Charity shop finds!

I love charity shops! The awesome finds, the untold stories of the little knick knacks you find in them....I could think of nothing better than spending hours looking through charity shop after charity shop (Op shops for my Southern Hemisphere readers) trying to find hidden gems. I am yet to brave the clothing side of charity shops although I have found a few great bits, I am more for the housey treasures at the moment.

I visited one of my favourite local charity shops yesterday and whenever I do go there I usually find something or other I just simply must have! This time was no exception and having only spent £2.70 (bargain!) I walked out with a small collection of goodies.

I am more than a little obsessed at the moment with crocheted doilies and when I found a bundle of 3 small round ones and 1 long, quite large rectangular one for only 20p (!!!)... well as you can imagine died and gone to doily heaven jumped to mind!

 I have been looking everywhere for a small dolls bed for my daughter but have not yet managed to see anything I liked the look of or that was suitable, until....out jumps this wooden magazine stand, woot woot!I removed the middle bar of wood and gave it a good clean up and I will easily be able to paint up and make into a little cot-bed for her baby. She got it out of the bag and started playing with it pretty much as soon as we got home, so it gets the seal of approval from her.

Baby seems to approve!

I also spotted this cute little guy and for some odd reason just had to have him. I am not a collector of ornaments/weird animal toy things but this was so cute and fuzzy and strange I couldn't leave it there. I have no idea what it is or who made it, but you never know in years to come it may become a collectors piece worth millions HAHAHAHAHA wishful thinking!

I love this weird little bunny thingie-ma-jig!

How cute is he!!!

This weekend we have decided to brave what ever the wonderful English summer throws at us and get up early and go to one of the local boot fairs. It isn't something we have done as a family but I am really looking forward to seeing what bargains we can dig up, my husband has been well trained in bargain upcyclable furniture spotting so here's hoping we find something great! And here's hoping it's dry!!!! Watch this space.

Are you a charity shop/boot fair fan too? What's the best bargain you've found?

Well I hope your Tuesday is going well- off to do some house work now....it never ends! Thanks for stopping by.

xx P xx

Short but sweet Monday Shouts!

With another teachers training day at Osk's school today (one on Friday too)  I have both the kiddlets home with me on this bright, sunny Monday, so shouts today will only be brief as I am not sure how long I have before I get the sound of "Muuuuuuuummmmm, I'm hungry, bored, hurt etc." Plus I have made today the day to start potty training so am on tenterhooks watching out for any signs of mass flooding! Potty at the ready!
I didn't really have much time to surf this weekend as most of Sunday was spent feeling rather unwell, I'm sure it was due to lack of sleep from a rather late session on Friday night (I am far to old for late nights!) and not being able to catch-up on Saturday. I did however come across a couple of cool sites that I wanted to shout about today.

Vintage Advertisement Browser

This is a very cool site that has masses of Vintage Ads for everything from alcohol to toys, animals to Xmas! The ads as set out in time slots so there are ads from the 1800's all the way to today. I was looking for old, vintagy ads to decorate a Lazy Susan with and have found heaps on here. The coke ones are amazing and this is a site I will definitely use on a regular basis.

Love Maegan

I came across this blog while I was getting my daily Pinterest fix and chose it to shout about firstly for the shoe tutorials I found on it...A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! I am full of inspiration now and am ready to attack my shoes and reinvent them into new shoes. I have had a quick look at the other sections in the blog (the refashion ideas are great) and am so far pretty impressed by this creative lady and look forward to reading more of her posts...when I have 5 minutes to myself. But if the shoe posts are anything to go by I may need considerably more than 5 minutes!

I love this idea
A home-made barefoot sandal worn under a high heel shoe to give a new looking shoe!

Is it just me or do I seem to gravitate towards shoe themed blogs a little too often?

Are you a shoe addict too? Have you ever tried to create DIY designer shoes? Or perhaps you are lucky enough to own a pair of the real things? 

Well that's it for a short but sweet couple of shouts today...I can hear the joyous sounds of lego being tipped out and spread around and upstairs being destroyed as I type, so I had better go and sort out the war zone! Hope you are having a wonderful Monday.

xx P xx

Sharing the love on Monday

Hello to one and all, I am sharing some love with you all today on this cloudy but decidedly muggy Monday shout out blog-post. I thought for my Monday shouts today I'd take a bit of a different approach and instead of looking at individual blogs and waxing lyrical about them I'd share bits and bobs from different blogs that I love. I get so many of my DIY, craft, gift and arty ideas from pictures people post on their blogs and also from my Mecca of inspiration- Pinterest (feel free to follow me and my pins on Pinterest). I have linked the photos to the blog post they came from (or the actual blog for some of them), so if any make you feel the love click on them to see more!

