A spot of Vintage Shopping warms the heart :)

Hi Gorgeous Peeps,

I was starting to have serious withdrawals of the Vintage Shopping kind; I hadn't been for ages!

Sometimes my car just heads in the direction of my local op shops.. as though it's on some kind of crazy auto pilot! 

This is what happened on Tuesday, I had dropped the kiddies to school, it was raining and I was headed to do the grocery shopping, when before I knew it my car was making a beeline to some local op shops.   I was but a mere passenger ;)


I was particularly on the lookout this time for some vintage fabrics...  but like a box of chocolates you never know what you're gonna get!

Here's my loot...

A bunch of gorgeous vintage doilies.

A lime green chenille blanket.

A perfect Vintage tray (Made in Australia, Adelaide. I love Adelaide, but that's a story for another day)

A chunky wooden lamp with a wicker shade.

I love lamp and trays, don't know why, they just make me happy :)




 
Two ceramic turquoise bowls with new stickers on them.

A pair of silver candle sticks.
   
An old wooden hinged card box.














A large wicker laundry basket.
  
A carved wooden tray.

An Extra large magazine holder... 
perfect for giant mags (huh?)... 

or perfect for fabric storage :)






Some stripey and polka dot fabric.

And a partridge in a pear tree ;)

I have a bunch of fun sewing (read about my new BBF here ;) and upcycing projects planned for some of this loot, and some of it is perfect just the way it is.

Have you found any vintage treasures recently?

Jo xx

Ikea Reject Ottoman Union Jack Slipcover Makeover!

Hi Lovelies,

It's been too cold to paint lately so I've been having fun getting aquainted with my new sewing machine and rediscovering my sewing moJo! 


Well actually it's not so new, I got it for Christmas and only recently got her out of the box.  Here she is on the right;  Bloggy friends meet Jan..  Jan meet my bloggy friends :)   Now that we are all properly aquainted... I'll move right along.

So I finally carved out a little mummy space in the corner of the playroom; lucky for me it's quite a large room so plenty of space for me, my sewing projects and approximately 20 thousand pieces of lego!



I've had this little rejected Ikea ottoman laying around for-like-ever!

I got him in the bargain area at Ikea, he was naked except for a piece of foam on his top, but we won't go there... he's a tad embarassed about that fact ;)

I decided I'd try my hand at sewing him a new slip cover.  Inspired by the Queen's Jubilee I went for a Union Jack ;)

I had some calico fabric and a roll of burlap/hessian fabric so I got to work cutting strips. 

I cut strips of burlap and some natural coloured linen (which I trimmed from my too long Ikea curtains... mmmm that's a project for another day!). 


I then placed them over the seat foam until I was happy with the layout. 

Having never sewn with burlap before, or used this machine for that matter, this took a little practice but after a test strip we were off and racing!

Here he is in his new Bespoke threads....

Jan is my new BFF... I love her!  I had fun with this little project... and I think this little guy is a much happier chappy not to mention warmer now ;) 


What have you been working on lately?  Anyone upcycled an Ikea reject? Love to hear about it!

Keep sparkling! :)

Jo xx

~ I'm linking up to these fab parties ~

Coastal Charm ~ Nifty Thrifty Tuesday No 120

Elizabeth & Co. ~ Be Inspired Linky Party

The Shabby Nest ~ Frugal Friday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Tuesday's Treasures

Beachcombing and Coastal Treasures

Hi lovelies,

Hope you all had a wonderful sunny weekend!  We enjoyed soaking up the Winter sun at Botany Bay National Park, Kurnell.   The kids had a scooter ride through the park, hubby and I strolled whilst enjoying a stunning view of the bay, and city beyond.

























Such amazing blue skies in Sydney today! Perfect for a romantic gesture on a grand scale... awwww I love sky writing!

 I got to pop into one of my fav shops, Free Range Living...  if you're local you've got to check it out!  Deni has beautiful Australian handmade goodies, fashion, gifts, devine artisan breads and lots of crafty goodness! 

There's good coffee and Gelato next door, so it's 'a tick in the box' for the whole family... Happy days :)

The kids and I had fun finding lots of wonderful treasures whilst beachcombing!!




























I love driftwood, shells and sea glass and have always loved finding these treasures of the sea. 

Today we scored some beautiful pieces of sea sponge, some small but perfect sea urchins and a few shells and driftwood.

