painting small rooms and the egg and spoon race...

 ....last day of term for our #1 today and sports day for our #2...the end is almost in sight :) which means the weather is bound to take a turn for the worse..and my picnic plans will be scuppered before the holidays even start :)

 plans to repaint the house before the summer it appears were a little optimistic...but I did paint the smallest room in the house a few weeks ago...

a lick of fresh white paint and some new accessories worked a treat...check out that fab toweling..although I do have to keep reminding the boys not to dry their hands on it...hang on a minute who am I trying to kid....boys ...washing hands...????

the lockers were already there...they are the best storage for a little room...

my little plants are still alive :) quite chuffed about that x

 

 

the little curtain is made from my number one most favouritest sheet ever....it was one of the first ones I ever bought and had been saving it for some thing special...the hem is finished with orange pompom trim :)

more vintage toweling on a little footstool...and a cute thrifted picture... I love this little room :)

 

when it wasn't too hot...I did manage a bit of shed action....making bunting for a wedding and then some for the shop :)

and added a few more bundles here

blog posts may be a bit sparse around here now until we settle into the routine of holidays..but you can find me over on instagram..I'm littleteawagon :)

happy friday x x x x x

crafting while the sun shines....

this week has been all about keeping cool!!! and getting things done before the boys finish school...

 

raiding the stash for another project...

ever since I found this

over on the fabulous my poppet blog  I have been wanting to try some more triangle patchwork...this is going to be our summer picnic blanket...(optimistically I am planning lots of alfresco lunches for the holidays)

and raiding the stash again for more vintage pillow covers.....

and some new geometrics...I like the way they look mixed together...available here

having some fun with felt :)

 

this is Enrico Eco...he is a present so we can't keep him but I notice he has borrowed my blusher... I think I will be making more of these little people...

image from RSPB website

I am planning some more construction in the garden this weekend but on a smaller scale...this 
has really inspired me...

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a happy place.....

thoughts of summer are again in my mind today...our little den in the garden was looking most sorry for itself so I hatched a plan.....

the story of our den is close to my heart...I built it from old palettes and scrap wood with just a hammer...some very big nails and a screwdriver...our boys were only small and I had been mothering and nesting as you do when I had the urge to build them a den... when I look back now it was just what I needed at the time...a project to take my mind off sad things...outside in all weathers...banging stuff... getting grubby..thinking time...mucky hands...sitting on a pile of wood sipping tea from a big tin mug...

it started off  very small but then someone gave me some more palettes and it got an extension...the boys call this bit the balcony (so grand)

 

It's at the bottom of the garden in a tree....there were already little steps there so it feels like you have to 'climb' up to it...there's also a little pond and a lot of frogs rustling around down there...it's changed a bit over the years from a pirate ship to an army base and a nature look out (which was basically the boys spying on our neighbours with binoculars through a small gap in the camo net)

 

the latest look is based on a favourite film from last year...can you guess??? this meant I had a lot of fun gathering stuff from around the home to decorate it...

 

another clue :)

as you can see it's not huge but all 4 of us plus the dog can sit in there at a push...the tree is like a canopy so it keeps pretty dry inside...

 

it's quite well hidden from the house so you can really hide out in there without any one knowing :)

 

the latest addition is a swing seat made from strong rope and a piece of wood..

 the nitty gritty to the construction of the main den is pretty simple...

it is basically 4 palettes joined together with a roof made from fence posts...it involved lots of re jiggling..re designing and quite a bit of swearing...it's not straight, the roof is a bit wobbly..and there are far too many bugs in there for my liking

 but we love it....(especially me)

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holiday diaries....

 We are so ready for the summer break here and school holidays are a good excuse to plan some fun... we tend to holiday at home in the summer...since the boys were small we have always planned out the summer hols so that there is a good balance of going out and staying home...not going out to work gives me the freedom to be around, but it also means we have to stick to a budget...

 

when the boys were small I would make a little book and get them to decorate the cover and then we would write in it every time we did something..I did this so they will have a record of what we got up to when they were young but also it serves as good reference for when you are stuck for something to do in the next holidays...

 as they are getting older I changed the format last year to a fold out postcard book...inspired by lovely Ingrid

so now we buy a postcard whenever we go anywhere to fill in and add to our book....I  hoard keep fab stamps from all over the place and stick them on...

 I love looking back through the old ones and seeing their writing and drawings...they bring back such happy memories...

I have started collecting a few postcards in anticipation of this summer holiday and am planning a few trips to pick up some more... roll on summer :)
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