Deck the halls

This year I had a go at making my own Christmas wreath - it was pretty fun walking round the woods to find some bits and pieces to go on it! There seem to be so many berries around at the moment so I picked out some to weave on the bottom. The base is made from buff willow twisted into a hoop. It took a few goes to get one looking this round but actually once it is covered with greenery you can't really see it.

We don't have a tree this year so I have decorated the alcoves in our house with fairy lights and baubles - its looking pretty cosy in here. One of the things I love about this time of year is eating delicious treats like panettone - isn't the tin beautiful?! This one is a present but I like to eat it toasted with a hot chocolate :)

I'm going to make some more decorations later inspired by the sweetest occasion I can always find something in the DIY projects to try!
Jo

A little DIY

When Tom and I moved into our first flat together in Whalley Range we had VERY little furniture ... for quite some time! It was like camping, but very cosy camping, in a lovely one bedroomed ground floor flat with a pretty garden. Over time we have been given enough furniture by friends and family to fill a two bed terrace house! My mum gave us this chair which was one of the first items my parents bought for their first 'proper home'. As with most if the furniture we have been given it needed a little work to restyle it. The cushions had lost alot of stuffing and the fabric was pretty worn.
I took the chair apart and spent a couple of days sanding and stripping the wood back. Once the legs were sorted I measured the cushion seats and made new covers for them with some Harris tweed I had left from another project. I used velcro strips to secure the cushions in place as putting proper zips in seemed a wee bit fiddly - I don't think my sewing skills quite extend to upholstery yet!



I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I think I will varnish the legs with a bit more matt finish varnish in the spring but for now I have dressed it up with my red Masai blanket and a white cushion to make it look a bit festive!

Jo

Halloween

I'm off to a Halloween party tonight and taking my costume inspiration from cruella deville! Large warm coat, spiky heels and big hair -yeah!

Wishlist

A little topshop wishlist! Hope to be wearing these soon :)

College inspiration

Gorgeous Wellesley girls

Wellesley college, fall


Wellesley girls - Mona Lisa Smile

Vassar college

Vassar college observatory

Vassar girls, cycle chic

Vassar girls style - loafers, socks, check skirt

I'm taking my style inspiration from American college girls -chic, outdoorsy, books, warm autumn sun, bikes with baskets! swoon!

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Tree of life

I went to see Terrence Mallick's new film the tree of life at the cornerhouse cinema last night with my lovely friend Anna. I'm still not sure what I make of it - so much covered in one film! It was visually stunning and the costumes worn by Jessica Chastain made me want to go back to 1950s America! Turns out the costume designer was Jacqueline West whose creations more than made up for the state of confusion Anna and me found ourselves in when we spilled out onto the street. If Jacqueline West sounds familiar she also created the costumes for Benjamin Button and Water for Elephants - I think I'll be adding this to my lovefilm list next!

pretty floral number

beautiful buttons!

There were some incredible shots of nature in this film, waves, dinosaurs!, a sense that the world is forever changing - creating and destroying.
So ... was Jessica Chastain like the virgin Mary? ... was Brad Pitt representing an old testament style God - giving his children a sense that love and fear are the same thing bound together..... what was the significance of the giant in the attic ... why are we here at all! ... still thinking this one over!

All photos from poptower.com

Sewing table inspiration

I've recently moved to a new house and really need to set up a more inspiring area for my crafting/sewing. In our last flat I had a whole room to use for dress making but these days it needs to double up as a spare room for visitors to stay so I think pretty storage is gonna be key! The house is rented so I can't go too crazy with putting up shelves or papering walls.

I have been doing a bit of tinternet searching and found these ideas. I like the light and breezy look of this sewing room I found on www.confessionsofacraftaddict.com



Also the pics at the top of this post from http://www.howjoyful.com/2011/06/sewing-table-inspiration/ are getting me pretty excited for what I might achieve. For now I think I'll have to do a bit of hunting in charity shops to find pretty boxes/jars to put everything in - will post some photos when its done!

Grey skies

It is pouring with rain in Manchester today and in my fantasy world I would be stepping out in this dress from the Marni Autumn Winter 2011 collection. Well, with a big umbrella obv.

I'm not a huge fan of the rest of the Marni collection but I love this dress with these incredible shoes - I'm sure they would serve a practical function too to keep my toes out of even the biggest puddles?!


photos taken from vogue.com