30 June 2013

Six Things Sunday

Hello lovelies!

It's been quite a while since I've written a list on here, which I reckon needs to be remedied - STAT*. So, here are six things currently putting a spring in my step:

1. Freebies

Tom and I went for dinner with our besties (who also happen to be a couple. Sickening, isn't it?) on Friday- and were treated to an Asian feast of huuuuge spring rolls and Malaysian noodle soup. Yum. I also handed over Fran's belated birthday presents, all of which were (thankfully!) received with glee. That or Fran's seriously improved her "Present Face". 



Fran was midway through having a good ol' clear-out, and let me have a rummage through the bags destined for the car boot sale. There is NOTHING I love more than rummaging through other peoples' stuff (especially when I'm allowed to take some of it home!). I nabbed a gorgeous cookery book by the equally gorgeous Sophie Dahl, a rather less superb "literary" offering by Mr Boulle of Made In Chelsea fame (which, having since read it, will definitely be returning to a car boot bag), an adorable bow clip, two packs of polka-dot paper-chains, and a set of Scrabble! 

Then, during today's mooch around town, I found two crates full of "Free Stuff - Take Me!" outside someone's front door, including some vinyl records. Don't mind if I do. In case you're wondering, I'm sitting-down-dancing to Sussudio whilst writing this post. 



2. Finding a good hair dye

I tried using Perfect 10 home dye for the first time yesterday, and I'm 100% converted. They have some really lovely shades of blonde, and it only took me 30 minutes from putting on the gloves (which took longer than you'd think, because I'm a moron and spent aaaages trying to tear open the packet- only to have the gloves fall out of the other end. Turns out I'd been trying to force open the bottom of an open-topped packet. Duh.) to having freshly blow-dried hair. 

Please note, "blow-dried" might possibly be a slightly misleading term here, as I don't use a hairbrush etc. like hairdressers do; I just tip my head upside down and blast it whilst scruffing up my hair with my fingers. I do this for as long as it takes for me to start to feeling dizzy from all the blood rushing to my head, and then stop. 

New colour, modelled here with my new hair bow (thanks, Fran!). To be honest, I'm just glad it's not yellow!



3. Scrabble Board

This was very much a joint effort of the Johnsons; Tom's Dad very kindly agreed/offered/was too nice to decline the use of his skills and his special metal cutting tool to fit a sheet of scrap metal into the back of a frame I picked up at the local fleamarket. Tom put in the nail to hang it on yesterday, as I can't be trusted with hammering. It's awesome having it up on the wall, as it's been on my To Craft list for ages



I'm really looking forward to writing lots of sweet messages to each other with the magnetic Scrabble tiles, such as "I LOVE YOU, TOPSHOP GUY" and "WE NEED MORE GRAVY (STAT)".




4. Colourful grub

Summery food is so much prettier than winter food (where everything is the colour of gravy). Things I've scoffed this weekend include: 

Leftover home-made pasta sauce with sundried tomato and pesto pimped couscous.



Strawberry, raspberry and banana smoothie (with raspberries I'd picked from the garden 30 seconds previously. Win.). 



Watermelon salad, on my new parrot tray



5. Pottering

After a few weekends spent flitting about the country (/running round Edinburgh like a happy loon - more on that to follow), it's been really nice having a relaxing weekend at home catching up on chores and sitting in the garden, thanks to my Magic Suncream

Yesterday I tackled some of the overgrown bushes in front of our house; as getting to the front door was beginning to become a Sleeping Beauty-esque battle of epic proportions. The part where the Prince has to hack his way through lots of thorns to snog her, not the bit where everyone falls asleep for ages. At least, I don't think the postie has been snoozing in our flower bed... 

6. Summery smells

We had two loads of washing drying on the line today (which I loved because I got to use my incredible bird pegs that make me feel like Snow White), despite also firing up the BBQ for an afternoon of excessive snacking/Pimms. Yes, our bedding is going to smell like smoke, but I really don't care. Cut grass, warm rain, and BBQs/campfires are some of my favourite summery smells- and I'd much rather smell of those than fancy perfume any day. 

