I Can't Help Myself

Gosh, it seems aaaaages since I last posted.  So long, in fact, that I'm only just showing you my makes for the Felt Fairy's Monthly Make for April.

I was hoping to show you the top I started making here, however, this was not to be. If you remember, I bagged this fabric (amongst others) at a jumble sale and had found what was purported to be an "easy" pattern.

Bah!  They lied.  Easy?  I don't think so.

As this is my first foray into dress making, I came a cropper with the "yoke" and "facing" bit of the pattern. I've actually managed to sort it out but I've come to a temporary halt as there just aren't enough hours in the day to follow patterns, go to work, read blogs, stare into space, go on holiday etc etc. So, the sewing is on the back burner for the moment. I WILL nail this sewing malarky - although not just yet!

So what did I make?  I'll give you one guess! 

I've made more cushion covers!! Yes, MORE! I just can't help myself.

Firstly, using fabric that I bought at the jumble I mentioned above, I made these:

I also crocheted a cushion cover which is currently cosying up with the bonkers retro cushion cover that I made previously.

This is one side of it:

And this is the other side:

Both sides look slightly skewiff if you ask me but then that just adds to its charms (er hem).

On a final note, I'm planning on making a knitted patchwork blanket inspired by this picture that I stole from Kylie's fabulous blog, Lucy Violet Vintage

Isn't this one stunning blanket?

This was knitted by an Australian woman, Mrs Gertrude Pepperell, from odd balls of wool when she was in her 80s and virtually blind!  Blimey, I expect I'll be in my 80s by the time I'm done!

TTFN dear readers.

Small but Perfectly Formed

This isn't going to be a post about random nonsense.  (Me, post about random nonsense?  As if!).   It's Easter and I have an egg cup collection to show you.  What could be more topical than that, I ask you!

I started collecting  egg cups donkeys of years ago although it was a bit of a side line as my salt and pepper sets were my main passion.  Nevertheless, I've got a small,  but perfectly formed, collection for your delectation.

First up is Pinocchio.  Isn't he a stunner?  Bought from Rimini (Italy) in the 80s.

Side profile

Full on.

I bought this from Liberty in the 80s.  It's a Bordalo Pinheiro egg cup (Portuguese).  They make a lot of cabbage leaf pottery items.

This one is a wooden one from Russia.  I think it's quite old but for the life of me can't remember its history.  Some years ago now, Mr J and P and I were visiting our friends in Holland and they took us to a small museum in their home town.  I remember being shown round by a guide who pointed out the egg cup to us and I remember saying that I used to collect egg cups.  He then said I could have it!  How bizarre is that?  You wouldn't get the British Museum giving away its exhibits would you now?

Egg cups in the ubiquitous cottage design.

A policeman egg cup.  I wonder if it's PC Plod from Noddy fame.

1950s atomic egg cups.  A jumble sale buy of yesteryear.

I have to admit that they weren't my favourite egg cups but I've just seen this one for sale on an online vintage shop for £12!  Yes, that's one for £12 and I've got 4 of them!  Eeeeeek!  They've quite rapidly gone to the top of my tree (I've just made that saying up and I'm rather liking it).

£12 for this!

Well, dear readers, we're off to visit Grandpappy J and P for a few days so I'll love you and leave you and let Bunny and Chick have the last word....



HAPPY EASTER DEAR READERS!



You Win Some, You Lose Some

Well, peeps, I know that the suspense has been killing you all.  The voting has now closed for which character should be my new profile pic (see previous post if you haven't a clue what I'm burbling on about) and the votes have been counted and verified...... and the winner, by a mile, is:

Noddy!

One of you cheeky bloggers (you know who you are) said that Noddy "has something of you in his face".  Just remember, peeps, that I described the Noddster as being rather "demented" and "grubby" looking.  Er, thanks....

Some of you expressed regret to see go the rather fine pic Little Miss J and P did of me.  Not to worry.  I'll still have that on my blog as My Picture.  Plus she's planning to do another one of me which will then, of course, be my new profile pic, but in the meantime Noddy's cheeky little face will be popping up everytime I make a comment on your blog.  Hoorah!

