Sweet Charity

Hello pretties.

I hope I find you well this December eve. November has been madness for me..from beginning to end. I have spent all of two full days at home this month and spent the rest of the time either working, at weddings, working, visiting people and more working. Phew. I need some quiet weekends to get my self ready for Christmas.

One thing I also spent my November doing was raising money for charity (no, not by growing a moustache). At work I have been taking part in a project called Micro Tyco where as a team you are given £1 to turn into a profit for charity. Well, me and my team had no end of fun coming up with innovative ways to make money and I won't bore you with the details. Except for this..

We decided to make some Christmas decorations to sell and I had such fun making them I had to share. To make these baubles I used:

10 polystyrene balls

Bauble hooks

Fabric scraps cut into small pieces

Tissue cut into pieces

Sheet music

Ribbon for hanging

Glitter varnish spray to seal and add sparkle

Simply cover sections of the bauble in glue and layer with a fabric or other material of your choice.

It's fun but quite fiddly. I got covered in glue, covered in glitter varnish and frustrated but for a minimal amount of effort the results were quite something. What do you think?

I set them up in their own display box in the hopes that people at work would buy them..

And here they are all set up at work ready for some customers. Have you ever tried making Christmas baubles? 

Besides raising money for charity I have had plenty of  other things to smile about this month. 

~1. Quality time with my niece ~ 2. Silly faces ~ 3. I went home to Wales
and met my mum's new dog ~ 4. I went to a wedding ~ 5. I enjoyed a welsh frosty morning~
6. I hung my decorations and I couldn't be happier.

With love,

Lexie

The wonders of 'Washi tape'

Washi tape is no new thing. It is known and loved by many craft bloggers. I stumbled upon Washi tape when I picked up some Cath Kidston tape in their winter sale last year and another pack with different patterns a few months later. Sadly, Cath Kidston no longer sell the tape (you can find some of it on Ebay/Amazon or in outlet stores though)

But since then, Washi tape and the many equivalents are appearing everywhere. Much to my delight. I have blogged about my previous Washi tape projects here and here  and the other day I popped a little photo on Instagram of my most recent Washi tape project.

The welly boot picture is a handmade greeting card that I picked
up in Norfolk. It was always destined to be framed.

It's just an old white frame covered in floral tape. Nothing too special. But people were quite taken with it. What struck me the most was that people hadn't considered using the tape in this way before. This simply cannot be. So, I thought I would share some of the potential uses of this wonderful tape invention and hopefully give you some new ideas.

The great thing about patterned tape is that it is translucent and so when it sticks to a surface you can't see the tape and instead you are left with a painted pattern effect that is quite striking.

Bring new life to cheap old frames

You can pick up old frames by the dozen at any charity shop but why just paint them when you can give them a whole new look with a pretty pattern. Press the tape on tightly so it gets into the grooves of the frame and it will look natural and lovely.

Add detailing to furniture

Chairs, door frames, cabinet edges or shelf edges. Think about it. Anything with a flat narrow edge has  potential for some patterned tape detailing. I used tape to decorate the edging of my craft cabinet shelf and I was instantly struck by the painted flower effect. It looked like I had painstakingly painted every rose petal onto the shelf. Similarly, the spice rack was painted and then every edge carefully covered with tape that had been delicately trimmed to fit and it looks lovely. I keep meaning to sell it but haven't got round to it yet.

Brighten up woodwork

Plain wood is screaming out for decoration like this. I transformed this simple ikea frame with a layered tape effect to show two lovely patterns. The wooden crate was the first item that I decorated with tape. It was one of those "I'll just try this" moments and I loved the effect...it was the idea that spawned an obsession I think.  I love the blue spotty tape but sadly is isn't available anymore. You can get a different set with a floral print and a green polka dot tape though on Ebay and Amazon.

So there you go, have a look around and see what might benefit from this simple trick. Patterned tape is available all over the place these days. I've seen it in Paperchase and Waterstones to name a few place but you can get an extensive range online. It's fiddly work but by far the easiest way to transform something with quick and effective results that I just adore. I hope you do too.

Happy taping.