I just love to decorate with things from Nature and I can't wait to clean this haul up (it's kinda stinky), and display these pretties inside.  Isn't Mother Nature amazing?

 
My kiddies love visiting Kurnell,  but along with the natural beauty, sadly there is a lot of rubbish that gets washed up along the beach :( 

The last few times we have visited the kids have really noticed this.

So this time we took a big garbage bag and filled it with plastic bottles and rubbish.  We probably could have filled a dozen more.


Have you found any lovely treasures lately? 

Jo xx

Shabby Chic Stencilling fun & My first Give Away!

Hi Lovelies!

I've been MIA these past weeks, basically keeping a) warm and b) dry... Sydney winter is here with bells on...  and it's been wet and chilly!!  I've not painted anything for a little while, instead preferring to work on indoor projects; watching MasterChef, eating chocolate, crocheting and the odd glass of red!  All wonderful winter activities ;)


I am super excited Coastal Home Love's Facebook page has almost reached 500 likes... which is just crazy great!!    I'm so grateful to have such friendly, stylish and lovely likers on the page :)

Soooo to celebrate reaching this milestone I'm giving away one of these Paris Flower Market signs....

~ Classic White with French Grey ~

I have been having fun creating some signs.  They are hand painted and stencilled on thick canvas art board.

I've been playing with different colour combos; What colours would you like to see??  

Paris Flower Market Signs are available to purchase at via CoastalHomeLove

 

~ Olive with Blue ~

~ French Blue with White ~

~ Tiny Dancer Pink with White ~

If you like to win a Paris Flower Market sign...  here's what you need to do...

 ~  CONDITIONS OF ENTRY in 3 easy steps!  ~

1) 'Like' Coastal Home Love on Facebook  (please note this needs to be from your personal Fb account!).

2) Share page on Facebook with your friends!

3) Email Coastal Home Love (coastalhomelove@gmail.com) letting us know you have completed steps 1 & 2, and advise what colour you would choose if you win!

Easy Peesy! ~ Like... Share... Email!


For an extra entry you can follow along with my blog....  I'd really love you to join me for some upcycling adventures :)


Good luck and thanks so much for your support,

Jo xx

~ Conditions of entry ~

Giveaway open from 17 June 2012 and will close midnight on 30 June 2012. Open to Residents of Australia. Entrant must 'like' Coastal Home Love Facebook page and share with friends on Facebook. Entrant can be an existing liker or a new liker. Entrant must email Coastal Home Love stating preferred colour choice and that they have met entry conditions.

Prize includes; One Paris Market Flower Sign (choice of available colours) and includes postage within Australia.

A winner will be chosen using random.org. Winner will be notified by email and I will announce winner on my blog and on Facebook!

Please note this giveaway is in no way administered, sponsored or endorsed by, or associated with Facebook.  Entrants are providing information to Coastal Home Love and not Facebook. Email information will not be passed on by Coastal Home Love.

~ * ~

Outing my Urges... furniture urges and a coffee table makeover!

Happy Monday Lovelies...

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Yep it's true I have urges of the furniture/reno kind, sometimes they are very strong and impulsive...  they compel me to start ripping up lino in our old kitchen, 8 months pregnant on a Sunday evening whilst hubby went out to get milk! 

And other times they grow, I'll see something and it'll quietly 'bug' me for ages until I give in to the urge!  The coffee table in our family room was just this kind of urge, a grower.... 


     


Before ~ He didn't stand a chance ;)

It was one of the first pieces of furniture I purchased myself when I moved out of home, long before kids and before I was married.  I brought it home in the back of my teeny Ford Festiva Trio and it's lived in 4 houses with us, in two States...  one might say he's well travelled.  

It's old now, it's a tank and boy if he could talk! 



Before Close Up

I guess I've kept it around this long in part for sentimental reasons but also it's very practical for the family room.  This coffee table is super solid and practical; we play games on it, eat off it, craft on it...  I'm not in the least bit precious about it.  I was almost ready to farewell him in favour of a new one, but it's the perfect size and I haven't seen one I love enough to replace him.  


So back to my urges, whilst I sat having brekkie on Saturday morning I couldn't stop looking around our family room....

We have two chocolate brown leather sofas (they are super comfy and again take a beating, but wouldn't be my first choice...  sometimes you need to let the Mr have a say in things;).  Anyway with the sofas, a dark stained TV console, and coffee table it was a sea of brown... Way.Too.Much.Brown!  Something had to give, I see this as natural progression, my hubby thinks I'm nuts and the kids think I'll paint anything that doesn't move!  




