True Style is Timeless

My style icons are Audrey Hepburn and Coco Chanel ( although I don't own one piece of Chanel) just to name a few. Classic beauty is effortless and doesn't follow the latest crazes.. I like clothes shopping, but to date this year I have only purchased three items. Two I love and the other I wish I never bought.
In my process of minimising my belongings I have culled my wardrobe of three garbage bags full of clothes I no longer like or wear..

 

 

Recently I was given the idea of doing a stocktake on your own wardrobe( and the rest of the family) so you know whats in your wardrobe for when your shopping.
Since discovering Pinterest its easy to know what styles you like, but what about the problem of knowing if they suit your body shape etc..

I found a company that can help with this. Birdsnest has a program that can create a style profile based on your body shape and your style of clothing to suit you. I did this yesterday and I really enjoyed the result. Having this tool can reduce the amount of money we waste on clothing regardless of how fabulous the sales assistant says you look or mirrors in the change room.

Shopping for quality over quantity is the turning point for creating a classic style that isn't going to fade next season.

My Style is classic, clean lines, soft and feminine. Love spots and nautical feels. Although I add in fashionable accessories and other pieces sometimes, majority of my wardrobe are classic colours and styles.

 

A day at the Markets

Yesterday we ventured off to the local handmade markets and have a great time.
The kids got their faces painted, jumped on the jumping castles, ate very sugary donuts and got a little keepsake from the fun time.

 

 

 



Presents from far away places

Last night my husbands parents arrived home from an 8 week holiday in USA, Canada & Alaska.

We were all very excited to see them, listen to their stories and see some gifts. 

Don't mind Mia's face paint ~ she had fun at Kindy.

 

Mummy wasn't forgotten either. I was very impressed with my new supply.

I'm looking forward to it being our turn to travel once the children are much older. Traveling with little kids just doesn't appeal to me.

On my bucket list for travelling I've got most of Europe, America, Canada & a few other places. 

I'm so blessed to have a lovely family and extended family. Maintaining meaningful relationships with our family can sometimes be pushed aside but family is so important to me.

I really hope my children develop the blessed feeling of a loving family around them. 

Is Debt the new Culture?

      

Today I was having a lovely lunch with some work friends and the subject came up about buying a new car and apparently the new culture and attitude toward debt is -”It doesn’t matter, its just more debt”. I don’t know about you, but this really shocked me and made me think ‘oh that's sad’.

I don’t want to live with debt piling up so high that I can no longer breathe freely because I have so much weight on my shoulders about making repayments for stuff I don’t need.

 or

 

Just because you may have paid out your car loan and now have an extra $200 per week available, doesn’t mean it should be spent on a new thing.. Wouldn’t it be wiser to put that money into a more meaningful project… A family holiday overseas, children's education fund, retirement, reducing your hours of work each week so you can actually be with your family instead of at work…
I was told recently that homelessness is a very serious problem around Australia and many other countries – more than we realise.. Most families are only 4 paychecks away from this happening to them.. That's not a lot.. Scary in fact.

Using any extra money to make an emergency fund for a rainy day would certainly put my mind at ease more than a new car or thing would ..
I know this isn’t my usual kind of topic, but in my journey to living a more minimalist life , debt is a very important subject associated with being happy on less.
Stuff doesn’t make human beings happy… Pure happiness from within makes us happy.

Do you agree?

Becoming a Minimalist

A minimalist.. What does that mean? Over the past couple weeks I’ve been going through nearly every room in the house to try to reduce what we own..
This isn’t always easy because we have kids right! I have a bag full of non used toys, clothes and other bits and the kids are taking them out the bag quicker than I can put them in!! Very time-consuming.
The reason why I’m going through every room in the house is for our upcoming move. Yay! Yes our house is nearly finished being built and I can’t wait to move.
So to become a minimalist – living with less stuff and more time I needed some help to get my head around what direction I should be heading in..
I found some great tips in this area..

