3 Little UpCycles . . . . . . & An Egg Poacher !!

Sunday Greetings dear friends & readers!

Thank You All So Much for your lovely positive comments on my Sewing Room Revamp last week.
And a Very Large Welcome to my new followers!

Feeling so inspired about my freshened-up Sewing Room I actually sent my Sewing Machine & Overlocker away for 
a long-overdue service.
But I have not been idle friends ...... it was a good opportunity to undertake a couple of small upcycle projects

This sweet cane basket was tucked away in my sleepout - it had been gifted to me by my dear friend Claire a couple of years ago but I had done nothing with it.

I gave it a good scrub & a dry in the hot summer sun - it came up beautifully 💗

There were 6 coasters altogether so I stitched 1 of each colour on each side

I had purchased these crochet coasters a few years ago at a Craft Fair but never used them ...... I considered them far too lovely for The Mr to plonk his cup of tea on !! 😉
I carefully stitched them to each side of my basket.

Then I padded the base & lined it with a pretty Tilda Fabric, before adding a tin tag & some voile ribbon

As I have begun knitting dishcloths again this month, it is just perfect for storing my patterns, needles & dishcloth cotton, & can be carted around with me.

Last year I purchased this large oval frame from the Hospice shop, shoved it under our bed & promptly forgot about it!

The frame had a mirror inside which was broken so I removed this along with the backing board.
You can see from the right hand pic, there was a small chunk of the decorative wood missing so I carefully filled this with some polyfilla & did my best to try to sculpt it somewhat!

(The colour is showing up much lighter in this photo than it actually was)

This is the frame with 2 coats of chalkpaint on ... you can hardly see where the gap was ... my arrow is pointing to it.
I am delighted with my new green colour ... it was a new testpot from Newtons Paints called Country Green ...
 I LoVe it 💚

I stapled a length of string across the back & hung some old family photos from it 

It still seemed a bit bare so I dug out these letters I had purchased from the Variety Store when I got the letters for Sid's Suitcase... buy one, get one free so the 2 letters cost me $1.00 !
They were a yucky dull brown so I painted them both & then scuffed them with my sandpaper

I am delighted with my new/old upcycled frame
(by the way - for those that are wondering about the "G" - the Mr's name is Graham)


Each day I have been trying to spend some time outdoors & tame the wilderness that is my garden.
In a particularly messy area, I uncovered these two items, long blown off the deck into the undergrowth.

I scrubbed the terracotta dish to get it clean & carefully washed the cloche, removing the colony of spiders that had taken up residence in its wires.

I used a pale grey Chalky Chic paint for the dish (2 coats)

I found these two vintage enamel mugs in my cupboard so made up a soy candle in one, then popped a baby houseplant in the other

No the nests did NOT come with the eggs in, they are fake, as is the fake bird pinned to the side!

These two birdnests were found in the garden also so it seemed perfect that I make up a little vignette with them all.
 I had originally planned to paint the wire cloche but it looked pretty enough with some fairy lights wound around it.

Last week, on Trademe - I sat up late & won an auction for a vintage aluminium egg poacher for the total sum of $6.00!
The Mr assured me there would be "no other fool sitting up that late bidding on a crusty old thing like that" ... but I wasn't taking any chances !!

I had been feeding chooks for my neighbours again & getting lovely freshly laid eggs daily.

Oh the Joy to poach myself an egg with golden yellow yokes & enjoy it with my homegrown cherry tomatoes & basil ... my favourite dish.

Last night I found this old wire frame under my house & used it to hold up the lillies that were threatening to topple over in my garden

Each night when I water the garden the scent from them is intoxicating . . . tho' I know not everyone likes the scent,
 I adore it!

Well dear friends, thanks so much for your visits today,
I am off to the cool of the dining room fan to work on a felt rabbit I have been handstitching.

While I have been at the computer Blackie has been flattening it giving it's legs a little press for me!! 😊

I hope the coming week is good & kind to you all,
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x