Top of the Props….and my first GIVEAWAY!

Hey Houston, we have a PROPLEM…

…For when it comes to the acquisition of props…..I am shameless.

As the Bible says ‘Confess your sins, one before another, that you might find forgiveness and healing’ and so brothers and sisters, I stand before you today, baring my soul and saying….I have a serious addiction.

Do you?

Now if I had to describe my philosophy (if you can call it that) to acquiring things to take pretty pictures, it is essentially BEG. BORROW (COLLECT). STEAL. BUY

And since the ‘Beg’ front is the one with the highest potential for embarrassment, I’ll start with that.

I BEG for props.

See this cookie tin? Before I arrived, it was destined for a bin at Copenhagen airport. Thanks to me, it was rescued from that horrible fate and now lives at ours…. Doesn’t it look good in pink?

Well, I thought so, right from the start. Hmmm, the lid however was long discarded by the shop……further convincing that it was truly meant for me (especially since they were going to throw it away…anyway).

The acquisition – I walked into the shop, saw the tin and loved it. However, I didn’t want to buy a whole tin of cookies cause I would have had to eat them and so spotting an almost empty one, I explained to the lady my purpose in life – all things food, gave her a card and took it, lidless.

And see those bottles? Well I also have one of them :

Requested rather nicely from the gentleman who was going to throw away the empty ones.

These cute serving plates, I collected, rather voraciously (as did others mind you).

I shouldn’t have bothered for by the following morning, after a wash the nice silver layer had stripped off, leaving rather ugly, patchy petit four dishes.

This one on the other hand, bearing a delicious quail’s leg (which I did consume) still resides in my kitchen cupboard. Granted, it hasn’t been used….yet but it will come in handy soon!

Or this box – also from Copenhagen, filled with Clementines at my friend’s. She’s also a foodie so she quite understood – one of my very few shame-free begging ventures.

Finally on this front are these leaf plates. The minute I spotted them at a function, I KNEW I had to have them, but common sense pulled me away.

*Spoiler – I did get them in the end* – find out how!

Anyhow, feeling desperate and speaking to a friend on the phone at the same time, I told her about my irrational desire for the plates and we both agreed it was quite silly. But I couldn’t sit still and so I went again towards the object of my affections (at that time at least) and on the way, encountered a lady. The minute I saw her I broke out into the largest smile I’d had in a longgggggggggg time, for in her hand, she stood bearing a stack of the exact same plates I was after. Of course, I stopped her for a short interview, which went ‘Why do you have those plates?’ and the response was ‘I like them!’

Talk about ♪♫ to my ears! (I am really into emoticons…♥)

After sharing my proplem with her, I headed with renewed confidence to acquire mine…and that I did – the gracious hosts bid me take what I wanted! Needless to say my shawl came in handy, shielding and protecting my newly acquired props from the glaring eyes of the public. Destination – my handbag! Oh…along with some wooden forks too.

The plates are quite special……

They are:

• Single-use disposable plates
• Biodegradable
• Compostable
• 100% chemical free
• Light weight
• Strong enough to withstand forks and knives
• Can be used to serve hot food and soup.
• Can be used in an oven up to 200 degrees C. for 3 mins
• Can be used to store food in a refrigerator
• Liquid food like Soups and ketchup can be served

I absolutely ♥ them….watch me use them….soon!

On the BORROW side, well, I have Daughter #1 to thank for her Monkey, which provided a gracious prop for some delicious Banana bread.

As do I have A to thanks, for granting me use of her beautiful wallpaper – which I stripped off the walls in my new weekend role as ‘building helper’. I guess this could very well go in the buy category since I didn’t get paid for stripping the walls but humour me, ok?

I also ‘collected’ some marble slabs from a quarry in Germany…a few months ago!

And the last category of ‘BUY’…is the one fast becoming a major issue and not because of the money involved ( I am a CAREFUL shopper – so much so that I miss out on some sale goods, due to my constant thinking/planning before buying philosophy!) but because of space!

These days, I give serious consideration to what my husband’s reactions are likely to be as well, before I purchase something. Take this mini glasses for instance, Arroz con Leche looked mighty good in them…and they hardly take any space, stacked!

I also highly prize my collection of curios, picked up at all manners of sales and shops.

And there you have it, the word is OUT. You all know my secrets……but I know, I’m SOOOOOOOOOO not alone.

And since sharing is one of my favourite things to do, I’d like to share this with you. As in….give this away! And EVERYONE, regardless of where you live is allowed to participate!

And no, it’s not empty.

Inside you will find all manners of ‘gifts’, which would be great in the kitchen…and also in photos. Your choice to use them as you will….. They’are all NEW.

In the box, you’ll find:

• 2 mini-woks, which I love to use as servers
• 2 silver candle bowls,….which I will use as bowls for olives or nuts….especially for a Middle Eastern meal
• Some disposable leaf plates
• Some cutlery – wooden, transparent
• White egg spoons
• Pieces of Fabric
• Some coloured paper
• Beaded coasters
• And of course, the lovely box they all come in.

So here, you have your props….

….And some chops (word for ‘food’ in Nigeria), including Tonka  Beans, Aleppo pepper (used in Middle Eastern delights like Muhammara), Some Dutch mints, which I like, and anything else I can think off before I mail the box off!

That’s my first giveaway, which begins today and is open to everyone, everywhere.

Note that country restrictions may prevent me from sending some items.

e.g If the winner lives in Australia, I won’t be able to include the ‘tree’ products. I’ve watched enough episodes of the ‘Airport’ to know better! And I would think twice about sending the Tonka beans to the States too but everything else should be fine……

The Rules

Leave 1 comment: tell me something about props – a story, a tip, a joke, anything.

For 2 comments: Tweet about it…and encourage others to do so please and leave another comment to let me know you’ve done this, that will count as a second entry.

A winner will be selected, using the Random Number Generator at Random.org and will be announced on Sunday evening.

SPREAD THE WORD, PLEASE!!!!!!

[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Top of the Props….and my first GIVEAWAY! – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]