Doing It In Style

How to make paint dipped pine cones - tutorial

2014-06-29T15:05:00.001+01:00

Today I'm going to teach you how to make your own paint dipped pine cones!

This is a really simple craft that even the kids can get involved in. If you have all the bits already like I did then it's also a free craft!

What you need:
Pine cones (obviously!) I picked up mine for free from the local park.
Emulsion paint - a 1.25 litre can that is more than half full will do.
Broom handles or bamboo canes.
Craft wire - fine gauge.
Large piece of cardboard to catch drips.
2 Chairs to balance your wood across.
Scissors or wire cutters
Optional wooden skewer

1) Set up your workspace

It's a good idea to do this outside - especially if you live in a rented property with cream carpets like I do!
Balance your brooms across the chairs. This is going to be your hanging point to dry the pine cones.
If you have a wooden skewer, use it to stir your paint. The skewer is also handy for pushing your cones into the paint.

2) Prepare the pine cones

Using lengths of the wire (approx 20cm) wrap them around the pine cones between the 'leaves.'
You could also use small screw hooks into the end of the pine cone and attach the wire through the screw - this would be handy if you wanted to make a garland out of your cones. Another way is to make a small hole in one of the 'leaves' using a drawing pin and then you can thread the wire through the hole.

In hindsight, I would buy the screw hooks and use that method as it's quite tricky to untie the wire without taking off some of the thicker paint that hides in the grooves. You live and learn!

3) Start dipping!

Now for the fun part....... submerge your pine cone into the paint until it is fully coated. I used the skewer to push it under. Hold it above the paint can for a minute or two so that the excess paint can drip off before tying the top of your wire around the broom sticks.

4) Leave to dry

It's quite sunny today so mine have dried pretty quickly. I'm going to leave them for an hour or two just to make sure though! (Top tip: when you think they are dry, leave them for yet another hour! The paint is really thick underneath...)

5) Marvel at your creation!

I used some really bright, orange paint as my lounge is really bland. This is a great way to introduce colour to a rented house without losing your deposit!

There are so many variations you can do for this project:

White cones for Christmas and then painted with glitter varnish
Ombre effect cones or two tone dipped cones
Pastel cones for an ice cream effect
Acid brights and neon cones for a trendy house
Shades of grey for a monochrome scheme
Make a garland in different colours to go over the fireplace

Some more inspiration from around the net:

Pastel, dipped and bright pine cones

Pine cone garlands and ombre pinecones

I hope you enjoyed reading about this as much as I enjoyed making them!

P.s Thanks to various people on the net for the pictures above. Sorry that I'm too short of time to credit you!

Welcome to the Baby Olympics!

2014-04-19T09:04:00.000+01:00

If babies were athletes.......

Event one: the hiccup marathon

Points are scored for each time your baby gets hiccups in one day and extra points are awarded for the duration your baby can go before getting really really frustrated.

Not to be confused with:

Event two: the sneezing 100 metres

Points are obtained in a similar way to the "hiccup marathon" - previous winners have been known to sneeze more than ten times in a 24 hour period!

Event three: fill a nappy

Your baby could be a star Olympian if they can: 1) get wee on you when their nappy is being changed 2) get poopy on the wall during a nappy change or 3) soil and stain the inside of their clothing prior to the nappy change.

Extra marks for traumatising your parent by wriggling poopy everywhere and spreading it up your little, chubby legs.

Event four: throwing your toys out the pram

This event isn't about having a meltdown in public, it's all about losing things when mummy isn't looking. Socks can be wiggled off for beginner babies whilst the more advanced can unhook a favourite toy from the pram and drop it soundlessly without either parent or passers by noticing.

Event five: the sleepathon

Not all events in the Baby Olympics involve being naughty! To win the sleepathon a baby must sleep a minimum of eight hours overnight with several naps taken during the day. Extra points for sleeping through your feed time and for not stirring when mummy drops a pan in the kitchen (and swears loudly.)

Event six: the smile, giggle and wriggle

A pro athlete can instantly cheer up a stressed mummy or daddy by pretending to appreciate the fake animal noises, grinning in a insanely cute way after throwing up or performing their "special trick" on cue for bored relatives.

It's worth starting the training early with your baby to avoid a mummy meltdown on long days.

Special parent events:

Parents can also compete against their other halves by complaining about who has had the least sleep, who changed the dirtiest nappy, who the baby loves more and who picked out the cutest outfit for the baby to poo in.

