A little birdsnest on the new bookcase

Today I have made bookcase for the living room in the shabby cottage - I had a lot of fun making it look old by scratching it with my pocket knife and doing lots of sanding and painting over with dirty coloured paint. I like this green, although I'll never be able to recreate it as I just mixed some dirty wash water with some paint I had and slopped in some more black and green. I have a LOT of bookmaking to do now!!!!

I also made this little framed picture out of a cute little button.....but my absolute favourite is this little birdnest with its three tiny blue eggs! It is made from florists wire and coconut fibre and the eggs are polymer clay. All made at midnight last night (hubby is away so I can stay up miles too late!)

Also, I have been making some old wire baskets, thanks to Mercedes, who posted a link to the tutorial on her blog. The birdcage I found at a junk stall - I think it used to be an earring. It is perfectly "old and shabby" already. The wirework was fun to do....not sure about the quality of the very small basket - I might redo that one - and also don't know what I'll do with the little basket with jars, but it was fun to have a play around.

Thank you so much to my new followers and to those of you who take the time to comment - it is so nice to hear from you and I really appreciate your time!!

Lots of time on a rainy day

It has been pouring with rain over the weekend, so I had lots of time to spend making things. The kiddies played with playdough while I cut and sanded and made lots of mess. Here are some photos of what I have been making for the little cottage.

This shabby chalkboard is my favourite thing I have made so far. I love this quote from Cicero!!! It is so true! I love my vege garden (although it is in an autumn mess at present) and I don't know what I would do without my books.

I need a few more little bits and pieces to pop in the pockets and hang from the wire....I'll get round to that eventually.

I also made a cabinet for the kitchen....I am so pleased with it, as the doors even open! Again, I still have to find(make!) all the little bits and pieces for inside the cabinet. I like the little tassels - my first attempt. Maybe they should be pink?

And finally, these are the little plates I have made for a display on the lounge wall.....I found this wonderful magazine showing these plates on the cover and it has taken me a while to make my version. They are so pretty!!

The most gorgeous bowl and a coffee table

I have been doing more woodwork....today I made a coffee table for the living room....it took me all day, which is ridiculous. It might be a bit on the large side, but it is meant to be a coffee table made from an old piece of ironwork or something similar, so I think it would be biggish. The woodwork is always a struggle so I am happy it is standing up and holding together!!
















I have made some cushions for the green bench and I spent ages trying to upholster the lovely chair I got from Sylvia. I hope she doesn't mind....I had an old silk handkerchief that was just begging to be used in this room.

This stunning bowl is from Loredana Tonetti - it arrived today and it is STUNNING. Wow - it is just so beautiful. I couldn't bear to put it on the floor, so got working on the coffee table straight away!


There is still a lot of work to do in the living room - I haven't done curtains yet and have some other plans of things to make, but I like the way it is shaping up!!

An old ladder for the cottage

I have been brave again and have been messing around with wood! This is NOT my strong point so every time I make anything with wood I am ever so pleased!! I wanted an old ladder to put in my cottage as a display and here it is. Don't breathe on it or it might fall apart. I am really pleased with the rough, peeling paint.....this was achieved by luck and my impatience - painting the ladder before the stain was dry and then trying to sand the paint while it was still wet. Anyway, I really like the way it has turned out. Yay!!

I have put some little bits and pieces on the ladder for the sake of this photograph but I don't really like this display too much so I am sure it will change greatly as time goes by....I have to look for/make some really very tiny little things as the ladder rungs are quite close together.

The little bowl on the bottom shelf has been stolen from my other dollshouse - it fits in so much better here. It was made by Bill Helmer .

The book is a gorgeous little volume of Emily Dickenson's poetry made by Treefeathers .

I made the little clock on the top shelf by sticking a picture onto tin, and I made the little glass brick underneath the clock by applying a vintage tile decal to one little section of a glass mosaic tile block I got from the $2 shop.

Thank you so much for being interested in my blog - it is lovely to have you visit!!

Some things for the living room

I thought I would show you some of the things that will be in the living room of my little shabby cottage.


I was delighted to get a parcel in the mail today - inside was this absolutely stunning bench which I couldn't resist when I saw it in Sylvia's Etsy store.

I love it!

It is such a pretty shade of green. I thought the living room would be mainly pink but with this beautiful bench it may have to be pink and green!


Yesterday I spent most of the day assembling this little birdcage from a laser cut kit. Such fine little pieces. It is hard to tell, but inside are two soft blue lovebirds. I have yet to make a little table or cabinet for the birdcage to sit on, so it is lucky there are no cats in the house!

The little car is one I found in a model shop a couple of weeks ago (one of those train model shops where they assume that if a woman walks in, she must be lost). It is perfect for the little boy's room, which is upstairs in the cottage.