Megan Dress | DIY

The Megan dress is my first project from Love at First Stitch by Tilly Walnes and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

This dress was relatively easy to make (Tilly includes fantastic picture instructions with all her patterns) however I would probably not reccommend this pattern for a beginner.

I love the way this dress fits. The darts and dart tucks ( a first for me!) ensure the dress hugs the body in all the right places.

I really like the use of the invisible zip. This was the first time I had used one, however it is not very easy (or cheap!) to get an invisible zipper foot for my machine. I watched a few YouTube videos and eventually worked out how to install an invisible zipper with my normal zipper foot. 

There are a few things I will work on for next time. The sleeves stick up a bit, so I need to work on my gathering. My dart tucks were far from perfect (I think I should have pressed them slightly better) and I need to get way better at installing an invisible zip. 

Overall I am happy with how this has turned out and I will certainly be making another one...very soon!

- J x

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Natio Finds | First Impressions

I picked up three products from the Natio range at National Pharmacies a few weeks ago and couldn't wait to give them a try! Here are my first impressions.

Complexion Perfection Foundation Sponge

I had heard a pretty good first impression about these sponges by Amy from Bottled Beauty and couldn't wait to try them out myself. Personally I love makeup brushes as I think they give a more natural look and don't use as much foundation as sponges, however I was pleasantly surprised by how good these sponges are. It does take more time to apply your foundation, so I can see myself using these only for special occasions, however the end result really is flawless. 

Clear Pores Detoxifying Face Scrub with Jojoba Beads

There were a few mixed reviews about this product online so I was interested to see how this scrub worked for me. A few of the reviews mentioned the lack of exfoliating power due to the gentleness of the scrub. After only using it a couple of times (it should only be used 2 - 3 times a week) I quite like the way it has been making my skin feel. Acne wise - I will need to use it for a bit longer to see if it has any impact!

Intensive Moisturising Night Cream

My skin has been feeling quite dry this winter, so I decided to give this night cream a try. I have been using it every night since I purchased it and so far am pretty happy with the results. I wake up with a lovely, smooth hydrated face.

I use the facial scrub and night cream as part of my overall skincare routine. I find that by trying to stick to this routine, my skin looks glowing and healthy. Look out for an updated skincare routine post soon.

A little something to remember when reading skincare product reviews - all skin types are different. Something that might not have worked for someone else may work for you! Most products have a mixed reaction, however if a product has mostly negative reviews, I would usually stay clear.

- J x

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Yoga Goals | LIfestyle

If you have been a reader of my blog for a while, you may have seen my post on the benefits of yoga and why I love it. I have been practising yoga for two and a half years and have recently been trying to incorporate it into my everyday routine.

I came across this pin on Pinterest a few weeks ago and thought the goals were such a great idea, so I tweaked a few of them and made 5 of my own yoga goals. 

Even if it is for just 10 - 15 minutes, I believe incorporating yoga into my daily routine will be very beneficial. I find it helps me to stop and concentrate on myself and stop worrying about all the things going on around me.

I usually attend two classes a week, so I would really love to keep that up. Going to a class at least once a week helps me to progress in my yoga journey and ensures I am getting the most out of my yoga.

You are forever developing during your yoga journey, so I think it is essential to let your yoga practice develop along with you. Incorporating one new yoga pose a week into my practice will ensure I am challenging myself and really getting the most out of my yoga journey.

I don't usually include Savasana pose (laying on your back in relaxation) in my yoga practise at home because I am always thinking of all the other things I could and should be doing. However, I think it is really important to take time out for yourself and take a breath, so this is definitely something I will be trying to include.

As I mentioned above, I believe your yoga routine should develop with you, so trying out a different routine from week to week is definitely something I am going to do. As you grow in strength and flexibility, change up your routine to continue challenging and developing yourself and your yoga practice.

If you would like to join me on this yoga journey, please feel free! You can pin the images above if you would like for inspiration. I would love to hear from you about your goals and your progress. I will be keeping you up to date with my yoga journey!

Also, if you would like to try yoga at home, I highly recommend Yoga by Candace on YouTube. Candace is fantastic at talking you through each pose and has a large selection on videos ranging from beginner to expert.

Namaste.
 - J x

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Dining Chair Reupholstery | DIY

We were given our dining setting by my Grandparents when they moved into a retirement village a few years ago. The table brings back so many memories of all the wonderful times we had with them, and all the amazing meals we shared with the family sitting around the table.

I recently got around to re upholstering the chairs to make bring them into a more modern era. I absolutely love the way they turned out! After upholstering one of our couches last year, this project was a dream - so quick and easy. Scroll down to see the process.

- Fabric

- Drill

- Thread

- Scissors

- Chisel

- Pliers

- Staple Gun

The first thing you will need to do is dismantle the chair. Flip the chair so it is upside down and use your drill to remove all screws. Remember to take note of where everything fitted so you are able to put it back together properly. You may like to take pictures to ensure you put it back the same way.

Don't be fooled into thinking your dining chair will only have a few staples. There were at least 100 in each of our dining chairs! You need to ensure you take out all of your staples. I didn't have a special tool, so I used one of my partner's chisels and a pair of heavy duty pliers to pull out each staple. I found it easier to use the chisel first and push up all the staples, then go around and pull out the staples with the pliers. 

Place the old fabric on top of the new fabric and cut it out. Make sure to leave a border when you are cutting. Now is also the time to sew any fabric you need to. I don't have a picture of it sorry, but the backs of our chairs also needed to be reupholstered. I used what they had done as a guide and sewed the new fabric where they had sewn the old fabric.