Parents can also compete against other parents in the "Smug Olympics" by boasting about long sleep times and super powers such as having an "early starter baby" (one who can sit/stand/crawl before day ten.)

Could your baby win the Baby Olympics? What would be their "star event?"

Coping with anxiety - my story

2014-03-07T14:06:00.001+00:00

I've read some really brave, insightful posts by other bloggers recently - bloggers that I admire and bloggers who (whom?) I thought had everything going for them. Turns out a lot of them suffer with depression and/or anxiety.
This is something I can relate to first hand, and they say you should write about what you know!

I first realised that I was suffering with depression when I was referred to a counsellor at university. I had actually been suffering since the age of 14 but I didn't realise that my feelings weren't normal. I felt sad a lot of the time. I would cry in the toilets on nights out and I used self harm as a way of coping.

At university I lost a lot of weight and would weigh myself every day. I slept a lot. I ended up quitting my course. My parents got divorced which hit me hard.

Counselling helped me a lot, as did some medication and a good support network of friends. I gained some confidence and started to like myself. I realised how much I had missed out on by being depressed and scared.

I'm pleased to say that I have not self harmed for many years now and I can mostly realise when I'm feeling down. I am strong enough to ask for help when I need it and I can see the good things in life and appreciate them.

From time to time I now suffer with anxiety rather than depression, and also I get stressed very easily. Pregnancy and a having a new baby have been a shock to my controlled life and I found it very hard to cope for the first few weeks. Luckily, I asked for help and went to my GP and started taking my medication for anxiety again.

Yesterday, I went to my babies' hospital appointment all by myself and didn't have a meltdown! We even went for a cup of tea and I fed him whilst drinking my tea with one hand! I feel that I can cope. At least for now. And that's a big deal for me.

Life and recovery after a cesarean birth!

2014-02-02T11:53:00.000+00:00

Well, it's all change in my household! Joshua Sebastian Woodling was born on the 20th January 2014 at 9.24am by c-section.

The operation itself was actually quite relaxing and I was surprised how calm I felt during the whole process. Unfortunately, after a c-section you literally can't move for a few days which is super frustrating. You have to rely on other people to take care of your baby and make sure you rest for plenty of days. Not easy with a newborn!

The first two weeks have been challenging. He's been a really good baby but I've struggled with the recovery and then my husband caught a cold, then I caught the cold and now to top it all off we've been told that we have to move out of our rented house before the 31st of March!!!

Terrible timing so there have been a lot of tears. We have come to the difficult decision that we will need to re-home our two cats - there aren't many properties that will let you have pets and one of our cats is very unpredictable around Joshua.

So, times are changing for us. I've got to go bath him now so I'll leave you with a few pictures.

Our first photo together - my little penguin!

All his clothes are too big as he is so little!

It may look like Grandma is strangling him but actually he was very content!

How to design a perfect nursery!!

2014-01-17T13:27:00.002+00:00

Hello. I know I've been gone a while but I'm in the last few days of my pregnancy and I'm pretty uncomfortable. I thought you might like one last post so I can share my favourite room in the house - the baby's nursery!

First of all, I had to pick a colour scheme.

My choices were dictated by the green carpet that was already in the room so I kinda had to work around that! That meant that blue was out of the question so I took inspiration from one of the Mamas and Papas ranges and went for spring green, yellow, red and orange.

The cot mobile was one of the first things we bought (as it was in the sale!!) and then we found the cot bedding (also in the sale ) that seemed to match. I won't put in links to every item as, well, everything was in the sale and probably is no longer available! What can I say? I love a bargain!

Then I upcycled furniture I already had.

We had a pine storage chest which is now being used as a toy box (and happens to be the right height to double up as a changing table) and a pine chest of drawers which I painted to match the colour scheme!

I bought some cheap tester pots in the right colours and had some white paint left over from doing the walls.Then I simply painted each drawer in a different colour. The wall stickers were a bargain buy from Kiddicare in one of their many sales and will give the baby something to look at whilst I change him!

Wall stickers and free printable wall art really brightened up the room and are a good option if you rent a home like we do. Luckily, my landlord is super nice and doesn't have an issue with us decorating so 2 of the walls in the room are "pedal pusher" yellow!

We got the cot from Ikea and managed to get £10 off by timing it right and having an 'Ikea family card.' The mattress was from a website called Precious Little Ones who often have good prices on bedding and will give 5% off if you sign up for their emails.

Calming lighting is a must in a nursery as you don't want to turn on super bright lights in the middle of the night! The yellow, cloud pendant was from Ikea.

