Welcome!

I started posting pics on Flickr just over five weeks ago and since then I've had a few questions asking where I get some of my things from. As a response, I've started this blog to let you guys have a few more details, such as where I've bought the items or how I've made them.

In the near future, I hope to add more of my own projects and purchases, but I also want to highlight some of the amazing design and craft ideas I admire from others.

I hope you like the blog and please let me know what you think. Enjoy...

Toriejayne

Vintage lunchboxes

My cardboard mini suitcases are based on vintage lunch boxes, like the one above, which got me thinking that it would be great to find some old lunch boxes to keep bits and bobs in.



The one above is a beautiful Corsage Metal Lunchbox dated 1973, made by King-Seeley Thermos Company and sold at Ruby Lane.com.

Star cases

These Shooting Star Kids Suitcases are from Cath Kidston. The good news is that they are currently on sale. They are so handy for keeping bits and bobs in. Mine are filled with bags of sequins and beads.


I think they would look great stacked with this Mini Suitcase Set from Great Little Trading Company.

Cute kitchen cupboard

I wanted to be able to open my kitchen cupboard in the morning to make a cup of tea and be made to smile... So, I put all my pretty tableware in the same cupboard as the tea items.

On the top shelf: cereal and pasta bowls from the Denby Flavours range in Coconut, Raspberry and Blueberry colours. Unfortunately, they are now discontinued but I believe some in the same range are still available from Matching China. The gingham sugar pourer is from Liberty.


On the middle shelf: dinner and side plates, also from the Denby Flavours range. The small cupcake cups came as a set of four from the Playing House range by Rosanna. These are available in the UK from Love the Rain.


On the bottom shelf: cut-glass lid jars are vintage, filled with strawberry milkshake granules, sugar and tea bags. The Sprig tanker and tea set is from Cath Kidston. The "I am a Princess", "I heart Shopping", "I heart Music", and "I heart Snogging" are all from Toby Pimlico. The tube of pale blue sugar hearts and the tea spoons are from Japan.

Easter birds

After making the mushroom houses I had loads of felt left. So, having made Tilda birds at Christmas and liking the results, I decided to make some Easter versions. I plan to hang them from twigs as a table centerpiece for Easter lunch.

The birds were made using a pattern from Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle by Tone Finnanger (Author).


The components for the Easter birds. The sewing thread needles came in this cute pebble from John James. The ribbons and flowers are from VV Rouleaux (find similar ribbons at this gorgeous Etsy Shop). See below for details of the other components.


The body colour is V68, Lilac Rose, hand stitched using Coats duets polyester thread colour no.1542. The ribbon, from VV Rouleaux, is attached using a small silver jump ring.


The body colour is P33, Baby Love, hand stitched using Coats duets polyester thread colour no.3572. The two flowers at the neck of the bird are also from VV Rouleaux.


The body is colour G49, Just Grace, hand stitched using Coats duets polyester thread colour no.3060.


The body colour is a plain white felt that I already had.


The body colour is G50, Hush Green, hand stitched using Coats duets polyester thread colour no.3200.

Easter mushrooms

Having ordered the felt for Easter, I thought about what I could make. I'd been given a fantastic mushroom pin cushion made out of felt for Christmas and it inspired me to make my own version, in a more woodland/Easter bunny theme, to sit on the table at Easter.

The Easter mushrooms below were fabricated using an adapted version of a great pattern from thelittlehousebythesea.


The variously sized felt spots are glued on.


The individual components for the Easter mushrooms are shown above. The embroidery thread needles came in this cute pebble design from John James. See below for details of the other components.


The roof is colour G49, Just Grace, hand stitched using Coats duets polyester thread colour no.3060. The door is colour V68, Lilac Rose, attached using Anchor embroidery thread colour pale lilac no.108. The stalks of the flowers were embroidered using mint colour no.158.


The roof is colour P33, Baby Love, hand stitched using Coats duets polyester thread colour no.3572. The door is pale mint colour G49, Just Grace, attached using Anchor embroidery thread colour pale mint no.158. The stalks of the flowers were embroidered using pale lime green no.259.


The roof is colour V68, Lilac Rose, hand stitched using Coats duets polyester thread colour no.1542. The door is colour G50, Hush Green, attached using Anchor embroidery thread colour pale lime green no.259. The stalks of the flowers were embroidered using mint colour no.158.


The roof is colour G50, Hush Green, hand stitched using Coats duets polyester thread colour no.3200. The door is colour P33, Baby Love, attached using Anchor embroidery thread colour pale dusky pink no.36. The stalks of the flowers were embroidered using pale lime green no.259.

Easter chocolates

I found some Easter chocolates to match my colour theme!

Easter sketch book trims

I matched the felt swatches with cotton embroidery threads from Anchor. From left to right:

Pale mint colour (no.158)
Pale lilac colour (no.108)
Pale green colour (no.259)
Pale dusky pink colour (no.36)

The flower is from John Lewis, and the beads and sequins we already had.

