Archive for November, 2014

When my childhood haunt, The Works got in touch and asked me if I’d like to play with some arty goodies from their awesome craft supplies section, I had the perfect idea for a DIY: My oldest friend has just had a baby and I thought it would be really sweet to make her a DIY keepsake box for little memories such as a lock of hair and the first tooth taken by the tooth fairy!

To start with a used a tiny screwdriver to remove the clasp at the front of the box so it would be easier to paint. It was super simple to remove and re-attach, just make sure you don’t lose any of the pieces! Once removed I painted the box one section at a time and let it dry. The paint dries quite quickly and sectioning it off allowed the box to dry without getting paint in all the wrong places.

I painted the box brown to cover the red as I have a specific theme in mind: The jungle! My friend’s nursery has been painted with a gorgeous jungle themed mural by her Dad so I wanted to follow suit for this keepsake box. The Works had these adorable jungle animal stickers too and I picked out the baby’s name from a selection of wooden block beads I had in my stash. I thought they were a fun addition, like children’s building blocks!

I selected a fun green floral sheet from the scrapbook paper to represent the jungle leaves and cut it to size using measurements I took from the front of the box. I used E6000 to glue the paper straight onto the glass, laid it on top and gently pushed the edges under the box’s frame with a blunt pair of scissors.

The animals have peelable sticker backs, but I still added some glue for extra security. Make sure you decide on your design’s arrangement before you start gluing! When the animals were in place I glued on the wooden blocks at a slight jaunty angle as if they were placed by a child. Leave the glue to dry for 24 hours.

I’ve shown another idea for decorating your storage box above. For this one I opened the lid and removed the box and glass by undoing the prongs with pliers. Be gentle so you don’t break them!

I removed the glass and disposed of it safely, then I removed the ornaments from each section which was trickier than I expected; they’re glued on tight! I covered the glue residue with some scrapbook paper to match the box and pieced the lid back together so the sections are now accessible from the top.

I love this storage box because I can separate my jewellery supplies while I’m making stock instead of digging around for the tiny pieces!

Which design do you like best? Will you be up-cycling a storage box as a thrifty gift for Christmas this year?

Loves x xx

It’s been a pretty boring year travel wise, which is totally fine as I’ve been working hard and making a lot of changes so next year will be awesome, but I have itchy feet to go on an adventure. The folks at Uniqlo asked me what I would do if I had £500 to spend on an adventure in the UK and it’s a great question – there’s so much mischief to get up to without having to hop on a plane. That’s not all, though, Uniqlo have also invited you all to share what you’d do with the same £500 and the best idea will win their dream UK adventure (+ £100 to spend at Uniqlo)! Watch for entry details at the bottom of this post.

Recently my best friend moved down to Cornwall and it’s a whole world of adventure down there that I never knew existed. When I visited her last year she took me to this gorgeous private beach, Lusty Glaze, set into a cove with a cosy restaurant and bar, roaring fire and homely touches. If that’s not cool enough for you, Lusty Glaze also put on weddings, events and live music and the latter is where my dream UK adventure lies. If I had £500 to spend I’d arrange a music event at Lusty Glaze, put on my friend’s bands, grab a cosy blanket and lay on the beach under the stars.

I’ve been to endless music festivals in fields, but never on the beach! To keep in the festival spirit I’d want my outfit to have a huge chunk of Boho style; floral tights, wooden accessories and cute dresses with some broderie anglaise thrown in. With the UK weather being such a charming unpredictability I’d also need a pair of boots or wellies with layers and a cosy jacket for when the sun goes down. Uniqlo’s new Ultra Light Down collection is ideal, lightweight and soft and also packs into a little pouch for travelling. I don’t usually like this type of outerwear as a fashion girl, but the cut of their Parka is surprisingly flattering!

Dress | Old season ASOS  //  Leggings | c/o Uniqlo  //  Chelsea Boots | Loake
Music Necklace | Onetenzeroseven  //  Scarf | c/o Oasap  //  Jacket | c/o Uniqlo

CLOSED. So what would you do if you had £500 to spend on a UK adventure? Enter the competition by tweeting your answer with the hashtag, #ULDAdventure. If you want to include your own blog post with your entry, please do! Be as creative as possible to be in with the best chance of being a finalist. If you do blog your answer, make sure you tweet a link to it with the hashtag otherwise your entry won’t count. Make sure you pop along and read the T&Cs!

Loves x xx