(The floating shelf in the background was another good buy from Ikea.)

I'm a big fan of anything retro so the other light in the room is an orange globe that I bought years ago when our local Habitat closed down. It sits on 2 vintage G Plan tables that I got for free from outside our local charity shop!

I wanted his room to be cosy so he has a big pile of blankets at the ready - some of which have been handmade by me, my mum and my friend.Handmade is just better!

I got his moses basket from Ebay - it's originally from Mothercare. He has 2 sleeping bags with beautiful, embroidered designs from Sainsburys - only £12 each which is a lot cheaper than the branded Grobags ones. A top tip is to wait for Sainsburys to do one of their '20% off' TU clothing weeks. Bargain!

The final purchase was a pair of blackout curtains which I bought online from Woolworths. I then bought some pom pom trim (about 4 metres) from Hobby Craft which I used as tie backs! It's all in the details.....

And finally, we bought some funky toys in matching colours.

The rattles were bought in the Kiddicare sale, Ewan the sheep is a best selling, musical and light up toy, and the dinosaur and teddy bear were hand crocheted by me! They were definitely a labour of love, I can tell you!

Well, I hope you like it! As I said, it's my favourite room in the house and I can't wait for my little baby to come out so he can give his seal of approval!

If you want any links to anything you see (from furniture to printable art to crochet patterns) then just leave me a comment and I'll do my best to reply.

Wish me luck!!!

The "Doing It In Style" baby and wedding!

2013-11-14T18:06:00.001+00:00

Hi! So I know I said I wouldn't be gone long......and then 2 months went past. My bad.

But I'm back now and I'll let you know what's been going on in the easiest way - photos!

"Bump" has been growing steadily. He's 29 and a half weeks old today and he moves a lot! I'm starting to get quite uncomfortable and I've still got ten weeks to go. I'm due to finish work on the 31st of December so I can start the new year focusing on the little one.

We went for a 4d private scan at 28 weeks which was AMAZING! He is so cute :)
He had his arms and legs in front of his face and wouldn't move even after a walk around so we get to go again next week for a free re-scan. It's my birthday next week so I have some time off. I can't wait to see him again! We have picked out names for him but we're keeping it all hush hush....

Oh, and I also got married! My wedding day was absolutely perfect and we had a great honeymoon in Corfu. This is one of my favourite pictures of the two of us:

Our photographer Kimberley Garrod was simply amazing. We love her.

Being married feels good. I wouldn't say anything much has changed except that I feel even more lucky to have found someone to spend my life with.

We can't wait to see our little son......watch this space and I may even come back at some point! (But this time, I'm not promising anything!)

Pregnancy week 20 - it's a boy!

2013-09-11T19:38:00.000+01:00

It's been a busy but exciting week this week.... ! We had our 20 week scan and found out that we will be having a boy. I immediately said "I told you so!" to my fiancé - I just had an instinct.

Also, next Wednesday, I will be getting married and then hopefully going on a honeymoon so planning has hit the crucial, stressful stage. What am I saying? The whole planning thing has been stressful! Pregnancy and wedding planning should NOT be mixed.

The problem has been not having many days off to go before the big day and suddenly finding that I don't have work trousers that fit and that I need some new bras. Cue crying in the Marks and Spencers fitting room because I can't get a fitting appointment!!

We went out straight from the scan and bought a few boy specific items..... he now has quite a good sized wardrobe to wear! (The items from Gap I didn't buy...they turned up at the flat I lived in 6 years ago and went unclaimed so they will finally get some use!)

My bump has grown quite considerably this week. I invested in some black skinnies from New Look, some tights and a top from the H and M Mama range and some pj's from Primark with bunnies on which are frankly awesome.
Here's what I've been wearing:

Dressing for the dropping temperatures.

Trying to find clothes for work.

Summer clothing for the honeymoon.

So as it's all go for the next few weeks, you might not hear from me until I get back.

Enjoy autumn whilst I soak up the sun!!!

Pregnancy week 17 and a half!

2013-08-23T21:51:00.002+01:00

Wow, I am such a slack blogger!
Well, you try being pregnant and planning a wedding and working full time and then see if you have time to blog!

My time has mostly been spent constructing fiddly favour boxes, varnishing favour keyrings, checking that everyone has rsvp'd and generally just panicking that my wedding is now only 28 days away!! (which also means that my honeymoon will hopefully be soon after...)

