A Sewing Room "tizzy Up" !

Greetings dear friends & readers

When I became inundated with Orders last December my sewing room turned into a tip!
Things got pulled out & not put back, & somewhere under all the mess I am sure there was once carpet!
When I was busily tidying for Mum's arrival, all sorts got tossed in there & the door pulled shut quickly!
I commented to Mum while she was here "I must tidy my sewing room" ... her reply was "I think it's going to need 
a bit more than just a tidy!" 😉

Finally last week I felt ready to tackle it.
I decided this year my policy would be to use up what I already have on hand!

The first item I tackled was the wooden Bear shaped shelf  that I upcycled in this old Post
This shelf houses most of my fabrics & two of the shelves had come loose & fallen down ... fabric had been tossed on there every which way, much of it had fallen down!

The Mr re-screwed the shelves for me while I ironed & folded all my scrunched up fabrics & sorted them into colours

I had enough of the fabric left over from the tablerunner that I made in this post here to make a new ironing board cover  . . . this fabric was gifted to me by my dear friend Leeanne & I adore it.  
It is a slightly heavier weight cotton duck fabric, & my sewing room blind is also made from this.


Late last year I covered the ugly black topped trestle table in my sewing room with a length of spotty oilcloth 
which I purchased from My Style NZ

However this mess still stared out at me so I decided to screw some curtain tracking under the lip of the table & make some curtains that could easily be slid back & forth when I needed supplies

Looking down onto the spotty oilcloth top

Once again, using up what I had, I gathered together 3 vintage supper cloths with pretty embroideries on them

I joined these two together

Third one below ...

I had purchased some curtain tape last year from the Op Shop for the princely sum of $1 !
I joined the 2 narrower supper cloths together to make one side, then had an opening in the middle & used the wider supper cloth for the other end.

I am thrilled with my "granny chic" curtains & they slide back & forth very easily making access simple

I sorted & tidied & was able to condense 20 of these A4 boxes down to just 12, then I made up some new clearer labels for them.

My friend Jane had gifted me this gorgeous Poppy Treffry teatowel for Christmas ... I assured Jane it would definately NOT be used as a teatowel, so I made it up into a wallhanging to hang on the large wardrobe doors 
in my sewing room

The wire hanger was another $1 Op Shop purchase 💙

I hung the two vintage Holly Hobbie Needlework Pictures above my sewing machine so I could look at, & enjoy them!

Pale Blue shelf is an old upcycled wooden Fruit Box

More tidying & sorting & decluttering took place!

The small book case is an old upcycled wooden Nail Box

Lastly - but not least - I invested in a small desktop fan to cool the room down while I work in there!
I think Mum would (might) be impressed with the room now! 😉

Also this week I .  .  .  .

I made another two lavender/lace covered coathangers for my dear friend Shirley

I picked plums, courgettes, tomatoes & apple cucumbers from my veggie garden

And I picked a vase full of pretty pink dahlia's from my flower garden

In my post this week I am linking up with Jenny of elefantz designs in her gentle domesticity book study

I hope you have a wonderful bright shiny new week dear friends,
I shall be back in a few days to share some small upcycling projects with you,
Thanks so much for popping by today,
With much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

A friend(s), a Rake & a Satchel (Catch Up Post # 4)

Greetings dear friends & readers
Finally we get to our last Catch Up Post 😊(phew!!)


Mum stayed with us for New Year & then I drove her home again & stayed on for a few days.
While I was down at Mum's I was lucky enough to find time for a brief catch up with my dear friend Claire.
Longtime readers of my blog will know that Claire's beautiful home has featured on several occasions in my blog.

I absolutely ADORED these handmade ornies & although I tried VERY HARD - I could not sneak them into my car!!!

Claire decorates her entire home for Christmas & has the most amazing collection of festive treasures, both lovingly created by hand & gathered over many years.
She was kind enough to keep her decorations out until after I had visited

Claire had filled the advent calendar above with choccies for December

Although I only snapped a very few photos I wanted to share with you what I had taken so you can enjoy the gorgeous eye candy that is Claire's home.

I think she has (??)8 Christmas Trees ... this one above is in her bedroom & is decorated with vintage china teacups, 
& teapots & olde world Santa heads

Her "Claire's lounge" is probably my favourite as it's all decorated in creams & whites & is such a peaceful spot 
to sit in & relax

Bedside Table                                                                                        Coffee table vignette

The tree in the "Claire's lounge" above

A cushion Claire had made from an op shop jumper & blanket

Now I honestly don't know WHY I did not get more pics but if you are on instagram, you can follow Claire *here*
Visiting her home is such a sensory & visual experience that you just want to sit there & drink it all in!!
My visits with her are never long enough & we chat & drink tea non-stop while I am there.
Thanks So Much Claire for letting me share just a teeny bit of your beautiful home with folk.



