Monday 28 March 2011

Changing Chairs


I recovered the seats of my dining room set a few months ago, however, my hairy cats had completely wrecked them! Luckily I usually only do half a job and hadn't bothered to screw the seats back in to place, so I used the couple of vintage pillow cases I had collected to easily cover the seats and pop them back into place! Now I can wash them whenever and keep changing them when I find new funky vintage designs. 
Now, back to trying to finish off my March knitting project before Friday!
Love Emmax

Monday 21 March 2011

Raspberry & Blackberry Yummy Summer Cordial

Last week I went on a little shopping trip to Trago Mills, it's great for all sorts of random things (it's one of those places with loads of different departments). As well as lots of ribbon, a basket and some shampoo, I spotted this Tala cordial glass bottle. I absolutely adore it and it also came with a couple of recipe ideas, I tried one of them out and it was really easy and super tasty too - it would go great with a vintage picnic or you could add it to a bit of bubbly for a fruity cocktail! I think I'll be popping back to Trago to get my hands on a few more bottles, I think they would also make a really sweet home made gift.


I used Blackberries and Raspberries instead of Blackcurrants in my recipe
- I will get some better pics on when it's ready and I get to sample it!

Blackcurrant Cordial

Makes approx 1 Litre

400g / 13oz on blackcurrants
1 litre / 1.25 pints of water
300g / 10oz caster sugar

1. wash the fruit in water and then add the fruit, water and sugar into a heavy pan.
2. Bring to boil, then turn down and simmer and cook for 5 mins.
3. Pass the contents through a sieve, use the back of a spoon to push all the juice out.
4. Allow to cool, then bottle and place in fridge.

Have fun trying this out, love Miss Curly Pearl x

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Setting up stall!

Hi all, the weather is absolutely glorious here in Falmouth today and I actually have a day off tomorrow, whoop! I have an extensive list of chores, some of which include; planting my strawberry seeds (I started all my other planting last Sunday), take my sewing machine to the sewing machine doctors and sort out the layout of my stall for April. I have two stalls coming up in April, I will be selling vintage from my shop Two Little Birds and some of my own crafts, the first is at Ruby Slippers Retro romp in Torquay from the 1st and then Vintage in a Teacup in St Agnes on the 23rd. So, I have had a few ideas for my stall, but have been looking for a bit of inspiration on how to make sure it looks fab! (my last stall looked a bit like a squat, no a good look!). The first thing I love is this double pink coat hanger that I found, perfect for hanging up scarves and jewellery.

and this cute Polka Dot cake stand could be a clever way of display my orchid hair clips.

I also noticed that Minky Magic has a very helpful blog on craft fair display ideas, just what I need! I love this stall by Lockette, I have a couple of vintage suitcases that might do the job!

Here's the stall that Ella (my business partner) put together for last years Falmouth week, now this is the high standard I have to try and compete with!

Any tips gratefully received, Love

Thursday 10 March 2011

Some Spring Inspiration

Managed to pick these flowers from my garden!

These polka dot cake cases were from Morrisons and only 99p.

These limited edition M & M's were in Sainsbury's  - can't resist pink sweets!

The Morning's are lighter, the Daffs are in the garden and i'm definitely feeling more inspired for life - sometimes winter really is a struggle!  Only problem is I'm currently having my garden demolished by a load of builders and their heavy machinery - They should be finished in a few weeks, but not great when they are all outside my window at 8.30am. Also my knitting has taken a little glitch, as Patch sat on my knitting needles and snapped them last night, will have to wait until the weekend until I can get to the shops and get a new pair  the same size. He did feel pretty bad, lesson learnt, do not leave knitting near his butt! 

I have also joined the Monthly Make by The Felt Fairy (just to give me a bit more inspiration!), my first make was this paper bunting make from old children's books - they look so sweet and I recycled books that we couldn't sell at our fundraising events. May try and make a Stanley if I have time! He's sooo cute!


Love

Sunday 6 March 2011

I Love Wrapping

I had a friends birthday last night, which was great as I just love wrapping presents! Instead of using a normal bow, I used a fake flower hair clip, this way the bow won't be wasted and can be worn. I then found these lovely vintage style tags from Sainsbury's that matched the colour of the flower exactly. Looks so pretty! 

I Love this idea of wrapping presents in old maps from Fern & Fawn  - think I may be more creative this Christmas and try and find a few alternatives to the usual red and gold.

Also this pretty vintage paper found by Wolf and Willow at a flea market is so sweet, what a fab find!

Happy Wrapping, Love

Thursday 3 March 2011

My Handmade Challenge - 10 Months, 10 Crafts, 10 Gifts!

I have decided to set myself a personal crafting challenge, after starting to knit last month I thought why not set my self a new little crafting task every month. This way I can learn learn lots of new skills and make a bunch of fabulous hand made gifts all ready for Christmas. There are loads of things I've been itching to try, so here are a few ideas of what I would like to do. I will set my new challenge each month, after posting my completed one.

I really fancy doing some decorative decoupage and these blocks would look great with vintage image on or letters - Patch said he could cut me some square blocks quite easily! 

Kirsty Allsop has a lovely crafting site, a bit of mosaics is definitely on the cards! But I fancy a more floral vintage china style! Maybe a plant pot or something. 

I also have my Cath Kidston book, which has loads of sewing projects for me to try.

So this months challenge is for me to put my new found knitting skills to the test and knit and embellish a scarf, so here I go! If anyone else would like to join in or has any good ideas, then please let me know! 

Love Miss Curly Pearl.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

The Fifties in Vogue

I am not having a great morning so far, my sewing machine seems to have blown up, they have cut down the beautiful cherry tree in my garden due to maintenance work and I have a house inspection in a short while. I thought I'd post some of the beautiful pictures from the 'Fifties in Vogue' book by Nicolas Drake that I picked up from a chazza last week. I would love to have some of these framed and put up on the wall, I think they  look fabulous and have definitely cheered me up a bit.


Hope you enjoy, love