crochet or big mac?

I’ve got my first craft fair this saturday, which is why I’ve almost completely dropped of the blogging radar, again! I’ve been so busy making stuff, I feel half dead!

My darling hubby has maybe not been as supportive as he could have been, prompting my title, here’s what the little sweet heart said:

“do you know what love all this time you’re spending, you’d be better off working in mac donalds for £7 per hour, at least you’d get a free big mac!”

now that’s love for ya aint it!

any way before I show my gallery of snaps I’ve got to say a huge thank you to the gorgeous knitexpressions, check out this amazing prize I  won:

cool huh! hop on over and check out this amazing blog, you’ll love it so much!

huge hugs

Teresa

p.s I still haven’t forgotten about those awards, coming soon. x

cute retro sideboard

It was love at first sight when I clapped my eyes on this cute retro sideboard! It just needed a bit of granny chic charm, how could I resist! A quick lick of paint and a sweet retro fabric lining later and here it is packed with all my goodies!

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£15 charity shop bargin!

pretty retro lining

stuffed with my stash!

pretty lights to finish!

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granny sqaure iPhone cover

This is such a cute and versatile phone cover which fits most modern smartphones from one of my fave books, ‘granny square crochet’ by catherine hirst. I’ve added one extra row of edging purely to perfect any untidy stitches!

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cute granny phone case

two cute cases!

pick any colour

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• front
• Using any colour, ch4, join with ss in first ch to form ring.
• rnd 1: Ch3, 2tr in ring, *ch2, 3tr in ring; rep from * 2 times more, ch1, join with ss in top of ch-3. fasten off.
• work second square as staring square but use join as you go method: work the first set of the corner grouping, then instead of making ch2 for the corner sp, insert the hook into the corner space of the starting square from underneath as shown. (1dc into the corner sp of the starting square counts as the first of 2ch for the corner space), ch1, then work the second set for the corner as usual. To continue joining the squares together, instead of the ch1, work 1dc into the next side sp of the starting square.

 

 

 

 

• Rnd 2 : Attatch new colour in any ch-2 corner sp, ch3, (2tr, ch2, 3tr) in corner space, *ch1, (3tr, ch2, 3tr) in next corner space; rep from * 2 times more, ch1, join with ss in top of ch-3. fasten off.
• Edging.
• Attatch edging colour in any stitch, ch1, *1dc in each st and ch to corner, 2dc in each corner ch; rep from * 3 times more, 1dc in each st and ch to end, join with ss in first dc. fasten off.
•  back:
• row 1: using any colour, ch15, miss 1 ch, 1dc in each ch, turn. (14 sts)
• row 2: Ch1, 1dc in each dc to end, turn. Rep row 2 another 21 times or untill piece measures same as front. fasten off.
• finishing:
• Hold front and back together with wrong side facing. Attatch edging colour to corner of one long edge, ch1, work dc join around 3 sides, working 2dc in each ch at both corners and leaving one short side open. fasten off.

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retro sewing box-granny chic style!

This cute retro sewing box jumped out at me when I was stalking just passing my fave charity shop. Sweet huh, and best yet it only cost me £4 so I couldn’t just leave it behind now could I?

Of course it was screaming “granny chic me” and I just had to oblige!

If you don’t know about my current addiction to granny chic a la dottie angel you can check out my post love love love granny chic it oughta fill you in!

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Love ♥ love ♥ love ♥ granny chic!

Help I’m in love with granny, chic that is!

It all kicked off when I set my eyes on this gorgeous book, granny chic from dottie angel and ted & agnes. It oughta come with a warning cos I’m addicted! I’m lovin fabric wrapping. It’s like patchwork but instead of stitching you glue (I know neat huh!).

All you do is grab yourself some wallpaper paste and stick patches of fabric to whatever you fancy (alright not the kids!), paste all over the top and leave to dry. Then apply several coats of clear varnish, sit back and admire your work!

At this moment I’m looking around the house with a glintful eye for something else to cover in fabric, driving my family bonkers as per!

If you like this granny chic style you have so totally gotta give this a whirl!

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granny chic

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Loving my vintage granny chic coat!

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Check out my latest charity shop find, I am seriously loving it! It only cost me a fiver and after some granny chic styling it was good to go. I was chuffed to bits cos I got to delve into my stash of buttons and threads and even use my cute applique ducks!

Sure it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve made it my own, I love it and I aint gonna see it on anyone else!

If you are lucky enough to have a granny still alive, get yourself into her wardrobe, like NOW!

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retro vodka eggnog anyone?

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This is another recipe I came across in my gorgeous book ‘Beginner’s guide to keeping chickens’, by Lee Faber. In which she states:

Caution this recipe uses raw eggs I am using my own free range organic chook eggs for this recipe. If not, pregnant women, the elderly, very young, or those with a compromised immune system should avoid eating purchased uncooked eggs.

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Grab yourself:

• 3 eggs, separated
• 30 ml (2 tablespoons) caster sugar
• 2.5 ml (1/2 teaspoon) vanilla extract
• 450 ml (15 fl oz) whole milk
• 300 ml (10 fl oz) single cream
• 120 ml (4 fl oz) vodka
• Freshly grated nutmeg

How too:

• Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until well blended. Stir in the vanilla extract, milk cream and vodka.

• Whisk the egg whites till soft peaks form. Fold them thoroughly into the egg and milk mixture and refrigerate till cold.

• Serve in coffee mugs or glasses, dusted with freshly grated nutmeg and scattered sweets on the side if you fancy it!

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Cute or what!

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What do you reckon to this vintage picture, cute or what!

