Dreaming of lands far away

I must say I am looking forward to seeing the back of January! Although it hasn't been too long a month for me and I've been busy getting stuck in to work and the dreaded fitness regime, I'm oh-so ready (probably prematurely, given that I live in Scotland and it could well snow for the next 3 months solid!) for the nights to get lighter, the daffodils to start springing up and for people to start coming out of hibernation.

So! Today I give you an insight in to what is currently keeping me cheerful until spring does finally descend. My boyfriend and I booked our summer holiday for 2014 in December and haven't stopped talking and planning it since. The original plan was to jet off somewhere far, far away like the Dominican Republic, but, upon giving myself a hard reality check and remembering how much I am NOT a creature made for lying on a beach for 14 days on the trot (I salute you who are!), we decided to book a couple of weeks railing it around Eastern Europe!

This is the loosely scheduled agenda of places we are desperate to visit, but so far the only things booked are flights out to Croatia, flights home from Prague 2 weeks later and a 5 star spa hotel in Budapest for the weekend!

"We should all start to live before we get too old"

All I can think about as I sit here in the pouring rain is sitting on a veranda at 8am, sandals and sun dress on, drinking coffee and feeling the morning sun on my face. Not too much to ask is it?!
Here is a pinterest haven of some places penciled in on the map...

Has anyone been travelling around Eastern Europe and have any recommendations?

Happy Monday :-)

Home is where the heart is

'Home is where the heart is' is probably the most apt cliched saying for how I feel about my little flat! My boyfriend found this flat last year - he went to the flat viewing by himself because I couldn't get the time off work, he hummed and hawed about it to me, but in the end we went for it...and the first time I saw it was the moment I stepped in with my life packed into suitcases and boxes. THANKFULLY, the boy did good! Unbelievably good actually, because I haven't loved living somewhere so much since my childhood house. 

The flat is nestled right in the top of an old building and is amazingly quirky, from our very own staircase outside the front door (covered with crepe pastel roses now, of course), to the fireplace and bay window, and the special feature wall in the bedroom.Our fabulous landlady has gone off travelling and told us that, so long as we don't paint any walls black or with football murals (glad she said it before I did!), then we pretty much have full reign of the place. So, by the end of the first weekend the fuschia pink walls were vintage white and the 7 million bookcases were dismantled, and we were on our way to having our own little restoration project! 

Over 3 months have gone by and we are still adding plenty of touches, but here is a look at some of my favourite bits at no18...

Fireplace with bottle candles and fluffy sheepskin rug

Bedroom feature wall

I love this wall so much - I'd never seen anything like it before! The landlady used to have wicker baskets on every shelf but after hunting for two months and not being able to find the right size for the middle and bottom shelves, we decided to take one shelf out and have put some mismatched boxes from TK Maxx and a vintage lamp in instead. And I think I actually prefer it! (Photos taken before the white jug became red and spotty...as described in my post here)

One of the storage chests from TK Maxx

Lamp also from TK Maxx..I love how old school it is!

I wanted the bedroom to have a lovely vintage-y, shabby chic feel, so all walls are white with added touches of all different prints of blues and whites. And plenty of hearts...

Bedding

Moroccan lamp

Bunting!! I love bunting!

My gorgeous christmas present jewellery box

A wash bag makes a nice door decoration!

I know my choice of flat isn't everyone's style, but I don't know what's better than fluffy rugs, cosy couches and plenty of flowers!

Fairy Project #1 The Spotty Jug

Since moving in to my lovely little flat last year, I have been picking up lots of bits and pieces in random charity and vintage shops which I can then spruce up. My first project was completed over the weekend...for a grand total of 75p! The jug is from a charity shop and all other items (paints, tape etc) were from a box of arts stuff I have in the flat. 

Now, I do have a confession - I used watercolour paints and just painted it on thick - I would NOT recommend doing this! I really should have waited and bought some spray paint, but it was staring at me on Saturday night just asking to be painted whilst I sat being a boring old woman trying to maintain my no alcohol January ;-)

So here goes for a first attempt at a wee DIY project! 

To start, I took some white thick tape and traced some 5p coins onto it, cut them out and stuck them around the jug where I wanted the white dots to be. I also put some tape inside the spout of the jug so the inside rim would stay white.

This is where I would recommend you get some good spray paint, take it outside and spray paint it...this will also take a lot less time but hey, you live and learn as they say!

Paint....paint....paint...

Remove the white tape spots carefully with a pair of tweezers and wipe all of the little fiddly messy bits away with a cotton wool bud (this is when it's good it was watercolour!)

TA DA!

So it definitely isn't perfect but I must say I am quite happy with it and it has cheered up a little shelf in the flat. Does anyone have any tips for DIY ceramics?
Hope you enjoyed!

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!