I found this very flattering (if I hold my tummy in) dress for under £7.
It looked so nice and I'd not heard of the label (Damsel in a Dress) so I looked it up. Their dresses sell for £150! I'm chuffed to bits. I cannot imagine spending £150 on a dress. Even my wedding dress was a third of that!
More good... I had a parcel from a lovely and incredibly talented lady called Kathleen who I 'met' through my blog and she has MADE me this stunning hand hooked rug!
It's Bobby and Freddy! It's a really tiny rug so it's meant to be hung on a wall. Thank you so much Kathleen. I love the muted colours and appreciate how much work has gone into it.
She also made a little chalkboard with a silver dish. The writing got a little smudged as it made it's way across the pond but I wanted to show you as it's such a simple and effective idea. I feel blessed indeed.
As if that weren't enough, I managed to find my fifth Barbola mirror at the flea market for only £8.
It's also the largest and the most beautiful one I have. Hopefully it'll be a kick up the pants for me to choose a wall and display them!
More good... we finally had a bit of proper snow that settled. Instead of tackling my endless list of things to do, I declared it a snow day and wondered if I could make a snowman that looked like Olaf from Frozen.
I found myself googling images, printing them, painting lemons white and sculpting snow with scissors and a spoon.
Yeah. Like a total saddo. I even cut specific rose branches that looked right for his arms. (Meg, I can feel your horror from the other side of the world.)
A bit of felt and some pipe cleaners and hey presto...
Sadly it thawed too fast and his head fell off before Connie (who was not having a snow day) managed to come home and see it. Leading quite nicely onto...
The bad...
You know those Air Wick plug in fragrances? Well, I bought a couple and I quite liked them. Jason however says they make him nauseous and keeps unplugging them. Then ultimately they get knocked over and the oil spills out. This is what happened on my lovely new kitchen windowsill and the oil has melted the paint. It's going to be a nightmare to get this smoothed over!
But I did wonder, if the oil can strip hardwearing paint, what are those airborne particles doing to our lungs? Something else for the charity shop then...
More bad... I had an accident with my dresser which resulted in the loss of two bits of ironstone.
The little one, I don't think I even showed you yet, but it was a very recent acquisition that I got for 50p.
It's all because, when I finished the dresser I never added the little strips of wood to hold the standing plates in place. I cut them and I think I even primed them but I have no idea where I put them! I've been through the obvious places and they aren't there. I guess I'll have to cut more. Falling plates do a lot of damage. This is what happens when you only finish a job 99% and move on to something else. I do that all the time.
And the ugly? I finished the corner cabinet. But until it leaves this house I'm not showing you.
Sorry!
wow! so much treasure. I've stripped paint accidentally with lamp burner oil spills, just as well the rings don't fit on energy saving bulbs.
ReplyDeleteI too have a heap of primed strips of wood waiting to be fixed to my dresser, I took them off a cupboard that doesn't need them and was very pleased with myself. Never could face unloading all the china from the dresser to do it. Meanwhile, everything is fixed in place with those tall drawing pins with plastic heads and some blutac.
The barbola mirror is superb. I bought (yet another) 1930's housekeeping book last year and it had a chapter on making your own barbola flowers to adorn your mirrors and loads of other things. If I ever find the book among the thousands we have, I'll look closer. ♥
I found my wood! Yay! The trouble is, if you have to take all that china down, you might aswell wash it too. And dust the shelves. Not appealing in the slightest.
DeleteI had no idea you can make barbola flowers. I must google it. Are those mirrors from the thirties then?
I still haven't posted your prize. I'm very bad. Thing is, I wanted a specific thing from a specific man at the bootsale and he's not been there for a few weeks. Don't blame him as it's cold. Things are meant to warm up this weekend so I'll give him one more chance!
I haven't forgotten though. x
I don't know anything about barbola, but read this on ebay "In the early 1920's, the English firm of Windsor & Newton introduced several "home" kits (which they called "outfits") for "the young English Woman of Good Birth to use in crafting lovely items suitable for her Boudoir, or to give as a gift to a family member or friend."
