Over with for another year

Hope you all had a fab Christmas we really enjoyed ours. 

Hubby bought me a mobile phone – a complete surprise and very welcome as I was using a hand me down from my Son – I just never buy new mobile phones so it was a great gift.

Here are some of the other goodies I got – I love the 3 glass cake stands from my Mum and they can be used singly or stacked :)

I love how we walk into a tidy room in the morning with all the pressies wrapped and it ends up looking like this!!

   

Wishing you all a very happy new year and hope that 2010 brings you everything you wish for and more

xxxxxxx

 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!

Will the snow ever go?

I used to love snow but having to drive to work in it every day (and that scares me) has made me not so keen on the snow.

Just a few pics of my snowy garden and street

 

Chav Chic????

Bought this ginormous canvas for my Son’s Birthday – I did feel silly though walking through Boston (Lincolnshire, that is not the USA! LOL) with it.  He loved it though :)

Archie was a bit bemused by it

 

Happy Birthday Rikki

Cannot believe that my “little boy” is 22 today

Happy Birthday Rikki – enjoy your day xxx

She passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay her persistence paid off and today on her 4th attempt my lovely daughter finally passed her driving test!!!!

She will now be able to get her little car on the road – so pleased for her :)

Tree up and mantle decorated

I have 2 days off work and have had a great time putting up the tree and decorating my new mantle – I have waited almost 4 years for a mantle to decorate and it looks so cosy.

Apologies for the rubbish photos but my camera doesn’t like dark shots :(

         

New blog header

No makeovers going on at the moment as I don’t seem to have the time or energy so I though I would make up a new blog header.  Did a collage in Picasa of a few piccies around my home.

I’ll leave you with a scary pic – my Son (he’s 21 – do they ever grow up!) – in his Jedward mask – don’t know whether it’s John or Edward! LOL

 

Archie doesn’t like Jedward either.  Note hubby in the background watching X Factor on the TV :)

Latest thrifty purchase

Got this lovely little cake plate from the charity shop last week – only paid £2.49 for it – I love finding little gems like this.

   

Shameful…………………

……………………. is the only word I can use to explain how my ribbon box looked when I tipped it on the floor.  I love my ribbons but I don’t look after them.  How are you supposed to find a particular colour in this mess. 

This is another job to put on my to do list – walks off hanging head in shame!!!!!

 

A few living room before and afters

Well it has been a long and messy process – getting rid of the slate on the walls, getting rid of the huuuuuuuuge 70’s fireplace, having walls re-plastered, the ceiling re-plastered, a fake chimney breast built, lots and lots of painting of the existing furniture but it is now so clean and soooooo tidy!!!!  I have lots more cluttering to do – far too many blank wall spaces for my liking but I am so happy with the end result.  Here are a few before and afters…….

   

Just a randon shot from the other end of the living room

 

And I am loving my bit of bling – the chandelier – these are only £20 in Wilkos such a bargain and such a dust collector LOL – but who cares I love it :)

   

I am linking this post to the before and after party at Sanctuary Arts at Home and Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

My beautiful girl………..

………………. has enjoyed a quiet 18th with her family and is hitting the town on Saturday with the youngsters. 

My Mum got her this lovely balloon :)

 

  

Me, Mum and Abbi together – 3 generations :)

Some of the family

Happy 18th Birthday Abbi

Can’t quite believe that my beautiful daughter is 18 today.

Happy 18th Birthday Abbi – love you lots xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    

Crappy day

Been a crapppy day today – my daughter failed her driving test for the second time and I feel so sad for her:( 

I am just soooooooooo tired lately so I haven’t done any makeovers for a while so I thought I would share this frame with you that I did a couple of weeks ago. I seem to be doing a lot of frame makeovers lately.  It’s just that I have so many old frames that don’t match my decor anymore but I still like the frames so paint is the only answer

This was a picture that my friend got bored with years back and gave to me

I painted and antiqued it and also painted the blue mount on the inside cream then I put an old style picture of my Brother and his family taken about 15 years ago at Whitby.  I love this photo and really like it in the cream frame.

 

I am linking this to Frugal Friday Link Party at the Shabby Nest

I am an X Factor addict!

 

I don’t watch much tele these days but I love X Factor.

The live finals started tonight with the usual disagreements between the judges.

I really liked Danyl although he got some stick from Danni, Cheryl and Louis

My fave quote tonight was from Simon Cowell to Jamie”Afro” Archer when he said “If Louis had you, you would be in a blazer singing Father and Son”. 

Can’t wait for results show tomorrow night :)

ETA – Louis will not be there tonight as he has jetted off to Majorca following the sad and sudden death last night of Stephen Gately from Boyzone

STEPHEN GATELY

17th March 1976 - 10th October 2009

Footstool makeover

I bought this little footstool for £3 some years ago at a boot sale.  It had a red velour cover and I took that off and recovered it with this fabric.

 

This doesn’t go now with the new look I have in my living room so I painted the legs and distressed them.  My kids said “Why have you put that brown stuff on – it looks dirty and looks like you haven’t painted it properly!! LOL  My kids always tell me the truth :) I had bought some linen type fabric that I really liked for a £1 a metre at a local shop.  When I bought it home hubby said it looked like a potato sack  - you can see where the kids get it from! LOL  Anyway I covered the footstool – not a particularly wonderful job as I’m not sure how to do corners so I make it up as I go along.  Then I realised I didn’t have any braid to cover the staples and tacks so I raided my ribbon stash and found some gingham ribbon.  That will do until I get some braid – I’ve only stuck it on with double sided tape! LOL

I am linking this to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

 

UJ Sofa

You would need a really quirky home to carry off this Barker and Stonehouse Union Jack sofa and you would need a hefty bank balance too – it’s £1600 in the sale!!!!!!!

I know who’s home this would look great in but there wouldn’t be the heavy panelling on the walls – just whitewashed walls and it’s Happy Loves Rosie's home – if you’ve never paid a visit you’re in for a treat and she has a Westie as well so I am a fan :)

Occasional table re-do

Another item of furniture that I have had for well over 20 years. This one got the paint treatment too. I really like this little table but as I am lightening everything up the dark brown had to go :)

I’m pleased with the finished result – I just love how paint transforms pieces and means you can still keep things that you love

And it fits in nicely in this little corner of my living room – I will post pictures of the finished room soon although I still have lots of blank wall space to fill and I am on the hunt for nice cushions for my sofas.

I am linking this to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land. There are some fab transformations at both of these places :)

New header

I’m loving my new blog header

I found it here and what a wonderful blog this lady has.  If you haven’t seen this blog before it is a feast for the eyes – so many fab backgrounds and headers.  There is a wonderful bunting background to match the header but because I use Minima Stretch template so that I can post larger photos it doesn’t work.  It works perfectly though with the normal Minima template on Blogger.

Cream and red spotty ribbon

I am a complete ribbonaholic (there is no such word I just made it up!LOL)

When I used to card make I used ribbon on lots of my cards – I still have masses of ribbon in my craft cupboard

But still I had to buy this reel of ribbon when I saw it in a local shop. It is by East of India and I don’t even know what I am going to use it for but I’m sure it won’t be long before I think of something.