Use What You Have On Hand

Dolly is currently preparing 4 craft boxes for 3 friends and herself as gifts. Yes she's preparing a gift for herself too. How smart is that.

To present all the inexpensive and op shopped goodies as pretty as possible I have been working on making the boxes as gorgeous as possible to give it extra Zip Dang Bang! I have completed 2 so far (one a night at roughly 2 hours each) while my family sleeps.

The boxes were from The Rambling Expats workplace destined for landfill. Old A4 Illford Photography Paper boxes (back from the darkroom days). He saved them for me knowing I'm a hoarder of all good things. I started cutting random images from books and mags but then remembered these sweet calenders from 2010 and 2011 purchased in op shops for .50 cents each. So cutting and gluing ensued with beautiful outcomes.

 

These are not completed. They need one more lick of glue to varnish and protect, then I'm done. These are time consuming but I'm hooked as I have found it meditative to cut and glue in the quiet. We have a 70th Birthday party to attend soon. I'm planning to ask a shoe shop for a nice sturdy shoe box that I can cover. I hope to fill it with herb/rose petal sachets, chocolate and photos. It's for a man, so I will masculinate all my gifts.

Have you done anything like this before? It's my 1st time and I think it's quite nifty. Have you been using what you have on hand?

I might be away tomorrow as We are taking The Rambling Expat out for dinner - it's his Birthday. Pop over to his fishing addicted Blog to wish him a happy 45th (he only looks 30 - lucky Duck!) We've been together for 19 years. Who would have ever thought? My plan was to stay single and sexy all my life and then I met him... Now I'm content and Rubenesque :-)

Eco Cleaning My Bathroom

There is nothing I dislike more then cleaning as I feel it eats up my precious time where I could be having FUN. But tonight I read a few pages on cleaning with Bicarb, Vinegar, Salt and Eucalyptus oil from one of my Library books. After which The Rambling Expat and I emptied the bathroom and spent one and a half hours scrubbing and wiping over every tile and surface because my lovely but Fussy cousin is arriving from Paris in a few days.

Clean walls and surfaces.

We then replaced all our bathroom stuff. When doing so I realised I have an excess of personal care and beauty products that Couchsurfers and Helpx travellers leave behind as they head towards Asia. I just don't use them up fast enough even though I have stopped purchasing any more personal care and beauty products until I fully run out of an item.

Clutter in Place

After we cleaned, I noticed that The Rambling Expat didn't have the usual asthma attack whilst we cleaned. So Eco Cleaning is good for the environment, pocket and our health too. Yay!

I purchased the green kitchen bowls yesterday from an op shop for $3. They are vintage retro Bessemer made in Australia from 60's/70's and in fantastic condition. I was going to sell them on, but I love them so much I decided to keep them for now. I transferred all of Dolly's hair ties from a small cane basket to the funky containers which will be easier to deal with, in the morning rush of hair styling.

Retro Bessemer

I Love Them.

How do you clean? Do you think it's harder to clean with vinegar and bicarb compared to bleach and spray and wipe?