Car Boot June 18 2011

I know I have mentioned this before however, it is worth mentioning again. A great place to buy craft stuff on the cheap is a good ol' car boot sale. In America, flea markets and yard sales are also good.

Here are some items I got at last weeks car boot sale.


Three zippers 1.00
Note: This was the first thing I bought and a really should have paid .50 however, I was rusty on my bargaining skills. I got better deals the rest of the day.


I paid 2.00 for this bit of wall art. I saw it early in the morning and went back for it later in the afternoon. I really like it and thought it would be perfect hanging above my bed. It also reminds me of one of my favorite books 'The Help'.


Sewing Thread .50


I bought this lovely tea cup for 1.30. After getting home I found a similar cup online for 40.00. The seller said it is about 75 years old. I liked the pattern but I mainly bought it because it was made in England. I still think that is cool to see--I am so use to seeing 'made in china'.


Wool and knitting needles 1.25

Over all it was a good car for a car boot. We also sold more than we spent. I hope this weekend treats us just as well.

A touch of the South

I needed something to remind me where I came from so I did a little freehand stitching. I tried to freehand Tennessee (my home state) but I found it a little bit more difficult. I used regular thread which I doubled up however, you can use embroidery thread. I also used some extra canvas material which I got free off www.ilovefreegle.org. Next time I do a bit of freehand embroidery I will probably sketch the design on first with a pencil.


Happy Stitching.

Project table cloth

My table and dinning room was a little bare so I took the afternoon to make a table cloth. The fabric is an old bed sheet I bought at a car boot sale for £1. The other floral fabric was scrap fabric that my friend gave me.

Step 1: Measure the fabric out to fit the table
Step 2: Hem the edges of the material so the edges aren't frayed. *To do this just fold over the edges pin and sew.
Step 3: Cut out different shapes, letters or designs you want to be the focal point of the table cloth
Step 4: Pin the designs on and sew
Step 5: Iron. Everything looks better ironed.


The hardest part is working with such a large amount of fabric.





Final product.

Note: When sewing on the designs I used a zigzag stitch to give it extra character. Also, don't worry about it being perfect! With this project it will still look good even if the stitching isn't on the edge of the fabric.

Recovered Stool

My flat that I am renting came partially furnished therefore, there were still some items I had to buy. I went to a local charity shop and found this handy stool. There was one problem-- it was UGLY! It was useful but it didn't match anything I owned. So, I decided to get the spray paint out and get to work.

Before Picture.


After Picture.

This project took me a couple hours to complete which included watching the paint dry! The fabric was donated to me by a friend and the stool was 15 pounds.

Wall ART

WHITE WALLS!!! HELP!!

Moving to England with two suitcases did not allow much space to bring art. I started thinking what I could do to add some character to my walls for cheap. I decided I would start looking more closely in the skip (dumpster) on my street as I walked home. I noticed that there was some wood that was being thrown out... so I took it home with me. With some tape and spray paint this is what I created.

Step one: tape design

Step two: spray paint






Step Three: Take off tape and hang wall art!





Straight lines work really well when using tape however, you can make anything work depending on your own style. I made two different tree wall arts which are both featured in pictures above.

Crafting on the CHEAP

Crafting on the cheap is my motto. Since moving to England I have made most of the stuff in my flat. I have done this for two reasons. 1) I moved here without a lot of money and 2) I like staying busy.

Here are some ways I have been able to save money on the crafts.

-Recycle. Recycle. Recycle. Use things that you would normally throw away. This could include a phone book, newspaper, boxes or bottle tops.

-Use rubbish. Look in the skips (dumpsters) for old wood, windows or nails that you could use.

-Car boot sales or yard sales. Going to a yard sale or a car boot sale is a great way to get some good craft items. Look for things like sheets because that can be used as material to make something else. These are also great places to find furniture or other treasures. You can also talk the person down in price!!

-Use spray paint. Spray paint can be used to paint just about anything. It is also quick and drys fast.