What are you enjoying at the moment? I'd love to hear! 

Katie xxx

* By the way, using the term "STAT" is a brilliant way to convince anyone you need to impress that you're actually a brain surgeon. As is walking backwards through doors holding your arms close to your chest with your hands pointing up and saying "Oh, sorry- force of habit". 

26 June 2013

House Tour Part 1: Bathroom

Hello lovelies!

How are you? 

Welcome to the long-awaited Part 1 of my new House Tour series. I know starting with the bathroom doesn't sound like the most exciting introduction to the tour, but I've chosen it because: 
1. The bathroom was the only room I remembered to photograph "before".
2. It's by far the most dramatic transformation we've completed. 
3. I've just cleaned it*. 

Before: 



Our bathroom was originally split into two rooms, both of which had been wallpapered by the previous owners. Because clearly there's nothing more sensible than really thick wallpaper in a bathroom. There's no way that plan will backfire and the walls will end up going mouldy. Oh no.

Excuse me. Just using up my Sarcasm Quota for the week. 

The first thing we tackled decorating-wise after moving in was stripping the mouldy wallpaper in the bathroom (as opposed to the room with the toilet in it, which also had the most disgustingly germy doorknob in the whole wide world - because the sink was also in the bathroom. YUCK.). We decided to slap on a quick coat of anti-mould bathroom paint, and opted for a cheery cornflower blue.



The bathroom stayed that way for about a year, before we had saved up enough money to get the wall knocked through and put in a new suite. It was only after stripping the wallpaper in the toilet room that we discovered the stunning paint effect** underneath, which I can only describe as "crabstick pink". Lovely, innit?


The radiator was originally against the wall separating the two rooms, so we spent the six or so months between knocking the wall down and getting the plumber in having to walk round the radiator pipes in the floor (I've circled one in red). I ended up putting buckets over the top of both pipes to save any more middle-of-the-night toe-stubbing incidents. A very classy look. 


On the left is where the builder blocked in the old bathroom door

We were both very excited about getting rid of our bath. I was sick of having to clean an entire tub despite never actually bathing in it, and neither of us like baths. Although I would hasten to add that doesn't mean we smell, despite what my bestie has told the internet

Searching for a vanity unit that I liked took ages and ages. Because I am WELL fussy, and also really didn't want a shiny, glossy white one. I didn't record how long I spent scouring the internet for The Perfect Vanity Unit, but 50 hours is probably a reasonable guess. I could've built one in less time! 

Finally, after wasting half my life on ebay, Next home came up trumps. I was so excited I literally ran upstairs yelling "TOM! I'VE FOUND OUR VANITY UNIT!!!". Tom was as apathetic as any normal person should be about a cupboard that supports a sink. Not that it mattered, as I got excited enough for both of us. And I even put it together myself *bows*

The shower enclosure, counter-top sink and mixer tap were ebay bargains, although I have since learnt that cheap taps are a (leaky, wobbly) false economy, and would definitely recommend investing in a decent tap if you ever undertake a bathroom makeover. I'll probably buy a new one soon, before it starts leaking and ruins the vanity unit. 

I really wanted a rain-head shower, and we eventually decided to get a double-headed unit for days when we didn't want to wash our hair. I've actually ended up using the regular shower head every day, because the water pressure isn't as strong with the "deluge" head, and I like to feel like I'm being punched in the face with water when I'm having a shower. The rain-head feels more like being dribbled on by an overly enthusiastic dog. Lovely.

And then there's the tiles. Oh, the tiles. I never thought I'd get excited about tiles - the ones in our local tile warehouse are all just so... meh. And beige *shudders*. Then Tom and I visited a cafe in Winchelsea during a mini adventure which had the most EPIC tiled floor I'd ever seen. The minute I got home I started Googling as many varients of "multi-coloured Moroccan tiles" as I could think of. The nearest I could find any within our budget was in Ireland of all places. Don't know why I didn't look there first really- Ireland's famous for nothing if not it's excellent Moroccan tile exports(!) 

