radiator curtains (as opposed to cabinets)

Last December, my living-room looked like this. 

Then for a while it looked like this, after I stencilled the walls.

As a trial for my Impossibilities Challenge, I put up two floating shelves, one on each side.

In May, the old geezer finally put up the other two shelves over the radiators for me. 

(We don't like to hurry things around here !)

I had visions of building radiator cabinets underneath the shelves,

but the wood has warped, so we are going to see what happens when we

put the rads on, in the winter.

For now I have made burlap curtains !

They are a bit more see-through than I would have liked, but I could line them I guess.

I am not quite sure why I can't take a straight photo, I rarely drink alcohol. 

I think my house is wonky !

With stuff on the mantle as well, it's looking rather overcrowded in the photos, but 

sitting here, it all looks lovely to me. A minimalist I am not.

I finally have the perfect place for my lightbulb light. The cord tucks down the back.

I haven't caulked the shelves in case they do warp.

I rescued the basket from the garden.

Driftwood from the beach.

I really liked my beachy mantle, so when I removed it, I put some things under this large cloche.

I still have a beast of a tv (it's looking hopeful, that we may soon get a replacement)

and

I love the fact that in the next holiday season, I now have loads of places to display

 more shit stuff.

linking up with

Tuesdays Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm

Cowgirl Up @ The Farmhouse Porch

Knick of Time Tuesdays @ Knick of Time

What's It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

Primp Your Stuff Wednesdays @ {Primp}
All Star Block Party @ Full Circle Creations

Open House Party @ No Minimalist Here

Pot Pourri Friday @ 2805

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground
Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer

Sunday Showcase Party @ Under The Table and Dreaming

 

 

pillow talk

When is a pillow not a pillow - when it's a cushion !
Well that's what we call them in the UK. The ones you lay your head on at night, they're pillows.

Cushions are the decorative ones that we all love but which men generally think are unnecessary. Whatever you call them, I am sure 'what do ya want another one of those for', is a phrase we have all heard many times over.

Anyway, I have selective hearing - I made another one !

I used the linen tablemat in the bottom left of this photo.

I attached it to a remnant of burlap style fabric left over from my Pass It On Project, and I really like the way it turned out.

It took about 3 hours to make. I put another piece of fabric behind the burlap to strengthen it. I attached the central section with bondaweb, and then stitched over the embroidered sections every centimetre or so, to hold it in place.

I made some piping from the same fabric and was quite pleased with myself, until I saw that Carol from Art and Sand had made beautiful white slip covers for a whole sofa and a chair. They look amazing, just pop over and see. I don't think I'd ever have enough patience to do that much sewing.

Anyway, I backed my cushion with the same Laura Ashley fabric that I used for the pelmet over the window, and although that fabric is nice, the piping hides it from the front, which I like.

I also fixed up and finished off the other cushion, that sits on the chair. I re-inforced the holes where the eyelets pulled out, with more bondaweb (which I've had stashed away for about 20 years !).

I also used bondaweb to stick the 'welcome' panel on. I decided I preferred it to the plainer version.

I put the cushion pad back in and tied the ribbons again

Not bad, for the cost of a £3 tablemat from my nearest charity shop.

If you've been here before, you may have noticed that the bed cover is missing. That's because my dear darling diddy dog decided to leave me a little present, when he couldn't keep his breakfast down one morning, and I was out. It's in the wash !

linking up with - 

Tuesdays Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm

Cowgirl Up @ The Farmhouse Porch

Knick of Time Tuesdays @ Knick of Time

What's It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

Primp Your Stuff Wednesdays @ {Primp}
All Star Block Party @ Full Circle Creations

Inspiration Friday @ At the Picket Fence

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Air Your Laundry (Friday Textile Party) @ Freckled Laundry

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground
Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer

Sunday Showcase Party @ Under The Table and Dreaming

my 'Pass It On' gifts

You can find out about The Pass it On Project here. You gift a couple of things to other bloggers, and they keep one and give the other to a friend. Then, they pass on the blogger gratitude by sending two gifts each, to any of their own blogger friends, and so it goes on.

The bloggers I chose, Danielle at Silver Pennies and Maureen at It's All Connected have received their gifts, so now I can reveal what I made.

It took me ages to come up with the idea. I kept thinking of framing beach junk, but I felt that I wanted to create something that could be used.

I was looking around my studio and was suddenly inspired by this.

A bag for twine that I bought in a friends shop, years ago.

I bought some balls of twine, an eyelet kit, some toggles and some fabric. It was called 'scrim', but I guess it's similar to burlap. Anyway, it was close to the original.

I looked in my trunk of material for some contrast fabric and found some blue silk (Danielle loves blue) and a piece of fabric with Spode's Blue Italian pattern printed on it (Maureen likes Willow pattern china). I used to sell Spode china years ago, and I must have had a piece to make a tablecloth.  

In the end I just used the blue and white fabric because it looked so effective.

I really liked the selvage, so I was able to use it on the front of the bag.

I cut out some pieces for the front, that are from the edging pattern of Blue Italian, not the scene.

I had to unpick the stitching of whatever had been made before. I frayed the edges, and just used the eyelets to hold them in place (also, the tighter weave of the cotton, would hopefully make the eyelets stronger).

Putting in eyelets is THE best fun. Using a heavy duty hammer is always a pleasure - lol - and I feel many more projects with eyelets coming up in the future !

The toggles I bought wouldn't actually go through the eyelets (clever me, huh !), and anyway, they were plastic so I discarded them. I couldn't find any tiny wooden toggles or even long beads to fit, so was struggling for a few days.

I had a lightbulb moment in a shop - why not use driftwood.

I had to break up a piece and sand the edges and then glue them onto the string.  The glue is a little bit visible, but it couldn't really be helped, and I think they look really cute.

The string is attached to the inside of the back of the bag. It is knotted at the top to make a loop for hanging, and then the other end is attached to the toggle, so that the bag sits neatly when hung.

You then put a ball of twine in the bag and feed the end through the other hole (I think the picture above is the one where I got hammer-happy and bashed the eyelet too much. Luckily I made 5 bags, for just such an eventuality !).

So, thanks once again to Natalie  for passing on some wonderful gifts to me, which you can read about here. And also to Karah at The Space Between for the original idea. I'm now looking forward to seeing what Maureen and Danielle come up with !

probably linking up with some parties soon !

linking up with

Motivate me Monday @ Keeping it Simple

Take-a-look-Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts

Cowgirl Up @ The Farmhouse Porch

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

Link Party Thursday @ Somewhat Simple

Inspiration Friday @ At the Picket Fence

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Air Your Laundry (Friday Textile Party) @ Freckled Laundry

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Showoff Saturday @ Nutmeg Place

Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer

Sunday Showcase Party @ Under The Table and Dreaming