Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year

So, another year is almost over......I'm not one of those people that goes out on New Years Eve or even stays awake to watch it on the tv. It's just another day passing to me. I will sometimes contemplate the year passed and how I would like the next year to be, but for the majority I don't like to dwell too much and would rather live in the present. Something that is always easier said than done!

Before we get onto a new year though, I thought you might like to see a few of my Christmas presents......

I got a subscription to Mollie Makes magazine, some new books to read, a shoebox charm for my bracelet, lots of chocolates, Starbucks teabags, some cooking bits and most importantly - some money! Which will sadly be going towards new tyres for my car (and yesterday I got a puncture in the back one as well.) Sigh.

What I would REALLY like is the Effie satchel from Mulberry that is in the sale for £360. But that will never happen!

For now though, I plan to go and watch "Magic Mike" on the laptop and generally relax after a bad couple of days. My plan for the coming year is to interrupt my colleagues at work a little less, organise my wedding and enjoy the summer when it finally happens. Simple.

Thank you to everyone who left me a comment, read my posts and decided to follow me. You made the right choice!

Let's talk about stress.....

I feel that depression is a subject that has been covered by many a blogger, but why has no one ever talked about stress?

I would imagine that everyone has suffered with stress at some point in their lives yet not everyone is affected by depression. I suffer with stress regularly. I suffer so badly that I take medication for it. It seems that I cannot cope with everyday life without some sort of chemical help!

It hasn't always been this way. When I was little and had no concept of time, I was quite content. I wasn't worried about having enough sleep to cope with the next day, I didn't have to manage my own money or decide what to eat and when to eat it. I didn't have to make sure the cupboards were stocked just so that I could eat!

I often like to dream about a time when technology didn't exist, when people didn't have "jobs" and you didn't have a house chock full of useless possessions. I think part of the cause of stress today is that our lives are too full of choices and things. I feel guilty if I buy something expensive yet on the other hand I feel that my house has to be chic and my outfit must be fashionable.

Thanks to feminism, women now can choose to work and have a career, or stay home and be a house wife (if you can afford to) which means that they are so many expectations..... It would be a waste not to have a career. But what if I don't want to be ambitious? What if I'm happy just plodding along? WHAT THEN?!!

Today I have been stressed by the stupidest of things. A bulb has blown in my lounge, there is mould above one of my windows that needs to be dealt with, it's busy at work as customers want to shop the sale and return all their Xmas gifts, I don't have a bed for my second bedroom, my car needs new tyres, one of my cats has meowed all night long and kept me awake, I need to lose half a stone......and so the list goes on.

None of these things are important or life and death. Yet they are bringing me down. I can't relax and watch tv because I feel I should be doing something worthwhile. Where does it end?

If you only have two days off work a week, when can you find the time to blog, visit family, clean, shop, do the chores etc? How do you relax and enjoy the moment? How do you live in the now?

Well, I don't have the answers. I haven't found the balance. The closest I come to feeling serene is to read "Don't sweat the small stuff" and to remind myself that actually, none of it really matters. Nothing is so important that it can't wait until tomorrow.....and if I like to watch tv then I WILL watch a lot of tv. And not feel guilty. And the world will not end!

Christmas Baking: Strawberry Milkshake Cupcakes!

So, it's Christmas Eve Eve and what could be better on a day off than a bit of baking and lots of Christmas music? That's right. Nothing!

I found an easy recipe in the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook for Vanilla Cupcakes and I just added some strawberry flavouring (not natural, sorry Dad!) and some pink colouring (also not natural...)

Luckily, we already had all the ingredients in the house so we just pumped up the cheesy choons and got going!

Firstly, find a great recipe:

Get ready:

Bake!

They are quick and tasty - that's pretty much my requirements from any recipe! I'm going to take them to work tomorrow for Christmas Eve as we are all bringing in some food to get us through the day.

I'm off out in a minute to my bestie's house for some yummy Vegan food and lots of Singstar and Just Dance. Perfect end to the day!

Enjoy Christmas and thank you for all your time this year! Xxx

A quick peak around my new house!

