Little solutions to little problems

Hair clips are a big pain in the bum in this house. I've lost count of how many sets I've bought for Izzy just to end up with lots of single clips and no matching pairs.

Does anyone else suffer from this problem? Where do these clips go?!

Anyway I saw this tutorial and it's such a pretty solution.

I used a frame from a charity shop which, as it was the first one I grabbed, is not in the best condition but once painted it looked a bit better.

I loved choosing scraps for the dresses and found some denim to use for the jeans.

It was really quick and easy to make so I might make a few for friends.

Next problem.....

...my daughter has a tiny bedroom but I love finding ways to get around this.

She recently got some chalks in a mixed box of Crayola bits and has been begging for a blackboard since. With no room for an easel I bought some blackboard paint and covered the front of her wardrobe with it.

Et voilà - one happy little girl and no extra space used! 

I had just baked cakes when I wrote this!

The Never-Ending Tea Towel

It's amazing how much you can make from just one tea towel! I had already turned my £1 CS tea towel into an apron and oven mitt and was finding it difficult to dispose of the scraps so I turned the leftover strip into a headband for Little Miss. P instead!

Shame she won't keep it on for more than 30 seconds! I still have a small strip left too so there may be hearts in my next post!

Speaking of the little girl who is the recipient of 99% of my makes, I am gradually turning her bedroom from a neutral nursery to a pink, girly bedroom.

She did have a cream and brown light shade but she now has a pretty pink one instead.

I used a delicious Robert Kaufman cupcake fabric, a pink flowery one I had lying around and some pink gingham from some of her old bedding.

Car Caddy

I mentioned a few posts back about the car caddy I made using this tutorial. 

I managed to get some pics...

I used some denim someone gave me a while ago and some spotty Laura Ashley fabric I found in a CS.

It's such a cute gift for a little boy who loves his cars!

I might try to make a girly one for Miss. P's Sylvanian Families (actually they were mine when I was a little girl)!

Little Hands that Bake!

Little Miss Pink has recently moved into a grown-up single bed from her toddler bed and as it's a cabin bed the underneath has been transformed into a little playhouse.

As you can see she has a kitchen in there and she quite often has friends (of the stuffed variety) over for lunch and tea parties! 

She has been busy serving tea and baking cakes without the most basic of kitchen essentials so this afternoon I managed to whip up some accessories.

I found an Emma Bridgewater Tea Towel in a charity shop a while ago which was perfect for a little girl's kitchen.

I just cut the tea towel into an apron shape and sewed some bias to the raw edges. The straps are one length of ribbon threaded through the bias to make it adjustable. 

There was enough of the fabric left over to make an oven glove.

My little cook is very pleased with them!

In the near future I'll be making some curtains for the bed/playhouse which will hopefully turn out looking something like this or this!

Making Technology Pretty!!

I wouldn't be without technology. My Macbook gives me my internet fix, my DSLR camera is my plaything and my TV provides me with episodes of Mad Men (which I'm loving at the moment)!

Now I have a hand-me-down iPhone thanks to Mr. P's need for the latest model! It's not the prettiest but most technology is fairly unattractive in my eyes, making an exception when it comes to one of these of course!

Of course I had to pretty my iPhone and who other than Cath Kidston would be the one to assist?!

Now isn't this nicer than a boring black phone?!

Even the inside is pretty! How wonderful.

Remember me?!

I can't believe it has been so long since my last post! I have been very neglectful of my poor blog but since going back to work full time I haven't had the time or energy to post, let alone do anything to post about!!

But I've had a (much needed) week off and managed to do a cross a few things off my ever growing list!

First was this dresser unit that had been in Miss. Pink's bedroom for the last few years.

I needed to move it out to make way for a dolls house that was mine when I was a little girl (I'll post photos of that soon). Unfortunately our home isn't big enough to keep it so I thought I'd have a go at painting it before selling.

I finally got around to it this week and this is how it looks now.

I did try to varnish the top to keep the pine colour but it went horribly wrong and I ended up having to paint the whole thing!

I quite like it (more than I should for something I'm having to part with) and even Mr. P said he was impressed and he dislikes this kind of furniture!

I did also make a cute little car caddy for a friend's son's birthday (from this tute) but realised after I gave it to him I forgot to take photos! But it's a great guide for anyone wanting to make one.

Anyway, I will hopefully post again sooner than 2 months from now!

Better Late than Never!

I had been planning to make a cover for my sewing machine for months and bought the fabric ages ago. Finally got around to it now I have a nice new machine and even more reason to protect it from evil dust (which there is loads of in my house)!

It hasn't got interfacing or anything so it's a bit floppy but it does the job.

Unfortunately Mr. P is not a fan of all things pink and flowery so I had to go with something a little less girly as my sewing corner is in the lounge.

I'm quite pleased with it especially as there was no pattern, I just made it up as I went along!