A (Very Belated) Happy New Year

Well hello there lovelies :)

Goodness me, what a long blogging break I have had. I am though coming back very refreshed and full of new year cheer. I can't believe we are now into 2015, which also happens to be my 8th year of blogging. Gosh now I feel really old. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year, filled with good health and happiness. Although winter is most certainly not my best season, (I am definitely a summer girl) I so enjoy Christmas and all the festivities surrounding it. And of course, there was always going be a hint of pink on our Christmas tree.

This was our artificial 'space saving' tree that we had in the kitchen diner, it looked very pink and pretty in the corner. I adore the scent of a real Christmas tree, and missed that so only a few days before Christmas itself, the husband came home with a surprise. A real tree and we all got stuck in decorating it in the lounge. Luckily I have collected many tree decorations over the years so this was to be our 'winter ice' tree, an array of silvers and whites. It was a hit in the house, especially when the presents started appearing underneath it. 

Oh we all love presents don't we, I know I do, though I did have little hints around the house of what's really important at Christmas.

But back to presents ;) Oh the husband did good, so good. I know this brand is very popular and I'm never one who likes to be same as, same as, but I have wanted one of the MK rose gold watches for like, forever.

Oh you'd like a little peek inside, ok, here's me wearing the little, well, not quite so little delight.

Over Christmas I saw some really cute and retro bed linen and knew I just had to have it, well done Asda :)

I wonder if I can get away with using it all year round. Its been packed away for now but I have a feeling it may make its way back on the bed before too long. As for New Year, it was rather a sedate one here in the Poppins household, a special family tea followed by films and the fireworks on the television. Im sure I've heard staying in is the new going out, so we must be very on trend :)

We did have a lovely family walk on New Year's Eve, and although weather wise, a little rainy, it was lovely spending time together as our little family of four.

We just ambled along, swinging off tree branches...

  And had great fun standing amongst some very big twigs...

Even the occasional silly selfie was taken along the way...

It was a fun walk :)

As for creativity, I'm still enjoying making my little crafts and loved making these little bunting sets just before Christmas.

I always send a little something as a thank you with orders, and I just love the pretty ditsy floral fabric I used for the lavender heart I sent with the pink bunting. It was from hobbycraft and perfect for some upcoming spring makes I think.

Talking of hearts, I recently made some lavender hearts for bride and groom to be's. I love the natural, french inspired look of these hearts.

I am trying to be creative in other non-sewing ways, and now I have all my ingredients, I am looking forward to making up some tea cup candles. With the amount of tea cups and saucers I have hidden away, that could be a lot of candles. 

I'm using flaked soy wax, and a variety of fragrances. I think they'll make lovely homemade birthday gifts. I'm excited to get going and shall pop back and share my results.

2015 has me feeling very inspired, and I am making much use of my library card, loaning crafty books to help with my creativity. I am enjoying this book 'The Art Of Handmade Living' and where I found the inspiration for the teacup candles. 

I always aim to loan books now rather than buy them, unless its a super duper can't wait to get my hands on it book, but otherwise mostly my library card does the talking rather than my bank card. 

So as the title suggests, a very (belated) Happy New Year to you. I am aiming to pop by far more frequently and am of the thinking of having a set blogging day to give me a bit of routine may work best, rather than my thus far as and when blogging approach. 

Before I go. Yes, it's now official I am the mother of a teenager!

Miss. Poppins had a fun filled and busy 13th with all her friends, I loved the way she displayed her birthday cards behind her bed on the wall, maybe a little creative soul is hiding away in there.

For now, if anyone has any 'parenting a teenager' tips, I'm all ears and eyes. 
I have a feeling I'm going to need them!

X

Inspirational Catch Up

Wow!! It's been a while since I frequented the blogosphere, so now the littlies (ok - I know I can't really call them 'littlies' anymore) have settled back into school etc, I thought it was high time for a quick bloggy catch up. Hope you are all well and happy and like moi enjoying the pretty things in life! Perhaps it is because I am getting older, my body a little slower, but I'm really beginning to appreciate and enjoy the teeny tiny things in my little world. I can be accused of taking life for granted in the past, but no more. The internet has been a wondrous thing, of course, but it has also got that side where one can easily get sucked into an online world and perhaps the here and now, the real stuff as I call it, get a bit forgotten. There's nothing quite so magical as picking a newly bloomed garden flower, taking in it's pretty scent, or having a bear hug with one's offspring, proper adult talking with loved ones. I get so much inspiration from t' interweb and I suppose it is just about moderation. Hopefully I can time manage the online world along with my day to day world so I can get enjoyment from both. Why I possibly love Instagram so much, perfect little bite sized snippets of life. 

