Last Minute Rush!!

Hi all, well..... now that we're into the last week l think you'll agree each shopping trip now requires the strategic planning and precision timing of a lunar landing.... even if youre totally organised and all your pressies are wrapped, sitting under the tree (NOT me) there's still the grocery shopping to endure and lets face it once youve committed to putting the coin in the slot of that trolley and pushed it through the entry gate... youre STUCK with it, even if three of it's four wheels are heading in the opposite direction to you....add to that 5 thousand other people with the same problem all rushing to get out and get home, its a bloody nightmare, and since youre so distracted trying to push through the aisles,it doesn't matter how many lists you have...inevitably when you get home, you've forgotten something....ANYWAY 'nuff said about that...hahaha!!

After finishing the ruffled throw last week l still had a little fabric leftover which l used to cover this coathanger. The fabric was torn into strips 1cm wide and about 20cms long, each strip was tied onto a wire coathanger and then tied into a bow until the entire hanger was covered. They're (nano) quick and easy to do and the raw edges give a nice relaxed look.

Here l simply popped some Chrismassy geraniums into some matching pattypans. I was thinkin' if you used silicon ones inside the paper ones' you could add water and the flowers would prob'ly stay fresh.

 

This is the rest of the dress shown in pic one.... it's unusual with a pretty romantic look and patterned in surfy/beachy print. 

 

The background photo is of some distant relatives. My Aunt (one of Mum's many Sisters) has traced our family tree back as far as records go, this took her more than a decade of her free time, she kindly photocopied lots of the photos, birth, death and marriage certificates for us to share.

White sequinned bag.... tiny leather gloves and vintage greeting cards make up the scene.

This is a pic l've shown before, but it fit the theme. Vintage lace dress with teeny white shoes with pom poms and beaded bag.

White painted swivel makeup mirror with lady head vase from the 50's and diamente buckles 

This is one of my pics from last Christmas, vintage budha and Mary statues.

Shabby saggy roses and candles. zsazsabellagio.blogspot.com  via pinterest

Antlers with strands of nuetral coloured pearls.

Random pic of the week. Weird but interesting. newsbad.com via pinterest.

The Crooked Forest - Poland .


Thanks lots for dropping by... hope you have a wonderful week and don't get too frazzled.
Til next time,


Bron. 

Getting Closer.

Hi ......l hope all your festive preparations are going well. There's been a small buzz of excitement around here this week as the post delivery van roars up our street. Hubby and l both ordered our pressies online, so he's been hovering around waiting for his motorbike helmet to arrive. Yesterday when the driver FINALLY pulled into our driveway he almost tackled him to the ground to wrestle the parcel from his hands.... sadly it was all wasted energy. There were the towels that l'd ordered only four days before and he's been waiting eight.......ohhh the injustice of it all. l've also bought a new/old bedhead off ebay so lets hope the helmet arrives before THAT does... haha!!

l've been sewing again this week for me it's relaxing, though with all these ruffles l should be comatose... ha!

Not sure what to call it exactly......just a throw of some sort which was whipped up from a vintage floral sheet. It pretties up the bed...

or the couch.  ...



...or maybe even the table.



Ok... so it's prob'ly not that practical on the table, but it was fun messing around setting things up.

I'm not a big Christmas decorator, usually just the tree and a table centrepiece with choccies/ lollies.

This year l've done a tray....l took the choccies out 'cos they didn't match (for the pic).

A couple of vintage buys which l found a couple of weeks ago.

What l think is a 50's dance frock. l've added a velvet sash and brooch. Isn't the colour pretty...Cost $10.00 which l thought was good price, the opshop lady said they were trying to clear out old stock to make way for the new........ in the New Year.

 

This Barbie was lying face down on the floor in one of the church opshops....normally l'd walk right by but the old fabric of her dress caught my eye....when l picked her up and  turned her over l was amazed to see that she is a 1963/4 bubblecut Barbie, (though her hair's more bowl cut than bubble..ha!) she still has her original shoes, and had the nonsense pricetag of $1.00.

l'd love to find something like this to use as a dressing table....etsy.com via pinterest.

Pretty bedroom from countryliving. via pinterest.

Lovin this tablescape. rachelashwell. 

This is one of the Christmas window displays at bergdorfgoodman  in New York 2011.

Wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, thanks for stopping by.

Til next time,

Bron.

Weeks have Wings.

Hi....l hope you've all had a wonderful and productive week....l guess most of the kids have started holidays and although busy, at least it allows for a break in the usual routine rush. It's been a better week here.....many thanks for your kind comments and visits which CHEERED me up LOTS.

As promised......my PURPLE tree..... l've decorated in shades of pink, blue, green and silver with mostly balls. For a long time l had a white tree which l loved  but was having to replace it almost yearly as the limbs would turn yellow during storage. 