Good evening peeps! I know I have been very absent during December but here are my excuses reasons.....
1) My cat was ill so I had to take her to the vets - which was expensive!
2) My car had to go in for it's MOT and failed, which was also expensive!
3) I got the noro virus/ winter vomiting bug on Friday night and have been confined to the sofa/ bed ever since. Not my finest hour.

But enough about my tales of woe, if you are anything like me (nosey) then you probably want to see a little bit of my new house!
Here are a few snippets of my favourite things - some of them are a little random so be warned!

Hanging my birthday cards with pegs to brighten the walls

Thomas will sleep anywhere but a comfy sofa is his favourite place

My lounge is full of retro touches and G Plan furniture!

We have a kitsch white Xmas tree with lots of gifts underneath

Christmas tree ornaments should be fun and colourful!

We have a spa bath and power shower! I feel like I'm in a hotel every time I wash.....

No bathroom would be complete without a zebra shower curtain! (From The Range £7.99)

My favourite nook of the house is under the stairs. I recovered the chairs with Ikea fabric.

We got this painting of Brighton in the sale at TK Maxx.
We each have a bear on the bed, of course!

So there you go! Our little home. The cats went out for the first time today and have settled in fairly well. Now we just need to fill the house with babies! Ok, maybe only one baby and not before I need to get into my wedding dress!

The house is still a work in progress, but what do you think? Did I do good? Praise me!

Doing It In Style at home with Amara.co.uk

Hello! Long time no see! I finally have the internet in my new place and I've been dying to share with you my new plates from Amara.
 I wasn't aware of Amara before they contacted me so I was intrigued to see what they were selling through their website and what sort of vibe they had. Well......their website is gorgeous!

You can find them here. They are a luxury gifts company selling the most beautiful homewares from ALL my favourite designers. They let me pick an item to review and as I was moving house and short of crockery, I opted for the set of 4 salad plates in the "Flutter" design by Loveramics.

I asked for them to be sent to my work address as I knew there would be someone there to sign for them! They came in a large box, full of bubble wrap. No way were they going to get broken!

For those who don't know (me included) a salad plate is somewhere between a dinner plate and a side plate!

Flutter set of 4 salad plates from www.amara.co.uk

The hummingbird design connects at the edge of the plates

Now that I've blogged about them, I can finally start eating my toast off of them! I already have several other purchases in mind from Amara to complete my new home decoration......

like this:

Giant Abacus Flower Spring Throw - 200x150cm

£150 Orla Kiely at Amara

And, most excitingly, they stock Mulberry Home! I didn't even know Mulberry had a homewares range........ But anyway. I'm rambling.

Please do take a look at their lovely website if you are stuck for a Xmas gift for that someone special, or maybe you've just moved house like me?

Time flies when you're having fun...

It's pretty annoying having to constantly use your phone for the internet.... thankfully,  the wireless in the house should be up and running next week!
Have you missed me?  I'll be back soon.  Pinky promise. 

Moving and waiting

Hello! I'm afraid I don't get broadband in my new house until the 10th of December so you will all have to wait for some photos for a little bit longer! 
Love Becky. 

Upcycled pegs tutorial and life lately!

Hello peeps. Another little tutorial for you today. This one is super easy and very cheap!
We're going to make some cute, decorated magnetic pegs to use on your fridge.

They will look something like this:

What you need:
Wooden pegs
Yarn or embroidery thread
Magnetic strips
Buttons
Glue
Nail polish!

Your method depends on how you want your peg to look. Some I painted with nail polish, some I wrapped embroidery floss around one half, others I decorated with buttons and some cat stickers I had from Paperchase!

When you have made your design, simply stick your magnetic strip to the back and start pegging!

Pretty easy, huh? You could make a set and put them in a gift box as a Xmas gift. A nice, 5 minute craft.

In other news, I have been helping my housemate decorate my old room....we saw in the Dulux catalogue a picture of a dark grey wall with a funky orange band across the middle so we tried it out!



Martin was not impressed!

However, it was waaaay too dark so we have started to paint white over the top! Chickens.



Homebase one coat white paint!

I've also been moving house this week and looking at decorating ideas for my own place. I've found some lovely wallpapers recently....



Wallpaper £30 a roll: John Lewis

And coming up soon, I will be collaborating with a gorgeous online decorating boutique so keep an eye out for that! They stock ALL my favourite brands - Jan Constantine, Pip Studio, Missoni, and my latest discovery: Mulberry home! I can't wait....

