Delving Into Decoupagé!

It is time. It is time to stick things to furniture. It is time to use LOADS of PVA glue.

This weekend has been all about DECOUPAGÉ!!

If you don't know what it is, watch this short video... Courtesy of Kirstie, of course!

I really wanted to try this and make something personalised and special for our new home, something that would represent us as a couple, and how far we've already come in the two and a half years we've been together. We've always left notes, letters and silly drawings for one another to find in our draws at work when we worked together, in our bedsheets if one of us was doing an overnight, treasure hunts, in coat pockets... and so I decided to photocopy these so as to preserve the originals, and used these for my project.

I was so excited that I forgot to take any pictures of 'before and after', but Kirstie's video does a good job of explaining the basic premise, and I copied her tutorial.

The best thing is I've been left with a totally original, totally 'us' piece of furniture that didn't cost a huge amount either.

What I Needed:

• 1 x coffee table; British Heart Foundation furniture shop in Hemel town centre have hundreds of them, and when they've been sat in the shop long enough they reduce the price. I got mine for £15.
• PVA glue; already had some in my art and craft box anyway, but usually you can get a big bottle in craft shops for about £4.
• Clear, non-yellowing, matt finish varnish; £6 from Homebase.
• Paint brush; £2, Homebase.
• Spray paint; £6, B&Q.
• Gloves, optional
• Lint-free cloth, to clean your surface thoroughly before you stick/glue/paint anything on to it.

So for just over £30, I made this! And I am so proud!!

 I gave the paper a coat of PVA and then 2 coats of varnish. I'm hoping that once it's totally dried out it will be OK to wipe if anything gets spilt on it. I also made a schoolboy error and spray painted it after putting the paper on... it was a bit of a last minute thought, and by that time I've done the top of it!

I've just heard that Tom is having a horrendous time at Bestival this weekend, and so I'm hoping this will at least cheer him up when he gets home tomorrow. This is definitely not my last time trying this brilliantly satisfying art! Chairs are next on my list of things to transform I think... do a whole dining room set!

All in all, I've had a very productive few days off - just having those two days of last week to catch up with everything and have an outlet for my creative juices has been lovely. But I'm knackered now, and this afternoon after I'd packed all my decoupage materials away, I had a bath at 2PM!! Bliss!!

Have a good week, everyone!

BB xx

Scrubbing Up and Smoothing Down

It's DEFINITELY Autumn. It's getting colder, and even though the sun was out today I had to wear a jumper whilst I did all this DIY stuff! Boo!!
Anyway... Kind of late, but I was looking at my outdoor table and chairs the other day and realised how tired and in need of some loving they needed. I've had them two years and they've never been oiled or varnished. It's taken me over two days, but here's what I did to make sure that they look pretty and inviting NEXT summer... when the heat comes back!!

You need:
Wooden outdoor purpose furniture
Sandpaper
Wood oil
Paint brush
Lint-free cloth
Gloves (optional)
SUNSHINE!!!

1) Sand down your furniture. I used medium strength sandpapers, but probably could have used the next strength upwards. Make sure you get in all the nooks and crannies so that the oil covers its consistently.

2) Dust off any dust from the furniture with your cloth and make sure it's as clean a surface as possible. Using as thin a coat as possible, begin oiling your furniture with the brush. You may wanna wear gloves for this as the oil STINKS! And it's mega sticky too. Try not to let any drips run and spread it as thinly as possible. You may need to give it 2-3 coats depending on the final colouring you desire, leaving an hour or so between each to allow them to dry.

3) Et voila! As simple as that! It will need re-oiling about once a year depending on the exposure to the elements your stuff has. It lasts longer than varnish and it doesn't peel like varnish can either, which is good. It should also strengthen the wood too.

Just need Summer back now, and that way I'd have half a chance of enjoying them... D'OH.

BB xx

It's the berry, berry, little things...

One thing I'm going to miss when we move out of our little nest is the freebies we get from my wonderful landlady and landlord from time to time. They spend all year long tending to a wonderful garden that they grow vasts amounts of fruit and veg in around this time of year. There's three apple trees, tomatoes, strawberries, green beans, two types of potatoes, courgettes, broad beans, onions, garlic, raspberries and then also wild blackberry bushes that line their driveway. It's an oasis of fresh produce that keeps them going throughout most of the winter months too. They always have surplus, and they offer it to us when it's there. This week alone I've had a whole cucumber (better than the shops, and spikier too!) tomatoes that have been roasted for plenty of dinners and sweet red onions. I admire the amount of hard work that goes into it all, and am very grateful they are willing to share the fruits of their labour with us, when we already pay so little to live here!
Yesterday when the sun was out, I took a tuppawear box to the blackberry bush outside and filled it with fat ripe berries. Sally then allowed me to take some raspberries from their bush, and I was amazed how sweet they tasted. I was thinking I might make a crumble, but instead I looked to my latest Slimming World magazine, and decided to make this instead...