Love this idea for a party!

LOVE these bangles!! Just ordered some shrinky plastic to make some of these!

I love this woman-her blog is fabulous!

Love this as a gift idea...maybe a teacher's gift?

I Love Macaroons!

Love this table setting!

Love this one too!

How can anyone not love Pie in a Jar!

Red velvet cupcake in a jar...love it!

Salted caramel sauce...what's not to love about that!

I love this cushion!

My new love...doodling!

Wow! I'd love some of these for dessert tonight!

mmmmmmmm I love Stromboli!

I love this list...I have kind of started to do my housework like this...hmmm I would love if I could stick to it!

Well that is but a small selection of the ideas I love from blogs I love.

What gets you feeling the love?

Hope you are having a love filled Monday wherever you may be. Thanks for stopping by.

xx P xx

Love this quote!

All things Japanese

日本語を少し頭にこの 1 週間以上です。

Apologies to any Japanese readers if Google translator isn't up to scratch but I am more than a little Japanese mad this week.
A few years ago I was lucky enough to have a 2 day stop over in Japan...wow what a country. It was a full on culture shock I have to say but kind of tweaked my interest in all things Japanese. I have been looking at quite a few blogs over the past week with definite Japanese influences and can safely say I am liking the Japanese culture/food/art/fabrics/quirkiness/scenery...the list goes on!

Bento boxes
I got this recipe book a while ago and have used it quiet a few times for lunchbox inspiration. I like to eat alot of Japanese inspired food, seaweed, rice, pickled vegetables etc. For those who don't know what a bento box is... Bento (弁当 bentō^?)^[1] is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware. Although bento are readily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops (弁当屋 bentō-ya^?), train stations, and department stores, it is still common for Japanese homemakers to spend time and energy for their spouse, child, or themselves producing a carefully prepared lunch box.

I love the fun ways they present their foods and the recipes in this book are really easy to follow and recreate. I'd love to have a lunch-box like this each day...they are mini works of art!

Egg moulds..I have the car and the fish and love them!

Sushi
I love sushi! I love making it and love, love, love eating it. My two older children are just as addicted to it as I am and have been since they were babies- my oldest love her 'shoooshie' and would sit and plough her way through a mountain of it (using chopsticks like a pro).

Hehe not sure if I
could eat this...but quite funny.

Washi tape

This is the coolest craft item I've come across in a while! It is a paper tape that can be used for a multitude of projects. It comes in a million different patterns and colours and is well just lovely! I have added some links to sites that give examples of ways to use washi tape (sometimes called wasabi tape).
The art of washi tape
Craft ideas I love the washi tape covered pegs idea!
Decorating with washi tape A lot of washi tape was used in these projects and given it's cost I think I'd have to remortgage my house to copy them...but they are cool ideas non the less.
More washi tape craft ideas

I have a couple of rolls of this wondrous stuff but am now going to start a wee collection of it by getting a couple of rolls each month, so exciting! Watch this space for my washi tape projects!

Harajuku

Harajuku (原宿 "meadow lodging")  listen (help·info) is the common name for the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan.

Every Sunday, moi young people dressed in a variety of styles including gothic lolita, visual kei, and decora, as well as cosplayers spend the day in Harajuku socializing. The fashion styles of these youths rarely conform to one particular style and are usually a mesh of many. Most young people gather on Jingu Bridge, which is a pedestrian bridge that connects Harajuku to the neighboring Meiji Shrine area.^[1]

Harajuku is also a fashion capital of the world, renowned for its unique street fashion.^[2] Harajuku street style is promoted in Japanese and international publications such as Kera, Tune, Gothic & Lolita Bible and Fruits. Many prominent designers and fashion ideas have sprung from Harajuku and incorporated themselves into other fashions throughout the world.

Harajuku is also a large shopping district that includes international brands, its own brands, and shops selling clothes young people can afford.

