Vintage Lifestyle

Vintage tins and the village fete...

2009-07-14T17:33:00.010+01:00

We ventured out to another auction where we were lucky to find a box full of vintage tins. Most of them are now listed on our website so stop by, have a look and don't forget that our special discount is still available until this Sunday!

I admit to having a soft spot for tins and having a fair few in my own collection. Here is a sample of some of my own personal faves:

This one holds my sewing machine feet and accessories.

This one is very large so is perfect for holding my candles, all shapes and sizes!

This one has a design that I think might have inspired a well known homewares designer...(no names!)

I just love the picture on this one. Unfortunately it was covered in tape when I found it and the sticky stuff from the tape left a residue. No matter what I have tried alot of the residue remains although is no longer sticky.

With its soft colours, this one is perfect for our bedroom and holds my hair pins.

This one holds hair barrettes and clips.

This large one is great for my buttons!

This one is quite special to me. I bought this at a garage sale in the US a good few years ago now. The design is a painting by one my all time favourite artists, Norman Rockwell. It holds my garden seed packets at the moment.

So if you are looking to add to your collection of tins or just wanting a bit of vintage charm in your home, check out our new arrivals category.

This past weekend was our village fete. Unfortunately, it poured with rain most of the day, the wind blew and howled and the temperature remained very low so the turnout wasn't as good as it has been in the past and the rain put a damper on a few of the events. Still, we stayed for a couple of hours and managed to have some fun.

There was a wonderful western style horse rider named Terry Cooper who put on a great display despite the rain. His beautiful American quarter horse, Slipper, is so amazing and can respond to his rider's commands by the riders bodyweight alone without the use of vocal commands or reins.

This is "Slipper", Terry and Terry's wife.

When the weather became particularly awful, we took shelter in the large beer tent. I was impressed with the bright floral displays on the marquee poles.

I also managed to find a delicious strawberry cake, to which I could not refuse a piece. No wonder I am not losing any weight! Still, it was worth it...very yummy!

Birthdays, barbecues & a SPECIAL OFFER

2009-07-08T09:47:00.011+01:00

What a busy couple of weeks we have had...

Our daughter was very keen to have a barbecue before she left for her school "residential" trip (away from us for the first time, for 4 nights!) as the nice weather had begun so we arranged for her friend's family to come for the day. We had lots of yummy food and the sun was shining. I cut some pretty flowers from our garden for the table...

... but our friends also brought us a beautiful boquet.

The table was full of flowers and wonderful scents. Fun was had by all.

The following day Georgia left for her trip. Strange not to have that beautiful little lady talking incessantly while running around the house.

Later that day our friend's Clare and Mike came for a barbecue ( well you have to get them in while the weather holds out right?). They also brought along a gorgeous bouquet of Stocks...

....(and a box of chocolates which I finished off in no time!) The weather was wonderful and It was so lovely to have someone to talk with about "vintage" who loves it as much as we do. After eating the delicious food Paul had prepared we oohed and aahhhed over tablecloths and fabrics and spent some time looking at interior books. I did so enjoy the day.

I wanted to use some of my 4.5 days of "freedom" to catch up with work. I have wanted to add the "wardobe" category back to the website for some time now as some customers have been requesting it's return. I spent a day photographing some vintage clothing and another adding them to the website.

I am happy to say you can now shop the "wardrobe" section. More items will be added there as soon as our iron cools down!

We then needed to prepare for the impending birthdays... Yes, more than one. Our son's was on the 2nd, mine on the 4th and Georgias on the 5th (it was not planned, I promise). There was much shopping to be done and a cakes to be made. I made her a "garden" themed cake with mini bunting and lots of berries. The colours did come out rather garrish but the kids loved it.

Georgia wanted a sleepover but couldnt have it on her birthday as it was on a Sunday and the kids had to be at school Monday morning so generous mummy let her have them over on my birthday (Saturday) and stay till Sunday. They had fun eating outside ( yes, another barbecue) and squirting eachother with waterguns. They all snuggled up on Dillon's bed to watch a scary movie before bed

...then off to the pool the following morning. I don't mind saying I was glad that the birthdays were then over!

Back to work...Paul and I do not have a large storage facility in which to store our website stock so space is of great importance. We have decided it is time to make more room for new items and are therefore having a "SALE". ALL ORDERS UNDER £100 WILL RECIEVE A %10 DISCOUNT AND ORDERS OVER £100 WILL RECIEVE A %20 DISCOUNT. Don't forget that there is no additional charge for delivery of furniture items. This offer ends on Sunday the 19th of July.

Till next time....

Our porch in "print"...

2009-06-23T19:11:00.007+01:00

(No, unfortunately this one isn't ours!)

You may remember a couple of posts ago, that I wrote about our new "porch".

