KMART HACKS

KMART seems to be the new home-wares go to at the moment in New Zealand and Australia. I am member of at least 10 different groups on Facebook, and about the same on Instagram. These range from appreciation groups, to Kmart Hack groups, you name it, I am in the group. It’s just so affordable, and it’s a one stop shop, whether it be clothes (they have fab kids clothes – let’s face it, they wear them for such a short amount of time) stationery, shoes, books, toys, and my most favourite at the moment home-wares.

Below are some hacks I have found and love, so far I have only managed to do 2 of them, but plan on getting around to doing some of the others soon.

This has to be one of the most popular KMART hacks I have seen, there is always someone in my Instagram feed, posting either a picture one of these holders, or a hack. I managed to hack this one – it’s still a work in progress – as I think I need to paint the candle holders to match more with the bedroom, but they will do for now.

GEO CANDLE HOLDERS

Above @Kar.en.cooper painted her Geo Candle black. 

The contrast between the black and the candle works really well.

Again this seems to be quite popular, and we needed new bedside tables. I think the baskets were $12 each, and I got the wooden tops for free, so not bad for $24, again I plan on painting the tops maybe white, so they blend in better with the room.

Other hacks I have seen have cheese boards as the tops – I thought those tops were a little small, so went with something a bit bigger.

KIDS LAUNDRY BASKET

These next hacks are not my own, so I can’t take credit for them – they are great though, and I really want to try some of them.

Above @f.o.r.e.v.e.r.a.i.d.e.n hacked the outdoor yellow

 lantern into this funky fruit bowl - LOVE!!!!

Above @Winniebeau_ did a simple frame change out on the her 

"a day without laughter" print, and I think I like it better than the original.·     ·    

Above @mylittleplaceofhome painted her grass mat pink and white, 

and from memory styled it in her little ones bedroom, 

I think the hack looks better than the original.

Above @tubsforbubs painted the tic tac toe's complimenting colours.

Above. Love this hack by @sheshome, I really want to do this for my little ones bedroom, 

its absolutely fab, and really easy to do.

Above @cathscott2plus3plus1 painted the Geo trinket box rose gold, and again, 

I think the hack is better than the original

 - will definitely be getting one of these when I next go to KMART

Above @kris_in_a_tin did a fab job painting this wooden kids wall hanger, 

sadly they don't seem to be making them anymore - so I missed out on this one.

Above @creativebowerbird created these hanging jar vases.

Super cute idea and really inexpensive

Above @creativebowerbird hacked this desk lamp for her 

daughters room with polka dots and changing the colour of the base.

    

My latest buy is this adorable clock – not sure what I am going to do with it yet, but I think it needs to be hacked in some way.

What is your most favourite KMART hack at the moment?

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***I have linked back to the creators of these hacks under each picture and take no credit for any of their work ***

#KMART, +Kmart 

{Blog} What a Silly Week

Silly, annoying, stupid, grumpy.

Those are a few emotions I am feeling at the moment.

I am not sure if its a cold, or sinus, but I have a blocked nose,and its driving me mad. I have used a whole roll of kitchen paper... don't ask, and it does not look like its going to stop anytime soon!

There was some "positivity" (Yes I know that is not an actual word, but i'm going with it) to the weekend however! We got to watch the minions movie before it hits the cinemas at the end of the week. Keaton has never been to the movies, he doesn't even like watching TV. He was so well behaved though, he actually made it through the whole movie,and only started losing interest with about 10 mins to go (it was also way past his nap time, so really not bad at all). Oh yes, and I got some new boots below:

My dad kindly helped with a DIY project I had, (its to do with GEO candles from #KMART and pendant lighting... that's all I am saying for now - here is a sneak peak

Keaton and his friend also had a play date, he is finally actually playing with his friends, for a while they just kind of did their own things, but I think they are at the age now, where they are able to interact socially.

I did some baking and the biscuits burnt. We have this oven tray and no matter what you put in it, it burns. Is that even possible? 

I did manage to take some pictures this past week too, I have failed in the #FMSPHOTOADAY challenge, I love taking my daily pictures, but for some reason, I keep using all the data on my phone way before the month end, not sure how, but its silly and annoying. Therefore in protest (not really, but I need an excuse) - I am not currently doing the #FMSPHOTOADAY challenge for a while (well for the next week, until my data is topped up for the month). Here are some other pictures that summed up my week.

Poor Ernie... not really, but I love annoying him - this was his "Village People" look!

