Decking the Coastal Christmas Halls.... Tra la la la la

Hello lovelies!

Tis the season to be Merry and Bright... and deck the halls with shiny gorgeousness!  I love Christmas decorations a lot. Sparkly, glittery goodness. 

I look forward to decorating every year...  and can't wait for the 1st of December to come around to get my Christmas on! 

That said with so much going on with work, kids sports and events... Christmas decorating and planning for that matter, is a slow process in this coastal home ;)

I'm feeling quite disorganised, with only a few presents shopped for, none wrapped and no plan for a Christmas menu!  Best be giving myself a shift kick in the Christmas behind me thinks ;)


We have the tree up and decorated, I just love seeing it twinkling in the back ground as we watch tellie at night!


I've had fun making some Christmas bunting to hang about the place...  here's a little Joy work in progress!   I also made Noel for my mantel and some Merry Christmas ones which I sold at Market.

Still on my Christmas To Do list is a skirt for our tree... she's a modest old girl and think a lovely ruffly number would suit her to a tee! 

Finally, I added some fairy lights and the Noel bunting to complete our Coastal Christmasy mantel..  which is not so much a mantel as an Ikea floating shelf above our TV...  but it's as close as I get to having a mantel so it gets treated as such :)

This weekend hubby will channel Clark W Griswold... and hang the outside lighting!  National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...  I think we watch it every year...  and still laugh out loud ;O

What's on your menu for Christmas lunch?  Desperately seeking inspiration!

Hope you're enjoying this crazy beautiful time...

Jo xx

To Market to Market!

Hello Lovelies :)

Well my second market outing is done and dusted.  Last Friday night I attended some Night Markets at a local school.  It was hot, crowded and so much fun!  The atmosphere was very Christmassy and we were entertained all night by gorgeous singing kiddies.

Here's a few pics I snapped.  My apologies for the quality of the pics...  I used my iPhone, which is my usual choice of high tech photographic equipment... but I was pressed for time whilst setting up and it was so hot! 

I reckon I lost about 3 kgs with all the lifting, carrying, jumping up and down off chairs to hang my curtains etc.  However, I promptly undid this effort by enjoying a lovely croissant breekie with the Cricket Mums on Saturday morning ;)

 

 

I made the Christmas bunting and I was so happy to receive a couple of orders for bunting on the night.  I have another post coming up on the bunting :) 

 

 

I sold these sweet little nesting tables to a lovely lady.  Their transormation is not quite complete...  I'll post their full story when they are finished!

 

 

 

 

I also sold a few of my handmade rustic signs

 

 

 

 

 

All in all it was a great night!  Looking forward to booking in for the next one :) 

 

Where are your fave Markets?

 

 

Jo xx

 

Rustic Christmassy Signs headed to Market

Hi there,

Well just a quick little post, I've been so crazy busy this week preparing for my next Market outing tomorrow night.  I've made some more little rustic signs. 

I took some of these to my last Market but thought I'd do a few Christmassy ones.  I hope people are feeling festive ;)

 

 

Noel is one of my favourite Christmas words.  Not only is it a beautiful word, it's my Dad's name and was my Pop's name too.  So extra special to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made a bunch more different ones.. but ran out of time to snap some pics! I might take some tomorrow night and share in another post :)

 

What's your favourite Christmas word or phrase?

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Jo xx



 

 

Sharing at...

 

scandi coast home

 

White Wicker Dreaming with a French Coastal Twist ;)

Hi Gorgeous Coasties!

It was a real scorcher here in Sydney today... first taste of Summer and about time too!

Sharing a quick little make over I finished recently.  I heart wicker...  I've blogged about my love before here and here.

So when I came across this little gem I couldn't walk past it...  $10 orange wicker special!

Before:  The colour almost looks nice in this shot.. but it was your basic fake tanny orange wicker.

 

A little work in progress shot.  I hand painted it as I wanted a rustic look as well as more control over the finish.  Sometimes I find with a spray can it can be a little uneven with this type of wicker.

 

 

After the white I added a hand painted blue stripe... I was going for a rustic French Coastal look!


After:  White, bright with a French Blue Coastal Stripe :)

 

 

 

 

 

Now to decide where to use him, I think it's quite a practical and versatile little piece.  My original thought was to put it to organising duty in the pantry.  But I'm also thinking it might be practical to hold Bath roomy things.  What do you think?

Happy White Wicker Dreaming friends,

Jo xx

Linking up to these lovely parties...

scandi coast home

elizabeth and co

my uncommon slice of suburbia

primitive and proper

a diamond in the stuff

the shabby creek cottage

coastal charm

finding fabulous

 

Vintage Ladder Love Affair

Hello lovelies

I have a thing for many things... one of those things is vintage ladders.  I heart them.

I've made over a few of them and can't resist picking them up when I see them.  I was driving by my local Salvos store after my son's cricket game on the weekend... and I thought I'd pop in for a quick look see.  I ended up walking out with these two beauties...  and a few other goodies!  Gotta heart thrifty shopping!

Here's the only before shot of my ladder...  in my outdoor studio ;)

 


I gave him a good scrubbing, and white washing. 


