FRIDAYS FROCKS

i thought that this year i would start a little series on a Friday called Fridays Frocks!!

here I'll be showing you my fave thrifty clothes buys from the week.. i kinda lost my clothes mojo for a while and really wasn't interested in it.. i sort of lost my identity for a bit of who i was and what my style was..

Ive now realised that its vintage all the way with a bit of Primark thrown in!!..

wearing more vintage clothes also de-creases your chances of wearing the same outfit as someone else .. that's my worst nightmare...making an effort and then someone else turning up in the same outfit as you!

and i have to admit ..price does come into it as well i would much rather pay £4.99 for a lovely bit of quality than topshop/Zara prices that when it boils down to it isnt always that good quality or well made anyways!!

i have always been hated being told what to do..so when i read the fashion mags and they tell you that the new way to wear a belt is looped so suddenly everyone is wearing their belts looped ...it really winds me up.. i would prefer not to be in fashion and just wear what i like because i like it not because Ive been told i should like it.. ( hey check me out getting all debate like!!)

So anyway here goes.. this is the first of the Friday frocks... its my latest buy from that incredibly addictive online shopping store.. EBAY!!!..

so its a knee length brown and grey floral dress.. on a white cord background £4.99 -eBay

its so flattering on as it nips in at the waist and just falls on the knee so covers up me bumps but shows off me pins which arnt bad really!!

put with my charity shop Marks and Spencer's cord one button jacket £5.99

and Topshop brown peep toe platforms - eBay 99p

so there you have it .. the very first Friday frock..

why don't you join in .. on a Friday showcase your fave frock or top maybe even a fave pair of jeans ..its fun to be different !!!

Normal Service to Resume Shortly

well its been a lovely past few weeks.. however my oldest boy is back at school tomorrow and the little bubble that we've been living in has to come to an end!!

so its normal service from tomorrow

no more sitting in our pjs watching cbeebies on the computer while eating our breakfast..
instead of at the dining table with no distractions!

no more mummy sitting in her pjs for most of the day reading gossipy mags

no more drinking endless cups of coffee and digging into the biscuit tin through out the day!!

no more eating handfuls of dolly mixtures every time we go into the kitchen ( again mummy!!)

and no more endless cheese and cracker midnight snacks with a large glass of rose always as a side accompaniment!! ..



its early to bed now the school run beckons again!!!..

i know we do need routine in our lives and the fact that some of the days did blend into one another so it could have become boring in the end if it carried on..but it has been so lovely having lots of snuggly days in our pjs and eating whatever we wanted.. but its everything in moderation i know.. now Ive got to get back on a bit of a diet wagon if i don't want to end up looking like a sumo wrestler!

so from tomorrow its back to packed lunches.. ironed school uniforms.. sensible meal times and a dollop of self control!!!

oh well Ive still got a few more hours to go ..think I'll just make myself one more gin and tonic!!!

Red White and Blue

red white and blue.. no I'm not talking about the American flag!!.. i thought id show you my new buys from IKEA from the other day...

oo i do love that place.. the hubby hates it.. with a passion.. his eyes glaze over from the minute we go through the doors.. and by the time we get to the lighting section he is practically dying!!...

i however could walk around it..go and have a coffee and then have another walk around it but because he is the driver... that ain't never going to happen is it now!!

i was in need of some candles so we went for a "quick"! look round were not only did i go candle crazy but kind of kept to a theme in terms of colour.. this wasn't meant to happen but i loved how my trolley looked!!

here's the little lot all together ..just as we got back in from our shopping trip.. i like how it matches my oilcloth on my dining table as well !!

picked up these lovely two packs of paper napkins.. you can never have enough napkins that's what i say.. and i think they'll come in very handy for a mini makeover of a tiny set of drawers Ive had for ages !!

some red and white lanterns .. we hung them up in the window as i love candle light against glass and i thought it looked quite Swedish in style .. ( OK maybe it doesn't but I'm going through a love affair with all things Nordic at the minute!!)

a new cosy red throw to snuggle up in on these cold nights..

some lovely red candles.. they smell lovely as well .

a close up of my new tray.. this was a complete bargain i thought £2.99 for a lovely big enamel tray..i wish i d bought a few now.. ( ahh shucks will have to go back !!) .. the edging is very pretty isn't it...

here it is in full.. with some chunky tea light holders that we bought as well ..

