Happy Easter!

Putting up decorations is a rare occurrence for me, but I'm wondering why I didn't start sooner, as I'm very happy with my lounge now I've brought some bright colours in for the change of season.











 

 

The garland was made from a yarn pom pom tutorial, found here.

The branches were foraged from the park, and painted with white acrylic paint. I used leftover scrap book paper cut out into Easter shapes, and some extra pom poms from a craft pack to fill the vase.

Both decorations were completely free. I used leftovers from other projects, and used some of my cheap acryclic yarn stash for the pom poms.

Hope you are all having a lovely Easter weekend.

 

p.s. Project 333 list coming tomorrow!

 

Challenges up ahead

I’m sitting on the floor in my room, taking advantage of the rays of sunshine trying their best to convince me spring is on its way. It’s nice to feel the warmth of the sun after such a long and cold winter.

There are challenges up ahead. I’ve decided to delay the start of my no-spend challenge slightly, to April 1st, to coincide with a new season of the Project 333 challenge. I’m also extending the no-spend challenge to six months - from April 1st to Sept 30th 2013. Why?

Because I’ve recognised the need to appreciate my efforts this winter. I’m not very good at rewarding or appreciating my achievements, and it’s time. So, today, I am buying a new camera (assuming they have it in stock), a new beginners DSLR camera, so I can develop my photography.  I’ve outgrown my digital compact camera, shown in my frustration that I can’t take good photos of my craft projects without a good macro setting.

I think it’s so important to recognise our achievements, and I would encourage everyone to do so. Still, it feels hard to do that for myself. I am genius at dumbing down my achievements when really they are cause for celebration and reward. Therefore, I am delaying the challenge until Monday, April 1st.

April 1st is also the start of a new season in my ongoing Project 333 challenge. I will be refreshing my 33-item wardrobe, ready for another 3 months. I’m very excited to go shopping in my wardrobe for different items. I get to see new clothes, and spend no money. Win-win!

I will be sharing my 33 item wardrobe and some outfit combinations in the next couple of days. I may also document the whole decision process as I feel it’s time to let go of some clothing that I don’t need.  You can see my other lists here and here.

 

I’m excited for a challenge. Is there a challenge you've been wanting to take part in?

How about:

A photo challenge

a clothing challenge

a decluttering challenge

a Writing challenge

Challenges are fun, and encourage us to learn something about ourselves. 

5 month no-spend challenge

I’ve been getting caught up in buying things, because I don’t feel particularly fulfilled in my life at the moment. So the first thing that I go to is a “treat” to help cheer me up. Flowers, crafty things, magazines.

Inevitably, the cheer-up-effect doesn’t last long, so I look for the next thing I can buy.

I know where this is coming from. I know that I want to be doing work I love. I know that I would like to see more of the world; and while I’m not doing these things, or enough of them, I feel deflated, unfulfilled. Then I go shopping to cheer myself up. And on it goes.

But really, in doing this, I am taking myself further away from being fulfilled in the long run. Trips abroad rely on money. I wish I could go for free, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Anyone got spare plane tickets? pass them this way! Didn’t think so!

The little things I am buying for very-short-term cheering-up effects, are taking me away from what I really want. Not things, objects, trinkets, but contribution, helping others, travelling. Those are the things I want to spend my money on.

So, with slightly fearful commitment, I am signing myself up to a 5-month no spend challenge.

By no-spend, I mean objects and non-essentials. I’ve created some rules, as follows:

 

1. I will not buy any objects that will clutter up my home.

1a. I can buy materials to make gifts, but no ready-made objects.  I can also buy notepads for journalling because that is essential to me.

2. I will set myself a £20 weekly experience budget. Dinner out, time with friends. Experiences are so much more worthwhile than stuff.

3. Bills, rent and food are allowed, but budgeted.

4. All other money will go into savings.  I will keep my emergency fund in my current account.

5. Anything left over from the weekly experience budget will go straight to savings, or be used to replace a worn item of clothing. Only 1 item per month, and I will donate/throw away 2 items from my current collection.

6. Post here with updates.

 

I’m writing this to be accountable. If I write concrete rules and post them here, I will be more likely to follow them. I am very very good at justifying something I want to myself, and find it very hard to resist.  My partner is also genius at convincing me to buy things if I want them.

By the end of the summer, I will hopefully have saved a decent amount of money, and I will have learnt what else there is to life than owning more stuff. Further, I will have more time to think about what matters instead of thinking of the next item I want to buy.

 

A prettier copy of the rules:

 

 

 

I have a feeling I will encounter difficulty when the summer sales begin. But I will just remind myself why I'm doing this, and come here to write about it instead.

 

Anyone want to join me?

 

One handbag

 



 

I am a one-handbag girl. I like to keep everything in the same place, same handbag. It makes leaving the house a lot easier!

