Carrie Bradshaw has nothing to worry about.

Things that make me happy - necklaces, bracelets, earrings, hair things, etc. Things that make me unhappy - mess, clutter and dust.

The solution? A trip to Bunnings.
A length of pine timber, $2.50. A can of black spray paint, $6.00. A packet of 3 long hooks (x6 packets), $1.80.

A spray of paint, some holes drilled, screws in, ribbon tied on, 3 x 3M hooks on the wall and........

WA-LA!!! Organised stuff and a happy girl - me.

A new wall hanging for my girl

I've used this fabric a few times already but I love it so much it seems to keep popping up on my desk. Here I've simply covered a cheap canvas frame with fabric and secured it using a staple gun. Two ribbons were then added to peg pictures on and it's done.

Best of all it only took about 10 minutes to create and my girl now has somewhere to display her artwork.

(Hopefully) a quiet spot to read

Last week I saw a super special at Super A-Mart. A nest of three coffee tables for the bargain price of $49.95. Sure, I had to assemble them myself but I got to use a drill so that was pretty exciting!

Anyway, one table is in our bedroom as something to throw clothes on, one is our new coffee table in the computer room and one is now in the kids playroom to be used as a book nook or a seat to watch TV on.

This one is the largest measuring 120cm long and 50cm high. So I decided to make a large cushion for the table-now-a-seat. It's a great purple and white striped fabric (that was sitting in a drawer) with large white buttons. It's tied on with sturdy velcro and purple ribbons. So far the kids are using it - let's see how long that lasts.....

Spicy bacon and tomato soup

Wow! It's been a long time since my last post. I've discovered Steig Larsson books and am hooked! So instead of sewing or trying new recipes I've been reading. Anyway, here's a new recipe for you.

Spicy bacon and tomato soup

1 leek, finely sliced
1 carrot, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced or finely diced
1 long red chilli, finely diced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 large ham hock
1 1/2 cups soup pasta
750ml passata (tomato puree)
4 cups beef or chicken stock

Choose a large heavy based pot with a lid.
Add a dash of olive oil and fry the leek, carrot, chilli, garlic and ginger until lightly brown. Add the dry pasta, passata and stock until simmering. Add the ham hock and slow cook on a very low heat for 2-3 hours, or until the ham hock is falling apart.
When ready to serve, break up the ham hock as much as possible and stir through the pieces of meat.
Serve with crusty bread.