About Me

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I'm 57 years old, working full time, wife, mother and grand mother, wishing that I wasn't working full time! I love and enjoy our children and grandchildren, our dogs and cat, our garden and allotment. I love crafts - knitting, sewing, crocheting, patchwork and restoring old furniture. I love to go to country auctions and love thinking that I've got my self a bargain!

Sunday 28 April 2013

Nothing but Cushions and Cupcakes!

Afternoon All,

Hope you are all fit and well - as weekends go it's not been so bad for the weather has it? Last weekend was my Grand Daughters 7th birthday (where have those years gone to?) and as pennies are tight now her party was arranged on a budget. She wanted a Hawaiian themed party with grass skirts and hula necklaces along with blow up palm trees   - all which were purchased thanks to ebay and a local warehouse.

As I had the Kenwood mixer last year, I said to my daughter that I thought that we could make the cupcakes far cheaper than buying them - so last Saturday saw me baking the cupcakes and then we transported them to my daughters, where my hubby piped them and my daughter decorated them - a joint family effort! (I couldn't pipe them due to the arthritis in my fingers but it appears that my hubby has a talent that he hadn't realised he'd got all these years!) They cost £6.00 to make 36  opposed to the price of a £1.00 per cupcake that my Daughter had been quoted!

The party was a great success with limbo dancing, a disco provided by their i.pod with disco lights and lots of party games


Not a bad job for amateurs!
 
 
This weekend has seen us out in the garden - re staining the decks has started - the top deck is done and we've started down by the summer house and I have made a start on painting the garden furniture - there was one bench that was a dull brown and I have spent most of this weekend repainting it white.
 
 
Plus last year I picked up a pair of curtains from the local charity shop which cost me £4.00 they were very 1980's but were really large - I've wondered what to do with them, so I unpicked one of them a couple of weeks ago - the lining is going to be used on a pair of curtains for the summer house along with the heading tape. At Wyvale's garden centre, a bench pad cost £36.00 so I picked up a sheet of foam, from Dunhelms - that cost me £12.00  and I have used one of the curtains to make a cover for it to sit on the bench in the summer - much more comfortable on the old derriere!
 


This was it before I sewed up the ends - very retro chic don't you think?

I started painting the old brown bench white yesterday and when it started to rain I went inside and used up the rest of the fabric from the one curtain and some old cushion inners  to make  3 cushion's to sit on the bench


I didn't have chance to go down the summer house and fetch the seat pad before the rain started again but for £14.00 all in, I reckon they will look very shabby chic retro cool on my white bench don't you? and I still have another curtain left to cut up and do something with - I shall probably do the same again as we have another 2 benches in the garden which are going to be painted.

I'm also going to order some oil cloth off ebay and make my own bunting to put up in the garden.

Oh well, tea's nearly ready ........ hope you all have a good week

Byeee xxx


9 comments:

  1. Very pretty and all your own work.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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  2. both cushions and cupcakes look fabulous x

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  3. You have been creative.Loving the cushions!!

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  4. Not only does everything look good and cost less, you also have the joy that comes from fixing up and creating lovely things.

    The cupcakes look wonderful; kudos to you husband.

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  5. Hi the cakes look wonderful & a much better price too. I love the bench it looks lovely with the cushions on too.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog yesterday . I was on a real down at the time of writing it & go through spells of being ok and not ok. I think yesterday I wanted to just erase some parts of life, if that makes sense and wanted everything sugar coated! x

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  6. You have been very busy. Those cushions are lovely. I bet the cakes tasted better than bought ones too, they look great.

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  7. your cushions are smashing, very summery!

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  8. Hi Trudie
    You always leave such lovely comments on my blog that I thought I would bob on over and check out your blog and what a lovely blog it is. Love the cushions and in pink my fav colour. Hope you are enjoying your day off.
    Much Love
    Claire xx xx xx

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  9. I will have a post soon on Hawaiian themed parties. That is all so pretty. I love the cushions. That pretty pink flowered theme is just my style.

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