We were recently asked if our porch photos could be included on a website called Front Porch Ideas and more. We are really excited to let you know the article/interview and photos are now on the website. If you would like to take a look, you can see it here . At the bottom of the article are some photos of our hen house which Paul built but I will include them here anyway:

(this one shows part of the run which is attached to the hen house)

As you know from my earlier post, I am very keen on porches of all sorts and I was thrilled to be included in the website which has lots of gorgeous porch photos of all different styles along with lots of information about porch furniture, entertaining, decorating and much more.

Here are some other photos I have borrowed from the website to give you a bit of inspiration:

Now get building!

And the winners are....

2009-06-20T11:03:00.008+01:00

We are so pleased to have received over 20 entries into the photo competition which is a good number considering the effort involved. It sounds like a cliche but it really, truly was difficult to pick a winner. However, a winner there must be, and after much deliberation we chose Niki's photo below as the winning image.

We think it embodies the vintage theme, is bright and cheery and make us want to delve in and see more! The photo includes a vintage Anemone tin which Niki purchased from Vintage Lifestyle years ago. Congratulations Niki!

We decided to have 2 runners up. One runner up is Julie. Julie has put together a wonderful outdoor "display" in her seating area in the garden including the jar lanterns she purchased from us which I think look so pretty with their warm glow. The scene is filled with lots of treasures and we love the effort Julie put into making this a lovely area for summer relaxing!

Our other runner up is Alexandra who sent in this wonderful photo of her red corner cupboard ,purchased from us not so long ago.

She has already made it look perfectly at home with simple, fresh accessories and it is complimented beautifully by the bright floral curtains.

We did not receive one photo we didn't like! Everyone did a super job and therefore everyone who sent in a photo will be receiving a little thank you gift in the post.

Please email us your full address if you didn't already do so, so we can get your goodies out to you!

THANK YOU all for taking part and a special congratulations to our winners!

Competition reminder and other things...

2009-06-11T18:51:00.005+01:00

We have received several emails asking for a bit more time to send in photos to have a chance of winning our competition, so we are happily obliging for one more week. The deadline is SATURDAY, JUNE 20TH. Please send them in as soon as you can so we can pick a winner!

To those of you who have already sent your pics, we thank you so much. It's been so enjoyable looking at them and seeing your pretty displays!

Today we have had some sunshine! It was perfect timing as I needed to take some photos in the garden of our new little covered seating area that Paul built.

As most of you probably know, England is not my original home and one of things I miss terriby about home (The good ole' USA)is a porch.

There are so many reasons why porches are a wonderful "invention" and one of them is that no matter what the weather,you can sit outside, preferably with a drink or book or just simply to watch nature evolve.

Knowing how much I miss a porch, Paul set to work building this lovely little seating area. He is a good man, isn't he!

I took some pretty photos of it today, adding in some of our handmade bunting (this one is an extra large size, big enough for marquee!), hand made cushions which are now on the website,

and some of our jar lanterns (attached to the trellis at the side; great for soft evening light and they keep the bugs way with citronella candles!)

Porches are attached to the house, so you can walk straight from the house onto it, like an open aired extension of the home. Of course, we can't really do that to our home ( not yet anyway!) so he built it directly behind our small "wildflower" section of the garden so that we could look out over the flowers and watch the bees buzzing and the butterflies fluttering!

I hope you have enjoyed these photos. I look forward to receiving yours!

Bye for now,

Competition Time!

2009-06-03T14:23:00.002+01:00

It is time for our first Website competition! It will require a bit of effort, although I think it should be pleasant effort.

We would like to invite you to send a photo of one of your purchases from Vintage Lifestyle in situ in your home or garden!

You can dress up your photo however you like, or keep it very simple but the most important thing is to have a vintage feel to your pic!

Don't worry if you have not made a purchase from us, you can still enter the competition by sending in a photo of any favourite vintage item in your home or garden. We promise not to be biased to those whose items came from us!!!

Anyone can enter, no matter how far away from us you are!

By sending in a photo you will be giving us the right to use the photos on our blog to let other know who the winner is and in one of our newsletters. Your photo will of course be credited to you.

Remember it need not be a grand display unless you want it to be so just enjoy your 20 minutes as a stylist!

Although I know it will not be an easy choice for us, we will pick a winner Saturday June 13 th. That should give everyone plenty of time. You can email your pics to us at kelly@vintagelifestyle.co.uk

I'm sure you would like to know what the prize is! We have put a few things together to include something Vintage, French, new and handmade. The winner will receive a charming vintage French plaque with little hook (hooks on back so ready for hanging), a small vintage floral jug, a length of Victorian crochet trim, a Victoria magazine from the US, a set of hydrangea flowers magnets and a large anemone magnet. All will be sent in a "very vintage" bag handmade from vintage fabric. I promise to wrap it extra pretty!

I suspect we will have to add in a runner up prize too because I find it very difficult to choose between pretty pics.

