Saturday night in the den

Weekends BC ( BEFORE CHILDREN!) for me use to be, a quick nip around the shops on a Saturday to buy an outfit for that night... a bit of a soak in the bath, my whole beauty regime.. then a few drinks to get me relaxed ..jump in a taxi with friends and out we'd go were we would dance till dawn,

how times have changed... this weekend we made a huge den in the living room..watched movies all afternoon with the kids..

and once they were in bed.. me and the hubby stayed in it with wine and snacks and watched Wayne's world!!!

please note that vintage and floral fabrics were used though .. mummy has to keep some order !!

pale and interesting

now I'm not talking about myself!!.. ( at one point during "the sunbed years" my mum actually commented on how i looked like a carrot!) i let the Nivea false tan do the talking for me on that one!!

no I'm talking about my hallway...

the lovely Sadie from the lovely Cotton Rose blog was talking about painting her hallway Gustavan grey.. now this time last year i was having the same conversation with my hubby..i really wanted to paint our hallway grey .. and have accents of red.. - i think the country homes and interiors of December featured a Swedish house so i instantly wanted that look!!

anyway i did a post here

http://charl-prettyvintage.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-hard-can-it-be.html

about how many different types of grey there actually was.. there were very blue tones and then almost brown tones... i wanted more of a white tinge to mine..

now because our hallway is narrow.. and then the stair well is very high it would have looked to depressing if it was very dark grey.. so i thought id opt for the paler end of the spectrum..

i didn't want it to look to cold either and because i don't have any plug sockets in the hallway there would be no chance i could have a lamp to soften the light.. big light all the way here girls!!

i put a period style wallpaper (from Wilkinson's of all places.. they don't do it any more..gutted actually because it was lovely and only about £6 a roll..) under neath the dado rail.. which i just painted bright white.. and then i finally opted for a dulux colour mix called Quartz Flint 6

i picked the palest of the colours because i thought on a big scale it would look darker than the tester squares i had painted on....it didn't!!

it is very pale , it is almost white.. i have tried to pick out the grey with the little cupboard on the wall which i painted a darker grey...

and the pewter of my mirror.. but to be honest i think after a year i could probably go a shade darker now!!!

so the problem now is to go for Quartz Flint 5 or 4 or a different make all together..

defo need to get a new carpet the one we have is absolutely wreaked its full of coffee stains, black unidentified marks and paint !!..i have seen one which is striped in tones of grey... think i will have to start selling on eBay again to get some pennies for it!!

FRIDAYS FROCKS

After the dreariness of this month and then the bursts of sunshine that we've had alongside it .. i thought i would use as this weeks Fridays frock my sunshine dress!!

i actually tried it on for a laugh when out charity shop hunting with my sister... it was a funny length ..not maxi nor midi just a funny ol length and because of the bright colours it did look rather amusing on me..

but there was a part of me that quite liked this funny old dress and as it was tres cheapo i would buy it anyways..

so i got my mum to cut and hem it to just under my knee and because it is slightly a-line in shape.. although it doesn't show that in the pics.. its rather nice on !

it always makes me smile this dress..( and probably makes everyone else laugh !)..if you're having a bit of a grey day you just cant once you put this ray of sunshine on!!

i love the scarf that came with it.. it makes it feel like it is a quality item aswell..although the fringe is looking like its in need of a tidy up!

i put this with a vintage Jaeger dark green jacket that's part of a suit my sister gave me.. which she bought from a charity shop...

and then my little cute shoe boots from primark.. which look shiny and a bit tacky in the pics but they more of a dull red.. i love the tassells on the back of these.

just one quilt

well i bought a quilt cover from the flea market in the summer for something silly like 50p!!

had a funny musty smell so gave it a wash .. and then cut it up to use as material for my doors in the welsh dresser...

still seemed to be quite a lot of material left so just put it back with my fabric stash and basically forgot about it!

then we got this cupboard didn't we off freecycle beginning of December


..which we put in the bathroom... it went in the corner were my washing basket had been..

this was then rehoused in our bedroom...but you know what i know it was only a little thing but it really did my head in!!.. i hated feeling like my dirty washing was on show in our room!!..

couldn't find anywhere to put the basket it just had its natural corner in the bathroom but that was now taken... so i knew it had to go!

decided to make some laundry bags..one for us and one for the boys room..did have some fabric but just thought it would be to nice to use for the purpose of smelly socks and dirty school jumpers!..

so i found the old quilt cover and because its gingham on one side and floral on the other it was perfect for both the boys room and ours...

so Ive made pretty big bags because i constantly have the washing machine on and yet theres still always washing.. is it like that in your house??

and you know what .. i still have quite a bit left .. i think its like a magical bit of material that just keeps returning to size when its cut!!..

