my life .
It was time to hold back on this buying business,
Well I think I have a problem,
In fact I know I have,
I went to the op shop yesterday,
And couldn't help myself,

I bought old, 

In fact, a lot of old,

I came home with the red, white, and blue bag!

 This is me exercising restraint! $47.24! ouch.

Poor middle one said their is nothing for me.  But then had a great time reading books and playing with magnets with the little one.

I was confessing to mum on Skype last night, she was laughing at me and telling me I'm hopeless, and then had a few confessions of her own.  I know where I get my problem from - she's just been travelling and has come back with an old ink well, cigar case, cigar cutter (she doesn't smoke), batik, and bought a new skirt and pants. She lives in a flat full of Indonesian treasures and is hopeless at resisting old gems and crafting genius. 


I think collecting is hereditary - fulfilling some deep primal urge - however we should be gathering berries and roots - feathers and rocks - not clutter.


As punishment for my sins I am filling that red blue and white bag to the brim with stuff to go back to the op shop. As I have two new jumpers, I have pulled out all my jumpers and found a maternity one at the bottom, been a while since I cleaned that shelf out. 


Still staying true to the Buy Nothing new Pledge, and Blogtober - on the home stretch now.


Don't forget to enter my giveaway as part of Blogtober, especially if you like birds.

Op Shop Yearning - Buy Nothing New Month Day 20

I think it's about a month since I've been to an op-shop, I hear gasping, it is some sort of personal record.  I'm feeling an itch for old stuff, and scrounging, and 70s colour, the thrill of the hunt and gather.  I've been participating in Buy Nothing New Month, and in the name of de-cluttering, I have been avoiding buying anything old as well.  We just seriously don't need any more stuff in our lives, there's not enough room to enjoy the stuff we have.

Mr Bowerbird broke the buy nothing new pledge again this week, first it was $5 worth of chain to fix the fence with, now it's new sunglasses $7, to replace the ones that have broken. Out bloody rageous, hard to find sunnies you like at the op shop though - probably should have spent more and tried to get some that will last. I've made not buying easier on myself, by not going anywhere, after all if you're not buying, you don't need to go to town. I also keep rapidly deleting my Outlook 'shopping' folder, where tempting emails from the Book Depository, Fishpond or Aldi might land.

I'm not really finding I'm missing much. I want some blackboard paint, and its more for work, not pleasure, so I might go there....And I would like to visit those lovely old ladies selling recycled fashion.

Tomorrow I have vegie group at a friends house, and it will be the closest I've been to the shops for weeks (apart from the tiny local supermarket), there will be good op-shops nearby and I do have some goods I need to take to them. I might have a peek, and be VERY restrained.

My bank balance is looking better than normal, there is some money in it, as opposed to the fortnightly boom bust cycle.  I'm not much of a shopper but I must be buying something because that account doesn't tell lies like my mind might.  I think even not going out anywhere has saved us money - no fuel, no coffees, food for kids.... I'm not missing it really - more time to garden, to play, to cook, to organise, to craft, to be.  Giving up buying is a bit like going on a good detox diet, well I imagine that's what a good detox diet feels like, if I ever went on one. It's training my mind to say no to stuff, a bit like giving up smoking, trying to catch my brain's shopping reflex, before I've taken a puff of consumerism. I think it will make me more mindful next month when buying things, I may even try to keep going with it, at least the buy nothing new bit.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway as part of Blogtober, especially if you like birds.

Op shop finds and no seeds

Went to pick up an item from freecyle (will write about in another post) and as a bonus had a lovely day op shopping.

Didn't know about the bonus zip until i got home - think I can take it off.

 Sieves for seed sorting

 A tray to paint with blackboard paint - idea I saw on Pinterest

Kids clothes $1, half price orange tag - work clothes for dad and mixed basics.  Big one ran off with her cowgirl shirt and shorts before I could take a picture, dad wore his cords to work today.

 Biscuit trays, came up well for a good scrub - we never have enough

have a couple of friends in mind for these ones 

 there's been a few breakages at our house lately, some new ones to add to the selection

 Not new but sits on our bench all the time, was looking so pretty in the afternoon light

 Middle one was all set to be my helper finding seeds in the mutato.

The cupboard was bare! Note the disappointed face. No more zuchinni travel pillows for us. This one produced late in the season so there mustn't have been enough flowers around for good fertilisation - just a theory anyway.