Thursday, January 31, 2013

Up cycled cabinet with my Special Vintage China.

Before we moved to Cornwall we used to live nearer London. We would like to go to Kempton Park Racecourse where they hold many antique, collectors fairs. This time was my 40 birthday (A few years back).... It was great walking from the car park watching everyone coming out with their treasures. There were stall holders from far and wide including France. You could buy everything you could imagine from furniture, toys, lights, jewellery the list goes on.


For my birthday my husband brought me this beautiful bone chine tea set . It is a lovely duck egg blue with a raised pattern. I fell in love with it straight away, and with a bit of haggling it was mine.





So of course I had to have somewhere to put them in.  I brought this wall cabinet from a boot fair. It was that dark gloss finish YUK! So I had to up cycle it. I sanded and painted it white then sanded back for that shabby chic effect. I used a  really tiny brush  to paint the front it took ages. It has glass shelves which I covered in blue and white plastic and sewed together. Next I attached a decorative trim to the front. It is now the perfect wall cabinet. for my special present.



What do you think? Have you had to buy furniture to store your finds.... Would love to hear.

                                        See you in FEB!!!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Meet Star, Willow and Shadow.

I've done posts about all our other pets. So I thought you would like to meet our ponies. We are very lucky to keep them at the end of our village. On a sunny day we like to go down the country lanes and walk our dogs at the same time. It keeps us all fit and it's lovely to say Hi to all the other animals along the way.

This is our horses on a less sunny day! They coped well when we had that white stuff recently.



                                        We have two ponies and one Shetland.


Here is our cute Shetland Shadow, he is a gelding and will be 4 years old this May. We love him to bits.




This is Star. She is a Palomino and will be 6 years old this April. She is strong willed and likes her own way.




Willow is a Appaloosa and will be 8 years old this June. She is really gentle and quite a sweetheart.




We have now gone from snow to mud! roll on the SUMMER......

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

WEATHER COLD AND WET BUT LOVELY LEMONADE.

Have been really busy the last few days. It's cold  ,windy and wet here in Cornwall. In fact like any other day here. Always wondered why it was so green and beautiful, now I know.


I thought I would make some Home Made Lemonade.

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it.

1 cup of caster sugar
1 cup of water
1 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
Three quarters of cold water
1 lemon to slice for decoration
Makes 1 large Jug.


Put 1 cup of water  plus sugar into pan and bring to boil. This dissolves sugar and makes a sugar syrup.
Add this to your Jug. Squeeze your lemons and add to jug. Then add the rest of the water. Stir.
Next slice your  lemon and add to your jug. Leave to cool then serve.





                                             I used my vintage style bottles instead of a jug.


Here they are finished. (The photo shows two colours, it is just the light .The left one is the true colour.)

You will never buy shop Lemonade again...... Enjoy.     IT WILL GET DRUNK IN NO TIME!


I also tried to make Macaroons - My advise don't try in a AGA!  


Wednesday, January 23, 2013

My Up cycled Shabby Chic T.V unit + Dresser

Have been busy painting again!. Wanted a new T.V. unit but new ones were really expensive.


So I decided to look for a used one. I brought this from a local junk shop for £20. It is all solid wood and very heavy.


First I removed the doors and took the slats out of the sides. This took some time as the slats were all pinned in.




                    Then I sanded it all down. And painted it with a couple of coats of satinwood white paint.



Next I had to decide on the finished colour.   And sand it back, to give it that worn shabby chic effect.
And this is what I choose........


Of course it's pink! very girly I know. But I have my large up cycled dresser in my lounge and that's pink.
The only decision to make now is to add two new wooden doors or add a pretty curtain  to enclose it?


This is my up cycled dresser ( I have done a post about this piece) It shows the true colour of the pink in this picture. The T.V. unit picture shows the pink too bright. I have now added a curtain to my dresser and a bird  I made, hanging from the handle.


Hope you have enjoyed this post. Would love to hear about your up cycled pieces and the bargains you have found..

Monday, January 21, 2013

More Things I Love In My Farmhouse.-Vintage Armchair.

Today I thought I would show you more of the things I love in my farmhouse.


            This is my Vintage floral armchair. I brought it a few years ago from Ebay.



                                   The roses are beautiful. I wish I had wallpaper like this.


As you can see from the photo it is quite small. It has bun feet on the front and four wheels. It is MUMS
CHAIR! but of course I do let family and friends sit on it. Not sure of the age , any ideas?

Hope your're had a nice weekend and not snowed in. And if you are, relax have a cup of tea and enjoy......

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Bertie Charlie and Baileys Weekly Adventures-Whats That White Stuff?

"Hi everyone it's been an exciting day today!" Myself  Charlie and Bailey found some white stuff in the garden.









                                      "Bertie Charlie come and see Mums changed the garden"


"Bailey it's o.k. it's only snow. We love snow ".


                                                         " Whats This?"



                                        " Leave this to Bertie and Charlie."

               
                             " Bertie Charlie pull this with me" then it moves.


                                         " I'm sticking with Mum", she must know what it is.


                                                  " Bertie Charlie LOOK!" It's a seat for sharing.


Stay At Home Snow Day.


Hi everyone. What a surprise! they said Cornwall would not get any white stuff. Well  look at my garden...


I was up really early still expecting to do the school  run........ What a fool! I was so excited I had to wake
the children up. The dogs who never put a paw outside the door if there is a possibility of rain, hurled themselves out and was running around  loving it.


As you can see it is still quite dark, but we had to venture outside. Well I could not wait .ITS SNOWING!


School coaches were cancelled to my sons delight.I did not want to risk driving .So it was a stay at home snow day.  Lots of hot chocolate by the aga..


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Hearts, Hearts, Hearts.

Hearts, Hearts, Hearts. I seem to have a lot of hearts around my house. They keep sneaking in.


I love this wire basket. I used to keep my eggs in it ,but now I have a larger basket and more eggs. I brought this from a shabby chic type shop and it came in a set of three, all different sizes.


This silver heart is made up of tiny bells on a wire frame. I could not resist buying it.


This is one of two wooden heart hooks I have. This one is painted white and as you can see I  keep my jewellery on it. The other wooden heart is natural wood.


This has tiny metal hearts. The chickens are made of wood. The bows I love very country cottage.


These are some of the hearts I have made.



I love gingham. This heart I added a bobble to the centre and edged in lace.


This heart I went mad with the bobbles.  But I think it looks fun.I love the colours they all go really well together.


Last but not least my favourite heart. This one is wooden with a lovely floral decoration. It was a present from my family.  It is hanging up in my kitchen.

There you go many of my hearts. ( I'm sure I have more!) Has your house been overtaken by them?
would love to hear.......

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Things I Love

Hope you are not snowed in. Cornwall is cold and rainy but I'm keeping fingers and toes crossed we do not get any white stuff......

Today I thought I would show you some of the things I love.-


My Fork Hook. I brought this at a Christmas Craft fair. It is a lovely old fork twisted. I use it to hold my calendar.


My glass Jars. I use them for everything. This one was used for Chocolate mice for my husband.



My dish with chalks.  I painted this myself . It has a chicken on the inside. and flowers on the outside.




This is my cherub mirror. It is a nice cream with a matching ribbon to hang up. It is so sweet.

And last but not least my beloved Aga.


Hope you have enjoyed looking.  What things do you love around your home. Would love to hear.

Bye for now.