Insta happenings

I am a great lover of the App Instagram! A wonderful network of photo sharing, commenting and forming 'relationships' with people through the power of images and comment love. 

I have recently started a blog Instragram account, where I will be sharing bit and pieces from around my home and life. I often load piccies on to Instagram and then forget to do so on Facebook etc, so if you would like to follow more of the Bizzy Dayz journey, you can find me HERE, or the username is , wait for it ... bizzydayz

Meanwhile, here is a few Instagram snaps of our life lately ;

Twin LOVE 

Sunday arvo happenings

An invitation to a "Frozen" party calls for Anna hair and a coronation dress!

Breakfast with Harry Potter and Fireman Sam

Banana Bread, everyone favourite 

Planting some Capsicums and Tomatoes

Food prep for dance concert rehearsals 

For the love of laminating

Afternoon smoothie pick me ups

Plumb tuckered

$5 roses are the best kind!

(and puppy toilet training treats)

Strawberries on sale, means yummy strawberry jam 

Being read a book by your big sister? Now that is something special

The power of an image should never be under estimated. 

Re covering a Lamp

Since moving into our home, and beginning our 'rental' journey, I have been more inspired to add some colour to our home. I have been in the safe zone for so long, using mostly whites, tans , beige's and browns to decorate and I still love that look, however when you rent there aren't many things in the house that have control over, other than your soft furnishings. 

The window treatments can't be changed, you are limited as to what you can hang on the walls and can't change anything big (like cupboards, paint , bench tops etc). 

So whats the solution? 

Well my solution is to add colour with new throw cushions, recovering lamp shades, pretty table runners and painting a few items around the place. So far so good!

After sharing some piccies of my recovering adventures, I was asked a few questions, so what better way to answer everyone , than to show you just how I covered my lamp shade. 

Now I am NO expert, I am really not sure if this is the proper way to do it but its what worked for me. 

Recovering a Lamp Shade 

Supplies;

I started with a neutral colour lampshade that came with our standard lamp (the lamp itself was $20 from Target). 

Fabric to the length of the diameter of your shade

A hot glue gun

A can of Spray Adhesive (mine was purchased at Spotlight)

Spray your first section, with the nozzle about 20cm from the shade. 

Its best to spray the lamp shade in small sections, because the Spray Adhesive dries quite quickly. 

Lay your fabric over the area that has the wet spray adhesive, ensuring that you have a seam allowance on either side ( I measured my fabric and added 3cm to the width to allow for this)

Smooth with your hand as the fabric is rolled on , to remove any air bubbles or creases in the fabric.

Continue this process for the rest of the lamp shade until you have covered it all .

This is what it should look like when it is all covered, with the seam allowance on the top and bottom.

Cut off any excess fabric, leaving another 2-3m for the seam , and fold it over. I ironed my seam so that it would sit flat on the lamp shade ( just gently ran the iron over the fabric and lamp shade)

Run a strip of hot glue just under the seam and press to flatten.

Next we need to fold the small seam on each rim over and secure with a line of hot glue as well. Again, its best to work in small sections as the hot glue cools and sets quite quickly.
Run a length of glue, fold the fabric over and wait a few seconds until it sets, repeat the whole way around.

Ta - Da! 

There you have an updated, brighter and customised lamp shade to suit your living area and colour scheme. 

And it only took an hour or so. Now I am looking for my next victim to be recovered! 

Its addictive!

Refreshing for the New School Term

We are only a few days into our first week of school holidays here in WA, however , we are going away for most of break so I really wanted to get organised and sorted early.

With only one Term to go of school, the kids school bags, shoes and supplies are getting a bit grubby, disorganised and need a little refresh. 

Each holidays I like to give the kids school bags a wipe over. They are made of a PVC type fabric so can't really be chucked in a machine (well its no benefit) but just by using a spray bottle and cloth, they come up sparkly and clean!

I like to use a Eucalyptus spray (diluted using the Eucalyptus cleaning solution) for the initial clean and then a quick once over with Pinoclean for a disinfectant of germies!

All our kids have a whole set of school clothes as a spare in the bottom of their larger pocket ( I just bought generic and plain items from Best and Less) of their school bags. 

When I was away a few weeks ago, I picked up this handy plastic pencil case, perfect for storing wet or soiled items or to keep the clothes safe from lunch box spills. 

The change of clothes now has a new home and it folds nicely in the base of her bag.

Stella has a little zippered purse in the front pocket of her bag (I don't quite trust Max and Lacey with one yet hehe) and this holds a few dollars in change. Just in case she needs to buy something from the Canteen, I forget money for an excursion or 'ice cup Friday'. 

I simply topped up the change, cleaned it up and popped it back in the front pocket. 

Before the term ends, its also a good idea to check your kids school supplies, pencil cases and other items like hats etc incase they need a top up or replacement. Some teachers may send a note home (Stella's teacher has a small printable she uses where she ticks the item that needs to be replenished) but you could also ask your children.

Stella needs new Wind up crayons , and because we are heading into our extremely HOT summer, I bought a new roll on Suncream for her to use at break times. 

All the kids sneakers have had a run through the washing machine and look like brand new and all their school hats have had a thorough wash and dry in the sun (helps to kill any left over germs).

I am now free to go on holidays, enjoy myself and return home and not have to worry about back to school preparations. 

I think I may just try and be this organised more often! 

Bathroom Cupboard Organisation

Life is busy, time gets away from us and before we know it, our cupboards, bench tops and any other available surface is piled full of 'stuff' and are a train wreck. 

