Behind-the-couch shelf

I had the idea for a shelf behind the couch when I realised our sharp cornered coffee table was a serious liability now The Bubs is getting mobile, and it's going to have to go. This way there's still somewhere to put cups of coffee.

But even if you don't have to get rid of your coffee table, this is a good idea for small space storage or just to make the most if dead space behind your couch.

Our couch has a hard back behind the cushions and its a big heavy couch and won't accidentally slide, so half the shelf rests on the couch and the other half is supported by three legs.





To make it this way, just measure the length and height of your couch.

Get 2-3 legs cut to height.
Get one plank cut to length.

(We just used ordinary plain old pine and plan to stain/varnish after.)

Screw the legs on to the back half of the plank at even intervals.
(As in the side that will sit against the wall.) Leave enough space to clear the skirting.

Stain, paint or varnish whatever colours you like and just slot your shelf in behind the couch.

Don't have this kind of couch ?

You could always use brackets to fix the shelf to the wall instead of using legs and resting it on the couch.

Or you could put legs on either side - 2-3 pairs of legs - to make it free standing. You might want to still fix it to the wall if your couch isn't heavy enough to keep it in place.

This is a pretty simple project. My husband did most of it for me, but I think I could have managed to do this myself with a bit of patience, especially getting the wood all pre cut to size at the store.

Family Organisation App - Cozi

I discovered this app by Cozi when I was looking for a list that would sync between my phone and my husbands. You know those times you just happen to be at the shops so you think, I may as well pick up a few things that we need. Except your paper shopping list is sitting at home on the bench. So you try to remember, but forget 3 things and have to go back again the next day.

And now that The Bubs is here, its my husband who tends to be out and about more for those incidental shopping trips, and funnily enough he's less likely to notice the things we are getting low on, like breast pads for example. :)

So I thought if we could have a synced list on our phones, then no matter who put things on the shopping list and who ended up at the shops, we'd always know what to get.

What I found was even better than just a shopping list. Cozi is a family organiser complete with shopping lists, to do lists, calendar and even a journal. You can create multiple users in the one account so you can assign things to different family members and it all syncs across devices.

Best of all it is free! There's yearly paid subscription upgrade for a few extended features, but the free version is very useable.

Its available on Apple and Android, and you can also access it on their website which  is perfect. Overall this is a brilliant app for families. Provided you can train them all to use it - I have to remind my husband to put things on the calendar.

The good thing is, though, that even if they don't remember to look at it, you can set up reminder emails (and texts  for US users) to send to the relevant family members, or device notifications.

I love this app! I'm not paid or affiliated with Cozi in any way I just love the merge of technology and organisation, and thought others might too :)

Simple, Lazy Grocery Shopping Tips

I like grocery shopping - I like pretty much any shopping, so the supermarket is no exception.

But I can be kind of lazy about it. And I can just about count on one hand the number of times I've actually left the store without forgetting something. So while I like to wander the aisles, by the end when I've had to wander each aisle twice because of my disorganised shopping list, and then I leave with things I didn't come for and without things I did come for, I think...there's got to be a better way to do this.

I know you're meant to write a list and only buy what you wrote on it, but that doesn't work for me for two reasons.

1. I forget to write things on it. If I only stuck to the list we'd have to go without toilet paper or cheese one week, because I didn't think of it til I was at the supermarket.

2. What I buy is often dependent on what's on special. I might be thinking beef, but if the chicken is on special today, I'll probably stock up on that instead. And my husband often teases me about the time I bought about 15 cans of tinned tomato on special - but now we're out of it and need more and it's not on special, so I'm justified! I should have bought more!

So...


1. Tip Number One: 'Print a permanent' shopping list.

Keep it on your fridge or on the bench, then every time you notice you're out of something, just tick it or circle it on the list.

Why is this better than just jotting down a list on a piece of paper like normal folk, you ask?

I like this system for a few reasons:

1. It's pre-organised - no matter what order you think of the stuff you need, it's already organised into categories for you - or even aisles if you are super organised and shop mostly at the same supermarket. No more getting the honey and then realising 6 items down the list you have to go back for the peanut butter.

2. It's a memory jogger - even if you forgot to tick something on the list, it's still written on there and might help you think of that item once you are actually in the supermarket.

3. It's got all your usual items, so if something is on special, even if you didn't go planning to buy it, you are reminded that it could be a good idea to stock up.

(We don't have the same system in Australia, but if you're in the US or somewhere where you use coupons, you could also put mark next to the items you have a coupon for.)

You can download and print a free copy of mine HERE if you want, but basically it's a printed list of all the things you most often buy, organised into sections, with little check boxes next to them. I suggest making your own personalised version so it's got the things you buy on it and in the order that works for you and your supermarket.

I just did it in a word processor, by creating a text box with columns. I added the check boxes by setting the square as the bullet point. (As well as the items, I also left lines for writing on extra stuff that is not as common, and leave enough space around so that you can write quantities or brands for certain items.)


2. Tip Number two: Put 2 things back.

If you're at all like me, even with an organised list, you probably buy more than you actually need. Especially if you're feeling even slightly peckish.