Lets just pause and look at how hideous these wall tiles are!!!!! They are what is currently on the wall in our kitchen - can't wait to knock those bad boys into tiny pieces.

Are there things that are just super silly that make you super grumpy and/or annoyed?

I am also annoyed that "positivity" is not an actual word!!! 

Have a great week!

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I have linked up with the following link up parties

#1word linkup (this weeks words are Silly and Weak).

And my little babog 

{Blog} Weekly Wind Up and #FMSPHOTOADAY

Going forward I will be combining my weekly wind up and my pictures from my FMSPHOTOADAY challenge.

So to start off with...

We moved into our new house on Tuesday. Its fab – absolutely love it, its so flat, and there are no stairs which is even better. The whole process went smoother than I thought. We were lucky enough he have gotten to know the previous owners of our house before we moved in, and as they were moving to another town, they gave us the remote for the garage way before we were due to move in. We started taking bits and pieces there over the weeks leading up to settlement. So on settlement day, we were able to start moving in in the morning. This was a total life saver as Tuesdays weather was disgusting, it rained nonstop for most of the day! Fast forward to yesterday – we are settled, unpacked, and in the process of doing some minor renovating/upgrading.

I also got this cute mother’s day gift from Keaton. He only goes to day-care 3 times a week, so was not there the Friday before and the Monday after mother’s day. I love it, can’t wait to get it framed up and put in the bedroom. 

Keaton is finally 100% off the dummy, it was the easiest thing ever. I had been stressing about it for ages. We started off by telling him that he was a big boy, and that dummies are for babies, luckily we have a niece who is a couple of months old, so we told him that she was a baby and needed his dummy. He was happy with that and said that big boys don’t need dummies. Next he helped me cut the top off his dummy and throw the top away. I let him keep the bottom part to hold onto. When it was bed time, he got into bed, asked for the dummy – to which I said “ you are big boy and big boys don’t have dummies”, he replied “ babies have dummies”. I gave him the cut off one, and he was fine with it. I had do repeat that every night for about 3 nights, but now he doesn't even ask for it. No night time wake ups, no cries for it, nothing. He is just awesome, and he amazes me more and more everyday!

My Facebook page hit 80 likes, I know for a lot of people who are bloggers and who have Facebook pages, that is nothing, but for me, it’s a huge thing. I didn’t want to create a Facebook page, because I was scared I would be judged etc, but I am no over that, I mean people obviously look at my content, so if you have liked my page – Thanks.

I got some new cushions for the lounge, I thought the lounge needed a pop of colour, as the old lounge’s colour scheme was blue and beige. We are stuck (for now) with the lounge suite (which is blue), so I bought some turquoise cushions and decor to add that little pop. It’s still missing something, so am going to introduce a bit of yellow as well. Not a bright yellow, more of a lemon yellow.

New Cushions

A few pieces I picked up to go with the cushion

 After writing all that down, it does not seem to read as hectic as it was, but it really was!

In amongst all the manic, I managed to capture my 7 pictures for the #FMSPHOTOADAY challenge:

This weeks Pictures

Its never too late to start, so give it a go!!!!!

Have a look at my previous weeks.

Week 6, Week 7, week 8, week 9, week10, week 11, week 12, week 17, week 18, week 19

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+Fat Mum Slim +Chantelle Ellem 

Pork and Sage Burgers

Tried these, and absolutely loved them. We had a bad experience with sage when I was younger, my dad made us this chicken and sage creation, that was so overpowered by dry sage it was pretty much inedible. Anyway it put us off sage for a very long time, so when Charlene from Teacher by Trade, Mother by Nature mentioned that there was a blogging challenge over at #NZBloggers and the first topic to write about was the word sage, I knew I had to do a recipe to try and redeem it. Glad I did because these were absolutely delish.

Pork and Sage Burgers - makes 8 burgers

1 kg of pork mince

1 medium Granny Smith Apple

1 medium red onion

6 tablespoons bread crumbs (I used the coarse store bought ones)

1 packet of sage (just from the grocery store - or a bunch if you grow it at home)

salt and pepper

Grate the onion and apple together, and add to the pork mince, add the bread crumbs, and combine. Finally add the finely chopped sage, salt and pepper, and mix together.

Roll into 8 balls and form burger patties (I made my patties in advance, and left them to sit in the fridge for a few hours).

To cook, brown on both sides in a frying pan, and then cook in the oven at 180 degrees until done. (Mine took about 25 mins).

