Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Retro Christmas- Last one!

Here's a final retro pic of me and my brother David at a Christmas Party when we were about 4 years old. He's dressed as Mr Wrong from the Mr Men books, and I'm Tinkerbell the fairy!


I hope you all have a wonderful festive holiday season, spending time with those that you love.

xxx

Cate

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Things I love today:

Photo by Dean Kaufman (I think it would give me anxiety in the loo):

Awesome crochet decorations on Craftgrrl (inspire me to learn to crochet):




Argh! Another crafty book to admire and be too intimidated to make anything from! I think I might buy it anyway as a present from Santa Cate:



Retro Christmas: 1967

It's a key party inside a bauble!

mmmm:
View finders rock:



pretty!
Awesome dress:



Dresses or dressing gowns?:








Monday, December 22, 2008

This makes me laugh


As featured on Steph's blog and in the book 'Porn for Women'...hehe

Retro Christmas 1966

That's style:

Snow and a rocket, why not?

Too cool:
I think this is charming:


For my darling:






Friday, December 19, 2008

Retro Christmas 1965

I want to be a cool old lady like this when I'm old:


Flinstones Christmas!
Twins are ace:


Fairy:



Like pom poms but worse:






Thursday, December 18, 2008

More recycled goodness

I like this tutorial for making a gift box from a Christmas card -good for little fiddly things that need a bit of protection:

Using newspaper...
Magazines...you can see the tutorial here:



And if you like using bits of fabric like me, there's always Furoshiki:

Retro Christmas: 1964

Awesome decor: Not so awesome:

It's amazing what you can do with some egg cartons:


All in ones!:

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Retro Christmas: 1963

Beehives are the bomb:

Very cute:


Nothing like handmade:


Cate and Chris retro style:

Recycled Christmas tutorial: Gift Bags

I must confess, I've been known to wrap christmas presents in newspaper, reused fabric or a plain old plastic bag. Despite being a crafty person, it's just not really my forte, especially when it's done the day before gift giving...

Gretchen from Junk Mail Gems really places it up a notch with these wonderful gift bags made from recycled junk mail (No junk mail at home? Try your work place recycle bin):

You can view her tutorial here

9/11 Craft-what do you think?

Predictably, this work from Jenny and Johnny Ryan has caused some controversy...what do you think? I like it because I see it as a memorial using a particular form of craft (felt plush) and style (cutesy craft) and I don't think it should be seen as less sincere than high end Art, comics, illustrations etc.


You can read more about it here on Boin Boing....

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Retro Christmas: 1962

It's a bike!:

I want this dress (and the matching shoes):

Look at this all you people who think skinny jeans are cool:

It's almost a pony!:



Asking for upskirting:






Monday, December 15, 2008

DIY Christmas decorating for the lazy/time poor

I have been trying to decorate the living room for some time. I had a few challenges:

  • Keeping it as a secret from my noisy husband. (Even shopping for the bits and pieces was tricky as he kept wanting to come with me!)
  • The living room is small, with no storage and I have lots of stuff as it is!
  • Finding an Australian native for a Christmas tree (I trekked to Bunnings after K-Mart was no joy)

  • Time- it's a busy time of year for us all, hey?

  • I like to make things. I made some newspaper and recycled paper ornaments at work but they got rather squashed by the time I managed to smuggle them home. I may make some more depending on time...
  • Enviro-friendly- I was delighted to find some solar Christmas lights but am yet to charge them after the rainiest weekend in 2.5 years! I didn't want to buy a lot of clutter so I worked with the materials I had and got a few decorations.

Some pics:

Red and green above the bookcase:
The room is usually alot sunnier I assure you!:

Pinecones on top of the telly in a vintage bowl. I put tartan ribbon down for frou-frou:



This tree is a native Grevillia which will be planted out front after Christmas. It's not a brilliant pic, and the tree looks a bit miserable but the thought counts!





My tin robots decided to join in on the festivities:





Poinsettias and bon-bons:




I made some softie gingerbread men, picked up some christmas candles and placed these over some tartan ribbon:



Holly (from Olinda the weekend before) and vintage tablecloth:


So, you don't have to be Martha Stewart or have alot of time and money :-) . My husband loved the surprise and the thought that went into it....

Friday, December 12, 2008

Christmas shortbread!

I recently had to come up with a cheap gift (under $5 per person) for a large group of international students. I was reluctant to purchase some cheap, imported tacky Australiana as suggested by my colleagues, and decided to make shortbread:
Shortbread recipe: ( I doubled this recipe)Ingredients:
225g plain flour
Pinch of salt
115g rice flour
115g castor sugar
225 g nuttlex
Directions:
- Sieve flour, rice flour and sugar into a bolw.
- Rub in nuttlex and knead until a smooth paste forms
- Turn onto a floured board and make desired shape of biscuits. Prick biscuits with a fork
- Place on greased baking tray and cook in slow oven for 45 - 60mins, until pale brown.

McKenzie's Rice Flour Gluten Free 375g $1.38
Caster Sugar 500g $0.97
Plain Flour 1kg $1.04
Butter 500g $2.61
Tinsel $1.48
Brown Paper $2.61
__________________________________
TOTAL: $10.09

Bargain!!!

Wrapped and waiting:
In front of the tree waiting for Santa: