A Bit Of Stickybeaking For Di …………

When I showed you my lounge area a few weeks back, Di wondered if the rest of the lounge/kitchen/dining area would also be up for a bit of stickybeaking too, well, Di this is for you!This is how it all started out, with cream carpet, with vinyl flooring in the kitchen area, poles over the windows. a very curious bit of shelving to the side of the sink (where the microwave went, I think),  an integral washer dryer hidden behind a cupboard door and a spotlight fitting on the ceiling.

The first thing I had done was to get the whole area painted from white to calico with white glossing. The carpet and vinyl were ripped out and oak flooring laid along the whole length of the room. A rose chandelier, the same as in the lounge area was fitted, as were two cream linen effect blinds on inside of the window to add depth to the wall. I also bought a tall fridge freezer for the kitchen.

The very first pieces of furniture I decided to buy were two white Ikea Hemnes glass door cabinets with drawers. I thought if two could fit between the two windows in the room, I could then work the rest of the room round them, they would be the focal part of the dining area, drawing the eye away from the less glamorous kitchen area. If I measured the space once, I measured it a hundred times, by my calculations I would just have a touch over 5cms from the edge of the window sills on either side, it was close, but they fit, perfectly, I was sooooooooo chuffed.

And it goes without saying that the plain, dull brown knobs were quickly replaced with shiny, sparkly ones from Home Bargains at £3.99 for a box of four.

Next followed an Ikea Bjursta/Borge table and chair set in oak finish.  I chose that design because the table extends to accommodate eight people. It originally came with four chairs but after a week or so I quickly realised I could really do with another two for entertaining, fortunately, when not in use all the chairs still fit neatly under the unextended table, with no floor lost. The chairs have removable, washable, pale cream covers, but I also bought a spare set of sand coloured ones, just to be on the safe side, what with having baby fingers around!!!!!

The empty space above the sink was filled by fitting three kitchen cupboard units (without the doors) onto the wall, to provide much needed storage and a little display space.  And last, but not least, a smaller, more modern mixer tap was fitted over the sink. 

As I showed in my previous post, the drop leg table that I use for working at fits beautifully under the window, between the glass cabinet and the end kitchen cupboard, without any lose to floor space when down.

It’s all but finished, but not quite satisfied, after Christmas I have decided to have the space between the work surfaces and cupboards tiled, in the plainest, as near to calico coloured tiles as I can find, rather than leaving it just painted. 

I also think I might like to exchange the gas hob for an electric one and the integral electric oven may also go as it makes a terrible racket when it’s on and I really wouldn’t trust it to anything like a delicate cake!

There’s also a space under the boiler which seems a bit of a waste,  however I think that would take a lot of imagination and then some ingenuity to work out  what could be done there, so I might have to live with it for a while yet until inspiration strikes. 

I had an idea that I would like a quirky sort of cuckoo clock in the kitchen, sadly the clock doesn’t cuck, but the design is exactly what I had in my head.  It’s an Allen Designs Fly Bird Clock and was a sort of present …..  I never buy anything online now without checking TopCashBack or Quidco to see if I can get any cashback on an order, and as it happened I had just received £20 cashback on my house contents insurance, well, it was a no brainer what I would put it towards. I had to shop around as the prices of the clock varied greatly from £33, which is what I paid, up to £53, so it also pays to shop around as well as “do” cash back, because in the end it only cost me £13.

I had never heard of Allen Designs before looking, but now I am a fan, there is a clock for anyone who likes quirky, but a clock in every room might look a bit on the obsessive side, so I will have to stop at just one!

Oh My Goodness …….

It seems that I have robins nesting in my kitchen …….
…… and spring has already sprung amongst my festive baubled branches

A Blast Front The Past

When I saw this original Sizzix Machine, still in almost perfect box for just £4.99, I was almost tempted to buy it!

It bought back so many memories of Alan and Barry on Create and Craft when I first to take crafting seriously, and this was beyond my wildest dreams and budget!  Those were the days of Mendala stamps, peels offs and Pink Pig heat guns, oh my goodness me how times have changed!  I wonder if it’s regarded as an antique now?

Stickybeaking In My Festive Boudoir

When I first moved in, my boudoir had a huge mirrored wardrobe on the wall where the bed is now.  It was bloody ugly, and despite agreeing to buy it as a fixture/fitting, it just had to go! 

Again, the walls of the room were changed from white to calico, and the cream carpet ripped out in favour of a wooden oak floor.  I put a sheer blind on the inside of the window and a cream linen effect one over that on the outside of the window  frame. Both bedrooms are at the front of the flat so having sheer blinds fitted were a necessity for privacy. 

The chandelier was the only light fitting I bought with me.  I did bring my beloved, vintage bedframe, but again, as soon as it was put together it was obvious that it had seen better days and just wasn’t right, so it too, like so many other things, bit the dust! I then had a long wall to fill, I could have gone to Ikea, but my brain must have started to get ‘addled and it was too complicated for me to work out, so I called a local carpenter and he designed and built me my beautiful wardrobes and drawer unit. 

