Boho inspired hair for Summer

One of my favourite ways to wear my hair is tousled curls with a side braid.

It is the perfect way to manage my long, wavy hair.

Tutorial Tuesday: How to make easy no sew bunting

Today is Tutorial Tuesday and I am linking up with Yen from Blue Bird Green - a DIY and craft extraordinaire, posting easy craft projects for you to try! Yen posted this great DIY tutorial on how to make no sew paper bunting for a special occasion. Today I thought I would share with you some more great tutorials and inspiration on how to create easy bunting for a party or occasion. You can create some really unique bunting from paper, fabric, burlap or even vintage handkerchiefs or similar. Why not have a look through your cupboards and see what you can get creative with?! Here is some inspiration to get you started...

DIY: Mason Jar Inspired Garden

I am calling today Tutorial Thursday and am sharing some cute DIY glass jar gardens I came across on Pinterest. Wow you can spend hours browsing all of the cute pins, I am forever finding inspiration! Today I was searching for some garden ideas on upcycling glass jars. I love unique garden ideas and being able to upcycle what I have around the home. I have made succulent gardens and vertical gardens before and love testing my green thumb.

A reno update - this week's projects

Hi everyone! 

I am not bringing you a Feature Friday post this week. If you are still wanting a 'home tour' fix and want to step inside a home today, I shared on facebook a beautiful coastal glam Palm Beach home. So be sure to check that one out! Instead of a Feature Friday post, I am bringing you an update about what has been going on with my home renovations this week. 

Renovations are back in full swing at the moment.

We had a few quiet months where we put the tools down, but now we are back at it and are tackling the to do list once again. This week we have been trying to do the last coat on the white picket balustrade on the front verandah. I love the pickets and the privacy it gives us, but oh boy...so many to paint and such little crevices and bits to get the brush into. I enjoy cutting in and rolling paint on, but dislike the brush and unfortunately this is all brush work. So still a work in progress there...stay tuned!

PAINTING - So many pickets to paint..it is the job that never ends!

Making jam with no added sugar or nasties!

Smashed Berry & Vanilla Jam

Oh, long weekends never go for quite long enough do they? We jam packed so much into the sunny three days - a fishing trip, date night at Jupiter's Casino, grand final BBQ and lunch at a quaint country pub to top it off. There was lots of food, laughter, love and indulgence, just what you want! There was not much cooking, cleaning or domestic duties done on the long weekend. I just lapped up feeling in holiday mode and the warm days. It was quite different to the feel of last weekend...

An easy intro to making Kale Chips

So as you read this, I am at Fraser Island on a 4WD adventure. I wrote this post and scheduled it before I left, so you wouldn't think I had vanished for the week! I am holidaying with my best friend and her partner and my Husband. We all have in common an intense love for healthy, sugar free food. When we get together, there is lots of recipe sharing, cooking, eating and laughs. My friend has been busy in the kitchen all week cooking up a storm and filling the fridge with treats for our adventure. I have too, making protein balls and one of my favourites this Jaffa Bread. I have packed loose clothing and know I will leave Fraser Island a few kilo's heavier. Oh, why must I love food so much?!

Today I am leaving you with this recipe that I experimented with in the kitchen last week. 

Twelve months ago if you had of spoken to me about kale I would have had no idea what you were talking about! Fast forward and I am a keen kale advocate! I enjoy it in salads, smoothies and even make chips from it. I wanted to share with you a super easy and yummy kale chip recipe. Kale is now being labelled a 'superfood' as it has exceptional nutrient richness, health benefits, and delicious flavor. Pick up a bunch from your local farmers market or supermarket and give this recipe a go, I think you will be surprised!

Chunky Caramel Pecan Fudge

Its a wet and rainy day here on the Gold Coast. The forecast is four days of rain. Which means we are going to tackle our kitchen renovation. It's a job that has been 80% complete for too long. This weekend I am on a mission to finish it. You may have seen me posting about it here on Instagram yesterday. There is something about social media, once you make a statement public you have to follow through with it don't you?! Looks like the kitchen will be finished soon then!

But this weekend, if you too are trapped indoors by the rain and feel like indulging in something sweet and getting your bake on, I have the perfect recipe for you.

I think it is one of my favourite sweet dessert treats EVER. It is honestly so damn good! It's from my Nicole Joy Inspire cookbook. 

Timber bench seats - Handcrafted & For Sale

My Father has an amazing woodworking workshop in the Northern Tablelands, a little spot up in the highlands of Armidale NSW. It gets mighty cold, a place where the fire is lit for days on end, where the hills roll endlessly and the sheep are in abundance. It's a great spot to visit, unwind and smell the fresh air. 