I don't switch between multiple handbags depending on my outfit. I own this handbag, a rucksack and a couple of others that rarely see the light of day; a small leather bag for special occasions, a holiday bag, and a small holiday cross-body purse.

This is my day-to-day bag, the one that comes with me everywhere I go. Trust me, there would be stress if I even considered switching between bags, and further stress once out because I would be checking whether I had everything.

A view of the inside:

 



 

It has two main sections, and a zip-pouch in the middle. It's a nice size for my day-to-day handbag needs.

 

Here is what I keep in it:



 

I'll admit that I often accumulate more (who doesn't?) but these are the essentials that I like to carry with me.

I'm pretty used to having one good handbag. It works well, and keeps things simple.  I don't think I'll ever go back to having more than one for daily use. I would like to get one of these though.

I am considering extending the idea of "one is enough":

-One pen

-one each of bowl, plate, mug, cutlery (less washing up!!)

 

How about you? Would you consider having just one of something? Maybe it's something you do already?

Find your sacred space

Tired? Stressed? Overwhelmed? Fed up with the daily grind? Don’t know how to find time to yourself? Don’t know how to achieve your dreams?

If this applies to you (as it does me), then I would like to invite you to

Find your sacred space

A space to write.

A space to dream, hope and wonder.

A space to realise your ambition

A space to be with yourself

A space to be yourself

 

I often forget that I have a sacred space. I forget that once a week, I am free to dream, create and hope for better things. Outside of my sacred space, I forget that I have great ideas, belief in myself and the ability to centre into a room. Instead, I get caught up in the stress of work, unhappy customers, busy work, emails, spam phone calls, pollution, traffic and the hectic city life.

Today, I realised, that in my writing room, I am free. I am ensconced in a bubble, safe, protected and free. My writing room is my sacred space. It’s not mine per se, but it feels like it’s mine while I am there. I need very little in this space. My favourite pen, a notebook, and a chair. I am free to dream.

The lines hold words, meanings and my deepest secrets. Here I find my voice, and this is where I cherish it, nurture it, appreciate it. This is my special place, where things are allowed to be still and calm. There are no distractions here, no urgency, no desire to check my phone or be otherwise engaged in anything but the flow of my pen across the page.

My wildest dreams come true in my writing room. In my dreams I lead a simple, intentional, purposeful life. In my dreams I contribute beyond myself, helping others to realise their true potential. And for that one sacred hour per week, it feels possible.

Nothing will intrude on this space, because its sole purpose is for me to write. My writing group meets here, and we write together. This is the only purpose. To write, grow, heal, and share together. When the safe space only has one purpose, it is easier to eliminate everything else.

How to find it

The elimination of all distractions is essential. Emails, social media, phone, people that are likely to divert your attention. Eliminate all demands on your time in this space, and dedicate it instead to something you love.

Writing
Creating
Knitting
Sewing
Reading
Drawing
Painting
Meditating
Yoga

Your sacred space may be inside the home, or outside the home.

Inside could be your bedroom, the kitchen table, craft room, spare room, a desk area or home office, attic or garden.

Outside could be a cafe, library, church, yoga studio, parks, a tent, caravan or the beach.

Anywhere you can allow yourself to focus on something you love, and be in the moment, with yourself, your thoughts, and wildest dreams.


 

 

Do you have a sacred space? Would you like one? What would you do there? 

I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

Making things beautiful again has moved

Remember to update your subscriptions/feeds/bookmarks! Looking forward to seeing you over at my new blog:

Beautiful Again

52 weeks of happy: 10/52

        

 

 



 



 
Joining in with my friend Gillian and Jen at little birdie, here are my simple, happy moments from this week:

1. Treating myself to a luxury hot chocolate with marshmallows AND cream. I had the day off and this was my post-errand treat, along with some alone time outside the house to reflect and journal.

2. I was invited to a cupcake and cocktail party at the weekend, and my friends made the most delicious cupcakes for us to decorate. They even gave us a tutorial and demonstration! I was the first one to try the little spring chick, and it went quite well I feel!

3. My desk space is progressing nicely, and I will have some updates on that soon!

4. I'm so grateful for the positive response to my new blog, thank you so much for coming over and joining me! Maybe I didn't need to be quite so nervous after all...

 

I hope your week is turning out well so far!

 

 

Roasted vegetable soup

I've taken to making soup on a Sunday so I can take leftovers to my course on Mondays.

This recipe is adapted from a student cookbook of mine, I took the basic idea and cut the cooking time by 2/3rds. I don't follow the recipe any more either so I think it's ok for me to show you how I do it here.

Get some vegetables, seasonal or otherwise. This lot (plus 1L stock) produces 4 decent servings of soup. Today I chose sweet potato, leek, onion, parsnip, carrots, white potatoes, and a bit of garlic.

