Trees ........... & Trunks !!!

Good Tuesday afternoon to you dear friends & readers

I have been plodding along busily making stock for the craft fair this coming Saturday in my local town . . .

I wanted my stall to have a Christmassy theme so made some small Christmas Tree decorations this week

These 10 little prim christmas trees are just a simple triangle of fabric sewn around & stuffed with a cinnamon stick for their trunk.  For some of them I have glued a Star Anise to the top - others I have stitched a rusty bell or heart

This wooden tree had been a display unit in my friend Gail's gift shop ... I rescued it from her rubbish pile & it made the perfect spot to display my tree ornies

I have scented each tree with some cinnamon/clove oil so they smell quite delicious.

I have finally completed the second trunk .  .  .

.  .  . the rusty brown one in the background

Once again, The Mr made me paint it with anti-rust protectant paint after I scrubbed it thoroughly

Then I used some leftover cream wall paint as an "undercoat" to give me a better coverage as I had decided to paint it  ...   Pink !!!

Any painting projects around here are usually done under serious supervision .  .  .  & this was no different

I'm not sure which is the trickiest . . . cleaning the pink paint OFF the cat or picking the ginger hairs OUT of the paint work at the end  ???!!!

I gave it 3 coats in the end .... all using testpots Resene Pale Rose & then once dry, I light scuffed up the edges a little

A hastily thrown-together display on top

I am thrilled with my new/old trunk & an added bonus to this project is that I can now store some blankets & linen inside the trunk as well.

Having been born wild, Blackie has always had a definate preference to be Outside during the day.  

But this past week I have noticed him sneak inside & curl up a the end of my lounge by the French Doors where the afternoon sun streams in . . . amongst my potted baby's tears cuttings

Miss Pippi ??? Well she is no doubt outside supervising the Painter !!!

Last month I received a wee surprise parcel in the post from my lovely friend Leeanne

She had been shopping at the Salvation Army Store (the Salvo's) & thought of me .  .  .

How wonderful !!!  Thank You Leeanne  :-)

I am sure there was some choccie in the parcel too (but the cats must've run off with it !!!!)

Beautiful scented Stocks in my lounge - a gift from Kerry - thank you So Much Kerry, they have only just finished now & I am drying the heads for potpourri

I have been drying citrus fruits in my dehydrator & making up batches of citrus potpourri for my market stall
The house smells delicious . . .

Though I used to have to make it continuously, I have not made any for almost a year now & it is something I sooo enjoy doing . . .

. . . along with collecting up different seed pods & cones from my garden to bulk it all up.
Lets hope the weather is kind to us for Saturday folks as it certainly has NOT been this past week or more !!

Be kind to yourselves & to each other,  & thank you so much for your visits today.
I hope the rest of the week is good to you all.
with much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

A stool, a rack, a trunk .......... & worms that pee ...........

Happy Friday dear friends & readers

A couple of weeks ago my friend Jan informed me there was an old wooden stool at the local Op Shop for only $5 !!

I was on my way to babysit Alec so I popped in & purchased it on my journey.

It sat in my car for 2 days before I took it out of the boot & bought it inside.

When I looked at it in front of the fire that evening .......... I wondered what on earth was I thinking ????!!!!!!!

The paint work in my photo looks quite okay .... but in reality it was decidedly tatty, chipped & tired looking.

The seat was hideous & had no padding whatsoever - although it DID have about 500 staples holding it in place !!

I removed the seat cover firstly (yes all 500 of them !!!)

Next I painted the legs cream & then I found a large offcut of foam rubber to add some deep padding to the seat

I covered the seat with some of the gorgeous Sanderson Oilcloth that I was able to buy from
my lovely friend Catherine

The edge of the oilcloth had the manufacturers details on it - rather like fabric does - so I cut these off & affixed them to the base.

Somewhat of an improvement don't you think dear readers ??

While I was painting the stool legs, I also painted this magazine rack which I hauled out of the sleepout
Though I forgot to take a "before photo" it was plain dark wood - rather similar to the one I did in this post

Painting anything slatted can be time consuming & fiddly but I always especially enjoy the embellishing 
part at the end

The Mr arrived home from the farm last month with these 2 old tin trunks on the back of his Ute
I danced around merrily with much excitement & glee .  .  .

