Car Boot Finds

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I've been MIA for a week or so, the projects i'm working on, either aren't turning out so good & need redoing or I've been lacking creativity .. actually a bit of both !

Sunday morning boot sales, the thought of getting up silly early to drive an hour to our nearest boot sale with 2 kids in tow in the cold, as it inevitably always is in Scotland , doesn't fill me with too much joy, 

So today my eldest & I went to the very small bootsale in my local seaside village, 

I'd say 6-10 tables at the most, I kept my eyes open for anything that grabbed my attention, 

I'm still getting used to looking at other peoples junk as possible treasure!

I've never been one to go over to tables that look like antique dealers, mainly because I know very little & also they might see a 'newbie' a mile off,  at one of these I saw an old battered leather suit case, in it were a bunch of old books, I picked 3 that I was drawn to and was pleased when he only asked for 50p each, 

There is something about old books that are so charming, 2 of the 3 belong to a PTE William Barron with his then home address his Army number & regiment, 

One is an English- French- German dictionary dated 1944 inside the cover & another a gift for attending Sunday school dated 1935, 

    

My original plan to use these in craft project has gone out the window 

but I am so enamoured,

I couldn't bare to cut them up so for now they are living on our writing bureau.

I also picked up a very heavy gold ornate mirror, which needs some loving care the 

decorative surround is damaged, 

Not sure where this will live or if I will be upcycling it, either way I love it :)

I'm on a roll

A few weeks ago after another day trawling the internet for sewing projects that one as challenged as me could actually complete I came across this fantastic tutorial from Skiptomylou  the instructions are clear and simple, the whole project didn't take me that long,

I made mine from a duvet cover that no longer matched our new bedroom :) see -awfully thrifty! I wanted to try use fabric & ribbon that I had already, which isn't much at the moment, could really do with some Ricrac braiding.. anyway

I think these could be perfect stocking fillers there is also a tutorial for a larger version,
A pretty way to store make up brushes or pencils for budding artists

Here is my finished Crayon Roll- not quite up to Skip to my Lou's standard but OK for a first bash!

Jake the Peg

With the extra leg diddle iddle..

Wooden pegs remind me of being little, I'm sure everyone's granny had some, My nanny had some in a orange knitted peg bag, with the invention of plastic pegs they don't have quite the same charm hanging on your line,

My next wee project was to make some pegs to add to my littlest ones 'shabby' bedroom, but at the moment shes still in her cot and her furniture isnt very shabby, so I still have some work to do there,
We moved to our new house at the end of 2011, still have abit to go decorating wise, The state of the house when we moved in is for another ranting post entirely!!

I was sure I had seen something similar online & in those cute gift shops, decided to give it a go myself,
again-  bare with me I'm not hugely crafty but the enthusiasm is there even if the technique isn't!

I eventually found some wooden pegs in Dunelm Mill, nether of the supermarkets close to me had any, paid about £1.40 for 30 also grabbed a ball of string from local shop, the more old fashioned looking the better, but it could look really cute with ribbon instead,

£1.99 from Home Bargains

With Hubby & oldest out at a football game, I set out with some acrylic paint from Home Bargains, I wish I had found these first rather than buy the individual bottles from the local craft shop, Could have saved myself a fortune!

I painted some in pastel colours to match her room and here they are

The other ones were for my oldest daughter her bedroom is in a Paris theme but im not overly pleased with my Eiffel tower painting skills, may redo it,
The Cath Kidston inspired peg was so easy even for a struggling free hand painter like me, that may be my favourite so I will have to make more :)
Please excuse the picture quality I need a new camera. Santa.. hint hint..

Here are some gorgeous ones I found in the Etsy online store Dotty Pegs

First Decoupage

When I started this project I really hoped the idea would turn out as good as it did in my head! Once I decided to try it, my next step was to find a suitable piece to upcycle, I came across this in a little charity shop, Perfect I thought! not too big a piece and I was able to take it home in the car

So I parted with my £7.50 and headed to Homebase to big up a can of black gloss spray paint,
Once home I removed those top rails,
Sanded off the majority of the shine from the Mahogany after a wipe down I spray 2 coats of spray paint, no primer, A- because I didnt have any and B. cause I was impatient!

Next was a jaunt in to town, who would have know it was hard to get my hands on some maps! I eventually grabbed a AA road Atlas and a Aberdeen A-Z then cut out areas that were significant to us as a family, our first place, our new house, where we married, first date and where our youngest was born all were cut out to be pasted on the top of the unit,

Next I mixed some cheapy kids PVA glue with a little water, then applied a coat to the unit, forgot to add I also sanded the top to give it some grip, why I painted it when I was going to sand it anyway I have no idea!

Remember at school, when you paper mached a balloon to make some sort of sphere? Its just like that!

once I had covered the top I added another coat of PVA, and after a day or 2 to dry out I give it a quick coat of clear gloss, now, I should have really given it another coat of PVA but in my haste, I didn't, so some of the gloss seeped in to the map paper left it abit translucent, but hey ho!

and here it is -

Overall Im quite pleased with it and goes perfect in our Scottish themed bedroom, I say themed, but more Scottish accents, wee bit of tartan, Stags head etc rather than 'see you jimmy' hats -( Not my husband! )

Hello..

This is my first dabble in the world of blogging, Ive been inspired by so many fantastic blogs on craft beauty & family life that after watching from the side lines for so long I'd like to join in!
I hope to be posting some of my handmade crafts and ideas.. showcasing the successful projects & the not so successful :) so please be gentle with such a newbie as me and I hope I show the correct blogging etiquette :)