I like to think that I am a pretty tidy person but it still happens in my home. 

Throw in an older style 'rental' and there isn't much hope of 'pretty'.

Insert ; Our kids bathroom Vanity

Old tiles, old laminate, old EVERYTHING (that never looks clean regardless of what I do!) and a whole heap of mess happening there! 

So ... I tidied as much as possible, containerised everything , bought some new colourful towels and added some cute little labels. 

Ta- Da !

The labels are really what has made the little organising project work. 

The cupboard is so much more user friendly, everyone can see where everything lives and needs to be put away and I repurposed most items that I already had. 

Products used;

Green tubs - IKEA a few years ago

Plastic baskets - Kmart $3 ea HERE 

( I already had these, I have them everywhere around the house!)

White bucket - IKEA $2.95 ea HERE

Towels- Kmart $12 ea HERE

Labels- Pretty Paper Label - contact Kate's facebook page HERE

(Kate custom makes labels, you can choose the font, colour , size EVERYTHING! She is amazing to work with and very clever at her job! Get onto it! )

Guest Post - Leanne from Organising the Four of Us

Hi everyone,

I'm Leanne from Organising the Four of Us. A big thank you to Liz for letting me share my top 10 organising tips with you today. Can I start by saying that this is my 'highlight reel'. The house doesn't always look this perfect - life gets in the way and that is totally ok. While I type this I have dishes that need doing, washing that needs hanging and a whole lot of housework to do, but life is short - so I'm choosing to spend the next 15 minutes here with you.

My Top 10 Organising Tips 

1) Meal plan and grocery shop once a week. Try to do the groceries on a day that you will have time to pack everything away properly. Spending the extra time during the week to cut and prep your fruit and vegetables will be a lifesaver on busy days or nights.

2) Try to keep your bathrooms clutter free. Find clever storage solutions that (where possible) allow everything to have a place preferably off the benches.

3) Less is more. The more clothes/toys/stuff you have, the more there is to clean, wash and put away. Simplifying your home and closets will save you time in the long run.

4) Everything needs a home in the kitchen. Making sure that everything has its place makes it a lot easier to put things away at the end of a busy day. If your family can learn where things go, even better!

5) Put dinner into lock down (read more about that here.). Sometimes the meals that my family enjoys best are our easy dinners. If it is a busy week - don't feel that you need to slave away in the kitchen for hours. Spend the extra time with your family and try something easy. If you have a Thermomix, you might like to try one of these recipes.

6) When planning birthday parties - try to organise it so that once the party starts - you don't have anything left to do. I am a firm believer in being able to enjoy the party with your child, rather than running around trying to organise food and games. For this reason, I don't serve hot food.

7) If the house is trashed - start cleaning in the kitchen. I always feel much better if the kitchen is clean. Having a clean and tidy kitchen motivates me to tidy the rest of the house. Let's face it - the kitchen is the heart of every home.

8) Organise your pantry so that it is easy to find what you are looking for. Again - everything in it's place. Want pretty labels for your pantry? Kate from Pretty Paper Label is your lady - find her on Facebook.

9)  Have a room where there kids can create mess. All the toys are in our playroom and where possible we try and teach the boys to keep them in there. This keeps the toys out of the rest of the rooms. Believe me - the playroom very rarely looks this tidy! I cleaned it just in time to catch this shot ;)

10) At the end of the day - the state of your house is much less important than your family and your own mental state. It's ok if your house is a mess and you have no motivation to tidy it. Boil the kettle, pour a cuppa and sit down and spend some quality time with your husband and/or kids. The mess will wait and when you feel up to it, you can try again!

Thanks for having me

L x

To see 'The Four of Us' facebook page click HERE, and wonderful blog HERE

Our new addition

Five wonderful weeks ago we added a new member to our family. A little fur baby who we called Toby. He is a cavalier cross Maltese and the fluffiest little boy you ever did see and we love him so!!

Getting a dog is something we have been thinking about for a while, and seeing as though we had to leave our other dog behind when me moved (dogs weren't allowed in Transit housing and the kennel situation is awful up here). Our kids have been afraid of dogs for a while now and we really needed something to help with that situation, protect our home and add some fluffy love. Toby certainly does most of those things (doesn't quite protect yet!)

Toby's first day in his new home

Max was super happy that Toby was here, but wasn't all that keen to wrap his arms around him on the first day at home
at 7 weeks old

He gets cuddled and cradled. Put in the toy prams and loved to within an inch of his life. And I can't forget the rug that gets layed over him when he naps! So sweet

Its not just the kids heart he has stolen, its mine too. I love our cuddles at night when the kids are in bed!

9 week old Toby

He falls asleep anywhere and everywhere and his favourite position is flat on his back, bless him! 

11 weeks old

Stella and Toby have formed such a bond and it has been beautiful to watch. She runs in after school , straight to him for a cuddle. She sneaks out of her room at night for a cuddle and he laps it all up! 

12 week old Toby and Stella

Adding Toby to our family has been the best decision we have made in a long time. The kids fell in love instantly (we all did), they are really learning about care and being responsible for a pet by having to feed him and help bath him and you can't beat his cuddles. Such a sook! 

Seeing as though we haven't had a pet for a while, we are still figuring out what works best for us in terms of the organisation of his things, the food and the sleeping arrangements but I will be sure to bring you a blog post when it is all nutted out. 

But for now, excuse me while I go and have a cuddle with my fluff ball puppy!