This is what life looks like on the farm...

A Winter Warmer Soup Recipe - Sweet Potato Superfood Goodness!

I am loving being in my kitchen at the moment.

Anything that requires the use of the oven I get excited about. Why you ask? I am really feeling the winter chill this week! So cranking up the oven is a great idea, warming the house up and making me feel warm and toasty once more. I am also sweet potato and cumin obsessed at the moment, so when I saw this recipe I knew it would be enjoyed in my household.

A tree stump as a side table

I am loving texture, neutrals and raw timber in homes at the moment and my biggest crush at the moment is tree stump side tables. Oh boy I want to make one for my living room so bad!! I am regretting not recycling the tree stumps we cut down in our front yard. The gum tree stumps we removed would have been perfect size as a side table or even a stool. But that's okay, I will just have to keep my eyes out for some recycled timber! 

Tree stumps are versatile, I have seen some great raw stumps, painted ones and even stud embellished ones. There are some great tutorials on making your own recycled tree stump - you can check them out here, here and here. If you are not the DIY type, I have come across a stunning recycled tree stump side table using timber from the Byron Bay hinterland, you can buy it here.

Here are the tree stumps I am crushing on at the moment... 

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Happy Birthday Glamour Coastal Living!

Happy birthday to Glamour Coastal Living! 
A year has flown by and I am so happy to be here blogging!

I started Glamour Coastal Living a  year ago with this post.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be laughed at, if I was a crap writer, or would anyone be interested? But I posted it and Glamour Coastal Living started. Blogiversary was a word that I had not even heard of way back then, but today I am celebrating my first!

Home Made Peanut Butter

I am converted. Never again will I buy store bought peanut butter - Why? 

Because making it yourself is super easy and tastes like the real thing with no added nasties!!

Eat Love and Share

I love sharing recipes that I come across that are tried and tested in my kitchen. Last week I shared with you some amazing healthy treats, you can read about the amazing peanut butter mousse here and see what else I have been up to in the kitchen here. I love to try new recipes and if they are delicious, they get filed into my recipe folder and shared with you! I think my new motto should be

 Eat Love Share

If I am after a healthy fix, mixed with a little sweet my go to is Wholefood Simply. Bianca's recipes are easy, quick and jam packed full of healthy goodness. I am crushing on her creations, they are to die for!! Here are some of the delicious recipes I have experimented with in my kitchen this week. 

Date and Orange Muffins

I have never been a dry fruit lover. Nope, not one bit. Sultanas were probably the most I could cope with. Hubby on the other hand will demolish any dried fruit and dates are his favourite. I love the flavour medjool dates give in recipes, so I have started to become more adventurous with incorporating dried fruit in recipes. These muffins were so moist and yummy, click here to see the recipe for these scrumptious delights.

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Peanut Butter Mousse - YES please!!

Cooking for someone post dental surgery

Its been a quiet week in my household. My husband had to get five teeth extracted last Monday, so the last week has been dedicated to looking after him and making delicious treats that he can actually eat! Once he came to terms with the fact he needed five teeth extracted, some serious drilling into his bone and lots of stitches I think the excitement of only being able to eat ice cream and jelly hit. I didn't want to crush his dream of indulging in this so I did buy it, but I must admit I was a little concerned about the sugar overload and wanted to ensure there was some nutrients and balance to his diet whilst he recovered from surgery. So it was a busy week for me in the kitchen, lots of pureed vegetables, yoghurt, green smoothies, fruit smoothies and mousse treats. 

Lunchbox Snack Ideas - some midweek inspiration!

It has been a busy week in our household, we have had a weekend away to country Victoria which is a big change from where I live on the sunny Gold Coast. You may have seen me posting the beautiful autumn leaves here on instagram - I always marvel at the colours of autumn and the beautiful leaves, such a contrast to life by the beach! It was a weekend of family, food and lots of relaxing which was nice, celebrating my husbands Nan's 80th birthday. But now I am back at the desk, back at work for the week which means packing lunches. My husband works in construction, so I pack an esky full of food for him each day and I work from home (lucky yes, but I still like to pack a lunch so I don't just stand gazing into the fridge and pantry looking for something to graze on!) but still like to have my meals planned for the day. I am a 'snack in between meals' kinda girl and that's what works for me, keeps my energy levels up and the '3pm sugar hit' cravings down.

For lunch I pack a main meal like salad, or dinner leftovers and then enjoy having a snack box full of nutritious goodies to enjoy throughout the day. You may have seen me post some of my lunchbox ideas here before in a previous post and today I have decided to show you some more easy ideas and inspiration!