I found it whilst having a good old rummage around a charity shop. I had to have it coz it reminded me of my crazy chooks ‘n’ kids!

See chooks are only meant to have a little bit of corn in the after noon.

Well not in this gaff! it’s more like every time they see us, and if they can’t see us they peck on the door till we hand over the reddies!

Anyways, for under a tenner I bagged myself one sweet little picture for my home, and with just a little paint and distressing gave it a shabby-chic look that I love!

If you like vintage pictures take a look in your local charity/thrift shops and see what you can grab yourself!

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Granny-chic tea cosy

Well I’m glad to say that my nightmare on tea cosy street is finally over! It all started when….

I found this gorgeous pattern in an extract from a book called: granny chic from dottie angel and ted & agnes, and I had to have a go. Trouble is me and patterns don’t go well together, I much prefer symbol patterns as you can’t miss-interpret what people mean. So now I’ve deciphered it I thought it would be cool to share! I was so releived to be finished, proud of my tea cosy I drove my family mad taking photos of it, so take a look!

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nb: This pattern makes a good old british style tea cosy (big!), so you may like to make fewer rows and chains to start with and adjust your pattern accordingly. The pictures following are to show where you join yarn as I find that hard to tell sometimes, and show stitches for some visual help. Throughout I used 4mm hook and stylecraft acrylic dk yarn.

Chain 82 stitches. In 3rd chain from hook, 2 treble crochet (skip 2 chain, 3 treble crochet in next chain) to end. Fasten off. you should have 27 treble crochet clusters.

Now as I learnt from the gorgeous blog crochet with raymond which you can find here:

http://crochethealingandraymond.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/granny-tea-cozy-tutorial-hurray/

You need to find your centre point. So fold work in half and mark centre point with a strip of yarn as you can see in the bottom of this picture:

Join yarn with slip stitch in space after first treble. Chain 3. 3 treble in next space for a total of 12 clusters. (this should be the last space before your mark) Fasten off. Join yarn with slip stitch in next space (this should be space above your mark), 3 chain, 2 treble in same space, 3 treble in next space till end. 1 treble in space after 2nd treble in last cluster.

If you look at the above picture you will see that you repeat this process for a total of 11 rows, but you need to alternate it. So for the next round as per blue above you join with a slip after the first treble of the cluster and make 3 chain, then 3 treble in next space to end. Alternate at the ends as well:

So once you’ve gotton your 11 rows, continue pattern for the next row, but don’t break the yarn in the middle, carry on to join both sides, as in the white strip below:

For the next row, repeat, but when you get to the middle space, 2 treble crochet, and then continue:

Join yarn in end space of first cluster, chain 3, 3 treble crochet in next space for a total of 11 treble crochet clusters. 2 treble crochet in next 2 spaces, (3 treble crochet in next space) continue till end.

Slip slitch into 3rd stitch of chain on the opposite side, now you have a complete circle!

Join yarn in first space, chain 3, 1 treble crochet in same space. (3 treble crochet in next space) for a total of 10 clusters. 2 treble crochet in next 3 spaces, (3 treble crochet in next space) continue to last space, 2 treble crochet. slip stitch into 3rd stitch of first chain:

Join yarn with slip stitch in back space, chain3, 1 treble crochet. (2 treble crochet in next space, 3 treble crochet in next) 5 times. 2 treble crochet in next space, (2 treble crochet in next space, 3 treble crochet in next space), repeat to last space, 2 treble crochet in last space slip stitch into chain 3:

Join yarn in space between last 2 treble crochet space of previous row, chain 3, 1 treble crochet. (2 treble crochet in next space) repeat to end. slip stitch in chain 3:

Join yarn in space between 2 treble crochet directly above handle space, chain 3, 1 treble crochet. In next space 2 treble crochet, then 3 treble crochet in next space, (skip 1 space, then 3 treble crochet in next space), repeat to last space, 2 treble crochet, slip stitch into chain 3.

Join yarn, chain 3 ( counts as 1 treble), 1 treble crochet, (2 treble crochet in each space), repeat to end, slip stitch to chain 3.

Join yarn, chain 3 ( counts as 1 treble), 1 treble crochet into every space to end, slip stitch into chain 3.

Join yarn, chain 3 (counts as 1 treble), 1 treble into every other space, slip stitch into chain 3.

Repeat last row, fasten off. Thread an embrodiory needle and darn in all ends neatly. (just run your thread back through several stitches and snip as near as you can.)

Now you can add a pom pom or two if you want to. I found the best way for me was this:

grab a 5 cm piece of card and the yarn of your choice. wrap around 180 times. Tie securely at the top with a seperate piece of yayn/string, and cut the opposite end. Now shake your pom pom and trim to shape.

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Vintage finds at a place near you!

Those of us who love a bit of vintage and retro spice in our homes, probably love stores like Cath Kidston, Orla Kiely, and Laura Ashley to name but a few.

That’s cool if you’ve got the purse for it, but in this economic climate many of us haven’t, and if that’s you,  I’ve got just the job!

Grab your coat and get on down to your local charity shops, boy can you bag yourself some great finds. Then you’ve got the likes of car boot sales and thrift markets. For these my top tip is wait till closing that’s when you grab the bargins they want to get rid of and you want to pocket!

The hottest thing with this kinda vintage thrift is,  it’s unlikey anyone else will have it, you can pat yourself on the back because it was cheap and you were eco- friendly! Best yet if the kids, ( or being honest me ), break it it didn’t cost the earth!

So here are just a few of my finds, I’ve gotta be honest I need to scale down!

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