Family Command Centre

I've always loved the idea of having a family command centre. I've tried a couple over the last few years but they've never really worked how I wanted them to. I have about 2654 pins on the subject which you can check out here and finally I've come up with one that I'm not only proud of, but I know it will work for our family!

I always like to start with a blank canvas & this area in our entry had been bare for a little while so it seemed like the perfect spot.

 

I gave the wall and skirting boards a good clean and started with the main feature being this hall table from

Kmart

 

I didn't buy anything new for this space other than the printables (coming up). I simply shopped in my own home & moved some pieces around. The cute green pad of notepaper was given to me by a friend for my birthday recently :)

Having a drawer here is handy for lots of little bits & pieces that you may need to grab on your way out the door or for leaving any messages. Here's what's inside mine....

Tissues, pens & highlighter, sticky notes, extra note paper, scissors, hand needles & safety pins- all the essentials covered ✔️

The next step was to print of some printables to keep track of our busy family schedules so I jumped on Etsy & picked these:

I Love Us  print from Eighteen25

Grocery List from Clean Life And Home

Weekly Family Planner from Miss Balance

Monthly Calendar from Darling Doodle

Cleaning Schedule from K Christianson Design

What's for Dinner printable from 

The Organised Housewife

And some final touches for the table...

 

Responsible for energy printable from 

Kind Over Matter

I took the tv remote storage caddy from the lounge room (the remotes never seem to be in there ever!) & it  holds our phones, pens & mail.

 

I'm head over heels in love with this space & can't wait to put it to work! 

Til next time,

Mel xx

Sausage Party Movie Review

On Sunday I took Ben off to see the Sausage Party movie with some friends. I'd seen the trailers and did not have high expectations. Rude & crude is not normally my thing and let's just say it's added a whole new meaning to the term 'Food Porn'.

I need to state here that this is NOT A KIDS MOVIE!!!! I was blushing within the first five minutes!

The movie is about a supermarket where the products come to life. They believe that when they are bought by humans and taken out of the store, they are treated like royalty & live happily ever after in some fancy kitchen. The reality of course, is somewhat different and one brave sausage, with the help of some foodie friends, sets out to save the day and his supermarket mates from having to face any frying pan or fancy cutlery set.

This all sounds pretty harmless right? But when you throw in story writers like Seth Rogan & Jonah Hill, it gets a little crazy!



Funnily enough, it wasn't the worst movie I've seen. In fact it's probably the best worst movie I've seen. How's that for a rating?!

If you love rude, crude over-the-top sexual humour then this movie is for you! I did get quite a few laughs and the story line was good enough that I didn't get bored.

Sadly though, I feel I may never be able to eat a hotdog again.

Til next time,

Mel xx

Hello

 

As soon as I wrote that title, Adele's voice instantly popped into my head. I'll be singing that for the next three hours for sure!

Anyway, welcome to the new Blog! You may have noticed some changes to the Facebook page..... If you're wondering what happened to Thread By Design- the business still exists- it's just been downgraded to 'hobby' now rather than 'full time business'. Let me fill you in on the last few months in the Manchee household....

Back in June I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about how business was going. Things were slow & financially I wasn't making the gains I wanted. I wasn't so much complaining, just telling it how it was. The very next day she called me & asked if I might be interested in selling. She had a friend who was keen to buy. Now, I'm not superstitious, or religious or anything like that but I can recognise a 'sign' when I see one and I saw this phone call as a big sign!

When I bought the shop back in September 2015, I had never worked in retail before, let alone run my own business and let me just say, RETAIL IS HARD!!!! like, REALLY HARD! I have so much admiration for those who have been in business for 30+ years - you deserve a medal!

For me, it was the financial struggle. I didn't go into the business thinking I was going to be rich. I thought it wound be easier for me and my family as I would have a bit more flexibility around the kid's schedules. and while that was the case to some extent, the reality of not having an income but still forking out money day after day became really stressful and I ended up in a place that was totally out of my comfort zone.

So, within two weeks of my friend's phone call, the shop was sold and I was moving on. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to pass the business on to someone who really wanted to see it thrive and I was able to walk away debt free, ready to start a new adventure. I'm also very grateful to have been able to have had the opportunity to own and run the shop and see what small business ownership is really like.

 
I'm now happily working in an admin role that I love. And I still have the flexibility to be there for my kids when they need me. 

I love writing and sharing my stories which is why I've created the Blog. It's also a great way for me to keep a little history of our life and our adventures and I hope you find them as entertaining reading  as we are living them.

Til next time,

Mel xx