The finished mannequin!

 It was Friday afternoon, almost a week since I had blogged. I had created very little. Well, homemade soup and a cake are not really blogworthy. The pressure was building. I had to actually do something.
So, I picked up the partially made cover for the boot sale mannequin and started sewing it all together. Here is how it used to look. It looks better in the picture! It was very badly done! You can just see some sellotape near the neck which held the fabric on. Nice.
I had decided on hessian as it's very cheap and I thought it might emulate the old Stockman mannequins. Good choice! You cannot see a single stitch let alone a whole row of wonky stitches! Hessian is very forgiving!

 My dear husband came in before I had done the neck and said, ''It looks like a hooded executioner from a horror film!''
He is good like that.
Hooded executioner is not the look I was going for.

 I seem to have ended up with sexy boudoir meets er, scarecrow...but I like it! I was intending on properly finishing the bottom edge by stapling it to the base but I quite like the dangly look so I left it.

And my favourite bit? The ribbon laced back!
It's not a patch on the work of the lady at Corset Laced Mannequins but it's good enough for me and cost a fraction of hers. I got myself some citrisolve from ebay and might attempt to add a small graphic from the Graphics Fairy at some point. I'll have a practise on off cuts of hessian first!

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http://maleviksrosentradgard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/saturday-show-off-109.html




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Knick of Time

and Funky Junk Interiors; Party Junk 185

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Wahey!

Remember the mannequin I found at the boot sale? Yes, yes, it was a long time ago...I wanted to redo it in the style of the ones at Corset Laced Manneqins.
Well, I have FINISHED it!
And I'm rather pleased!
I promise I will be dragging her out into the garden tomorrow for a photo shoot come rain or shine!

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French style furniture finds...

 Finished the chalkboard! Seasoned it too. Apparently you have to rub chalk all over it before you use it or you will never rub your writing off!
Can't hang it over the panelling where I wanted it to go as the wonkiness off the writing and the ever so slight wonkiness of the dado rail create an 'optical illusion' of total incompetence. (Sigh) And there you were, thinking I was a DIY goddess...

 Harvesting the lavender. Big job. My huge jam pans are coming in handy. At some point, when I can get to the dining table I will stitch up lavender bags and teach my daughter how to make them.

 Look at this lovely plastic 1950's lampshade I got at a boot sale for 50p. I gave the trim at the top and bottom a good soak in biological detergent and I absolutely love this.

 Look how gorgeous it is with the light on. The plastic parts have a lace effect on them.
You can just see my bedside table with a top I made from vintage china mosaic.

 This sweet bench was reduced from £45 to £15 in Wilkinsons. How could I not? I'm a total sucker for anything French looking!

 Er, like this. Another one for the painting pile.  From Ebay.

And I got this for just £5 and thought it'd look great painted in my milk paint. Funny how cats want to get in the way when ever a camera is about.
Bad Bobby is all better. The family that gave the boys to us when they emigrated to Australia just after xmas, are back in town! It didn't work out.
They can't possibly have the boys back because they are now completely and utterly spoiled and get to sleep with me at night, rather than being shut in the kitchen. They go to sleep purring every night, thinking themselves very lucky.
We did try shutting them away but we were constantly disturbed by the sound of them trying to break out of the kitchen. They also liked to break into the pantry. We put chairs in front of the pantry door and would wake to the sound of chairs being pushed around the floor. This way we all get a good nights sleep.
 I'm hoping we don't have a custody battle on our hands!

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and
http://maleviksrosentradgard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/saturday-show-off-102.html
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http://missmustardseed.com/2012/09/furniture-feature-friday-link-party-favorites-5/

 

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Getting nowhere fast...

 I haven't done an awful lot to the kitchen as I've been a single parent cruelly abandoned by my husband who has been 'working' in Cannes. We've also had difficulties getting to school this week and it's all taken it's toll on my progress. I did pretty much finish one wall. I decorate one wall at a time which I think isn't the correct way to do it but it keeps the mess and dust to one area and has the added bonus of letting me see the end result faster. It's not going to be all white but I haven't decided on a colour yet...
The coving is still up! Wahey!

Found this at the boot sale this week, a little French wall mounted shopping list for 50p. I have a lot of kitchenalia and I'm actually in danger now of ruining the clean sleek look of my walls so there will have to be decisions made as to what goes up...

 A vintage enamel flour sifter by Tala. So sweet. How could I leave this behind?

 I got this a week ago and have been repainting it for my kitchen wall. The frame was red and I don't do red. The lettering was a big sticker that offended me so I had to trace it, scrape it all off and repaint it on. This is the first time I've used blackboard paint. You can see it's still wet here. I just need to dirty up the lettering with dark wax so it's not so bright.

 How can I make my bed when the boys jump in when I get up?

Poor Bad Bobby has a nasty cut on his paw pad which isn't bleeding but it's hurting him and he's limping around looking pitiful. He'll be off to the vet tomorrow to have it properly trussed up. I cleaned it and put a plaster on it but he got it off in seconds! I think he needs a lampshade collar. And I'm frightened to bandage him as I don't want to cut off his circulation...
It's always Bobby. He has cost us a fortune in vets bills and we've not even had them for a year. He's accident prone, immune to antibiotics, a fighter, mean to his brother and my daughter, jealous and generally awful. Fortunately he gives me passionate kisses in the morning and follows me around the house so he is my favourite despite his badness.
The other one, Fat Freddy, is all sweetness and light. He and my husband have a special bond and he hangs out in the office all day.