-Second hand or charity shops. Look for local charity shops to by big items that you would normally buy new. This is cheap and it usually adds character to a home.

Most of the items I have made have cost little to no money because I have been creative in my shopping. Good Luck crafting for cheap!

Sent to Coventry

After a wonderful two weeks Samantha has gone back home. She left bright and early this morning. Seeing that I can't go back to sleep I have decided to take this time to reflect on our fun time.

Sam arrived to England to a shocking seen. Her cab was unable to pull down my street because it happened to be blocked off by police tape. Yes, you read this right- police tape. I assure you, as I did Samantha, that this was the first time this has happened since I have lived here. Apparently a lady that lived two flats down from me went missing last November and the police had a lead on her disappearance. It just so happened that the police decided that day was the perfect time to get the investigators in. Not only where there investigators but there were loads of police, police vans and police dogs. To top this situation off I was at work and Sam was left to take in all the action on her own. I would say this is a pretty crazy first impression of England much less Coventry. After I got off work and the police tape was rolled up we went out for dinner at a local pub. Sam was able to meet some of my friends and experience her first of many English pubs. Once dinner was over we headed home to catch the evening news-which Sam was on!! That is right- Sam was on the evening news her first day in England. I guess it doesn't get much better than that.

Weekend 1:
Weekend one was jet lag free so we took a day trip to Leamington Spa and Stratford-Upon-Avon. We had lunch at Leamington Spa and did a little shopping. At Stratford we visited Shakespeare's birth place and where he is buried.

Sunday: We went around Coventry to see the cathedral and all the other fun Coventry attractions.

Week 1:
Samantha explored Coventry on her own and did a bit of shopping. Wednesday: Samantha went to London while I was at work. She wanted to take a Double Decker tour bus to see the sights. Since I have already seen the sights plenty of times this was a perfect opportunity for Sam to see them without me.

Friday: Sam and I went back to London for lunch and shopping. While we were in London we road bikes around Hyde Park. The flowers were in full bloom and it was picture perfect. I highly recommend doing that too. The bike rental inside Hyde park was a bit of trouble. Hopefully they got that fixed since I did call and complain.

Saturday: Off to Ireland we go!! Saturday we left for Dublin. We left from the Birmingham airport and our total flying time was about 50 mins. The flight wasn't bad at all and for the cheap price it made it even better. Once we landed in Dublin we took a bus to Temple Bar (main street in Dublin). I would compare Temple Bar to a clean Bourbon Street. Our hostel happened to be on this street which worked out perfectly. We stayed at Barnacles which was Sam's first hostel experience. http://www.barnacles.ie/ I would highly recommend staying there! Y'all should check it out!!

Sunday: Sunday FUNDAY!! We started our hop-on-hop-off tour which took us to the GUINNESS STOREHOUSE for our first tour. The tour itself wasn't anything to write home about however, the end of the tour was well worth it. After seeing where and how Guinness is made you go to the very top of the building (which over looks Dublin) to drink a free pint of Guinness. The view was amazing and totally worth it. After the Guinness tour we hopped back on the bus to see the rest of the city and head to a football match. We completely lucked out and our trip happened to be during the IRELAND V. SCOTLAND football (soccer) match.

Later that day we went by the store to get some Ireland gear to wear to the game. We figured we would root for Ireland since we were in Dublin. It seems like a simple decision but we were actually torn. We wanted to root for Scotland because we met the nicest Scotsmen! The only problem was- the store didn't sell Scotland t-shirts or flags (go figure)!

The game wasn't very crowed but it was still a lot of fun. Ireland ended up winning 1-0. All-in-all we had an amazing time. It was fun even though it was kinda cold!

The next day we finished out tour around Dublin and went shopping. We also eat a lot! We stopped at a couple cute places to have tea and treats. It made for a perfect day in Dublin since it was raining a bit.

We ended the trip at an Italian restaurant on Temple Bar. The next morning we fly out very early so our night was cut short.

Wonderful trip with an amazing friend. Very thankful for such a great experience.