Spring Is In The Air

Hello there :)

I am pleased to say that I am starting to get a little 'spring' in my step now March is here. I love how the nights start to get lighter, the clocks go forward soon and my creative mojo begins to gets into full steam. I have quite a few crafty/diy projects lined up around the house so now I'm finally feeling motivated to get going on them.

These pretty daffodils certainly bring a little sunshine into the home.

Of course, there always has to be some pretty pink delights too.

February of course had it's special moments, like valentines day. I do believe one should be sharing that love every day, not just the one but it is nice getting a treat on the special day. I had seen this Michael Kors bracelet a while ago, and a certain someone handed it over on Valentine's Day wrapped up all prettily.

He's definitely a keeper ;)

We spent the day with relatives on the day itself and popped to Beetham in Cumbria. We had lunch in the Old Beetham Post Office, which, at the top of some steps at the back, has the most delightful little shabby chic tea room.

I knew straight away I'd love it. Service was great, the food delicious and the surroundings so relaxing and pretty. I wish I'd taken more photographs inside, as it is so quaint.

Who could resist a pretty pink drink?

And the hot chocolate was yummy.

We sat on the big table by the cute little window.

And I couldn't help admiring their lovely dresser with all sorts of lovely food treats on.

Soon it was pudding time, my favourite time of any meal. How could I choose from this delicious selection of home-made cakes, all so very tempting.

In the end I went for the home-made brownies with fresh cream, definitely a good choice. After a lovely lunch we had a little walk around and visited the church, which was really pretty. Can you spy Master Poppins hiding in this photograph of the beautiful church.

                

I seized the moment and whilst the teenager was willing to have a photograph taken with her old 'ma, quickly grabbed someone to take it. There were many 'work in progress' photographs taken!

Eventually, we managed to compose ourselves.

She was about half the height of me when I started this blog and now she is officially taller than me. After our short walk, it was off to a garden centre for a little mooch.

Lots of things tempting me, but I was a good girl and just window shopped.

Once the mooching was done it was time for ice-cream and so took a drive to Arnside. It was a lovely afternoon, and the scenery was beautiful, which Master P here is admiring. 

Soon it was time to be heading home, on the way back I remembered pancake day was coming up so picked up some ingredients - (I always forget till last minute so took the opportunity whilst I remembered). We had great fun flipping our pancakes and think we must have had a good 3 pancakes each. Always lemon, a little butter and a sprinkling of sugar wins in this house. 

A blog post of mine wouldn't be the same without a little share of some shopping bits and bobs, and as usual home bargains was my go to store to find some treats. I have purchased some of these lovely and useful jumbo bags from there before, and seeing these new designs grabbed some. Perfect for laundry, storage, holidays all sorts. A real bargain at less than a couple of pounds each. 

Being an old romantic, I couldn't resist this romantic sign.

Drinking tea and eating cakes is indeed one of my most enjoyable hobbies.

There's always time to squeeze a little sewing in, and I enjoyed making these pretty lavender personalised hearts, what lovely names.

And if only my children's initial T-shirts came in bigger sizes I'd definitely be wearing this one ;) 

Right, time to grab that paint brush, these little diy projects around the home aren't going to get done by themselves, lets hope that sun keeps shinning, nearly time to get the flip flops out. YAY!!

X

Party Decorations, Celebrations, Makeovers & More

Well hello there!

I thought it high time I got my feet back on the blogging pedal, post some pretty photographs and let you know what we've all been up to in the Poppins household. We have been gearing up for a little occasion where little Miss. Poppins got to be queen for a day. I got to relish in all things floral and girly so had great fun organising things. Here's a little taster of her beautiful bouquet.

I organised a little get together for her friends and ours, and made some pretty decorations to create that party atmosphere. Here I threaded some cheap cupcake cases along a length of twine, so easy and quick to do.

They look so effective when hung up, like pretty cupcake bunting. Of course I couldn't resist having a go at making some paper pom poms. My new making craze and they looked lovely in the gazebo, they are now dotted all over the house, perfect for summer! Seriously if you have ever thought about making these, do it, they are SO easy and quick to make. There are lots of great tutorials out there so have a search. 

 These ones came out lovely and big, and at only 49p for 10 sheets of coloured paper from Home Bargains, a bargain too! I also made up some sweet heart bunting using pairs of heart shaped paper doilies to create a 3D effect. Cute, cute, cute!

As is tradition for the festival Miss Poppins was in, the Queen's home is decorated near to the crowning day, and I had fun playing with pretty flowers. I was kindly given some really lovely artificial flowers and Poundland came up trumps ordering in some of their £1 hanging buckets that I had been trying to get hold of. I placed little posies in each of the 12 buckets and popped them along the garden fencing. I just love the pretty look!

As we were having little tables outside for people to sit around I wanted to have a little decoration on those too, so I dug out some of my pretty (and pink) stuff and thought about what I could do.

With the pretty polka dot Ikea candles I couldn't resist adding a little bling!

