Kitchen decorations for the heart of the home

You know what they say… the kitchen is the heart of the home. You spend a lot of time in this room, so it’s important that it has got that perfect feeling and that you’re happy with how it looks.

I love my kitchen! It’s only small, but it is well planned, and I really like the teal colour of the walls.

To give it more of a personality I have added several different decorations of various styles. 

One of my favourite features in my kitchen is the wall hung wine rack which is made from cast iron and resembles swirly grape vines. This was a find and a real bargain from TK Maxx, and I make sure it’s always filled with wine bottles to make it look nice and welcoming. 

I recently invested in some new canisters for my tea, coffee and sugar. I went for a classic style of cream and wood from Asda’s home collection, as I thought this would go well with the rest of the decorations in my kitchen…

…Especially this wooden cheese board from bhs, and the little Loch Ness salt, pepper and oil set from Thumbs Up!. Quite quirky, don’t you think?

The weirdest decoration is my kitchen is this wooden and cast iron fruit bowl. Or fruit stand might be a better word for it. This was a present from my sister a few years ago, and she had bought it from an artist in Sweden. When I got the wrapper off it and took a first look at it I actually had no clue what it was. The woolly fruit gave it away though, but I do sometimes place real fruit on it as well. Oh, and all my dries chillies are hanging there neatly in a row – ready to be thrown into random dishes.

My weekend treat is making luxury coffee, and that is made possible due to this dream machine – the Nescafe dolce gusto. This is actually not mine, but it was a gift from me to my boyfriend. Although it’s technically a kitchen appliance, it serves as a decoration as well.

And talking about kitchen appliances… I recently visited my friend who’s just bought and moved into a new house, and I noticed that are their kitchen appliances matched. They were all metallic red, and really created a funky look in their kitchen. I must admit… the appliances in my kitchen do not match… Should they? I mean, just look at these gorgeous red kitchen appliances from Harrods and their KitchenAid collection!

I would absolutely love to have all my kitchen appliances match, so that they work as decorations as well.

What’s it like in your kitchen?

Appreciating the lakes and walks in Yorkshire

Just around the corner from where I work is Roundhay Park in Leeds. This is a very large park with lots of different paths where you can go for walks, or just hang out having picnics, etc. I try to take a full lunch break once or twice a week when I go to the park for a nice walk as a form of light exercise, and it's so lovely and refreshing. You never think of just going for a casual walk when you work in the city centre - then it's always about walking for the sake of making errands. But since I changed jobs in the end of last year and ended up being neighbours with this amazing park, I appreciate a good walk a lot more.

If you want to stay away from the crowd and the tarmac paths around the open green areas, with dogs and prams, you can choose to walk on one of the many paths through the forest arund the lake. This is my preference, as the forest makes me calm and reminds me of my home back in Sweden.

You really are spoilt for choice in this park - both when it comes to number of paths, and also the scenery. Having grown up by the coast I really miss the sight of open water, but I guess the lake in Roundhay Park helps a little bit. I just wish I could jump in for a swim!

Do you, just like me, appreciate a good walk in the nature, with good scenery and the smell of fresh water? If so, I can recommend having a look at Yorkshire Water's map of lakes and walks they manage around this area, which can be found here. Yorkshire Water is actually doing a brilliant job with upkeeping our lakes in Yorkshire, and they've just released Blueprint for Yorkshire - stating their plan for the next 25 years and how they aim to protect the environment.

I think it's great having access to water where you can stroll around - watching the wildlife, having a picnic, walking your dog... I think I'd go crazy if I couldn't do this. Sure, I still miss living by the coast and feeling the sea breeze on my face and in my hair, but the lakes around Yorkshire will do for now.

Create beautiful greeting cards with the embossing technique

This machine arrived in the post the other day. The crafty people amongst my readers will probably already know what it is, but for the rest of you I can tell you that this is an embossing machine. I had actually never used one of these before so I was quite excited to try it out straight away, although, I wasn’t exactly sure how. However, it’s actually really simple to use this machine to create stunning greeting cards, and it’s a fab addition to a crafty girl’s collection.

