DIY: FESTIVAL FLOWER CROWN

This is a quick and very cheap flower crown that's perfect for festival season! It took only half an hour to make and the flowers and materials cost under £10! I used chrysanthemums as they were very cheap, are easy to work with and last quite well out of water.

MATERIALS

• Bunch of chrysanths from the local supermarket 
• Wire 
• Floral Tape 

(I used quite a thick wire but any gauge will do. If it's thin just double up and wrap in floral tape before you start so that you have a firm base. I like this kind of floral tape. It's easy to use; you just stretch it gently until it goes translucent and then it sticks to itself. You can get it really thin so you barely notice it)

METHOD

1. First thing's first MEASURE YOUR HEAD. I actually forgot to do      this but by some miracle it still fit. I created loops on the end    to attach a ribbon but you could just create a complete circle of    wire.

2. CHOOSE THE FLOWERS. I chose a couple of big flowers for the focal    point of the crown including a yellow gerbera daisy. The rest        were little chrysanthemums.

3. WIRE THE LARGE FLOWERS. It is much easier to get the focal         flowers to sit the way you want if you wire them insead of using     their own stem. Here's how to wire them:

Cut off the stem

Bend a short piece of wire into a hook

Push the long end of the wire through the centre of the flower and pull through until all that can be seen is the very top of the hook.

4. You can then wrap the new wire 'stem' of your focal flowers onto    your wire circle and position them exactly how you want them.        Finish by wrapping the wire in floral tape so you aren't being      stabbed by wire when you wear it.

With the smaller flowers I just used their own stems and the floral tape to attach them to the wire frame. Easy-peasy! Add some ribbon and you're ready for your (hopefully) sunny festival.

Happy Festival Times :)

LATEST FINDS V

The clock collection is growing! Found this first in a charity shop for a fiver. Bargain! The second actually works and is made out of some sort of pottery painted gold. Pretty bling!

Beaded Light shade - I'm guessing 20s and I got a pair!

Happy Hunting!

THE BEST FISH AND CHIPS #1

I have had to call this post 'the best fish and chips number one' because I hold hope that out there somewhere there are more delicious fish and chips for me to discover. If I have found the best ones at the age of 27 then, frankly, I peaked too soon. I am worried though. Very worried, because these are so scrumptious I can't imagine better ones. The secret is beef dripping. Apparently this is the traditional (extremely unhealthy) way of frying fish and chips, but let's face it fish and chips are never healthy. Why on earth wouldn't you always use beef dripping to get the best possible flavour?

I have a small confession. They were so good I ate them in under five minutes and totally forgot to take a picture. I have a habit of doing this. Thankfully, whilst I was waiting for them, the shop itself provided ample photo opportunities.

The shop is in the Black Country Living Museum and you therefore have to pay entry to the museum and then buy the meal. Hardly the cheapest meal in the world then! However, the museum is a brilliant day out. 

OBJECT ENVY

A small selection of objects that I really want in or by my house. I found them all in the Black Country Living Museum. I know, I know, I am totally obsessed with this museum but honestly, it's brilliant. I am currently scouring etsy, ebay and local antique places for an embroidered picture but still haven't found the right one.

I can't remember what this car is annoyingly. Also a two seater, three wheeler car isn't exactly practical. This is a fantasy car.

Lovely thirties pink glass lampshade.

Enameled saucepan

Beautiful intricate ironwork

Abject object envy (A.O.E.)

BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSEUM

In July my brother-in-law came to stay and we used it as an excuse to finally visit the Black Country Living Museum. We have been recommended this by many people and they were not exaggerating when they said it's a FANTASTIC day out. It is a very idyllic world with a huge array of interesting buildings, displays, tours and people. I enjoyed chatting with the mechanic in the vintage car building the most. A typical extreme enthusiast who held the most incredible amount of fascinating information in his head. We heard great stories about where each of the motors was used in the black country before finding a home here. It is a working collection and they often parade through the village. He was our first encounter with the staff and we instantly had a whimsical smile on our faces that lasted the whole day.

This is the village centre which houses the local 'supermarket', bakery, pub, corner shop, sweet shop and of course FISH AND CHIP SHOP OMNOMNOM (I'm not kidding - It's so freaking good I'm writing a separate post about it). There were vintage games on the village square that were...well surprisingly difficult requiring good hand-eye coordination...but good fun.

I would say, despite not having any myself, that it's a great family day out as well. There was plenty of great attractions for kids. There are regular lessons at the school house to give them a feel for an early 20th-century education (!) and an entertaining underground tour of the mine that all the kids on ours loved. You could even leave them at school whilst you indulge in a quick drink at the pub!