I didn't want to cover the original stencilling on the sides or the splatters and splobs of paint which he'd gained over the years.  White washing gave me that shabby beachy look whilst still allowing his character to shine through!

 He's quite a handy fella.... he had me hooked at first sight :) I really love his hooks! 

I added some numbers to the steps, sanded a little and waxed.

 

My plan was to sell him at my next market stall...  but I'm growing quite fond of him and his hooks ;)

Now just between you and I, he's not my one and only...  I have another handy fella stashed in our ensuite.... he's on towel duties.  There's also one in the corner of our family room, casually taking care of throw rug business.

.....and then there's the other little one I bought with this one...  thinking she'd be nice to hold scarves in my wardrobe...  mmm thinking I may have a problem ;D

Thanks for stopping in, have a great weekend

Jo xx

 Linking up to these fab parties....

 scandi coast home

 

the shabby creek cottage

 

house of hepworths

 

here comes the sun

 

live laugh rowe

 

at the picket fence

 

Coastal Home Love Facebook Giveaway

Hello Lovely friends,


Just popping in to share a little giveaway I'm holding on my Facebook page . 

I'm so grateful to everyone who has supported my journey so far. 

To mark the milestone of 1000 likers, I'm giving away a little Coastal Home Love pack :)

It contains one my hessian doily tote bags, a hand painted rustic sign {made by yours truly}, and a sweet little birdy hook.

Details below on how to enter....

 Thanks so much,

Jo xx

 

 

  ~ How to enter and Terms & Conditions ~ {apologies for the boring stuff coming up}

This competition is in no way connected to Facebook. It is being run by Coastal Home Love.

♥ To enter simply email coastalhomelove@gmail.com ~  I will assign each entrant a number and then use random.org to pick a winner ~ Easy Peesey!
♥ Entry is open to Australian Residents only
♥ Entry is open to likers of my Facebook page
♥ Anyone who shares Coastal Home Love on FB will receive an extra entry! ...but it is not compulsory :)
♥ By entering you agree, should you win, your name will be published in a post on the Coastal Home Love Facebook page (when announcing the winner), and you will need to contact me to claim your prize.
♥ Entry closes midnight on Friday 23 November 2012
That's about it :)

Back up on the Bloggy horse with a little makeover...

Hello Lovely friends!

I've missed you!!  I've been totally MIA these past few weeks....  we had an amazing 3 week family holiday to the US. Since returning I held my first market stall and have just been crazy busy catching up with life! 

I've missed this little blog and reading all of my faves too!  High time I got back up on the Bloggy horse... and what better way than to share a sweet little makeover...  Giddy Up!

So this project has been a work in progress for an embarrassingly long time.  I started it before we went on holidays...  so I'm happy to have finally finished it!

I bought some coffee grain sacks a few months ago, with a few ideas in mind but nothing concrete.  I started by washing them.  Now let me tell you wet hessian sack is not the nicest smell, not quite wet dog, but not exactly pleasant!  Anyway they dried in the sun and smell perfectly fine now :)

So they were sitting innocently next to ironing board, which is next to my sewing machine and I was ironing the boys school shirts when I spied them out of the corner of my eye.  They were totally beckoning me. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was cutting and sewing.

I've had the vanity stool kicking around for ages, it was my Nan's, she used to sit on it to do her make up.  I recovered it years ago in a dark denim fabric and it was looking more than a little tired.


So my little vanity stool got a coffee grain sack reupholster job and a new lick of paint.  Here she is after...

 

I love the green stripe and the stencilled details. 

 

 

I only used a small piece of the sack and I have some fun plans for the rest of it!

Do you totally stumble into starting a project? Or do you plan? 

Thanks for popping by,

Jo xx

Linking up ... :)

Elizabeth and Co

Instagram, School holidays and tuning out for a bit

Hello!

It's school holidays in Sydney so I'm tuning out of online things for a wee bit to spend the break with my Hubby and boys.

I have a few projects (approx 133) on the go, but they'll have to wait for a little while longer.... here's a sneak peek...

 

I'll probably pop in via Instagram (#iheartinstagram!) to share a few pics and see what you're all up to!  If you're on Instagram come and say hi so I can follow you :)

 

Here's a few of my recent Instagram pics... @coastalhomelove

 

 

Enjoy the blue sky and take care lovelies :)

Jo xx

Mirror Mirror on the wall... Turquoise Beauty you are the fairest of them all!

Hi!

Super quick show and tell Tuesday....

The lovely Jo from {Poppy Handmade Designs} contacted me recently to help her transform her mirror.  It belonged to her parents and she wants to use it at her market stalls.  She makes gorgeous boho chic style clothing and accessories.

She chose turquoise (a girl after my own heart)... the same colour I used on my little coffee table makeover.








Here's the before...  now looks can be deceiving, this baby looks like timber but it's actually made of resin (or at least that's what I think it is!). 

And after....

Told ya it would be a quickie!

Thanks for stopping by...

Jo xx

Linking up to these fab parties...

finding fabulous

beyond the picket fence

the shabby creek cottage

house of hepworths

romantic home

here comes the sun

rooted in thyme