Lexie


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Coming up roses..

Happy Saturday my dears,

Has it been a scorcher where you are?

The universe was smiling down on me today. I sulked this morning because I had a serious craving for a boot sale..yes I crave them! Can't explain it. But I had booked a hair cut this morning and I had to go, I'm terrible at convincing myself to go because I hate going so having already booked it I really couldn't flake. Well would you believe it, when I walked out of the salon onto Chiswick high street with my OK but not perfect hair cut I spotted a boot sale on the green opposite the high street. Madness. It was completely one off, never been there before but there it was today, waiting for me. I found some treasures too, most of which have been added to my Etsy shop. Some of them stayed with me though of course.

Anyway, I am not here today to tell you about my latest finds. I am here today to finally share something creative that I have been doing.

It may have come to your attention that I am somewhat obsessed with rose prints, specifically vintage rose prints. I live and die for them, honestly I do. I have to fight against myself very hard to not cover my entire house in them. So I came up with a little compromise...rose decals. I found a supplier of rose decals/transfers and have filled my world with different patterns and prints. They are just perfect for putting a little extra something onto your plain glassware, furniture, plastic..whatever. I especially enjoy using them to beautify plain jars and glasses.

Do you want a peek?

With just a damp sponge and some heat these beautiful vintage style roses will stick to anything. It reminds me of the temporary tattoos we used to wear as children, except much prettier! Today I gave this £3 glass jug from a supermarket a bit of personality with a pretty floral bouquet. I saw one similar in an antique centre with six glasses but it was selling for £20. My jug is just a lovely now and much better on the old bank balance..

And here's those beautiful roses up close..

Now I just have to fight the urge to use rose transfers on everything! Seriously, if you put anything down in my house, chances are it'll end up looking rosey..

Have you discovered rose decals? How do you use them? Are you as obsessed with vintage rose prints as I am..shall we start a support group?

If you haven't paid a visit to my vintage emporium yet, do please stop by. I have filled it the brim with mismatched china and vintage wonderfuls.

With love,

Lexie


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A jar full of love..

Oh hello, how are you?

It's been a while, sorry about that readers. I have no excuse really, life just got in the way and somewhere along the line I went from Olympic cynic to Olympic addict and I seem to spend all my time glued to the tv. It's all good fun isn't it.

So what's new? you ask.

Well firstly, I have to tell you about the goodies that I received in the post. I recently took part in my first official group craft swap and I was paired with the lovely Faye from Cartwheels and bubbles (who incidently is the sweetest person).

I was very very excited to send and receive the jars and let me tell you, the wait was well worth it. Faye put such care and effort into her jar that opening it was a real treat. She recently wrote the sweetest post about the jar I made for her so please have a look if you want to see what I sent..

My cookie jar full of treats and lovely card.

Lovely detailing on the jar lid.

One of my favourite items, three little spools of tape.

Pretty magnets, pretty ribbons

A selection of lovely trinkets.

There was much more in my jar for me to fuss over, I loved everything but these were my favourites of the bunch. As if this lot wasn't enough, there was also an extra something that Faye included. While emailing each other, I was very happy to find out that Faye currently lives in Cheltenham. I lived in Cheltenham for five wonderful years, probably the best five years of my life so far. I told Faye this and that I used to work in Cheltenham Library..and this is what I found in my jar parcel..

A book from the Cheltenham Library sale shelves. Strangely. the labels are supposed to be taken off the books when they are withdrawn for sale but somehow this one escaped. The best thing about this thoughtful gift was that the book had only been stamped between the dates I was at the library so I probably stamped it, most likely shelved it a few times. It was a really thoughtful gift that touched me more than Faye probably expected it would because I can link it back to such a special time in my life. So I did very well out of this swap and I enjoyed it immensely. Funnily enough myself an Faye had had similar ideas and put similar things in our jars, most notably a single cookie cutter and some lip balm. The 'Jar of Love' swap was kindly arranged by Katie at booty-full things. Thank you Faye, thank you Katie.

In between swapping jars and cheering very loudly for team GB (aren't we doing wonderfully well? I have never been so excited about sport) I also took a little trip to Bicester Village the day after pay day. I went there specifically to visit the Cath K outlet but found this treasure of a shop which was far more exciting..