And with the other candles I used doilies and ribbon, which I thought looked rather sweet on the tables. The LED ones again from Poundland are great and give off a glow with just the switch of a button.  

You can't have a little party without balloons and being helium, needed weighing down. Hmmm, I may as well make the weights!

Pimms was served in the oh so cool Ikea flamingo glasses that I have slowly been 'collecting'. I may be a little embarrassed at how many I now have, I tend to put a small handful in the trolley each time I visit Ikea ;) My thinking being they make perfect little tea light holders too amongst many other things.  

And so a lovely little party was had and soon morning came and it was Miss. Poppins' big day. She had a ball and I was the proud mum of her and also Master Poppins who was a dancer in the festival. My very own Billy Elliott! Here she is, looking very regal and the horse drawn carriage was just divine!

She made a lovely speech in front of an audience and hopefully relished every moment. A lovely day and a memory for her to hold on to.  So her beautiful handmade (not by me but a very talented dressmaker) dress is hung up, waiting to be put on again for her duties as 'Queen' and of course sticking with the handmade theme, even the hanger is a little crafty make.

Next it was time to finish my long list of little makeover's. I managed to acquire a semi-circular garden bench that is meant to go around a tree. The item was gifted and I couldn't wait to get stuck in and pretty her up. She was rather rusty and looking a little unloved when I first got her. Here she is all dismantled, two of the 'chairs' have been primed ready for a top coat. I just hoped I could remember how to put her all back together again!

After a lengthy painting session and some detailed remembering of where bits and pieces go, I got her back all in one piece. Adding a little pink rose garland could only make her even more charmful. Hope you like the new her!

 Next it was finishing Master Poppins little bedside table in his room. You may remember it looked like this.

And now it looks like this.

I've distressed it a little so it gives off a nice vintage vibe. Mr. P knowing my love of all things old, knew I'd take a fancy to an old little wooden crate he found in a skip - being a gentleman he asked and it was kindly given. I got my trusty paintbrush out and love the white washed look a light coat of paint has given it and you can see all that lovely grain.

Soon it was time for the sewing machine to come out again. Here's what I been 'a making!

Pretty lavender keyrings.

Cowboy personalised bunting.

 Oh so pretty 'With Love' hearts.

I'm really enjoying making word prints as gifts for people and I loved doing this one and making a little heart for a very special new baby boy.

So hopefully a little glimpse into our little world. 

I couldn't leave you without sharing a little number I picked up a while ago, second hand, but great condition and possibly a bit of a bargain. A really lovely Cath Kidston Classic Rose eiderdown in blue. It made a perfect gift for Miss. Poppins to cosy up in, I just really hope she shares it with her mamma!!

^^^^ Oh I love it! ^^^^

X

Happiness Is Homemade

Well hello lovelies! I thought I would share a little of what I have been up to. I have definitely come to realise I get much more happiness making or re-loving an item for my home than buying something shop bought, and that has most probably come off a factory line. I think it is so special to have handmade elements around the home, and every week I now make it my aim to get creative, and make at least one little something to help bring some extra homemade happiness. One make I've done recently and which actually is a make'over' is this very useful storage ottoman. I am a big fan of Freecycle and this is where it was kindly given to me. It was looking just fine but I knew I wanted to give it a cover more in keeping with my own decor. 

   

To be honest this started off in my head as something I thought I could do quite quickly and easily. Ha Ha what was I thinking! Difficulty level wise, this wasn't too bad but my staple gun and I just didn't get on at all on this project. In the end I just stapled on a new top cover after removing the old one and then got the sewing machine out to make a loose skirt style bottom for it. I used one of my favourite Laura Ashley gingham fabrics and Rosali for the inside lining. 

 

I was really happy with the end result and this makeover certainly was a labour of love - removing hundreds of old staples that seemed to take forever is not my idea of fun ;) But all worth it in the end, and I think the skirt style cover for the bottom really works!

My next little project involved this old music sheet book. 

 I busily got on with cutting out many heart shapes...

And after popping them into pairs, and sewing a length of thread all the way down their middles, I ended up with a pretty heart garland. This project had been on my to do list for longer than I can remember, it took so little time to make and I can't wait to get on and make more and perhaps using different materials. 

   

I'm also trying to source things I already have around the home to make new things, and so next time I'm going to make some pretty bunting using some of my many paper doilies I have in the cupboard. 

I can't wait to finish it and see how the bunting looks.

I am way, way way behind on this one. But only now have I jumped on the pom pom craze and with the help of these little pom pom makers am able to churn out many on the go. 

 I can't get enough of making these pretty little balls of fluff.

Back to Freecycle, I again have been given some wonderful free items and this is my most recent favourite, a little dressing table stool. Exactly what I needed and all ready for a little sprucing up!   

So hopefully these little homemade touches really do bring happiness, I know when I see something homemade in peoples homes it really does bring a big smile to my face :)

Happy making!

X