Rocks rock!

Did you know that rocks are actually pretty cheap? Neither did I! We've decided to landscape the area around the fish pond with river rocks and some really striking plants that have pink and purple throughout the foliage. Not only are the pebbles practical and logical for the area around the pond, but we've been having a bit of trouble with the grass getting boggy along the front of the deck.

We've made a start!

Since the timber panelling on the deck has been finished we've been able to get in there and get it started. After a crazy-busy weekend we spent several hours this afternoon digging out the pond again (long story- but it shifted in some heavy rain). We also had to figure out the configuration of our little garden and lay the weed mat.

All the area that is covered in weed mat will be filled in with river pebbles in various sizes but my inferior skills in estimation mean that we need to go and buy more rocks. I'm still not 100% sure on the plant placement, but I will keep playing around with it over the next week until I'm happy. Because of my tendency to accidentally commit planticide we chose plants that are hardy and easy care. Some of the plants we bought are so gorgeous; I can't wait to see what it looks like when we're done.

Create an office in 15 minutes!

Being in the middle of renovations has rendered me desk-less. Well, technically not, I actually have three perfectly excellent desks but all are being used for non-desk purposes or are stacked to the ceiling with boxes. It began to drive me crazy that I had no organised workspace, so I re-jiggered a few things and made myself a "portable" office!

Be organised in a tiny space

I have several sets of these little wooden drawers from Ikea and they are great for storing all my art supplies, stationery, and gift wrapping bits. I consolidated and re-organised some of my 'stuff' and made a set available. Of course, you could just pop out to Ikea and buy a set for less than $30!

I simply picked out the categories I would need to organise my 'frequently used' stuff and stuck some cute little sticky labels on the front of the drawers. Of course, I had to colour co-ordinate the labels with the notebook that I am currently using, but that's just me. You could get way more creative and cover the drawers in wallpaper or paint them, but I wanted a solution and I wanted it in a hurry.

I have a little drawer for pens, one for scissors, clips and whatnot, one with notepaper, one for my blog notebook, and one for letter writing things and stickers. There's one drawer for 'stuff', because you always need a place to put random flotsam and jetsam. The beauty of this is that there is a place for everything and it is so easy to tuck everything out of the way in its place!

Organise your life with a lovely list

I'm a huge fan of the list and could not function effectively without extensive To Do lists. I bought this really funky 5 tab notebook from Kikki K and have used it to 'chunk' my To Do lists into categories. At the moment I have a general list, a wedding list, a house renovation list, a house 'wishlist', a blogging list, and a relax list. The relax list is my favourite and I keep it there to remind me that sometimes I have to do fun or relaxing things to keep sane!

So there you go; an easy way to create an "office" space where there is none, and to keep your dining table free of clutter. It is also compact enough that you can easily move it from room to room and still have all your essentials handy. Well worth the 15 minutes it took me to get it sorted!

Bonbonierre guest post at Polkadot Bride!

Hey there, I'm guest posting some cute little DIY lolly bags over at Polkadot Bride today!

Please stop by and have a gander at the bonbonierre I made for our wedding. Only five weeks to go and still so much to do!

Beautiful bird cage.

I have a thing for birds. They are beautiful, intriguing, inspiring creatures. I could watch birds doing their birdy thing for hours and hours on end without ever getting bored. While I don't agree at all with keeping such a free creature confined to a tiny cage for all its life, I still find bird cages to be gorgeous objects.

Vintage bird cage

I picked up this tiny little vintage bird cage from Doug Up On Bourke a few weeks ago for a very reasonable price. I love its handmade quirks and the fact that it looks like a well-loved and well-worn piece of history. It really is tiny, I truly hope that it was only used as a temporary transport cage for a finch or something little!

I used to have pet birds, and while I miss having a birdy friend in my daily life I sure don't miss the commitment, it's like having a two year old that never grows up! Luckily for me there are plenty of birds that come to visit our back yard every day. I think this dear little bird cage will look great in our new living area, which is tantalisingly close to completion.