{New House - Blackboard Wall}

So I have previously talked about my wish to create a blackboard wall in my kitchen, and I've finally gotten around to finishing it!

I'm really pleased with the end result. I was initially disappointed with it's lack of magnetism, but I've managed to get some round magnets from Sainsburys that seem to work. Thank you to Heather (H34TH3RM4C) over on Instagram for the tip!

This is the paint I used which I purchased at HomeBase

First coat done!

I ended up doing 4 coats in total, and I needed two tins of paint at £14.99 each

Mini artist at work!

This is me apparently!!

I invested in a liquid chalk pen and it's amazing!!! Has made a massive difference in comparison to basic chalk that the kids use.

Instructions for the grandparents for the kids dinner!

The magnets from Sainsburys

My liquid chalk pen that I got from eBay

{Home Inspiration - Blackboard Wall}

I'm seriously considering painting a wall in my kitchen with blackboard paint. Vicky - you are to blame for this!!

I've been scouring Pinterest for ideas, and it's really spurring me on to go ahead with it. Some of the walls are beautiful. I'm thinking I could also add some of my Instagram prints to the wall with washi tape.

Here are some of the photos I've pinned:

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{Fit for a Princess}

The littlest is very girlie... and at the moment she's obsessed with all things princesses!

I had a quick search on Pinterest for some princess themed crafts that we could do together on our afternoons whilst her big brother is at nursery. Here's what I came up with...

Make a Pipe Cleaner Princess Crown {image source}

Making a Princess Bed for her dolls using a cardboard box {image source}

Every Fairy Princess needs a Wand! {image source}

Make a glitzy goblet for juice using some glue, gems and a plastic cup! {image source}

Paint a Princess Castle using a hand print {image source}

Make a Princess Hat for dressing up {image source}

Lastly, bake some Princess Cookies. We love a good sprinkle of pink edible glittery sugar on our biscuits and cupcakes! {image source}

{My Happy Place}

My bed is one of the happiest places in my home - I love it.

But aside from my bed, another happy place is my desk. This is where I blog!

In my old house I had a home office. In my new place I don't have a spare room but luckily I do have a landing at the top of the stairs which is big enough for a set of shelving and a small desk (both Ikea).

A while back I posted some ideas for making my space a bit prettier, and this Bank Holiday Weekend I finally had the time to paint my hallway and it spurred me on to get my desk a bit more organised and tidy! Let's hope I can keep it this way!

If you're wondering, the paint is Valspar Rocky Shelter (my sister used this colour in her spare room and I loved it!).

Painting well underway!

Ta da! My new prettier desk space.

{New House - The Kitchen}

I thought I'd share with you some of the work that's been going on in my bijou kitchen in my new house.

I've not done very much other than change the kitchen door knobs (from bronze star ones that weren't my taste to some smaller simpler silver ones that I found on eBay), change the linoleum, my dad fitted some shelves and a new induction hob and I painted the walls. Oh, and I had an electrician fit a new light into the alcove. I have some material to make a Roman blind but I've yet to get around to that.

Before

Changed the linoleum... making good progress!

Started painting! That's more like me now!!

Painting some more!

The shelves as they are today... the basket is full of crisps, Mini Cheddars, yoghurt raisins... the star tins are full of cookie cutters (and possibly the odd chocolate treat - I still have some chocolate coins from Christmas!)... then you can see an elephant tin of tea on the bottom shelf next to the kids marble reward jars... followed by an assortment of containers!

The kitchen is small, and as such all my plates and glasses are stored elsewhere in a display cabinet. Which isn't very handy, but I'm getting used to it.

1. Some kitchen equipment - Magimix accessories, barware etc

2. A broken extractor fan :-(

3. Tea, coffee, sugar plus mugs!

4. Tea towels

5. Some more kitchen equipment

6. A broken dishwasher :-(

7. Cleaning products and a leaking stop cock which is yet to be fully sorted :-(

8. Storecupboard essentials

9. Cutlery

10. Pots and pans

The cooker is also full of baking trays as I just have such limited space!!

There is a small alcove with my fridge/freezer and I think I could probably organise this better to make more use of the space available.

This cupboard (number 8 in the photo above) is a total disaster and I know that I need to organise this better. I think I could make much better use of the space if I had it planned right.

With a broken dishwasher, and limited counter space, I need to be careful because most days the kitchen worktop looks like this... a total bomb site!

Trying to resolve some storage issues! These little hanging pots can be detached from their hooks... so when the kids are setting the table for dinner, I just take their cutlery pot down for them. Likewise, if we're baking - the other pot comes down :-)

One of my other major issues is what to do with my recycling. It normally ends up all over the floor... more on this later as I'm on the hunt for the best solution!

{Daughter's 2nd Birthday - a Painting Party}

For my daughter's first birthday party, I hosted an afternoon tea party for family & friends. This year I decided on a smaller affair - a little party for her cousins (six children under 5 years of age!). One of her favourite things to do is paint, so what better than a painting party!

I got lots of inspiration from Pinterest and put together a few ideas.

{The decorations}
Coloured streamers
Lots and lots of brightly coloured balloons

{To eat}
A selection of rolls
Cocktail sausages, crisps & nibbles
Strawberries & grapes
Jelly & cream
Iced biscuits
Paint palette cupcakes

{The cake}
A plain madeira sponge which the kiddies 'painted' with food colouring

{The games}
Painting a canvas using paper plate stencils
Pass the parcel - each kiddie received a packet of pencils and a box of paints for the winner
Musical statues

Here are the pics...:

Presents for the birthday girl 

Busy baking - thank you to Auntie Ali

Streamers from Party Delights (where I also bought some brightly coloured plates, cups & bowls)

Cupcake paint palettes inspired by this pin. I got the wooden palettes from eBay.

Creating their masterpieces (I managed to find cheap canvases from a local cash & carry - they were £2 each). I cut out stencils on paper plates of stars and hearts which I drew using cookie cutter shapes. I was inspired by A Little Learning for Two for this :-)

Note the dust sheets everywhere! We were hoping to be in the garden for this activity, but the weather had other plans!!

Jelly and whippy cream with sprinkles - yum!

Inspired by Sprinkle of Glitter, I recreated some milk bottles with sprinkles and heart straws. 

Sorry for the absolutely rubbish photograph, but you get the idea!

After lunch we then 'painted' the birthday cake with food colouring

The finished cake, complete with sparkler!

My daughter's finished canvas.

The party was a great success. There were enough activities to keep the kiddies entertained and they all left with a piece of cake and a canvas!

{Things I'm Loving Right Now}

Smokey eye make-up. Following on from my make-up lesson I've been trying to practice my make-up techniques! In fact, I'm loving all things grey particularly for interiors. {image source}

Baking, and in particular, baking cupcakes. If I could bake all day long I would... but then there is also the slight problem that I love cakes, so it wouldn't be good for the waistline! {image source}

Painting. Well, I'm not so much loving the actual painting but more the outcome of my painting! I'm getting there but it's been a long slog! {image source}

Christmas. I am super excited about Christmas this year. I love decorating the house, choosing gifts to give to friends & family, eating lots of nice food and spending quality time with our family. We are hosting this year so I'm busy painting my dining room in the hope that I'll have it finished in time! {image source}

Sewing. I have been sewing cafe curtains for my dining room and back porch... they're all done now and I really did enjoy making them myself... rather satisfying! I've now got a pattern for a little girl's dress and I'm going to attempt to make my daughter a dress! Watch this space! {image source}