Serve on Ciabatta  buns with caramelized onion and skinny fries

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***This post forms part of the #NZBlogGreatness challenge hosted by @NZbloggers, click here to see what my fellow bloggers are up to ***

{All Things Kids} Tag post - Life lessons in a letter... Advice for my children

I was tagged to write a letter of advice and encouragement to my child. What a fab idea. Thanks to Tegan over at A Kiwi Mumma for the tag - head on over to her blog and check it out.

Here is my letter:

Dear Keaton,

We could not have asked for a better child to have. From the moment we found out we were expecting you, you have been an absolute joy. You continue to amaze us with the new and quirky things you do, and we look forward to growing old watching you grow into a gentle, caring wonderful young man.

We can’t tell you what you have to do in life, but we can try and guide you on the right path so that the decisions you will make, will be the right ones. Here are a few things we learnt while growing up, and we hope that they will help you in life.

You don’t need to have the best of everything to be happy. Happiness comes from being true to yourself, and surrounding yourself with positive and happy people. Don’t compare yourself to others, you are you, and you are perfect the way you are.

There will always be bullies. The society you are growing up in is full of them, and unfortunately no matter how hard you try to avoid them, they will always be there. You just have to make sure that you hold your head up high and not let them get to you. And always remember that we love and support you no matter what.

Work and play hard. Don’t take school for granted, we can see how determined you are, and if you put your mind to it, you will be awesome in everything you do. Choose something and stick to it.
Travel the world. There is so much to see and be seen.

The outdoors is way better than TV and TV games. You need to let your imagination blossom and grow, you already have such an amazing imagination, so don’t let technology over shadow that.

Remember to say your prayers. You are doing so well at the moment, we hope that you keep it up, and remember that God is watching over you always, and when we are not around for some reason, he is there, so talk to him. The power of prayer is awesome.

Lastly, we will always be here for you, no matter what, all you have to do is ask. We will love and support you always.

With Love Mum and Dad

Feel free to play along too, here are some rules to follow:

1. Write a letter to your child or future children offering advice and encouragement.

2. Anyone can join, please use the grab button below in the post so others can link back here to the original post.

3. Tag some fellow bloggers in your post and on social media - so they know they've been tagged - adding the link to your own post.

4. Add the name of the person you were tagged by and their blog link.

5. Comment on this post with a link to your letter - so I and other bloggers can read it too

Go for it!

I tag these 2 awesome fellow mummies:

Nicole from The builders wife

Laurel from A bubbly life

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{BLOG} PHOTO A DAY WEEK 17 (#FMSPHOTOADAY)

My FMS Photo a day pics are back, here is week 17's pictures.

This Happened

Season

Mess

Snack

Mess

I Sat here

4 o'clock

If you don't know about this challenge, here is what you do:

Take a new picture a day based on a inspirational prompt, and then post them on Instagram or Facebook using the #FMSPHOTOADAY. Follow my daily pictures on Instagram (link in my profile),or check back here next week for this weeks pictures.

Its never too late to start, so give it a go!!!!!

Have a look at my previous weeks.

Week 6, Week 7, week 8, week 9, week10, week 11, week 12

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Here is what I am going to be snapping this coming week!

+Fat Mum Slim #FMSPHOTOADAY

{Blog} Unorganised Chaos

As I write this blog post, there are so many different things going on in my head all at once, I will be amazed if this actually makes sense at the end of it. Please don't think this blog post will give you any useful information on how to become organised, or actually any useful information on anything, its more of a rant, dear diary kind of post.

With less than 24 hours until Keaton's 2nd birthday party, and 18 days until we move into our new house, I am feeling totally overwhelmed and over it.

As lovely as it was, our holiday was slap bang in the middle of everything, and has left me completely unorganised in the whole party throwing, box packing department.

The only thing I managed to do before leaving, was to hire the hall, and print the invitations. I now have a couple of hours when I get home to get everything we need for the party, make the cake, finish party bags, decorations, count how many people are actually coming, and also make sure that I don't forget to buy anything because tomorrow is ANZAC day and NOTHING is going to be open in the morning.

Don't even get me started on the moving, I have gotten so far as to book the movers. I am normally such an organised person. I make lists and check them twice, and most times have lists of lists, and things are planned and done well in advance. Its eating me up that I have done nothing, and that this party is tomorrow, and I am so far behind. I think I am still okay on the not packing part, we still have the rest of this weekend and some time during the next week and a bit to pack up everything, but its just that much harder with a toddler, who in the last 2 days has decided that its about time he lived up to the title "the terrible two's".

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Check back tomorrow for the letter T. And hopefully a more meaningful blog post, that is actually of some relevance.

(*** Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2015 ***)