The grey one is an old ammunition trunk . . .  it had been used to store gunpowder in.
I did not ask The Mr how he disposed of the gunpowder - but I think I am fairly safe to say he did not toss it in the burning hole !!!!

After a good scrub The Mr made me coat the entire trunk with anti-rust preventative paint ... this part of the revamp was boring, uninspiring & time consuming . . .

Then I gave it 3 coats of my cream wall paint Cottage Cream
After studying the top I decided to paint the cross part in red . . . I used my testpot Resene Persian Red
After 2 coats of this I decided No - too dark/too brownish/ not happy !!
So out came my nearly-dried-up-testpot of Resene Pohutukawa

Much better .  .  . & much more the deep rich red I was visualising

I have not sanded/distressed the edges of the trunk yet ... I am still undecided about this as The Mr thinks I should leave it as it is.
What do you think dear readers ??  Leave as is or sand the edges ??

This tin trunk is going for sale in my Cottage but the largest sized one - yet to tackle - will be going in my lounge.

I am not too sure what I am doing most of the time ... but I must be doing something right with my worm farm because those little worms are pee-ing like crazy !!!
The set up of the worm farm is structured so that everything liquid that comes out of them goes right down to the bottom layer
This reservior has a tap on it so you can access the worm tea/juice which makes the most amazing food for your plants, pots & your vege garden
I had been asked by several customers if I would be selling any of this liquid gold so this week I was able to bottle some up for sale .  .  .

.  .  . as well as using it continually myself on my plants & the garden.

Thank you so much for staying with me through this lengthy ramble
The sun is shining today (for a change) & it is nearly The Weekend !!

I hope it is a wonderful one for you ALL dear friends,
Thank You all for your visits
With much love & friendship
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

LoVeLy Things ...................

Greetings dear friends & readers

This past week (& a bit) has seen me enjoy a variety of lovely things .............

I had been wanting to make some Christmas Angels for my upcoming craft market

The Angels in my "Tilda's Christmas Ideas" book had been on my mind for awhile now -

- perhaps it was time they came to life ??!!

Although I am a traditionalist at heart when it comes to Christmassy things .... the past year has seen me embracing the more non-traditional colours for christmas, as well as the reds & greens that I love.

I feel they all have their place & their "moment to shine"

Bearing this in mind I decided to make my Angels in non-traditional colours

The first one I made in some lovely soft grey Tilda fabric, scattered with bunches of flowers

I decided not to make the fabric wings in the pattern, but chose instead to use some delicate feather wings 
(available from Variety Stores/$2 Shops)

The second Angel was made in a pastel colourway of pinks & pale lime greens 

The "Christmas is here" banners that they hold in their hands are printed off onto medium weight cardstock

I decided to attach these with double sided tape as I felt they could be removed after the festive season & the  Angel could stay out & be enjoyed all year round

As the small gold crowns featured in the book are unavailable here in New Zealand ... I embellished my angels heads with a twine wreath which I had threaded with a few pip berries.

Way back in June, my friend Elaine gifted me this gorgeous linen teatowel below for my birthday

I LoVeD it  .  .  .  .  but decided it was far FAR too nice to use to wipe dishes with !!!

So it sat in my bedroom for several months until I decided (last week) to make it into a cushion.

I simply divided it into 3 parts ... a front, a back & a decent couple of inches for a flap to hold the insert in.
Then I just sewed straight down the sides - right side facing OUT

I quickly ran up a rectangular shaped insert using an old thin cotton sheet & stuffed it with wadding

The addition of 3 hot pink buttons & I think the back is equally as pretty as the front.

Voila . . . a teatowel becomes a LoVeLy cushion to enjoy.

Dear Blackie is another "lovely thing"     (Yes Pippi you are too but its Blackies turn today !!!)

