Hey Macrame`

Hello Pretties!!!

I hope you have all been well and not on the verge of melting like we have been!! We had a crazy hot weekend with Saturday getting to 43c, Phew not good!
I feel super sorry for Loki on days like that, the poor boy was practically a puddle of dog goo on the tiles the whole weekend. A hairy puddle of dog goo, less than ideal.
It is our plan to move house in February and on the top of our search list is a house with a pool and air-con. Please housing gods help up find a place with those special much appreciated perks ;)

To try and distract myself from the heat I decided to dive face first into some creative antics. I sewed up a storm (I will touch base with you on that next time). Baked some seriously good cookies which I will link the recipe in a jiffy, and I tied knots to make pretty lanterns until I went cross eyed.

I have been in love with macrame` since the dawn of time, and I always get excited when I see pretty pot hangers in second hand stores but am always so sad at how much they charge for something so simple! Don't get me wrong I am no macrame` wizard, in fact this has been my first attempt but it was such a fun and simple project EVERYBODY is capable! Even little Loki bared witness to ensure I was doing it right ;)

I did lots of googling (is that a word? If not it should be), Plenty of YouTube searches and general hunting and a little birdy provided me with the simplest option over on "A little birdy blog" (see what I did there ha hah!) Seriously go check out her blog though! Its quite simply adorable I have blog envy but hey I will get there!


This is what I ended up making- am boy am I in love with it!

Eeeeek! So cute!

So if you would like to learn how to make one of these jump aboard the craft train and here we go!


Things you will need are:

• String (I used crochet cotton for this one but also made another out of cotton twine which also turned out a treat!)
• A 30cm ruler
• Scissors
• A jar (mine was just a old simmer sauce jar cleaned with labels removed)
• Patience

To start you will need to wrap your cotton around your ruler 30 times like so:

Cut the string once you have wrapped it 30 times and slide off and set aside, do this three more times so you have 4 lots of string like this:

Now what you will need to do is get both of the ends together (this is where the patience comes in as the string is VERY easily tangled so go slowly).  Once you have the two ends together you will fold it in half again and then once more so you have folded it three times, the string should now be about a meter long. Do this for each of the lengths of string, you will now have 4 lots of meter long string bunches, gather the string at the fold like so:

 And make a large knot, this will become your "hook"

Now you will divide the string into four:

We moved into the lounge to be under the fans :P (please excuse the state of my floor! argh you can't win with a inside/outside dog)

Loki keeping a watchful eye to make sure its done right.

Now you will begin the "braiding" like so:

Bring the right hand section of string over the middle two and bring the left had section over the right hand section.

 Tuck the left hand section underneath the middle sections and in through the "loop" on the right hand side.

 You will have a twist like such, and pull the two ends up to form a knot like so:

Repeat this process all the way down until you have made a pretty "rope". Now you will group the sections together again and about 10cm down form another big knot:

 Again you will divide the string into 4 sections:

 And tie knots about 5cm down on each sections:

 Now divide the four sections into 8 like so:

 Now you will tie two of the sections to each other until they have been connect like this:

 You should have a "fishnet" looking pattern going on, now connect the last two sections together  so it is all connected. Put your jar in to ensure it is going to fit, if it looks nice and snug you can now add another row of "fishnet"

Tie a big knot at the end and trim off any access string and you are done! And now have a beautiful lantern!

I am planning to make several of these and stringing them all the way along the curtain rail for Christmas, they would look pretty outside strung up either in trees or around your patio for a gorgeous alternative of outdoor lighting!

These are the yummy cookies I baked. They are ginger cookies that are perfectly soft and chewy. They smell like Christmas and general happiness! I got the recipe here the only change I made was swapping out the molasses for brown sugar! Honestly try them you won't be disappointed!

