Greetings lovely friends & readers
On my bench today - a pretty bunch of manuka flowers. I wish I could get these to dry & still retain their flower petals but have not yet figured out the secret.
October is proving to be a very busy month with lots of things happening. I would love to do some spring cleaning but as we are still having fires each night, it seems pointless to begin this, though I did wash all my enamel ware yesterday.
My friend Gail is opening her home & garden for this years Altrusa Garden Ramble on November 2nd. As I've been in this twice before, Gail has asked me to help her, which I'm happy to do. She has a small studio at the back of her property & is going to be selling some of her sewing so has asked me to put some craft items for sale also.
I made up 10 sets of wool blanket seedling pots & tied them up in bundles of 4 per set. I planted some seeds in one (top left pic) & thankfully they have poked through already as I just know that people will say "what do you do with these". 😉
I've made 16 herbal moth repellant sachets as Gail especially asked for these. You can find the recipe for these at the bottom of * this post *. As this is very much about using-up-what-I-have-on-hand, I made up 6 vintage teacup birdfeeders. I sell these with a small bag of wild bird seed popped inside.
I also plan to sell the concrete mushrooms that I showed in * this post *. Yes, I am trying to think of garden related items that might interest the Ramble visitors.
I found 6 vintage china jugs & cups waiting to be made up in to candles but as I have no soy wax at present (& don't wish to purchase any) I planted these out with cuttings from my babies tears plants & they have grown really well in the hospital corner of my lounge.
This is currently the mess state of my lounge floor as I sit & bag up my citrus potpourri. Many paper bags of things I have gathered & dried over winter. I hand place the things in the bags so I can pack it in well & ensure the orange slices are showing & not hidden. This is time consuming as you can imagine. Generally there is a ginger cat helping me 😖!!
40 bags all waiting for the bay leaves & oils to be added, then tied with a voile ribbon. Phew I am glad that part is done.
A lady has opened a vintage pop-up store about half an hour away & my friend Sue & I decided to go visit it. If you follow
Linen and Stone on Instagram or Facebook, you will have seen lots of posts about her Christmas Brocante. It's set in an old church & was just wonderful - Yes I would've liked
one of everything thanks! Jo, the lady who has opened it, takes many trips to France & brings back container loads so both Sue & I knew there would be a wonderland of treasures.
Right beside the store is another old church, used for weddings. Sue & I went inside & checked out the stunning stained glass windows. We enjoyed coffee & cake at Punnet Cafe together - it was a wonderful outing & just what I needed.
A couple of purchases came home with me. I loved this gold corner shelf but did not notice in the store, that it had a large chunk missing from one corner.
I decided I thought I could fix it so I spent some time each day, over the following week, applying polyfiller to the corner, slowly building it up & then shaping it into a curve to match the other corner. Once I was happy with it I rubbed Vintage Gold Rub-n-buff over it & lightly sanded with a very fine paper.
Here it is hanging in my bathroom beside the gold mirror that I thrifted in * this post *. I am very happy with it & so pleased I added that bit to the corner.
My other purchase was this vintage tapestry Santa cushion & a bundle of French Pear candles. I've actually put the cushion away for now, til I bring out my Christmas decor (very soon!). I bought a box home from the supermarket so I could start clearing & packing away some of my junk treasures in order to make space for my christmas decor. You can see below how far I got with that venture!
Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,
Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week,
With much love & friendship to you all,
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We had a great time didn't we. I'm sure we could have spent more money, I'm just glad there was a church next door to confess our spending sins! We can do it all again you know. Love all your things you have been busy making.
ReplyDeleteWow , you are a busy bee , love all your work , and how you put things together.
ReplyDeleteHave a fun day hugs June,
You made a great job of that corner bracket and it looks great in your bathroom. Lots of lovely things to sell at the garden walk - I will have one of everything please!🤣 The vintage shop looks like a real treasure trove and the santa cushion is delightful. Great trip out. xx
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed with the way you restored the corner of the shelf, Julie - that is perfect.
ReplyDeleteOf course you have a helper - why else did you bring a box home, but for a certain feline to thoroughly inspect and road test?
Love all your garden ramble preparations - you certainly do keep yourself busy.
I was wondering where you 'found' the new store, until you said you went to Punnet for lunch - next time my friend and I are up that way, I can see we will be compelled to visit there also... I kept to the express-way today, and just as well or I would have been late for my (dental) appointment.
Your citrus potpourri looks amazing - I am sure it will sell like the proverbial hotcakes.
Blessings
Maxine
Lots of crafty goodies to take to your friend's. Love her little shop. Some tempting things in there. I don't blame you for bringing home that Christmas cushion.
ReplyDeleteJust an idea.....To dry manuka flowers while retaining their petals,
ReplyDeleteuse the silica gel method to dry them quickly, or the air-drying method
for a simple, low-maintenance approach.
For silica gel, place petals in an airtight container, cover them completely
with silica gel, and let them dry for 2-3 days.
For air-drying, hang the flowers upside down in a dark, dry, and well-ventilated
area for 2-4 weeks....!
HeHe! Now! Where was l...all behind to~day, just got back from town.....
Bumped into everyone, goodness! Every Tom, Dick and Harry....Well..Tom and
Harry anyway..! :).
Love the little plants, and the potpourri...I do love potpourri...l do have it scattered
about my home, especially in the bathroom...Nice! Love the smell of different
perfumes...!
And l do love the gold corner shelf..that is really lovely, and the two cherubs look
lovely to...and the way you've set it off Julie is amazing...! Love it..!
And finally Miss Pippi...Bless!x Sitting in a box supervising the situation....! Trying
to make her mind up on something...and probably looking forward to Christmas!
🎅🎄 🦌 🎁 ⛄ 👼🎅🎄 🦌 🎁 ⛄ 👼🎅🎄 🦌 🎁 ⛄ 👼🎅🎄 🦌 🎁 ⛄ 👼
You have again been really busy and I am sure customers will love all the things you have made. The Aladdin's cave of goodies looks so tempting! Your corner shelf looks really good. As for the box contents, well, cats do love to be in boxes!
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely rest of the week
Best wishes
Ellie x
So many lovely things, Julie, to tempt the browser. The Manuka flowers are so pretty. It would be good to find a way of preserving them.
ReplyDeleteJulie, I would love to be inside the "church" shop just for a look around. What fun for you and your friend to go together. And you are skilled to fix that pretty little corner shelf and get it painted. Never know it had been broken a bit. I hope the sale
ReplyDeletegoes good with all the items just you are putting in and then all else that must be for sale too. That will keep a couple of
you super busy watching over it and making correct change. Hopefully, not too much haggling over set prices. Here, I am
off on a 100 mile round trip just to go to the only large box store that has a large amount of yarn. I'm in the mood to crochet a vest I have found a pattern for. And fingerless hand warmers for when I am reading and crocheting in the winter. I sit by the light of the patio door and just the glass sends off cold air. Love seeing Miss Pip filling your box. Just don't forget and try to throw out the baby with the bath water, lol. Poor Precious got the bad news that her thyroid is now bad enough to have to start medicine NOW, as of yesterday. Worst is the on going blood test/vet visits to get the dose right. She is a fright from her regular check up last week. Still have sunny days 'til Sunday. Dry dry dry, so will be glad for that rain if it really appears. Lynn and Precious XX