Pretty much the most exciting step! Using your stale gun, reattach the fabric to the cushion of the chair. This was a lot of trial and error for me especially when it came to the corners. Take your time and ensure there are no puckers before you staple. It is also easier if you have 2 people so you can hold the fabric in place. You can now reassemble the chair.

And you are finished! Super easy - the more you do the quicker you will get.

I chose this gorgeous nude leaf curtain fabric to reupholster the chairs and I think it looks really nice.

We also really want to paint the dining setting but are unsure at this stage what colour. What are your thoughts?

I hope this post has been helpful and might inspire you with your reupholstering projects.

- J x

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Organising My Craft Supplies | The Beginnings

image from pinterest

I am finally getting around to organising my growing pile of craft supplies. One of the main reasons I have been putting this off is because I was unsure of how I wanted to organise everything. We are looking to own our first home this year so we won't be in our existing house for too much longer. However I have decided to bite the bullet for now and just organise everything as best I can. I will do an updated one of these once we move.

This is what my craft supplies storage looked like before. A complete mess I know! We really have limited storage in this house and are quickly outgrowing it.

This is the after! It is still not how I would really like to store all my supplies but it works for now.

I had to be completely ruthless when it came to organising all my craft supplies. I can sometimes be a bit of a fabric scrap hoarder (who knows, it may come in handy for something!) so I made myself chuck out any remnants I knew I would not be using.

My favourite part is how I have organised my fabric stash - it looks so pretty and utilises our filing cabinet which does not really get used. This idea came from Lauren from The Thinking Closet. It makes it so easy to see what I have on hand.

I found these great fabric stash tags by Sarai Mitnick from Colette Patterns. I love this idea as you can see exactly what you have at a quick glance. It gives you a place to write a description of the fabric, the length and the width. The big blank space down the bottom allows you to include a sample of the fabric so that you can see and feel the fabric without having to get the fabric out of the drawer.

Here is an example of my tags. I have written a general description about the fabric, written the length in pencil so that I can change it as I go (I have also included whether the material has been cut) and how wide the fabric is. I used a stapler to attach a small sample of each fabric.

I attached them to the drawer so that I can flip it out whenever I want to see what is in my stash. As Sarai states in her blog post, the hardest part will be to remember to change the length as you cut each piece of fabric! 

I used a fabric covered box to store my fat quarters and scrap material.

How do you organise your fabric supplies? I cannot wait to have proper storage for all my craft supplies. Watch out for an updated post sometime this year!

- J x

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1 Simple Way to Avoid Procrastination | Advice

image created by me using Canva

Confession - I am a massive procrastinator especially at home after work or on the weekends when all I want to do is nothing!

I have found it is so easy to get into the habit of procrastinating and justifying it by saying things like "I will do it tomorrow when I have more time", "it won't matter if I leave it one more night" etc (sound familiar?) In reality all this does is build up all of the things that need to be done until it all becomes too much and you wish you had just done it in the first place.

Over the years I have found there is 1 simple trick that helps me keep on track when I want to be productive...

Making a list!

I know. Such a simple concept. But lists are truly amazing when it comes to beating procrastination and being productive. Having everything written down and out of your head stops you from feeling overwhelmed by the thought of things you want to achieve. Lists allow you to look at everything you want to get done in a clear and concise manner, and help you to prioritise what you need to get done which in turn makes you a lot more productive.

I write lists for everything including:

- food Shopping
- cleaning
- what I want to do when I get home
- what I want to get done over the weekend
- birthday presents

(see what I did there...)

I personally find that lists give me a great feeling of satisfaction as I tick off each item one by one. I feel so good knowing I am actually achieving something, and am not getting bogged down by the million things I want to do in my head.

A few tips for good list making:

Make small, easy to achieve lists
The key with list making is to have small, manageable lists which actually encourage you to get things done. This may mean you have quite a few lists, but it allows you to break everything down into smaller chunks making you much more productive. It can be overwhelming to look at a long list of things to do.

Check off each item as you go
As I mentioned above, I love ticking off each item as I go as it makes me feel like I have actually achieved something.

Choose a system that works for you
Everyone has their own way of creating lists, so choose the one that works best for you. Personally, my lists usually consist of headers and indented dot points (see example below). This allows me to break everything down into even smaller steps.

Are you an avid list maker like me? How else do you avoid procrastination?

- J x


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On Trend | Boho Crown Braid

The Boho Crown Braid has been a huge hit with bloggers / YouTubers in the Northern Hemisphere coming into summer and I know it will be very popular in Australia later in the year. I must admit, I was a bit unsure about this hairstyle when I first saw it as it reminded me of the milkmaid braids (which suit some!) but are not really to my taste. However I have definitely grown to love it and having recently tried it out myself, it will become a hairstyle staple during spring and summer.

There are a few things I really love about this hairstyle. Unlike a bun which can start to feel heavy and pull on your head throughout the day, the crown braid is light and loose which makes it a comfortable hairstyle to wear all day / night. It is also a perfect hairstyle for both casual and more formal occasions as it can be dressed up or dressed down.

I have seen a few different variations when it comes to creating this hairstyle, but my favourite is this one from Kayley (aka letsmakeitup1.) I love her tutorials (she is the queen of braids) and her videos and instructions are always easy to follow.

Because I have colour through the ends of my hair (you can see my post about it here) the braid has a lot more texture which makes it look much more three dimensional. If your hair is one colour and you would like to know how to create more texture, The Beauty Department has a great post on creating more texture for braids using coloured hair extensions (perfect for a formal look)

What are your thoughts on the Boho Crown Braid? Would you try this out for summer?

- J x

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