we got a coffee table .. now Ive been after a coffee table for ages for my front room but was always a bit nervous about sharp corners and my boys running and banging heads on them and things.. you know how it is!!.. but this is quite safe and although its a little modern for my tastes i like the fact its got that handy little shelf underneath and its quite solid even though its one of their cheapo designs.. so if it does get bashed about by the boys I'm not going to cry about it!!.. think it needs a little table runner and a nice little jug of flowers and some nice books.. ( honestly i can clutter just about anything cant i !!)

here's the window candles lit.. nice and cosy

i love this planter... once the candles have burnt themselves out .. i shall put some nice herbs in here buy until then i think it looks nice with the candles in!
and finally some more tins ... to add to my tin collection ( which i wasn't aware i had until i came home with these and didn't actually have anywere to put them at first as there was no space!!) i love the navy blue of them on my pale blue dresser and with the touch of red of the lantern next to them.. so bright and cheery..

so there you have it... a nice star spangled end to the year !!

brrr its cold!!

theres no getting away from it...its just to cold for words!!
it really is sooo cold that our kitchen has become like a walk in fridge.. the only time Ive been in there is to boil the kettle for warm drinks!!

every were you look though people are talking about the weather..the news was practically full of weather reports... yes we know its cold.. wrap up or stay indoors.that's my advice!!!

so just thought id show you a few new additions to the house..that are actually indeed new.not from a charity shop but a real life shop!!!
have i come into money.....no me dears.. its good old wilkos and B&M's ..i love these shops so much .. i find myself browsing around them even though I'm not going to buy anything..some of it can be pure tat.but then there is really lovely things !!



here are my lovely grey blooms from wilkos.. a pound a piece !!

oh these are from eBay actually !!

but they were bought because i had just bought this lovely little Home coat peg holder from B&Ms.. and in my previous post i talked about loving the packaging things come in.. well this came in a blue and pink polka dot box...how could i not buy it!!
some little rose pictures from Home and Bargains..

and does this look familiar.. doesn't Laura Ashley sell these signs for about £10.. this was £1.99 from B&Ms .. my sister got it in the blue .. which is identical to the Laura Ashley one but i had to have it in the pink !!
i had forgotten i even had these two little heart pictures in the red frames.. until i was looking for something in a drawer and came across them.. they are from ikea and i think we got the pack of cards that the pics came last year sometime and the frames probably before then.. i was made up when i found them.. especially as i had just bought this picture

which i love but it needed somthing along side it !!... this was from wilkinsons.. i Love anything that says LOVE on it though!!

sorry for the fuzziness ..its not my eyes i think its the light when I was taking the picture!!!

and then what do you do when you get a bit bored.. you wrap some fairy lights round your banister and then stand and admire them.. honestly do you think i need to get a life or what!!.. i just love fairy lights they make me feel happy!!
anyways ..ive lit a ton of candles and it is true candles do make you feel warmer so im off to read my book and enjoy the candle light!!

keep warm

xx

What time is it??

Its ten past snow!!



i know the snow can be a real pain but i do love how pretty it makes everything look!!

Floral Magpie

the hubby calls me a magpie. but my thing isn't silver or gold.. its flowery or polka dots!!.. i think I'm able to spot something in floral packaging from about 600 paces!!..

he says i swoop in on all things pretty.. i think i do..

yesterday was a fine example!!.. had to go to the job centre to sign on.. ( which is the biggest waste of time, all very tick box procedure for them.. not actually helping me to find a job mind.. anyways !!) and the job centre for were i live is based in a hideous shopping centre.. think lots of people walking round in tracksuits smelling of pasties.. lots of prams and people with no teeth.. it really is the most vilest place on earth and i do try not to go there if i can help it..

however i had a quick snoop round the shops while i was there .. just having a look round Home & Bargains, which is full of all sorts when my eyes locked onto this box.. just sitting on its own on top of another box.. it had all the right packaging.. pink...flowery and the words vintage.. !!!

it immediately caught my eye and then when i looked at it properly and saw the picture on the front... i knew i was going to buy it!!!

and all for the grand price of £3.99...
i mean how cheap is that, its so pretty..


look at the lovely floral pattern.. very Miss Kidston dont you think.. but without the ridiculous price tag ( bitter me??!!... hmmm yes!)



