LITTLE BUTTON TALES

Ellies cushion x

My little niece Ellie turned 2 last week (where did that go!!) so i thought i'd make her a little cushion as she will soon be going into her own big bed. I did some simple hand embroidery and then thought i'd try a bit of freehand machine embroidery which i'd never really tried before - simple but really quick and effective. 

All was finished and going well when i decided to press the cushion - and then i did something really really stupid - i put the hot iron straight on top of the ric rac and nylon ribbon !!!!!!!!! Yes i know what you're thinking - they'll melt - and yes they did. What on earth possessed me to put the iron straight on top i'll never know (could blame it on the pregnancy hormones i suppose!!) however luckily the said melted pieces were at the side of the cushion so i added some extra buttons to cover up my silly silly mistake (yet another minor disaster covered up with buttons). Hoping you never encounter this little crafting moment of panic - happy sewing x

  

  

 
   

Vintage beauties x

It seems a little trivial to be writing this considering my last post however i'm sure we're all doing our own bit to help the poor people of Haiti --  so here goes.

Earlier this week when i spotted this little lovely vintage sewing box (complete with loads of embroidery threads and 3 wooden embroidery hoops) in a local charity shop for just £15!. I saw it, cooed over it, said to little Ava how lovely it was (despite her confused expression) and then put on my sensible head and walked out of the shop without buying it saying to myself "no i don't need it - i'm meant to be having a big spring clean". Then we went home had lunch and all the while this little voice kept saying "buy me, buy me or you'll regret it FOREVER !! And so like a possessed woman i grabbed the phone and called the shop hoping no one else had spotted this little beauty as i new if it had gone i would definitely have been kicking myself for a long long time.

Thankfully it was still there and in the blink of an eye i was back in the shop feeling pretty chuffed with myself as i handed over my cash. I managed to placate the other half (who really doesn't understand the thrill of finding such things) by saying that i really needed it for organizing my stuff and that i'll eventually sell it on (ahem little white lies never hurt!) which seemed to do the trick!

  

Some of my friends have found some wonderful vintage pieces at charity shops over the years and yet they seem to escape me - untill now - mind you i did find this great little table cloth before Christmas which gave my sister table cloth envy. 

Happy hunting x 

Help and Hope for Haiti

With our attentions focussed at the desperate plight in Haiti i'm sure we're all feeling we must try to do something to help no matter how small we feel our help can be. There are so many ways to donate money to help with Aid but one way which i would like to share with you if you have not yet seen is the by the wonderful Craft Hope  who have carried out many projects to help make a difference in the world. They have opened an Etsy shop where you can donate or buy handmade items with all proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders, so head over to Craft Hope to see how you can help x

Fun in the snow x

Now we all know how bad we are in the Uk dealing with the white stuff - we all seem to come to a stand still not exactly knowing what we should do - do we get out and grin and bear it or stay safe and warm inside like we're so often told to do!. Luckily the wonderful show has been around for a while now and has made us Brits - well -just get on with it ( as is how it should be and is how it is for so many people all over the world).

This weekend saw us thoroughly enjoying the snow with friends as we dusted off our sledges ( when was the last time they had a good airing!??) and headed for some hills. Luckily being skiers we all had the appropriate gear to keep toasty but i did have a little laugh to myself at those who were slipping and sliding in stilettos's (yes really), high heeled boots and little pumps with paper thin soles over the last few days - i'm well past that age of fashion before practicality (although i'm sure i've been that daft in the past). 

Luckily we had a lovely old wooden sledge of my dads however with sledges not being readily available in the UK any more in winter due to years of 'no snow' it was lovely to see so many wonderful, creative, wacky and crazy things people were using as make do sledges - house sale signs, metal boiler panels, blow up mattresses, chair seats, builders bags, kayaks, rugby scrum cushions, tea trays and rubber tyres, but the winner this weekend must go to a guy with a toilet seat - and boy did he go fast!. It was wonderful to see everyone young and old getting together and having so much fun enjoying a simple rare treat in this country and getting past the doom and gloom of the recent media coverage. 

We had been told that the show would be here for another week with a fresh fall today however the temperature seems to have risen and the 'big freeze' looks like its turning into the 'big thaw'. And so if we are coming towards the end of our wonderful and beautifully rare winter wonderland - well its been a blast and if you're reading this from your own snowy corner of the world - lucky you - i'm sure it has its downs but it sure has lots of wonderful ups. x