The Emma Bridgewater outlet is something special indeed. Bright and full of colour and wonder. There are treats wherever you look and some wonderful prices. Make sure you visit the shop if you're ever heading that way. It surpassed the Cath K shop by far..even though there were lovely Cath K dresses in the outlet and I was very tempted to buy them all. But I brought some EB Melamine instead.

And despite being busy this week I still had time for some boot-sale fun. Despite getting caught in a monster rain storm that sent most of the sellers packing. I stuck to it and managed to get a good look round and I picked up a whole lot more china. I even got the pleasure of rummaging through a trunk of old china that no one else had seen and found some beautiful rose bud china..my absolute favourite.

A trip to my local charity shop lead me to this lovely cheese dome and glass jar. I plan to pair the cheese dome lid with my glass cake stand and the jar is now holding my cupcake cases because my old jar just wasn't cutting it!

Phew. That's about it for me, it feels good to have caught you all up. Now tell me, what's new with you?

With love,

Lexie

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The day of restlessness

Oh Sunday, why do you bother me so?

I get restless on Sundays. It's that back to school feeling that was ingrained at an early age and has stuck with me through my adult working years. It seems that today, even the promise of my pending holiday cannot subdue the restlessness and I have found myself needing to do something productive and relaxing. It's not unusual, most of my blog posts are born of this restlessness.

Today, the best distraction I could think of was to finally tidy up my craft shelves. For the last few months, any new crafty purchases have just been dumped in any old fashion on my shelves and being a bit of tidy freak who appreciates organisation, it has bothered me every time I see it. (I am but a simple soul really, with simple problems).

I decided to tackle the not too unpleasant task of sorting out my ever growing fabric collection and to maybe take some pictures as I went..because why not?

I know most of you lovely ladies have a fabric stash that far surpasses mine but my little stash is growing and I love all of the prints I have gathered, let's hope it doesn't grow too much more though because my storage will not be growing with it..

These are my fabric samples. You can get fabric samples from some curtain websites and they offer free postage too. I thought these would be perfect for small projects. I picked the sweetest, floral prints!

Everybody needs Some Cath K fabric. This is very thick canvas material, they are large off-cuts from the material used to make the bags. I love the bird print.

After admiring these fabrics (I had forgotten I had them). I started sorting my stash..and this is what I have ended up with..

Cute candy cane stripes from John Lewis.

Beautiful blue floral prints

Delightfully dotty.

Pretty patchwork print.

My most favourite, rose prints in pink tones. I especially love the yellow one with
faint rose print.

And then we have the miscellaneous pile. The slightly odd prints that
I'm not quite sure what to do with. Case in point: Pig print...pig print project ideas anyone?
These fabrics were all part of my Mollie Makes subscription gift, the rest were much more me!

It kept me entertained for a little while and if nothing else I have given you the chance to stare at some nice fabrics, do you enjoy it as much as me??

I also decided today to open up my made-over chest. I put great effort into fixing this old beaten chest and having it closed has always seemed like a waste but it's in the lounge so it seemed a bit odd to have it open. Well, oddness be damned it's open and proud! If nothing else, it's lovely to look at and my cat Austen will probably make himself a nest in there very soon and then it will *have* to stay open. What Austen wants, Austen gets!

Until next time petals, I'm off to ponder piggy fabric project ideas...(or maybe not).

With love,
Lexie
x

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Artful intentions

Hello ladies,

I hope I find you well on this breezy weekend. What's new petals? I am officially on holiday countdown! And as I am only counting working days, I am left with only 9 days!...NINE DAYS! Readers, I am unbelievably excited to spend two weeks in Cornwall..one of my most favourite parts of the world!

Holiday countdowns aside I was struck by creativity this afternoon so I finally tackled a small project that I have been thinking about for a while. It's funny how even the simplest of projects get put off longer than they should!