I've also been hanging out at Marks and Spencers. Does that sound random? I really like it there! At the moment, they seem to have sales all the time and the service is really good. They make me feel all warm and valued! I took the opportunity to pick up some gorgeous baby clothes in the sale...

Marks and Spencers sale - jackets £5 each, bibs £3 for a pack of 3.

As I don't find out the sex of the baby until the 9th of September, I made sure to ask about the returns policy so I could buy both colours!! The jackets are reversible too - so cute!

Last Sunday, we went to our local church to hear our Banns being read (something you do before getting married in church.) This dress still just about fits...!

My bump is almost big enough to use as a table now!

Starbucks caramel macchiato iced coffee - currently on offer at Sainsburys.

You can probably call this an addiction now. I need to have one iced coffee a day. I would drink it all day if I could find a decaf version!

Well, that's week 17.....what have you been up to recently?

Pregnancy week 15 - hello bump!

2013-08-11T20:13:00.000+01:00

Well, there wasn't a week 14 because I felt horrible. I thought I would feel ill forever but this week I've been feeling pretty good (touch wood!)

I got loads of wedding stuff done this week....we went bridesmaid dress shopping today and tomorrow I have my make up trial and my dress fitting. Not entirely sure how the dress fitting will go! I might need to panic buy a loose fitting dress in the Monsoon sale!!!!

Here's the 15 week bump:

It depends on what I'm wearing as to how pregnant I look. A PR guy today offered me a sample of the new Parrot Frozen Cocktails, not realising I was preggers! (I did try it - it was amazing.)

I have become addicted to iced coffee over the past 2 weeks. I don't care where it comes from...so far I have tried Costa, Starbucks (from Sainsburys), Marks and Spencers café and Mac. Donalds. I would recommend the Mac Donalds one strangely enough!

A Marks and Spencers Mochafrappe.

In other news, I have been covering myself in anti stretch mark cream and panicking about lack of summer clothing for my honeymoon in a months time! Autumn/ winter clothing in the shops already? Help!

Dream nursery interiors

2013-08-01T20:20:00.001+01:00

Evening! I've been off sick today....pregnancy does not agree with me.

I know I'm supposed to be enjoying it but ugh....I just feel ill all the time! Sick, headachy, tired....and no one will give me any sympathy. "Just wait 'til it gets worse" they say. Thanks for that.

Anyway, the only thing I have been enjoying is planning how to turn the second bedroom into a nursery. I have an awkward, green carpet to work with, so I was thinking greys and yellows and greens as a theme. Mamas and Papas do a range called Timbuktales which pretty much sums up what I want!

I made a little collage to give you an idea of the products I'm lusting after:

And here is the room it all needs to fit in:

It's bigger than it looks! This is only half of it really.

The walls are all white but I'm planning to paper that wall behind the bed and maybe get new curtains.

What do you think? Will it work?!

Pregnancy - week 13: The one where I hate on maternity clothes!

2013-07-29T20:12:00.000+01:00

Hiya! So I know I said I would blog more.....but I was just sooo tired last week and I wasn't feeling great. I had a nice, relaxing time at my mum's house in north Wales - here are a few snapshots to show you what I got up to:

That should be Betws-y-Coed...ooops. A beautiful town on the mountains :)

Trout for lunch at the pub and a beautiful house and church.

I can just about still get into some of my clothes and I crocheted my first baby bootie!

My bump is starting to get a little bit bigger so I went to the hassle of looking for some maternity clothes. That proved to be a depressing experience! After trying some ill fitting jeans in New Look and several shapeless dresses, I decided to put the effort in to order some Topshop jeans to the local Topshop store.

Topshop doesn't seem to carry maternity clothing in any of its' regular stores but if you pay an extra £2, you can get your online order delivered to the nearest store (where you can return it too!)
I ordered the Leigh skinny maternity jeans and a blue t-shirt dress (which was hideous) and found the jeans to be super comfy and a good length (you can get a 30inch leg...)

They are expensive at £38 (plus the £2 to order) but I'm planning to wear them all the time. The New Look skinny jeans I tried were rough and baggy on the legs - and generally annoying.

The selection of maternity clothing in high street shops is truly awful and as I'm not a fan of online shopping, the situation is a little desperate!

Anyone got any tips??

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius...

2013-07-18T19:35:00.002+01:00

Hi there! So there is a bit more of a reason as to why I've been so quiet recently.....

I've been busy growing a baby. I didn't want to say anything until I knew there was actually a baby in there this time around.

