Pretty DIY Craft Ideas

I've discovered some fabulous craft ideas in Ruche latest digital magazine, entitled, "A Cup of Tea" - Garden Party Ideas. Cute vegetable vases to hold a Spring Spray of blooms such as the artichoke below. Lots of other ideas, rustic paint can vases with a country feel and a lovely shabby chic coffee table using an old window pane, (great idea!)... Oh! and not forgetting a yummy Lamington Recipe and lots more...

What fabulous ideas, I love both of these and they would look perfect on a Spring table or as a centrepiece for Mothers Day.

What a sweet and simple idea re-purposing/reclaiming an old window frame.  Legs such as the ones shown  could be made from old staircase spindles or purpose made legs from a hardware store. You could then paint them using a French wash. technique or with chalk paint. 

Please click on the image above to view the complete magazine.

You could then hop over to visit Shop Ruche's trendy online store to view their latest arrivals.

Hope you had a great weekend

Lee

&

Poppy 

                                 

White, Bright & Shabby Chic - PART 2

Following up from Wednesdays post on a lovely shabby chic interior, more inspirational images from this home....

If you missed part 1 of this post, please click "here". More shabby chic posts you may enjoy...

Shabby chic with a touch of blue

Shabby  chic cottage by the sea

Credit: Images above belong to jj Locations. This property is available for film/photo shoots and is located in Lincolnshire, UK. Wouldn't it be perfect for a Vintage fashion shoot.






Sharing this week with:
I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Hope you found some inspiration

Lee

&

Poppy

A Work of Art - Vimeo time Lapse Video That Tugs At The Heart Strings

Yesterday I made a delightful discovery of a black and white video through a facebook page.  The video, in time lapse, is of a little girl from birth until 12 years old. It's not very long, but it's the most beautiful work I have seen for some time, in fact it brought tears to my eyes.  I'm in rather an emotional state at the moment as my mother is sadly loosing her battle with cancer and yesterday came to live with me. However, there are still times to smile and this was one of them even though at the same time it brought tears to my eyes. I showed it to my mother and she said, I wish I could have done this with you when you were little. Isn't it amazing that technology although intrusive at times, can also be a "blessing."


A little "googling" and I discovered this wonderful video was created by Frans Hofmeester of his little girl Lotte and another click led to a further delightful video of Fran's little brother Vince. I encourage you to watch both, you will giggle like anything at Vince's video which is also in time lapse 


Enjoy!....

If you love lotte's video, then  you must see her expressive little brother Vince, you will smile for sure... I have just watched Vince again for the 4th time and still smiling...

Vince Birth to 9 Months by Frans Hofmeester

Lee oxo

&

Poppy 

White, Bright and Shabby Chic Part 1

You either "love it or loathe it!", shabby chic look that is. However, with this house even if its not your style, I guarantee there is at least one image you'll love.  As there's lots of images I want to share with you, this post will be in two parts with part two Friday.  

This three storey Georgian town house is situated in a small walled garden. I love the white painted wooden floors in the living area, these also work well in coastal interiors. I also like the kitchen cabinets, especially those chunky handles they help give it that "solid feeling", there is nothing worse than flimsy kitchen handles. Would love to hear what you like about this home?

dont forget to come back Friday to see more images and details of this unique home.

A little more shabby chic...

Shabby Chic with touches of blue

Sharing this week with:
I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Lee oxo

&

Poppy 

Mint White Chocolate Mousse Cake

One of the finalists in the "The Best food blog 2012 Award" is Sprinkle Bake and I've selected what I think is one of their prettiest creations to share with you today.

Please visit the lovely award winning food blog "Sprinkle Bake" for this really special mousse recipe.
but before you leave in case you missed the post for Red Velvet Cupcakes, please check it out as they're divine! -
 Image resource - Sprinkle Bake

Other sweet recipes to indulge in...

Rocky Road Bark - A really delicious no bake simple recipe with step by step photos.

Easy Strawberry &Raspberry Tiramisu in a Mason Jar with step by step photos

Sharing today with:

Mop it up Mondays

Show off your cottage monday at The House in the Roses

Craft-O-Maniac Monday

Poppy and I are off for a long walk in

our glorious NZ early Autumn sunshine!  

