15 years! Wow how time flies

Today is Valentines day!

Today is also the anniversary of the first time that my hunky hubby & I went on a date.

Now I have to admit (sorry Mr P) that I do not get Valentines day presents unless I buy them for myself.

This year was amazingly different.

This year I received the most thoughtful, wonderful gift that a gal like me could ever want.

A pair of dressmaking scissors!

Now these are not just any dressmaking scissors.

They are super sharp but when they have been used a little to much, they can be sharpened!

Yes!

No more blunt scissors!

But did you also notice something else about theses scissors?

Look closely!

He had my name & our 15 year anniversary date engraved on them!!

(which is also Valentines day)

He did this all while I was on a Bloggers Lunch meet the other day & was so proud of himself that he gave them to me in the car on the way home!

Only someone who has loved me for 15 years could know that a pair of scissors could bring me to tears, happy tears!

This was a photo of us on that day as we caught the citycat ferry back to the car.

here are some other photo’s from that special day.

It was a really special day for me as it was just over 1 year on from the Brisbane floods that devastated the only city I have ever lived in.

It was wonderful to see that the Brisbane River was back to normal.

The scars were still evident.

I knew that there would still be reminders.

The last time that I went down the Brisbane river on a boat was for Mr P’s work Christmas party which was of a night time so the scars were not visible.

But Brisbane has recovered!

If you live in the outer suburbs as I now do, why not take your kids for a trip on the citycat & see for yourself.

Where ever you are & what ever you are doing today,

I hope you have a fantastic Valentines day!

This is an open letter to my husband..

Dear Mr P,

Thank you for loving me for 15 years.

Thank you for being the most hardest working man that I know.

Thank you for giving me 2 beautiful daughters.

Thank you for being the only man who could put up with my

obsession to fashion

my addiction to fabric

my need for bling

my desire to own as many shoes as possible

my must have for handbags

my craving for new dresses

Thank you for letting me be me & thank you for being the best you.

I love you with all of my heart

Love you now & forever,

Jos xoxoxoxox

Sunday morning tea

When you are having family over, do you make it fun & exciting?

We do!

So when my In-laws were coming over for a Sunday morning tea, it was time to dust of the tablecloths & pull out the good china

{ok, maybe it is not THAT good!}

Georgia made delicious gooey caramel & choc chip muffins.

I made this super yummy passionfruit shortbread

It is so easy to make a table have that little extra niceness about it.

All you need to do is layer a few things that you probably already have around your house.

I started with a white tablecloth & put a vintage crochet tablecloth on top.

{I collect crochet & I hand dye it!}

I then placed 3 white tiles in the middle of the table

Place the cupcake stand

{click here for a tutorial on how you can make your own}

in the middle

Then add little bowls filled with tea bags, coffee & sugar. don’t forget the cups! You may need another cake stand, plates & teaspoons

Add some napkins & a beautiful bottle of water & you are done!

The kids love to have a “tea party” & the adults get to sit & enjoy as everything is already on the table.

The recipes for the gooey caramel & choc chips & passionfruit shortbread will be on the blog later this week.

Next time you are having family or friends over, why not take a couple of minutes to make it a little something special!

Don’t forget! The giveaway will be drawn tomorrow afternoon so if you haven’t entered yet, what are you waiting for!

just remember that you must have an Australian postal address to enter.

ENTER HERE!

Homemade Peppermint patties, oh my!

I haven’t brought  a Peppermint Patty for many years but they still remain one of my all time fave treats.

Now I can enjoy my treat again!

Oh yes, these are simply divine!

And they are pretty easy to make too!

Now, I know I hear some of you say “But Jos, you are on a diet!”

Yes I am but a little treat never hurt any one!

I am not going to sit down & eat them all in one day, but maybe just one here & one there.

I think in my house, there will be none left for me once Mr P sees them.

Here is the recipe

2 cups of icing sugar

1 & 1/2 tablespoons of margarine/butter

2 tablespoons of condensed milk

1/4 teaspoon of vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon of peppermint essence

2 cups of cooking chocolate

Beat all of the ingredients, (except the chocolate) with an electric beater until smooth & creamy.

Place in the fridge (covered) for 1 hour.

Roll into teaspoon sized balls & place on a lined baking tray.

Flatten slightly with the back of a spoon & place in the freezer for 30 minutes - 1 hour.

Melt the chocolate & dip the patties in the chocolate until well coated.

Place back on the baking tray& place in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Yum yum!!

Flower power earrings {quick and easy}

A while back, I did a blog post on these fantastic resin flower rings & how to make them.

Flower rings in seconds

Now I am showing you how to make a matching pair of matching earrings in seconds.

you need

Resin flowers

Blank earrings

&

a hot glue gun

Just apply a small amount of hot glue to the back of the flower & attach the earring.

And there you have it!

A fabulous pair of flower earrings!

You will want to make a pair in every colour!

{I did!}

Head on over to

For all of your jewellery making supplies!

You are my Sunshine {printable}

When I saw this on Pinterest, I knew I had to have it!

I used to sing this to bath of my girls when they were babies to get them to go to sleep.

It is a free printable & you can find it

HERE

It is from Grits and Giggles Blog

there is also a stack of Valentines day pintable's.

I am going to print this one & put one on each of the girls bedside tables for Valentines Day!