My last very exciting bit of news is that Marks and Spencers have started selling mini macaroons/ macarons in the chiller section. My lovely Mum bought me some to keep us going as we shifted boxes:

Mini macaroons from Marks and Spencers - £5.49 for 12.

The vanilla flavour is to die for!

Not sure if I'll be posting for a couple of days as it's my birthday on Friday (going to London) and I'll be moving my furniture on Saturday. See you soon!

How to make a "yarn wrapped Xmas wreath" tutorial

Evening! I have a cute, little tutorial for you today. I've got the week off to move house so it's nice to have some time to craft.

This wreath is based on one I saw in Ikea for £10. I had already planned to make a yarn wrapped wreath but when I saw the Ikea one, it gave me the inspiration and the motivation to do it! I'll show you the Ikea one at the end and you can judge whose is better!

So, this is what you are aiming for:

Yarn wrapped wreath!

You will need the following:

A polystyrene wreath shape.
Some wool or "yarn" as the Americans' call it!
Some felt pieces.
Some buttons.



I took apart some old crochet work for the wool.

My wreath shape was from Hobbycraft and cost about £2.20.

The first thing to do is cover your shape with wool. Wrap it round several times until it covers the polystyrene. If you are using two or three colours, wrap them evenly over the top. I didn't glue mine on, I just wrapped the end into the wool.

Make some heart shapes by sewing around the edge of some felt. Leave a gap so you can turn them inside out and then stuff with some wadding.

Attach some ribbon to the top of each one and then tie that ribbon around your wreath so they hang underneath.

To jazz up my wreath, I sewed some buttons on to my hearts and cut out some letters to stick on with a glue gun. I also cut out some bunting shapes out of felt to go through the middle!

(In this picture, the letters are not stuck on as I'm waiting for my mum to bring me a glue gun!)

I was going to write "Merry Xmas" on it but then I wouldn't be able to use it all year round! If you look on Pinterest or Instagram, you can find loads of inspiration on how to decorate your wreath. Simples!

Here is the Ikea version:




They are pretty cute, but mine only cost about £3 to make as I had everything apart from the foam shape! If you give it a go, send me your photos :)

Happy 2nd birthday!!

Today is a very special day. Today is my blog's 2nd birthday! Happy birthday little blog.

If you had told me that after 2 years I would only have 34 followers, I probably wouldn't have started it. But if you had told me that after 2 years, I would have had nearly 40000 page views, then I would definitely have started writing! That might not be much in the grand scheme of blogging but it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside :)

My blog is my little space on the internet where I can express my opinions, where my family can feel connected (even if I haven't rung them lately) and where I can talk endlessly about my love of retro furniture, fashion and cats.

So what do I want my blog to be in another years time? I'd like more followers, obviously. Some collaborations with companies I love would be a bonus. Mostly though, I want to want to blog and not feel like I have to blog. And that can be challenging. But I like a challenge.

Coming soon!

Aloha! I feel like I have neglected my little corner of the internet over the last week or two......but fear not! I'm working on some D.I.Y's for Xmas ornaments (copies of ones you can buy in the major shops but for a fraction of the price) and in a couple of weeks you will be able to see my new house with all my retro, G Plan furniture in it!

I'm currently watching a teak TV unit on Ebay and surfing for Scandinavian style fabrics to cover my chairs with.......and lusting after some birdcage print wallpaper. Did any of you watch Kirstie's Vintage Home the other night? I literally drooled over the tv! The family on it papered their entire bedroom with some blue, birdcage print wallpaper which I have since found to be by Rob Ryan - and is unfortunately £50 a roll. Sob. So I will instead be saving for the version from Next which is only £15 a roll. And just papering one wall.

Here's the Rob Ryan one:

Rob Ryan wallpaper in Sky Blue
£50 a roll

And the Next version:

Birdcage wallpaper from Next £15 a roll

And oh gosh! I just found some swallow printed paper and some stag printed paper (on the Next website.) Which would you go for?? How many rooms do I have.....?

For now though, I'll leave you with a picture of my amazing Mum sanding down one of my G Plan dining chairs!!

Ha ha! She's going to kill me.....