That's Noice!

Those with cats will know the drama that surrounds Christmas and cats. Eating the tree, eating the tinsel…then little puddles of glitter vomit. And that’s if you can even get the damn thing to stay up, or the decorations to stay on.

Sick of all of it, I had planned not to do the tree this year. Till I came across the idea of a twig tree. After searching everywhere for a decent one at the shop, I thought bugger it I can make my own.

It was harder than I thought, trying to find a branch that was a decent shape. After traipsing round the bush with no luck I ended up stealing one from the neighbours dead tree *shh*

Gave it a light spray of white paint, stuck it in a pot with some pebbles and there you have it.

I LOVE it, best xmas tree we’ve ever had. Of course, it is covered in cupcakes :P I think I love even more that there are hardly any branches so the kids can’t go jamming it full of ugly crap. And there is no hassle with storage. Toss it out and get a new one next year.

I’ve never owned a fruit bowl before, but I could be convinced by one of these…

The Menu Dropp! bowl is an innovative take on a classic design. This bowl is designed to either hold food for the dining table, hold fruit or simply just for decoration.

The strong design element makes this an ideal piece for any home, and is based around a splash of paint that has been frozen in time.

The bowl has a shiny inside and a matt outside, and is available in an array of exciting colours

AU$92 from top3 by design.

There are only two things to know about this:

1. IT’S A WONDER WOMAN KITCHENAID!
2. It’s from Brasil, so we won’t be able to get it in Australia.

On the weekend the entire That’s Noice team made our much anticipated trip out to the new Ikea in Tempe.

We love the smell of flat pack on a sunny Sunday morning :)

Tempe Ikea is the largest Ikea store in the southern hemisphere and created about 550 construction jobs and 600 ongoing jobs.

They were very well organised for the opening weekend with parking attendants and police galore. We called this parking attendant “Sven”.

The store is 37,000 square metres (about 20 footy fields) and will have 2,000 parking spots.

The main path of the store is be 2.5km long (protip: wear comfy shoes)

A lot at the Tempe store is similar to the Rhodes store, but some things are new, like this nify sewing display

We were disappointed by the lack of phone service on the ground floor, but we’re told that there’s free wifi in store – something we’ll look out for next time.

This is “Sven”, the mime. He was entertaining kids (and kids alike) near the restaurant.

No trip to Ikea is complete without making fun of the fake toilet.

You know you want to go check out the new Ikea. It’s well worth it!

IKEA Tempe
634-726 Princes Highway
TEMPE NSW 2044
Phone: 02 8020 6641

Opening Hours
Monday – Friday: 10am – 9pm
Saturday and Sunday: 9am – 7pm

Restaurant

Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 8.30pm
Saturday and Sunday: 8.30am – 6.30pm

If you drive like me, your car looks like this:

Then you’ll love these:

Got a boo-boo on your car and can’t afford to fix it?

I have the PERFECT solution for you… put a BANDAID on it! These are MAGNETIC bandaids that will stick perfectly to your car and cover that annoying little dent or scratch…

It’s a great gift for someone who’s accident prone!

From US$10 by TheTwistedGypsy on Etsy.

Ladies, prepare to lust after men of the cloth. These calendars are from outside the Vatican walls in Rome (unsurprisingly, these calendars are not appreciated by the Pope).

One handsome Priest for each month of the year – yes please! Truth be told, I’ve actually got the 2011 calendar hanging above my desk at home, and I’m looking forward to swapping it out for the 2012 version.

(Click the pic for a better view of Father June, my personal favourite!)

Source: some very thoughtful travelling friends!