I've been feeling pretty tired so most evenings after work have been spent napping on the sofa, and this sudden heat wave has not helped at all! I'm out of the horrible nausea stage (felt like that would never end...) so now I'm just suffering with back ache and indigestion.

My clothes are getting quite tight so I've picked up a couple of cheap maxi dresses from Primark so far. In another couple of weeks I will have to invest in some maternity jeans etc but I'm putting it off until I'm a bit bigger. Maternity clothing is pretty horrible!!

I'll try and blog a bit more from now on as I've got plenty to talk about....although I will be heading to my mum's in north Wales on Monday for a much needed holiday!

Speak to you soon x

Instagram catch up

2013-07-12T17:50:00.003+01:00

So, you haven't seen much of me recently......so here's a quick catch up via the wonderful world of Instagram. Lazy, I know. Deal with it.

I picked up my wedding ring the other day - only 68 days until I'm a married woman!

I had my first bbq of the year - and ate lots of perfectly toasted marshmallows.

We had to buy and make a bbq first though! This one is currently £20 from Sainsburys.

I fell in love with this display in John Lewis. Orla Kiely is my idol.

We reached the "free whole chicken" level on our Nandos loyalty card. Nom.

Summer means salads. I made this one all by myself.

Wedding supplies are starting to arrive. The stars are for favours version 4 and the bags are for our candy buffet.

What have you been up to? Enjoying the sun? Suuunnnn......

Snapshot Brighton

2013-06-22T20:36:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday, we went to Brighton. We were blessed with some gorgeous weather (which makes a change) and had a particularly lovely day.

I put on my heart shaped sunnies:

And we jumped on the train! When we got to Brighton, we were slightly shocked by the overflowing dustbins along the streets - seems like the binmen (refuse collectors?) had gone on strike! Little bit off putting - especially on a hot day.....

But we didn't let that deter us. We made straight for Nando's and had an awesome lunch - and got our ninth stamp on our loyalty card! (That means next time we go we get a free whole chicken!)

Nando's corn is to die for....

Then we hit the shops (but didn't buy anything.) Well, actually I ended up buying my wedding ring as I found one I absolutely loved! We went for a walk along the pier, played the 10p machines and gawked at how expensive the fun fair rides are at the end of the pier!

You can see this ride in the first photo, at the end of the pier. How high?!!

After all the fun and games, we went to a cute looking café called Cream where I had a pretty good cream tea. The scone was a little bit dry and crumbly but the clotted cream and homemade jam made up for it :)

It took a bit longer to get home on the train - by then I was pretty exhausted. All in all, a great day by the seaside!

Lazy days, lazy blogger

2013-06-04T17:57:00.000+01:00

Hiya. I've been a bit M.I.A recently.....I just haven't felt the need to blog and I won't apologise. I've also been enjoying the rare rare sunshine. Who could ask for more?

A few days have been spent walking around the local country park. Eating ice cream, drinking tea and generally enjoying being outdoors for a change. It's been heaven for me.

I'll be marrying this dude in 106 days...

None of my clothes are current but they're not quite vintage yet either!

I've also been making myself a new blanket (for the colder days!) out of some super soft snowflake wool.

It's about 3 times this size already.....

And finally, I managed to get some of Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Me Up ice cream on half price (Sainsburys.) I can confirm that it is divine.

I may be back in a few days....I may not! I'll only be back if I'm feeling inspired. Love you!

Make your own typography quote wall art

2013-05-21T20:40:00.001+01:00

It's no secret that I'm on a tight budget these days - weddings don't come cheap you know!
I've been wanting to do this tutorial for a little while now but I couldn't justify the new photo frames needed. Luckily though, I found some old frames that I hadn't put up yet so I set to work making myself some new art!

I would say this was moderately easy to do.....I made it all in Microsoft Word.

Firstly, I downloaded a whole load of different fonts from a free, online website. Just google "free fonts" to find some and then you just download them, save them to a folder, open the folder and click the save font box. Easy! (If that doesn't make sense, the websites usually tell you how to do it....)

I then went on Pinterest for some quote inspiration. When I was feeling suitably inspired, I opened up Word and inserted a text box (insert tab at the top, choose a simple text box and drag it to the shape you require.)
I found this to be the easiest way to write each word and adjust the size. This way, you can place words at different heights and angles.

When you are happy with the design, print it out! Mine are A4.

DIY quote art for simpletons.

I like the first one better than the second one, but by then my fiancé was rushing me about making the dinner (I offered) so I didn't get the proportions quite right!

I'm planning to make a load more, of different sizes and then I'll create a little feature wall of them in my hallway.

