Tutorial ~ Birthday Girl Bunting

Last week we celebrated my Daughters First Birthday! I can't quite believe she is one, where has the time gone? Anyway, we had a lovely day, her brother was extremely excited and opened all her presents and played with them all too! We had a little family party with cake and balloons and it was a really special day, we took lots of photos so when I get chance I will make a photo book for her as a keepsake.

I made this 'Birthday Girl' bunting to put up in the kitchen above the party food table:

Exposed Kitchen Shelves

I am seriously considering removing the wall units in our kitchen and replacing them with open shelves. I have visions of beautiful crockery, colour co-ordinated and organised along the shelves but in reality it could just be a mis-matched, cluttered, unorganised mess, so its a real risk! On the rare occasion that my Partner does the washing up, he puts all the glasses/cups back in the cupboard in no order whatsoever, which is fine(ish) when you shut the door on them, but if we had shelves would I just be forever rearranging them? Not to mention the extra cleaning, although if we fill it with everyday items then they shouldn't be sat there long enough to gather dust.

So, I have been looking for inspiration and have put together a Pinterest board before I take the plunge! Here are a few of my favourites:

A second-hand shopping spree

A child free trip into town (or anywhere) is such a rare treat that I have to spend the time wisely. So, yesterday I had a leisurely stroll into town in the lovely Autumn sunshine and had a really refreshing afternoon shopping and then met some friends for a coffee - should I feel guilty for enjoying child free time so much???

Goodbye Ikea......

Rather than de-cluttering our living room, we have been de-Ikea-ering!!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Ikea! But there is a limit and our living room was full of it and looked like everybody elses living room and we want something more individual and personal to us.

Knit, Stitch & Bitch !

Once a fortnight, my Sister and I go to a 'knit, stitch & bitch' group at our local pub. It started off with just five regular members but has recently started to grow, which is great as it widens the skills available for sharing.

Each time, we try to run a workshop so we can learn different skills from each other. So far, we have done cushion making, bunting making, felt christmas decorations and knitting.

Mary Margaret's Apartment ~ Once Upon A Time

Sunday night just isn't the same without Channel 5's Once Upon A Time to look forward too! Nothing else quite fits the bill of fairy tales for adults!!

As well as loving the story line, My favourite thing was Mary Margaret's apartment - her rustic beautiful apartment with its exposed brick walls, lots of white, aged bookcases and the simple vintage kitchen! Anybody else rewind and pause to look at it? Well, it appears I'm not alone, I googled Mary Margaret's apartment and found lots of images, blogs and a fan website.

Here are a few images of the famous apartment:

The Kitchen

Hallway Update

The Hallway seems to be taking us forever to finish, maybe its just because I walk through it so often so notice it more than I would any other unfinished room.

Luckily, my Parents have just been to stay for a couple of days and my Dad very kindly fitted new handrails and spindles on our stairs and I can't believe what a difference it has made. It has inspired me to get on with it now.

Here are a few before & after pictures:

Chimney Pot Planter

We went to the car boot early this morning, full of excitement at what we mind find, but unfortunately it was a little disappointing :( There were not many stall holders there and it was hardly worth the £3 to park. I think its starting to wind down - what will I do with no car boots over Winter???

On the way back we stopped at the market/car boot (which we don't usually do as the kids have normally had enough by then) but its free parking so we gave it a try.

This one also didn't have many stalls but there was one guy selling all kinds of troughs, milk churns and all sorts of things that I thought would make unusual planters in the garden. In the end we bought this bishop style chimney pot from him. What do you think?

Craft stall

Today I had a stall at a 'Makers Day' at our local Heritage Centre. It was a successful day so thought I would share some pictures with you.

No matter how organised I try to be before a fair, I always feel really anxious, convinced I have forgotten something important and don't properly relax until I am fully set up and have made that first sale :)

Here is my stall

My bargain buys this weekend!

I'm feeling a little lost here this morning, my Partner is back at work (after a long summer off), my Son is at pre-school and my daughter is asleep, so I thought I would tell you about my bargain buys this weekend!

Firstly on Saturday we went into town and did our usual rounds of the charity shops. I got a lovely embroidered table cloth for a pound, but the best buy was this kitchen and accessories for the children:

Handmade Hearts goes International!!!!

I was very excited when my first Etsy sale was for 5 hearts!!

Then yesterday I got my second sale and it was from Canada!!! Soooo exciting that one of my little Handmade Hearts is going all the way to Canada!! There is no stopping me now hehehe

This is the Handmade Heart on its way to Canada as we speak!

Hopefully as my sales and feedback start to build on Etsy it will encourage more sales - fingers crossed!

Thank you for reading xx

Project Hallway

Its so important to get the hallway right, its the first impression that visitors get and tells them what to expect from the rest of your home. Our hallway was very dark with a dark teak floor, not a lot of natural light, and a ugly radiator sticking out!

