Dresser makeover........done!!

here's the big heavy lump before!!!!


and here's the lovely pretty after!!


well i have to say I'm quite pleased with my new dresser... i am usually miss slapdash and throw the paint on but i did try better this time and be a bit more respectful of the piece!!

here it is with the undercoat on.. now me being sooo clever thought it was best to do it outside as i usually make so much mess.. but it got damp so the undercoat went a bit funny !!

and here she is in her pale sage glory!!

to be honest i cant get over how pale the paint was. it certainly wasn't that colour on the tin it was a darker shade, it was only a Homebase own brand and was quite thin paint so wasn't the best, I'll know for next time..

now at the minute my singer sewing machine is stuck in front. i need to find a spot for her as shes been made redundant from the dining room, there is only so much furniture you can take before your house looks like a junk shop don't you think!!

so as i had the paint brushes out i got the hubby to bring from his works warehouse a fireplace that Ive had for a good few years that id got from freecycle.. it was rotten .. covered in what looked like wallpaper and was black with dust.. not nice!


since Ive bought the floral sofa from Ikea the room just hasn't felt right.. i knew it needed a fireplace but the hubby said he really couldn't be bothered knocking holes in walls etc to fit a fireplace..now i knew we didn't need to do this!!..

we had a little electric stove in our under stairs cupboard that we haven't used for ages. so i brought this out and it was a perfect fit !!

i found a tin of Farrow and Balls Clunch among my other paints and used this to paint over that nasty brown wood.. and here we have a new fireplace!

we were going to get a hearth for it but because the space is pretty limited i thought it might look a bit bulky so we're leaving it for now..

Ive changed the way the mirror hangs normally and turned it round so it goes across the wall .. I'm going to paint that as well as its a bit to silver for me but I'll do that another time now!

Ive also been able to get out my little vintage linen runner Ive never really had a home for this until now and i think it looks lovely on the fireplace ( also handy for hiding any bits Ive missed!)

i love this room now it feels so cosy and defo a winter hangout!!!

and that mantlepiece is now crying out for me to fill it with goodies!!!

Vintage Rally

well the sun was shining brightly over us today, we had the kids in our room at silly o'clock and so after having a few cups of coffee to wake ourselves up, a quick read of the paper we got ready and headed to a vintage rally that is in the next town to us..

we went to it last year as well i talked about it here

http://charl-prettyvintage.blogspot.com/2009/09/im-back-from-outta-space.html

it was a lovely morning.. the sky was so blue it would have been a waste to be indoors.. chilly though.brrr, in the shade .. can defo feel the winter clothes making an appearance now!!

it was pretty much the same this year as it was last, but i saw this gorgeous little caravan this time around..


it looked so cosy all decked out.. the only trouble is you cant get in and have a little sit in them, just have to look adoringly at them !!

we loved this red car. i don't even know what it was called.. but i could just picture me in it.. headscarf on huge sunglasses and applying my red lipstick in the mirror.!!



although it was our oldest boy who was looking in the mirror this time!..

i loved this little red car it was called a babcock electric, love that basket on the back.

and i had to take a picture of the advert that went with it.. if you had this car you were obviously a " contented woman!!".

loved this old van.. or was it an ambulance.. not to sure but it was pretty all the same with its curves!

anyway we came back for lunch and then i got started on the sanding of the dresser.. only the top of the cupboard part though.. oh my arms are aching now though.. why on earth did people think dark stain was actually nice and so applied gallons of it!!!

here it is at the minute then.. think I'll put a clear varnish over this to protect the wood and to give it a nice sheen!!


hopefully I'll get a bit more done on this over the next few days so I'll have something nice to show you !!!

so you sold a dresser to buy a ...

so you sold a dresser to buy another dresser!??.. that will be the question i will face when people see my new purchase!!

sorry for the quality of the pics.. the house is so dark today i cant seem to get a good pic of it!!

yes i sold my little dresser because id had enough of it .. i felt like it had become a little bit twee and although i love shabby chic and vintage style I'm not a twee person!!..

i had seen this linen cupboard in ikea and loved it.. this was the cupboard for me i thought.. a bit shabby chic in style, i would be able to display my pretties still and i loved the colour!

