More garden shenanigans involving the chicken coop and LOTS of strawberries!

Hi,

Hope you are all well. 

:D

I've not done any major upcycling lately but have been 'pottering' and keeping busy. 

Lots of jobs in the garden recently but firstly I will share a little crochet project or 2...

Firstly, heart bunting is SO incredibly easy!  

It is also very pretty and practical. 

I have draped mine over my bedroom mirror for jewellery hanging and you can see that I have now put my little Peter Pan sequinned collar necklace (that I bought a week last Sunday as seen on a previous blog) on with my other trinkets: 

My summerhouse bunting was very very tatty too so I linked up some crocheted granny triangles that I had made a while ago and turned them into a length of woolly bunting!!!

Tada:

MAJOR REJIG OF THE CHICKEN ENCLOSURE....

Remember how the chooks destroyed my lawn....?

Well, enough is enough. 

The lawn has grown back after I put them in the woodchipped area so it was time to put them back in the enclosure as my produce plants were getting destroyed every time I planted them up. 

I decided to move the actual enclosure into the woodchipped area. 

It was a sight for sure eyes. 

I singlehandedly moved each of the HUMUNGOUS (and very heavy) panels through the tiny gap in the fence with the hens making a bid for freedom. 

What a palava!

When I was trying to dig the holes for the posts, the girls were trying to help too. 

It was a bit tricky to avoid injuring them but I am happy to report that they all came out of the ordeal fully intact and full of earthworms. 

I am utterly delighted to have the patio area back to ourselves and can now plant away to my heart's content in the knowledge that they will not be decimated by the hens (the slugs are another issue entirely!)

Ah, bliss!!!

There is a little area that is kind of not in use next to the newly situated chicken enclosure so I have put my extra table and chairs out. :)

As the table looked a bit bare, I re'pot'ted some lobelia so it will look nice in a few weeks when they flower and cascade over the teapots :)

Today, I filled my window planters (£4.99 each from Home Bargains) with soil and planted more strawberries (99p for 4 plants also from Home Bargains!)

CAR BOOTY FROM YESTERDAY:

A little haul from the boot sale but it was still satisfying. 

The planter was £3 and the other 3 items were 50p. 

The planter needed upcycling so it has now been chalk painted and stencilled (I didn't hang about, eh?!) and potted up with yet MORE strawberry plants!!

(Thanks, Home Bargains!)

The other little planter that used to live under that window has now been put by the front door instead. 

Here it is in all its chippy glory (I'm thinking I might not repaint it this year as I kind of like it that way!)

I hope I haven't bored you too much!  

It was as brief an update as I could make it under the circumstances ;-)

Well I'm off now. 

I have a chalkboard to make....

Catch you later x x x

Bank holiday bargains

Well this weekend is a boot sale bonanza!!!

Here are a few of my finds:

This beautiful set was £4 so it is now permanently on the summerhouse table instead of my Portmeirion tray. :)

This looks infinitely better as for one thing, it is circular!

I got these 5 teeny tiny spoons for 50p. 

Hopefully these will be transformed into into vintage hooks soon :)

I bought the 2 end egg coddlers so now I have a full complement of them :)

Yayyyyy!

(Sadly, my Wedgwood clock no longer has a home though since it used to live in the centre of this top shelf!)

I bought this cute little black dress for £2. 

As you can see, I am intending to use a doily or 2 to customise it with a collar at the very least :)

I also bought these vintage Irish linen tea towels for 25p each. 

They still had the extremely dangerous original tags in the corner that nearly did me a mischief!!!!

This little haul is made up of a tiered cake stand for £1.50, a jug and bowl for £1, a vintage tea tin for 50p, several metres of wide lace 30p and a vintage plaque for 50p. 

The tea tin is now with some friends on my wall unit:

The tiered cake stand is now repurposed as my new fruit bowl:

So the above are Saturday's and Sunday's finds. 

Are you ready for Bank Holiday Mondays finds?

Are you sure?

Do you wanna stick the kettle on first?

Well here goes....

Phew. 

That was a lot, huh!

