Monday 6 May 2013

Wink & Bid Doily Mother's Day Card - download for free!

We all know mothers are priceless AND that sometimes the best things in life are free, so why not download our printable Mother's Day card, featuring a gorgeous cross stitched design with hand embroidered writing and a super cute floral fabric! Simply print, cut out and fold in half, then add your own message to your amazing mum.

Here's the link -

wink & bid free downloadable mothers day card

Happy doily days! xx wink & bid.

Monday 8 April 2013


Weird & wonderful doilies...

You may have gathered by now that we two sisters at ‘wink & bid’ are doily aficionados. We loooooove a beautiful doily and consider them pieces of domestic artwork. With our doily bangles, purses and calico bags we’re always on the look out for ways to incorporate them into everyday life. There may however, be people out there who are even crazier about doilies then us… hard to believe, but I have the proof here in pictures...


 Art by the Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos.  
Google her - Ah mazing! 

Giant Doilies by Jennifer Cecere. I want to tether this 
horizontally between trees as a hamock...

 Sugar doilies for your cup of tea!
Get them here on Etsy.

happy doily days. xx wink & bid.

Monday 18 March 2013

On the sauce


Sauce making has a long tradition in our family, once a year three ginormous pots of tomatoes adorn the barbecue at Mum and Dad’s and spend the day simmering and being stirred to finally create a delicious accompaniment to many a pie. Here's some pics from our recent sauce making day!







Wednesday 6 March 2013

DIY Beauty Treatment - Poor Woman's Pore Peel!


DIY Beauty Treatment - Poor Woman's Pore Peel!



When I was younger I used to raid the pantry and mix up my own beauty treatments – I specifically remember a facial scrub using rolled oats! It has been a while since I’ve done anything along those lines but when I was trawling pinterest this week I came across a little recipe that I couldn’t resist:  Make – your – own pore mask/peel. Here’s the link http://petitelefant.com/how-to-pore-strips/

This inspired me so I’m giving it a crack this morning while bub’s asleep and pre-schooler is at swimming lessons with his dad, here goes….

1 tablespoon or Gelatin and 1 tablespoon of milk – mix and microwave for 10 – 15 seconds.

Hmm, smells kind of manky and looks a bit like vomit, and you do have to apply it straight away because it starts to go even clumpier. I used an iceypole stick.

Akward Selfie - How embarassing.


The waiting game –  around 15 minutes – you can feel your face going harder than Channing Tatums abs in that feelgood stripper flick. I actually prefer Chris Hemsworth in Thor, but I digress.

Ok now for the fun part, peeling. Ouch, it hurts as it gets those tiny hairs on your cheeks – on the upside my face does feel like a baby’s bum, and you can see what has been ripped out if you hold the peeled bits up to the light. 

The peeled-off bits

I wouldn't try this if you have sensitive skin. Oh and don’t get it anywhere near your eyebrows or you may end up rocking a weird brow fashion, which is fine if you’re planning on auditioning for the role of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Maybe next time I’ll just do my nose/forehead but overall this is a winner. If you give it a go let us know!

Xx Wink

Thursday 28 February 2013

We're bringing doilies back...


There are lots of things that we’d love to bring back; Barney Bananas, Pollywaffles, Milky Freezes, side ponies, scrunchies and Ollie's Trolley. But doilies are our passion. We love doilies! If you’d like to share in the doily movement our calico totes are now half price in our etsy shop. These gorgeous bags are the perfect accompaniment to the library or supermarket and to add to their appeal, they’re hand screen printed in Campbell’s Creek, Victoria, Australia.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/winkandbid

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Banana Banana Bread


I love to bake recipes where you can just mix all the ingredients together, like Anzacs and muffins, they're just easier and take less time, hence making the whole cooking experience more enjoyable. Anything that requires beating butter and sugar I'm quick to pass over.

This recipe is not one off those. However the taste of the final product is a just reward for the time involved.

It was given to me by a south African whom we lived with in London. She tweaked some bits and added the spices. You need overripe bananas and lots of them (hence the name) I'm continuously finding half eaten bananas on the kitchen bench, so I pop them in the freezer until there's a collection of horrid looking black things and we need more freezer space.

Banana Banana Bread

2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
4 mashed overripe bananas
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 175%. Lightly grease a loaf pan.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, bi-carb and salt. In a seperate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed banana until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture, stir just to moisten.

Bake in oven for 40 mins, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pan 10 mins, then turn out.

I slightly undercooked this batch, you can see how it has sunk a bit in the middle, but it's not a bad thing as you end up with a deliciously gooey surprise in the middle.

If it lasts until it goes stale, pop a thick thick slice in the toaster and serve with a dab of butter, it's almost better than eating it fresh.

Monday 2 July 2012

Organising



With the move to a new house comes the desire to sort and organise everything. Today I attacked my sewing cabinet. From the outside it's the ugliest thing you've ever seen, horrible brown timber look laminate (it's a hand me down from our Grandma, so I could never get rid of it). Inside, however it's now beautifully sorted with a draw full of colour coded threads. I came across this gorgeous ric rac and a sewing machine manual, they both looked so retro, I just had to share. 
Hello Milawa, hopefully it won't be too long before you feel like home. xx Bid