Transforming Op Shop Jars...

It started with one glass jar...then another...before I knew it...there was a little collection growing....a collection of op shop finds!

They sat neglected for quite some time until recently I decided to dust them off and give them a new lease of life....

Here is my collection...all bargains picked up from various op shops for just a few dollars each...

Hidden away (from hubby's sight!!)  I have a little stash of craft bits n pieces...so I dragged them out....I had some hessian, lace, string, yarn, flowers, ribbon etc...  and my glue gun came in handy too!

I started on the first jar by cutting a piece of hessian long enough to fit around the jar and then glueing it in place...

Next I cut a piece of lace long enough to go around the jar and glued this in place too...

Lastly I attached some beautiful pink roses that I had to the front of the jar....

And then the jar was complete....

For the second jar I glued one end of a piece of twine to the top back of the jar....

And then I continued to wind the twine around the jar, adding dots of glue as necessary to keep it all in place...

Once I was finished I glued the end of the twine into place and added a lace ribbon to the jar, simply tied in a bow at the front and the jar was complete....

The third jar was quick and easy....I glued a piece of pink lace in place around the middle of the jar....

And finished it off by adding a big flower embellishment glued to the front...

The fourth was a tall bottle and again it was quick and easy.  I cut a small piece of hessian to fit around the middle of the bottle and glued it on...

I then cut a small piece of ribbon and glued that on over the hessian....

And lastly I tied a piece of string over the ribbon and tied it in a bow....

And this bottle was now finished....

The last bottle was a little more tricky.  I decided to wind yarn around the bottle, putting dots of glue as I went to hold it in place.  I started with a green yarn...

Then changed to a white yarn....

And finally I changed to a yellow yarn...

Once I got into a rhythm of wrapping the yarn it was not too hard.  The finished bottle looked like this....

Now I love my transformed jars and bottles!

Who Am I ???

Seems an easy enough question but it is really one that I struggle to answer.

I can fill you in on details like I was the youngest of 5 children....clearly a little 'oops' given the age differences between myself and my siblings.  I was raised in a Catholic family and attended both Catholic primary and high school.

I was quite studious, very shy, and always well behaved.  

I was the first in my family to go to university...I went more so because I had a lack of direction rather than those that go because they know exactly what career they want and this is the path to get there.

I read the list of uni courses and then re-read it....eliminated everything mathematical or science related, crossed out those that required drama or theatrical performances...and there I was left with the humanities. 

Uni was a mix of so many people and a lot of fun!   I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and haven't really used it to this day!

Took an office job in North Sydney in a claims department.  Some of the best people to work with!  Transferred to another department of the company in the city and was involved in organising training courses, running company orientations etc...  Liked the work but didn't really like the office politics.

Met my now hubby and we had moved in together after a few months.  He started his own business and I left work to do all the admin side of things.

We got married...nine months later we had a baby...a girl lol !!

Added another 4 daughters to the mix.  Never cared if they were boys or girls.

Sometimes I have thought of going back to study....but had no idea what I would study.
I thought about school counsellor but you have to study teaching first.  Feel too old to go through all of that!

Started this blog for a little 'me' space and enjoy it. 

Recently I started to look for ideas of things to blog about and found list upon list of ideas...which just managed to reaffirm that I still don't know who I am!!!

Some of the ideas were to write about your passion.....ummm do I have one?  I'm not sure??Or to write a how-to post....oh crap not sure what I could do that others can't already do better! Share a secret...something you've never told anybody....sadly I don't think I even have a secret!

I have thought long and hard over the past few weeks.....I like craft, I am hopeless at making decisions, I love chocolate, I prefer winter to summer........

So there you have it....seems I am a fence sitting, creatively challenged, introverted wanna be blogger sipping hot chocolate in ugg boots and trackie dacks............nice to meet you!!!

Tree Tops Adventures....

The girls were lucky enough to get a family voucher to Tree Tops Adventure Park in Sydney for Christmas....but as it was soon to expire we booked online for the Monday of the long weekend.  Sadly we had to attend the 9am session which meant leaving home around 8.15am to ensure we were there on time....not an easy task getting the girls and hubby up that early on a wintery long weekend!!!!

Since I had been the one to do the online booking it was hubby that was chosen to participate in the climb with the three older girls as one adult has to climb!!  And I was chosen to supervise the younger two girls from the ground as there must be one adult supervising....seemed all good to me!!!!!!

When we arrived hubby, Miss 16, Miss 15 and Miss 13 were harnessed up and given an intensive lesson about very important climbing stuff.  Miss 9 and Miss 5 were also harnessed up over in the childrens' course and given a lesson in how to use their harness.

Eventually hubby and his troops set off on their tree tops adventure and I began my parental supervision duties of my two.  Miss 9 who is not a huge fan of heights (which quite possibly stems from the one time we went to Paris...right to the top of the Eiffel Tower on a windy winters day some 6 years ago....and I squeezed her hand so tight as we cowered in the doorway that led to the open air area trying to force myself to take that first step out...but then again it could be totally unrelated!!) started tentatively but soon she had done the first course and was off to the second and third.  Miss 5 on the other hand wasn't quite so trusting of the belay safety system that she was hooked up to and when she reached the part of the course where she had to step out on a tight rope wire it took a lot of convincing from her instructor to get her across. 

With the help of her instructor she made it to the end of this first course...supposedly the easy course....and there she was faced with the dilemna that the only way to the ground was to leap off a perfectly sound platform albeit a few metres above the ground...and flying fox it to the ground.  With a gentle push from her instructor she was off....and she loved it!!

Miss 9 was by now up to the third course but Miss 5 had to repeat the first course until she could do it confidently as each course progressed in difficulty and height!  Once again she needed assistance come to the tight rope wire...and at this point I thought maybe this wasn't going to be such a great day!  She made it to the end with assistance and so we decided to do the first course one more time...this time with Miss 9 behind her for moral support.  She got to the end with only a little assistance from her sister and it was time to progress to the second course!

A short way in to the second challenge I thought that perhaps we had made a big mistake taking Miss 5 on this one!!  My neck was seriously getting sore looking up constantly issuing words of encouragement to keep her going!  Her legs could barely reach from one log to the next in some areas...not to mention that the logs were swaying as she tried to reach them!

Much to my surprise she made it to the end of the course and down the flying fox to the end, followed closely by Miss 9.

Miss 9 wanted to do the third course one last time before our time was up...and full of self confidence Miss 5 decided that she would do it too.  Eeek....I looked up at the obstacles and was not feeling too confident that Miss 5 would be able to make it....but she insisted and off she went....very, very slowly and with encouragement from nearly every adult left on the ground she made her way from one obstacle to the next.  

Even I had my heart in my mouth when she had to let go of ropes and but her faith into her harness system to get from one plank to the next....and with Miss 9 following closely behind her she made it to the final flying fox....and down she went!!!

Miss 9 and Miss 5 were totally on an adrenaline high!!!  I think they were both amazed by what they had achieved....I know that I was completely blown away by what they did.....and I was completely thrilled that I got to stay on the ground!!

About half an hour after we finished our course (lol I say 'we' !!)  hubby, Miss 16, Miss 15 and Miss 13 returned!  They had had a great time as well and had completed obstacles similar to the younger girls though at a much greater height and a much greater difficulty level!

Overall it was a great day out....it would be quite pricey if we hadn't had the voucher so I'm glad we were able to make use of that!  And I am glad that I got to remain on the ground the whole time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!