Thought l'd turn this vintage Mambo skirt into a bag. All that had to be done was to join the two hem seams together. l added a piece of gathered lace inserted into the seam as l sewed but this could easily be left out.  

An old scarf was threaded throught the belt loops to use as a handle.... too easy....



Some pics of pretty things gathered from around the house

 

 



      

 

 

 

Flowers of course.....always important. My foxgloves are almost finished.

Penstemons in apothocary jars.

Vintage embroidered linens..with all the work that goes into them l don't know how anyone could throw them out. They also remind me of my grandmother who apparently was a keen embroiderer, stitching away by lamplight. 

Wouldn't this make the perfect little girls room. nadafarmlife. via pinterest.

Lovin this use of old linens. curioussofa. via pinterest.

 Shabby pretty. tumblr.com via pinterest.

Have an awesome weekend.....here's hopin' this warmer weather holds out.

Til next time.

Bron.

Big Day Out.

Hi everyone ..... Well it's started  hasn't it, all the chattering's about Christmas, letterboxes are bursting from the "forced in" junk mail and the shopping centre car parks are chocka by 10.30, speaking of which. Sunday...me, mum and sis had a day out NOT christmas shopping at Chaddy in Melbourne (Chadstone shopping centre) . It's about 2 hours drive from here, and what an experience that was....gawd that place is HUGE.


Below. Collage of shops, and lovely things to be seen at Chaddy.

Alannah Hill was staffed by (stunning) six foot girls dressed in black, silver beaded dresses somehow confidently gliding around in 8 inch heels. A little intimidating at any time, but at 10 oclock in the morning it's a little offputting, specially when you're vertically & youth challenged and maybe a little chunkier in your jeans than you'd like haha.. but anyway....... lots of pretty things made it well worth the unease.

Below. A couple of bits of clothing that wasn't to be resisted.

We went into Tiffany's for a squiz...only to be greeted by a couple of burly store guards, (one was a girl) who watched everyone's every move, as they 'casually' chatted away. Needless to say we moved on pretty quickly.

Also bought was this lovely 'Eiffel' bottle cos it perfectly matched this small one already sitting on my dining room dresser.

Burberry was so very English and completely full of WINTER clothes, coats, hats, gloves and the like....l know Melbourne's cold but SERIOUSLY people, it IS almost Summer.

Well l guess for cityites visiting these centres is everyday ho hum.... but for this countryish girl it was awesome and l was wishing the day would never end.




Below. Hope you enjoy these few pics l took recently.

Below. Out in the garden...concrete angel with lace and blooms
.

Below. Lovin this bottle display from sweetpeahome.blogspot.com via pinterest.

Below. Vintage Coty packaging and old perfume bottles from my blogfile.



Below. Mosaiced torso, beads and beaded items.(blogfile).

 

Hope you've enjoyed sharing part of our fun day away and thanks for stopping by.

Til next time,

Bron.

The last of Spring.

Hi.....thanks for popping in, hope your week's been fun and cruisy. Yesterday l actually cut up an old doyley instead of just thinking about it and stuffing it back in the linen closet. l decided on making a cross not only 'cos it's a bit Christmassy but also it was a similar shape of the beaded fabric l also wanted to use...long but rather thin.

So with the doyley fabric one side and the beaded fabric the other, it can be hung with either side facing out.
l've linked with Sandy here if you'd like to see some other gorgeous Christmas inspiration.

To make...l traced around a cross with pencil onto the doyley which was then cut out and pinned over 2 squares of fabric, the beaded (fabric) and a thin lining fabric. l sewed the cross directly onto both the squares leaving a small opening along one side (of cross) for the fill. l trimmed most of the excess fabric away and filled it. Once the gap was sewn up, it was trimmed properly.  A small section of string was sewn to the top for hanging .......voila!!

 

 

 

 

 
A couple of sparklies were picked up from the market last week.

Also a floral cup which was mixmatched with a floral plate.

A couple of blooms from my climbing rose fit nicely in this old cup.

 

These are the pics we took last Sunday at the open garden Ercildoune, a wonderful old homestead with oodles of  history, you can read more if you like.... right here.

Isn't this table and chairs fantastic....l would have happily tied it to the top of the car but damn it weighed a TON!!!

 

Beautiful chunks of concrete.

Can you also see the fountain in the background.... everywhere you turn is something to see and/or smell.



The walled garden is very English and smothered in roses.

Lovin' this pic l found on Pinterest from google.com

Last Summer l took all this stuff out into the garden and took some pics, l see by the date it was almost Christmas which prob'ly explains why the Chrissy baubles are floating in the rose bowl, haha..

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Til next time,

Bron.