I have one more thing to add before I go and that is how talented my Mum is! I had my 21st just recently and Mum sent me over my present. I promise you she has more talent in her thumbnail than what I have in my entire body.
Mum quilts for a living and she is bloody good at it too!
Here is the quilt she made me for for my birthday and I am utterly in love with it! I had found a picture of a quilt that I really like on Pinterest and sent it off to Mum and so she decided to give it a go and put her own spin on it. Here is the quilt I found on Pinterest:

And here is Mums version which I personally think it turned out much prettier!:

Such a special gift I will savor for years to come, thank you so much Mum!
If you want to see more of what my darling Mumma bear is capable of please don't hesitate to go and check out her blog: http://quiltmekiwi.blogspot.com.au/

Well that's all I have for you today folks!
Thank you for taking the time to swing by, Until next time you stay classy ;)

Serena
x

Happy Hair

Hi there bloggy pals!!!

I am so super sorry!! It has been WEEKS since my last post!! How slack!! But I can tell you it has been a crazy few weeks!
But I am here and back and will have yet another post for you on the weekend involving some crafty goodness so for the mean time this will have to tide you over ;)

So as per the title today's blog is all about hair!! Woohooo! As of a few months ago I started to cut out chemicals from our home which also included chemical hair dyes..... Now I have to tell you this was a scary thing to do because true fact I am 21 and going gray.. Seriously genetics why???!
So the thought of being in my twenties and being completely grey didn't really appeal to me but I also didn't like what chemical dyes were doing to my hair which I am desperately trying to grow out!

I started googling like crazy to find natural alternatives and I found a whole bunch of information on the most magical plant in the world; Henna!!
Henna is seriously the work of wizards, its incredible stuff. Created from the dried leaves of the henna plant, it is a natural dye which works in an entire different way to that of chemical dyes. Henna actually bonds with the inside of your hair and colours from the inside out mending your hair as it goes. Henna comes in one colour only and that is RED! It also can not lighten hair as it fuses with your natural colour and enhances it. For example; my natural hair colour is a mid brown, so henna gave me a lovely auburn colour which is different shades of red in different light. If you have really light hair you will get more copper/orange hues, and if your hair is black your hair will still be black but with red highlights in the sun.
So if you don't like red then henna is not for you, but there is an alternative called indigo which will have you with gorgeous raven locks :)
I would also be a bit of a research freak and be 100% certain that henna is for you because it is very permanent as in you have to wait for it to grow out as colouring over top of henna'd hair can do some serious damage to your hair, so always do a strand test first and be sure to check out this Henna website for all the information you need :)

Let us begin on my third application of henna :)

So to start be aware henna is a whole lot messier that box chemical dyes! So when you get to the actual dying process be sure to wear old clothes and put down some news paper, and also scrub away any drops left in the sink or workspace as henna will stain everything!

You will need:

• Henna (body quality works best as it is the most "pure". I get mine from the local Indian grocery)
• A plastic container you don't mind staining, I use an ice cream container :)
• A spoon
• Something acidic such as lemon juice or lime
• plastic cling wrap
• GLOVES!!! (This is super important if you don't want fluorescent orange hands for the next week). 
• 3-4hours to spare.

So to begin you will need your henna. I use one packet which is plenty for my shoulder length hair, but if you have long hair you will need two packets. Here is the henna i got this time:

As you can see it is also so much cheaper then box dye or going to the salon at only$2.95 a pack what a steal!

 Henna powder to me smells like cut grass, It is a refreshing change to the pass out smell of normal dye.

 Add lemon juice, or in this case lime juice to the powder and mix in as much as you need until you reach a nice thick paste with a sort of Greek yogurt texture as pictured below:

 Once you have the desired texture you will need to cover your container and store it over night to allow the dye to release ( The acid from the lime juice releases the colours from the powder and leaving it over night will give you a nice vibrant colour)

