My gran's biscuits

The Toddler and I baked some of my gran's yummy biscuits last week. She has been making these for as long as I can remember... They're not very exciting to look at but they're delish and so simple to make!

To make these biscuits you need:

- 500g self-raising flour

- 250g butter

- 300g castor sugar

- 1tsp vanilla essence

- 2 eggs, whisked

- sugar (optional)

Beat the sugar and butter until creamy. Add the vanilla essence, flour and eggs and mix to form a dough. Roll into small balls, place on baking tray and press flat with a fork. Sprinkle sugar over the tops of biscuits (optional) and bake at 180 deg cel for 12 minutes. Enjoy!

And don't forget to keep an eye out for the Flowermill giveaway...

Have you read

...Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua? Omg. I could not put this book down! I was both horrified and amazed by the way Amy chose to raise her daughters. Read it, it's amazing!

(By the way, the book was photographed on wrapping paper designed by my clever friends at Flowermill. I'll be doing a feature on them later this week and hosting a Flowermill giveaway too, so remember to pop back for the details...)

Lucky me

Whoo hoo, I won this awesome print in the Victor Fox giveaway! Thanks so much - I love it!

Blog loving

Award Ribbon by Twamies 

Hi everybody! I was recently awarded a 7x7 award by Kelley at A Crooked Trail as well another Liebster award from Rebecca at Littletree Designs. Thanks so much lovely ladies - I really appreciate it :-)

For the 7x7 Award I have to share 7 facts about myself, link to 7 blog entries and nominate 7 other bloggers. And the Liebster is awarded to blogs with less than 200 followers. I'm cheating a bit and combining the two. So here goes...

The facts

1. My husband and I wore jeans and t-shirts when we got married, and went ten pin bowling with our guests afterwards.
2. We called the first year of our marriage The Year Of The Honeymoon because instead of one big honeymoon after our wedding we had several little ones, which included visits to Perthshire (Scotland), Cape Town, Barcelona, Paris, Tuscany and Amsterdam.
3. I'm scared of deep water and only learnt to swim at 28.
4.  I hate driving but that may just be because Cape Town drivers are very aggressive, and it scares me!
5. I never ever thought I'd be a stay at home mum - in fact The Toddler had his nursery space booked and I had a date set to return to work.
6. I'm a coffee snob and won't drink instant.
7. I was deputy head girl of my high school.

Seven blog posts

1. Recycled + t-shirt = rug
2. Make your own... crackers!
3. Have you heard of
4. Yippee! Hooray!
5. Yummy home
6. Hello Olive must have
7. How awesome...

And the award(s) go to...

1. Sparrows and Arrows
2. Nest Enterprises
3. Tracey English
4. Binds You To Me 
5. Dew + Olive 
6. The Buckles 
7. Our Hause

I'll leave it up to you to decide which award to accept - heck, accept them both! There's no pressure to continue the award-chain either... if you'd rather just accept the compliment then that's great too :-) Also, I'm not sure about the amount of followers the above blogs have since Google Friend Connect is no more.

(Goodness, you deserve an award if you've read this post this far!)


The small print

Link back to the blogger who nominated you, share 7 facts about yourself, share 7 blog posts that fit into 7 categories and nominate 7 other blogs (leave a message letting them know).

The rules are pretty simple: paste the logo, thank the person who nominated you for the award, and then pass it on to the five other up and coming blogs (with less than 200 followers) that you love to read! 

Decisions, decisions

Thanks to the lovely Rebecca who blogs at Littletree Designs, I now really want one of these cushions by Nikki McWilliams. The only problem is deciding between the Iced Ring cushion and the Nice Biscuit cushion... Hmm, may just have to get both! You can see Rebecca's entire post here (you won't be sorry - it's one of my favourite blogs), and visit Nikki McWilliams' shop here.

Hello Olive's vintage finds

Hello, hope you all had great weekends! I spent Saturday morning at Milnerton Market with a friend hunting for vintage treasures. (Milnerton Market, by the way, is a great fleamarket where you can find anything from used car parts to vitamins to vintage goodies.) It wasn't one of my most successful hunts but I am very chuffed with my wooden apple!

I bought the book (that the apple is perched on) because I really like the pattern on the cover. And I'm a fan of cheesy flower paintings so I couldn't resist the one below (although it really is quite bad!). I love the cup but it's chipped so it'll be used for a little plant.

I think this is soup tureen. I'm not a huge fan of the pattern but it in such a good condition, and it's the first time I've seen anything by Noritake at the market so I had to get it. 

And this is an old handkerchief came home with me because I love the pattern. No idea what I'll do with it but it's nice to look at. Hope you enjoyed seeing some of my real life finds :-)

Have you heard about

...Gingiber? This shop is filled with adorable plush cushions, art prints and totes. I. Want. It. All. See more here.

1. Bear print,   2. Fox print,   3. Mini Love Bear,   4. Plush owl pillow,   5. Owl tote

via Lottie Loves

Hello sunshine

Hi, hope you all had lovely weekends! We're having super sunny weather here in Cape Town, and I am enjoying every moment because it won't be long until we're all wrapped up (and I have to wear shoes that aren't flip flops). Hopefully it's as sunny where you are... If not, here are some sunny finds to brighten your day :-)

1. Ceramic owl coin bank,   2. Melaware cups and saucers,
3. Ceramic pig planter,   4. Stewart Sunshine fox

The Toddler must have

...these lovely bookends. Aren't they gorgeous? The bookends are handmade from wood by Graphic Spaces in their family wood shop. Each one is sold individually so you can mix and match. Love them! See more here.

1.  Bunny bookend,   2. Owl bookend,   3. Raccoon bookend,   4. Squirrel bookend

Hello Olive must have

I'm on the hunt to find bookends for The Toddler's expanding collection of books and I found these amazing vintage plastic bookends. I may just crack and get them. For myself :-) More here.

Space crayon love

Kate from mini-eco constantly amazes me with her creations! I absolutely love these space crayons and they seem so simple to make. Click here for the tutorial, and here for other amazing crafts.

Hello Olive is one

Wow, is it really a year since I started blogging? I would never have guessed that when I wrote that first entry I'd end up loving it so much, and I really hope you all enjoy Hello Olive as much as I do. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!  It's great to be connected to other bloggers all over the world and I really feel like I have made some friends. Ooh, get me, all soppy! Big hugs, Colleen x

Print by This is Knockout

Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

I can tell that creating Etsy Treasuries is going to become my newest online addiction! Below is a sneak peek of my latest one but you can click here to see the entire collection.

1. Mid Century Danish figurine,   2. Vintage Smith-Corona typewriter,
3. Catherine Holm plate,   4. Vintage Lomo Diana camera