Ive been after a new cake stand for a while since the boys smashed my last one but all the ones i was looking for on ebay were to expensive so i thought id just wait for the sales.. don't need to now do i !!.. or i spose i could and buy another one anyway..is that greedy!

so all it needs now is some gorgeous fancy cakes to go on it for me to get through while I'm reading a book and cosied up on the sofa... don't know when that's going to happen though !!

freecycle strikes again

ahoy there...!!

feel like Ive not posted in ages and ages.. i have had things to talk about but i think because Ive been sooo cold Ive just ran out of motivation !!

anyway i thought i better get into gear because the oldest boy breaks up on Friday so theres no way I'll get that much of a chance to blog with the whirlwind around!!

just thought id show you my newest freecycle finds..honestly Ive had some good stuff from it. but these do really come at the top of me list i think!!

in the summer when i knew i was being made redundant i said to the hubby that i really wanted to get a new cooker with some of the money i got.. but then because money does actually burn a hole in our pockets we ended up buying other things ( really should have put it in a savings account but that would be what sensible people did!!) like hiring camper vans for the weekend.. or going out for tea twice a week you know that type of thing!!

anyways we really did need a new cooker though as ours was battered.. but it wasn't meant to be..until one fine morning when i opened up my emails and there was an offer of a cooker.. didn't really read the post properly just replied and asked if we could have it..

we got it... and the cooker that we got was exactly the same as the one i had wanted all along!!!!!!!

a big ol silver range cooker.. can you believe that!!..

anyways we had to get a little converter kit as it had been converted to a different type of gas ( didn't realise there was more than one me self!) and then get a friend of the hubby's to install it and check it wasn't going to blow the house up.. but all is fine.

here she is !.. we just need to stick some tiles alongside the existing ones as they were obviously only the width of our previous little cooker we were offered the hood as well but our kitchen is quite small and i thought the huge silver hood might be a bit much in there!!

so because the cooker was bigger than what we had before we had to have a shift around with the cupboards to make space.. i was looking through one of my old country homes and interiors mags and something just jumped out at me on the page.. someone had Incorporated their welsh dresser into their kitchen cupboards..i asked the hubby if we could do that.. he looked at me with that weary glazed look he gets from time to time when it comes to me and diy.. but worked it out and reckoned it would work

we took the retro cupboard off the wall that never held that much inside just junk and did a bit of banging and knocking and measuring and voila.. i now have my dresser from this post.....

http://charl-prettyvintage.blogspot.com/2010/09/dresser-makeoverdone.html

now in my kitchen!!

it has meant that the freezer is now under the stairs in the pantry and he had to build me a wine rack from the old kitchen cupboard which still needs painting but i feel like i have my very own country kitchen at last!!!

a dresser and a range cooker in a 1970s extension of a terraced house!!!!


.. i make myself laugh actually!

it has made a difference though the room feels a lot wider now the big cupboard has come off the wall .. it really is in need of a paint now and hole filling were the cupboard was but i have tried to take pics were you couldn't see that bit!!

anyway on to my next freecycle find.. lately i have been trying to make some money by finding cheaper bits of furniture .. making them over and putting them on Ebay.. so when someone posted that they had a sideboard to offer i thought ooh yes I'll get this ..give it the pretty vintage treatment and make a quick bob... until the lady sent me the picture of it and i thought..that's going no were but my house!!

well the hubby and the bro in law went to pick it up in the snow.. ( don't think they were best pleased with me on this occasion!!) brought it home and it was HUGE!!... i thought i would pop it in the alcove were the dresser had lived in the living room but it was far to big.. after trying not to look to much at the hubby as he asked if i had asked for any measurements at all.. i had a light bulb moment.. the bathroom!!..

it could act as a sort of wash stand and a towel cupboard all in one!!

so up they took it ..it is very heavy oh dear!..

this was Friday evening .. Saturday morning i was up with the birds... sanding and painting.. dedicated or just plain freakish ..you decide!!

anyways its mostly done..


I'm going to sand the top down to make it a lot lighter so you can see the gorgeous detail around the mirror..

there was a bit of beading lost off the door in transportation but just adds to the shabby effect me thinks!!

so what went in the space were the dresser was originally then.. i hear you ask!!

the cupboard that had been in the bathroom holding my towels!!..
the hubby took out the glass shelves as they were pretty lethal.. made some new shelves from mdf and then i gave them a slap of paint!!
I'm still figuring out how to dress this cupboard this is a work in progress!! but it fits the space just right!!

I think this house will never stop moving round!!