Have fun! Don't be shy!

p.s. I have edited the last post so don't worry if you left a comment but you don't see it here, it will be on the previous post. (blogger issue!!)

An award !

2009-05-30T12:55:00.013+01:00

We are really pleased to have received this award from Elanor . Thank you so much for thinking of us Elanor. It really made my day!

The rules of the award are as follows:
1)The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2)Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3)Nominate 10 blogs.
4)Put a link to their blogs.
5)Leave a message for your nominees

So here goes my list!
Joni
Laurie
Clare
Devon Dumpling
Floss
Maggie
Lisa
Lucy
Sweet cottage dreams
Isabelle

There were a great many more I would like to have chosen but not only am I limited to 10 but the sun is shining and I am very keen to leave the computer and get out to do some much needed gardening!

Bye for now...

No wicker was harmed during this photo shoot...

2009-05-13T19:58:00.009+01:00

We recently attended an auction where we spotted a lovely old wicker stand with lots of chipped paint, revealing the original green paint underneath. The bidding began and it seemed we were not the only ones who took a fancy to this item as the bidding became just a little "frantic". We set our limit (which you must do when at an auction otherwise you may find that you spend FAR TOO MUCH) and kept bidding. We got it just a few pounds under our limit so we were quite happy.

As it was a bright, sunny day, taking the photos outside seemed the best idea. Our number 2 bird, Dot, seemed to take a great fancy to it and flew up to have a better look. Please note: no wicker was harmed during the shooting of the photos...

I don't know what got into the "girls" that day. Miss henny-Penny decided if Dot could have a closer look, then she could too. She inspected the small food safe we just purchased and her opinion was that it was ok but would be better used as a private house for her!

Now please don't get the idea that we regularly let our "pets" inspect our special vintage goods! This day was unique and the girls were soon back to foraging and "tidying" the garden for us.

Later that day we took a walk to the bluebell woods just up the road from us. It is the best display of bluebells I have ever seen and each year seems to get better.

Here is Jet, looking beautiful as usual!(I can't help but brag about him!)

And while we are looking at flowers here are a couple photos of our Lilacs in full bloom. Their scent is wonderous!

I am looking forward to setting up my little garden table and chairs in that space. I can just picture it with a beautiful tabelcloth and pretty vintage dishes. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a SUPER summer!

Have a good weekend whatever the weather!

2009-05-02T22:43:00.010+01:00

Today we ventured to the Downton Cuckoo Fair. Although we live very close to Downton, this is the first time we have been to this "fair". There were many stalls selling all sorts of goods, lots of entertainment in the form of traditional music and dancing, bouncy castles and game stalls ( where we did not win even one thing!) and yummy food.

The fair is set up along the main road in Downton where there are some wonderful old cottages and the townsfolk all seem to get involved in the festivities. One of the stalls which impressed me was the basket stall.

What a superb array of handmade baskets! The "trolley" basket is very simliar to one I use when shopping at antique fairs, flea markets and boot sales. It saves so much effort to be able to pull my "finds" behind me rather than have to cart them along.

The basket at the back was possibly the largest basket I have ever seen. I photographed it with a man behind it for scale, so you can get an idea of just how big it was.

My very sweet husband stopped there as we were leaving to buy me an egg basket which I just love. I am going to keep our "girls" (hens) eggs in it in the kitchen.
If you would like to have a look at this company's lovely and creative work, have a look HERE.

Another stall we visited is one I have bought from before at other fairs. This lady always has a beautiful rustic display of kitchenwares and garden items, often set up on ladders. (I have a weakness for old ladders!) I loved the box of wooden rolling pins (at the top of post) with their pretty ribbons and coloured handles.

A pretty little cottage with heart shaped cut-outs along the main road in downton:

And another with Wisteria and bunting:

We liked this sign outside the pub because of its slogan "Wet dogs and muddy boots welcome."

Of course I did manage to come home with a vintage find (always on the lookout!); this bright floral 60's garden lounger. The "girls" seem to really like it!

Hope you are all having a good weekend!

Look what the Easter bunny left....

2009-04-18T17:42:00.010+01:00

In the US, we have a tradition where the Easter bunny leaves a basket of lovely goodies hidden somewhere in the house for us to find. After moving to the UK, I made sure he knew where we lived so the tradition would continue.

Georgia woke up Easter morning and searched for her basket (hoping all the while he hadn't forgotten her!). She found it behind a curtain after only about 15 minutes searching. It wasn't as big as he has left in the past but it was certainly one of the prettiest we have ever seen.

He even buried some sweet treasures in the Easter "grass" for her to find.

It was handmade from thick card covered with felt and adorable appliques.

And knowing that this is vintage household, he included a super little vintage egg cup complete with Easter chick.

What a clever bunny!

Hope you had a great weekend and are looking forward to the sunshine coming tomorrow...
bye for now...

