Christmas Inspiration for All

Everyone has their own individual take on Christmas. Me? I'm a traditionalist. However I do find something distinctly appealing about vivid purples contrasting against stark white.  Here is a selection of photographs to inspire, and I've tried to find something for everyone. 

Are you traditionalists or prefer something more modern when it comes to Christmas decorations?

Ally

xxx

New Living Room, Zero Cost

I recently decided put some finishing touches to the living room. The majority of what you see was already in situ so only a few small changes were made, but they really completed the look of the room.

The first change is the new carpet. Which isn't really new at all. It's the carpet that we brought with us from our old house. The difference that it made in brightening and freshening up the room is incredible.

The next thing I did was move the furniture. I decided to Katie corner the smaller sofa (place it diagonally across the corner) to open up the floor space and allow easier access into the garden.

For my Birthday I received a couple of cushions by Andrew Martin, one of my favourite designers. I think they fit in with the sofas perfectly and I love the old, worn look about them.

The final change was the hurricane lanterns either side of the fire place. I placed pine cones and oranges in with the candles to tie in with the time of year. Instead of buying packs from the shops I picked the pine cones from the garden, washed them with warm water and left them to dry.
If you don't have a pine tree in your garden try looking in a local park or woods.
The orange slices again I did myself. 2 oranges cost about 30p rather than buying a packet of dried slices for £5.
Making the oranges is really simple

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Slice the oranges slightly thicker than you want them to end up, as they will shrink in the oven as they lose their moisture.
Lay the slices on a baking sheet and bake for an hour.
Turn the oven down to 160 degrees and bake for a further 2 hours.

If at this point my orange slices aren't completely dry, I bake for a further hour, before turning the oven off and leaving to completely dry out overnight.

You can dry out pretty much anything that you want, lemons, apples chilies and artichokes, to name a few, and they can be used in so many ways. I've used them to jazz up potpourri, on Christmas wreaths and this year I'm going to thread them with ribbon and hang them from the Christmas tree.

What have fruit and veg have you dried and how have you used them in your house?

Ally

xxx 

Sew Sew

I've been making my hearts and selling them on ebay for around a week now, and they appear to be gathering a bit more interest.

Love is All you Need

It's still extremely early days but I'm already looking forward to my next projects. I'm hoping that in the next couple of weeks I'll be getting a sewing machine, which will really help me move onto the next step. It will allow me to create a much larger variety of products and I will be able to execute them to a much higher standard.

My new heart design I have hand embroidered "love" onto and have plans to start taking orders for personalisations. I love the thought of embroidering peoples names, special dates, or words; and hopefully in the future take orders from couples for weddings favours, co-ordinating with their colour scheme.

Joy is not in things, it is in us

I have already spoken to a few event organisers about selling at country fairs and markets etc. so it's quite a hectic yet exciting time in my life.


I'd like to thank those that have started following me and left me messages, I really enjoy reading what you have to say and appreciate the kind words...

Ally 

xxx

I heart ♥s

For the last week I've been looking at fabrics, and sketching some ideas down on paper for my hanging hearts. Yesterday I finally decided on which fabric I was going to use (even the man in the shop commented that I'd finally made my mind up)! I had such a specific idea in my head that I was never going to find what I wanted.

The fabric I ended up going for I was worried was going to look a little dull and washed out. But I "jujjed" it up with some bright stitching and ribbon.

I've mocked up a couple and will make some more, with different designs and which ever are deemed most popular will go on sale in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully!

So Excited...

Which is your favourite?

Ally

  xxx