1. Look around your home, it’s filled with items that you do not need. The foundation of becoming a minimalist is to get rid of all of that clutter and mess. You must let go of the stuff you don’t need. Think about what you need to survive–shelter, water and food. You also need clothing, furniture, and anything else that you actually make great use of on a regular basis.
2. Start in your wardrobe. Many people allow clothing to pile up in their closets and it can get increasingly worse when nothing is done about it. One person should be able to live off of at least ten outfits total. Choose this many and get rid of the clothing that doesn’t fit you, or that you no longer wear. Get rid of any shoes that no longer fit or that you don’t wear anymore. If you haven’t worn a piece of clothing in the last year than you probably won’t wear it in the next year to come! Take all your unwanted clothing to a charity close by.
3. Consolidate your furniture. Every piece of furniture should serve a purpose. I looked at my lounge room and had a lamp table sitting in the corner – with nothing on it! It was taken away.. Simple usable furniture is best.
4. Think Survival.. When you move from room to room, look around and put aside all the essentials when thinking about survival..Everything else goes!
5. Check the floors. The more of the floor you can see the better. If there is piles in corners and the stuff doesn’t have a ‘home’ get rid of it!
6. The Junk drawer – Oh no.. Everyone has one and things just keep piling up until the drawer can longer shut properly… Take the drawer out, empty it on an open surface and go through it all. Only keep the essential things. Pens, Notebooks, Phone charges etc..
7. Walls and Windows. In looking through a lot of pictures its common for most minimalist to have little wall hangings. This is fine for some people, but I need to have at least one picture or photo hung on a wall in each room of the house. One is plenty. Window furnishing such as blinds, curtains and shutters can make a home feel smaller and can sometimes cause unnecessary stress due to the upkeep of the curtains or blinds. Consider removing all curtains and blinds from windows in living areas if they aren’t necessary.
8. Patterns & decorating. If you have a house with stripes, spots, chevron and floral patterns throughout, it’s going to cause chaos in your mind, not to mention your visitors. Consider streamlining your decorating. Simple is smart and is more versatile.
9. The kids room. This would have to be the biggest hurdle for my house. Clothing is easy because once they out grow a piece of clothing it gets handed down to the next cousin in line or taken to the charity shop. Toys,books, dvd’s and other stuff that the kids are given for their birthdays. I started a rotation of the kids toys back a while ago and only left out the toys they regularly played with. This has helped now in getting rid of the unwanted stuff.. The children haven’t even missed it. Another post coming up on the amount of toys children need!
10. Everything has a place. If you can’t find a place or ‘home’ for each single item in your home, perhaps it isn’t a needed item.

If anyone else is thinking about being a minimalist or downsizing I would love to hear from you.

Going Organic!

Organic.. There are so many products, reviews, ideas for and against the idea. But I think its completely a personal interest and only you can decide if its something important to you and your family.
I have always been a reasonably healthy person, but always wanted to do more.. Growing up in a farming family I want to have cattle, sheep, chickens,a vegetable garden, orchard and compost piles.. Exciting I know, but I’m really drawn to living off the land and having a organic/eco sustainable life with my little family.

During my research on the matter I borrowed the book “Naturally” by Jo Wood from the public library. I read this book in 2 days flat – I couldn’t put it down. The book follows Jo’s story of health, family, products, recipes and much more.. After finishing the book I went to my bathroom cabinets and read the ingredients on every product and 85% ended up in the garbage! SLS, Parabens, PEG compounds, Lanolin, Formaldehyde are in SO many products its unbelievable! I than went to Zylar’s room and looked at the well known baby products and they also have these nasty chemicals in them.. Our newborn babies are being lathered in chemicals from the day they are born.. I hate this!

I have converted my bathroom products plus the kids stuff to all naturally organic - with the certified stamp of approval from the organic associations to kick start our healthier future. Don’t be fooled by ‘Natural’ products that still have hidden nasty chemicals in them.. Do some research and become a label reader, its so important.

• Buy Local – organic fruit & veg, meat, eggs etc..
• Support Local Organic Markets/stores.
• Read books, blogs, facebook groups to get a better understanding.

I’ll be posting a list of helpful websites, blogs, books etc that I am enjoying.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Organic living and ways you’ve implemented it into your home and life.

19 Things we should say to our Children.

Back a while ago I came across this beautiful list of things that our children should hear us say.. I have printed this list out and have it hanging in my dressing room ready to read in the mornings..

{19 Things we should say to our Children}

1. I love you! There is nothing that will make me stop loving you. Nothing you could do or say or think will ever change that.
2. You are amazing! I look at you with wonder! Not just at what you can do, but who you are. There is no one like you. No one!
3. It’s all right to cry. People cry for all kinds of reasons: when they are hurt, sad, glad, or worried; when they are angry, afraid, or lonely. Big people cry too. I do.
4. You’ve made a mistake. That was wrong. People make mistakes. I do. Is it something we can fix? What can we do? It’s all over. You can start fresh. I know you are sorry. I forgive you.
5. You did the right thing. That was scary or hard. Even though it wasn’t easy, you did it. I am proud of you; you should be too.
6. I’m sorry. Forgive me. I made a mistake.
7. You can change your mind. It’s good to decide, but it is also fine to change.
8. What a great idea! You were really thinking! How did you come up with that? Tell me more. Your mind is clever!
9. That was kind. You did something helpful and thoughtful for that person. That must make you feel good inside. Thank you!
10. I have a surprise for you. It’s not your birthday. It’s for no reason at all. Just a surprise, a little one, but a surprise.
11. I can wait. We have time. You don’t have to hurry this time.
12. What would you like to do? It’s your turn to pick. You have great ideas. It’s important to follow your special interests.
13. Tell me about it. I’d like to hear more. And then what happened? I’ll listen.
14. I’m right here. I won’t leave without saying good-bye. I am watching you. I am listening to you.
15. Please and Thank You. These are important words. If I forget to use them, will you remind me?
16. I missed you. I think about you when we are not together!
17. Just try. A little bit. One taste, one step. You might like it. Let’s see. I’ll help you if you need it. I think you can do it.
18. I’ll help you. I heard you call me, here I am. How can I help you? If we both work together, we can get this done. I know you can do it by yourself, but I’m glad to help since you asked.
19. What do you wish for? Even if it’s not yet time for birthday candles and we don’t have a wishbone, it’s still fun to hear about what you wish for, hope for, and dream about.

Do you have anything else special you'd add to the list?