So, to the project in question. Have any of my fellow 'Mollie Makes' readers noticed the lovely fashion editorials in the last 3 or 4 issues? Go back and take a peek if you have not. It wasn't always the way, but lately the fashion spreads have been quite something. Ethereal, romantic and soft with lovely, romantic quotes against serene backdrops. Very very girly. When I saw some of the images in the last two spreads I immediately thought "I need to frame those"..and so I finally did.

I love these images, even surrounded by the dull brown of the photo frames.

I'm a real sucker for a good quote and these two caught my attention, and the script is beautiful too.

One thing was clear though, the frames just weren't living up to the soft pastel beauty of the images. So it was a case of floral patterned tape to the rescue!

And here they are now. The two floral prints are different enough to give each frame an individual touch but similar enough to make them look like they should be a pair.

I just love a rose print, don't you?

So what do you think lovely ladies? If you hadn't noticed these pictures before then maybe you will now. They really look quite special in frames. Now that I have a years subscription to Mollie Makes I may well end up with a wall of these images! My housemate might have something to say about that!

Have a splendid weekend won't you?

With love,

Lexie

x

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A bank holiday Ta-Dah

So on to part 2 of my busy bank holiday weekend.

How could I let a bank holiday pass by without doing some sort of DIY project!

I was given a nest of tables by my dear old dad a few weeks ago. They were so not me! But I knew I could do something wonderful with them so I agreed to take them and give them a home. Truthfully, I desperately needed some side tables so I was quite happy to make this set of three work for me.

When it came to deciding what to do with the tables, well I didn't even look! I had already decided to find a way of covering the dreary tile tops and just happened to read a blog post at CherryHeart where she posted about some tables she had made over with oil cloth! Well there was my answer! And not only that, but during my trip back to Cheltenham two weeks later my friend L showed me a table that she had also made over with oil cloth using some 'no more nails' adhesive. It was all coming together.

I chose some beautiful oil cloth that would match both the cream paint I would be using and the reds in my lounge and today I got on with it.

Earlier today they looked a little like this..horribly brown and severely lacking in character...

And these were my supplies: Annie Sloan Cream paint, 'No more nails' adhesive and some good quality oil cloth. I went for a taupe colour with pink roses.

I covered the tops first by blotching the adhesive all over and then pressing the table onto the oil cloth. I then glued the edges down. Once the oil cloth was on I then painted the tables. It was all very very messy and I started to run out of patience after the first table!

Nevertheless, I am very happy with the finished products..

Do you like? I certainly do!!

Until next time lovely readers, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

With love,

Lexie

x

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Wonderful Birthday Giveaway

Happy Birthday to me...Happy Birthday to me!

You know that awful moment when you realise you have completely forgotten a birthday? Well, I did that yesterday...to myself! Last week my little blog turned 1 year old and I totally missed it. Bad blogger! I had been waiting for the anniversary for quite some time and planning a giveaway to celebrate and then completely forgot.

Never mind, because I remembered yesterday and here I am today with a lovely giveaway for you all. I know how you love a giveaway.

When I started this little blog a year ago, it was just a silly little venture to keep me writing, crafting and taking photographs. I don't feel like I have changed much in the space of a year but my little blog is still going  strongand I haven't lost interest and that is a big thing for me. It may not be the most interesting of blogs and my followers are few but you are all appreciated very much. I thought that I would just end up  blogging to nobody so the fact that someone somewhere is reading, truly means the world to me.

So without further ado, I have some lovely treats befitting of my lovely followers...

Anyone interested in these little pieces of wonderful?

This really is one of the sweetest little tea cups I have ever seen, the pattern is quite Cath Kidston and just adorable. This little cup and saucer can be yours if you're lucky enough.

This darling little Belle & Boo needle case was given away with an issue of Mollie Makes. I have too many needle cases so I have assembled this cute little case and I am giving it away.

This flower broach was made using the tutorial from my previous post and the keyring is made using Cath Kidston paper.

And lastly a pretty photo frame covered in Cath Kidston patterned tape.

And here they are all together again.

So, if you would like to be a part of my giveaway then the usual rules apply:

♥  Make sure you are following my blog. If you aren't then click the little 'Join this site' button on the left   hand column.