Colourful Easter!

2009-04-10T20:12:00.010+01:00

Happy Easter to you all! It's a lovely time of year with Spring flowers and festivities taking place. A couple weeks ago we spent an hour at a local garden center admiring their beautiful displays of Spring flowers in baskets. I knew I had a few small empty baskets so we bought some trays of primroses and miniature daffodils to make our own pretty displays.

We lined the baskets with a piece of bin bag and instead of buying foliage plants we used some strawberry plants from the garden.

Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the finished baskets until yesterday and by then the little daffodils had gone over but I think you can still see how pretty how they turned out and how welcoming they are by the front door.

We have also been making our Easter "tree". Georgia and I cut branches from the garden and used some decorations we had from previous years as well as some other Easter bits and bobs to decorate with.

I found these very sweet little chicks at last weekends' boot sale. I think they are perfect for the Easter table.

We then spent hours (and I do mean hours!) baking and decorating cookies and cupcakes.

Decorating baked goods is never as easy as I think it will be and I have great admiration for those craftspeople who do it so well! Still, we came up with some very festive examples:

(the green at the bottom is supposed to be grass!)

Lastly, I want to show you this gorgeous hydrangea my wonderful husband bought for me. It is such a beautiful combination of pale pink and pale greens; perfect for Easter time!

Hoping you all have a wonderful weekend!

Till next time...

7 years celebration!

2009-04-03T22:48:00.013+01:00

7 years ago we started Vintage Lifestyle, our online shop for all things vintage. Back then there were few, if any, websites in the UK selling authentic vintage goods with a "shabby", French or country cottage style. I am proud to say that after all this while we are still going strong.

It is just the right time to announce that the Vintage Lifestyle makeover is complete and is now "live". We are thrilled with the new bright, bold and fresh look and hope you will be too.

Not only is there a new look but some new features too. You can now create your own account so that you do not have type in your details each time you shop with us. You can simply type in your name and password and all your details will be automatically filled in for you. You can check your account to view your orders too.

Our storage and house are filled with stock which we will be continuing to add over the next week. It is genuinely a great feeling when we find something lovely or unusual to be able to offer our customers.

We have had so many wonderful emails from customers "old and new" with their very kind comments about the website and we thank you all so much for that. It makes all the hard work so very worth while.

We have had a few requests to return "vintage clothing" to our stock so you will soon see another "room" we will call the "wardobe" for all you lovers of vintage clothing.

We are very pleased to have been able to add this spectacular European antique painted pine dresser to our stock.

It has the most wonderful and unusual ceramic drawers, each named with the foodstuffs which would go into them. We lined the lower shelves with oilcloth from Lene Bjerre for a pretty added touch. The paint, of course, show lots of wear which is just how we like it!

We have also added a pretty pair of handmade lampshade covers in a gorgeous pink plaid fabric. These covers can easily transform a room with their simple, bright style.

Stop by our New Arrivals to see what else we have added. Please feel free to leave comments with your thoughts on the new look or send me an email if you prefer.

Goodbye for now.....

OK, so it's addictive...

2009-03-17T13:16:00.009Z

Keeping chickens that is. We didn't like to see Miss Henny-penny without any friends of her own species so after a visit to a local breeder we came home with two girls. For the time being, we are calling this one "Dot".

We can not seem to completely agree on a name for her. Please do send in your name ideas! She is an Appenzeller and originates from Switzerland.

She seems to have taken a keen interest in Jet and has pecked him once on the nose and a couple times on the tip of his tail, which made him run behind my legs to hide. I don't know if it is because they are both black and white but she does seem quite keen. Her affections are, unfortunately, not returned.

And this is "Buttercup" who is a Sicilian Buttercup hen and originates from Sicily.

She is a timid girl but is being drawn out of her "shell" with the occasional piece of grape and some apple. She has a very soft expression which I think you can see in this photo.

Miss Henny-penny is supposed to be the real egg layer in the family but she had not given us any eggs until about a week ago when she began laying and has given us a fresh egg each day. It really is so exciting to open the hen-house and find the egg inside, like finding a little treasure! The other two hens gave us 2 eggs but have now stopped. I have read that many hens take the laying in turns so maybe they have stopped while Miss H-P is having a go!

Below is Miss HP and "dot" investigating the garden bench.

If I can backtrack here a moment, I would like to share some photos with you. When we went to the "breeders" to see the hens we were directed onto a private road that took us about a mile into farmland. We saw lots of colourful chickens in a fenced off area so thought we must have arrived at the correct place. What greeted us there was such a beautiful sight! It was a large area filled with the most gorgeous cockerels and so many unusual breeds. Every one looked to be in prime condition and as we approached they all came running towards us.

Below are some of the fineest specimens of these chaps I have seen.