Blackberry (And additional raspberry) meringue roulade:
Pre-roll... VERY scary!

Then the final product:

I'm going to dinner at my parents tonight, and they're cooking a Weight Watchers dinner (ooooo the main competitor against SW!) so I'm bringing this along to show them what SW can produce too!
The best thing is, all I needed to buy was the Quark that makes the filling. My berries, which come to £2-3 a punnet in the shops, were absolutely free. And that's MEGA tasty :)

BB xx

Revitalise your wardrobe... for free!

Some time ago I changed a black jumper by adding buttons down the back of the spine of it, following a fashion at the time. That jumper still resides in my wardrobe and I still wear it to this day, because it still looks quite new even though in reality it's nearly 4 years old now. A modern twist to it, that's all it needed, and I've had longer use from it.

It's been a while since I've tried breathing new life into my old clothes, but at this point in my life there is now more need for it than ever! We have recently had an offer accepted on a new house, and are currently in the process of paying out for solicitors, surveys, conveyancers, etc... And it ain't cheap! Last month I managed not to buy any new clothes, and was lucky enough to get a load of hand-me-downs from my friend who was getting rid of a big bag of goodies to the clothing bank. I managed to get two whole new gym kits for nothing! Same goes for this month, too. No clothes shopping, essentials only.

Yet another lazy Sunday sprawling before me today. It's the middle of the afternoon now, and already I've attacked a couple of items. Here, I'd like to share 3 Quick And Easy Ways to Revamp Your Old Clothes with you.

1. Re-hemming a dress:

The quickest and easiest way of changing the look of something like a dress is to make it shorter!! I bought this simple t-shirt dress from Matalan last summer, and I love the shape and colour of it. However the length is a little on the long side and it can look frumpy if I'm not careful. It came to below my knees before... not especially flattering!

Here's my result, but for simple instructions on how to do it yourself, click for the no-sew solution, or here for those of you brave enough to get the sewing machine out!

2. Make a cardigan fit your curves more snuggly:

I saw this tutorial here about how to completely change the shape of a cardigan. I have one in my wardrobe that was rescued from a bag of stuff my Mum was throwing out, but it's a little shapeless around the waist. I'd love to wear it over a vest so it's almost tight, but would show all the (limited) good parts of my body!

First turn the cardigan inside out and mark with fabric pen, then pin along the line. Careful to mark it up to the armpits but not over the pre-existing hemline, otherwise you'll end up with a hole there! 

Then using a machine, sew along the line removing the pins as you go. Cut the now excess material away. Your garment should be considerably smaller in size. This can be done to the arms too in the same way. See the tutorial link posted above if you want to do this.

3. BUTTONS!!!

Like I have ALWAYS said... there is no better way to jazz up your clothes, your books, your furnishings, whatever than with buttons and plenty of them! Also, pin-on roses work too.

Take one quite grubby, fairly underwhelming black body con dress to begin with. This is mini-skirt length and has never really done my hips any favours. So SNIP SNIP!

 I hemmed my new black t-shirt and then started raiding my button tin. I found the white rose broach off something else. It's been sitting in my sewing box for a while, so nice to find a use for it! I have a large selection of buttons, but in the end opted for a pearly one as it smartened the whole look once on the t-shirt.

Using needle and thread, sew the button on to the middle of the rose. Then take a safety pin big enough to hold the broach without it drooping, and sew a few loops of thread over the non-fastening side. I added a dab of all-purpose glue on to the back to secure the pin fully.

Et voila! Plain black tee transformed so simply! The dream is to have different broaches for all occasions, colours, outfits, seasons... then you're really taking 'multi-purpose' to a whole new level!

So three simple ways... which one are you going to try first??

BBxx

Birthday Vegetable Hamper

Dad is a really difficult person to buy Christmas and birthday presents for.
Traditionally, I always buy him a pack of coaltar soap at Christmas time along with obligatory wine accessories, novelty socks and smellies. Birthdays are harder, and over the past couple of years I've baked him cakes or bought him, err... umm... more socks??
Not this year! My parents have been through quite a hard time recently having just moved out of a pub and now trying to find work all over again. They've been away on holiday and come back fat and brown (and happy), so Mum warned me off my initial idea of buying something sweet, stating that they are both back on diets as of last week.
I went into town today to have a look for things. In B&M they sell a lot of odd food items in amongst all the homeware, toys and kitchenware, and I found a big himilayan pink salt grinder for a bargain price of £2. It suddenly occurred to me that Dad might get more out of a 'useful' gift that will double up as a motivator towards him losing weight.

And so the idea of a hamper seemed the best shout!