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00180548

yesterday me and the hubby who had the day off took a trip over to the flea market and were just having a little mooch.. when i saw this welsh dresser just stuck next to some old bits of tat..

my first thought was i could buy it, paint it and then sell it on make a few bob as it were.. but then just thought how i couldnt be bothered with the hassle of it all.. then as we did a few more turns



around the market i thought i might actually like it for me !!

you see the space that has been left by the previous dresser had been trouble.. i kept thinking that red might be to much for me to take and with having a red armchair it might end up looking like red overload.. and i could see this dresser already made over in my head.. so i went back had another look at it and managed to knock a fiver off it ( I'm a skint flint arnt i!!?) so it came to the grand total of £20.. yes that's right.. £20..what an absolute bargain hey..

i also thought this was more likely to withstand the day to day life of little boys bashing into it and not look a complete wreak within a month like the ikea cabinet would probably end up looking like!!!

i cant wait to get the paint brush out and also get all my pretties back out from storage again..

the only trouble is this dresser is slightly bigger than the last one so I'm going to have to buy more things to fill it up with oh what a shame hey!!!

it is a little bit bleak looking at the moment. .i find that dark wood so depressing.. i feel like I'm in a pub or something when i look at it.. now I'm thinking ...cream or pale green what do you think ???

By accident...but I like it!!!

since Ive sold my dresser that held all my little china bits n bobs.. Ive had to just store it all anywere i had some space until i get the cupboard i really want!!.. ( this saving up buisness does take time doesnt it. .especially when you have to use what you've saved up with to pay a pesky bill or somthing!!)

well i didn't really want my china posies that were on my dresser going under my bed or in the kitchen cupboard as i knew that as soon as little fingers got hold of them it would be bang and smash and that would be it !!! ( we already had a smashing little lamp episode at 7am this morning!)

so i just plonked them on my mantelpiece didn't even think about were i was putting them and as i was just sitting there on the sofa facing them i realised how nice they look !!!

normally the mantelpiece is all cream and white and a bit of glass but no colour but i love the colours of the flowers all together, now I'm not sure if i shall keep them on here because I'm not sure how long they will last in one piece but we'll see!!

also a friend sent us a thank you card and i think the green on the card just works lovely against the little green heart and the green china posy!!.

sometimes i can spend ages trying to make something look nice and i don't like the end result and then like now sometimes i just stick it down with the intention to move it later on and voila i actually quite like it !!

now you would think i had tons of time on my hands wouldn't you with the way im wittering on .. should actually be out of the door picking oldest boy from school as he finishes soon.. honestly i cant get used to this school run lark yet haha!!

Another day, another shelf !!

our house seems to be made up of shelves!!.. theres a shelf of some description in virtually every room!!..

when we bought the book cases for the boys room they had a couple of floating shelves on the walls that came down, so one went into the attic and the other one has been put up in the ( new!) dining room .. the hubby was on a half day yesterday so i let him relax until after teatime and then i made him get the spirit level and drill out!! ( Task master me... hmm yes i think i probably am!!)

at the minute its just got two sweetie jars, two tureens and some little jugs .. it does look a bit bare but i was just seeing how much i could put up there without it looking crowded.. i think a bit more could go up couldn't it.. and i defo needs some fairy lights strung across!!

because its an old house and none of the walls are straight.. even though its completely straight it looks like its on a slope.. madness .. this really is the house that jack built!

after dropping the boy off at school.. ( full days from tomorrow.. YAY!!) i walked into town and bought this pair of lovely plates,

not sure if I'm going to put them up on the wall or use them for serving food..we'll see!

these lovely heart shaped candles..

the box was battered which i think is why they were only 40p!

and this book.. remember the frog song with Paul McCartney... well here's the book to go along with it.!!!

its really mad because me and the hubs were putting on all sorts of different random songs on You Tube the other night and we put this song on!!..

its even got the words and musical notes at the back, so we'll be in for a sing song later! !!!

right well I'll have to brave the elements in a minute and pick the boy up ..honestly these half days at school are a right pain. .whats wrong with just sticking them in and letting them get on with it.. !!!!