What do you think?!

Craft fail: Bicarbonate of soda and cornflour dough ornaments

2013-05-19T18:07:00.004+01:00

Bicarbonate of soda and cornflour dough ornaments:

You can blame Pinterest for this one again! I was going to make salt dough ornaments as my wedding favours but then I read a few blogs which lead me to trying this purer, whiter dough instead. Big mistake.

You can find recipes for bicarbonate of soda dough all over the internet. Here are the dry ingredients:

It took me 3 tubs of the bicarbonate to make up 2 cups (it's all in American measurements!) and about half a pack of the cornflour.

Measure out the dry ingredients and bung them in a saucepan.

Add the water and stir it all up. There are little, black bits in my mixture which are the coating of my "non-stick" saucepan. Luckily, they didn't really show in the final dough but I should probably have taken this as a warning to give up!

Heat it on a medium heat until it starts to thicken. Keep heating until it starts to come together as a dough.

Leave it cool (takes quite a while) before tipping it out and making a ball. Knead it until it's smooth.

At this stage, it looks gorgeous! This might work! It could be fantastic! No. It's all lies.

I rolled it out and cut out some shapes.....it was too soft to hold a shape. So I threw a strop and put the ball of dough in the fridge for a couple of hours.

This helped a bit and I re-rolled the dough and re-cut out the shapes and laid them out on a baking tray to dry.

A few days later, they started to crack. You can dry them out in the oven on a low heat but I would think this would make the cracking even worse!

Ok, so they are lovely and white in colour, but the texture is crap. Cracked and quite brittle.
Most of these went in the bin and I still have a large ball of dough in the fridge. What a waste of five quid and my time!

I then went back to the shops and spent more money on some Das air dry clay, which I know works because I used it to make my Xmas ornaments.

Don't even bother trying this craft as it is a waste of money!!!

Unless..... you can send me some pictures of how it's worked for you....and tell me where I went wrong!

How to make a crochet baby shower blanket

2013-05-12T20:19:00.002+01:00

On Saturday, I went to my best friends' baby shower! It was so much fun. We played games and ate lots of yummy vegan food, and she got lots of amazing gifts (like a baby grow that said "I'm glad to be out of there, I was running out of womb!)

I decided to make my gift for her after seeing a post on Pinterest for a crochet baby blanket. Here's the original link for a triple yarn baby blanket.

You use three strands of yarn (no wool for my vegan buddy!) for each stitch so it grows quite quickly and feels nice and chunky. I took a trip to Hobbycraft and bought some purple yarns in the sale. This turned out to be a bad idea as one ran out half way through and I couldn't get another ball! This blanket takes maybe 6 big balls of yarn?

Make your starting chain about 35" / 90cm long so you have a nice wide blanket. I also used a 10mm crochet hook which is quite big.

The easiest way to learn how to crochet the single stitch is to watch a Youtube video. I know this because I spent AGES learning to crochet via a book ("Stitch and Bitch Crochet" by The Happy Hooker) and it was really tough. Crochet is easier to learn if you can see someone doing it!

I wish I had made mine a little bit wider but it didn't really matter. Then you just keep stitching until it grows to the length you want!

I did some of the crochet on my lunch hour at work!

Close up of the single crochet stitch.

At some point, you might need to weave in a new ball of yarn - I just tied a knot between the two pieces but this isn't a very aesthetically pleasing way of doing things! Youtube has some good videos of how to weave in the new colour or strand.

Half way through, I needed to weave in a different colour as I ran out of the thick, purple yarn - so I found a contrasting colour. The yarn was of a lighter weight though, so it did make the tension different. I had to do a border around the edge to make it stay square.....bit of a fail but it worked in the end!

Mixing in the new colour

The finished blanket!

I also bought a cute hat with ears, and a fluffy lion! The blanket did take hours to make but I was really pleased with it and it's inspired me to try and make some crochet cubes as a baby toy.

Can you crochet? Aren't handmade gifts just better?!

Steal her style - how to dress like the Made In Chelsea stars

2013-05-11T21:20:00.002+01:00

I have a guilty pleasure - Made In Chelsea! For those of you who don't reside in the U.K, it's a reality tv show based in Chelsea, London.

The girls of MIC are super rich and super glamorous! They are always dressed in the latest styles so I thought I would give you some style tips you can try for yourselves.

1) Buy a hat
These girls really know how to rock a hat. Floppy hats, riding caps, bowler hats.....you name it, they've tried it.

Trilby, floppy, bowler...try them all!