So this is my hair colour pre-henna. As you can see there is still a nice red hue to it but I have a decent bit of regrowth going (Loki is always so photogenic while I am slumming it in my PJs haha)
After your henna has been sitting overnight it is all ready to be slathered over your pretty little head.
I always brush my hair to make sure there is no knots and then section up my hair to ensure even application. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the process as my little helper was at work :(  and its all a bit messy to be taking the gloves on and off to snap some very unflattering pictures hehe. It is a good idea to apply some sort of barrier cream to your skin around your hairline such as Vaseline, I personally like coconut oil.
I found the best way to apply the paste is the same way that I would usually colour my hair just working with sections until the entirety has been covered generously, and if you have a bit left over just slap that on too and you will have a seriously sexy look a bit like this:

 Looks a bit like cow poo but that is ok! I use a bit of coconut oil on a cotton pad to tidy up any bits of henna on your skin. Now you will need to put cling wrap over your head to keep all the goodness in an develop a rich colour.

Extra for the conehead sequel.

Leave the henna in for 3-4 hours. I used the time to clean the house and get a bit of reading done.
Rinse out the worst of the henna over the bath or sink to avoid getting it on your skin. Once the bulk of it has been rinsed out jump into the shower and wash your hair as per usual with shampoo and conditioner (my personal favourite is Sukin it is 100% vegan with no animal testing or nasty chemicals, you can buy it online here). When you get out of the shower do not freak out! Your hair will be very orange at the roots! but as your hair dries the colour will settle:

Mega orange roots!

Colour in bathroom overhead light

Colour in sunlight.

So there you have it a nice pretty chemical free colour :)
Let me know in the comments below if you have ever tried henna or you are wanting too!

Until next time!
Stay crafty you little foxes!
Serena
xxx

Rarotongan Rain Storms

Hey there Bloggy Pals!!!

Welcome back!!
I have so much to fill you in on!!
So our Rarotongan holiday has been and gone and I am still reminiscing over the picturesque landscape with the coconut tree strewn shores, gorgeous golden sand, unreal blue water all over looked by the "mountains" running through the spine of the 32km wide island.
If you have never been I would very much recommend it has a low to medium ranged budget friendly holiday! This blog is mainly going to consist of travel details so if you came here for crafts skip down to the bottom of this posts and you can learn how to decorate ceramics :)

We managed to pack quite a lot into our 5 day visit and something that we were constantly blown away with was the incredible island hospitality especially from one of the ladies serving at the breakfast buffet in the resort we stayed at The edgewater resort she was always so sweet and had an uncanny ability to recognize us (perhaps that's because we were always the first down at 7am to get the freshest goodies) we fondly referred to her as "Auntie" for the duration of our visit. We put it down to the location for such friendliness, seriously how can you be sour when you are constantly surrounded by this sort of beauty:

 The reason for our trip was a very special one for both Josh and I as it was for the union of two of our very best friends. The gathering of their family and a handful of close friends for their Wedding which both Josh and I were lucky enough to be asked to be apart of their wedding party. Their wedding was held on the third day of our trip and it really was a magical event which I will elaborate on shortly.

The first day of our trip was crazy in all sense of the word.
Our flight arrived at 1am and we found out that the package deal we had booked didn't include an early check in or shuttle to the resort and that check in wasn't until 2pm! So we decided that we would just walk around the island until the sun came up then would form a plan. We started walking immediately getting plagued with exhaustion as we had already spend the entire previous day traveling and a lovely local man in his van pulled over and asked where we were heading and offed us a ride to our resort which we gratefully accepted (which thinking back on it would have seemed very unsafe in any other country)
We ended up paying for the extra night and getting a few hours rest before an early wake up call at 6.30am to the very loud crowing of roosters a sound which I oddly adore.
So we headed to the resort restaurant to make the most of the continental breakfast which we ate outside on the beach front seating under cute little beach hut things:

 After breakfast we made it our mission to  rent out a scooter which is the preferred method of transport for tourist and locals alike.
Hiring the scooter was a very simple process with very little paper work. Josh was the designated driver for the week so it was as easy as him handing over his drivers license signing an insurance paper and sitting a driving test. The driving test was him circling a parked car and weaving a few coconut trees. The hire costs for the scooter which we fondly named "Cynthia" was $67nzd which included a temporary license to get us to the local police station to get a permanent license.