DeleteThese outfits consisted of a Modeling "Paste" Gesso Powder, Glue, Paints, Brushes and modeling tools. Little booklets were included that showed how to make several different types of flowers, Christmas Roses (pointsettias) Poppies, Anemones, and Garden Roses. (our favorite!!) After the modeling of the seperate flowers and leaves, these were then glued onto the decorative object (mostly wooden bowls, boxes and mirrors, although fire-screens and jewelry were quite popular too!) painted, and then varnished.
Haven't been to a boot fair since the autumn! The snow melted here yesterday, but there have been blizzards on & off all day. Not going out weather ♥
Young English woman of good birth!?!? What a hoot!
DeleteWhere to start ... Ok, I'll start at the top! I absolutely love that dress and you have to post a photo of you wearing it! the rug and the dress are so cute, what a lovely friend to spend so much time making something for you. The mirror was a bargain and so pretty, get them up on the wall! Olaf is brilliant - I would sculpt snow with a spoon too because I'm a bit of a saddo too ... Gaah, I'm not a fan of plug ins because I don't like the way most of them smell and you've just given me another reason to avoid them. Such a shame about the ironstone, I once broke 6 really pretty bluebell sweet dishes that were my Grandmothers by dropping another plate on them, every single one smashed. I'm still looking forward to seeing the corner cabinet, I can't believe it's as ugly as you think.
ReplyDeleteI meant to take a pic of the dress being worn but it was too cold to undress and I'd potentially have to shave my legs so I didn't. Sorry about your Grandmas china. That's far worse than my breakages as it can't be replaced. I can't stop buying the stuff so I've probably replaced mine already!
Deletex
Oops, meant dish not dress! I was really sad about the dishes but I have some other bits of china that were hers so all is not lost. Must get around to writing a blog post very soon, I have something that I think you will like and that I wanted to ask your advice about xx
DeleteThat dress looks gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteLizzie Dripping
I bet you look gorgeous in that dress! And how sweet are Kathleen's presents?! What a talented lady.
ReplyDeleteYour dresser looks so pretty- can't wait to see how the cabinet worked out xxx
That little hooked rug is absolutely adorable!! And I can't wait to see your collection of mirrors hung up. I've never heard of Barbola mirrors, but they certainly are pretty!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about your broken ironstone and melted paint on your new window trim. I bet Olaf was crying so hard for you that he lost his head. :o( (He was pretty darn cute!)
aahhh I love the snow man :-) Hes great :-) Sorry you broke some china. Loving your dress to hope you get someone lovely to wear it soon. Love the mirror that's a stunner and those gifts are lovely. dee xx
ReplyDeleteI really like those Barbola mirrors. Never heard of them but I have now....
ReplyDeleteDo you watch Salvage Hunters on Quest? I've discovered it only recently. 7 pm (and 8 on Q+1) I think you'd like it, but beware, you might get addicted. It's on every evening.
I used to buy those plug-in things until my mum told me that she'd heard they'd caused fires. I've no idea if this is true or not but it scared me enough to give them a wide berth in future.
ReplyDeleteLove the mirror.... very pretty. Cannot believe you painted lemons white just to make a snowman....you've got too much time on your hands girl! The likeness is quite good though, shame Connie didn't get to see him in his entirety.xx
That's a cool dress, it's always great to find something that would have cost megabucks for just a few quid in a chazza, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteUh oh, what a shame about your breakages and spillage! One of my cats knocked a 1960s genie bottle off the mantlepiece, and I cried real tears when I saw it smashed to smithereens on the hearth...
That snowman is fab but oh I laughed when I realised you made it on your own, while Connie was at school - you're bonkers, woman! Painting lemons, shaping snow with a spoon - those perfectionist traits are showing, love! (I'm only jealous, I couldn't make anything so effective!)
Barbola mirrors are new to me - I will investigate, it's so pretty. xxx
That mirror is absolutely beautiful, I've never seen one before but shall be googling shortly. Your Olaf is awesome, I would never give a snowman that much time or effort x
ReplyDeleteThat rug is gorgeous, what a wonderful and thoughtful pressie.
ReplyDeleteThat Damsel In A Dress brand was sponsoring bloggers a couple of years ago, I was amazed at how much the clothes were. That looks like it would look stunning on.
Have I missed snow? I've had no contact whatsoever with the UK for a month! xxx