In other news... remember "Sockgate" as previously reported by moi here?  Well, I popped into the offending charity shop this week and the socks have gone!  Surely they've not been snapped up by hoards of people champing at the bit to buy £5 socks?   I wanted to ask the manager what had happened to them but she was busy talking to an old lady who was asking her why they were selling "one shoe" (yes, you read that correctly, "one shoe").  The manager said that people like to buy just the "one shoe" as a decoration and that she, herself, had one on her dressing table.  To be fair, the "shoe" in question was a very bejewelled sandal with the make "Butler and Wilson" on them.  I thought Butler and Wilson made very blingy jewellery but what do I know?   I tried to muscle in to see how much they were selling the one sandal for but it was in one of those locked glass cabinets (I kid you not) and the manager and the old lady, who was in a wheelchair, were in the way.   I then noticed a number of pairs of these sandals for sale at a mere £50.   Gulp!  Original price was £158.  I expect that's a bargain in some people's world.  (Oddly, I tried googling "Butler and Wilson sandals" just to show you what they looked like, but couldn't find any reference to them).

OK, enough of this nonsense.  Let's talk about serious stuff like my collection of wooden handled kitchen utensils which is coming on a treat.  Not only have I got a potato peeler, crinkle chip cutter, bread knife (donated by the lovely Elizabeth from MakingGoodUse) and a carving fork, but get a load of the new additions.

A cork screw (10p from the boot sale):

An egg whisk (50p from the boot sale):

Mr J and P has just spotted this pic on the computer screen and demanded to know what "that rusty old thing is doing on our bed".  Cheek!

Darling Emma from Sylvie's Garden sent me this piccy (on the left) which shows a wonderful way to display old wooden utensils. 


Excellent idea, no?


At the same boot sale, I was drawn to this salt and pepper set  for 50p (which I thought was reasonably good value until my friend brandished a Poole pottery coffee pot and creamer bought for 50p for the pair from the same stall holder - grrrrrr). 

The Gaydon melanine salt and pepper set is late 50s, early 60s.

Before I go, have a  look at my lovely red roses:

No, it wasn't a gift from from an admirer.  I found them, in their cellophane wrapping, in a SKIP!  They must have just recently been thrown in as they were absolutely fine for me to appropriate and take home.  Wonder what the story behind that was!

Who Wins, You Decide!

I've been thinking of changing my Blogger Profile photo ever since Mr J and P decided to use a piccy of my childhood Yogi Bear as his Facebook Profile pic:

So, I've taken a few photos of possible contenders and I'm going to put it to the vote.  Yes, folks, "Who Wins, You Decide!".  How exciting is this!

Well, OK, I admit it.  It's not that exciting.  There has been a dearth of charity shopping and jumbling recently and this is what passes for a blog post in my little world!

So, here are the nominees.  First up has to be Yogi.  He is mine, after all, and he's adorable.

Equally adorable is Rupert the Bear.  

I bought Rupert from a vintage fair in Southwold (Suffolk, east coast) years ago when I was pregnant.  I rather hoped that a child of mine would love him as much as I do, but Little Miss J and P barely recognises its existence.  Never mind, I appreciate him and that's the main thing!

Next up is a rather demented and grubby looking Noddy.  A jumble sale buy of yesteryear.

Lastly is Mr Owlie salt pot.  How cute is he?  (Another jumble sale buy of yesteryear). 

OK folks, now all you have to do is leave a comment below, letting me know who you think should be my next profile piccy!  Don't all rush at once now!

Remember, the choice is yours.......

Overpriced Charity Shop Item of the Week or Sock Horror [sic]

I rarely go in one of my local charity shops as it's just packed to the gunnels with BRAND NEW stuff that is mainly horrid.  Anyway, last week I had time to kill before collecting Little Miss J and P from school, so I wondered in and went to the back of the shop where there is a small rack of donated items. 

There was nothing special in the donated items, however, I noticed a large basket full of brand new socks (excess stock stuff) - cotton knee length ones from "Urban Outfitters".  Original price was £10, guess what the CS price was?  Go on.....  What do you reckon?  Five whole pounds!  £5.  For one pair of socks.  From a charity shop.  I know it's for charity but it's not representing good value for money in my opinion, especially when, a few doors away, M&S are selling two pairs of knee length socks for £6.

