Fairy Project #3 The Rocking Chair

Let me start by saying - who doesn't want a rocking chair?! When we went on the search in our local and very beautiful vintage furniture shop (I 'oooo' and 'aaaah' the ENTIRE time I'm in there) for a simple little wicker chair to sit in the bare corner in the living room, I didn't expect to be spending the rest of the evening re-upholstering a vintage rocking chair!

You know when you walk in to a shop and see THOSE shoes, or in to a cake shop and see THAT cake that you know you just aren't going to leave without, well this was the case for the Rocking Chair and I. Despite it being a little over budget at £60 for what we had planned, I knew it would end up being one of those pieces of furniture which will end up staying with me and therefore be worth every penny and more! And you can't deny that it will fit perfectly in a baby's room in the future for late night feeds! :-)

The original upholstery on the seat wasn't awful...but the material was like linoleum and not what we were looking for to go in our cosy living room. A trip to Dunelm Mill for half a metre of fabric (around £5), a staple gun and an old white pillowcase to stop the old material from showing through, and a Sunday night of re-upholstering commenced!

Original shiny material - cute but too kitcheny

 With a little help! Unscrewed the seat

Stretched white pillowcase stapled as an underlayer

Stretch the fabric tightly and staple then cut to neaten up

 Screw back on and pop in little corner with some more contrasting flowery prints

I'm happy to say that the chair even made it through the flat party without turning to kindling!
What do you think of my first piece of re-upholstery? :-)

Vintage floral headscarf

As a not-so-natural blonde (I am naturally fair but unfortunately the Marilyn Monroe shade is only possible with the help of some bleach!), a headscarf is my go-to style when my roots are in need of a touch up. I also find this is a great way to look glam when your hair is a bit messy/needing washed and you are short on time to get ready. I know that when I first got in to headscarves, I didn't have a clue how to tie them - it's still a bit of a guessing game sometimes but here is a little tutorial on how to spruce up your hair the vintage way!

Items I use: hairspray, backcomb brush, plenty of kirbygrips and a lovely, quite long thin scarf (mine was thrifted for 50p and put in a hot wash!)

   

Backcomb sections of your hair - I have fine hair so I do the front and both sides separately, then with what's left at the back I fold it up and pin on the back of my head.

The end result is by no means perfect, but I like the way all the sections curl around each other. 

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Finally, fold up your scarf until it is about 3 inches in width and tie to one side of your head, an inch or two back from your hairline (if you want some hair showing at the front, if not, tie right on your hairline). Then make a big beautiful bow!

Now, I do love a big bow, but normally the bow is a bit too big and bouncy, so I tuck the ends of the bow under the top of the scarf on my head, and then kirbygrib the main bows so they keep their shape. Then hairspray all over, add some good lipstick et voila...vintage chic in ten minutes!

This weekend we FINALLY saw some sun! It was a gorgeous afternoon so my boyfriend and I went out for a walk to get some good old Vitamin D (along with big creamy mochas and chocolate orange cake)

 Hope everyone is having a good weekend!