 



 

Chop them up into chunks:



 

Then into a roasting tin with 3 tbsp vegetable oil and get your hands in there and mix it all up, so everything is coated in oil. This stops the veg burning and producing an unpleasant tasting soup.



Cover the tin with foil and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 200C/gas 6/390F. Take the foil off half-way through cooking. You want the veg to be tender and soft.



Next, make up 1 litre of vegetable stock. I put one cube of vegetable and one chicken stock. You can have it all vegetable if you like.

 

Next, there are two options:

a) for hand-blenders, put all the veg in a big saucepan and add some stock. Whizz away, and add stock as you go, to get the soup to the consistency you want. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  I like mine fairly thick. Heat until hot!



b) for food processors, put all the veg in the processor and add stock. Whizz away, adding more stock until you have the consistency you like. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then heat in a saucepan for a bit, until hot!

Serve with fresh bread or some part-baked baguettes toasted in the oven (our favourite).

Enjoy!!



p.s. My partner (still) hates vegetables as a grown man, but will eat this soup and like it, and even suggests it when we meal plan. Now I think that's saying something.

 

Sunday breakfast and some important news

I love Sundays. Snoozing in bed, and waking up to make a delicious breakfast of porridge, kiwi, grapes and banana. Yum. 

I have some important news, that I'm terribly excited about, but also a little nervous! 

I've made the decision to move my blog to a new home. Me and Blogger haven't been getting on too well, unfortunately. We've been having arguments over formatting and I've been spending way too much precious time editing posts when I would prefer to be writing them. 

I took the opportunity to shorten the name too, so I can broaden my scope a little to include simple living and minimalism. My version of it, that is. I'll still be crafting, because I love crafting. 

I'm a little nervous about leaving Blogger, so I hope that you will join me on my new adventure over at Wordpress. 

I'll stop rambling now, and welcome you to my new home:

Beautiful Again
http://www.beautiful-again.com/ 

Come over and say hi! :)

Sunday breakfast and a new home

 

A Sunday breakfast is a special thing. Today it was porridge with kiwi, grapes and a whole banana. Delicious.

If you’re reading this, you’ve found the brand new version of my old blog (makingthingsbeautifulagain.blogspot.co.uk). Welcome!!

For those of you who have been reading and following my old blog, I hope you’ve made it here ok. I’d love for you to join me here at my new home ;)

The reasons behind the move:

I wanted to move hosts because I was getting a little frustrated with the Blogger interface, and would spend lots of my time faffing about trying to get the html code right. Maybe it’s just me, but Blogger kept throwing tantrums. So when Blogger stopped working for me, I made the decision to move. It’s just no fun to engage in a hobby if the main feeling is frustration.

I’m hoping I won’t have many troubles here so I’ll have more time to enjoy writing.

I’m broadening my scope a little, but simplifying the name and URL too.  I will be writing about the things that I am passionate about. At the moment, and probably for a long time, that is simple living and minimalism. I want to share my version of creating a simple life because in our uniqueness we all have a slightly different perspective. I also just want to get involved and meet all the lovely people out there in blogland.  I’ll also be crafting, because I love crafting, and making pretty things.

See more about who I am and what I’m passionate about, here

And last but not least, to new readers, welcome! it’s great to have you here, and I hope you enjoy your visit!

 

52 weeks of happy: 9/52

Joining in with my friend Gillian and Jen at little birdie, here are my simple, happy moments from this week:

Source: designbreakonline.com via Linda on Pinterest

1. I found this desktop wallpaper the other day, I have it both on my computer at work and at home. I love the cheerful spring design. It makes me happy to look at, when I spend so much time in front of a screen each day. 

2. I had the day off on Monday, and I got up at the usual time of 6.35. I then treated myself to an afternoon nap because it was sooo freezing in the house. 

3. I have just been fairly happy this week, for no particular reason, and I'm trying out being in the moment with some simple mindfulness practise.

4. I have some important news to share this weekend, and I'm very excited! 


I hope you are having a lovely week, whatever you're up to. Remember to pop by at the weekend for my news! 



 

A perfect Sunday

 

I dozed in bed much later than usual, and we decided on a waffle breakfast. Fruit, waffles, nutella and rhubarb jam (my favourite). Served with huge mugs of Earl Grey tea in bed. Yum. My favourite Sunday activity. 

Then in no hurry, we got ready and drove to nearby Blaise Castle estate for a walk. It was a cloudy day, but I had my camera as I've been experimenting! I also found a new function on my camera, and that certainly came in useful with the grey skies we had today.

For dinner we had baked salmon fillets, with samphire grass, kale and new potatoes. I tried my best to get a photo, but felt that it was better to eat the food hot!

I'm also off work tomorrow which is rather pleasing.

How has your weekend been?