A ShabbyChic Makeover...

My little cousin is having her bedroom re-decorated as she is now the grand old age of 10! We are of course revamping on a budget which means using all our left over scrap material...the joy! 

This isn't going to be a tutorial, mainly because I made it up as I went along with no real structure, however if anyone would like instructions on anything in this post just leave a comment and I shall pull some instructions together for you. 

So to begin, her favourite colour is RED. Can be a tricky colour to make pretty but I think we have succeeded with this bits we made...

First off - Our Shabby Chic Curtains

So these are our before shots of the plain cream curtains.

And below is our finished curtain, the picture only shows one, there is of course two. We did a big band of red gingham topped with a strip of lace and a giant rickrack strip across the top.  (Yes they have also been shortened).

Next is - Our Pretty Pillowcases 

Above and below is our Pretty Pillowcase No.1, as you can see I have used up all my scraps to create these cases, they are about 75X47cm and fit a standard pillow. This one has pink rickrack and more pink in than red. 

Above and below is our Pretty Pillowcase No.2, this one has bigger panels and uses red rickrack to tie in all the colours. Both cases have an inner flap to hold the pillow in place. This way we could have completely plain bedding and the bed would still look pretty!

Finally - Our funky Seat Cushion 

The seat cushion is reversible, red gingham on one side and pink and red spots on the other. I have mixed and matched the fabrics to create the straps and used up old buttons, hence why they are a bit random. 

I will post a picture of the completed room once it has finished. 

Anybody seen the new Kinder Surprise Eggs??

Kinder Eggs have decided to introduce a new 'Surprise' egg, one set is blue, the other pink. As you can guess the blue eggs are filled with racing cars and the pink eggs filled with dolls etc. They have been criticised beyond belief for this 'gender stereotyping', now they may be generalising creative play a little with these toys, but ultimately a child can choose whichever egg they desire. A little girl may want to race cars that day or a little boy may need a purple pony for his collection, it is not Kinder that has stereotyped gender but it is in fact fear in parents that their little boy or girl may pick the 'wrong' colour. 

Gender stereotyping has always been and will always be a big part of our culture....and its ridiculous, especially in children. One of my favourite books of all time is 'Raising My Rainbow' by Lori Duron, its all things fabulous and not so fabulous about raising her gender creative son, who loves to play dress up and is in the constant company of a barbie, the book was stemmed from her blog written to initially reach out to other parents in the same situation. She highlights the underlying problem with gender creativity and that is 'If my son plays with barbies is he gay?', there thats it, it is that simple, in fact that is probably what is running through a mothers mind right now as her darling son chooses a pink kinder surprise egg at the local shop! Sex and gender are not to be confused, they are two separate entities.

Lori Duron's 'Raising My Rainbow' Blog is available at: http://raisingmyrainbow.com 

Now I am not raising a gender creative child by any means, but I do work in the early years and I think that it is equally important for boys to play in the home corner as it is for girls to play with construction toys. How many of our fellow girls have been a 'Tom Boy' for some part of their lives, I know I did and I had a gang of other 'Tom Boys' to play with! But how many of us know guys that come out and say 'I had a fairy phase' or 'Yeah I loved barbies as a child', not many, if not none. 

“I knew I was different. I thought that I might be gay or something because I couldn't identify with any of the guys at all. None of them liked art or music. They just wanted to fight and get laid. It was many years ago but it gave me this real hatred for the average American macho male.” Kurt Cobain.

The most important thing is to raise confident children, does it matter what toys they play with and what colour those toys are?

AN: There is no scientific link between gender-varient/gender-creative children and homosexuality. 

Ipad Mini and Kindle Cases...

With christmas coming up and a craft fayre in a couple of weeks I decided that I did actually need to make a couple of things that would appeal to the christmas shopper. What is going to be the most common gift this christmas...Ipad Mini's and Kindles, so here comes the tutorial for my cases.

Ipad Mini/ Kindle Case Tutorial

You will need: 

Thin Elastic

Button

Fabric

Fleece/towelling/padding

Sewing Machine

Needle and thread (same colour as button)

Tutorial

My pattern, you can use the measurements on the image above I promise they will work. 

I like to use contrasting fabrics but you can use anything that takes your fancy. 

You will also need something to pad the case with to protect the screen, I have this fab padding but you can use fleece or towelling or sheeted wadding. 

You will need two pieces or fabric using the full size pattern (30cm x 15cm), so I just place one piece of fabric on top of the other, pin on the pattern and cut around leaving approx 2cm around the edge as shown above. 

You will now need one piece of the small rectangle on the pattern (22cm x 15cm). Cut as before. 

