If you’ve spent any time at all at kootoyoo then you know I’m a sentimental sap. Just about everything I buy or make is motivated by memory.

These bargello cushions are no exception. I was lucky enough to be given these by my mum last week. They were originally worked by my dear ‘Non’.

I have so many wonderful memories of the evenings I spent curled up on Non’s couch as a kid. I, in my Non purchased jammies and Non made moccies and her in her pink velvet dressing gown. The dressing gown was quilted in silver thread and was quite the most glamorous thing I’d ever seen. She was always busy knitting and in later years stitching, and there was always crap on the teev.

I really wanted to love the cushions and not just for the fact that she made them. I tried, I really did but they needed a bit of ‘me’ to bring them out of the storage box and into the family room. The once cringe worthy cushions are now treasure forever. I’ve managed to drag them from the far reaches of my memory and my grandmother’s home into my own with just a couple of packets of dye, a pair of rubber gloves, some salt and a wooden spoon.

Chuffed.

And another thing…

I spent time with Pippa from Ouch Flower. We have a lot in common including a deep and abiding love of our creative origins. You can check out her space here.

Are you wondering what other the other creative space folk have been up to? You can check that out here.

Our house was built to a budget. When It came to the fixtures we went with “bare minimum”. Who knew that meant you’d only get one towel rail in the bathroom? And such an expanse of plain white wall – we can’t have that!

I’ve been hanging my towel in the bedroom for far too long now &. The other day I made a trip to Bunnings and set to work refashioning my op shopped tripods into something more.

I just drilled a hole in the centre of some op shopped placemats to make the shelves and then secured them with a 1/4inch nut.   The towel hanger is of course an a broken film SLR which unsurprisingly required no DIY intervention by me.  I’d had that lying around since the camera lamp makings last year.

Just a bit of fun really.

& my favourite room in the house.

I found these footstools on the run a few weeks ago. I had run about a kilometre with them & the dog before my arms gave up. I dropped them off on my brother’s doorstep & picked them up later in the day.

They’ve been languishing in the garage for about a month until I finally dragged them out last weekend to make a couple of covers for them. They are cream vinyl under the fabric & I’ve left this intact because I really like the vinyl too.

The addition makes the kid’s TV area perfect in my opinion. It’s casual & relaxed with a super squishy vintage sofa & lots of throws, comfy lounge-on-the-floor carpet & now a couple of vintage Helen & Ken Absom footstools!

We’ve had these bar stools for ages & consequently they were looking a little the worse for wear. Originally selected because of their substantial weight, they have therefore stood the test of time pretty well … amazing for something built in the last 10 – 15 years (what with planned obsolescence & all that).

Anyway, I’ve been planning a bit of an update for a LONG time & have finally got around to re-working my test stool with one of the feed sacks I bought on etsy. I’m chuffed with the way it looks & will be giving the same treatment to the remaining two bar stools.

I think that the natural colour of the calico looks much better against my kitchen bench than the gloss white ever did.

This is essentially decoupage – prooving that ye olde crafts really are the best & there is nothing new in the world.

Thanks for listening to me waffle on & have a great day.

It’s an Australian icon – the hills hoist.

We had a hills hoist growing up & spent countless hours using it as a monkey bar, merry go round, swing, cubby house, for batting practice (with a tennis ball inside a pair of pantyhose) & a maypole.

My gorgeous brother saved me this when he & his equally gorgeous wife landscaped their backyard.

The new vase will remind me daily of a fabulous childhood.