Although we live in the "country" we still have neighbors so cockerels were not what we wanted despite their great beauty! We called the breeder who told us to go back down the road until we came to the barn and she would be there waiting for us. Off we ventured to the barn and upon our arrival we were greeted by these great, beautiful beasts and their little baby! Aren't they smashing!

We had a lovely visit with the breeder who was also a farmer, farmer's wife and mother as well as a business woman. I look forward to going there again when the new chicks are ready. I think just one more hen would be good, don't you? A nice even number.

New additions...

2009-03-03T12:06:00.009Z

No, not new additions to our house I'm afraid, but we do have a new addition to our "neighborhood" , a new addition to our family and a new addition to the website.

First is our "neighborhood" addition, Sasha, a beautiful Shetland pony. She is in need of a bit of dieting and a makeover but what a sweet little gorgeous girl she is. She has now joined Prince in the field and he is very happy about it indeed! When he first saw her at the gate, he ran like a wild stallion, kicked his heels up and whinnied so sweetly it almost made me cry! Sasha is not our pony but we are lucky to be able to have access to her and Georgia has even ridden her already!

The second new additon is Miss Henny-Penny.

We are watching her while friends are overseas for awhile. We have fallen in love with her and her most inquisitive nature.

Although I have wanted a couple chickens for a long time, it was mostly for the idea that we could provide our own organic and free range eggs but now that I have "experienced" having a chicken around, I can honestly say that her personality is enough reason alone to have one, with or without eggs.

Jet is finding Miss Henny-Penny very interesting. She is not bothered by him in the slightest. This photo does make us laugh because Jet can not ignore his herding instincts and wherever she goes, he goes, trying to run circles around her. He even chases away any cats that come into the garden when she is out. He is such a good boy.

As her house could not be brought to ours, Paul has built her the most fantastic house and when it is painted, I will be proud to show some photos of his wonderful carpentry skills so stay tuned till next time for those.

The last of today's additions is an apron I made for the handmade section on our website. I think it turned out lovely. Georgia modelled it for me and what a great job she did. Country living at it's prettiest!

The apron is made from a piece of 1930's heavy cotton canvas type material that I salvaged from an old chair slipcover (not one that could be saved!) This fabric is great for aprons because it is so heavy duty. I used a decorative stitch around the neck and hem to add a trim of little green hearts as you can see below.

It won't be long before the clocks are moved ahead an hour, a sure sign that Spring is on it's way!

Till next time....

A new look...

2009-02-18T15:58:00.009Z

As you can see we have a new look to our blog. I hope everyone likes it as much as I do!

We attended an auction last week and came home with a few lovely vintage children's things including a doll bed and wardobe. The bed has it's original blue paint and several beautiful little pink roses on it. I made a "mattress" and matching pillow which I think came out very sweet.

We also got a doll or teddy sized deckchair. Although not a vintage item I could see it's potential! I removed the modern striped fabric and used it as a template to make another "sling" out of a pretty floral fabric. I know...my table is in a state!

I chose to paint the frame a spring green which I wasn't completely sure would look nice with the fabric I chose but I was really happy with the outcome. Re-attaching the fabric seat was not an easy job as the dowels were so small but I got there in the end. I can just see a teddy sunbathing this summer in this chair.

These items will be listed on Vintage Lifestyle shortly, so if you would like a special pressie for a special little one, stop by and see what we have in our Nursery section.

Before I go, I want to share a photo of a visitor we had in our front garden awhile ago. Isn't he lovely?

Bye for now...

For our Australian friends...

2009-02-10T09:29:00.004Z

I would like to take a moment here to ask all our thoughtful bloggers for their prayers for everyone affected by the horrible fires in Australia. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all suffering from this devastation.

Snowy nostalgia....

2009-02-04T22:29:00.005Z

Well after 18 years of living in southern England we have finally had a decent snowfall. I can hardly tell you all how much it means to me to have this snow.

I come from a place in the US which is known for it's heavy snow, every winter. When you leave your "home" and move to another country you eventually become aware of the things that you took for granted.

I realised one day that my kids have not really seen snow, never been sledding (sledging), skiing, built snowmen, never seen the delicate beauty of the floating flakes or felt the wonderful comfort of coming home to a cup of hot chocolate after playing in the freezing snow and it bothered me.

My thoughts lately have been only for Spring because I didn't want to think of weeks of cold and rain and grey days but now we have something new and exciting to experience. Don't get me wrong, I dont want it to snow for weeks on end but this week's snow has been so lovely, even "magical" as Georgia described it. Even the teenager is loving it as you can see in the photos.