Josh looking handsome on his crowned glory "Cynthia"

 
 We circled the island looking for the local police station which was in the center of the main township "Avarua" a quint little town which has a New Zealand small beach town feel about it. The permanent license cost $20 and only required Josh to fill out an application  form, hand over his temporary license and supply his passport and they printed off his new Rarotongan license right there in front of him which is valid for one year. Upon our circling of the island we saw so many exciting and slightly upsetting things.
Dogs roaming is not an uncommon thing in Raro. Its something as a doting "dog mum" I found hard to wrap my head around these dogs were free to roam the island  as none of the houses have fences but I also got the feeling none of them really had "owners" they were all very unkempt with matted coats and covered in fleas looking quite thin (some were the exception looking a little to well fed but still very straggly) they were everywhere but they were all quite friendly obviously knowing how to score a free dinner. There were also chickens galore. hundreds of them crossing the roads with their gorgeous little chicks in tow:

  There were also a few horses, cows and heaps of goats all tied to different things because of the lack of fences:

One of the prettiest cows I have ever seen!

The scenery was just breathtaking and also very unusual, the houses where all very tiny and a vast majority of them looking in need of some T.L.C as I imagine there isn't a huge amount of money going around aside from tourism but as I said earlier the locals all seem like very lovely and content people. There was also plenty of abandoned houses as a lot of the people of Rarotonga move to New Zealand in fact some one was saying in Auckland alone there is more Islanders than there is in Rarotonga!! It looks as If they just up and left in many of the places such as this one:

We went to visit the bride and groom in their resort they stayed at The palm grove which was a fifteen minute scooter ride away from our resort. They stayed in a gorgeous beachfront bungalow and from their balcony we sighted the first of many whales!! It just so happened to be the time of year in which they migrate to warmer waters for mating season! We were all very hysterical over the beautiful sight as they breached in front of us for several minutes! (unfortunately I didn't take any photos as I was way to excited to even consider photos)

After whale watching we decided to give snorkeling a shot and I very quickly discovered the snorkel I had brought over with me leaked and the water was much to cold for my likings so it was a very short lived experience but I gladly wrapped up in a towel and watched the others from the comforts of the balcony.

That evening we all gathered at the Edgewater resort restaurant for dinner which was very delicious and reasonably priced. Josh had a chicken burger that cost around $17 and I had the vegetarian quesadilla which came with a side of salad for only $13!
After dinner we went to pick up our other best friend and her partner from the airport who were also staying at our resort. By 10pm we were ready for bed and slept like logs.

The next day was just as much of an adventure as the first. We had all made a plan to meet at palm grove at 10am to go explore the abandoned Sheraton resort which has been abandoned 20+ years after being 75% complete had the towel chucked in for completion after funds ran dry. The resort was to be the islands first 5 star resort with a golf course. According to locals it was built on cursed land dooming it from the start, but it makes for some pretty darn amazing photo opportunities which I will now spam you with:

Conga lines of explorers

A hauntingly sad and beautiful sight.

 Right after our exploring missions the sky delivered a very angry tropical rain storm so we boosted our way back to Palm grove and waited for a break in the weather. Of course the break in the weather didn't last very long and on our way back scootering to our resort we got blasted by a fresh hit of rain heavier than the first. The rain hit us like bullets it was so painful but also hilarious. We arrived back in mostly once piece and had hot showers to make us feel like humans again and of course once we were dry and dressed it fined up. Dinner was at Trader Jacks, a cute little bar and restaurant that is on the waterfront next to the port. The restaurant has a beachy theme and a relaxed vibe and the food was pretty good and fairly reasonably priced, Josh had the crumbed fish and chips which cost $19 he thought it was really nice fresh fish and I ordered wok tossed vegetables on a bed of rice which were two side dishes as I didn't feel like a heavy meal and that cost $9 we also split an apple pie for desert which also cost $9.