A DIY Hamptons, Coastal, White Washed Side Table

I love beachy white, rustic edges and a DIY challenge. 

I wanted to create a side table for the entrance of my home to compliment my driftwood mirror. 

I needed it to be quite high, with a simple but catching design that would be easy to DIY. I came up with a Hampton inspired table that was narrow and perfect for the space I had to work with.

Giving chairs a new lease of life

I picked up these cute retro chairs at a garage sale months ago. 

I was all inspired to upcycle them and give them a lick of white paint and a new lease of life. I took my can of paint, paint brush and masked up all of the cushion area so I wouldn't get paint on it. It was so difficult to get in all of the little crevices and paint close to the cushions without getting paint everywhere. I accomplished two coats of paint on one chair and felt like a genius. Very chuffed with myself I put that chair back in the garage and then dreaded the task of painting another three! I just couldn't bring myself to do it. 

One day we took to cleaning out the garage, rearranging and trying to gain extra space in there. Hubby asked me about my remaining three chairs and when I was going to finish the project. He picked one up, flipped it over and started popping out these tiny little nails that held the cushions in, that I had looked so hard for, but not seen. Hmmm, it appeared that the chairs did come apart and now there was no excuse but to finish painting them. I was excited, even more excited because as a Christmas git I had received an airless spray gun and this job was now going to get a whole lot easier!!

Months later they are finished, painted, ready for a new lease of life. Voila! 

So glad to be crossing another unfinished project off my list (and now making more room in the garage for more!).

DO YOU HAVE ANY UNFINISHED PROJECTS YOU WANT TO 

CROSS OFF YOUR LIST?

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A peek into my kitchen this week and what I have been making

Whenever I am stressed I bake sweet indulgent treats - banana cake, chocolate slice, protein balls - you get my drift! With a confessed sugarholic husband who can never say no, I am always cooking up a storm to satisfy his sweet cravings. I have however had a recent diet overhaul. I had been feeling tired, always needing that 3pm sugar hit, having anxiety and just feeling not my bouncy self. I decided that I would wean myself off gluten, sugar and lactose then slowly increase them back into my diet. I lasted for 7 days, then in one stressful moment I caved and the mars bar that I had been so tempted by all week was eaten. The sugar hit was instant, the headache started and then the sugar crash came just as quickly as the high...I reevaluated my eating habits and decided that maybe that week of deprivation was a little drastic and have since cut back to eliminating all refined, processed and packaged foods. I spent up at the butcher, farmers markets and the health food aisles and liked what I saw in my fridge and cupboard. A balanced, healthy and wholesome diet with room for some indulgent treats that just don't contain actual servings of refined sugar.

So here's a little snippet of what I have been eating and indulging in, I have been busy in the kitchen and loving it...

Banana & Cinnamon Mousse with Walnut Crumble

This recipe is so good that I was up at 5:30am this morning whizzing this little treat up in the blender (the neighbours must love me & my early morning blending racket).

 The recipe is from Nicole Joy's book 'Eat Dessert For Breakfast' that you may have seen on my Instagram. Its a winner, especially for breakfast haters like me (toast, cereal - yuk!).

Its so delicious, I warn you it will leave you wanting more!!

Banana & Cinnamon Mousse with Walnut Crumble

Prep Time: Overnight | Make time: 10 Minutes | Stand Time: 3 hours

Crumble Ingredients:

½ cup walnuts

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoon of shredded coconut

Method:

Process all ingredients together in a blender or food processor. Don't over do them, a little chunky is okay! 

Banana & Cinnamon Mousse Ingredients:

1 ½ cups raw cashews soaked overnight (rinse well)

1 large banana

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

2 tablespoons of honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup of coconut milk

2 tablespoons of psyllium husk

Extra coconut water to add when mixing

Method:

Blend all ingredients together except for the coconut water until smooth. Gradually add the coconut water until the mixture is churning consistently. You may need to stop your mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure its mixed evenly. Fill four bowls/glasses with the mousse, sprinkle over the crumble and some sliced banana. Voila!  

Have a wonderful weekend peeps, I hope this yummy recipe is a part of it! x

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Driftwood Art - my DIY Driftwood Mirror!

I love DIY projects that are not intentional, this project is one of them, it came about from a tragedy to my favourite mirror. I was given this mirror as a gift for my birthday a few years ago and loved it, it hung on the wall in our guest room. However, the weight of the mirror was significant and one day it fell off the wall, leaving a destructive path of damaged plaster, broken furniture from its impact and a cracked mirror frame. Not being able to part with the mirror now it had a cracked outer frame, I set about a way to upcycle the mirror so it can hang on my wall once more.