Wardrobe fa laaa laaaaaaaaaa.....x

  

This morning, as the sun shone in the bright blue sky, I had a thought. And it was this...." Nattie, why not take some pwetty pictures of the finished wardrobe in the bumblebee's bedroom for all the bloggy world to see? Tis a perfect morning for it, light and shadows shall dance together...it will be fun"....

Oh what a shame, when I realized the camera thought it would be the perfect day for it to play silly games. Humpffffff......I reached for my phone....and this is what we made together.....

A few wardrobe tra la laaaa I'm finished pictures, though blurry ( don't tell the wardrobe, she'll get upset, let's say she looks mysterious and magical ok? ).....

Can you even believe those cheeky bumblebee's have caused a clothing chaos already inside????? Do they not know how many ironing hours ( ok more like minutes, ok a quick swipe over with the iron, that's it ) have gone into those clothes? Flung inside, how ruuuuude......back to miss wardrobe...

I am pleased she's done, she wasn't the easiest piece of furniture to paint.....always moaning, complaining, wouldn't  sit still.......

Though, she sits, quite happily now, nestled in with little bumblebees desk, by the fairy picture, and sometimes, if I listen ...very quietly, if I really concentrate, I can hear her singing.......ever so faintly.

Happy wardrobe. Happy Bumblebee's. Happy me........happy, happy, happy.

xxxx

P.S.....A few things that make me not so happy. Just for a bit of balance.

1. The cut out carpet round the wardrobe...WHY do people do this? It's just wrong, wrong, wrong.

2. Cats that make nests on the children's beds, hair, sticky leaves and stuffs eurgh.

3. My stinking camera not working.

4. Little bumblebee's desk needs replacing....old vintage school one needs to be found, but not at a ridiculous price..hang your head in shame Mr's wot over price on their stalls.

5.  I have a head cold, sore teeth, and throat. And am quite grumpy. very grumpy.

6. There's no chocolate in the house.

xxx

The bumblebee's and book day y'all ......x

Compared to my last few posts, this one, today, is a more personal one. Hope ya don't mind?

Today at the bumblebee' school, they are celebrating world book day. If you're unfamiliar with this, schools let the children dress up as favourite book characters, and are usually given a £1.00 book voucher. 

This year the theme was " monsters".....we oooohed and aaaahed, and the bumblebee's came up with........ahem....dementors from Harry Potter. I am totally aware that there are a lot of children that don't watch the Harry Potter films, they are deemed too scary. That's fine. Some of the films are 12's after all.

However, in this house I let them watch it. They watch Doctor who too. Each to their own. Everyone's different. yep, I am aware also that I have a 5yr old.....It's not like I'm letting them watch a gory horror film, lets keep a bit of perspective!

Anyway, back to it, I did say "no" to little bumblebee being a dementor at school....double standards? ......I  just didn't want her scaring some of the younger children in her class, that's all!

So big bumblebee WAS a dementor, and little bumblebee decided on being a wild thing, from where the wild things are.

All in all, I had happy bumblebee's this morning.

Though my big girl has itchy eyes and couldn't stop sneezing......"why are you sneezing so much this morning?" I asked her "I'm not sure " she said........oh that will be the daffodils I plucked from the garden yesterday......

Remember nattie to remove them later................don't forget will you?

So we make do and mend here. The fleece jumpsuit little bumblebee has on, was once a fleece dress for a Jemima puddle Duck costume I made a few years before. I cut legs, and a slit at the back, added a button and elastic for her. Added a tail and used a little princess felt crown she had in her dressing up box. Done.

Big Bumblebee's costume, I did have to buy the fabric for, but I know they will play H.Potter's with it .....so easy ...a rectangle of fabric, scissors, sewing machine, face paints....dark clothes underneath. Done.

xxxx

Beano chair completion....x

Howdy guys.

Wanna see my beano chair? All finished?

Using three beano mags....cutting out the comic pictures........( it's actually amazing how many non dennis the mence/minnie/banana man stories they have in these...of course they were no good at all! we wanted retro vintage beano baby )...

