DIY Floral Garden Makeover

Oh I do love a pretty garden area for summer and was delighted to get involved with this lovely project for Wayfair's Inspiration Page.  

For the project I put together a tutorial for 3 separate DIY projects and enjoyed every minute of it. I even perfected my drilling skills and now feel confident to tackle those DIY tasks normally left for the man of the house to do, that in reality never get done, and that now I can happily do myself. 

For my 3 projects I made a super handy garden bench, some floral bunting and a reversible table cloth. The bunting and table cloth were made from a gorgeous duvet cover so I am now thinking of my own unused covers that could be utilised in such a pretty way. 

Those little fancies didn't last long but I managed to grab a quick snapshot of the pretty cut roses in one of my empty jam jars before they were gobbled up - the fancies that is, not the roses ;) 

I loved the finished bunting, perfect for the garden fence.

The bench started off it's life looking something like this.

Then was transformed to this.

Using some pretty accessories as a beautiful backdrop my new garden space is just a delight to sit in.

My garden table and chairs got a new lick of paint too.

Here are some of the items I used to help me create that haven of floral prettiness.

You can head over to the Wayfair page and my DIY tutorial here where you can have a mooch at the tutorials and the finished look :)

X

Disclosure: I received a selection of products from the Wayfair website to enable me to create my tutorials, and for styling. All design ideas, words and opinions are my own. 

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

Craft Challenge With Abakhan

When I heard Abakhan were looking for some crafty bloggers to take on a craft challenge, I couldn't wait to get in touch with them and hear more about it. The idea was for crafters to showcase what items can be made on a reasonably low budget, and lets face it, not many of us have mucho extra cash floating about in this current climate. I am one who also likes to get as much as I can out of my hard earned pennies. Abakhan kindly signed me up and I found myself heading over to their website with a £15 credit to spend....

I love shopping for haberdashery, fabrics and trimmings etc and it is never a chore for me so I had great fun choosing what items I would get with my £15, and also what I would make. I first decided on a theme for my makes and of course it had to be the Queen's Jubilee. After some very careful planning and choosing, all in all for my £15 I purchased 27, yes 27 separate items. I made sure I spent every single penny and was delighted at what arrived....

    

I chose....

1 metre UJ fabric

3 squares of felt ( red, white, blue )

4 UJ buttons

3 plain buttons ( red,white,blue)

UJ ribbon

Stripe ribbon (red,white,blue)

Ric rac (red,white,blue)

White elastic

Pom pom trim ( red)

Jubilee lacing cord ( red,white,blue)

White cotton tape

Spun paper balls (8)

Cotton thread (white)

A really inspiring selection I thought for the Jubilee celebrations, and I wanted to make some little items for all my family to enjoy on Jubilee day. Many of the items were purchased within Abakhan's Great Britain section and being the thrifty gal I am, one or two items were at clearance prices too. Firstly I made some traditional Union Jack bunting and as the print in the UJ fabric I purchased was quite large I cut out some rectangles and sewed them along the white cotton tape. I was really pleased with it and I have to say is already up in my home, helping us get in the jubilee mood....

 Next up I wanted to make a pretty UJ inspired necklace with the spun balls, so quickly wizzed up a fabric tube with a long piece of the UJ fabric, popped each spun ball in, tied a knot and so on and so on until I was left with this little number....

I love it, and it really does add a splash of colour to my outfit. Miss. Poppins decided she would like a special little bag to carry her things around in when she goes to her Jubilee party at school and was eager to make it herself. Using some of the UJ fabric, UJ ribbon for the handles and the red pom pom trim for some pretty detailing, I was very proud when she came up with this....

I wanted to make a pretty and colourful corsage for my mum, and so with some of the red, white and blue felt, and one of the UJ buttons, I made this generous sized one....

And what did Master P want, a little tooth pouch. He lost his first milk tooth not long ago and seems to have many wobbly ones right now and he wanted a little bag/pouch to put the next one in. So it rests on his bedside table awaiting the next tooth....

And for the man of the house, he simply asked for one of these....

Zzzzzzzz....

So with not a big budget at all, many crafty things can be made and I have yet to use up all the craft ingredients. I have more ideas of what to make and I really am a fan of Abakhan, in fact I remember going with my own mum when I was a little girl, so if you are indeed of a crafty nature you should head over and see what they have to offer in store and online. .

X

Disclosure: I was given a £15 credit to spend on Abakhan's website for the purposes of this blog post. 

Mother's Day Pre Loved/Handmade Treats....

I hope you all had a pleasant Mother's day. It can be quite a thoughtful day too sometimes I think.

 For example, we have, or sadly may not have, our own Mother's and Grandmother's with us. We are Mother's ourselves or desperately want to be Mother's. We have our own babes born with us safe, well and happily by our sides. Yet also we have the time of quiet reflection that there are also children born of us that are not with us, and yet shall be remembered forever and not forgotten. Something very close to my own heart. For my little family, it was a very special day, we spent time appreciating how lucky we are to have each other in our lives, and realised just how much as a family we really do love each other. Sometimes life just whizzes by in a mad flurry and you can forget to takethe time out to just stop, and tell people how much you love and care for them.

I was even treated with some lovely gifts from the children, and the best thing about this is not only do I love the little treasures they got me, but shall hopefully be helping others too, as were mostly purchased from second hand shops, so even better that some charities would be having some of my children's hard earned pocket money pennies.

Of course the garden flowers cut especially for me were a delight....

And the lovely cards.

I was so touched by Master Poppins' special writing in his handmade card.

They chose a couple of lovely items of clothing from the second hand shop for me. I love the cute skirt, yes probably look about 12 in it, but really is quite sweet, and is very me.

The white crochet top was only a pound....a pound well spent I think.

They even thought of my love of sewing and bought and wrapped up this 50p remnant of fabric from the Oxfam shop.

Daddy helped with the pocket money funds to buy this shopper bag from the new shop, I adore it and the pretty photographs.

Isn't the little bunny cute too, the husband thought would make a cute spring pin cushion, but I don't know if I can bear to put pins in it.

Back to the second hand shops to purchase this Burberry esque 99p wallet for me....

And they know I have a thing for knitted tea cosies, and this brand new one knitted by the lovely ladies who work in the CS, is so cute.

By now I felt very spoilt, but they had a couple more delights up their sleeves and again from the CS, a brand new set of the most sparkly wine glass charms, I adore them, and can't wait to entertain the girlies with them twinkling at the bottom of our wine glasses.

I had ummed and ahhed over a sweet little miniature oil lamp in the CS, and look what I unwrapped on Mother's Day....

I have visions of young ladies in days gone by holding one of these lighting their way around the house, whilst donned in their Victorian nightwear. Not sure if am brave enough to light it.

It has a wonky base which intrigues me, as when it is on the table, this what looks like a manufactured on purpose wonkiness make the base tip up slightly, and wonder if this has anything to do with the oil or even the wick and how it burns, perhaps the oil should be at an angle.

So a very lucky Mummy indeedy, and very grateful to have two very thoughtful children and husband who know how to make me smile. As for my mum, I treated her again to a second hand bought pretty....

And a cute handmade button Mum decoration from Lovehearts

And couldn't resist a special pretty for her from Kitty Eden My mum loves it :0)

Of course there was lots of chocolates all round too, though they never stay around long enough to take a photograph of, be assured though, they were lovely. So, I am over the moon not one gift has a mass produced tat feel to it, handmade/pre loved/ are all the rage in the Poppins house, and are often the most thoughful gifts of all.

X