***thanks for your messages from yesterdays post... the bubs is feeling a lot better than he was.. still full of cold and snuffles but we are just keeping his temperature down and basically trying to get him to chill on the sofa!..hes getting back to his dramatic little self anyways.. the arm against the wall with head in arms in a favourite one of his, usually followed by the words " no mummy!" so i take that as a sign to him getting better!!**

shades of grey

well Ive been feeling as grey as the flowers in my hallway this week!!

something that Ive not been able to shake off as quickly as i usually do when i feel low..

but then last night the baby was really poorly.. he was sick in his bed ... was absolutely red hot.. temp sky high.. his body was shaking.. very wheezy chest which is his weakness it was all very very frightening.. so it was a dash to the hospital again.. me making tearful phone calls to my sister convinced he had swine flu . ..

anyways they gave us antibiotics and paracetamol so that we can keep his temp down

today he isn't as bad.. he is still quite warm but no were near the furnace like temperatures he had last night.. * and why is it children wait until late at night be become really unwell ..when they've been running round all day fine !?? *

so from this i have realised that what Ive been feeling low and depressed about is really not as important as my family are to me.. that my family should come first in my life and not let situations get in the way that i cant do anything about but just concentrate on bringing up our boys the best that we can..

so Ive decided that yes life can seem very grey at times but what do you see when you look at my jacket here..



the red stand outs doesn't it... that's what I'm going to do..I'm going to focus on the brightness in our lives !

FRIDAYS FROCKS

Well its a bit late in the day but Ive been mad busy today so it will have to be more of a Friday nearly Saturday frocks!!

first off is this gorgeous skirt that i bought from the charity shop for £2.99...

its a wrap around with the most gorgeous detailing .. the skirt is almost in layers but still with a pattern underneath the layers.. lovely!

sorry for the strange lying down shot.. but i couldn't think of a way of photographing the top and skirt together other than me wearing it and i don't want to put you off your tea!!

i put it with a orange v neck jumper from marks and spencers but i bought from the charity shop for 99p...with a black vest from primark for £1.99 underneath to preserve modesty and keep me warm to!!

a bronze very long beaded necklace from charity shop for 50p..

black brogues from primark via ebay for £7.50

topped off with my very bright pink vintage coat from charity shop £5.99

i love how the pink brings out the pink in the skirt

oo would also wear thick black tights with this outfit to..i do have orange tights but i think i may look like a liquorice allsort with the pink coat as well!!

i love this outfit.. its practical for the winter because you can layer it up but its nice and bright and girly to!!!

how are your Friday frocks going girls !!??

Love Letters

saw this today in B&M's ( which i have to say is fast becoming my fave shop of all time!!) they had it in a choice of Love, Home or Dream... individual letters all ready and pretty waiting to be hung up on the wall ..

i picked Home..

i may go back for "Dream" .. for my bedroom... is it really fair on the hubby though??! .. i seem to be turning our house into a house decorated by a 14 yr old!!..

i seem to be developing a love for all things wordy.. I'm going to have to be careful though aren't i .. i don't want to go overboard and our house become like a living scrabble board!!!.. here's a few things around the house that are of the word variety!!

Roses, Hens and Knees

well that's quite a combination isn't it..roses and hens.. don't always go together you would say.. well not in the pretty vintage household.. there is a place for all !!

just thought id show you some pretties that i picked up from the charity shops today...

first off .. i got a little set consisting of a little face towel, flannel

and lovely dressing gown
... brand new .. tied up with a lovely red ribbon ( which has gone into the stash!) but obviously just been brought in as it was in a bin bag with other things by the till .. i just stuck my hand in when i saw the rose pattern and hoped that it actually wasn't someones shopping!..
isn't the trim lovely, why wouldn't someone want this!!


then i saw this cushion.. it practically sums up the theme of my house... hearts.. roses and love... it still had the label on .. so again brand new.. from Past Times so think for a £1 i got my self right bargain there didn't i!

this lovely little candle holder was hiding behind a bit of tat.. i thought it was only right that i gave it a little home.. so now its found a little home sitting on my miniature cake stand on my fireplace.. so sweet...

right that was the roses.now on to the hens!!

the hubby's gran so my gran in law!!.. bought me this egg holder.. well egg holders i should say.. little ceramic holders and i think you put the toast at the side of them when setting the table for breakfast!!..


I'm keeping it high enough for the children not to be able to reach it yet as i would like it to stay in one piece for now!!
also this spoon holder.. with the little hen design on it..


and finally.. my mum come round for breakfast on Saturday ( even though we ended up eating it about 1.30!!) and brought a tin of biscuits from Marks & Spencers..now its shortbread and for some very mad reason i cant eat shortbread as it gives me real bad headaches.. crazy i know but she knew i would like the tin so the hubby has demolished the shortbread and i have been just looking at the tin...

i love the man in the kilt with his knees all bony on show.. and the little Scottie dog.. so sweet.. again this is another tin to add to my collection !! ( how many collections is a girl allowed!!)


so thank you aswell for your suggestions for my baking spree.. please keep them coming!!!

help me fill these

i have been asked to hold a coffee morning in three weeks.. i have done it before and have really enjoyed it...but i seem to have lost my baking mojo over the past few weeks and i really need to get it back!

i have done the usual coconut loaf and Victoria sponge on previous occasions but this time i really fancy doing new things ( but nothing to hard!!)

i tend to think of cupcake as something for children but I'm sure there are some lovely adulty ( is that a word !) versions of these as well...


- my mum bought me this cake stand the other day.. its just begging to be filled with pretty cakes isnt it !!

could you help me.. could you give me any ideas or your fave cake recipes that would enable me to fill up my cake stands and cake plates and help me on my road to becoming a domestic goddess haha!!!