A Week in Instagram

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1. My adorable niece in her Christmas hat. I think this is her 'excited about Father Christmas coming' face.
2. Christmas decorations from Paperchase
3. Sending parcels to long distance friends.
4. My favourite street in Sheffield - every Christmas the whole street decorate their houses with fairy lights. I love driving up it.
5. I love this years John Lewis advert, so when I saw the snowman in the store I couldn't help but stop and get a picture.
6. I won a bag, t-shirt and tickets to see a documentary at the Showroom called 'Call Me Kuchu'. Thank you to The Showroom Cinema!
7. Trips in to the countryside - fairly soon after this I fell over in the mud and got absolutely covered. Typical!
8. New shoes! c/o New Look
9. My favourite meal - lemon and basil cod with rocket. Yum!

Weekly Roundup

I mentioned before that every year I buy one new bauble and try to make one. This year my purchase was the Christmas pudding bell, it was only £2 from Sainsburys but I love it nonetheless. 

Although it hasn't been put up yet, my parents Christmas tree is my favourite. Nearly every bauble has memories attached to it from when my sisters and I were young. My Mum even has a bauble that was bought the year her brother was born.  That got me thinking that it would be nice to make my Christmas tree full of memories for the future. I decided to make a bauble that represents an event from 2012 and so it had to be the birth of my niece, Emma. The polka dot E is for her.

Here is our tree this year. Unfortunately our fairy lights have stopped working so its not living up to its fully potential just yet!

I bought this sheep skin coat from my local charity shop. It was originally to sell in my Etsy shop but I tried it on and it is so toasty warm that I'm not sure I want to give it away!

My new iPhone case! I actually bought this as a little stocking filler for a friend but fell in love with it and just had to order one for myself! 

I bought a new crockery set today as our current set is a bit chipped now. I saw these in Matalan on Saturday but decided I had to go back and buy them today. A 12 piece set was only £10, but they are excellent quality and I think they look more expensive. 

 I think you have to treat yourself to a few bits and bobs while you are doing all that Christmas shopping for your friends and family. Have you bought any treats for yourself this month?

Kelham Island Christmas Market

Today I went to my first Christmas Market of the year at Kelham Island Industrial Museum. It was a lovely day, freezing cold but the sun was shining. 

Sunshine and bunting

A beautiful carousel that was playing Christmas songs.

This was my favourite stall, Butterscotch & Beesting. I wanted all of the lovely prints, lampshades and cushions. They also have an Etsy shop, here.

Me all wrapped up in my hat, scarf and mittens enjoying a mulled wine and being blinded by the sunshine!  

I love the old buildings at Kelham Island, they used to be the home to Sheffield's steel industry.

I was in the festive mood when I got home so decided to wrap some gifts. I got the plastic candy canes from Poundland and the string is actually butchers twine but I think it looks cute anyway!

Holidays are Coming

Hi All! Sorry about my lack of posting recently. Our house has been overrun with plumbers and plasterers and tools and plasterboard and grout and tiles. I no longer have a craft room because it is full of bathroom furniture so crafts have been off the cards for a little while. On the plus side we are slowly making progress with our new bathroom and more importantly...Christmas is coming! I am getting the Christmas feeling already. Our christmas tree will be going up at the weekend and I have plenty of Christmas markets to attend. I have done most of my shopping and the presents are already wrapped (although I can't attach the bows yet as they are my cats favourite and come Christmas Day they would all be underneath the sofa). Here is a quick peak at last years tree...

Yes, it's white, undeniably kitsch and nothing matches. It is tradition that I buy one new bauble every year and (as of last year) craft one bauble of my own. It is only quite a small tree because we lived in quite a small flat but I think it might soon be time to branch out (see what I did there?) and buy a bigger one.

The loveliest niece a girl could have

My sister will absolutely kill me for putting this particular photo up, but it shows off her Winston Churchill cheeks perfectly. This is my lovely little niece Emma. Every time I see her she seems to be getting bigger and learning something new. She makes us all very proud.

(I think she was a bit tired when I took this photo, she is usually very smiley!)

Thrifty Finds

1. 1960s faux fur coat from a local charity shop - £5
2. My new vintage hat, my boyfriend says that I look like a train driver in it (excuse my face!)
3. My lovely mum bought me this as a present. When we finally get around to decorating our living room this will take pride of place on the hearth. I love the scallop pattern!
4. I picked this up in a charity shop for £1.50, I am not entirely sure what it's original purpose was but I plan to use it in our new bathroom.
5. 1960s layered velvet dress, my favourite part of this dress is actually the back which has a lovely bow at the top of the zip - £6
6. Another lovely 1960s coat with faux fur collar from a local charity shop - £5
7. 4 cute multi-coloured jars. I think these will look lovely with candles in as a table decoration for special occasions. These were on sale in Urban Outfitters for £2 each.

Kitty Quilt

While browing Craftgawker, I spotted this absolutely fabulous kitty quilt and fell in love, I knew instantly that it would be my next quilt project. Isn't it lovely? Found at The Dapper Toad, the instructions are available at Mer Mag.