I knew I wanted shaker style, in matt white, and Pete Vale came up with exactly what I wanted.  I was so pleased he is now doing some compartment shelving in my spare/guest room in the New Year.  I have had to wait for both jobs but he is worth it!  The large mirror over the drawers was originally on the chimney breast in my lounge in Wolverhampton, it survived the cull, although I didn’t have a clue where it would go, but  when I saw how it “mirrored” the lines of the wardrobes perfectly, it was a keeper.

The bed is from the Ikea Hemnes range, as is bedside drawer unit.  Unfortunately there wasn’t enough room to have a set of drawers on both sides of the bed which is what I originally wanted, so I bided my time for a while, before deciding that an Ikea Billy bookcase would make an excellent substitute. I liked it because it was deep and taller than average, offering me even more storage, I don’t think you can ever have enough.

 

The room is cool, calming and very relaxing, nothing shouts at you, but I can then go OTT with a variety of  brightly coloured bedding and cushions that change the look and mood of the room completely. I think the festive Nordic style bedding has made it look another degree cooler.

I have changed the look of the open photo frame on the wall, usually it has photo’s and souvenirs of my visit to the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, but for Christmas I have swopped them for glittery wooden snowflakes and reindeer heads.

I’ve also added a couple of reindeer and wooden tags to the bedhead, ceramic Christmas trees from Tiger on the window sill, red tealight glasses on the drawers, some little Santa’s on the bookcase shelves and some holly here and there, I love a theme!  And then, after Christmas it will look completely different again!

On the drawers I have some mirrored drawers and glass boxes, presents from Marc, and a charity shop find in the form of an Eiffel Tower, for, I think, hanging jewellry, found in the Salvation Army Shop for £1.99.

At the moment  it’s adorned with some of Marc’s decorative pins and a few mini picture frames I’ve made.  I not sure it will be a permanent fixture, it might find it’s way into the spare room yet, but for now I love it where it is.

Have a WONDERFUL Day

Guest Christmas Crafter – My Auntie Beth

There has been a video going round on Facebook demonstrating how to make a Christmas wreath using a pool noodle and my Auntie Beth had a go, with fantastic results …….

https://www.facebook.com/Hometalk/videos/1600223349995215/?pnref=story

……. only she didn’t have a pool noodle so used bubble wrap instead, ingenious! She rolled a length of bubble wrap to make the circle base, using string to tie it in sections to keep it all together. Next came more tying when she fastened an assortment of baubles and other festive ornaments to the ring. The final flourish and piece de résistance was created by wrapping a red feather boa and a length of green tinsel round and in between the baubles, hiding the bubble wrap in the process and pinning it in position.  Simples!

I didn’t have time to make one myself this year, however, I am considering having a go for Easter.  In the US they make door wreaths for every occasions, so I might even have a go at a Halloween one too, so watch this space …… my eyes are now firmly peeled for a cheap supply of pot pool noodles.

Two Snowmen Matchbox Christmas Tree Decorations

Two snowmen Christmas tree decoration today using matchboxes from a pack of 8 from The Works (£1) The matchbox measures 5cm x 3.5cm, just enough to put in a small chocolate or perhaps some Christmas money.

The snowman on the first box came from a set from from Hobbycraft, but I believe they are now out of stock online, originally they cosy £1.50 for a pack of 9.

The other larger snowman was from a box of small wooden tags/decorations from The Works (sorry no link)  The Christmas sentiment down the side of the box is cut from a roll of Washi tape from Dovecrafts North Pole range (bought from The Works £2).

The matchboxes are both lined with the same paper as on the outside.

 

I punched a hole in the top of the box and threaded through a hanger using striped red bakers twine and matching red wooden bead. A tiny amount of faux stitching using a black fine liner pen finishes off the box.

My Little Wooden Mice and Christmas Fairy Door.

I found these little wooden mice at the Wolverhampton Christmas market the last time I went “home”. They only cost £1.25 each, well, at that price it would have been rude not to have bought just a couple!

And I knew exactly what I was going to do with one of them at least ………

He was sent climbing up the wall next to the lounge, I though it would be something cute for Bertie and Iris to look for when they come over………..

…… like my fairy door, which is “hidden” behind my storytelling chair ….

….. and all dressed up for Christmas, I even have got a tiny cheese board ready for Santa when he visits on Christmas Eve!  I really do need to go out more!

The other mouse is currently sat sitting on the bedhead in the spare bedroom, but I think when the room is finally sorted out in the New Year ,he might just find a new home, if I can find a suitable “house” for him to live in!

Another Reindeer Matchbox Christmas Tree Decoration

Another reindeer Christmas tree decoration using a matchbox from a pack of 8 from The Works (£1) The matchbox measures 5cm x 3.5cm, just enough to put in a small chocolate or perhaps some Christmas money.

This time the reindeer head comes from Hobbycraft, and already came with the faux stitching would you believe.  All I have added was a red flat backed gem for his nose, two very small, black, domed stickers on the eyes, and a bit of a body in the background using a scrap of brown paper.  I have looked for a link on HobbyCraft, but can’t find them on their website, so they may no longer be available. They originally cost £2 for 6.

The Christmas sentiment down the side of the box is cut from a roll of Washi tape from Dovecrafts North Pole range (bought from The Works £2).

The matchbox is lined with the same paper as on the outside. 

I punched a hole in the top of the box and threaded through a hanger using striped red bakers twine and matching red wooden bead. A tiny amount of faux stitching using a black fine liner pen finishes off the box.