The tiles were so heavy the shipping cost a third as much as the entire order, but as the tiles were so incredibly cheap it still cost us less than buying the same number from Generic Tile Warehouse. To illustrate how monstrously heavy they are, the tiles were left on our driveway on a huge wooden pallet, and it took me a NINETY MINUTES to carry them from the driveway into the house, because I could only lift seven in one go!! 

It was totally worth it though, despite having to keep an eye on them whenever we had guests before the plumber arrived; because someone would always "pretend" they were stealing one because they're just so darn pretty!

Anyway, I'll shut up now because I'm sure you're dying to see the "after" shots! 

After:


THE VANITY UNIT OF DREAMS

The best thing about this new radiator?
It's not in the middle of the floor.
Guess where this rug's from? Starts with "T", ends in "iger"...
A nautical print I got free with Homemaker magazine. I do love their freebies.

Our shipshape toothbrush holder, my Odds and Ends jars,
a Moroccan-style jar I made from this tutorial,
the box of my awesome anchor mug from Alice,
and this teatowel in an Ikea frame.


Fancy new blinds to match the vanity unit (and to stop me
mentally scarring the neighbours)

THE TILES!!!
Our plumber even cut the tile holding our shower head into a
star shape :)
Handy shower storage

What do you think? 

Katie xxx

*I mean, uhhh... it's ALWAYS this clean. Definitely. Ahem. 
** Whaddaya know, I had a bit of sarcasm left after all!

17 June 2013

How to follow me on Bloglovin'

Hello lovelies!

Just a quick note to say if you're currently following all my nonsense via Google Friend Connect (i.e. your lovely face is part of the "Members" collage on the left), and would like to keep reading my waffle after GFC goes to the big internet cloud in the sky, you can do so here using Bloglovin'



You can also find me on Bloglovin' by clicking the button in the left hand menu. If you're not on Bloglovin’, and you need a new way to read blogs once GFC is gone, creating an account is free and easy; and you can import the blogs you read on Google Reader to your new Bloglovin’ account in just one click :)
Whichever blog-reading option you choose to replace GFC with, I really hope you'll continue reading my ramblings about Emergency M&Ms and how much I love blankets. Or at least stick around to see the photos of my house, which are coming very soon (promise!). 

Katie xxx

P.S. This post wasn't sponsored by Bloglovin'; I just wanted to let you all know how you can keep reading my gobbledegook. I'm so grateful for each and every one of you visiting my little blog, and feel so thankful for all your sweet comments. Not to mention how supportive you are of my Joe Manganiello addiction.



15 June 2013

Adventuring in St. Leonards

Hello lovelies

Have you had a nice day? Eaten some good cake? I'm telling you, if eating cake with friends isn't what Saturdays were invented for I'll eat my hat. With a side of cake. 

Today I travelled by locomotive to St. Leonards-on-Sea, a (funnily enough) seaside town between Bexhill and Hastings, to visit my fabulous friend Alice (the winner of my first blog giveaway and fellow Ideal Home Show fan). 


Fancy map of "1066 Country".

It turned out my hilarious crafting buddy Moll was also visiting Alice today, so I got to hang out with her too :) Hurrah! We walked up lots of hills, rummaged in charity shops, drank litres of tea, ate gooey mountains of cake, and visited an old-skool charity fête complete with a coconut shy. I managed to document most of my day using Tom's camera, or my phone - when I was too full of cake to bend down and get the camera out of my bag. 


The beautiful Alice, modelling the gooiest chocolate cake ever. Yum.
And it was being sold for charity. Therefore, no calories. Win.

This morning, I kicked off my nautical mood with a cuppa in my anchor-emblazoned mug; which was actually a birthday present from Alice. 