Hemel has started hosting a diverse range of fruit and veg stalls three days a week, and some of them are really good for picking up more exotic items for a reasonable price. Dad's really into his cooking and trying out new recipes and ingredients, so I picked some more usual things whilst I put together the hamper items.

As well as the pink salt, I found a cinnamon and sugar grinder and a jar of garlic and rosemary in olive oil in B&M. I can't recommend this shop enough for things like this - all three items were cheap as chips, and they were things I hadn't seen in bigger supermarkets.
One market stall were selling bowls of veg and fruit for £1, so I picked up some oyster mushrooms for Dad to maybe make a nice risotto or mushrooms on ciabatta. Figs are a favourite of my Mum's, and I know she enjoys these with cheese particularly.

Butternut squash - a staple in my own kitchen, as it's incredibly versatile and goes a long, long way. I use it for soups quite often, but it's brilliant roasted too with spices and olive oil
The hedgerows lining our driveway are thick with blackberries at this time of year, and they don't come better than freshly picked and put into this box of treasure... would make an awesome crumble, especially with some of the sugar cinnamon ground on it!

The veg stall had HUGE peppers, so one yellow one and also a bowl of those long, pointy red peppers add a shot of colour in the box, which looks so pretty.
My landlady also gave me two garlic bulbs grown in her own garden to add to it. I also put in a couple of Sainbury's recipe cards. Look out for these; they release new, seasonal cards at the entrance to the store every 3 months with simple, tasty recipe ideas on them. I put a recipe for peppers, mushrooms, crumble and butternut squash in the box for inspiration.

Dad was, thankfully, chuffed! My best friend told me once that her grandmother gives her a hamper of toiletries for her birthday each year. Nothing fancy, just what she uses daily, but it's one less expense she has to pay out for and it's nice to give gifts that actually have a use sometimes.

What would be in your dream hamper? Something useful? Something pretty?

BBxx

How to jazz up doilies, Kirstie's way...

As you all know by now, I am a HUGE fan of the woman who made crafts cool again, the one and only Kirstie Allsopp, and her new series 'How to fill your home for free' is as creative and inspiring as her previous ventures to try and bring us all round to her way of upcycling, crafting and decorating your home.
Her new show heavily features how to upcycle old furniture, giving existing or unwanted pieces a boost and instantly changing the way you look at a room. It ties in nicely with the news we received this week - we had an offer accepted on our first home!! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!! ... Ahem. But it's ok - because Kirstie has pretty much taken care of all the furnishings we'll have, because I'm not planning on going to IKEA once! No no, I'm planning to keep myself very busy with decoupagé, painting, distressing and fiddling about with scaffolding boards too. If you have no idea, what I'm talking about, go to 4OD and watch her new series. It will amaze you.

In the mean time, Kirstie gave me my Bank Holiday Monday activity in this week's episode: DOILIES.
I so happened to buy 6 lace doilies from a bootsale some time ago, planning on doing this with them:

But I didn't. Through lack of confidence that I wouldn't end up setting my flat on fire.
So there they sat in my sewing box all this time, until now.
Kirstie showed us all that doilies can be cool again, by simply dying them the colour of your choice and adorning your upcycled home furnishings!!

Here's what I did:

1. Prepare what you need; I used one sachet of Dylon purple dye, a plastic mop bucket, 6 lace doilies (and I also used two white pillowcases I had with a bed set, which would match the rest of the set better if they were in fact purple!) table salt, and rubbergloves and apron.

2. Prepare the dye according to the packet instructions. Then add your fabric to it and stir for 15 minutes without stopping.

3. Then over a 45 minute period, stir intermittently. After, rise out the fabric under a cold water tap, then I put all mine into the washing machine and put it on a super fast warm rinse for 14 minutes at 30 degrees.
Leave on a drying rack somewhere warm to dry.

4. Iron your dry doilies so they sit flat on the surface you want to put them on.

5. ADORN!!!!

I'm really impressed! Yes, it's a little bit twee, but they do look pretty and certainly not at all frumpy or old. It gives them a nice modern twist, and they cost next to nothing to jazz up.

What did you do with this lovely sunny bank holiday??

Lots of love,

BB xxx

Patching up for winter...

I finally finished it!
This has taken me the best part of a year to make, from cutting out all the squares (a painstaking task before I discovered the rotary cutter!) to hand sewing the entire thing together and finally binding it. I am so pleased...

This is made up of Tom's old shirts, pillow cases, duvet covers, curtains, various dresses and skirts and fat quarts that I bought when I first got the bug for this stuff. It's come out smaller than I planned but it will still keep me warm sat on the sofa when the weather gets chilly again. It's far too humid and sticky at the moment!

I'm already planning the next one... Gotta have something to keep me busy until winter 2014!

xx