Hallway Before

Before and After ~ Side Table

There is a second hand furniture shop in our local town which my Partner, Jonny and I love! (thats a slight understatement). They have beautiful furniture and bits and bobs in that they get from house clearances and who knows where else! The shop has about 7 rooms spread over 3 floors and is a real Aladdins cave!

Jonny and I couldn't believe it when we saw this little side table outside the shop one day for a snippet at a fiver! We had to have it!

It might not look much here with this orange stain on it but we knew we could work our magic on it!!

Tutorial ~ Lavender Sachets

Hello there, I feel I have neglected you lately, I have had a busy summer but I'm back with lots of pictures and projects to share with you :)

I am going to start with these handmade lavender sachets:

I have some lavender growing in my own garden, but only two plants so I visited a friend who has a garden FULL of it and she let me cut away at it to my hearts content!

Craft stall at a Summer Fete

At the weekend I held a stall at a local Primary Schools Summer Fete and I'm sad to say it was a little disappointing and disheartening after the success of my first craft stall.

Firstly, the whole event was held indoors, which I thought was strange seen as we have had such a glorious week weather wise. Most of the events took place in the hall with the few craft stalls tucked away in classrooms which meant not alot of passing traffic. It was hard to listen to all the business and noise in the hall when our classroom was completely quiet :( I'm not sure if this is the norm for primary school events with my two little ones not at that age yet.

My first craft stall

I can't believe it has taken me over a week to tell you about my first craft stall!! I have just been so busy with the kids and with lots of orders so can't complain :)

I don't know why I was so worried about the stall, I really enjoyed it and it was a success...I have now got the bug and have booked 3 more!

Here are some pictures of my stall:

 

The noticeboard was a great way of displaying the garlands and it added some height, its just a shame I only had time to paint it with one coat. I think for the next one I am going to paint the edge with a second coat and stick some fabric to the middle section with fabric glue. 

I'm so pleased with how the tea cup candles worked out, they both sold and I will definitely be making some more! I have been collecting them from car boots and charity shops and now have a good collection. Some are so pretty though I don't know if I will be able to part with them!

I don't think these hearts (personalised with initials) were displayed to their full advantage. I only sold two on the day but got an order for two with letters I didn't have. I think I need to have at least one of each letter for the next one and display them so its easy to see there are different letters/colours/styles available - maybe another noticeboard?

These small birds went down quite well, especially with young girls. It has made me think that I need to make sure I have items which will attract all ages to the stall. I now need to replenish the stock of these for the next one, and definitely want to change the way I display them.

My lovely stand for my business cards. These business cards are from Moo and are really good quality but not cheap, think I need to shop around......

A bowl full of 'Home Sweet Home' hearts. I got really good feedback on these on my facebook page but only sold one on the day, just goes to show you never know what will sell on the day so best to have a good choice.

I put together a booklet of photos of commissions I have done and put it on a chair next to the stall. Lots of people looked through the pictures and I got a couple of new orders from it, so that was a success!

Here is the stall! I was pleased with it on the day but have learnt from it and will make changes next time.

I think craft fairs are a great way to put yourself out there, and stop me from hiding behind my facebook page!! I really enjoyed the day and meeting lots of lovely people, and it was great to get some feedback and to see what sells so I know what to make more of.

My next stall is booked for less than 2 weeks away so not sure if I will have time to make all the changes that I want to, along with making the stock and keeping up with all my recent orders but its all good fun and thats the main thing!

Thank you for reading xxx

 

Car Boot Bargains

I just wanted to share with you my finds from the carboot this morning:

Two wooden baskets and a wooden bowl all for £1 !! I'm thinking I can use these to display hearts in on my craft stall....

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog!!


I have recently become a blog addict and love to read other peoples blogs and have an insight into their lives, and if there are pictures then even better!! I have been toying with the idea of writing a blog for some time but have wondered honestly if anybody would be interested in what I have to say! My life consists of being a full time Mum and looking after my two (beautiful) Children, running the house (not always successfully) and occassionally sewing when I get the time. I have decided to bite the bullet and see where it takes me.

A bit about me - My main role in life is as a full time Mum to my two young children, alongside this I have a new found passion for sewing, habedashery and all things handmade! Prior to September 2010, I had never even sewn a button on but had a huge collection of buttons and a love for habedashery without knowing what to do with it. In that September my Sister and I were going to attend an 'Introduction to textiles' course but it didn't run so instead we spent the money from the course fees on lots of gorgeous felt, ribbons and buttons and set about making christmas decorations! From then on I have been hooked and sewing any spare minute I have! Friends and family started to ask me to make them things and that lead to my facebook page www.facebook.com/handmadehearts . I hope you enjoy looking through the things I have made as much as I enjoyed making them xxx


So...here goes; let me know what you think xxx