Happy Outing :)

LATEST FINDS IV: DESCENT INTO KITSCH

A slight(ly huge) hiatus in blogging. Sorry about that! The house is progressing nicely and I thought I'd share a couple of lovely items recently purchased from eBay. I suspect we have passed by vintage and retro and are heading down the difficult road to full on kitsch with my latest items. Kitsch is difficult to control. I now have the overwhelming urge to fill my house with brightly coloured plastic animals and have a slight obsession with wall mounted flying birds. Oh god help me. The first, a flying saucer like fifties (?) lampshade for the spare room.

Then we have THE BEST LAMP EVER. We found the spun fibre glass lampshade in the loft and already had it on a very dodgy base...but then perhaps this new one is even dodgier? 

Who couldn't love dried flowers and a shell suspended to perfection in resin?

Of course a shopping spree wouldn't be complete without another broken vintage clock. This is a westclox cream enamelled metal case with curved glass, complete with originally complicated winding mechanism. It tick tocks so we keep it wound down.

Happy Hunting!

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VINTAGE LACE AND EMBROIDERY COLLECTION

I should probably start trying harder with my titles! They are rather matter of fact. I should try being whimsical or witty but I'm not sure I'm either of those things. I only come up with naff ones like 'Racy Lace' (which would attract people interested in VERY different things) or 'Embrace Embroidery'. Ugh. If you have a better title for this post please comment and I'll change it to the best suggestion!

I thought I would share some of my growing lace and embroidery (and crochet and linen etc.) collection. The majority was bought when I was 15 at auction. It has since been stuck in a box at the bottom of the wardrobe. I can't bear having it hidden away any more so have chosen a few to put around the house. My house is starting to look more and more like my great grandmother's but hey, she probably had great taste.

A little crumpled and delicate but my sister says if a pin the doilies out on a board (like they do when making them?) it'll straighten it out.  

My FAVOURITE is the pansies :)

LONG LIVE THE DOILY

LATEST FINDS III: IN THE PINK

Life has been totally crazy recently hence the lack of posts. End of summer term always tends to consume what little time left over. I have been meaning to share these three items for a while. I definitely would NOT consider myself girly in any way, but I seem to be gradually turning my bedroom into a pink boudoir! Next post I will have painted it soft pink and bought a mirrored dressing table complete with feather boa flung over the top and Martini glass on the side. I've always wanted one of those fantastic vintage gauzy dressing gowns and slip on high-heeled slippers. They even make rollers look glamorous! Okay, perhaps I am secretly a little girly :)

So, first we have a thirties pink glass lamp shade. After falling in love with my blue one (Latest Finds II) I couldn't help getting another. Then comes the slightly crazy bedside cabinet. I was assured that a crazy person has not attacked it with spray gold paint and this is how it would've been originally. I've got used to it and now quite like the gold.

Finally, one of my all time favourite items in the whole world. This has been my bedside lamp since I was about fourteen and had pride of place in my beautiful childhood home. A home I miss like mad now so this is even more precious. The only thing I haven't managed to do is find a fitting lampshade for this glorious base. That's next on my list.

Oh how I love you lamp!

SHABBY CHIC BARN WEDDING

I thought I'd share the flowers from the wedding I attended on Sunday. Unfortunately I didn't find out who the florist was, but I thought they were perfect for the shabby chic style wedding.

Bouquet: Blue Eryngium, White Spray Rose, White Lisianthus, White Double Freesia, Pink Bouvardia, Purple Veronica, Green Astrantia, Alchemilla Mollis

Garland: Million Star Baby's Breath, Queen Anne's Lace, White Avalanche Roses, Soft Ruscus, Ivy and Eucalyptus

Centrepieces: Blue Eryngium, Million Star Baby's Breath, White Stocks, White Spray Roses, White Avalanche Roses, Purple Veronica, Pink Bouvardia, Green Astrantia, Alchemilla Mollis

REME VINTAGE JACKET

Yesterday I spent a lovely day in Hampshire at a wedding. We were incredibly lucky with the weather and spent an afternoon drinking Champagne in the beautiful gardens at Bury Court (http://www.burycourtbarn.com/). I've had my vintage military jacket for about 3 years now but still didn't know what part of the army it was from. Thankfully some of the other guests filled me in. Apparently it's a REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) uniform. 

 I had a quick look at the records and there appears to be two Symes in REME during the 1940s. I can't quite believe the uniform is that old but you never know. They were definitely built to last!

The best part of my outfit for me though was how much fun it was spinning in THAT skirt during the ceilidh in the evening :D I am now permanently attached to it for the rest of summer and I will be twirling everywhere instead of walking.

Outfit:

Jacket: Vintage
Top: H&M
Skirt: H&M
Shoes: Fiona McGuinness
Necklace: Charity Shop