• homestyle - interiors - vintage

    On my mantle – April

    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…

  • days out - sewing - swaps - vintage

    Monday happy things

    Yesterday we spent the day at Wendover Forest with some friends. We had fun exploring the new Superworm Trail, enjoyed den building and our first picnic of the year (outside of the car!). I love the new print of Alexandra Palace by Georgina Westley I received for my birthday. We used to live near Ally Pally and I could see it every day. I’ve been making some Scrabble tile art for my dish washer – Clean/Dirty Scrabble dishwasher magnets – a tutorial will follow soon. I was sent an ActiviTea portable tea flask to review and it came with us…

  • Handmade gifts - upcycling - vintage

    How to make Scrabble tile key rings

    I was tidying up today and was a little shocked how many Scrabble sets I have. As much as I love the game I also love to craft with the letter tiles so have bought a few sets recently to upcycle. Today I’m going to share how I make Scrabble tile key rings. These are the perfect size to pop in a cracker, or send in the post as a little gift. Equipment needed to make Scrabble tile key rings: Selection of vintage Scrabble tiles Dremel Needle file Mobile phone straps with a lobster clasp How to make Scrabble tile…

  • days out - sewing - vintage

    Monday happy things

    We had the busiest weekend in a long time so my Monday happies are just going to be photos from our week: Bacon sarnies cooked in the back of the vintage Camper Van we rented for the weekend. Art Deco lovely-ness in deepest South London Signs of Spring at Bekonscot Model Village Re-visiting a discarded project Lusting over retro typography at Brooklands Museum

  • homestyle - interiors - vintage

    On my mantle – February

    February has been a busy month and my mantle has changed several times to reflect Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year and my husband’s 40th birthday. So what’s on my mantle this month? The one constant has been a bunch of daffodils. I’ve really enjoyed watching them bloom. Can you see my beautiful vintage tea cup and saucer? I spotted it when out charity shopping with my mum and had to have it. I love vintage china and this was produced to celebrate the Treaty of Versailles on 28th June 1919. The motif features a map of the world and the…

  • book review - film review - vintage

    Monday happy things

    I’m so late with my weekly Monday happy things post. With half term in sunny Devon and my husband’s 40th birthday today we’ve been really busy, but in a good way. – I finished The Miniaturist (which I loved) and have just started reading The Secrets Sisters Keep! by Sinead Moriarty which is looking promising. – I came home to my sweet new acrylic prints which I had ordered from Truprint as a Mother’s Day gift to myself. I chose two of my favourite photographs of the children and turned them into acrylic prints which, at 6×4″, fit perfectly on my…

  • book review - film review - vintage

    Monday happy things

    It’s half term and I’m enjoying lovely family time therefore I am keeping my Monday Happy Things post short and sweet. – The view from our window is rather spectacular as we are lucky enough to be spending some time by the seaside. – We watched The Theory of Everything, the film based on the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Wilde Hawking, Stephen Hawking’s first wife. We’ve watched a lot of films recently and this is one of my favourites. Physics, Cambridge, Eddie Redmayne – what’s not to love. – I’ve been Charity Shop shopping…

  • baking - Uncategorized - upcycling - vintage

    Monday happy things

    Monday again, where did the weekend go? – I’ve been having a huge de-clutter and tidy which is ongoing and never ending. During the week I finished tidying our bedroom. You can finally see the floor and it feels like a lovely place to fall asleep – the Tempur mattress probably helps 🙂 Over the weekend I managed to read 4 years’ worth of Mollie Makes magazine. I took out any projects I want to make and have stored all the free cover gifts in a box – I think I’ve only ever made one! This has given me a…

  • homestyle - vintage

    On my mantle – January

    It has taken me a while to sort our living room out after the festive period. Would you believe I’m still finding Christmas decorations and have a big box of things to go back up in the loft this weekend? This week we finally watched the Advent candles burn down too. We had lit them a couple of times during December but they still had a good few hours left in them. This week I also took down the children’s New Year decorations, I just needed to reclaim a little space for me. If you saw the rest of the…