Speaking of lovely friends ...... this cute surprise package arrived all the way from Australia - from the lovely  
Sue at Kiwikids blog right before Christmas

I wasted no time hanging it on my tree ... thanks so much Sue 💗 - you are  so kind!

When I came home again I felt inspired to tackle a couple of up-cycle projects that had been floating around in the virtual pinterest board that is inside my head !!

This broken rake was found under the house but it was encrusted with old concrete.
The Mr showed me how to tap the prongs carefully with a hammer & chisel to dislodge the concrete

I liked that it had a broken handle as I didn't want it full length for what I had in mind .  .  .  .

.  .  .  .  which was to fashion it into a wineglass holder for my kitchen wall !!

After I got the prongs clean I gave the wooden handle a good oil & then screwed it to my side wall.
I LoVe it !! It actually holds alot more than 3 wine glasses but that is the sum total of how many I own 😉

My 2nd upcycle project was inspired by something I had seen hanging in Claires entry way.
I remembered I had this tatty old satchel in my sleepout so I fished it out & gave it a wipe over.

Two coats of blackboard paint purchased from the $2 shop & Viola .  .  .  I wrote on it with white chalk & hung it 
on my vintage mangle

It's just perfect for my deck area & greets people as they come up to the door 



Well folks, that's me ........ all caught up !!
Thank you all So Much for bearing with me through 4 catch up posts!!
I hope the coming week brings you only good things - be kind to yourselves & to each other 💕

With much love & friendship to you ALL,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

Last Minute Christmas (Catch Up Post #3)

Mid week Greetings dear friends & readers

As is usual for me, I worked right up to the very last minute before Christmas finishing Orders & making some Gifts

I spent a pleasant afternoon in my kitchen making soy candles in vintage containers,  gathered over a period of time from Op Shops

My kitchen smelt delicious !!!

These crystal ones below were gifts for two special family members
The fragrance "calico" is one of my favourites 💗

Early in December one year ago, my Mums eldest sister passed away - Aunty Margaret was one of my favourite Aunts & her daughter Jackie & I are very close.
After her death Jackie gave me a large pile of vintage doilies & linens that had belonged to her Mum.
There they sat, for almost a year, in a heap in a corner of my sewing room.

I pulled them out on Aunty Marg's anniversary & decided to make up a table runner for Jackie to have in memory of her Mum - Miss Pippi was kind enough to help me in my selection & placement of the doilies 😉

The table runner came together quite well ......... stitching them all on & overlapping them is a time consuming process, but I was pleased with the end result.

The runner ended up a good size too,  finishing at just under 1 metre 40 in length.

Jackie & I met up for morning tea at Tirau in mid December & I was able to give her the runner as a surprise gift.

She was delighted & messaged me on her arrival home to tell me she had found just the perfect spot to display it.

Mum arrived on 20th December to spend Christmas with us & because my eldest son & family were going south 
we had a small pre-christmas get-together on the 23rd December

It is very much the little ones that bring joy to these occasions with their utter delight in it all.
My grandsons Alec & Sid are growing up so fast & will be turning 4 & 2 this year respectively.

I was thrilled to capture a nice photo of Mum with her great grandsons ... I have, just today, put this picture in 
a lovely frame I have.


Almost at "the midnight hour" I decided to upcycle a small vintage suitcase I had for Sid

Mum & I had bought him a selection of matchbox toys for Christmas (some countries call them dinky toys) 
& I wanted him to have something to cart them all around in.

I painted this with 2 coats of Resene Black & then glued the letters to the top ... I had purchased the letters months ago (50c each at the Variety Store)

The Mr commented he was surprised I could actually part with a vintage suitcase!! 
 I did confess to feeling a little bit faint 😜

Sid opening some of his matchbox toys! (Christmas Day)

The suitcase went down a treat & he soon filled it with his toys & insisted on carting it everywhere!

I love this photo of Sid with his parents taken on Christmas Day.

Well dear friends, I hope the week is treating you kindly
We have been lucky enough to have some rain & cooler temperatures the last two days & I am so thankful.

May the rest of your week be happy too!
I have one more Catch Up Post to do & then I shall leave you all in peace (for while!!)
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0