There's No Place Like it....

Being greatly inspired by Ms. D. Angel and having turned my little work space into a most productive niche the past few days, I took the time to make a little something for our home that has been rolling around my noggin sporadically for a good few months.

Using a lovely vintage tray linen as my frame I happily spent a good while in front of Inspector Morse and DI Jack Frost first picking out lovely vintage fabrics, then ironing the bondaweb interfacing and finally sewing and hand stitching the words "Lord, Bless this HOME, sweet HOME". Which Granny never had a 'bless this home' thing going on somewhere in her hallway? A philistine Granny, that's who. Honouring the granny and giving it a modern twist, this linen fabric whatnot garland has a sentiment that means a lot to me. Having a peaceful and God-conscious home, and having HOME at the centre of everything.









Moving on.

Still giddy with the success of my bondaweb prowess on the table linen, I spied, at the very, very bottom of my fabric shelves a sad little piece of forlorn fabric that once shone as a beautiful woollen shawl that kept me warm when I were a lass at Cambridge. Many a winter morn spent scurrying over Parker's Piece past Reality Checkpoint was made bearable by swaddling myself in this woollen shawl - wrapping me up and keeping the bitterest winds at bay.

Sadly, we had a little accident with the washing machine, and for years her crumpled, discarded body lay retired and forgotten, waiting for an idea to grab me so that I could repurpose her into a new career of usefulness.

And this weekend it so happened that an idea of unbearable brilliance, probably instigated by hours in front of Pinterest, hit me. Cutting up vintage (of course) scraps of fabric I made my own bias, cut the shawl into a rectangle and sewed the bias on. Ta da! Instant blanket. Yes. Another one.

But it was missing something.... it needed a little va-va-voom. And that is where the idea of HOME made its second appearance - a few more minutes with bondaweb and some lovely modern fabric, a little bit of stitchery what-have-you and I present you with a useful throw to keep the babes warm...



















Heart warming chintzy schmultz. No place like it...


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If ever...

If ever I redecorate, or by some miracle, get the Farm of My Dreams, I think these prints by Roddy & Ginger will have to make their way onto a wall or two...





Check out the blog too for more inspiration. {Thanks to Manda for link love there.}

For more house & home dreaming you can see what is making me smile these days by checking out my Pinterest boards House & Home and Farm Life. Dreams at least are free, right?


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These walls of ours...

A year or so ago I nailed these crates to our sitting room wall for somewhere to display nick-nacks. I really love them, they have a rustic charm and they have turned a large, boring flat space into something more engaging.

But still, there was something missing... Of course, a plethora of prints! And so with the help of arty friends, some of my own images and etsy finds I created our 'seasonal wall' - Images that keep us in tune with the outside when we are in the very heart of our home.







I think it works somehow. A hotch-potch of nick-nacks and granny things with a little modern tweek.


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Come on in...

The Room. The New Room. I've been banging on and on about it for months and I'm sure you'll be wondering what all the fuss is about.

It isn't a big space or a trendy space. In fact, I didn't really want to show you it until it was 'done'. But really, what does 'done' mean? Are we ever really 'done' with any room in any house; isn't everything a continuous project?

So, please be aware that this room is far, far from perfect or 'done'. Many things have yet to find a 'home'. There will probably be a lot more reorganisation until things flow properly here, but essentially, this is how we rock this space right now.



The back door opens into the place we hang our coats and put all our shoes and outside stuff. This chest of drawers keeps everyone's hats and mittens and scarves and what-have-you. I have placed a large curtain (which will probably change several times til I'm happy, but right now this is warm) to close off the rest of the room from the door and shoes etc. and when you walk past the curtain and look left you find the lion's share of the room::

This is our new-to-us table, large enough to fit all of us and our work with ease and space leftover. Bliss. I have waited for this space for a long time and we are enjoying spreading out and being creative here.







Over here is the bookcase full of teaching resources and manipulatives, whilst the dresser is where all our art equipment is now stored (this may change if I find something more useful), most of it within easy reach of the midgets for when the artistic urge strikes.






In one corner instead of shelving I have utilised these thrifted, vintage suitcases for storage. This is where the fabric and textiles craft things are kept - everything from felt, fleece, yarn, looms, knitting needles/forks/dollies, and embroidery. Beside them is a thrifted sewing machine for the boys' use.



One large wall was painted with chalkboard paint. It's a usefull resource and the boys like to draw here.



In front of the chalk wall is another smaller table. Useful for when one of them wants to work alone, or to keep some work out, to dry paintings and to shove the rice tub under.





Currently this piece of string serves as our art line. Not pretty, may change it, but it does the job. Also need to find a space for the boys' own inspiration wires and inspiration boards.



When is junk not junk? When it's in the invention box, of course. In here are interesting cartons, nuts and bolts, pieces of wood - all ready to be transformed into their latest art work or inventions.



This coffee table currenly serves as a place where manipulatives are, erm, manipulated? Think this is going to be leaving our house soon...



Musical instrument corner. Boys not that interested in music, but they like to have a bit of blast on the keyboard once in a while...







Fabric scraps - multitude of uses from imaginitive play to sewing and sticking...





Play corner - dressing up and kitchen and what-have-you, facing the books...









Here they can sit and play and read.









So as you can see. A messy space. A space in need of new homes for many things, a couple of rugs (working on that), some organisation, but basically a space for the boys to explore their creativity and spread their wings a little. There is a lot of work to be done here, and a lot of work *being* done here, but messy or not we really love this new space of ours and the opportunity it gives us to be a creative and homeschooling family. Masha'allah.

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One Day My Prints Will Come...

Honestly, my jokes don't get a lot better than that, so just humour me, OK?

A few new prints and posters and what-have-you that have found their way into our home these last few weeks...













And whilst this one isn't new to us, it is the first time we have found a space for it.



Love it.

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