♥  Leave me a comment on this post

♥  For an extra entry share this giveaway on your own blog, twitter or facebook and leave me another comment to tell me you have done so (and include a link if appropriate)

The giveaway will close on May 21st and the winner will be announced shortly after that, so get entering my dears and tell your friends.

All my love,

Lexie 

x

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Adorned in flowers: Flower broach tutorial

Hi, hello and good afternoon.

I am feeling much more awake today. I have tidied my garden, pruned my monstrously huge clematis and rose bushes (both of which seem to have grown about 4 feet in all this rain) and done a good deal of relaxing in my pyjamas, as one should on a cold bank holiday weekend.

I have saved some time in between gardening and laying about like a lazy vegetable to post a tutorial that I have been using to make some lovely flower broaches..and trust me, they really are lovely and super easy to make as well! I don't often share tutorials, because I don't often use them but this one is a favourite of mine.

So let's start at the end with the finished product. These are three broaches that I made to sell at my boot sale.

The premise is really simple, you start with 10 identical circles of fabric...a small amount of sewing, a button, a smaller felt circle, a broach pin and a smudge of glue later and you are left with these little treasures.

The tutorial comes courtesy of Little Livingstone who has many other wonderful tutorials to share as well, but this particular one caught my eye while perusing Pinterest one day and it has become a 'go-to' make for birthdays and indeed boot sales!! 

To see how they should look and how easy they are, have a little look at the very well written tutorial here and make yourself and your loved ones a broach for every day, every mood and every outfit!

Happy making!

Lexie x x x



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A beginners guide to bootsaleing

Happy Saturday petals and a happy 3 day weekend to you as well.

At this moment in time I am pretty tired. I have seen every minute of every hour since 5am this morning which is not something I can usually say.

Today was boot sale day, which as I mentioned previously, I have been busily preparing for! Before packing up the car last night with all my prettiest props, my second hand tat and my hand made pretties, I was in two minds about whether or not to bother. After a lot of debating, do we, don't we, will we, won't we? I decided to wait and see what the weather was like this morning.

Well at 5am this morning there was not a drop of rain in the sky so off I went with my bestie in tow (who by the way, is an absolute star for helping me).

Now, I had only been to this boot sale once before and in all honesty I had forgotten what it was like. I just remembered that it was hard standing and had lots of antique stalls. Well, this may have been a big error because the sale did not go according to plan, sadly.

We were squeezed into a small area of the grounds due to limited space, and from the very second we started setting up (at 6.30) we were surrounded by forceful dealers, trying to get a look into the car and asking for jewellry and mobile phones. As I spread my polka dot table cloth over my table and told another dealer "no" for the thousandth time I did wonder how they could possibly think I would be selling mobile phones with the sheer amount of polka dots and flowers in the car.

Nevertheless, we got everything set up and it looked really very nice actually. What do you think?

However, it didn't take long to realise that we were a bit out of  place surrounded by jumble and junk thrown over wall paper tables. Boy did I feel like a lemon with all my bunting and tea cups!

Time passed and the real pro boot salers came around first, as the bitter cold began to sink into our bones I struggled to pick up the change between my numb fingers for the few people that were buying my dresses and old clothes. My beautiful trunk, with it's lovely makeover, was full of 50p clothing and was doing a splendid job of attracting lots of people, many of which tried to buy the trunk itself from me (definitely not for sale). But even though I had to fight to stop people from trying to buy my cake stand (it was display only) it soon became apparent that I wasn't going to have a very successful boot sale. By about 8am I was giving up, despite my friend reminding me that most people weren't even out of bed yet.

More time passed and I did manage to sell more bits, not as much of my hand made stuff as I would have liked but a lot of my second hand tat that I didn't want to take back home with me. But....then came the rain! Now we were cold and getting wet! We persevered, and it is good that we did because there were a large amount of panic buys from people desperate to get bargain clothes before we started packing up but depressingly, nobody wanted my vintage china, or my bunting or my broaches or hanging hearts. I was really quite disheartened by this but it was at this point, as I stood clutching two umbrellas over my stock, my whole body trembling from the cold, that I realised my error. I was in a concrete landscape, surrounded by steel buildings and trucks..much more shabby than chic and therefore the wrong environment by a long shot. I dawned on me that this kind of boot sale, quite stark and rough around the edges, was completely the wrong place to be selling this kind of stock. People want bargains at bootsales, not crafty lovely bits, or vintage china trios.

