Hello Readers!

Today's blog post is DIY related and how to to bring the beach into your home. Nautical prints & accessories are really popular at the moment, and for a room like the bathroom, it can be a really lovely addition to make a room look a lot different.

Our bathroom used to be plain cream walls and our usual bathroom bits around, and not much else. When we decided to try the nautical look in the bathroom it opened up a world of possibilities for the room.

We started by adding some blue to one of the walls to bring in an additional colour which would be needed for when we started to add in our accessories.

Before I go on to show you the bits and pieces we bought to bring the nautical theme into the bathroom, let me explain how my house is built. The house is built on a hill, over three floors. From the front of my house it looks like its two floors, and from the back it looks like three floors. The bathroom is at the front of the house and essentially is underground, with a window coming down what was the old coal hole. Here are two photo's to better explain how it is set up. It still manages to keep the room pretty bright and it means we have an area in which we could make a feature of some of the nautical pieces we bought.

The top picture shows the feature we made, with boats, lighthouses, rope, beach huts and lots of shells. Most of the pieces in here were picked up from The Range, which have a wonderful nautical selection and the pieces are not too expensive. 

In front of the perspex window, we have a beach hut draft excluder. It can get chilly there, especially as the bath is right under the window, so it is important to have something to stop the draft. This draft excluder we picked up from The Range.

In front of that we have these blue letters which spell out beach, but in our house you can often walk into the bathroom and find a different word spelt out.

The other end of the ledge we have this cute little boat, which we also got from The Range.

These curtains are just decorative and I think really make a feature of the window area. The burlap on the bottom was sewn onto the top fabric, and made into curtains by my Mum.

I made this bag with my friend, and was one of the first Servietten Technique pieces I did. It looks wonderful in the bathroom.

A recent addition to the bathroom are these little bags, and I think they are great for holding bottles and look like little beach bags.

These few little decorations (the stitched one made by Mum) decorate the walls, and bring the nautical theme into the room a little bit more.

And last but not least, our sink area. The white pallet wood and the white wicker basket unit certainly bring in a bit more of the beach. Its looks distressed and beach worn, and fits in with the theme of the room.

I hope you like this little tour of our nautical bathroom, I love it I think it is a fun and wonderful theme to play around with. There are lots of nautical themed pieces in the shops, but also it wouldn't be too hard to make some yourself.

Do you have a nautical themed room? I would love to see it, please leave me any links below!

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As you may, or may not know (you probably will if you follow me on Twitter) I was bridesmaid at my good friends wedding on Sunday, and beforehand she taught me a quick craft (and I made two for her wedding) and that is making string balloons.

Now this is one of the more messier and stressful crafts I have ever tried, and while I didn't dislike it, I don't know if its something I will do often, although I am considering making a few for my bedroom...so we'll see!

To start, blow up a balloon to the size you desire.

Get a lot of a string (and I mean a lot - you can always use less than you've cut, but would be difficult to add more - but not impossible!) and find a pot that you can use to fill with glue.

Pour a decent amount of PVA glue into the pot, add the string, and make sure all the string is well covered in glue (you're going to need to get your hands messy from here on in!) but be careful not to create knots in the string.

Grab the end of the string (ideally leave it hanging over the edge of the pot when you cover the string in glue) and take hold of your balloon. Hold the balloon by the knot, and hold onto the end of the string, and then haphazardly wind the string around the balloon, until you've got the desired effect.

Peg up by the knot to dry for 24 hours.

When dry the string will have hardened, burst the balloon and you will be left with a wonderful decoration. You can make small ones for balls to put in a bowl, add string to make hanging decorations, you can spray paint them...anything you can think of.

This is how they were used in the wedding...

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Hello & Welcome!

If you've haven't read Vintage Bunting: Part One then I thoroughly suggest you do, so you know exactly what I am going on about!

Also I urge to you read this: A handmade Wedding by Alison Bomber

In August was the wonderful wedding of two very dear friends, Laura & Adam.

As you will know from the previous Vintage Bunting post, Me, Carol & Laura, spent a great deal of time making the individual flags for the bunting. We cut the flags, sewed them up to make double sided bunting, and then spent hours organising them and fixing them on to the binding, but all our hard work paid off, and on the day they looked wonderful, something I was so proud to be a part of.

The individual flags...

The sewn, double sided flags.

And here are a few pictures of the wonderful wedding, starring some Blanket Stitch bunting!

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My Bedroom has been a work in progress for several years. I decorated it about 2 years ago, then I moved out and now I have moved back, and I am trying to get it just how I want it (although I thoroughly believe it will never be quite finished...).

I thought I would take you along on my little journey on the small little bits and pieces I am doing to my room to make it just right, I also wanted to give it a little bit of a vintage feel too.

1. Decorating old boxes
This is something I suddenly thought up a few weeks ago, I have a lot of old white DVD storage boxes that were just sitting collecting dust and thought that it might be a nice idea to paint some writing on them, and use them to store other bits in, aside from DVDs.

