for 2015

Here's a little list of my goals for 2015. I'm joining in with Sophie over at Her Library Adventures.
I hope to check back throughout the year and be able to tick at least some of these goals off the list. let me know if you share your thirty goals too.

1. sew, sew and sew some more. I want to sew more clothes for myself and also get my little shop open and stocked again
2. gardening. this will be a bit of a challenge but I at least want to have a few herbs going and also get a compost pile/worm farm happening for all the kitchen scraps
3. get cutting and pasting in my inspiration scrapbook
4. continue with the ethical clothing pledge of 2014, I shopped my wardrobe, found some beautiful pieces while op-shopping and made a few purchases from ethical businesses
5. not buy bread, instead making our own. I'd like to get my own sour dough starter happening too
6. take pottery classes, I'm pretty sure there's a group in town
7. make more cleaning and beauty products including washing liquid, facial exfoliator, shampoo and conditioner
8. say 'no' to disposable coffee cups. I invested in a 'keep cup' each so now just the challenge of remembering to bring them with us while out and about
9. learn the art of macramé
10. get to know and understand the functions of my camera better
11. Try weaving. I op-shopped a little loom a while back so now just have to find some yarn to weave
12. Try screen printing
13. Make a strap for my camera
14. upcycle some of the silver cutlery collection.. I'm thinking jewellery
15. upcycle some broken plates.. yes the move did unfortunately result in a few Johnson casualties
16. use the cookbook collection and try new recipes
17. make a timber Christmas tree for December 2015
18. make soap
19. make a terrarium
20. buy groceries from locally owned small businesses rather then the big chains
21. keep the house tidier by doing a little cleaning everyday
22. blog at least once a week, maybe twice
23. send more happy mail
24. discover the perfect museli bar recipe
25. drink more water everyday
26. make more handmade gifts
27. cull more stuff.. kitchenware and craft room
28. buy based on quality rather than price
29. print and frame some of my photos
30. organise a wedding

the thrift wish list

those of you that op-shop, garage sale, scour council clean ups, travel near and far to visit farm clearing sales and buy pre-loved will probably have one. that little list, often stored away in your head, filled with treasures that you would one day love to come across in your travels. maybe it's a book you had as a child, that final piece of crockery to complete your set or that mid century planter.

on my list..
a liberty print item of clothing. one that ideally fits perfectly or that I can refashion
another vintage sheet in my very favourite design (1st pic). yes I already have one but I can not bear to cut into it. if I had a second one it would become a dress
a milk glass cake stand
patterns- for a cape/poncho and also a mens vest
a church pew or two. I think these look amazing in the hall or on the front verandah

I'd love to hear what's on your thrift wish list. feel free to comment or maybe you'd like to blog about it too.

for twenty thirteen.

Looking back on my list for 2012 i have been able to tick a fair few off...

 

get in the kitchen more

 

make some of my pinterest pins

 

 

design labels for my handmade pieces

 

 

get a worm farm (or two)

 

try macaroons

 

visit new op-shops

display my thrifted collections

 

 

& take more photos

 

Some remain medium/long term goals...

like building or renovating my own home

opening my own homemade business to sell my wares

holidaying in Tasmania

& keeping bees.

 

others have not been ticked off at all. full time, shift work sure played its part in this this..

attending farmers markets as often as I'd like

go camping

volunteering at an op-shop

& attending a permaculture design course.

 

 

for 2013 i'm aiming to:

slow it down a bit.. especially on the full time work front

eat more wholesome foods and expand my recipe base. the recent acquisitions of two river cottage cook books will be very helpful here

dress in more thrifted, vintage outfits

try my hand at crochet and knitting

&

keep up with this blog. with more give-aways and maybe a couple of tutorials too.

 

 

looking forward to seeing you all here in 2013

 

x

 

from 2012

To those who follow along here, who've stopped by, left kind and encouraging words throughout the year, a big thank you from me to you. This little space here brings such joy to my heart knowing that I am amongst like minded creative, baking, making, gardening, thrifting and photographing people.