I was hoping to get a visit from a few more china loving, Cath K fans but alas, there were but a few..where were you all huh? I was visited by various lovely ladies, but most were being tugged along by their other halves and despite fawning over my pretty china they were briskly reminded that they had too many teacups/too much bunting etc etc...this made me both disappointed and also a little bit glad that I am single!

In all honesty, it wasn't a complete bust, my clothes made me lots of money and I came home with much less than I left with. And, if I had a pound for every time someone stopped to tell me how pretty my stall was then I would have had a very full money box. I may not have been rich in profit, but I was definitely rich in complements and that was just lovely. Hearing people from all walks of life tell me that my trunk looked lovely, that I had made it over superbly and that I had "the prettiest stall in the whole boot sale" was just wonderful because I had put a lot of thought into the whole thing even if it was a bit wasted in the end, so next time I am going to look for a more appropriate setting and put my stall dressing skills to good use again.

After packing everything away we went for a quick stroll around the damp remains of the sale and I managed to bag myself a bargainous tea set at just £3, from the most wonderful antique seller, he was a real sweetheart and he admitted that he has a problem pricing things properly (his wife gets very angry at him). I told him I thought his pricing skills were excellent!!. He definitely made my day.

The set also consists of 4 other cups and saucers.

So that's my boot sale tale. Definitely not a guide to be followed! Although, I don't have too many regrets about it.

Austen approves of the latest tea set addition.

In other news, me and my camera are getting on very well. Our rendezvous has been fleeting so far but I am already in love with it...most ardently! Ours will be a deep and lasting love, I just know it! And it definitely won't tell me I can't have more china! Win!

Enough about me, how are you?

Lots of love,

Lexie x x x


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I think they call it a Ta-Dah..

A short while ago I set myself a little project after being inspired by some lovely lovely pictures. Today was the day that I decided to get on with it. I was supposed to be visiting my beloveds in my lovely former home town of Cheltenham. My poor housemate got a case of the lurgies and is too poorly to drive us down. So, I decided to be productive instead and get cracking on beautifying my old chest.

I am a rather impatient person and I was fully aware when starting this project that I would get bored and impatient about half way through. Well, it turns out that I couldn't even last five minutes before the complaining set in. It seems that wallpaper is in fact,  the most hideous beast to work with when you're not pasting it on walls or using it in small quantities! Hideous! I got angry, I took it out on the wallpaper, the wallpaper didn't care. But thankfully I didn't give up. Damned if I was going to have a half finished chest even if I did have glue all over my hands and floorboards, paint in my hair and all down my arm.

A couple of hours later and I'm done. The only thing that kept me sane was the decision to paint some of the trickier fiddlier areas of the chest instead of papering them...

A few short hours ago the chest looked liked this on the inside..

Look at it all ugly, brown and grubby. I stripped as much of the old paper as I possibly could (tedious, tedious task)

It no longer looks like this! After fighting with some very pretty wallpaper for what felt like an eternity it now looks like this..

I am actually really really very pleased with my handywork! Don't get me wrong, if you look close enough you'll spot the imperfections...there are a few! But I am more proud that I followed it through and that it looks as lovely as I hoped. I think the white of the paper goes well with the clotted cream colour of the Annie Sloan paint and this little chest will definitely be coming to my bootsale with me in a couple of weeks...as a prop of course and definitely not to be sold.


What do you think? All I need now is an excuse to keep it open all.the.time!

If you're thinking of making over a similar piece, I used 3 metres of wallpaper with some watered down PVA glue and I got some beautiful lace crochet/lace trim for the lid edging. I peeled as much paper as I could and then vacuumed every inch to avoid getting gluey dusty, dirt everywhere.


Now I'm off to make some mini bunting, some not so mini bunting and other such beautiful things to sell at my stand.

Lots of love,

Lexie

x



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