So, whats has been inspiring me of late?

Having quite a collection of glass bottles at home that aren't really doing anything, I was very inspired by these simple yet very effective table displays whilst out for lunch one day. A little lavender, greenery and ribbon can make all the difference! 

This little display would be perfect for one or two of my bottles so on the 'to do' list its gone. Whilst out and about, of course a little moochy style shopping had to be done, and inspired by my favourite flower, the Daisy, I just had to get this pretty Daisy frame from a charity shop. It was brand new in the box too, such a bargain! I can't wait to get some of my favourite family photographs in there.

 I am forever in my flip flops - even in winter and being an avid bargain hunter, was so inspired by these really cute £2 cushions from the Tesco sale. For now they are residing on the bed, and as someone who doesn't really 'do' winter, I can't help but feel all cheery and summery seeing them.

One thing I do like about winter however, is sitting down to a hot home cooked dinner of an evening to warm me up. I love the idea of using a slow cooker so to inspire my cooking, I invested the princely sum of £12.99 on this Aldi slow cooker. I made some lasagne, which the family said was really nice!

Next up it had to be something sweet - and what better than this Toffee Apple Pudding (from Audrey Deane's slow cooker recipe book) which was delicious!

Yes, I may have helped myself to seconds, and thirds....and... ;) Being somewhat of a budget buy, I am not sure how long the slow cooker shall last, but for now we are enjoying many meals using it.

We've being having some beautiful sunny days, perfect for family walks. 

 Especially fun with a little den building along the way. No, we didn't really do all that building, but added a handful more discarded branches for the next family to have fun in. 

It's very inspiring to see Miss. Poppins indulge (mostly) and have fun with us at family time. Anyone else who is 'owner' to a near teenage girl, well it can be frustrating at the best of times. Mostly though she is of course adorable and growing up so fast! She was 7 years old, when I first started this blog, look at her now! 

So, age 13 is nearly upon us, and probably the last time I'll have any influence over her party plans *sob - we're going for a shabby/chicy/cool vibey disco type party to celebrate her new teenagedom. Sounds fab - I hope she invites me :) More things that I'm enjoying and one that quite surprises me, is my new love of coffee. I am first and foremost a tea drinker but when the husband bought this on a recent shopping jaunt, that tempting caramel just drew me in. Oh its delicious, and now I can't help knocking back a cheeky coffee along with my daily tea drinking quota.   

Sewing is also inspiring me somewhat and after a lack of my crafty mojo, it delighted me to get back making again.  

I really enjoyed making these little gifts for friends. 

There has been a much needed fabric sort out too, many fabrics I'd forgotten I had!

Nibbling on these little strawberry laces whilst de stashing/sorting out, made it a very enjoyable experience.

So, the time is nearly here to celebrate another wedding anniversary. 

How many years? 

Well, lets just say it's our crystal wedding anniversary! Go figure ;) I had a lovely morning not long ago mooching through all our wedding photographs and luckily they seem to have not dated and have stood the test of time. 

I especially like this one of moi stepping out of the wedding car arriving at church. Can you guess it was a very windy day!

Fun times! 

Lots of lazing weekend mornings have been spent having lie in's, Master P always makes a lovely early morning bed guest.

So, I have much there to inspire me, to keep me young at heart, treasuring all the special moments, and of course with a little shopping along the way to keep me happy. 

Talking of shopping purchases that keep me happy, look what the husband got me for my birthday, oh I just love it and it is SO comfy! I love that it was from Ikea's bargain corner too, nice to keep that bargain hunting gene in the family. Here's a little clue...

So a real treat from £185 to £75!

We haven't found its proper home yet so it is just kind of plonked in the bedroom. It is the perfect place to pop ones feet up, and have a little read, perhaps even a little snooze. 

It's an Ektorp chaise longue, with the floral cover, so a real bargain! No longer available I believe, and even though it's ex display, it's in pretty much perfect condition. Here is a stock image of what it looks like properly.  

Probably one of my favourite places to relax these days. In fact I may go grab my book and just have a quiet moment...

Back soon lovelies!

