Thursday 20 October 2011

Tea Cup Cottage





The girls have been wanting a playhouse for a while.  Always one to find a cheap and cheerful way to do something, I bought a second-hand pine wendyhouse on ebay and spent a very happy Saturday painting it and decorating it to the girls' exacting standards!  The exterior is Farrow & Ball 'Old White', with home-made window boxes and plastic box balls from the local pound store.  The inside is pink (of course) with the obligatory bunting, and I handpainted the name of the cottage over the door.  The windows were stencilled to create glazing bars, with curtains and a dark grey painted floor to finish.  Total cost all in?  Less than £200.  And two very happy customers.
Photos: Andrea Denniss - Pink Lily photography

Monday 17 October 2011

New Life for an Old Kids' Chair

It's been a gorgeous October so far, and we've been making the most of these last few gasps of good weather.  It's great to get the kids playing outside as long as the weather holds, so to tempt them out into the garden, I made-over an old 1960s child's chair I picked up at a junk shop this summer.  The upholstery was wrecked but it was a very quick job to rip off the fabric and staple some new onto the frame.  The fabric is Cath Kidston's 'Cowboy', in cotton duck.
(Photo: Victoria Harley)

Friday 14 October 2011

Retro Pumpkins




A momentous moment - my first post!  A little Halloween treat to start off with.  My five year old and two year old girls, Maddy and Isabella, were terrified by my spooky pumpkins last year, so this year I've made simple lanterns from mini squashes carved with 1950s inspired motifs and Leeds pottery patterns.  They were a doddle to make (I've still got all my fingers intact which is always a good sign) and made a truly atmospheric addition to our misty orchard...

(Photos by Victoria Harley)