KOSHER TIN

Look what I found for £1 in a charity shop
in Golders Green (north London) yesterday!
It's a tin from Barton's and it used to contain
chocolates that was kosher for Passover.
The illustrations around the tin shows the
story of Moses, the ten plagues, the escape from
enslavement in Egypt, Mount Sinai, the wander
in the desert, etc.
I didn't see it at the time I was in the shop but the
tin dates back to 1954.

Click the images for larger versions!








May you all have a restful and pleasant weekend.
Gut Shabes!

I'M GOING FOR A WALK...

I felt really low yesterday, not even my dear sewing
machine was enough escapism for me, so I decided
to go for a walk in beautiful Benington Village with
my camera to see if I could capture the pretty colors
of the English autumn.

Click the images for a larger version.

The duck pond.


Curious ducks.


Probably not a good idea to eat.


Ivy hugging a tree stump.


That's how I roll, baby!


A whole lot of horseshoes.


Pretty flower on a doorstep.

BEEN BUSY

I've been busy since Saturday morning.
I closed the door to my hobby room and hoped that some
craft would cure my homesickness that's pretty bad right
now for some reason. Enough about that, this is some of
the stuff I made.

I made five of these faux fur collars.
(I've been making them every winter for 3 years now.)


I finally made a backside for this vintage pillowcase I
bought back in January. Better late than never I guess.


Remember that I was working on a tie top from a pattern
dated 1944? I managed to finish two out of six.
Sorry for not posing myself, I'm not in the mood, maybe
next time.






I also made some earrings.






What else? I made 10 pair of cherry blossom hair combs,
a hair band out of an old belt, I made a black elastic belt,
and I stitched some bias onto the sleeves of one top.

MEET ONION

I want to present Onion.
Onion is a really cool English Bull Terrier that
I've been a fan of for a couple of years.
Who wouldn't be with that outfit on?


This is Onion! Don't miss her blog and YouTube channel!

Onion was the model for this particular lamp,
the Onion lamp.

You might recognize this lamp if you're into the
band Arctic Monkeys, it was on the album cover
for Matt Helders Late Night Tales.


Pictures are borrowed from Onion's website.

You can buy the lamp from Onions website.
The prices are extremely good and affordable.
To the UK: £55 (including p&p)
To the EU: £60 (including p&p)
To USA/Canada: £68 (including p&p)

Available in orange, pink, red and white.

Pictures are borrowed from Onion's website.

I WANT THIS BADLY!

$48 at fredflare.com

I'm thinking about getting this as an anniversary
present for me and my man, our third is coming
up in December and this would literary be a treat.

MAKE IT!

My heart is beating a bit faster as I'm writing this.
I'm excited because I just came across something totally
fab at Curbly.com.
Soon, very soon the DIY design community Curbly will be
releasing a DIY book with Mid Century Modern projects!
It will be available both as a book and as a PDF.
Check it out!








Pictures are borrowed from Curbly.com

TREATS

I felt a bit better today so I walked into town to post
some parcels and to get a few bits that I needed for
my sewing projects that I planned for the weekend.
I also managed to find a few "treats" for myself.


First I got these teal blue earrings from Primark, £3.
They will look absolutely darling with a red dress.


Then I found a bunch of old plastic poppy's in one of
the local charity shops for 75 pence.
They look perfect in my old head vase that I got for £1
at a car boot sale two years ago.

HAVE A LOVELY WEEKEND!

TILL SALU!

Min rosa och vita gamla hårfön är nu till salu
på Tradera, klicka här!

Translation: I'm just promoting one of my auctions.

STAYING IN

I'm staying in today!
It's a pretty bad storm outside and it's also pissing down.
I'm on my third day of feeling absolutely nauseous, like
I'm gonna be sick any second now.
There's still loads of things to do indoors, like...


Looking through my new book that just arrived.


Freshen up my 40's shoes with some dye.


Make a hair band out of an old belt.


Make more 40's tops out of fabric that just collects dust.

A BIRTHDAY PRESENT FOR MYSELF

I bought a birthday present for myself today.
You all know by now that I'm nuts about the
quite unusual (vintage) handbags and today I
found yet another one.
This handbag is absolutely adorable, it looks
like it's made out of peppermint sticks!
Let's hope it gets here quick and safely.