The day my house turned into an Ikea warehouse!!!

we decided to go to ikea last week and buy up half of it!!!. we used the remainder of the paltry redundancy money i received and bought a few things!..

first up is my new dining table and chairs..



do you remember what i had previously??.. it was my lovely big farmhouse table and bench..

me and the hubby loved this but it was so impractical..


you would think having a fab big ol table would make for fantastic family meals.. and it did when we had big numbers round but when it was just the four of us the kids just wouldn't sit at it.. they would be running up and down the bench my heart was always in my mouth thinking they were going to fall off and bang their heads!.. it ended up really getting on my nerves so i thought a round table would be much better and the new table does extend so when we have company we just make it bigger
i will miss the table and the bright chairs that always made me smile!!..

but the new one has proved better the children already are getting better at sitting at the table .. breakfasts were a nightmare but that's getting better to.. oh super nanny will be made up with me!!

i have put it in the smaller room next to the kitchen as well as i wanted to make a proper separate dining room away from the temptation of the tv being so close to them..

so at last i feel that this room has a proper purpose instead of me just adding more and more furniture to the room and never being happy!!

so I'm sure you are wondering what has gone into the space that was left by the table and bench arnt you!!.. well wait for it..... if your afraid of florals look away now!!........

i bought this extremely flowery and rather large sofa!!

honestly we had been going back forth to ikea for a few weeks to have look atit and i can tell you it did not look that big!!

Saturday morning after the hubby had put it together the first words out of my mouth were "i don't like it!".. hubbys first words were "tough!" i think I'm not sure of it because of having the other sofa in the other room so i now feel like im living in a DFS showroom being surrounded by sofas!!!

also i ended up selling my Miss Twee welsh dresser over the weekend ( eek guilt and regret have started to make a little appearance here!!) so Ive had to pack away all my china and pretty bits until Ive saved up enough to buy a cabinet Ive seen so the room feels quite bare and the skanky walls full of holes are now emphasised!!

so i think once the rooms had a good old paint and all my pretties are back out it wont feel so much like a dirty great big sofa has been plonked in the middle of my living room!!

well heres hoping !!!

we decided to buy the boys new beds as well . we picked these because they are also extendable so grow with them as it were.. the decision was made for us as i was woken up about 4am by the baby who had climbed out of his cot and come into see us..that's a bit dangerous isn't it.. him climbing out of cots and going for walks round the house..so we thought a bed and a baby gate on the top of the stairs was needed.. its so mad though my baby actually sleeping a bed.. ( hes not a baby is he at 2 yrs old i know but he'll always be my baby!!)


i would have liked to get the white versions of these beds but i thought id have to appeal to the more manly black colour and considering its an all boys household and they are surrounded by flowers and pink every were they do need a bit of boy colours somewhere!!!

and we got two of the expedit smaller bookcases to store their toys .. they have boxes for under their beds with all the little bitty toys in like cars and little figures but they can put their books on here and the larger toys.. i love the bright colours they are just so cheery arnt they!!

MMMmmm Yummy!!

MMmm now whats in this pretty cake tin i wonder.. er could it be cake!!!..

found a great recipe before on the good food website..
chocolate and vanilla marble cake..

now bear with me on this .. my 4 year old was helping me so the marble effect is not so marbley!!.. and i think my cake tin was to large so it didn't rise as much but instead was more of a marble slab..but hey ho these things happen ..

see how its been destroyed though by the hubby and boys who say its deeeeelicious (their words not mind!) so it cant be to bad!!!

and i got to use my new oven glove that i bought from B&M's the other day its so sweet!!!

Ingredients
225 g butter, at room temperature
225 g caster sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
225 g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
50 ml milk
50 g cocoa powder, sifted
Conversion Calculator
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Butter and flour the sides of a 20cm cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.

2. Cream the butter in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer until soft. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

3. Whisk the eggs and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Gradually add the eggs to the butter mixture, beating all the time. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in gently to mix, then add the milk and mix gently to combine.

4. Tip half of the cake mixture into another large bowl and, into this bowl, fold in the sifted cocoa powder.

5. Place the cake mixtures into the prepared tin by alternating spoonfuls of the vanilla batter with the chocolate batter, then with a skewer or similar implement, gently draw swirls through the cake mixture to ‘marblise’ it. Don’t overmix or you won’t have that wonderful marble effect. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

6. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack and allow to cool before serving.

perhaps if you have a go at making this you could send me your piccies of it so I know how it is suppose to look like!!!