Buy them from Topshop Asos and River Island

2) Invest in country casuals

Get your country goods from Joules Hunter Wellies and Barbour

3) Get furry in faux fur

Binky, Cheska, Caggie, Jamie and Millie rock the furs.

Try www.faux.uk.com and Asos

So, are you going to revamp your wardrobe Made In Chelsea style? I'm certainly going to be on the look out for a floppy, felt hat a la Millie Macintosh!

Everybody loves a kitten!

2013-05-10T21:48:00.002+01:00

It's no secret that I love cats....if I could have a whole house full of them, I would. I don't know why we don't have those Japanese "cat cafes" where you can go buy a cuppa and stroke a cat at the same time. That would be heaven, wouldn't it?!

Unfortunately, I already have two and I don't think it's fair to them if I brought any more home. Thomas is very playful and photogenic where as Lily is a little bit more "controlled." She has perfected the disdainful look....

Thomas is just over a year old now - here's a visual of how he's grown:

A curled up cat is a cute sight!

I barely need to ask, but is anyone else obsessed with cats?! How many do you have?

My life - instagrammed!

2013-05-06T18:50:00.001+01:00

Well hello sunshine!! Nice to see you at last.

I've had a gorgeous bank holiday weekend.....I've seen family and friends and even have a little bit of a tan. I'll let my snapshots tell the story:

This is my favourite picture from the weekend. That's my half sister on the left and my Nanna on the right - both enjoying their ice creams!

I enjoyed one too....

My other half pulled a grumpy face but don't be fooled! He had a good day too.

This lot escaped from the zoo!

We went to Portsmouth on Sunday where there were a lot of different events taking place. We took a walk along the seafront and the kids played at the fun fair.

Then, today, I met up with friends in town and sat in the park and mostly just enjoyed the sun! You never know how long it's going to last in this country!

I've got a busy week coming up - 4 days at work (including a late night to talk to some Scouts,) Chessington World of Adventures on Friday and my besties' baby shower on Saturday. I'll endeavour to blog but I'm not promising anything!

The joy of geometrics

2013-04-22T11:34:00.000+01:00

My love affair with grey and yellow is still ongoing but I have a new crush - geometrics! I'm not sure where this trend originated from - I think it's a follow on from the chevron trend?

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, let me show you visually:

1) Fruit bowl £12 2) Ombre duvet cover £15 in double size
3) Bath mat £10 4) Towels from £4 All from Matalan

It basically involves geometric shapes (triangles, pentagons etc) usually in pastel colours being displayed on home accessories and wallpapers. And it looks gorgeous.

Obviously, you don't want pattern on every surface so pick a few key items - like a geometric rug and cushions - to stand out and keep everything else subtle but colour coordinated.

Keep it simple for maximum impact

I scoured the high street for you (what a tough task!) to find the best places for geometrics:

1) Matalan are calling it "Pastel Pop." This is geometric on a budget. You could redecorate a whole room for £50 with their collections!

2) John Lewis are calling it "Pioneer." This is the designer option..... There are some cheaper options (like this geometric picnic mug for just £2.50) but the majority of items are a bit more costly. Cushions are around £35 and the matching furniture will set you back by a few hundred pounds.

3) For wallpapers check out Graham and Brown for quality patterns, or if you're on a budget try B and Q for a range of retro styles.

4) Have you seen the Mini Moderns Buddha of Suburbia range? Lush. I'd like it all please.

The backgammon range from Mini Moderns

This is one trend I need in my life! I'll be incorporating a few bits and pieces

into my spare bedroom - will you?

Kindle surprise!

2013-04-20T20:23:00.003+01:00

After much thought and deliberation (I'm not one to buy on a whim!) I decided to get myself a Kindle from Ebay. I managed to get the keyboard model for £50 with over 900 books on it!

I love to read and I had been using the Kindle app on my phone but I did find it annoying to have the glare of the sun on the screen in the summer.....Today, the sun came out for the first time in a decade and I took my new Kindle outside and felt very happy.

Kindle Keyboard with free case!

A retro armchair in the sun? Yes yes yes!

It's amazing how much better a little sunshine can make me feel. My retro upcycled armchair followed me into the garden and even my zombie skin got a little colour! That's how I spent my afternoon....

I kept my outfit casual and cool. First time this year for a white top!

In other news, I've been getting out my biggest crochet hook (having been inspired by Pinterest) to make a blanket for my preggers friend. She's a vegan so I made a special effort to find yarn without wool in it. Easier said than done....

