It's bucketing cats and dogs outside as I'm shivering in the basking glow of the computer screen. My ice cold fingers are beating down on the keyboard in a vain attempt to get warm. No need for more inspiration for this blog post

Left to right: Rain Cloud Mobile by Lullaby Mobiles, Happy Cloud Stud Earrings by The Angry Weather, Up with the Clouds vase by Made by Manos, Feathers watercolor painting by Louise DeMasi, Umbrella Ring Dish by Anthropologie, Blue Gray Glass Earrings by Jaros Designs, Polka Dot Rain Coat by Karmology Clinic, Glitter Welly by Wellies Online and Western Blue Birds Sculpture by Nic Annette Miller

Pimples, oily combination skin, blackheads, clogged pores and skin imperfections are every one's nightmare. Me included (perhaps minus the pimples!). My daughter is one of those young teenagers hitting her stride into adolescence and all the skin problems that come with it

When we were sent the Garnier Pure Active 3-in-1 face wash, scrub and mask to try as part of the Garnier Challenge for Kidspot Voices of 2014 we were absolutely delighted. How perfect!

So we both embarked on a 7 day trial. Helena used it mainly as a face wash and scrub. Having never used a product like this before, she was excited by the thought of dealing with blackheads on her nose and and blemishes on her cheeks. What she loved... she firstly commented on how thick the product was and that it has a subtle fragrance. It's enriched with mineral zinc and pumice stone beads that help with dislodging impurities, leaving her skin smooth. The verdict? She felt her skin was extremely soft and had received a professional facial. That's good news for my wallet

For me? Loved it! My skin is extreeeeemly sensitive. The mere talk of using skin care products sends me into a cold sweat. Anyway, I thought I would use it as a mask and see how I would go. No reaction and left my skin soft and tingly. I'm not sure I would use it every day as a wash but once a week is perfect

You can create this face cloth too! Knitted from cotton, a classic and beautiful natural yarn that's gentle on the skin yet the moss weave pattern is nubby to help dislodge any residual scrub. It's such a pleasure to use cotton when knitting and this face cloth can be made in hours. I purchased my 10 ply wool from Morris & Sons in Sydney. Worth the effort for a little indulgence. The pattern is below....

Every kid loves to make-believe and our daughter is no exception. Normally quite shy but when asked if she would feature in our last Kidspot Voices of 2014 article for Paint the Town Ford Challenge she jumped in boots and all (more about boots later). She recommended a day at Luna Park Sydney, clever girl, and dreamt of the idea to dress as a modern day Nancy Drew deducing the whereabouts of our lost Ford Kuga Titanium. Helena thinks our Kuga has a mind of her own as she practically reverse parks herself with Active Park Assist where no hands are required, she can tell you where to go with the inbuilt navigation and she plays song requests hands free using SYNC directly off the iPhone just by simply asking! Being a typical teenager, this was used constantly. It’s easy to attribute a personality to a car that does so much so easily

See our other blog posts for Paint the Town Ford Challenge: Rural Escape and Weekend Getaway

Please indulge our little fantasy when viewing our video to see Helena’s adventure hunting down the ‘lost’ Kuga roaming the urban jungle while she concentrates on the amusement oasis at Luna Park in Sydney. She also wanted to include a diy that would suit the sleuthing theme. She created some pretty boots by hammering grommets down the back and threaded ribbons to make decorative bows. It’s so cute and easy to do, even a kid can do it! For full diy instructions, see how-to here

 

While Helena was having a ball searching high and low for our Ford Kuga at Luna Park, our car was on her own urban adventure around Sydney. See the route below.....

It's been an absolute treat having use of the car for the last six weeks. There's so much to love about her and it's soon time to give her back to Ford. A few things that we really appreciate; there's heaps of storage including a hidden bin in the car that's great for keeping valuables out of sight and areas to fit almost anything from books, drinks and sunglasses etc. On top of all the practical little nooks, my personal favourite has to be the S-P-A-C-E. You can adapt the rear space to whatever your needs. Either or both backseats can fold down to carry large and long loads. When going away for the weekend, the car can easily take three of us, our dog and luggage in comfort. We're seriously thinkging of buying one as my old car is getting long in the tooth and this fits the bill

When my Grandmother passed away sometime ago now, I was the main family member interested in her old crockery and handmade lace. How could I part with it? It has been a pain to lug around with every house move and some of the pieces have broken over the years. I thought a lovely memento to my Granny would be to wear some of her china that we used to sip tea from and dunk our Melting Moments

She used to look after me when I was about four and I would forever harass her to go shopping for Paper Doll books where I could push out the clothing and dress the cut out figure in multiple sailor outfits. There were always hard boiled lollies hidden in the pantry that I easily sniffed out and a piece of sponge oozing with freshly whipped cream and jam was had with morning tea. She was so lovely to me and I remember her dearly

So what to do with the broken pieces? Here's how to make a treasured piece of jewellery to wear next to your heart...bear in mind, the thicker and flatter the crockery, the less fragile

Repurposed vintage crockery necklace
You will need:
Flat broken china
A drill with fine sanding bit and an 8 mm tungsten tip diamond drill bit attachments
Bakers twine, cord or thin leather cord
A piece of wood to drill against

Using drill with the fine sanding bit, carefully sand edges of broken china until smooth. Attach the tungsten tip drill bit. For the hole, apply a strip of masking tape in the desired area, this will stop the drill from slipping. Drill slowly until drilled through. Thread cord through hole to make necklace. Knot-in beads to compliment if desired

Go on, I know you want to dive into one of these beds! I'm feeling sleepy just perusing these gorgeous images on Pinterest and little jumping lambs are about to be counted. What's so appealing about white bedrooms? Its freshness and desirability? Too much white can be sterile too but I think the balance here is just right with hints of greys and blacks for total contrast. Do you like white bedrooms?

Top to bottom: Stil Inspiration,  Delikatissen, Andy Barnes Photography, Cocolapine Design, Unknown, My Scandinavian Home,