When I first rescued Blackie & bought him inside he was the wildest, hissy-est, spitty-est, clawing feral thing you could ever imagine

One attempt at patting him or a gentle word, & he would disappear under the bed for the entire day

He still prefers outside to in  .  .  .  . but these rainy days have seen him have a bit of a change of heart

I do most of my cutting out down on the floor & he likes to ummm -  "assist me"

A young friend is having her first baby soon & I wanted to make her a baby gift

As they have chosen not to find out the babies sex as yet, I decided to go with non gender-specific bright colours to be safe
I made her an Owl fleece cuddly rug, a bandana bib & a wool blanket rabbit rattle 

My young friend, the mum-to-be was delighted as she is a colour loving girl

While I was making the bandana bib for the gift, I ran up another four from some soft flannelette that I had on hand

This is a free pattern available from * here *

I usually try to keep a few colours of the bibs for sale in the Cottage & also for my present box.

If I ever need to do any intricate stitchery work now, I usually do it during the daylight hours
My eyesight is no longer so great at nights ... but I do enjoy some repetitive stitching that's not too complicated

These felt mice christmas decorations just foot the bill perfectly
I have been stitching 10 of them over the last couple of weeks, in the evenings while watching T.V.

I have displayed them on this miniature tree, once again to sit on my stall table at the craft fair.
Now I mentioned I had cut out 10 . . . . well I am actually missing two & I am quite certain that a small ginger 4-legged being might have some knowledge of this !!!

And lastly dear readers - while we are on the subject of  Lovely things - I got to look after my dear grandson Alec three times last week 

He is such a delight as he discovers the outside world & all the adventures that it holds.

I hope that your week is going tickety-boo & that the coming weekend is wonderful for you all
Be kind to yourselves & to each other
Thank you so much for visiting with me today
with much love & friendship
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

Getting back on track ...................

Greetings dear friends & readers,

I managed to finish another chrome leg stool ... the same style as the one I did in this post *here* & the last stool from out of the haybarn (unfortunately)

This stool I had covered in a different patterned oilcloth
I am hoping this one is as popular as the last one I had in the Cottage

I had some leftover remnants of oilcloth in my sewing room so decided to stitch them up into some outdoor cushions

I find when customers see my own outdoor cushions, they often ask to buy them

So these will be going for sale at the Cottage  ....

....  the cushions that is .... NOT the cat

(tho' somedays the cat would be for sale .................. or even free !!!!!!!!)

The men have been & removed the blossom trees that I wrote about here
Considering the wet weather & the soggy ground, they did a great job of not making too much mess

The very next day the Mr went out & purchased 4 new weeping blossom trees prunus something something ... & we planted them.
They are a slow growing, later flowering, weeping variety that will NOT grow up into the power lines
I now have 2 large piles of this below ... to spread on my gardens

-  one pile out the front & one out the back  - 
I look back at my life & I wonder what happened in my life that I now get excited about piles of mulch !!!!????

Perhaps I have a chromosome missing somewhere ...................

During the past year - particularly once the Mr broke his leg ... I got waayyy off track with alot of things
I feel as though I have spent most of the year just chasing my tail
Gradually I am getting back on top of things though it is a long, slow process

One of things I got way off track with was my vege garden
I let it go to weed & then when I did manage to weed it, I flung veges in willy-nilly with complete disregard for my moon gardening calendar
All my broccoli & cauli seedlings, my beetroot & several herbs bolted straight to seed - it was soooo disheartening

I am feeling good about my garden again now that I am diligently planting by my moon calendar - which tells me when to plants things that produce above AND below the ground
I have lots of new veges coming along & we are almost ready to eat our first lettuces of the season

This little wooden bowl below was found in my craft cupboard
I think it was left over from this old post *here* where I made "little bowls of prim"

I loved it & wanted something to fill it .... but wasn't quite sure what ??
I accidently tipped over a bag of Tilda scraps in my sewing room (I keep every single scrap of Tilda offcuts)  so this inspired me to make some Tilda hearts to fill my bowl

I added a tiny mother of pearl button to each heart

Instead of stuffing them with wadding I filled each one with dried lavender ... they smell heavenly

The "Home" button is old & I think is a Nikki Tervo ceramic button

Funny how something so simple can make me feel so happy 


The garden is coming back to life after winter & it feels like new things burst into bloom each day

It is a pretty time of year & reminds me why I love spring so much.
Thank YOU so much dear readers for stopping by today to visit with me
Your visits & your comments are so appreciated
I hope the coming week brings you only good things,
with love & friendship
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0