The next day was the day of the wedding. The whole day was incredible and very relaxed which exactly how a beach wedding should be. The weather was perfect and there were many laughs and tears exchanged between family and friends. I honestly don't imagine the day could have got any better it was just perfect (I cried way to much but that's OK! )

Us admiring the gorgeous bride!

My all time favourite picture of my favourite people.

The  boys getting sassy.

After the ceremony we all piled on to a bus and headed to highland Paradise where they put on a second sort of wedding it was a traditional Cook Island wedding that included the bride walking over the "tribesmen" backs and being wrapped in a blanket:

The tribesman let me hold his spear haha

After a tour of the highland paradise which is a demonstrative village of how life used to be in Rarotonga we headed to the main building and had a dinner buffet of traditional Island food and watched a performance of traditional island dancing. Over all it was a beautiful day and an amazing night. By the time we got back to our room we were exhausted.

The next day was fairly cruisey for us we spent the day just hanging out and circling the island again looking at the local stores and all the pretty beach spots.

Preston getting cosy with the locals

That night we headed to High tide bar and restaurant where its was $3 happy hour and free pool with all you can eat pizza, pasta and salad for $20pp. Josh and Jake (the groom) challenged themselves to an all you can eat pizza duel. It was disgusting and impressive all at once. Jake ate 18 pieces of pizza and 2 pieces of garlic bread and Josh managed 17 pieces of pizza and 2 pieces of garlic bread! Josh vomited when we got back to our room.

The next day was our final day on the island and we had to hand back our scooter keys at 9am so we just spent the day around our resort. We went snorkeling (I hired out one which didn't leak thankfully) and it was GORGEOUS! the fish were so amazing and friendly. It was so beautiful and colourful but unfortunately the tide was very strong so it was a fairly quick swim as the current was hitting us into the coral.
For dinner we went to the Spaghetti house for dinner which was at the end of the driveway to our resort. It was a cute Italian inspired restaurant  which we very excitedly discovered that our table cloth was a big piece of paper and each table also had crayons so we got to draw on our table while we waited for our food. Josh had the chicken fettuccine which cost $18 and I ordered the vegetable pasta which was $13.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and felt super blessed to be a part of Jacob and Jennifer's wedding so a huge thank you to them for inviting us!


Thanks for your patience if you read that big spiel I also have one more thing to share with you that is craft related.
A little while ago I made it my mission to create some personalized coffee mugs so that is exactly what I did and now you can too!!
All you need is:

• Set of mugs (I brought a set of 4 for $12)
• High quality permanent markers (this is important as I used cheap markers and it pretty much came off after I washed them.
• oven

• A design idea.

To start have all your equipment ready and preheat your oven to 180c:

 Draw on your designs and allow the pen to dry so you don't smudge anything when you transfer them to the oven. Bake your mugs for 40 minutes and carefully remove from the oven and allow to cool. You may wish to wash them before using them, I did and that is when I realized high quality markers are the way to go.

My mugs obviously didn't want to live as all but one have been dropped or broken but I will definitely attempt these again with better pens. They would make awesome gifts :)

I also have one quick little recipe to share with you and I cannot tell you how amazing it is!
It is a bit of a sneaky cheat desert but I think you need one of those every now and then and this one only takes 1 minute. Literally. How amazing is that and you cook it in a mug and can eat it right out of it with a generous plop of ice cream!!

       1 Minute Microwave chocolate pudding!!

 Ingredients:

•  1 heaped tablespoon of self raising flour
• 1heaped tablespoon cocoa
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of milk

Topping:

• 1 teaspoon cocoa
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon hot water.

Method

1. Mix together flour,cocoa,sugar and milk in mug.
2. Sprinkle on top extra cocoa and brown sugar and very carefully pour on the hot water.
3. Cook in microwave on medium for 1 minute.
4. Add a blob of ice cream and enjoy :)

 This is the perfect little something when you feel like a little bit of pudding without feeling the need to make a large pudding and either waste the rest or eat the lot!  

Well thats it until next time folks.
Stay safe and happy!
xx