A perfectly peachy pinny

In true creative style, when I saw a cute tea towel at the charity shop I decided then and there that I just had to use it to make a pinny like the ones shown in the fabulicious Tiff and Rachelle's ultra fun crafty book, Granny Chic. If you haven't poked your nose into their handy dandy book yet, do go ahead, there are many peachy projects using pre-loved fabrics, braids and trims.

The finished pinny

Here are examples of the fun Granny Chic pinnies!

The tea towel cost me the princely sum of 30p, and together with an embroidered lacy doily (20p) taken from my huge stash of vintage lacy doilies, tray napkins and table cloths, and a piece of lace and some bias binding from my crafty drawer, I set to making my very own pinny. Oh, and I do really have a few, I confess to being a bit of a magpie when I see such handsome pieces of hand crafted loveliness in a forlorn bargain bin in thrift and charity shops! I may not have an immediate use for such treasures, yet they somehow find their sneaky way home and join my fabric stash, with the premise that such a grand piece of history will somehow weave its delicateness into a future crafty endeavour.

Starting with the tea towel 'Wedding Anniversaries'. It has the look of an embroidered sample and is made of linen.

A doily which is folded over and sown on the tea towel making a pocket

Lace is added to the bottom, and then bias binding is added to make ties

And hey presto the finished article! And in Tiff's words - I immediately felt peachier about my daily chores, because how can you not - in such a pretty pinny :o)

As you can see I am quite partial to a pretty doily or two, and change my little displays regularly, adding seasonal flowers and quirky items to create a colour themed corner.

Hope you have a crafty moment or two this week!

Easter decor

It's Sunday eve, and two weeks have passed since Easter. The boys are back to school tomorrow. It's been a hectic two weeks, fitting work and a trip to Grandparents in, together with keeping the boys entertained, so the blog has been put to one side. So to start with...here's with some Easter decor.

 

I bought a couple of pots of  Muscari a few weeks back, and kept them in the greenhouse until they were close to flowering. Muscari are perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of dense, usually blue flowers, and are commonly known as Grape Hyacinth.

I have kept Easter cards that the children have made over several years, and displayed them with a cute little chick eggcup.

 

Bunting was made using hessian and stamping words and pictures on, very simple and rustic. And, of course, the usual egg tree was put together with blown painted eggs, chickens and other Easter bits collected over the years.

I also made a little nest as a centre piece for the table. I collected some fallen birch twigs when I was out walking the dog, together with a few lacey pieces of lichen. I added some little eggs and a chick and finished it off with a peppering of fluffy feathers.

Muscari look so pretty in a metallic pot, and can be planted in the garden once they have finished flowering.

These lovely painted eggs were picked up in a thrift shop some years ago, and I like them so much that they don't actually get packed away with the Easter decorations, but are kept on display in a cabinet the rest of the year.

And, of course, the Easter cake! It was made by Sam, with help from his teacher at school. This treat was enjoyed at our family get-together and was quite yummy!


Have a good (and thankfully warmer!) week ahead!