So just recently I've started putting at least 2 things back before I go through the checkout. That box of biscuits that I don't really need? The packets of chips you bought because the special price made them seem like such a good deal? Put them back and save $5 - and 5 million calories. You might wish for a few minutes that you'd kept it in, but later you'll be thanking yourself.

If you're really bad with this, maybe even start with putting more things back with the aim of training yourself out of it. My aim is, for most shopping expeditions, to eventually look in my trolley and not find anything I can take out.

Putting things back right at the end is somehow easier than not getting them off the shelf in the first place. I think because you don't have time to change your mind, whereas if you walk past the chips and don't grab them you have too much time to think about them and go back and get them later as you walk past that enticing end of aisle display.


So they are my two simple tips for easier, lazier - but organised - grocery shopping?


Got any more tips? Comment below!

Happy shopping!

My Favourite Vanilla Cleaning Spray: Perfume for your kitchen!

This is my favourite ever cleaning product. It's basically just alcohol and vanilla in a bottle. It's totally safe, and smells amazing! I love it for wiping down my benches or cleaning the fridge, and though it's designed for the kitchen I sometimes use it in the bathrooms too, just because of the scent.

You can't always find it in every supermarket, and if they have it, it always seems to be on the very bottom shelf. My mum used to use this when I was a kid, back when it was called Vanilla Fridge Wipe. I was unnaturally happy when I found it again as an adult :)

It's made in Australia and as far as I know, only sold here, so I don't know if you can get an equivalent product elsewhere.

Nobody is paying me to say this, I just love this product! (Though I wouldn't object to a lifetime supply of the stuff.... :)

How to clean a greasy oven door

I should feel embarrassed about how yucky my oven door was, but I think because I was sick as a dog with morning sickness for so long and my husband was working like a dog to support both of us (or all soon to be three of us) that things like oven doors can slide.

But I opened it today to put the grill tray back in and suddenly noticed that soon you wouldn't even be able to see through the glass window on the oven.

I've been experimenting with both Bi Carb (bicarbonate of soda, baking soda etc) and Vinegar as natural and cheap cleaning products, so I just had a feeling this was a job for Bi carb today.

So here's what I discovered to really work well:

- Open your oven door as flat as it will go.
- Lay down an old towel on the floor under the door to catch any dirty drips that happen while you're cleaning it. (I only thought of this after I saw the dirty water dripping on the floor.)
- Sprinkle bi carb over the glass
- Squeeze lemon juice over the bi carb. It will fizz up a bit. Love that :)
- Then use a bit of elbow grease. You still need to scrub a little, but it comes of pretty easily. And it smells good too, because of the lemon.

I sat a bowl of hot water next to me to rinse out the sponge periodically.


Now I'm probably slow on the uptake, and I'm sure this is nothing new, but I love discovering ways to do things and have them actually work!

Sew your own coasters

 These make great little house warming/hostess/just because gifts I think, and they're not all that hard to do. It probably took me about an hour and a half to make a set of four by the end - longer in the beginning. But I'm still not super fast. Practise, and I bet they could be done faster.

There are plenty of tutorials out there for making these, but here are my links and extra tips:

- This tutorial gave me the idea for the different lines and squares designs on the tops of the coasters.
When they sew the top stitching on to the top piece either side of the coloured squares, they use an ordinary straight stitch. I found using my machine's straight triple stitch function looked even better.

http://craftsnob.com/2011/04/sewing-101-part-2/

This is my coaster with the triple stitch either
side of the panels. You can see how its a
bolder look than the singlestraight stitch on the edge.

- This is where I first saw the design - these are made out of tea towels which is a great idea. Gives a thicker more robust finish that the cotton I used. But obviously depends if you have any nicely printed tea towels that you don't want any more.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-make-upcycled-quilted-c-84122

- Quilting the coasters in concentric squares or other design, especially if using one print or plain fabric only, can look good but can be difficult to get evenly spaced if you're just beginning so practise first. (My new machine comes with a little quilting bar attachment that I'm assuming helps to line things up? But haven't tried it out yet. Will have to look into it - let me know if you know anything about this!)

- Make a few before you get on to the ones you want to give away. It took me a few tries to get better at getting them even and neat, getting evenly spaced stitching/quilting on the top and working out the kinks in designs. I wasn't following a specific pattern, so if you make up your own designs you might come across things that do/dont work so well.

- If you don't have/ don't want to buy the wadding to put in between, you can use other things like felt or cut up a unused flannelette sheet or pillowcase (which is what I did.)
However, I have seen some people make them with Peltex or similar in the middle to make the more durable, though haven't tried this.

- Bold fabrics - like the blue and white fabric on the blue and red coasters below - hide mistakes well, from uneven stitching even to your coaster being not quite square.

These are the six designs I've made so far to give as gifts to friends. I tried to pick prints and colours that would go well with their personalities or house decor.

If you make any and have more tips or tricks, comment below!! Happy sewing.

Baby Pants

Cute newborn baby pants made with the free pattern and tutorial on Made by Rae. I added the fold over cuffs to the bottoms of these pants. There aren't instructions for this in the tutorial so I just figured out my own way of doing it. There are free instructions for smaller cuffs and pockets on the website though. 


She also has Big Butt Baby Pants pattern for sale that I want to try next. They have an extra panel in the back - hence the 'big butt' and look so cute!