X

Back to Basics

A challenge of mine at the moment when thinking of my own home décor, is to re-focus and make it as simple as it can be, and kind of get it right back to basics. With the amount of 'clutter' I collect, and my love of hoarding I'm finding the simple look is actually becoming more appealing. Too much clutter around me is beginning to unnerve me a bit and I'm definitely going to strive for a calmer look. One book I am reading that I borrowed from the library and am getting much inspiration from, is 'Pure Style Home & Garden', it offers stylish and practical ideas for furnishing, and living in your space. The book is ultimately about pairing down, trying to live with less clutter, recycling and with the idea being, the less 'things' we have to fuss about, the more we can get on with living.  

    

There is still so much to do here, at Home Sweet home, the '6 month project' never happened and I still have many a bare plaster wall! At least the 'bare plaster' vintage-y, unfinished look is becoming quite fashionable. Well, that's my excuse ;) In a way I am lucky that my ever evolving home isn't show homey looking, and definitely has a 'lived in' look - so I guess I'm practically half way there to bringing it back to its natural state which is a good thing. The book is certainly lighting up my desire to get back in touch with nature and introduce an uncluttered feel to my home. The photography also, is delightful.

 Oh, how I would love this beautiful forties cooker taking pride of place in my kitchen!

I adore the look of this kitchen and the blue and white striped cotton roller towel used for the chair covers and runner, is, in my opinion so effective.

 I am definitely going to have a go at painting old food tins to hold kitchen utensils and love this idea. Many a time I have searched in shops for pretty little storage pots, yet now realise I can get wonderful results from recycling the likes of my old baked bean, and tomato cans. You could even paint them to coordinate with the kitchen colours.

 The instructions for this little project, taken from the book are:

1. Remove the lids with the type of tin/can opener that takes off the entire lid, leaving a clean edge on the can and no lip.

2. Wash the empty cans in hot soapy water to remove the labels. If any glue remains, gently sand with a fine grade sandpaper. Sand the top rim to take off the sharp edge.

3. Apply 2 coats of eggshell paint, inside and out.   

Such a simple idea, and what better way to use up those old cans. You could also keep them unfinished and pop pretty little plants and flowers in them too!

When it comes to old furniture, I love to get my paintbrush out. Why buy brand new when you can give a quick lick of paint to a piece of vintage furniture for a unique, re loved look. I have often picked up chairs like these shown in the book for only a couple of pounds from various junk/charity shops.

Making a simple slip cover too can give a wonderful new look! Having this particular Cath Kidston fabric I can now see how super it would look and has certainly given me an idea or two.

It can just be a small item requiring a makeover, for example I was really pleased with how these wooden magazine racks came out after I gave them a quick lick of paint a while ago, and lined their bases with pretty wallpaper. They looked rather uninspiring before hand and may well have ended up in a tip. I paid around £1.50 each for them and now in my opinion look really pretty.

So, never underestimate the power of a paintbrush ;) 

When it comes to the dinning area, I can definitely be accused of making things a little too, errr, well frilly. This simple, uncluttered calm dinning space looks beautifully inviting. I can imagine loved ones, chattering away, eating simple home made food. (I'll try to shut out the reality of the food mess my 7 year old would make of the white linen table cloth)

 

As for my 'work in progress' bedroom - anything would be a calmer space than what I have already! I'm not going to go there -suffice to say my bedroom is currently working as a junk room - with no bed to talk of in it! Like I say I'm not going there ;) New doors are on order and to create light we've gone for panels of glass set in the door and I'm deffo going to use this idea - I have a pack or two of those lace-y curtains which are quite popular from Ikea. I bought them yonks ago - though have never been used. Now I know perfectly where they shall go. So pretty behind the door!

This bedroom also looks very inviting. Makes me want to just dive on in!

The book also touches on the garden and offers ideas for a simple, stylish outdoor space and how to make the very best of what outdoor area you have.

It also offers project instructions, eg how to make simple roman blinds, or to make a loose cover for a sofa, and many other project ideas. Its been my best friend book for many cosy nights curled up on the sofa. 

All there is to do now, is sort out this clutter of mine and get the bin bags out, see what hasn't been used or hasn't made me smile for a while and it can go! Perhaps it's because I'm getting older, but I'm just finding it more time consuming looking after clutter, I don't want to spend my time polishing the trinkets or moving around the ornaments. I don't think I could go all minimal living and it is all about getting a balance - but feel I'll have a sense of invigoration challenging myself to bring things back to basics. Hopefully I'll fall in love with my home all over again :)

I think I'll need lots of luck for the de cluttering that lays ahead - I feel I may be some time ;)

X

(Photographs courtesy of the book Pure Style Home & Garden)