• creating a craft space for kids
    homestyle - interiors - upcycling - vintage

    Vintage sewing table makeover

    September 7, 2015 - By 

    I had no idea what to call this post. Over the Bank Holiday weekend I finally had some time to update a vintage wooden sewing table I bought earlier this year. I found it in a charity shop, complete with dodgy 1970’s orange nylon quilted lining. I ripped out the cushioned lining and it’s been waiting for attention ever since. Vintage sewing table makeover I’ve been updating my daughter’s bedroom. She said she no longer wanted her dolls so we’ve cleared out all the beautiful dolls beds I’ve picked up and re-painted, her dolls, dolls clothes and feeding chairs, baths…

  • DIY Miffy stool
    crafts - Handmade gifts - homestyle - interiors - upcycling - vintage

    DIY Miffy stool

    September 3, 2015 - By 

    A while ago I bought a cute vintage wooden 3 legged stool. I painted it with some Annie Sloan paint, didn’t like it and packed it away on the loft. My 3 year old is starting a new nursery later this month so we’re trying to make a fuss of her and give her bedroom an inexpensive makeover. DIY Miffy stool Guess what I made my un-loved vintage 3 legged stool into? A fantastically cool Miffy stool and my daughter loves it. At 3 years old her bedroom is rocking the pink look so I have made a subtle stool in…

  • homestyle - interiors

    A room of my own

    August 13, 2015 - By 

    Today my daughter finished at her lovely nursery.  She has a couple of weeks off before she starts at her new preschool. In September she will be spending afternoons at her new preschool. She’s really excited about this, especially the uniform and book bag for some reason. I’m also looking forward to it. She needs a new challenge and so do I. My challenge is probably not so fun as hers – de-cluttering the house and starting to think about going back to work. Our house is in need of some attention, much like my CV. Although blogging is a…

  • homestyle - interiors - sewing

    Simple sewing machine cover

    June 11, 2015 - By 

    I’ve had my Janone sewing machine for a couple of years now. I prefer to hand sew but often use my machine to finish off larger projects, especially my quilts. My sewing machine had a rather nasty plastic dust cover and I wanted to make something prettier to keep it clean. A couple of weeks ago I read about a fun competition where you could choose a piece of fabric and make anything you liked and I thought this was a great opportunity to make myself a new sewing machine cover. There were four fabrics from Hillary’s Roman blinds and…

  • fillable wooden letter - the gingerbread house
    homestyle - interiors - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Fillable wooden letter sea glass decoration

    June 9, 2015 - By 

    Every year we rent a gorgeous cottage on the beach in Devon. It’s the most amazing place and we would live there in a flash if we could. The children love to pick up sea glass and bits of pottery which has been washed onto the beach and we always bring back a pocketful to remind us of our holiday. We’ve already had our week by the sea and wanted to do something with our beach treasure. When I was in Hobbycraft I spotted the perfect receptacle – fillable wooden letters! How to clean sea glass First you need to…

  • homestyle - interiors - sewing

    Monday happy things

    June 1, 2015 - By 

    Time to write my favourite post of the week again. This weeks’ Monday happies is easy as we’ve just had a wonderful half term. I love family time and a break from the normal routine was just what everyone needed. We had fun den building in the sunshine at home. I had time to try out new EPP techniques thanks to a sweet craft kit that came with Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine. I’ve been planning my own stencils for a spot of home decorating. I recently painted a scrubbed pine chest of drawers with some Annie Sloan paint but…

  • homestyle - interiors - vintage

    On my mantle – April

    April 30, 2015 - By 

    My mantle has a bit of a mono theme going on this month which means I’m bang on trend for once! I was actually quite relieved to take down our Easter decorations this year and return to some normality (if that’s possible with a 3 and 5 year old). The clutter that comes with family life quite often brings me down and I seem to be forever battling to keep our living space functional but comfortable. Fortunately we had some friends over one weekend so I had a major tidy and the house isn’t too bad. I’ve had my usual…

  • homestyle - interiors

    Creating a reading corner for children

    March 29, 2015 - By 

    I have always loved to read so it’s no surprise that I wanted my children to love reading too. They’ve been members of the local library since they were weeks old and we regularly attend Storytime sessions and read before bed. I wanted to create a book corner for my children in each of their bedrooms. They both have quite different taste in books and I wanted to make sure they had easy access to their books but also be able to keep them tidy too 🙂 For the past few years we’ve used a fantastic cardboard box from bigbooklittlebookcardboardbox.…

  • glass pendant
    homestyle - interiors

    Liberty floral pendant decoration

    March 28, 2015 - By 

    I have a bit of a crush on Liberty fabric. I have a few pieces and slip them into quilts and little makes whenever I can. I own a few off cuts which were two small to use in any projects but I found a great use for them. Liberty floral pendant decoration Have you seen these gorgeous kiko glass pendants from Nkuku? I treated myself to a set of 6 last year but haven’t really done anything with them until now. They measure a couple of inches and are the perfect size to hold a scrap of Liberty print…