Why I (mostly) love Instagram

I have a bit of a love/hate relationships with Instagram. There are some days when I am loathe to open it because I don’t want to see one more cup of someone else’s coffee.

Most days though, I love it. Why? Because to me, life is made up of small moments and small words and small things. And it is on these small moments and small words and small things that Instagram is built. People post photos of their still and uneventful moments. They post photos of their big and crazy moments. It’s wonderful to experience these moments with them.

And it’s for this reason that most of my favourite instagrammers are my friends and family. I love looking into their moments. Their every day moments.

Follow these peeps! 

Currently crushing on…

…..quirky ceramics from Gail C Ceramics

….enormous picnic sandwiches

….the easiest of easy DIY activities

….the discarded children’s spades that Ken Done collects from the beach and uses to mix paint

…..gorgeous quotes printed onto ceramics from MB art studio

…pretty vintage style brooches from Firuzan Goker

….cute pocket lockets from Jen Booth Lockets

….house pendants from Karolin Felix Dreams 

….French bull dog phone cases from The Storybook Rabbit

…fun pot plant holders from The Sill

…love heart mugs from Ross Lab

What are you crushing on right now? 

Put your drink on it

I’m quite obsessed with coasters. I have way more than I’ll ever need but I like to buy them when I travel. That way, when I’m back at home, every time I have a glass of water I am reminded of places I’ve been.

While travelling around etsy lately, I realised that I loved all of the coasters in this beautiful store.

There’s something for everyone.

For the social media queen: 

For the bibliophile:
 

For lovers of sculls: 

For those who love retro: 

For those who love nature: 

And for people who love birds: 

I think that MeadowTea is my new favourite etsy shop!

On the BBQ

It’s almost Summmaaaa’ time!!! And do you know what that means? BBQs people, BBQs!

I myself am generally in favour of frosty weather that calls for days spent huddling beside a warm fire or a sweet smelling oven. But when the warm weather rolls around, I get excited about three things.

1.Picnics
2. Cocktails
3. BBQs.

On the very first day of 2014, we decided to copy Mel and Jay and buy ourselves a Weber Family Q. We’d been wanting a BBQ for ages but hadn’t got round to purchasing one. We bought it on January 2 and for a solid 30 days, we BBQ’d every single night. It was so nice to come home and end the day lazing on the deck with tantalising smells wafting from the BBQ.

Easy breezy, summer evenings = bliss.

I’m looking forward to repeating that behaviour in the coming months.

Our two favourite BBQ dinners?

1) …….Salmon with veggies. Before we had the BBQ, we’d bake fish a lot. However cooking outside means that the smell also stays outside and your house doesn’t smell fishy for hours afterwards.

2) …….Bunless burgers.
Michelle Bridges has a recipe called Cheeky Charlie Burgers where you use a giant cooked mushroom as the base of your burger, rather than a bun. We make those often but also like this version which just uses lettuce. An easy paleo meal! And you can kind of make them look like faces (see below!)

Do you have any favourite BBQ recipes that you can share?

DIY craft projects.

When I’m scrolling through Feedly or Pinterest and I see the word ‘DIY’ I usually just keep on scrolling. Crafty minx I am not.

However I’ve recently come across a few thumb pausing projects that look easy even for me. And they’d all be such pretty gifts or lovely additions to your home.

>>>>>Tying cinnamon sticks around your candles would take no more than a few minutes. Once heated, the cinnamon would make your house smell amazing!

>>>>>Similarly, putting tea lights next to coffee beans would create an amazing scent as the warmth of the candles heats up the beans.

>>>>>These little candle holders look very easy to make. You just need a good gold texta! There’s some simple instructions on Creature Comforts.

>>>>>Make some dotty, spotty vases by following the instructions on The Crafted Life. You are meant to buy a special paint but I think I could do this with nail polish!

>>>>>Moving away from candles and to the cake sphere, this looks like a beautiful but easy way to decorate. Just some fresh flowers, berries and mint. Oh and lots of pink sprinkles.

>>>>>And to make pretty gift wrap accessories all you need is some gold spray paint.

Maybe I’m on my way to being a crafty minx after all?