I find this part of Japanese culture fascinating. The time it must take for them to get all this get-up on is staggering, I can barely manage to slap on a bit of lip gloss and scoop my hair into a ponytail in the morning-this is definitely a major life style choice! The goth ones look at little scary and the dolls hmmmm? Well to me it's just a bit weird- but they certainly do look impressive. It must be an amazingly colourful spectacle to see when they are all gathered together.

Well that is my Japanese inspired post for today. I am looking forward to one day returning for a longer stay so I can really appreciate the country and it's culture and people. All of which I find amazing.

Have you ever been to Japan? What fascinated you the most about it?

Hope your Monday isn't as soggy as mine is today...stuck indoors with two bored children isn't fun, there are only so many blanket forts and craft projects you an create before tempers start to flare! Please someone cast me a sun spell!!!

xx P xx

"Cosmetics is a boon to every woman, but a girl's best friend 

is still a nearsighted man."

 Yoko Ono; Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist

Monday shouts and wedding fun!

Well after a week of grappling with my comments, getting them sorted then losing them all again I think I have finally cracked the comment saga. I did manage to get a few from lovely friends and readers I have since lost them in a revamp...but all is not lost as new comments now show up so happy days!

It has been a fun filled weekend here in Chez Madness with Jubilee festivities high on the agenda.Friday celebrations were held at all of our respective schools (mine, my husband's and my son's), recuperating on Saturday and back to it on Sunday. While we avoided London and it's heaving crowds we did watch it on the tele and I have to say despite the horrendous weather it did look like a pretty special day! Sunday saw the wedding party of two close friends so I am feeling a tad jaded this morning- but happy that it was for a very good cause! I love weddings and haven't been to one in AGES! After much toasting and dancing and we rocked home at about 1.00- such a late one for a granny like me!!! Needless to say Oly was up bright and early this morning so I am sure I will be feeling pretty rough come about 3pm today!

Taking our photo in the loo just like all the teenagers are doing!

I also had a lovely addition to my growing collection of cameras welcoming a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 into the fold. My super amazingly generous, super sweet husband knew I'd been drooling over it for a while now, but would never have been able to afford to buy one...well on Thursday I got home from work to be handed a box containing my new baby! I was a very happy girl and so excited to get snapping. I have taken a few pics but still need to get my head round it all as I am not getting the photos I quite want or am capable of getting form this camera just yet. I have been doing some reading up and taking notes on getting the most from my cameras, which actually leads me on to my first shout out for this week quite nicely.


Monday shout outs today...

Digital Photography School
Exactly what it says on the box really. This site is full of amazing tips and ideas on getting the most from your camera, no matter what sort you have. I get regular emails from them with weekend projects to improve your photography and I am constantly on there searching for answers to problems I may be having. If you are an amateur, budding or professional photographer there is something on here for you, well worth a visit!

Domestic Imperfection
I found this first cause I was attracted to the name...hehe it is so how I am-Domestically Imperfect! There are lots of fun and pretty ideas for things to do round your house and I have used a couple of the tutorials in my house.

Frugalicious Me

Def: Fru*ga*li*cious-adjective

1. To live economically, yet deliciously fabulous!

This blog was created by the owner to 'inspire and encourage women to embrace creativity and live a beauty filled life, while not breaking the bank'. I love the absolutely gorgeous look of this blog and it is a great collection on ways of living fabulously on a shoestring. There are literally 100's if not 1000's of ideas for DIY projects, recipes, re-purposing, revamping and how to be frugalicious (such a cool word)! This is a definite must see blog for those of us who want to live a champagne life style but only have a beer budget.

Wit and Whistle
A lovely blog written by a self proclaimed design nerd. The lady who write this blog has a Bachelor degree in Graphic Design and as a result this blog is full of amazing, quirky, fun sketches and designs. She owns a greeting card shop Wit and Whistle and does all of the designs for the cards herself...they are very cool! There are also bits and bobs to have a good read through and get some inspiration from...well worth a read through!

Well that's it for this Monday's shouts, time for me to get going and catch the train into London to meet up with my oldest (have known for the longest/not the age oldest) friend before she heads back home to NZ to live. Let's hope London isn't too madly busy still...haha famous last words. Wait for the Twitter updates I am sure they will be all about the awful crowds!
Hope your Monday is as fun filled as mine is sure to be. Thanks so much for stopping by.

xx P xx