Shoestring Splendour
Summer 2012
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Hannah and Katie
Contents Make: Upcycling a Footstool Eat: Egg Muffins Visit: Crystal Palace Antiques Love: Making a Bridal Bouquet Book reviews
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Ma Ages ago Katie kindly gave me this lovely footstool that once belonged to her grandmother. I'd been looking for one to do up for a while and this was exactly what I'd been looking for. I started by stripping off all the old fabric and padding and giving the whole thing a good clean. I found fabric I liked in Fabrics Galore (Wandsworth Road, London) and wadding in The Crafty Sewer in Tooting. I cut the wadding to size and lightly secured it on the footstool top with glue. Then I wrapped the fabric around it and got out the trusty staple gun. Halfway through it was obvious that the wadding wasn't up to the job so I cut a second piece and layered them together. I'm still not completely happy though so any tips from furniture restorers on where to find proper wadding would be much appreciated. It does the job well enough for now though so I finished stapling the fabric securely round the top with a firm even stretch across the top. I wanted to keep it dark wood but freshen it up, so the next step was to give the wooden base a good sand and a new coat of varnish. This was more difficult than I thought because some of the vanish came off easily and other parts were more difficult so it too a lot of elbow grease to get an even tone. You can still see the grain but I like that. Two coats of varnish and the footstool is finished. Thank you Katie!
Hannah
ake: Upcycling a Footstool
I spotted this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a go. I have been looking for some breakfasts that are light on the carbs and this seemed just the thing – mini baked frittatas that go in the fridge and are eaten throughout the week. The full recipe is on the website link above, and I made mine by frying up a couple of spring onions, par boiling some delicious English asparagus, and then adding that to the bottom of each muffin hole. I then added 8 eggs which were beaten together with some cheddar cheese, salt and pepper.
Eat: Egg Muffins As you can see, the eggs rise quite a lot in the baking, so I probably could have got away with just 7 eggs. The recipe recommends that you eat 2 each day, so this was done to last me 4 days. However, I don’t eat a huge amount in the mornings, so I imagine some days I’m only going to want one egg. As such I think it will probably last me the full week. They are delicious too, so I’m definitely going to try these again!
Katie
Visit: Crystal Palace Antique Having had two separate groups of people suggest Crystal Palace Antiques as a great place to check out, we had quite high expectations. And this four storey warehouse did not disappoint! It is full to the brim with antiques and design classics. The basement is filled with lots of amazing 1950s and 60s furniture which wouldn’t look out of place on the Mad Men set. And everywhere else was full of interesting and wonderful pieces that I would love to have at home. Prices vary but overall they seemed to be quite reasonable. The more modern furniture seemed to be more expensive. I’m not sure whether this is because it was made by a well known furniture designer or just because it is so much more desirable these days. Very unique furniture was also, unsurprisingly, fairly pricey. But most things were only slightly more expensive than IKEA – certainly less expensive than somewhere like John Lewis or M&S for really well designed, well made furniture. Plus it is an absolute JOY to browse. Well worth the visit. Crystal Palace Antiques is on Jasper Road, Crystal Palace. You can also follow them on Facebook.
Hannah and Katie
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Lov Start by cutting off all the extra leaves, keeping only the ones you would like to include in the final arrangemnt. Hold them in your hand with their stems crossed and then add 5 stems spray flowers in where you want them. Tie them with a string to make the ribbon tying easier. You definitely need someone to tie the string around the flowers – I don’t know how you would do that on your own. Then wrap around 3/4 of a metre of ribbon tightly around the stems, where you will be holding them. Pin the ribbon closed and then cut off the bottom of the stems. Next time I would leave more green between the end of the ribbon and the end of the stems on my bouquet. I don’t seem to have a photo, but I don’t know why I cut them so short – there is no green after the ribbon, which will likely result in the ribbon coming off during the course of the day. NOT what you want to be thinking about! Next I created a test for the bridemaids, using stocks and the same spray. I used another 5 stems of spray. The stocks and spray together cost £9 but I had enough stocks for two bouquets, with 5 stems each. I absolutely loved both of these! I like the colours and the combinations. To be sure, if I was a professional I’m sure these would be more neatly fastened, and lots of the bouquets seem to have 4-5 varieties within them, but I think they look beautiful. Plus they were really easy to do – they took around 10 minutes each. What do you think? Do you know anyone who has made their own bouquet? How did it go?
Katie
ve: Making a Bridal Bouquet
Book reviews The Wah Nails Book of Nail Art by Sharmadean Reid permanent space in the Oxford Street branch of Top Shop. The book takes the WAH style and shows you how to do it yourself. There are 25 projects, starting with their original leopard print design, .each with a step by step illustration. This comic book style is one of my favourites.
Nail art is huge at the moment, even royalty are doing it (Princess Eugenie had Union Jacks on her fingernails at the Epsom Derby on Saturday!) but who better to bring out a book on the subject but Sharmadean Ried, the founder of WAH Nails. Sharmadean opened her first WAH Nails salon in Dalston in London in 2009 and the brand’s popularity soon caught the eye of national retailers, leading to a pop up shop in Selfridges and a
The cover gives the impression that the book is aimed at teens but the design inside is a funky scrapbook style which I think has wider appeal. I’m dying to give some of the projects a go but need to invest in some nail-art pens to do the more intricate parts of design. I’ll share the results when I do. The WAH Nails Book of Nail Art is a very cool book which teaches you the WAH techniques and designs and gives you the inspiration to start doing your own nail art. Thank you to the publisher @hardiegrantuk for sending us a copy.
A Girl’s Guide to Decorating by Abigail Ahern The great part about A Girl’s Guide to Decorating is that, as well as being full of inspirational pictures, there is also real, practical advice. One of the things I worried about when we moved into our new flat was that I wouldn’t be very good at the practical things. Painting I can do, but what about drilling holes and hammering stuff? That seemed way out of my grasp. I’ve learned through doing (after essentially being forced to help by P!) that most stuff isn’t that hard, and this book is a great book for anyone who is worried about where to begin. There are also really great ‘room analysis’ pages, where Abigail looks at why certain elements work in a room and what brings pieces together. And there are some fun DIY pieces, including this, which I really want to try out – on how to make your own stair runner: I will definitely be looking out for Abigail in the future! Thanks to Quadrille for sending me a copy for review. You can pick the book up on Amazon here.
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