2. Reusing an old Lamp
When mum told me she was going to throw this lamp away because she couldn't really find anywhere for it, I just couldn't let her. Its a beautiful piece and really brings the vintage theme to life. While swapping lamps I also cleared up my bedside table, and as you will see all I have is the 'new' lamp, my alarm clock, my homemade vintage style coaster (more on that later) and my Wenlock teddy I got from the Olympic games.

3. Vintage Coasters

Would you believe I made this coaster myself? And you wouldn't believe how easy it is!

It is made using Servietten Technique, a technique in which you use a serviette/napkin/tissue to decorate a variety of objects.

The technique is simple… Choose your object, ensure you’re using the correct glue (for anything other than fabric use Decopatch glue which can be bought from Hobby Craft). Cut out the size or area of a serviette you wish to use, you can use the whole thing (see coaster above) or just individual parts (see Candle below). Then peel all the layers so you only have the top layer (this is very important!!!). Cover the area which you section of serviette will cover, with a light smattering of glue, then allow to dry. When the area is dry, cover the image on top with glue, start at the inside and work your way to the outer edge, being ever so gentle so as not to tear the serviette – this seals the image. Allow to dry!

If making a coaster, like above, use a kitchen/bathroom tile. These are great, fun & inexpensive to give as gifts, and are really effective I think you’ll agree! If doing this, ensure you varnish (2-3 coats) with a clear, polyurethane varnish to really seal the image and protect it from the heat. Also glue felt to the back to produce a really gorgeous, long lasting coaster.

4. Homemade iMac Cover
I used to have just the white cover than the iMac came with, not ideal but it did the job. Then mum suggested  that she could make me a cover to match my room. I picked out some gorgeous Cath Kidson material, sent mum off with the original cover and this is what she came back with...

5. Candles
Candles are a great way to decorate a room, and a great way to soften the atmosphere. I have many candles in my room, some I have bought and some that I have decorated using Servietten Technique which I spoke about earlier.

6. Vintage Art
I've always loved the wooden signs you can buy just about everywhere these days. I made this one myself using wooden cut outs bought from Hobbycraft, which I painted

Love, Amybecca x

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After making our vintage bunting for the recent wedding, I think all three of us who took part would all agree that we had seen our fair share of bunting and were happy to give it a wide berth for a while.

However, enough time seems to have passed us by and we were itching to get back to our bunting ways. After making so much for the wedding we felt like pro's, and it wasn't long before we were experimenting again.

(Picture of a section of our bunting for the wedding)

Amy started the bunting task, with a little something for herself. Having decorated her room and wanting a little something different instead of a border, Amy decided to make some bunting.

This bunting was just single sided, and was made out of three different materials to make the different flags.

What do you think?

Carol got back into bunting next, and with Christmas fast approaching she tried her hand at some decorative bunting for the festive season.

Do you like her Christmas bunting?

What other types of bunting would you like to see in our Folky Shop?

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Some of you who have been following Blanket Stitch for a while, might recognise the technique I have used here, and to those of you who are newbies, you might be wondering how exactly I have managed to capture this wonderful image and turned it into a coaster.

Read on, and all will be revealed!

I made these coasters a few months ago, after deciding I really ought to get on the Christmas bandwagon early, and knowing how these went down last year as presents for relatives I knew they would come out well.

For those of you unfamiliar with this, the technique used here is called Servietten Technique. Its a craft where  using the top, patterned layer of a napkin/serviette you place the image/pattern on to anything*

(*so far in my tests anything includes the following: Crockery, Tiles, Glass, Wood, Cloth bags, Candle and Plastic)

Using the image extracted from the napkin, glue, a paintbrush and A LOT of patience you can press and glue to image down.

Then using varnish (not on cloth!) you seal the image and also waterproof it at the same time!

These coasters come in a set of four, and have a beautiful Christmas scene covering them. They have been sealed and varnished, and are therefore waterproofed against any little spills that might come from your cup!

They are backed with green felt, giving them a soft backing, and stopping any scratches from the hard tiles on your furniture.

All coasters are wrapped in beautiful ribbon making a small stack.

These coasters are a wonderful present and can be found for just £10.00 on our Folksy Store.

Click the link above to buy it for yourself (or for a gift!)

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Everyone loves a squishy cushion - and this one covered in love fits the bill exactly.

Made by Carol, using two of our favourite materials, this cute little cushion would look wonderful in any room, we keep ours in our summer house!

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A few weekends ago I had the great honour of not only attending a beautiful wedding but doing so as a bridesmaid. It was the most wonderful of days, the weather played nice for once and the wedding was beautiful and a true representation of the happy couple, their beautiful children and their wonderful life together.

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I've been working on a post for a little while, its not quite ready but it is getting there, and that's all about the ways in which I am working on my bedroom, jazzing it up, giving it a more personal, and in some aspects more vintage, touch.

So before I set that live, what I want to do is show you, by way of pictures and video, my bedroom beforehand.

My beautiful iMac

My cosy chair

Photos of the holiday of my life

My beauty room

Decoration

My bedside table

My earring holder

Make up brushes

Essentials

Mirrored draws

 A Blanket Stitch knicker bag

My ballet cross stitch

My bed

Niagara Falls, Statue of Liberty, Toronto

A poem my nan wrote for me

Love

Love, Amybecca... x

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