Happy Campers

well having seen how gorgeous the weather had turned out this week we decided to take our tent and pitch it up for the first time this year. ( yes we are the only people who decide to start camping at the end of the summer.. go figure!!) so along with the sister and her family we headed for Anglesey to a lovely site called St Davids Park.. it has its own private beach as well which was what sealed the deal for us..

so Friday came.. oldest boy has just started school so was on half days.. after picking him up we stuck everything in the car.. the kids were sat on all sorts. you couldn't see out of the back of the car haha..



( pic of a packed in child!)


first we got stuck in traffic.. then the kids were starving ( and i think the hubby was to) so it was a stop off at mr maccy d's, we finally got there and found our pitches.. on the overflow field.. sounds gross doesn't it. but we were actually up on a hill that overlooked every were the view was fantastic.. how beautiful is that.. what a fab spot we had



there were a few family's already pitched up but we had the pick of the land it was stunning..

now it came to put the tents up .. hmmm well lets just say an hour later the menfolk were still figuring out how to put them up.. in their defence it was the first time they'd put them up so we'll let them off.. me and the sis took the children down to the park to play.. we were hoping to have a large chilled gin and tonic at this point but id left my purse in the car.. doh!..

anyway the tents were finally set up.. it was now pitch black. we thought we would have a big bag of fish and chips so off we went to get some chips.. hmm all the chippy's were shut you could now sense my mood cant you.. all i wanted to do was get into bed !!

we found a spar shop that never seemed to shut which saved us.. we had ready cooked chickens.. freshly done..with crusty bread , wine for the girls cider for the boys and juice for the kids. and we were finally settled..

i was freezing!!!!!!!....

i did get to use the new vintage sleeping bag that id bought from the charity shop.. it just looks so pretty doesn't it ..

Saturday came and we woke to beautiful sunshine.. the hamper had all our plates and cups so bacon butties and hot coffee was made for us all

here's the hubby making our bacon butties.. you just cant beat that combo can you.. outdoors and a bacon butty!!

.then it was down to the beach with our chairs, wind breakers, children's tent, suntan lotion, buckets and spades and rubber boat.. we really were prepared for the beach this time..

the sun went in and it started to rain about 3o'clock...!!!!!!!!

off to the showers were the cleaning lady through a fit at us for daring to want to use the showers that she'd just cleaned.. ( am i mistaken in thinking that its her job to clean the showers and our right to use them!!??)...

we went and got fish and chips.. they were worth waiting for .. gorgeous..

big black clouds above us we decided to pack up.. as the tents were taken down the rain came so we knew we'd made the right decision ..

as we drove off the site.. the rain clouds disappeared and blue sky and sun came out to play...

pic of the rainbow that emerged .. mocking us !!!

we finally got home, packed the already sleeping children to bed.. and i had a nice hot bath and a glass of wine,

would we go again.. of course..i really enjoyed it !!

A Tale of Two Dressers

meet my new dresser.. i got it into my head for a few months that i really wanted a bigger dresser and i was going to paint it blue..

well i kept looking on ebay and even put a wanted ad on freecycle for one. cheeky aint i!!.. anyways i just couldn't get one at all.. the ones that i liked on eBay i kept getting out bid or were just to far away.. so i never thought id get one..

then i happened to be reading an email off my sister when BLUE WELSH DRESSER leapt off the screen at me!!.. a woman that we both know was selling hers and her daughter had asked my sister if she knew anyone who would be interested.. did she ever know !!..

so i never even had to go to the trouble of painting it.. as its the perfect shade of pale blue .. Ive changed the curtains in the doors to a dark blue check..before they were a creamy linen but to be honest they looked dirty..

but I'm very happy with it.. and i love all my little trinkets and bits on.. this is the dumping ground of furniture though as everything ends up on it.. but secretly I'm happy about this as i love the idea of a central piece of furniture that holds all our family life.. you know cards, invitations, books etc.. so i don't mind..