Crochet hook size 10mm

This blanket should be quite quick to make as it uses only the single stitch and 3 pieces of yarn as one thread - so it grows really quickly! I've been happily crocheting away whilst watching tv in the evenings.

Single stitch crochet

It's currently a bit bigger than this but I think I've got a while to go yet! Luckily, I've got the next 2 days off - if I don't get distracted by sun worshipping that is....

P.S I know that I've only been posting once a week recently....if the sun continues to shine then I'll have more to post. Pinky promise!

Top tips for saving money, budgeting and finding a bargain!

2013-04-08T11:28:00.002+01:00

They say that you should write about what you know, well I know A LOT about saving money!

Everytime I watch Superscrimpers (a UK tv programme) I end up shouting at the screen! The tips are really obvious to me. The people on the programme are idiots. It's really not hard to live within your means and there is no excuse for over spending on your income. Here are my top tips for staying in the black:

1) Buy your clothes out of season
Some of my best bargains (limited edition Hunter festival wellies for £15!) have been bought at the "wrong" time of the year. I buy wool coats in summer and tea dresses in winter. Shops need to get rid of these items to sell the more seasonal options, so they are going to reduce them heavily to entice you in.

Is your piggy bank feeling the strain?

2) Shop around and put some effort in
I don't find all these bargains without a little elbow grease! It really helped when I worked in a shopping centre because I could visit some of my favourite shops daily to check prices. Now, I have a little charity shop next to my work place and I can look out for items they have discarded around the back of the premises. I love to upcycle!
You do have to put in the hours in order to find bargains. Sign up to your favourite shops' email newsletters and chances are that they'll frequently let you know about sales and discount codes. Which brings me on to:

3) Discount code websites
We use these a lot. Especially if we go out for a meal. You can find discounted prices, get a free starter etc or find free delivery for your clothing orders. My favourites are Vouchercodes and Fashionbeans

Dollar signs might not be helpful
if you live in the UK!

4) Look for the signs
That's a bit cryptic isn't it?! What I mean by this - look out for clothing that has been grouped together on rails or merchandised sideways - chances are that the shop is ready to go into sale mode. Topshop and other Arcadia Group stores will write the sale price in pencil on their labels the day beofre the sale starts. If the item is going to be £15, they will write 0015 on the label.

5) Pick a day. any day
Certain restaurants will do special deals depending on what day it is. For example, Slug and Lettuce do half price food on a Monday and Wetherspoons have a discounted curry night on a Wednesday.
Also, bank holidays and Easter are a great time to go shopping. Most shops will do an extra discount on their stock to entice you out of the house!

6) Designer outlets
Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth is quite near to my house and also has some lovey restaurants so we can make a day of it. Sometimes, the stock is not great but every so often you can get a great deal. Paperchase is particularly good for discounted greetings cards and photo albums.

Is that enough for now? I have soooo many more tips to share with you but I don't want to overwhelm you! Bonus points if you've read even half of what's above and haven't just skim read the titles!
Let me know if there is a specific area you want help with.....

:)

Life got in the way!

2013-04-05T18:16:00.001+01:00

Wanna know what I've been up to recently? Alongside ordering our wedding invites and picking a wedding photographer ( the lovely Kimberley Garrod ) these are the things I have been doing:

Vintage mirror - charity shop

I bought this beautiful, vintage mirror from my local charity shop for just £10! It has a little chain to hang it up with but at the moment I don't have a drill :( so it's just resting on my table.

We finally got a new toaster after my cat peed in the first one and the second one blew up! It was only £8.99 down from £30 in Sainsbury's. Bargain queen.

Lemon drizzle cake - nom nom.

I made a lemon drizzle cake using a Nigella recipe and took it to work. It didn't last more than a few hours and was easy and delicious! Definitely a keeper.

Lindt chocolate bunny

My mum asked me which Easter egg I would like this year - I decided on a Lindt bunny. The chocolate is really thick and creamy and super yummy. Poor little bunny didn't last long....

Lulah - my tortoiseshell cat

Lulah came to stay with us whilst my ex went home for a few days. Thomas went to stay with my future in laws so it was just Lulah and Lily in our house. Lulah has lovely, soft fur and is very cuddly so we enjoyed her little visit :)

Apart from that, I have been baffled by yesterdays' snow flurries (I mistakenly thought we were in spring) and continuing the arduous task of wedding planning. I realise that I haven't yet shown you my new living room decoration so I'll do that as soon as the sun comes back. So, never then!