The Most Beautiful Dishcloth In The World....

My goodness, where has the time gone, it only seems like yesterday I was here telling you all about my pretty drawers ;0) Thank you so much for the lovely feedback, I was even approached to see if I would like to tart up future pieces of furniture and sell locally in a beautiful shop so have been very flattered. My next piece shall be an original Art Deco bureau, though am procrastinating on that one a little, just so much on my to do list.........

My gorgeous Miss. Poppins for a while had been telling me that she was working on something very special for me at school in a club she was in. I was very excited to know what it was and she gave me a hint or two, that I would be very proud and perhaps it had a craft element to it....she certainly got me very intrigued. Well I was indeed overwhelmed with proudness when this is what she brought home for me....the MOST BEAUTIFUL dish cloth in the world, hand knitted all by herself, with the superb guidance of a lovely knitting expert at the school.

Isn't it a beauty :0) Not only is my 9 year old daughter a better speller than me, she seemingly is also a better knitter too....I am so very proud of her achievement....

I just can't stop looking at it....

It is so soft and a beautiful oatmeal colour, and I just love it!! And shall it be used as its intended purpose, a dishcloth. No, not on your nelly. It shall be framed as a piece of fine art :0)

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The Chest Of Drawers Makeover....

If you remember my post here I was eagerly awaiting getting on with this makeover. It was on an already quite nice chest of drawers that were heading off to the the skip by a lovely friend. Luckily she knows me really well and thought that I may have use for them. As I have so much *stuff* and LOTS of pretty fabric that need nice storage homes, I couldn't resist taking it off her hands and thanked her very much. Anyway I can be somewhat of a procrastinator when it comes to my shabby chic makeovers ( I have a garage filled with many an item awaiting some, tlc. ) Though, I seemed to really want to get on with this one, and I knew straight away how I was going to prettify them....

 Ingredients I used:

* Cath Kidston wallpaper in Antique Rose ( I used more than I wanted to, more about that later )
* Homebase own branded satin wood paint in Contemporary, I love my Farrow & Ball paints but wanted to keeps costs as low as possible
* Primer paint ( urrrr in my books that would be a bog standard white emulsion )
* A little sanding paper
* Watered down PVA glue ( Varnish can also be used but as I had PVA glue in the house and watered down it works in my opinion just as well as a matt varnish )
* Wallpaper paste and brush

So, I gave the drawers a little sand, and a quick coat of emulsion and I know I should have done the top coat too before the wallpaper, but I just couldn't wait to get the pretty floral wallpaper on, so thought I would paint the top coats after the wallpapering.

So I mixed my wallpaper paste following the instuctions on the packet ( kind of ) let it settle a little in its bucket, and then began working out my pattern layout for the drawers. Hmmmm, I think out of everything this was the hardest part...I actually had to think....I knew I wanted the sides of the drawers doing and also the front of the drawers, though as there is a little bevel edge to the drawers, I didn't want to get fussed about wrapping paper over, mitres and sticking and all that, so thought the wallpaper would look pretty enough on just the front and sides. Being somewhat of a fussy lady and perfectionist, I wanted the paper to hang correctly at the front as it would on a wall and that the pattern would follow suit....So I used a sharp craft knife to cut out my pieces of wallpaper and then pasted them onto the two sides and the drawers, going vertically, as if wallpapering a wall....

Wrong move....I do not like joins showing in things, it really bugs me, and although I love wallpaper, and we are aiming to have at least one wall papered in every room, I do fuss over these butt joins and do my best not to make them be seen. Ohooo my goodness ( apologies don't have a photograph ) but by the time I had done all four drawers and had a good look...the join where I had pasted the two lengths of wallpaper did not make me smile. I was not happy. Luckily I didn't have to think too long as along came someone ( the husband ). He basically explained that rather than running the paper top to bottom, I should have pasted the wallpaper on the drawers horizontally, going left to right. *Clever Clogs* So all my hard work in joing the wallpaper up and pasting went in the bin....Mr. Poppins kindly did all the measurements and cutting out this second time and then was left with four long pieces that when placed together did actually from a pattern, albeit horizontally, left to right. Clever husband I have.

So on I got pasting the wallpaper ( again) and the drawer fronts ( again ) and was much happier, no join, and even the pattern follows on each drawer. I than waited a day or so and with the use of masking tape, painted the top coat, and popped some very watered down pva glue all over the chest of drawers, and am very, very happy with my new shabby chic drawers. I may re touch the top coat here and there but for now I think they look just fine....

I gave the lovely followers of my Facebook page a little peeky and my little makeover seems to have gone down really well,  hopefully I may have inspired others to have a go which is lovely and makes me very happy. Very flatteringly I was also asked "How much" ;0)  Please excuse the flooring etc, photographs taken in a room we are busy decorating.

Hope I may have inspired you to get your furniture awaiting a makeover out, and give it a little TLC....

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Lisa Childs Piano Book....

A while ago we were very fortunate as a family to have been kindly given a beautiful and treasured piano by some dear relatives. She really is very sweet, and occassionally, as well as Miss. Poppins and Master P, who also loves playing it, I myself have a little tinker and play some of the olde tunes I learnt from school. Well alright, they can't really be called tunes, and I am a VERY basic player it has to be said, though my daughter does seem to have a natural flair for playing. We had toyed with the idea of piano lessons ( which can be very pricey ) so when I was emailed to see if I would find any use for reveiwing a piano book I jumped at the chance.

Now, this is no ordinary piano book, Oh no. Firstly it is pink, a sure fire winner in my book :0) It is a Lisa Child's Piano Book which are available to buy here and had me drawn in just by the pretty cover.

There are four books in total in the programe, and we were sent the beginner book, book 1. Each of the four piano books takes pupils through a logical learning process. It is great fun and very easy. It is a quick, fun, teaching guide and enables children as young as 3 years of age, or even up to people in their 80s to learn to play the piano. Yay! That is my whole family then, and there is never a wrong time to start learning with the Lisa Childs method and you can enjoy making music straight away. It is very easy to follow and stickers are involved, which made my children very happy.

As music is for all of us to enjoy, I like that this method can also be taught by parents and children as young as Master P ( 4) and who are very eager to learn to try out new things, and aim to please. This idea of teaching has seen many children taken their Associated Board Grade 1 examination by the age of 6 or 7, so is obviously doing something right. The book we have been sent normally takes an average of 6-8 weeks  before progression onto book 2. We have been learning with this book for about 3/4 weeks, so a little time to go but I have been amazed at the results, especially from Miss. Poppins ( age 9 ) who seems to have really grasped it, and is now teaching me all about staves and clefs.....

You never know she may make a pianist out of me yet....

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