I'm still waiting for my milk paint almost 6 weeks on. I have been unlucky as Jackie from 'The Barristers Horse' ordered some which came in a week. My furniture is waiting...

Happy weekend everyone.

Linking up to Ta daa Tuesday at http://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.co.uk/

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What Makes You Happy?

I stumbled upon another quiz from Homegoods. Remember they had the stylefinder quiz awhile back? I was earthy casual.

Now, after taking this new quiz, I am Set Sail and a touch of Boho. Again, I find this pretty true to my style. I love beach/summer looks (earthy) and though I don't think I really decorate with boho inspired decor, I do love block printing fabrics (boho), a new love of mine.



via Chic Coastal Living

This photo seems to bring in the mix of the two.

So go and take the quiz and tell me what makes you happy!

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Family Room Possibilities

I am working on changing up my family room with our remodel and new windows. We are currently repainting the area, and will be installing new carpet.
As much as I would love to get a new sofa, I have to keep my brown leather ones for a bit longer.
Here's one idea I have for the room, but since I change my mind constantly this is not the final decision yet.

 

I have never made an idea board before, and I think I need some help. I will have to ask my 13 year old. Ha ha.
What I really love are the curtains, and I have already ordered those. I am waiting to get those up and then decide how I want to proceed. The only thing about this that I am hesitant about, is that it doesn't look too different from what the room looks like now and I wanted to do something a little different.
What do you think?

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White Rooms

I believe you are either in the camp of  "yes, painted white walls look fabulous" or "white walls are boring and so are you." Well, I belong to the camp of white walls look fabulous! If done right, I don't think it's boring at all.

 

While looking at my inspirational photos I've pinned on Pinterest for my living room and family room, I see a very strong connection. Almost all my pictures are rooms painted white. There's something about it that feels very calming, very clean/fresh, and it just makes all the furniture and accessories in the room pop, instead of fighting with the wall color for attention.

 

Along with our little remodel we are doing with our family room and eating area with reframing and new windows, we are also repainting and I've decided to go with the white. I really want to brighten up this home since we lost a lot of natural light getting rid of the very large windows/skylights, and I really feel this is helping.

 

We are getting closer to being done but with these high ceilings and lack of time on our hands, it's been a slow process getting the painting done. Pictures will be coming soon. I hope.

In the meantime, here are some of my inspirational photos that I love.

 

 

 

What do you think? Would you paint your walls white, or do you have white walls?

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Kitchen progress...

 So, I showed you the dated tiles, and what you are left with if you start pulling them off late at night when your husband is out.

What a lovely surprise he had when he got home!

Luckily I DID have a plan! I got these 'Easipanel' er, panels from the DIY store and covered the holey plaster with them. It wasn't easy. (Easipanel were clearly having a laugh when they came up with that name) They needed cutting top and bottom as the people who built this house had obviously never used a spirit level!
But it was probably easier than cutting individual planks...and these won't move like planks can so the paint shouldn't crack.
There were 4 panels needed on this wall. 

I also decided to replace my hideous 1960's short skirting boards at the same time which wasn't easily done as nowadays skirting is not only taller but much fatter too. And seeing as I didn't want to replace the door architraves too (I'd probably end up needing to re plaster!) I had to find an alternative. I chose a length of pine shiplap 16 x 125 which fits nicely with the doorframes, has a pretty profile and was £1 a metre! The timber yard cut it down for me so I could carry it home easily.
So here's the paneling with a first coat of primer apart from where the caulk is drying.

The Easipanel has a matching dado rail that sits on the top and finishes it off nicely. Obviously this will be painted too. And  the plaster hole above the dado will be filled.

Today I coved the whole room so that's going to look much nicer.
This is just the back kitchen though. There's another room which is the middle kitchen that I haven't really started on. That was the original kitchen and the back one is an extension. We think of this house as a ten year project!

So that's what I've been up to. Rather dull but it has to be tackled before the fun parts like choosing colour and curtains and decorating with my vintage kitchenalia.

My dear friend Theresa took me to the boot sale this morning and I picked up a couple of small oak kitchen cupboard doors for turning into signs or chalkboards. One more bootsale tomorrow and it's looking like another scorcher.

Happy weekend!

Linking up with http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2012/09/sns-151-junk-styled-offices.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20blogspot/KCcu%20%28Funky%20Junk%20Interiors%29 although I have stuffed it up AGAIN and put it in the cookery section. I did remember not to put MY name in the name thing though this week...

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Blog I Follow: Classic Casual Home

Another Friday is here, and another blog I would like to share with you is Classic Casual Home.
Mary Anne writes a great blog, and I love her style as well. She describes her style as classic and casual with hints of french inspired accents.

Here's a look at some of her beautiful rooms in her home.

 

 

 

 

It's it gorgeous?! Her style is a great inspiration to me. I love her ceiling beams, ceiling planks, and how all her decor just pops off the light colored walls. She really pulls off the classic style with casual ease. Her home looks relaxing and comfortable to be in and so pretty. Be sure to check out her blog!
Have a great weekend!

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