For more detailed photos, click here.


Picture is borrowed from TheRubyKitten's Etsy shop.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Seems like many of my fellow bloggers don't have any
inspiration right now, I on the other hand have tons!
Winter time is the perfect time to make clothes for the
upcoming summer and you can escape to sunny beaches
in your mind while you're sewing.
If you need some inspiration for making cute summery
outfits I strongly recommend one of my favorite books,
Sunkissed by Joshua James Curtis.
You'll find tons of pictures of pretty girls in beautiful
summer wear and you might also get inspired to copy
their amazing hair styles too.


I'm currently working on this tie top a la 1944.
I use a yellow gingham fabric, I'm almost done, I just
need some white satin bias which I will get later this
week when my favorite haberdashery is open again.

EXPENSIVE TOYS

Not so long ago I found three hand turned wooden vikings at
a car boot sale, I'm not at all into vikings but I sure am into
Teak and Danish Modern so I couldn't just walk away without
a closer inspection, they could be Scandinavian.
So they were. Marked Made in Denmark on the underside.
I thought they were newish since they were in mint condition
but I got them anyway because they were partly made of Teak.
I payed £1.50 for the lot.

Today I did some research.
They were made in Denmark in the 1950's by the Copenhagen
Design Ltd and designed by Jakob Jensen.
Turns out that my vikings are worth at least $85 each(!) and
they are actually meant to be children's toys.
They are interchangeable so you can change their heads, feet
and weapons around in a lot of different combinations.


My vikings.

I also found out that there's a box, I so wish mine came in one.


Original box.


Original box inside.

YOURS TRULY

I know I don't post a lot of pictures of myself in this
blog but here I am and this is how I looked last night,
faux bangs and all.
My man couldn't keep his hands off me. :))

TA-DA!

I know, one day late... Computer trouble.
Anyway, here they are, my two revamp projects,
from little girl's dresses into an apron and a skirt.
What do you think?


Click images for larger version.

FIXER UPPER

Today I've been busy with yet another DIY project and
I'm covered with white dust.
I've been scraping old paint from the skirting board in
the downstairs hallway and then sanded it all down for a
smooth finish. I also started to sand the door frames, I
prepare them for a fresh coat of paint.
Our house is a so called fixer upper, it feels like I haven't
stopped doing stuff to improve it since I moved in here,
there's always something that needs fixing.
My man sure takes advantage of the fact that I have a
vocational qualification as a painter and decorator.

Tomorrow, my dear readers, I'm gonna show you what I
did to these two girl's dresses I bought at a car boot sale.


The left one cost 50 pence and the right one 70 pence.

PEPPARKAKOR

As I mentioned in my last post we went to IKEA on the
Saturday, where we bought some Swedish pepparkakor,
gingerbread cookies.
When I have a gingerbread cookie I often think of what
my maternal grandmother Greta used to say to me when
I was little.
She said that three gingerbread cookies would make me
a nice girl. (Or even nicer because I was always nice.)

It is a myth that gingerbread cookies makes you a nice
person but when you think about what some of the spices
actually can do for some people I kind of believe it.
Cinnamon is supposed to be calming.
Clove increase potency.
Ginger is good for you if you're stressed, depressed, got
stiff joints or feel nauseous.

Why my grandma said three? Well, I guess it's because
good things often comes in threes and her home baked
gingerbread cookies were exceedingly good.

MY WEEKEND

I had a rather good weekend.
I made some cute earrings and new covers for the cushions.
I was feeling a bit low on Saturday morning since my man
isn't feeling too good at the moment and I can't really do
anything that could help him, except keeping our home and
garden neat and tidy.
My man felt like we needed a treat so we went to one of our
favorite restaurants in Golders Green and then he asked me
if I wanted to go to IKEA to get some Swedish delicacies.
He really is a sweetheart.
Yesterday I made two earring stands and snuggled under
the cover with my man and drank Bailey's while we watched
some movies.

NEW!

This is my latest fascinator hat.
What do you think?



Today I'm gearing up for a craft day.
I've cleaned the house and done a load of washing,
went for an hour walk and now I get my reward.
First on the list is earrings and then three cushion
covers that matches the curtains in the lounge.