Speaking of snow, I can hardly beleive it was 20 years ago yesterday that Paul and I got married and spent a snowy weekend in Niagra Falls. I searched through an old leather suitcase that I keep the photos in so that I could find one to show you but I could not find any from our wedding day! I'm sure I have just put them in safe place where it will take some years to find them again. We celebrated by going to our fave local restaurant for a meal (without the kids) and had a wonderful time. We sat at the best table surrounded by windows with a full view of the fat, falling snowflakes and the quiet "lamp" lit street near to the cathedral gate. Paul even wore his suspenders (braces) that I bought him some years ago now; navy blue with polka dots. I love a man in suspenders; so attractive and perfectly vintage.

Drive safely everyone. Till next time...

Something to keep you going...

2009-01-25T22:00:00.007Z

This time of year we often begin to feel the effects of the low light levels and short days, the rain, the wind and cold and if you are anything like me, a bit of cabin fever can set in!

To boost your positive thinking I am sharing with you a few photographs of warmer, brighter months which are not that far away. These are not my personal photos, they are borrowed from magazines and possibly some books so sadly I can not take credit for them.

Enjoy!

Because most of the people who stop by to read this blog have an interest in houses, here are a few special ones for you to enjoy:

Pretty, huh?

Catching up....

2009-01-17T16:14:00.011Z

It's been awhile, I know. Boy, have I had my hands full lately. The Vintage Lifestyle website is being switched to a new database and system. I don't have to do the technical stuff thank goodness but I have had so much time consuming and tedious work to do to assist with making this change. It has been many days of work transferring information, photos and descriptions from the old system to the new. It is not complete yet but I can see how the new system is going to work so much better and I am really excited about when it goes "live". I will post more about that when the time comes.

Georgia is having 3 "medieval" days at Salisbury Cathedral with her school. She needed a costume. The last costume we did came out so well (pure luck I'm afraid) that the pressure was on me to do another at least as good. So, in the middle of all the website work, I stopped to do some sewing. I'm not confident with my sewing skills, particularly things like dresses so I chose a simple dress pattern rather than one of the very detailed ones but I made it look special with the addition of pretty braids, ribbons and stitching.

Unbelievably to me, it came out lovely. I had a bit of material left over so I made a matching cloak with hood. It took about 15 minutes to make the cape and I didn't even have a pattern! I was so proud of myself! I used one of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine to add a pretty design around the edges. Georgia was so pleased with outcome.

We braided her hair on each side and pulled the braids up and across the top of her head and secured with bobby pins. Doesn't she look cute as button?

After my hard work I decided it was time for some retail therapy. I ventured into town to visit Lulu's new shop. Lucinda had a shop in Lymington but has now opened one here in Salisbury next to her dad's shop, Salisbury bedding. We met some years ago through her shop. She used some of our items in her window displays. Below is a photo of one of our kitchen cupboards in one of her displays. Her windows are always immaculate and show real flair!

I usually do not buy "new" goods for myself. I prefer the vintage original if at all possible (ok, I guess I'm a vintage snob) but it was hard not to be tempted by the pretty things at Lulu's. She is also having a sale...SO, I came home with a few goodies including a lovely green quilt with tiny florals for Georgia's bed (because the 4 quilts she already has just didnt seem enough). It is such a soft quilt though, very snuggly ( thats my explanation to hubby anyway). I could not post a photo of it on her bed though because her room is too much of a mess to show the public so here is a photo I borrowed from a website (not a very good pic, I know)

Georgia used some of her Christmas money from Grandma in America to buy this gorgeous stuffed horse she has been wanting. It is the one on the top of the photo and it really is a charming toy and so "vintage" in style. I have always admired it myself and it is entirely handmade!

I also bought this beautiful extra large sized lantern which I think will be perfect for summertime outdoor meals or to light the way to our door as it's dark as can be out here in the countryside in the evening without any street lights.

And lastly, I bought this very pretty pen holder for my desk.

So with that and my new telephone which I received from Paul for Christmas, my desk is looking decidedly better.

Till next time.....

Tagged and Awarded....

2009-01-06T12:13:00.004Z

Shortly before Christmas I was tagged as well as being awarded by Sian from "Diary of a tiny holder". I didn't like not being able to respond to this honour right away but Christmas was a bit busy this year so I decided to wait until after the rush was over so I could give this my full attention.
The tag was to post one of my favourite Christmas recipes. The recipe I'm posting is not specifically a Christmas one. I do love to make this at Christmas but I also make it all the year 'round!

Banana bread (official version)

(this recipe does have walnuts in it, but anyone with a nut allergy can simply leave them out!)

Unfortunately for my UK friends, all the measurements are in cups but I think many measuring cups have "cups" as well as oz. (I hope!)

1 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup of mashed banana ( about 3 medium bananas, the more ripe the better!)
3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of cooking oil
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans

Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Make a well in the center of dry mix and set aside.

In another bowl combine the egg, bananas, sugar and cooking oil.

Add egg mixture all at once to dry mix. Stir till just moistened ( batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts.

