DIY House: Our Bookshelves part 1

HI!


Yesterday I was featured on Judy's Handmade Creations as the most clicked on link in a Linky Party! Thanks to all of you who viewed my Microwave Fudge Recipe.

I am a reader, for as long as I can remember I have loved books! When we moved into our current house there was a lack of shelves- shelves of all kinds and especially bookshelves. Now after 18 months my books have been unpacked!

My husband worked on it for about two weeks in between work and other house hold tasks.

the wall space where the bookshelf will be

building it on the lounge floor

The shelf unit is too big to attempt to build outside and carry inside, so all the building took place on our lounge floor, our furniture was moved aside and it made a real obstacle course to get through!  Our Cats seem to enjoy sussing out and inspecting any work that gets done especially my little Bailey. Spot the cat in the picture above :)

it's up and in place

I decoupaged washi tape to the shelf fronts

You know my love affair with washi tape!

sorted into piles waiting to be shelved

 I kept all  my childhood books for my future children, here's hoping they actually enjoy reading!

all done- but only the adult fiction

we ran out of shelves before getting to this pile

 We still have to build another set on the opposite wall, but that's another task all on it's own.
Of course I was my OCD self and everything is alphabetised. :)

I love my bookshelf!

Shared with  Not Just a Housewife

Love Lauren

Easter

Last Easter my husband and I had just returned from our honeymoon the night before. Now being South Africa and the fact that it was late March and still warm AND we were driving from the East Coast side of the country we didn't want to travel with Easter eggs. Anyway we woke up on Good Friday to get some supplies- some of which would be Easter eggs, we went to one of our closest shops- (a large one) and found NO EASTER EGGS! None at all, no Lindt Bunnies, no marshmallow eggs, nothing! When I enquired I was told they had sold out!(and somehow managed to take down all their displays?) So to make a long story short we had no Easter Eggs last year :(

This year I have gone overboard :)

Cute egg cups I bought at Woolworths

I did some Easter crafts- minor ones since I have no littlies to make it special for.

Eighteen25

I did my own variation of the bunny tails tags as I sadly have no ink in my home printer. I used a tag stencil and my alphabet stamps I bought from Doolally Daisy

washi tape tags

I did an amigurumi cupcake bunny for my husband's basket (sounds weird but it was too cute to resist) I found the pattern here her blog is called Little Yarn Friends and her version is adorable.

my version of the cupcake bunny

He made me 2 log bunnies, I found a picture on pinterest and requested them, sometimes a girl has to be specific right?  I plan on reusing these bunnies and my cupcake one as Easter decor for next year.

log bunny

I did a few items for my Easter Market this weekend too.

bunny hats pattern found here

my adaptation of an owl turned chick

Then finally I drew up a paw print stencil and shook some baby powder over it to create some "bunny prints", I can't wait to have littlies to make magic for!

Bunny Tracks :)

Now my husband can finally get started on his basket, he's been (im)patiently waiting for me to finish taking my pictures :)

Happy Easter all...
What do you do to make Easter special?

 Love Lauren

Washi Tape!

 Hi my name is Lauren and I am a Washi Tape addict....I love washi tape! It started with one roll in December 2012 and snow balled from there. I now boast a collection of 113 tapes! My lovely husband gave me 30 for my 30th,and my parents sent me some from Scotland as well.

What is washi tape? (For those of you who may not know)

Washi tape is a decorative masking tape originating from Japan and comes from 'Wa' meaning Japanese and 'shi' meaning paper and the term is used to describe paper paper made in a traditional manner.


It sounds odd to be addicted to/obssessed with printed tape but to justify my addiction there are so many uses! And the tapes are pretty and that's as good an excuse as any. Seeing them all organised and sorted by print just makes me smile. But then you'll learn that about me, anything in colour order or alphabetised makes me happy, it's the OCD in me coming out.

I choose to display and store my tapes in an unused spice rack.

Stencil Wall tutorial here

Using washi tape to tape up Christmas Cards

Washi Tape doesn't leave behind a sticky residue, in the picture above I went as far as to use my Christmas print tapes- Of course!

Above I hung my tapes on my mini Christmas tree's branches just for a bit of extra Christmas cheer.

some coasters.

Here I temporarily covered a light switch in my Kitchen, it fits in well with my Retro pink and blue colour scheme.

passage light switch

future baby room light switch

bedroom light switch

my business cards- the fronts only

a clip board.

my market day name tag

Other uses that I haven't put pictures up of are:  Decorating plainer Gift wrapping,decorating tea lite candles-on the foil bit,covering note books and beautifying clothing pegs for clipping a tag onto a gift, or anything really. I am not quite so nuts that I decorate all my clothing pegs just for hanging them on the washing line- at least not yet, doubt I'll ever be that nuts.

I source my tape in a few ways. PE doesnt have too many suppliers so getting it locally is a bit of a stretch. I tend to shop on line. My favourite online shop is:

DOOLALLY DAISY. Carene is fantastic,her service is brilliant and the care that goes into her presentation of the packages is an unexpected treat when receiving a parcel. She has a wide range of beautiful tapes and many other crafty items to tickle any one who's remotely creative's fancy. She also does mystery bags of tape and manages never to duplicate any she sends you. I Would and do recommend her to anyone who'll listen to me.

Two other sites I have used in the past have been WASHI BUG,they run a sale if you buy more than 3 tapes you get them at a lower price and they have over 400 tapes! Including some thicker ones and 'brand name' ones

And JAPANESE WASHI, have very reasonably priced tape, but a smaller collection.

Locally I have seen Washi Tape at Peace of Art, Scrapbook Nook, iScrap, Camden, Typo and surprisngly Mr Price Home. But none of these places have as large a selection as on line.

*I will not be held responsible for any new Washi Tape addictions  that may occur from this post ;)

tags

And a sneak peek of tomorrow's post.....

What are some ways you use your Washi Tape?

Shared with Sew Many Ways

Love Lauren