DIY project | Small Drawers

A long while ago now, in a haul post I showed you some pretty paper and promised you a DIY post...

...well, this is that DIY post my friends.

My mum has had this set of drawers in the utility room (ooo, posh) for a long time now. She knew they were boring (I had told her countless times) but to be quite honest they were practical, so they stayed put.

That was until she got the utility room done, and I offered to decorate them for her.

Well, they actually turned out a bit nicer than I expected them to be so I am trying to make room for them somewhere in my bedroom instead!

(They will fit)

So, in case you were wondering, here's how I did it (it was literally the easiest thing ever):

1. I started by sanding it all down to make it a bit rougher, giving the paint something to grip onto

2. I then painted the drawers with two coats of off-white, satin finish paint

3. I drew around the front of the drawers onto the pretty paper and cut it to size, also cutting out a middle piece for the label holders to stick through

4. Lastly, I stuck the paper onto the front of the drawers using double sided sticky tape

Simples.

I have to admit I had a massive facepalm moment when I realised that there wasn't enough paper to fill the front of all four drawers, so instead I left two of the drawers with a white border.

I know it would look better with the full drawers covered, so next time I pop into the range I think I'll see if I can find some more of the paper to finish it off properly. But for now, it'll do.

The sheets of pretty paper can be bought from The Range for 49p each (I used two sheets)

What do you think?
Have you done a similar DIY jobby recently?

Jo xx

Homemade VW Campervan Birthday Cake!

I'd just like to start off by saying I've just begun my final stretch at uni: the last semester!

We've just been briefed on our dissertation so as you can imagine, having to get on with that plus my two other assignments and exams mean that my workload is absolutely sky high...
...and thats before my five day weeks at placement even begin.

Unfortunately this might mean my posts get a bit more scarce over the next few months, but please bare with me as I won't be neglecting you completely, honest!

Anyway, I totally forgot to write up this post, as back in December my sister turned 21 and as a little surprise, my mum and I decided we would bake her a cake shaped as a VW campervan!

We'd pretty much accepted this cake was going to be atrocious. I mean, come on...a campervan cake?
But we had a good go at it anyway and we were so chuffed with the outcome!

Okay, so I accept that it may be a little extremely uneven, and one side of the campervan went totally pear-shaped as bits of cake kept falling off the side so we just cheated and covered that bit with flowers instead.
But the fact it came complete with a dog kind of made up for all that.

All in all I'd count it as a success. I mean you can tell what it's meant to be, right?!

What do you think?

Have you ever attempted a bit of a crazy cake before?

Jo xx

My Little Jar of Happiness!

Now I know this post is slightly behind the times but due to my problem with Blogger picture uploader, I have been (and still am) having problems trying to get any pictures onto my posts.
Hence only just getting this post up now. Apologies!

Anyway, coming up to the New Year I saw this idea crop up everywhere, I thought it was such a lovely thought that I wanted to have a go at it myself.

So today I am going to introduce you to my 2013 happy jar!

The idea is to jot down every little thing (whether it be a passing comment from a stranger, or a huge personal achievement) that makes you happy throughout 2013 on a piece of paper and pop the memory into the jar.

Then, on 31st December 2013, you dig out your jar and read through all your happy memories of the year over a few glasses of wine! (Okay, the wine was my idea...).
I thought it was a really sweet idea after personally coming to the end of 2012 and thinking...what the 'eck happened!?

What do you think of my happy jar?

Will you be giving this idea a go?

Jo xx

DIY Beaded Bracelet

A few weeks back, a few of my friends and I had a bit of a shopping trip to Manchester. For a while we had been talking about buying some beads so that we could make our own little bracelets...not rocket science I know, but being a bracelet-oholic I was so excited about this!

We popped into The Bead Shop in Afflecks Palace, which is like a dream for anyone with a crafty side to them! It has every different type and colour of beads and charms you could ever imagine, all in one cosy jam-packed room. We literally spent so long in there swooning over all of the pretty beads! I really wish I had some pictures of it so I could show you, I got so excited when I walked in...it's a bit sad really!

Anyway, all of the different beads and charms are individually priced excluding the plain coloured beads, which are priced at something like 10 for 25p.

My beads came to about £4.30 altogether, which may sound a little pricey for a bunch of beads but I think it is still pretty reasonable for a bracelet that I will wear to death!

L-R: Gift* | DIY bracelet | Matalan | H&M | market in Rome

What do you think of my design?

 Do you have a similar crafty type of shop near you? 

Thanks for reading,

Jo xx

Cath Kidston Freebies in this Weekends Telegraph!

So this is just a really quick post to fill you in on the fab freebies in this weekends Daily and Sunday Telegraphs!

On both this Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th of September, the Telegraph will be giving away a free 44 page Cath Kidston make and sew booklet, with 30 different projects!

The Telegraph

On the Saturday they will be giving away free home and gift booklets, whilst the Sunday freebie will be a clothing and accessories one!

Will you be picking these up?

Thanks for reading,

Jo x