Spoon batter into the loaf pan and bake at 350'F or 175'c for 50-55 mins or until wooden toothpick comes out clean from the center. Cool on wire rack for 10 mins then remove loaf from pan, wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Banana bread (my version)

Same ingredients

NOW, I will tell you the way I do it. Mash the bananas in a bowl then mix everything together except the flour which I mix in last along with the nuts. Pour it in a loaf ban and bake. As soon as it comes out of the oven, we cut it into slices and add a bit of butter to the slice ( just like you would for a regular piece of bread) which melts because the bread is still nice and warm. You will need a plate because as it is so soft it will fall apart a bit.

I usually dont use the full amount of sugar because we have a diabetic child. It is still delicious without the full amount of sugar. I usually use a touch more cinnamon than the recipe calls for but it all depends on whether or not you love cinnamon!

I can guarantee that after you have made, you will always make it again, even if you are not a fan of bananas! We use to have this all the time in the US and as a child, it was a true favourite. By the response from the family when I make it, I can say they are all fans now too!

Thanks so much Sian, you are a sweet lady!

Ok, Christmas is over....

2008-12-27T23:09:00.007Z

and I didnt post any photos of our tree. I know most of you will not be feeling "Christmassy" after the event but I thought I would share these anyway.

A heavily laden tree.

Only one left of this set I bought in the US. I love the simplicity of the red cardinals fluttering around the winter branches.

We always have lots of "nature" on our tree whether it is a winter creature or not!

Goofy owl which I love.

Beautiful Merry-go-round which my Grandma bought me a long time ago. It moves around and plays a song but due to the different electric system is does not work here in the UK. Still it is so pretty!

If you visited this blog last year you may remember that we often try to make a gingerbread house at Christmas. We were doing alot of baking this year so we took the "easy" way out and bought a gingerbread house kit which comes with the pieces already cut. You stick them together and decorate it yourself.

Sounds easy right? I followed the directions for the icing exactly as it says but it was so hard to decorate with. I bought a new icing kit and was excited to use it but as soon as I gave the icing bag its first squeeze, the side split open. I resorted to my vintage tin Tala set which worked but as the icing was so thick I thought I had suffered serious damage to my hand by the time I finished it. Im making my own next year, no short cuts!

A couple shots of festive decor!

My grandma made this Nativity set in 1969 at a ceramics class. She has her name and the date on the base of the pieces. It is a truly gorgeous set and something I really cherish.

This is a little shot of our Christmas table. I love these honeyglaze dishes. I used our vintage pale pink 30's glasses, grandma's vintage cutlery and the Limoges candle holders Paul bought me for ny birthday.

Jet hiding behind the computer chair when the crackers were being pulled. What a big baby!

The tree at night.

I do sincerely hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. Despite some difficult times that many are experiencing, so much joy is to be had in the simple things in life. I hope you were able to experience that.

With much love and best wishes,
kelly

A Christmassy post....

2008-12-21T22:51:00.008Z

Sorry I haven't written in awhile. We have been so busy with Christmas coming up fast. Lots of creating and baking and of course decorating!

Do you ever notice how miraculous little things happen at Christmas time? I know that Robins tend to be rather less shy than most garden birds but I have to tell you about a particularly bold one that we "met" recently. At my favourite local garden center they put on quite a Christmas display with a huge amount of decorations so each year we visit Wilton Garden Center between 5-10 times before Christmas! I just cant help it. Anyway, as we entered the shop there was a Christmas display with different kinds of trees, cuddly winter animals and old fashioned lamp posts. We stopped to admire the pretty scene and we heard a lovely chirping song and thought at first that it was a recording just to add to the atmosphere but upon closer inspection we saw a very sweet and fat little robin sitting on the fence, not 3 feet from us, singing his little heart out for us.

Luckily I had my camera with me and I took a photo of him. He seemed to like our attention and he hopped even closer to the sign that was about a foot and a half in front of us. He continued to sing and as other people came by and saw us standing there they too joined in the festive scene and the camera phones were out taking photos of this adorable little creature who continued to sing his lovely song. With him doing such a beautiful job at entertaining us, it was difficult to leave him but after a good ten minutes or so, we decided we would have to get on with our shopping. When we came back out, he was still flitting about the trees, having found a perfect Christmas home. I felt lucky to have seen and heard him. He was beautiful. Look at his tiny little legs!!

Georgia also had her school Christmas fete. She spent alot of time making Christmas cards to sell to earn money for the school.

Georgia also had her Christmas carol service for her school at the Church. She had to begin the narration and despite a sore throat she gave a perfect, loud and clear narration. What a good girl! Here she is on the Church's big video screen so all can see.

We also had a little venture into town when they had their late night shopping. This is always a nice evening for me because being from the US, I am quite used to shops being open until late at night and I have always missed that here in the UK. I like the atmosphere of shopping in the evening particularly at Christmas time. One of the prettier shops in town is a tiny belgian chocolate shop that does a lovely window display of their chocolates. It was difficult to get a good picture of the beautiful display due the to reflections but hopefully you can just see here some of the really big old fashioned santa shaped chocolates!

