101 uses of a vintage sheet

I think the humble vintage sheet is a greatly overlooked item, which is a shame because they are so versatile. And if, like me, you are an absolute sucker for a colourful retro print, they are probably the cheapest way to get some genuine vintage fabric in your life. They are available to be picked up for almost pennies.

For obvious reasons, I prefer to buy mine from charity shops or Etsy sellers I implicitly trust the quality and hygiene standards of. But once you find a seller you are happy with, the vintage sheet opens your world up to endless vibrantly coloured fabric possibilities. And, importantly, you are saving perfectly good fabric from going to landfill and/ or avoiding modern unethical fabric manufacture to boot.

So use #1 is to simply to reuse your sheet on your bed. If using them as your actual bedding isn't your thing, we love using them as throws or top sheets - they protect our bedding from our feline friends and they also add some seriously funky patterns and colour. We have this rather lovely 1970s pink and purple Dorma number livening up our bedroom at this moment. It cost £1 from our local charity shop.

So what do you do with your vintage sheets? From bedding to beyond! I'm looking for suggestions to add to my list, I really think we can find over 100 uses and reuses. 

Use the comments box below, or send me a tweet.

As an incentive, here's some gratuitous posing from Headley...

There's a Mouse. Loose. About this House...

I made these little guys after reading about the Guardian's requests for catnip mice for cats at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

All three of our cats are rescue cats - all via the RSPCA - Daria was a single mother from a neglectful home, Headley was found as a feral kitten in a colony by some town centre bins and Monty was in an abandoned litter and reared by hand. So animal rescue is a cause close to our hearts.

I'm a pretty novice knitter but was able to make one of little guys in front of the box in an evening and it feels pretty good to make something that might make a homeless animal happy.

You can find all the instruction to make your own catnip mouse here.

Things That Make Me Smile

Hello there, are you are having a wonderful weekend? Here is another little collection of things that have made me smile this week...

The Aussie and I have been getting things together to make over our new camper van. After searching high and low we completely fell for this fabric to make the  van's curtains with. It's from the Alexander Henry Pin Up collection and we just thought it was completely perfect and fabulous.

The arrival of my new chair: we have done so well recycling fabrics, revamping old furniture and making over things when we have doing up our house, we decided to treat ourselves to something new to finish off our front room. This 70s style chair is from Ikea and it is fabulously comfy. When I get to sit in it that is...

Please excuse the blurry photograph, but I was so excited. This is one of the guerilla gardened sunflowers that we planted at our local railway station to cheer up the commuters. It is now a mighty 6" high! Keep your fingers crossed it continues to thrive and escape the evil strimmers of First Great Western.

 Look how clear the River Thames is!

Now this will wind the Aussie up, because since we bought the camper van I keep teasing him that I am so over campers. Now it is all about the narrow boat... I do jest, but I saw this one on the Thames in Reading this week and it had everything I love from solar panels to a minature salad garden on the roof. How perfect... *adds narrow boat to wish list...*

Hope all is fantastic where you are. This is a scheduled post because I am currently grooving in a field. WE WANT PRINCE!

See you tomorrow x

Green Fingers

Hooray for the spring! 

One of my favourite things about it turning April is planting seeds. I am a huge fan of trying to grow your own veggies. But I have to be honest with you, I have had rather mixed success, I am still to grow an edible carrot. But on most occasions it is quite easy, mother nature normallly finds its own way despite my 'help'. You put the seeds in some soil and water. And hey presto! I even tried last year on my little balcony, but this year we have a garden and the bit of me that thinks it is Percy Thrower is going wild...

It is really really easy and cheap to get your veggie garden started. First up choose some seeds. One of the cardinal rules is never to try and grow anything you don't like. There is no point having rows of cabbages if you can not stand the stuff. This is all about fun, not Village Show prizes.

(The 'helpful' tabby cat is completely optional)

This weekend I planted courgettes, butternut squash, tomatoes and runner beans.

Then you need something to plant your seeds in. I'm not a great believer in using expensive pots and seed trays when you can recycle some of your normal household waste instead.

I make seed pots out of newspaper (our local weekly free paper is fine!) using a paper potter (but there are plenty of examples of how you can make newspaper pots without one online). Cardboard egg cartons or cardboard tubes are also brilliant for seed pots. 

The beauty of using paper and card for your pots is that they are biodegradable. So you can just plant your seedling in to the ground or a bigger pot, when it is ready, without having to disrupt it by removing it from its pot.

Fill your pot with potting compost (I prefer peat-free because is better for the environment) and plant your seeds according to the instructions on the seed pack. 

As easy as that! I use plastic food cartons (with holes in) for my trays and I even cut up the lids to make the labels. All you need to buy are some seeds and some compost, there really is no other expense required.

If you are in the UK, or anywhere else with temperamental weather, it is important to keep your seedlings warm and away from any late frosts. I have a mini greenhouse, but a sunny window sill also works perfectly.

And there you go, all you need to do is to water regularly. I'll take some photos of them as they hopefully grow and I'll be honest about my successes and failures!

Are you planting anything this spring? Are you a first time gardener? 

If you fancy getting involved in a 'plant along' then Laura over at A Snail's Life is hosting a fun  'Watch Me Grow' Challenge.




And if you remember this post about our garden when we moved in to our house, well have a look at it now...

Still a long way to go but we're getting there aren't we?

PS. My shop, Firebird Retro and Vintage, has a giveaway over on the lovely MouseVox Vintage blog at the moment. Please pop over, have a look and say hi to the gorgeous and super stylish Rachel. And you could win your choice of necklace from my shop xx

Loving: Decoupage

Because we are going to be on a tight budget when we move in the new year, I am looking to update and revamp our existing furniture for our new house. I've been living in magnolia rented flats for years, so I am desperate for a bit of colour. On my list of to-do projects is to decoupage a couple of items. Here's my inspiration:


source
I'm not sure the Aussie will let me go so far as to do a whole ceiling, but I love this black and white contrast and the birds and flowers theme.


source
I have a little old coffee table I recently picked up from my local hospice shop for 50p and I would love to do something like this colourful floral decoupage on the top of it.

I am so smitten by this little table by Carolina Cottage, I have a damaged old atlas, so I'm thinking of trying something like this out on an old wooden ikea tray we have.

I wish I had more photos, but the famous Beat bar Cafe Vesuvio in San Francisco's tables and inside of the bathrooms are covered in decoupage. I so loved this 'Language of the eyes' in the Ladies' (mine are green!)

I hope you are having a good Sunday x

Cloudbusting

In more whimsical moments, one of my favourite things is looking at the clouds.

This is a collection of photos I took of the sky from our balcony today:

07.45am

o8.45am

09.45am

10.45am

11.45am

1.45pm

2.45pm

3.45pm

5.45pm