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!!!

FRIDAYS FROCKS

this weeks frock is another ebay purchase!!.. ( i promise that they aren't all going to be from ebay!)




it is pure vintage..even down to the lovely polyester feel on my skin!!

the hubby said i looked like a little elf when i wore it .. not sure if that's to do with my pointy ears or the festive colours on it!!

so i thought it was a very pretty dress and was delighted when i won the auction ..

i love the green and red together and the floral pattern on the skirt of the dress...

i wore it with my tan double breasted leather coat that i bought from the charity shop ..... when i was 17!! one of my winter staples and has been for years.. i think it is just growing with me!!

a necklace from Primark £2.50

bright red tights from new look £2.99

and some little heeled lace tan lace ups from the charity shop .... and were bought for me by my sister so were free!!

mid week mutterings

evening all....

well it was another miserable day today.. it was damp and grey and so depressing.. the upside was it almost felt like a heat wave compared to what we have had.. it was almost warm!!..

if the sun had been shining i would have been tempted to put my washing on the line!!

well anyways i felt so tired that i knew i had to get out of the house otherwise i would have wanted to go to sleep .. which would have been lovely if i didn't have a toddler running around the place. ( i do not remember having that much energy when i was a child !!)

so nipped along to the charity shops and picked up a few things.. there hasn't been anything worth buying for weeks.. i think everyone is holding on to their junk these days.. not so good for the likes of me .. who craves other peoples junk ( or tat.. as the hubby calls it!!)

spotted these lovelies after i had been looking at the shelf of brick a brack for ages.. you know when you just don't spot something even though its right there looking at you!..

i liked them because they are so faded.. they look like they've been well loved and used by children over the years.. ( also obviously not a full set..always a sign kids have been playing with them and either lost one or broke one... or both!!) but for £1.99 it doesn't really matter does it..

i love the expression on their faces ... so serious aren't they

now i do have another incomplete set of these Russian dolls .. that i bought from the car boot last year and i did have these in the living room but i thought it might look a bit much if i have two sets of Russian dolls in the same room don't you think -!!

so Ive popped these on our bedroom fireplace for now!!

picked up a Joanna Trollope book to have a read of..


i do like her.. one of my fave books is called second honeymoon and its by Joanna Trollope.. so I'm looking forward to starting this..

i bought this card to give as a thank you card to a friend.. i love the picture so much that i think i might go and buy it again and see if i can get it made bigger and hang it up in the hallway.. i love the ladies in their dresses.. I'm trying to think which one i would be !

i think my fave dress of them is the green stripe with the little scarf across the shoulders...

didn't get these today but a few weeks ago but forgot about them until i came to wipe down the tablecloth which is a piece of oilcloth and found that it had become permanently stained by tomato soup, Curry's etc.. so was looking pretty gross.. so i couldn't bear it and took it off the table.. only trouble is you only have to look at this table and its scratched or marked.. so regret buying it i can tell you.. anyways i need something for plates and cups to go on and i found these in the drawer.. these were from the charity shop brand new still in their packaging.. they are quite heavy .. i find that place mats are usually pretty flimsy and one wipe down they become soggy at the corners!!.. but these seem to be pretty robust..

i think they look pretty retro anyways and nice and fresh!!

oh and my brother finally dropped off some tea towels that he brought me the other week from good ol B&M's.. honestly i should be sponsored by that shop shouldn't i !!..

we had gone shopping my sister and i with our brother to help him get some pretty things for his house.. being a man he really hasn't got a clue..anyway we went to B&M'S and i saw these and told him he could buy me these for my trouble of helping him !!..
good job we are a close family isn't it!!

but i don't want to use them as they are just to pretty for words aren't they..



i wonder now how Cath Kidston can still be charging her over priced prices for her things when you can buy just as nice things for pence compared to her prices... suppose the quality is probably a bit better but not always hey..

Basket Case

I love a basket!!

i love the fact that they come in all shapes and sizes and for a quick tidy up you can just shove everything into them..thus regaining order in the house.. ( well until it comes to sort out said basket and then it takes you ages.. but hey ho!!)

anyways my mum had bought some baskets for herself the other week from the charity shop but when she got home realised that she really didn't have a home for them..but knew immediately the person who would find a home for them ( me.. that's who!)

so i became the new owners of these lovely white baskets.. complete with blue floral lining..

aren't they lovely.. the min i saw them i knew they would go on the top of the dresser in the dining room..

one of them holds all the kids crayons and pencils ( essential to be in a high place so i can try and control the drawing on walls, furniture situation!)

and then the bigger one holds all grown up treaty chocolate that I'm sure would make the children sick if they were to try any of it.. so its almost the same as keeping bleach and cleaning products away from them i think!!!

then today took a walk into town and found these baskets..

when i blogged about my ikea buys "bibbitybob" from the Le Monde Voit L'avenir en rose ( isn't that just a fabby name for a blog!) blog suggested i get some baskets for my coffee table which i thought was a really good idea.. not only would it "shabby chic!" up the somewhat modern design it would also be handy for organising things like remotes etc

thought i was going to have to go back to ikea and buy some of their little baskets but then i came across these today


so i was rather chuffed..

they have lovey china handles which i thought was a real pretty touch

and the pattern is rather pretty to on them

so Ive already started to find things to put in them..here's the remotes for the TV and the Wii ... these are always going missing so if i know there is a central place for them its much better than lifting the sofa every two minutes looking for lost remotes ( what happened to the good old days when you could just turn the TV on and the channel would just come on !!!)

and look at that.... they fit the space perfectly!!

i do have a few more baskets around the house but these tend to hold things like toilet rolls which i think i really do not have to blog about !!!

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!!!