now we come to miss twee!!.. when i first got this dresser i just loved it.. i was so pleased with the little makeover i did on her .. and have since filled her up with all things floral.. but i am starting to fall a little bit out of love with her so have decided to sell her on.. I'll probably regret it the minute it leaves the front door but that's how it goes i suppose!!..



the only trouble is i have all my little bits and bobs to try and rehouse and the cupboard underneath is full of all my drinking glasses so i have these really good ideas about selling things but then its finding homes for everything.. honestly the hubby really does need an MBE or something for living with me and my whims!!!

so are any of you a whim'stastic like myself or are you all pretty comfortable with the furniture that you have!!!

a mix of the old and new

since Ive been AWOL for a few months i have picked up a few lovely little things, i just thought id show you some of them because they are rather pretty!!

some have come from charity shops,car boot sales and the flea market..a real mix but generally what the whole of my house is made up of!!

i got this huge bunch of fake flowers from the carboot for £1.50, now i tend to find fake flowers quite expensive these days so i thought this was a bit of a bargain.. they go lovely in my pale green jug and fill the window up quite nicely.. also I'm not worried when my little boys are climbing allover the window sill that they are going to tip water every were!!!

this is an ebay win.. its not a genuine.. its from NEXT originally.. i think they sell them for about £20 i got it for £8.. it has a proper ring though so every time it rings i do get a little bit excited honestly im such a saddo arnt i!!?

this pretty dish came from the carboot .. i think its a Past Times dish and its very pretty.. haven't yet found a home for this but I'm thinking it would make a nice jewellery holder..

i love love my little outside clock.. i have been after one of these for ages and ages but they were always a little bit out of my price range.. until i stepped into B&M's the other day and it was only £6.99..well im sorry i had to get it!!.. i love looking out of the french doors and seeing it.. just have to get some batteries now so it can actually tell the time!

i love this Gisella Graham tin heart i bought of ebay.. i love her stuff its so pretty this is on my bathroom cupboard and gets knocked off everyday the poor thing!!

just some more china mugs to add to the ever growing mug collection.. these were from the CO-OP no less .. lovely though arnt they..

loving my popcorn holders that came from this weeks carboot.. cant wait for us to snuggle down with a movie and get these holders filled with treats!!!..

i picked up this pretty plant pot and plant from HOMEBASE the other day.. the pics quite dark but its a lovely shade of blue.. i love looking at it when i walk past.. only trouble is i do have a tendency to act like the grim reaper when it comes to plants so we'll see how long it lasts!

i haggled for this mirror at the charity shop.. i dont know about you but do you find in certain ones the women in the shop give you the once over when you ask how something costs, i must look a bit rich as they always give me some ridiculous price that sounds like its come out of selfridges!!.. so this mirror started off as £10 and i ended up getting it down to £4..crazy!!

oh do you spot my KEEP CALM poster next to it.. i finally got one after wanting one for a few years.. i try to keep buy it but normally Ive got the kids in a headlock while I'm reading it !!

how gorgeous is this little jam pot.. 25p from the car boot, blue white and red is such a lovely colour combo isnt it.. just need a pretty little jam spoon to go with it now..

here is my new wooden bunting that is from East of India.. but i got it off ebay.. its soo cheerful and makes me smile everytime i walk past!!

two lovely jasmine plates, i had to give them a wash as they were sooo filthy but i just adore that buttery yellow colour.. i can imagine gorgeous sugary french fancies being served off these..MMMmmm!!!!!!!

oh heres my little bargain .... 25p for a caroline zoob jug.. she'd be furious if she knows people are selling off her wares at such cheap prices wont she haha.. i just bought it from the carboot sale becasue it was little and pretty.. when i got home and realised i couldnt believe it!!!

another little jug to add to the collection.. think i helped a cats home when i bought this!!

last but not least i bought this fantastic hamper yesterday it doesnt look very big but its huge!!..the minute i saw it i envisioned it being stuffed with balls of wool next to a cosy armchair by the fire.. only trouble is i cant knit and we dont have a fire.. never mind.. !!!!..

well there you have it.. a few little buys.. its amazing how many things you can accumulate over a few weeks isn't it. the problem with me is theres always something else i need to buy !!!