Easter sketch book colours

I decided to decorate the house with Easter decorations this year. I started by ordering seven samples of felt from Anglo recycling. I just loved the colours when they arrived, and so I set about putting together a colour palette. Clockwise from top left (codes and names in brackets correspond to product id's from Anglo recycling):

Pale mint colour (G49, Just Grace)
Pale dusky pink (P33, Baby Love)
Pale lilac (V68, Lilac Rose)
Pale lime green (G50, Hush Green)

The sequins and beads, in matching colours, I already had from a previous trip to Hong Kong.


The final felt bundles in my chosen colours!

Top of the bathroom cabinet

I found our stainless steel two-door mirrored bathroom cabinet on eBay for less than half the price of high street stores. The lotus flower tealight holder is from Lavender Room. The bevelled mirrored tray is from Marks & Spencer and contains flower shaped candles that were a gift bought for me from Thailand.

Bathroom dispensers

From left to right:

The clear acrylic dispenser is from John Lewis and is filled with pale duck egg coloured hand moisturiser.

I think the beveled edges and classic shape of the mirrored-centre soap dispenser from Marks & Spencer helps create a clean, timeless look for the bathroom. I especially love that the etched pattern is in a light duck egg colour, too.

The small enamelled canister is part of the Newbury range from Restoration Hardware and is perfect for keeping small bits and bobs in.

Bathroom scales

Bathroom scales; I love them and hate them! I spent ages looking for scales that were both stylish and functional, yet also not too obtrusive. I eventually went for the highly accurate scales for weight loss and fat reduction from Tanita.

The flooring is natural stone with pale grey grout.

On the shelf

On the shelf above the sink, the tissue box is housed in an enamel tissue box cover, part of the Newbury collection from Restoration Hardware. In the beveled edge mirrored soap dish from Marks & Spencer are two delightful delicate carved roses, scented with a pretty rose perfume, both from Lavender Room. When the scent runs out you just add a few drops of scented oil.

The brick tiles are butted together with chrome curved edge tile.

Wall towel storage

I have loved the way hotels store towels for years now and I really wanted to store my towels in a similar way. I didn't want to spend a lot of money and wanted something simple and unobtrusive. The pictured towel rack from Next fit the bill perfectly. The stone spot towels from Cath Kidston, coupled with the light and dark silver sage coloured ones from Restoration Hardware complete the look!

Garden shed

After:

Before:

When we moved in the garden shed looked worse for wear, as you can see above. I cleaned it up and painted it with Cuprinol Garden Shades Silver Birch paint.

We replaced the broken window with some new sheets of perspex. Then, using some old net curtain wires I hung some curtains in the windows made from stone spot cotton duck fabric from Cath Kidston.

For a touch of humour I hung a Honest Otto's metal sign on the door.

Being the colour coordination obsessive I am I found garden accessories to match. The garden kneeler and gloves are from Cath Kidston. The sky blue hand trowel and fork are from Burgon and Ball, the powder blue wellington boots from Hunter, and the cream enamel garden trug from Franksy Kitchenware.

Crystal shower hooks

I spent ages looking for a shower curtain rail for my bathroom. You see, we have a window at one end of the bath, meaning we couldn't have a regular rail that is suspended at both ends. I like alternatives, such as encircling shower rails (either square or circular), but as the bath does not stand away from the wall there was not enough room for one of those. I eventually found the shower rail above from Next, that is fixed at the tap end only.

The shower curtain hooks and curtain are from Restoration Hardware. The shower curtain is two-part, with a decorative banded sateen shower curtain that hangs outside the bath and a clear vinyl curtain liner on the inside to stop water leaking everywhere.

Bath caddy

I bought my sister this bath caddy a few years ago, and she kindly bought me one the following year. We got them from Graham & Green, and the good news is that they still sell them!

The candle and washcloth in silver sage are from one of my favorite American home stores, Restoration Hardware, where I also bought other silver sage bathroom accessories.

The matchbox, in a similar colour, I picked up when I stayed at Cape Grace in South Africa. I also found the mini foot pumice and nail brush in South Africa at Rain.

The butterfly clip was from Tchibo, but unfortunately they only stock items for a couple of weeks, if you're lucky!

Vintage telephone

A friend and I recently bought a 1970’s cream rotary phone from Alfie’s market as a birthday present for a mutual friend. That got me interested in finding one for my newly decorated craft room! I asked my parents if they still had any of their old phones, and my Dad found a couple in the attic: a cream one that was a bit worn around the edges, and a two-tone brown one. It had to be the cream one!

After a thorough cleaning, the phone looked much better, but there were still problems: both the line and receiver cords were grey and stained with ink, and the plastic middle section was missing.

After a bit of searching, I found a great online store (dialtelephones.co.uk) that sells missing phone parts for phones from the 1960’s and 1970’s. I designed myself a new centre dial and I was ready to go! It only took about ten minutes to fit the new parts, and I'm so happy with the results!