I wanted to make a new wreath this year so I bought a heart shaped wicker type base and I cut Ivy strands to cover it with.

I used my trusty glue gun to stick on some red velvet roses that I had saved from years ago and some bits of "snow" covered holly leaves and berries.

I added a pretty red bow with little polka dots and came up with this!

I did take photos of our tree but I am not happy with them so I will try again tomorrow(providing we get any sun light at all)and post them. I promised myself I wouldnt comment on the weather but obviously I couldnt help myself!

Hope you all are having fun and staying relaxed.

Shall we pick a winner?

2008-11-29T19:06:00.014Z

We decided it was only fitting to choose our winner from a winter vintage hat and this pretty fair isle beret was the only winter one I could find! We printed out the names and cut them into strips. Georgia folded them and put them in the hat. She picked out the first name and then was very keen to choose another one so we have added in a little "runner up" prize!

The winner is Sue from "Vintage to Victorian"

The "runner up" prize goes to Helen at "Cocoa and Blankets"

Congratulations girls!

Please send me your addresses ladies and I will get these little goodies out in the post to you!

Speaking of goodies... I want to share with you some photos of these pretty little things I have been making. These are the fridge magnets I have been working on. They were not difficult to make (although tracking down the little hydrangeas was not easy!) and I found it very enjoyable to have a crafty thing to do while watching a movie with Paul in the evenings. (I sometimes find it hard to just sit there and not be doing something creative!)

The magnets come in several different colours. I also used the flowers to make "bobby pins" for a hair accessory. I think they would make a nice stocking stuffer or gift for a "floral loving" friend.

Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment and chose your favourite song. Led Zeppelin received the most votes although Ella Fitzgerald was a close runner up. Nice to know that every song did get at least one vote! I had no idea there were so many rock-n-rollers out there! And just for you girls..............

Our First "Giveaway" and other stuff...

2008-11-19T11:15:00.005Z

I'm pleased and excited to announce our first "give away"! Yeah!!! I will not tell you what specifically is in the package but in contains a little bit of vintage, handmade and new and most of it pertains to Christmas time.

.... But, it isn't going to be a matter of simply leaving a comment, oh no, you will have to listen to my playlist and leave a comment letting me know which of the songs is your favourite. I don't know if many people actually listen to playlists so I thought I would force you into it! If you scroll down the playlist there are more songs than what initially appear and there is hopefully something for everyone.

I will put all the names into a hat and pick out the winner on the 29th of November (10 days). All are welcome to "enter" no matter which country you live in. Good Luck!

Now, onto other matters. With Christmas looming I like to get the house as tidied up as I can so all I have to do closer to the holidays is the fun stuff. This weekend I decided to clean out the fabric cupboard. It went well and is looking far more tidy and organised now. Of course this is only the top of the dresser but I am tackling the bottom section later today.

We also wanted to add some light to the living room now that the days are getting so short and dark so we purchased an antique mirror but because our walls are white and the mirror is white, we decided it needed something to "spice it up". I used a beautiful transfer, which is a reproduction of an antique design and a favourite image of mine, to add some extra flair and a touch of colour to the mirror. I love the way it came out.

We have sunshine today for the first time in almost 2 weeks. What a difference it makes with the rooms looking so bright and cheery! I sincerely hope you are having some too. Enjoy....

Vintage country garden weddings & parties

2008-10-22T22:23:00.005+01:00

Maybe you have wondered where I have been lately? Well, I've been doing dishes...over 300 of them!!! Look at this...

We were lucky to obtain a huge lot of vintage dishes from an old family run hotel that was closing it's doors.

As we have been trying to find items for our "Vintage Country garden wedding and party" section over at Vintage Lifestyle , it was a great find. Not often do you come across such a large amount of pretty vintage dishes! There are actually 2 designs (as you can see in the close up photo)but both are so similar they could easily be used together.

As if that wasn't quite good enough, we ventured out to another auction the following day and came across this lot...

There are 18 matching vintage serving dishes in the set. So, as you can imagine, I have "dishpan" hands. Well worth it though as we are quite excited about the "Vintage party and weddings" section and have been trying to find more beautiful things to offer customers.

Now, on a completely different topic ( well, kind of..what would be better at a country wedding than this guy?); I would like to share with you this photo of a most handsome fella. I am sure that he is the "pin up" for all the gals! We see him every week on the way to Georgia's riding lesson but he was posing so perfectly I just had to take a photo of him. Isn't he a beauty?

One last thing I would like to mention. I think it is about time I do a "give-away" like so many of our generous fellow bloggers have done in the past. This will be on the next post so keep a lookout!

Bye for now..........