It took me hours to sort through it all when I got home. 

The catalogue of stuff is basically as follows:

3 royal Albert teacups and vintage tea tin was 50p for all 4 items. 

I bought another huge bundle for £4 which included......

Vintage handles and door knobs

Vintage serving spoon and fork set. 

Vintage spoons including sugar sifters (update on these below)

2 matching chintzy hanging mirrors with candle holders (bought with the intention of using in my summerhouse but they sadly don't look right in there)

2 doilies

Vintage tobacco tin full of old needles

A vintage letter rack

Vintage tea infusers (one still in original box. Update on the unboxed one to follow below...)

2 old iron brackets in a floral design. Gorgeous ❤️

And a HUGE bag of randomness which upon opening had an old glam Peter Pan sequinned collar necklace and an old ladies Gucci watch as well as odd earrings and chains etc that I can use for upcycling!

I also bought a trendy hat for 20p. (Very mod style)

A pair of Levi's pumps for a quid, a pair of skinny jeans for a quid and a red elasticated belt for 50p

And last of all a large vintage serving plate for 50p

Bargaintastic!!!

UPDATES

As I was trying to process my haul upon arriving home, inspiration struck twice. 

Firstly, remember the 2 vintage sugar sifters that I had bought?

Well it occurred to me that these tiny perforations would serve to affix to my new hallway table as key holders. 

I care little whether these are silver or not as I have a use for them. :)

I bent them into shape and put them on immediately. 

Yes, I know they aren't an exact match but I PREFER it that way, OK?! ;)

The second lightbulb moment was when deciding what to do with the tea infuser that was unboxed. 

Ding!

Here is the perfect home for it:

Don't you just love it?!

Perfection. Sheer perfection!

It was made to adorn that little key!

Anyhow, time for me to go or else my forefinger will develop repetitive strain injury from typing on this touch screen.

Toodles x x x 

Mosaic hall table top:)

Hi guys,

The hallway table is now very very nearly finished. 

To add to the previous blogs concerning its transformation, I have since added a mosaic top made with vintage pottery and a few synthetic pearls. 

Here is a reminder of how this unit originally looked last week:

Previous blogs detail the tweaks made thus far. 

This is the overall look of it now:

The tiled top was very easy. 

First, I unthreaded a few bangles and a necklace (mere pence from charity shops and car boots). 

I had TWO BEADS left over. Wow!

I used a no nails gun to affix them. 

When this was dry, I used tile nibblers to break 2 vintage plates (I chose a brown transfer to coordinate with the gold damask fabric) but kept a small plate intact for the centre:

I found it easier to use 'no nails' on the back of each fragment as it was placed in position. 

(This was infinitely easier for me than when using 'fix and grout' as I had previously.)

I kept the stamp intact as I like to see its authenticity on display just as much as I like the graphics. 

Then I left overnight to dry. 

The next morning, I cleaned up the tiles, grouted and polished. 

Easy peasy. 

The result is really quirky and (I think) pretty. 

Hope you enjoyed the makeover. 

All that remains on this project is to affix some kind of key hangers on the side. 

I'm still undecided whether to use bent spoons???

Toodles x 

Mirror Makeover

Hi peeps :)

This entry concerns a very quick upcycle on my big tatty pine mirror in the hallway. 

It simply involved removing the glass (and filling in the corner cracks):

giving it the chalk treatment:

 wax and then deciding on which lace/laces to use as a border:

I went with just the 5cm lace after some deliberation:

Tada:

Simples :D

X

The retro chair is completed :)

Yes!!!

My chair is finally finished to match my decor :)

Tada:

This was what it originally looked like:

I simply chalk painted, sanded (some areas more than others but I have left the distressing as it naturally occurred this time when sanded.  No deliberate distressing) and then waxed over.

I experimented with wax over a printed graphic of Royal Albert roses which worked well:

So I decoupaged one on the front and back of the chair with PVA then waxed over them:

All done  :D

The only other project still on the go is the mosaic that is yet to be started on the hall table...

:)

Catch you laters x x