Coffee Table Upcycle!

Here is the outcome of the upcycling on the recent vintage coffee table purchase I made …

I sanded down the wood, painted it in a layer of white followed by a layer of peach paint.
Once dried, I then sanded down the paint to reveal the wood underneath and then added studs to the sides of the legs. I thought a hint of peach would bring out the flowers on the tiles.

I have listed it on Folksy and it’s currently had quite a bit of interest but not been bought yet! Get in touch if you're interested!

Happy little Maid!

I just wanted to share how happy and honoured I am to have been asked to be my darling friend Deanna’s Maid of Honour. She is getting married in July next year and I simply CAN’T WAIT. I have been wedding obsessed for quite some time now and this gives me a great excuse to not be a crazy person planning their non-existent wedding! I can help plan hers instead J. I can’t think of a greater couple’s wedding to be a part of! They are so suited to each other. I cannot imagine a Dee without Nobby or a Nobby without Dee! I will have been friends with Dee for nearly 7 years when she gets married, 7 years!!! I can’t believe it. Time has gone so quickly. I can’t really believe that I’m old enough to have a best friend that’s getting married! Anyway, Dee is like the sister I never had, she’s the sort of friend who you just feel content in her company with, she makes me laugh out loud and we always come as a pair. I can’t wait to be there for her as her support on her special day and throughout the months of planning! BIG TWINNY LOVE!

A problem shared ...

I recently posted on the blog about a craft fair that left me feeling very disillusioned. I had great feedback and was later asked to write a similar piece about my experience for Folksy’s online magazine, Frankly. The piece went live last Friday and I just wanted to take the time to thank all of you who have taken the time to read it and leave your comments. I have been completely overwhelmed with the response and support. When you take the time to write something that you’re passionate about there is nothing worse than people having read it but not shared their views on the piece with you, no-one likes talking to a brick wall! So it’s been absolutely fantastic to converse with all of you about your past craft fair experiences and I really have learnt lots from you.  If you’re not sure what I’m talking about then you can read the piece here:

http://frankly.folksy.com/2012/04/13/the-british-craft-market-be-proud
 
I think it’s a subject that people sometimes feel shy of talking about. Maybe it’s that fear of failure. I know that it’s very hard when you’ve spent so much time getting ready for a fair to then not make much money on the day, sometimes not even cover your table fee. It’s hard when everyone asks you how you got on, you don’t want to admit that you spent so much time to effectively get nothing back from it. It refers to the old saying, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’; as soon as I started to speak about my bad experiences then people started sharing theirs back. Not only does it help your self-esteem to know that you’re not the only one who has had these experiences but it can help you to come to a positive conclusion about where to go next … It’s a moto that I often refer to in life and one that I think everyone should live by!

So anyway, a big THANK YOU once again to Frankly for posting the piece and a big THANK YOU to you guys for the support!



'Scrabble Thank You Card' by Sarah Martin Creative on Folksy

Maybe I will write more often J

Engagement Party Decorations - Tutorial!

My best friend recently got engaged and you wouldn't believe how happy this made me! I can't think of anything better to look forward to! Her and her fiance make the perfect couple and I am so pleased for the both of them that they found each other!

This Saturday was their engagement party and the beautiful bride-to-be asked me and a fellow bridesmaid to help her with decorations, obviously we were more than happy to lend a hand. We made bunting and jam jar tea light holders and paper flowers. I made some paper mache hearts that were a suprise and I wanted to share with you how I made them ...


I cheated and bought Play-doh but you could so easily make some. I moulded the Play-doh into heart shapes like this ...

I made mine quite big, about 10cm but you could make whatever size you liked.

I then made a water and PVA mixture and tore layers of newspaper ready to coat in the mixture.

I moulded the wet strips of newspaper around the heart shaped Play-doh. You have to get your hands dirty with this bit! To get the strips to really stick to the heart shape you need to smooth them down with your fingers.
I did sides at a time. Once I had done one layer on all of the hearts I then painted a layer of just PVA glue on them and then PVA glued another layer of newspaper to them. They then looked like this ...

I waited a day for the glue to completely dry and then used a craft knife to cut down the heart in half. I then scooped out the Play-doh from inside the hearts and glued the halves back together with another layer of newspaper and PVA glue ...

Once the glue had dried I painted the hearts in acrylic paint, some pink, some red and I left some just as newspaper. I then drew the happy couples initials on the hearts in black marker pen.

And here we have the finished hearts ...

 

 

Latest Charity Shop Finds!

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of second hand shopping. Some of my favourite items were bought in charity shops or from vintage fairs. Here are my latest finds ...

Great shabby chic style Tea and Sugar jars. You would struggle to find any nicer than these on the highstreet!

Coral and pleats. Very Spring 2012. This top was originally from H&M and still had the label on!! It was on a size 12 hanger so it was lucky I spotted it, it was actually an XS! Perfect! £2.00.

These sandals are the perfect 'go with everything' sandal I've always been after. REAL LEATHER. Handmade in Greece, hardly worn, fit me like a glove and for the absolute bargain price of £1.25!!

And finally I bought this very interesting tiled table to upcycle. Can't wait to get my hands on it! Keep your eyes peeled for the finished result :)!



What are your latest second hand finds??

Little video of my Upcycled Vintage Circus Horse

I thought I would make this to go with my Upcycled Vintage Circus Horse. I had so much fun upcycling the horse that I didn't want the fun to stop! I made this with a combination of iPhone apps and Windows Movie Maker. I hope you like it!