• birthday - Christmas - gingerbread - gingerbread house - upcycling

    Monday happy things

    I can’t believe it’s the last day of November already which means it’s time for my weekly Monday Happy Things post, 5 things which have made me happy this week. My beautiful daughter turned 4 on Saturday. She received a great mix of presents including Sylvanian Families, Peppa Pig, Dora and Doc McStuffins. She was given some birthday money and she enjoyed spending it, choosing her own clothes and more toys, Tsum Tsum seem to be her new favourites. I’d love to say we made her cake, but we didn’t. I received my second Happy Paper Club subscription box. I…

  • Christmas - sewing - upcycling

    Monday Happy Things

    Happy Monday everyone, hope you had a great weekend. Yesterday I went clothes shopping with my 3 year old which is always an adventure. She has a huge appetite for trying on clothes. All we needed was a new winter coat but it ended up taking hours. She tried on every one we saw and we went back and bought the first one we tried! I see lots more shopping fun in the future! I got the boxes of Christmas decorations out of the loft so I could sort through them and make an early start on my Christmas crafting.…

  • homestyle - interiors - upcycling - vintage

    Vintage sewing table makeover

    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…

  • crafts - Handmade gifts - homestyle - interiors - upcycling - vintage

    DIY Miffy stool

    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…

  • swaps - upcycling

    Monday happy things

    Happy Bank Holiday Monday everyone. My son goes back to school this week so we have been making the most of the holidays. My Monday happy things this week are: Tomorrow we are taking part in a fun Bob the Builder Twitter frenzy from 6.30am until 7.45am. Bob the Builder has been given his biggest re-vamp in the show’s history with a modern look and feel and the new CGI-animated series is launching on Channel 5’s Milkshake from tomorrow (1st September 2015) at 7.20am. Follow the #Bobthebuilderon5 to join in the fun and for your chance to win some fab…

  • Crafts for adults - Handmade gifts - Recycled crafts - upcycling - vintage

    14 ways to upcycle a Monopoly game

    Growing up I loved to play board games with my family. My favourite was Monopoly and I’ve picked up a couple of vintage  sets on recent charity shopping trips. Did you know that the game is named after the economic concept of monopoly—the domination of a market by a single entity? Yep, it’s not just a fun board game, it actually reinforces the idea that wealth creation is a good thing. You may not believe in the ideas behind Monopoly but I’m hoping my children will enjoy playing it one day. I think it’s a useful way to learn about…

  • Kids crafts - tutorial - upcycling

    Making Miffy mail!

    The school holidays have given us lot of lovely time to craft and experiment. We’ve gone through lots of supplies and organised our craft supplies several times in a bid to keep tidy (not easy with two children who love to craft!). Yesterday we finally got the chance to try some products we were sent from Faber Castell – the Faber-Castell Connector Paint Box and the Clic & Go Water Pot. Making Miffy mail! We’ve never experimented with watercolour paint before but I came up with a fun activity to keep my children busy. We made our own Miffy mail…

  • book review - upcycling - What I'm reading

    How to make a plate clock

    As I mentioned the other day I was invited to a fun workshop to celebrate the launch of Furniture Hacks by Hesta Van Overbeek at West Elm, the furniture and accessories store on Tottenham Court Road. How to make a plate clock We sat down at a long table and were able to pick a plate from West Elm for the clock face, our choice of hands as well as a clock mechanism and battery. Then came the fun part. I painted my clock hands orange using nail varnish and marked the centre of my plate with a small dot…

  • Crafts for adults - garden crafts - tutorial - upcycling

    Hand stamped plant markers

    I have a small addiction to San Pellegrino sparkling fruit drinks, especially in the Summer months. The only problem with this is our recycling bin is full of empty cans. I’ve been looking for ways to recycle them and made some hand stamped plant markers for the garden. I don’t have the greenest fingers but this is a great craft for the garden which anyone can do. Time to make: 30 minutes You will need: Empty drinks can Dremmel Tin snips Metal alphabet stamps Centre punch Hammer How to make hand stamped plant markers: I used a Dremmel to cut…