Everyone knows breakfast is the most important meal of the day (until second breakfast, anyway. And then elevenses. Then lunch...), especially when one is going on a cross-county adventure; so I had a huuuuuge bowl of many, many cereals to keep my hunger locked up until, well, I saw a big table of cakes. 




I felt like my feet needed a little extra seasidey something today; thank goodness for sailor socks!



Upon arriving in St. Leonards, we walked to a local charity's vintage fête, which was full of child-friendly fundraising games that we hadn't seen since our school days; including a sawdust lucky dip and a hook-the-rubber-duck contest. There was also a guy carrying round a falcon; but we reckoned that was just the way he picked up women. 

There was also an incredibly impressive array of delicious-looking cakes, for a bargainous £1 a slice, so we felt like we had to sample at least one each. It was for charity, after all. 



Alice tried her arm at the china-smashing stall, which we all agreed must have been rigged; seeing as Alice did, erm, not so well, whilst the octogenarian preceding her did more damage than a whole Greek wedding party. 



We burnt off all the cake with a good stomp round all the charity shops, checking out the second hand furniture and rummaging through the shelves of china. I spent most of the time admiring all the amazing architecture St. Leonards has to offer, and was particularly enamoured with these adverts for Edwards merchants:




All that fresh air had caused us to work up some serious appetites, so we headed to Love Café for multiple cups of tea and huge savoury crepes. The food was delicious, cheap, and delivered with a smile; and the tea was delivered in smile-inducing teapots too.


Yes, that is a mosaic of Prince Charles. No, I don't know why.


Even the sugar was pretty

Alice invited us back to her flat to meet the seagull family that lives on the roof of the building next door. We climbed out onto Alice's roof terrace to meet her feathery neighbours, and then something amazing happened. Even more amazing than meeting Flannelette Seagull. 

Clem (Alice's lovely boyfriend) informed us that the last flying Avro Vulcan – XH558 was scheduled to give a display over Hastings that afternoon. And then, we saw it. Watching the plane appear over Hastings, from on top of Alice's roof, was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. 



It was like stumbling into a real-life version of Independence Day. Only without Will Smith (booo). I've made a gif from some of my photos (below) but the plane was quite far away so it's only small. In reality, this thing has a 111 foot wingspan. Insane. 



Close-up picture from Wikipedia


Before I caught the train back home, Alice and I finished off our brilliant afternoon in a local café with a quick cup of coffee and a rather romantic game of Connect 4...


It was a truly awesome (and delicious) day, and I can't wait to go back and visit again! 

Katie xxx

14 June 2013

House Wish List

Hello lovelies

Happy weekend! Have you got lots of nice plans?

I want to share something with you today that I re-discovered earlier this week in my craft-room dresser. Upon finding it, I promptly de-camped to the sofa with a cup of tea, and spent 20 minutes flicking through it feeling nostalgic about how different my life is since I started it. And by "different" I mean "much more full of stuff". Stuff is awesome. 



I bought this notebook (a Paperchase classic) just after we started house hunting (over three years ago, now) to make into an "interiors" scrapbook. It was so long ago that Pinterest didn't actually exist yet (I know. Woah, right?!), so I couldn't have used it instead. I'm quite glad it didn't, really; because it's so nice having something I can physically hold in my hands, crammed with my wishes for the future and my inexpert colouring. 




The best part is, despite not knowing what kind of house we'd buy when I started this little book, we've ended up with about 90% of it in our current home. Sadly, we do not have a spiral staircase complete with slide; but I guess we can't have everything... *sigh*



I'm not going to point out which things we do have, as you should hopefully be able to spot them in my upcoming House Tour posts. If you like, you can think of these photos as an illustrated list for a virtual scavenger hunt of our house. If you're not too busy judging my shoddy housework efforts, that is.



I definitely do have a lot of "pretty crap from Ikea"






Katie xxx