2012 has seen...

 

a move to the central west of NSW

full-time work as a Registered Nurse

attending our first farm clearing sale

the first birthday of Zaranne Handmade

my 23rd birthday

plenty of thrifting

a bit of vintage floral sheet bunting and tea towel cushion sewing 

new kitchen toys to play with

beautiful book purchasing

new blog discovering

attempting to live more simply and sustainably 

a new vegie garden

first snow

the expansion of the milk glass, Pyrex, silver ware, floral sheet, LGB and Johnson ware collections

and a bit of relaxing with my favourite one in between

 

 

 

so thank you and may 2013 bring happiness and the realisation of hopes and dreams your way

x

Around here...

Days off... Oh how I look forward to mornings without the need for 5am alarms. Yes, that means waking up after the almost daily frosts have melted and minus temps have warmed into the positives ever so slightly. The to-do list on the fridge is overflowing: batches of brownies to be baked, cushion covers to be sewn, wall art to be created, prints to be framed and hung, farewell parties to attend, new cookbooks to be devoured, op-shops to be explored, picnics to be had, and winter seeds to be planted... I shall be busy.

May your days off be lovely ones.

The List

After having read so many wonderful lists for 2012 and for the future in general, I decided I better put pen to paper and actually write down some of the many ideas I have stored in my head.
This list is in no particular order, some I would love to be able to tick off come the end of 2012, others seem a while off for now, but that's ok.

1. Get in the kitchen more- I'd love to make all my own bread, yogurt and butter.
2. Make a timber bed base
3. Build or renovate my own environmentally friendly home, preferably one in the middle of a hundred acres or so, with a huge vegie patch, orchard, and animals, using permaculture principles

4. Grow nearly all my own vegetables, herbs and fruit; and buy what I can't from local sources

5. Get out and exercise more. The fiancé is a regular gym goer, I've never been so a gym membership is on the cards for Orange. And if there's good tracks around the area then a spot of bike riding may be in order
6. Read more
7. Make some of my Pinterest pins
8. Visit the local farmers markets every time they're on, and support the locals producers
9. Buy Australian Made/Grown products from the shops where I can
10. Sew some of my own clothes
11. Make a recycled timber desk/sewing table; and garden potting bench with sink
12. Sew my own curtains
13. Go camping. I've never been.
14. Get chickens again. How I miss the chooks antics and the fresh eggs
15. Spend a whole day on an op-shopping adventure
16. Design labels for my handmade pieces
17. Finish my patchwork quilt
18. Make bunting for every room of the house
19. Get a worm farm

20. Compost all the house scraps

21. Do a permaculture design course with the fiancé

22. Make my own pottery

23. Try macarons. First eating then making my own

24. Volunteer at an op-shop
25. Send more mail, and hopefully receive more too
26. Get involved in more swaps
27. Keep the house more organised and tidier
28. Visit new op-shops
29. Make some pocket money from the things I make (to feed my op-shopping habit)
30. Display more of my thrifted treasures and collections around the house
31. Put together a scrap book of all my ideas for my dream home
32. Make my own shampoo, soap, washing-up liquid and washing powder
33. Make new friends
34. Take more photos
35. Keep bees
36. Comment more often on the blog posts I read
37. Save more money
38. Spend the afternoon snoozing in a hammock
39. Hand rear a calf
40. Plant a window box full of herbs
41. Preserve excess produce- through drying and bottling
42. Make my own Christmas tree
43. Build nesting boxes for native birds and animals
44. Create a habitat pond in the garden
45. Organise my fabric and tea towel collection
46. Make all my own greeting cards for the year
47. Gain as much experience as I can in my New Graduate year
48. Holiday to Tasmania
49. Have fresh flowers in the house
50. Be grateful for all that I have, and for the people in my life

 As a little one. How I would love to still have this old tricycle