I’ve worked with a lot of other card making techniques before, including stamping, scrapbooking, using a heat gun to melt glitter into different patterns, etc., but not this. Just have a look at my little collage below on the few easy steps to use this embossing machine fromSizzix.

First you simply need to decide what papers you want to use. This machine actually comes with a beginner’s kit if you buy it at Hobbycraft, including great sized double cards in white and cream, as well as a bunch of different coloured mini papers, so it’s easy to mix and match as you want.

Cut the coloured piece of paper into the size you want (I’ve chosen to keep the original size for this particular card), and place it in one of the texture impression embossing folders (there are 3 to choose from with a few different patterns). You can of course emboss the actual white card as well, which you can see that I have done if you take a closer look.

Place the folder with the paper in between the two black plastic embossing pads, and place them in the machine. Simply turn the handle on the side of the machine until the pads come out on the other side, open up your folder, and…

…Tada! It’s as simple as that.

Now to the actual building of the card itself. I’ve simply used normal Pritt stick to glue the pieces of paper onto the cards. I also added a light purple satin band to the side of the card to match the purple embossed paper, which I attached with a mix of Pritt stick and super glue.

Now all you have to do is sign the card, pop it in one of the accompanying envelopes, and give it to one of your loved ones.

What do you think? Would you be up for trying the embossing technique for yourself

Little things that will give your bathroom a facelift

When it comes to your bathroom, there is so much you can do to spice it up with just a few small things.

And it’s not just about changing the colour of your towels and your bathroom mat – even though this makes a big difference as well – but there are a number of things you can add or change to give new life to this room.

Many associate bathrooms with sky-high prices, and I admit – changing tiles or one of the units is very expensive. However, simply spicing up your bathroom actually doesn’t have to be very expensive at all.

Have a look below for some tips and inspiration.

I mentioned changing the colours of your towels. Well, why not keep some of the spare towels out as a display? It brings colour and character to the room.

 Opting for a quirky shower curtain is a great way to change the look of your bathroom.

A great mirror is essential, as this is almost the focal point of the bathroom. You can also add some colour to the room by adding some pretty flowers - real or plastic.

Interesting towel hooks is such a small thing, but makes such a difference! Why not get on with some DIY so make it even cheaper and more personalised?

Candles, candles, candles! Set the right mood for your cosy bath time by lighting some pretty candles. The candle holders make a nice decoration even on their own when the candles aren't lit.

Many think that you can't hang pictures in the bathroom due to the steam, but sure you can! Just make sure that you go for quality frames, and that the picture inside isn't made of the flimsiest, most fragile paper.

Plants will love it in your steamy bathroom, and your bathroom will get a real facelift by adding some plants.

 Colour coordinate!

And remember... it's the little things that count!

For more tips and ideas you can watch this animated video by
My Bathrooms. It brings up some of the ideas I've already talked about in this post, but some other ones as well.

Simple 20 minute food - Veggie taco bolognese in pittas

I bet we all feel the same when we come home after a long day at work... 

We can't be bothered cooking!

But then we don't want to waste money (and increase our waists) on unhealthy takeaway food. 

The answer to this is quick and simple everyday meals, that don't take you more than 20 minutes to prepare! Even the local Chinese place can't beat that time! ;)

One of my simple and quick meals I threw together recently is a healthy, vegetarian, taco flavoured bolognese, which I served in pitta breads. It seriously didn't take more than 20 minutes, and the ingredients were really cheap as well. 

All you need for this yummy everyday dish is:

Quorn mince

Chopped tomatoes

Sweetcorn

Taco spice mix

Pitta breads

Sour cream 

(and potentially salsa, depending on how spicy you want it)

It's obviously up to you if you want to serve it with anything else on the side.

 

Start off by frying your Quorn mince (from frozen) in some cooking oil. Do this for a few minutes, then add the sweetcorn.

 Stir in the taco spice mix and the chopped tomatoes next, and let it simmer for 10 minutes or so. Add salsa if you think this Mexican inspired bolognese needs to be a bit spicier.

I chose to serve my taco bolognese in pittas with some plain lettuce, grated cheese, and sour cream on the side. You can also opt for salsa, or even chopped up avocado.

And here's the finished result! Not a gourmet dinner, but definitely good enough for a weekday evening when all you want is "fast food".