So as I downed my cup of tea I decided that the coffee table had finally made its way to the top of my 'paint hit list'; he didn't stand a chance....

I dragged the big sucker outside started sanding. 


He previously had a very dark reddy/brown stain.  I primed and painted the base first.


This only made the top stand out more and look well, just wrong.  So I sanded and sanded the top to remove the stain. 

My plan was to sand it back and give it a coat of clear sealer, but I still wasn't feelin it... 

So I decided to try tone it down by giving the top a wash of light grey, I was aiming for driftwood....   I heart driftwood. 




New crystal cut glass knob completes him

I also changed his hardware, I mean what's a makeover without some new bling!

He was originally sporting an iron ring pull... but it just didn't go with his new look.  So I added a crystal cut glass knob 'to complete him'...



I think he turned out just fine and is 'kickin it' back in front of the tellie...



He might just stay with us for a little bit longer... that is until another urge strikes ;)

Jo xx

Do you have urges of the furniture kind?  Love to hear about 'em!

Susan's Makeover and why she's not Lazy!

Hello there lovelies!

There's a definite chill in the air as we close in on Winter here in Sydney...  I'm loving our new heater and a glass of wine on this Friday evening (TGIF!).

I have two boys who love drawing, writing and general list making... this all creates one massive mess, refer to Exhibit A below...


Exhibit A ~ Massive mess

 
They have a dedicated spot in our 'library', which sounds rather posh and like we live in a manor house... but really it's just the dining room we don't use, and as there's no TV in there and it's where they do their homework.. it got dubbed the library when we first moved in and it kind of stuck. 



Anyway the library was messy, disorganised and generally drove me crazy!!

I recently stumbled across a Lazy Susan in an Op shop...





Before her makeover

I already have one, which I use in the pantry so I was already a fan of Susan, and even though I wasn't sure exactly where I'd use a second one, I decided she'd come home with me anyway.

Here she is when I got her home... crazy fake tan and generally unloved.


As I thought about where I'd best utilise Susan, I began to wonder why / how she got the Lazy tag... who was Susan anyway?  I had to know. 

So it turns out the Lazy Susan was not named after a spectacularly lazy chick at all.  The exact origin is unclear, but one theory is that the name derives from 1700s when servants were referred to as 'Sussans'.  The round spinning food server as we know it got it's official name in 1917... so Susie's almost 100 years old... you go girlfriend!

Organised space = creative boys = happy mummy

I sanded, primed and painted her in two coats of semi gloss white.

Then I sorted out the jumble of pencils, crayons, textas etc etc into some tins and white pots from Ikea.

She works a treat, much better... 

 




The boys were super excited when they got home from school and without any prompting studied for the entire afternoon! 

The thought crossed my mind to check their temperatures, as I was seriously concerned they might be coming down with something ;)




I reckon every home could use a Susan!
So if you come across one be sure to be nice; she's friendly, useful and far from lazy!



Have a great weekend lovelies!

 

Jo xx

Mother's Day and the Tale of the Little Wicker Side table

Hi there coastal lovelies!

My boys :)



I hope everyone had a fab Mother's Day, and because I'm a mum it's taken me a few days to get this post out!

I enjoyed pancakes for brekkie, not made by me, received 2 gorgeous cards and a 'jar of love' filled with cute little notes and "to be shared" lollies!


We took a leisurely drive down the coast, which was lovely, very windy and a little chilly but lovely.   Stopping at Stanwell Tops, and on to Thirroul for fish n chips and a catch up with some dear friends.  Then Nachos for dinner, again not made by me!

All in all a pretty high calorific day but I figure Mother's Day is a free pass and any calories consumed don't count!

Now Sharing the tale of the little wicker side table....

This little guy had seen certainly seen better days, most people would probably pass him by, but I thought I'd try to save him.

Top before

Firstly a good scrubbing was in order, my littlest man helped with this (you can just see him in the background!). Warm soapy water with some disinfectant.





Top After

Then I made a mix of paint with some water and layered on various shades of grey and some white for the final coat



....and here he is rocking his new 'weathered coastal' look ;)

And the little Weathered wicker side table  met some lovely magazines and lived happily ever after... the end.

Enjoy the down hill run to the weekend ;)

Jo xx