I'll be stalking the charity shop next week to check whether there's been any takers for its £5 socks.  £5!  My foot!  That just came out, sorry.  I could also say something about being "a heel" or "it's toe joke" or "sock it to me" or even "Darn it"" but, I'll spare you dear readers (I'm good like that) and instead, show you what I've been buying recently.

A near perfect leather satchel for £5:

Nice lining, doncha think?:

A very ordinary looking "Accessorize" purse - from the outside:

But get a load of the inside:

Scrumdiddleyumptious floral lining.  99p.

A baking tray for 99p.  It's not Pyrex, as you Pyrex afficionados out there will no doubt know, but Arcopal - a French make (long defunct):



Sweet huh?



Mr J and P (he's on the right of the photo) is modelling my final buy, a rather hideous, furry smiley cushion (99p) which I plan to crochet a round cushion cover for - one day.



Well,  I'll put a sock in it now and bid you Auf Feetdersehn (oh, that was bad...).  Sorry, dear readers, it's all been a bit toe much.....

A Mishmash of Style. The Grande Finale!

Hark at me, bigging up the final part of my series A Mishmash of Style.  The "grande finale" indeed!  What am I like?  No, don't answer that one, you cheeky blighters!

So, let's have a look at my revamps and little projects around the house. 

I've bored you before about stuff I've made in previous posts but forgot to show you my knitted er.... dunno what it's called....er.... a cosy for a bottle which I use as a vase thingy:

There are loads of such things in blogland but they are usually crocheted and mine is knitted.

Now, if you are not of the crafty kind and have a short attention span, this is one hell of a perfect project for you.  Paper bunting.

This took me all of 20 minutes to do.  I bought a pack of mixed crafty paper from a pound shop, cut out small bunting shaped pieces (aka triangles) and glued them onto string et voila!  Couldn't be simpler, could it?

This is our shoe cupboard bought from Ikea and embellished with large butterfly stickers from Supernice.

Supernice has a lovely range of wall stickers, bunting and gifts such as my Amy Winehouse travel card holder here.  However, what is really tickling my fancy at the moment, are these fabulous wallpaper silhouettes made from the most fantastic selection of vintage wallpaper.  I'm rather liking this giraffe:

Or take a look at Mr Ostriche:

Yowser! That wallpaper reminds me of my very own wallpaper that I blogged about here.  Look!

I bet some of you clever artistic people out there could make those animals very easily. Although, you would need more than one strip of wallpaper to create a big animal (the giraffe for instance is 140 cm by 100cm!). If you wanted to go small, though, there's these cute little birds:

 

Or this:

Or this:

Anyway, dear readers, I've digressed big time.  Let's get back to the nitty gritty, shall we? 

This coffee table was given to Mr J and P by his Grandmother Gladys (she who painted roses and the occasional nude - I've never shown you the nude have I?  I will, one day!) for his 21st birthday.  There used to be an old map underneath the glass top but over the years, it became very faded.  We searched for a replacement but couldn't find anything suitable, so as a temporary measure, I bunged in a cheap bit of fabric from Ikea.  This "temporary measure" has been in place for some years now!

I bought this old desk from a yard sale for a couple of quid.  I painted it white and then decoupaged it with pages from Little Miss J and P's old Beano mags:

I had this old wardrobe door when I was living in a shared house ooooh decades ago now!  I painted it a hot pink and it look horrible and then painted it white, did a bit distressing and added a few shells and bob's yer uncle:

I've posted about this brassy looking magazine rack before.  Here's the before:

And the after:

I have masses of these wonderful posters given out free with The Guardian some years ago now.  These are just a very small selection of what I've got:

I've used a few of them to cover these shoe and boot boxes:

Any ideas of what to do with the rest of them would be greatly appreciated!

OK folks, that really is it!  Thanks for bearing with me and for your lovely comments on parts 1 and 2.

Byeeeeee xxxxxx.