You should now have three pieces of fabric just as above. 

Now cut your padding to the exact size of the pattern (30cm x 15cm). Do NOT add a 2cm allowance as you did before. 

Now place your two larger pieces of fabric and padding to one side and take the smaller piece to the ironing board. To create a clean fold, iron over about 0.5 cm from the top. Then fold over again approx. 2cm this time, (see below). 

Now sew two lines to hold in place.

One line along the bottom of the fold and the other along the top. 

Two rows of stitching. Finished Pocket. 

Now place your finished pocket wrong side to right side to one of the larger pieces of fabric. (see above)

Now place the right side of the second larger piece of fabric right side down, so you now have three layers. Pin in Place. 

This is the stage where you add the extras. Pin elastic as shown above. 

It will look like this with all three layers pinned in place. 

Now machine all the way around the rectangle, leaving a small space to turn through. 

Snip the corners, to ensure sharp edges. And then turn through. 

Now in the gap thats open, slip in the padding. Once in, slip stitch the opening closed.

Hand stitch on a button, low enough down so elastic secures the case. 

Two examples of my finished results. 

Follow Me!

So just below my big swirly 'Serendipity Title' at the top on my blog, is a NEW 'Follow Me' button. It is a link to my Pintrest, which has tonnes more tutorials and ideas from weddings, to christmas decorations and childrens birthday parties. Have a look and...Follow Me.

Posh Pegs...

I just wanted to show you how easy it is to have that pretty christmas without spending too much money. I have already posted my Christmas Stockings, but these are my... Posh Pegs.

Posh Pegs

They are so quick and easy you could have your own set by the time you have finished reading this...

All I did was buy a really cheap pack of about 30 wooden pegs, gave them a simple white wash and then chose my favourite christmas stamps and just used plain black ink to stamp on the design. 

The possibilities are endless with these, whatever your taste or colour scheme.

You can use them to peg up christmas cards, peg them on your tree, just by themselves or to peg gift tags to presents. 

V-Shaped Pillow Cover...

Now I am neither pregnant nor require an orthopaedic pillow...but have you tried one? They are the comfiest things you will sleep on! So yes I own one...one problem, it is impossible to find a 'pretty' cover for one. 

So my solution?...As always...make one!

V-Shaped Pillow Tutorial

What you need:

An old pillow case for your pillow

Fabric

Trimmings

Iron

Machine

Coloured Thread

First Lay out your old case (the pink) and cut two pieces of new fabric adding a seam allowance. One of the new pieces needs to be longer at one end (as shown) to create the flap that holds the pillow in. 

Choose your decoration, I chose a strip of Cath Kidston fabric and a strip of white lace. Attach your decoration to the right sides of your fabric. 

Now take the piece of fabric that has the longer side and fold and iron about 1/2 inch of the end and then fold again and iron to get a smooth edge. Now sew securely in place. Fold this up to the same length of the other piece, creating a sort of pocket. 

Place the fabric right side to right side, sew all the way round. Snip corners and fold right side out. Pop in your pillow.

Finished Product

Halloween Nanny Serendipity Style...

There is an annual trip for us over the Halloween period, when a rowdy group of family and friends grace the Northumberland coast line for a week. No we don't stay in cosy B&B's or Hotels but instead take along tents and caravans (during one of the coldest months of the year)! 

(Yes this is us pitching a Cath Kidston Tent in about 6 inches of mud!)

However the trip is greatly enjoyed by everyone and I just thought I would share some of our finer moments, to prove a winter break is just the thing for curing those winter blues. There is also an alternative pumpkin carving tutorial!

One of the best parts of this part of the world is the beaches, our campsite is a stones throw away from this incredible beach. 

(Below, I was trying out some beach art for this years christmas cards...not sure I quite achieved the look)

To gather some inspiration for our Halloween crafts we decided to channel Harry Potter for the day and try out Quiditch at Hogwarts (Alnwick Castle). 

(Alnwick was very overpriced, if you want a great day out in Northumberland, head over to Chillingham Castle, its FANTASTIC!)

Now the Halloween crafting begins...

An alternative pumpkin carving idea involves battery powered fairy lights and a screwdriver...

(I decided to spell out 'BOO' with fairy lights but you could do anything)

Firstly I drew on the letters and then punched holes using a screwdriver and then poked the lights through the holes...easy!

Sorry about the poor quality, only had my phone. (The one on the right is a green lantern symbol with green glowsticks in for the effect)

(We used electric tea lights in all our pumpkins as we were surrounded by tents)

Some of our other master pieces...