I[m experimenting with a chocolate meringue torte later today so hope to post this sometime this week if all turns out well ☺

Lee oxo

&

Poppy 

Spring - Daffodils, Blossoms & Pretty Linen

Its geographically Autumn in New Zealand, however, at the moment we seem to be experiencing an "Indian summer" and to me it feels like Spring has just arrived. Even my mother's paper-whites are showing their heads, I always thought Paperwhites were a Spring bulb but stand to be corrected by my knowledgeable readers.  As you know my passion is blooms, therefore, any excuse to include them in a post is a joy to me...so today is a celebration of Spring, or at least the "feeling" of Spring...

My mother bought these pretty mauve hydrangeas for me yesterday, I love them!

Spring items that caught my eye...

I adore this Orlina patchwork floral duvet cover from Anthropologie

Pretty Spring dish towel from  Lisa Rupp Design

More pretty Spring linen - Rikshaw design from Layla Grayce

You may also like my post on Spring bulbs - Paperwhites and Hyacynths - lots of inspiration on how to display them.

Along my Spring discovery I followed this pretty Image above from Pinterest back to a delightful lifestyle blog called daniella marie.  Daniella's blog is full of gorgeous images, recipes and lovely stories, 

Image sources:

Image 1 - Pinterest

Image 2 - Pinterest

Image 3 - Pinterest

Image 4 - Lee Caroline 

(If you  are the original owner any of the Pinterest images, please let me know so I can credit accordingly)

Sharing with:
Show off your Cottage Mondays at  The House in the Roses

Mop it up Mondays at I should be Mopping the Floor

Lee oxo

&

Poppy

Ikat Design

I'm surprised to see how the Ikat design is making a big impact on modern Interiors today as it's not a design I thought would be easy to live with.  Traditional Ikat is dark red in colour but the new trends have turned this traditional design into a modern contemporary look in a range of colours. As you can see from the images below, Ikat can be used to accent the contemporary or classic home. 

  Ikat is a traditional Malay/Indonesian design. I bought a very old piece of woven Ikat when I lived in Borneo to use in a painting of a still life, along with an Iban basket and Mangoes. 

Watercolour - Still Life - In a private collection in Australia

If your not familiar with my paintings, more of my work can be seen "here"...

or on my easel at the moment please click "here"

Images 1-7 via Pinterest

sharing with:

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek Cottage

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Natasha In Oz

Lee oxo

&

Poppy

Shelf Displays - Shabby, Chic, Sleek Or An Eclectic Mix

Are you shelves, shabby, chic, sleek or an eclectic mix?

All images above are owned by jj Locations, 

If you like white, shabby chic or romantic interiors, you may like to explore these...

Shabby Chic Cottage by the sea

White and Romantic Swedish Styled Interior

Romantic Interior with French Flair

Lee oxo

&

Poppy

Reclaimed and Renamed!

Such beautiful things can be made from re-claimed wood and they're making their way into our homes by way of storage, tables, furniture, even stairs cases.  Why throw away when you can create something useful and aesthetic for the home without damaging any more forests than we have to.

What's new at Anthropologie...

1. Love these pots made from paper mache then covered with recycled cement bags up to - US$38.00

2. Sweet bird box from reclaimed timber - US$160.00

3. This little bird (albeit a bit scary) is made from drift wood and wire - US$10.00

4. Paddle Salad servers, I love their tactile shape and imagine its easy to tackle large amounts of salad in one go - US$24.00

All the above products available from Anthropologie's new arrivals

If your interested in DIY and reclaimed items, you may be interested in these two easy but impactive bedroom makeovers:

French shutters headboard

Reclaimed wooden headboard

Credits:

Image 1,2,3, via Pinterest,

Image 4. Anthropologie
Image 5. Anthropologie product images

Sharing with:

Craft-O-Maniac Monday

Mop it up Mondays at I should be mopping the floor

Look around your home and see what items you may have that

are from reclaimed wood, if you haven't any I ask you to re-consider that brand new wooden item next time in favour of something made in reclaimed wood ☺

Lee oxo 

&

Poppy