The Enchanted Closet in this month's Shop Til You Drop!

We just got word that The Enchanted Closet is in this month's Shop til You Drop. You can find a little write up about us and a photo of the shop on the Readers Recommend page. We'd like to thank our customer, Annabel, for taking the time to write to Shop with her lovely comments. Here's a few photos of The Enchanted Closet. 

All things blue, aqua, turquoise....

   Ivanka Trump's apartment

   Cote de Texas' Blue Opaline collection

 

       Designer Jen West's Blue Opaline collection




Those who know me well, know I'm obsessed with the colour blue and all it's variations. When I look back through old tear sheets or pictures I've saved,  blue, aqua and turquoise feature heavily. With this in mind I've decided to post my favourite blue rooms.

The Mill Markets, Daylesford

    Gorgeous cushions from The Mill

  
  The Mill's bathroom which inspired the wallpapering in our shop's fitting room

  Antique bird book

   Pastel crockery

  Vintage dress circa 1970s   

  Vintage clothing stall

  Quinny found himself a shopping trolley

  60s glasswear & crockery

  Beautiful gold tea set sitting on 50s dressing table stool, which I purchased for $8

After Lavandula on Sunday, we dropped in at the Mill Markets in Daylesford for a look around. This place is amazing, a huge warehouse filled with antiques, vintage clothing, memorabillia, retro collectables and a pretty good cafe for a well earned break after hours of browsing. I picked up a very cute 50s stool for my bathroom for a huge sum of $8 and an ornate vintage mirror for $18.

The Mill Markets can be found at 105 Central Springs Rd, Daylesford

Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm

  View from the farmhouse

  Lavender Lemonade

  Lavandula Gift Shop

  Original old farm house

  Lavender as far as the eye can see

Yesterday we took the family to visit Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm. Lavandula is situated just out of Daylesford, Victoria and is one of my favourite places to take family and friends when they visit. The setting is reminiscent of the Italian country side and lavender scent permeates the air. We wandered through the sea of lavender, took the kids to see the farm animals and ate at the cafe La Trattoria (the homemade Lavender Lemonade is a must have and most of the produce is grown on the farm). They distill the lavender flowers to make beautiful body products which can purchased in the gift shop, located in a rustic Italian style farm house. The adults and the kids equally enjoyed the outing! We'll be heading back there again on Sunday 11th January for their Harvest Day Festival.

Beautiful Rooms Part 1

  Anna Spiro's Dining Area

   Rachel Ashwell

    The guys at Design Sponge's beautiful white kitchen

Every week or so I am going to post pictures of beautiful rooms from around the world that I love. Also over the next few weeks I'll be posting photos of my own garden. I am lucky enough to live next door to and share a garden with Stephen Ryan, the new host of Gardening Australia (shown on the ABC). Stephen and his partner, Craig Lidgerwood, have created a magical garden which makes going home at the end of the day a joy. Photos to follow soon.........

The Golden Age of Couture 1947 - 1957

                                        Chiffon Evening Dress Jean Desses

                                           (one of my favourites)

                   This photo was taken in Elizabeth Arden's personal 

                                bathroom

                            Silk dress & Petticoat Pierre Balmain 1950

                      (one of my sister's and sister in-law's favourite pieces)

                            Black Swan Evening Dress Christian Dior 1949

On New Year's Day we organised a girl's day out and headed to the Bendigo Art Gallery to visit the Golden Age of Couture Paris & London 1947 - 1957. The exhibition features clothing from designers such as Dior, Balenciaga, Balmain and Fath, gorgeous fashion illustrations and stunning photography from the decade 1947 to 1957. Some of the evening dresses took our breath away with their detail and beauty, and we spent forever trying to decide on our favourite dresses. The exhibition runs until March 22nd 2009 and is well worth a visit.

Nila Nila Lip Balm

This fantastic Melbourne product called Nila Nila Pout Lip Balm arrived in the shop this week. It's certified organic and contains goodies like Fair Trade cocoa and shea butter, triple fold organic essence and virgin coconut oil. The Summer 08/09 collection features five different scents including lime, coco, limon, arancia and minty. But the best thing about this product....the gorgeous pin-up girls packaging! $12.95 available in store and available online in the New Year.

The Merry Christmas Table

Here's a picture of our Christmas table this year. I went very traditional, with a lot of red and white and a little bit of orange. Even though it was a small gathering this year (half the family was in Qld), a great time was had by all..........

Anna Spiro

My favourite blog at the moment is Absolutely Beautiful Things by Anna Spiro, a Brisbane based Interior Designer and owner of Black and Spiro. Anna's pictures of her own home, shop and her work, inspires me to take chances when decorating my own home and our shop. So I was pretty pleased when I opened this month's Country Style to see her holiday home on North Stradbroke Island featured. Check out this month's Country Style or visit www.absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com to see Anna's beautiful work. 

A very Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! The picture speaks for itself......

Congratulations to Drink me, Alice

We would like to send a huge congratulations to Alicia, the designer behind Aussie accessories brand Drink me, Alice. Alicia recently won Best Accessory Designer at the 2008 2threads Australian Fashion Awards..

Drink me, Alice is the perfect example of a fabulous Australian designed and made product, that is both original and fantastic quality.

Drink me, Alice is available at www.enchantedcloset.com.au and in store at Enchanted Closet. Well done Alicia!x

ibride

We've fallen in love with these designs from ibride. These French designers take their inspiration from nature to create beautiful cards, trays and homewares. You can buy them from www.eggmercantile.com who ship to Australia.

Louise Tidd

And on a very similar note, I wouldn't mind finding some of Brisbane artist Louise Tidd's work under the  Christmas tree......

David Bromley

On my Christmas wish list this year  is a piece of art from Australian artist David Bromley. It's highly unlikely I will find one of his artworks under my Christmas tree, but a girl can always dream!