Wednesday's Whatnots!

Hello my lovelies! Today's post is a jumble of everything and 'whatnot' as the saying goes. And, it will probably become a little institution here at 'Every Little Vintage Thing'. So, from here on, Wednesdays will be marked as 'Wednesday's Whatnots'! So, to kick us off, a post of what I've been up to lately......

Celebrating a friend's birthday....Madhatter's style!

At the weekend we traveled down to what is known as the 'garden of England', the beautiful countryside of Kent, where we visited dear friends who had invited us to a Madhatter's tea party. We were asked to wear hats or something whimsical.......so right up my street then, hey? Pink tights and blue shoes it is then!

 I found a wonderful tutorial for making Madhatter's hats at De Su Mama, using lidded paper coffee cups. The idea is to cover the cups in fabric, and then to embellish them with ribbons, buttons or whatever tickles your fancy. I used sticky backed felt instead, which was so easy and quick to use, and a lot less messy! Felt is also very forgiving, and looks seamless. Instead of using the lids for the rim of the hat as the tutorial suggests, I then cut the bottom (rim)  for the hat from cereal boxes, and covered with the felt. I found the lids bumpy and flimsy, and I wanted slightly wider rims for my hats. After attaching the rims and embellishments with a glue gun, I made teeny holes in the rim and added party hat elastic. Voila! 

Our hostess went through a lot of trouble to create the perfect Madhatter's tea party! A lot of fun was had by all!

And then there was a little painting...

I have been threatening to paint the fire surround for years! I am not a fan of orange pine, and it simply had to go. I tried out a chalk paint by 'Authentico', and I was pleased as punch with the results. It gives great coverage, is all natural and easy to use. It also dries super quick, so is a blessing for impatient people like me who hates sitting around watching paint dry! I am planning to paint a desk next!

My next little (actually, it's not so little!) project, is a bedroom makeover for my daughter's birthday...It will involve copious amounts of paint, wallpaper paste and sewing till I'm indigo blue in the face! I will keep you posted! Till next time chooks!

Blessings,

First Post: Taking the plunge!

Here goes...the very first blog post! I have been dipping my toes into a pool of writer's ink over the last few weeks, only to quickly withdraw them in hesitance due to cold feet! Yip, I have been blogging for a long time now, but this is a new little venture for me, and I have been toiling over the content of the first post for so long now, it's given me a case of writer's block! I keep typing a few sentences, only to mentally rip up the page in order to propel it into the waste basket! I feel a little nervous, like at the start of a football match, anxiously awaiting the sound of the whistle to give me that push to boot the ball into the air! So, there is only one thing for it...Stop dipping my toes hesitantly, take a deep breath, and knees to chest  just water bomb right in!

So, I'll kick off with some colour...pink and aqua!

Summer is upon us, and everything feels lighter and brighter. The urge to bathe everything in pastel prettiness has taken over, so I've spent the weekend repainting a little old cupboard in the master bedroom a very light pink, 'Love Note' by Dulux. Yip, no Mrs. Sloan here today, but only because I thought I'd put the two sample pots I already had to use! I have been threatening to take the paint brush to it for years...six years to be exact! I really don't know why it has taken me so long to do it. I am very happy with the results.  Once I'd given it a good lashing of chalky loveliness, I distressed it...I like things a little shabby! With a few favourite treasures tucked up inside, it's been given a new lease of life!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

After doing that, I figured I needed to give the very dull bedside table lamp a little zing, so drawing on my favourite colour combo of pink and aqua, I attached a little ribbon and a few buttons to the shade. It looks a little more cheery now!

My appetite for creative pursuits had been properly wet at this point, so I decided to reach for a felting needle! I had attempted making a felted mouse some time ago, but when it looked like nothing but a lump of cellulite, I quickly abandoned the roving and discarded the lumpy mouse to the back of the cupboard! But, today I thought I'd give it another bash! Ahem...several bashings to my thumb with the felting needle later, I'm quite pleased with how he turned out! Not perfect, but a mouse nonetheless!

So, let's take some notes. If there is a lesson to be learned from this, here it is...Do not procrastinate, do not give up. When in doubt, take a leap of faith, and write that first post, paint that little old cupboard, felt that first mouse. For today is here, now. Tomorrow? Well, nobody knows what tomorrow will bring.
Seize the day. Here is to more happy, productive and proactive hours!

Blessings,