Busy Week and cosy house treats

Hello!  As you can tell from the title my week has been busy.  In fact it has been so busy that the theatre have given us the morning off as they think otherwise we might not survive till the end of it (the première is on Saturday night)!  Excessive tiredness can mean the show looks worse and worse instead of better and better so a bit of rest will hopefully give the show the energy lift it needs.
Last weekend (the last chance I got to take any pictures) was grey and miserable (no change there then).  Naturally I cheered myself up with a mini shopping trip (no change there either)!  The main objective was to get things to make my home feel cosier.  I was actually only heading out for candles but managed to come back with leg warmers, fluffy booties and a throw as well!

My new lovely grey throw and some vanilla scented candles.  We went especially to a shopping centre out of town that sells these candles quite cheap, about 2 euros each.  So I wanted to go there to stock up before my candle obsession makes me poor!

These slipper booties are from Next.  They are actually for work (essential to have warm comfy footware for between rehearsals) but I couldn't wait to slip them on as soon as I got home.  They are so warm and comfy and have been serving me well at the theatre so far.

I couldn't wait to slip on these soft fluffy legwarmers either.  They are also for work and stretch to cover my whole leg.  Warm and comfy to warm up in for ballet class.

This isn't something I bought but these are the curtains in our bedroom which I think work really well with the grey throw I bought.

When we got back from the shops I snuggled up in my cosy throw on the bed with a cup of tea to watch episodes of our favourite TV shows on my fiancé's laptop.  The perfect way to beat the winter blues.
How are you beating the misery of the colder weather?  I cope much better if it's sunny outside!

Till next time :)

Twirlybirdie

Life lately: flowers, food and decorative touches

Hello there!

How are you?  I thought I'd share some photos I've collected up over the past week.  This is a plant I got as a birthday present from my dance coach at work.  Isn't it lovely?!  I just have to figure out how to keep it alive!

The weather has been really temperamental lately.  One minute it's bright sunshine and then literally twenty minutes later it's dark and cloudy with periods of rain.

On the weekend my fiancé and I sat down to watch a movie and I made salted caramel popcorn using this recipe which I found on the awesome Domestic Sluttery blog.  It was delicious and I wolfed it down far too quickly!

I found this awesome glass bottle on sale at a massive discount in a home ware store I can never usually afford anything from.  I just need some flowers to put in it now!

This cute heart cushion was also a sale find in another store.

 After eating so much cake and chocolate for my birthday I felt the need to have a little health kick so I made this spinach, cucumber, warm pea, and linseed salad.

It was good but today I made it again adding sweetcorn and balsamic vinegar and I liked it even more :)

Well that was a peak in to what I've been up to these past few days.  There's a warm sweet potato shepherd's pie in the oven so I'm going to go and eat that now!

Till next time :)

Twirlybirdie

Life lately

Hi there!

It's time for a new life lately post!  It's been a cold dark couple of weeks but there are always a few pretty things to take some pictures of!

We got some more pretty engagement cards through, the loveliest cards I've ever seen!

Can you have too many pretty hearts around the house?  No I don't think so.

The perfect evening bag from Mango.  Was a bargain for 18 euros, not even in the sale!  Holds everything I need for a night out and a little extra.

My newly purchased journal for wedding planning plus some cute washi tape to pretty it up!

Have a good Monday :)

Twirlybirdie

New cushion cover

Hello!  For ages I've been wanting to make a cover for an uncovered cushion I bought ages ago.  I fight with my boyfriend over the two cushions on our couch so I decided it was time to get out the sewing machine and make my cushion cute and usable.

I had some blue fabric left over from a dress I made a couple of years ago which was just enough to make the cushion cover with.  I decided I wanted to decorate it with something cute.  I found some left over ribbons in my sewing box so I decided to make some bows in different colours to attach to the front of it.

My cushion was 16 x 16 inches so I made my front piece 17" x 17" to allow for 1/2" seam allowance around all the edges.  I decided to make an envelope design so I made the back piece 24" x 17" so that there would be an overlap when I cut the back piece in half.

Front piece

Back piece cut in half

After cutting the back piece in half so that each back piece now measured 12 x 17 inches, I folded over the cut edge of each back piece twice by 1/2 an inch to make a neat seam. I ironed, pinned and machine stitched the edge closed.

Pinned edge

Stitched edge

Then I made some bows and sewed them by hand to the front  piece of fabric through the centre of the bows.

Bows

Bows stitched to front piece of fabric

Then I put the back and the front pieces right sides together so the two back pieces were overlapping.  Then I stitched it together around the outside edges.

I turned the cover inside out and put the cushion inside it through the opening.

I think it's fun and pretty.  Now I want to make more cushion covers for the cushions that are already on our sofa using maybe buttons or more bows for decoration!

Hope you're having a great day :)

Herdy Mug

I got this cute Herdy mug for Christmas.  I love anything pink and the sheep print is just so cute!

It also has a matching coaster and key ring.  You can check out their other products here http://www.herdy.co.uk/.  Their tag line is 'made to make your smile',  which is always nice!.

The company donates a percentage of their products to The Herdy Fund which supports sustainable rural communities, upland fell farming and the Herdwick Sheep!