Unfortunately my naughty tinker of a camera picked out the wrinkled bits...these re there, but not as noticeable in REALIFE!  Honestly!!!!! ( I did struggle with the wrinkles, though came away thinking, hummmm not looking to old today after all.....no botox today )

Using pod modge as a sealer is super fast and easy......and far less smelly than using varnish. I just hope the little birthday boy whom this is all for likes it.  That's always a worry isn't it, if you've made something for someone? You have no shop or company to blame when things go wrong, or fall apart.....though I think all the mod podge will keep this together for a few years yet....fingers crossed.

And can I just put it out there, that ordinarily I am NOT a fan of decoupage....at all. It usually makes me shudder. That's only my opinion, but it's just...eeeek dare I say a bit errrrrrmmmmmmmm.... chintzy, cheese-ball, retirement project type thing?...... 

But using an old colourfest cheeky, favourite, it works........for me.

 I'm thinking I rather like the banana man pictures bestest of all.....the shocking yellow, and funky words... Ker blam babeeeeeeeeee ........though it took a good week on and off to finish..... and coming from a girly girl, I really rather like it......is that my inner tom boy? Though I'm sure I have some old girl annuals lying about somewhere, that would make a fabby chair or stool......One day eh?

I quite like the thought too, of  a mans work desk being covered in beano pictures...........yes I like that thought.

Fancy having a go????? Go on....do it xxx

Two things continued.......x

Ever had a project or three, that seem to take a lot longer to complete? I seem to be floating between to such rascals this week. I really did underestimate firstly how much bloomin paint a 1930's wardrobe would need. It's sucking the life out of my poor Annie Sloan white......what to do?????

That nasty veneer just won't allow me to cover it up. I'm furious with it. Furious I tell you.

Also I am deeply upset with the red and pink inside, so much so, I can't bring myself to show you. I thought it would be a good idea to varnish the inside, as the bumblebee's clothes and shoes will be in there. And knowing my little bumblebee's they'll be in there hiding and making potions with glitter. We are yet to move away from wipe-able surfaces!

But it just looks wrong. And it has stunk the whole house out ( bumblebee's in our bed last night...one ratty mummy ) and, AND, the girls have friends over to play after school...waaaaaaaaaahhh.

From one meltdown to another, actually I quite like this project. I just thought I would get it done in a few evenings. Noooooooooo Nattie, silly girl. That would just be utterly ridiculous.

Remember the last post with a beano hint? Well STILL unfinished, but I wanted to show you a bit of it.......my beano chair.......

Q wants it for himself. Big bumblebee wants it too. As does little bumblebee. I say NO this is for a friends boy, his birthday present infact.......this too, will be varnished once finished. We will all be fashioning clothes pegs on the end of our noses for the next week or so .....ok?

two things.......x

Here at the cottage, we are gearing up for a music concert at the end of the week that big bumblebee is in. Before half term she had a whole "orchestra" day, and when she bounded out of the hall at the end of the day, she had very sore arms from holding up her violin......

Now I must admit to being a bit flaky with the practice over the holidays, but she's doing ever so well. I am a proud mummy, proud of her patience, proud of her enthusiasm, proud of her work ethic of ploughing on through it, ..." oooh this is hard Mummy, it's three fingers, I've only learnt how to do it with one"...today she saw her reward for all her hard work and efforts. Something clicked in to place. The girls got it down.

Thursday night we shall be watching her in the orchestra at the concert. I may cry. Ok I will cry. My goodness I love that girl.

In other news, and sorry for the lack of pictures on this post.... I have been painting ( what? Again you cry! Yes AGAIN ) an old wardrobe found on freecycle ( which I think deserves it's own post once finished )...

but it's a beast, the veneer is fighting me all the way......and there's also a little birthday project going on.

I can't say too much, someone might be listening, BUT It does involve beano pictures....and mod podge....... I have had to change the design slightly, the the boy in question - I hope will like it......

Reveal to follow .......

Have a fabby week, I wonder what project's you guys will be tackling?

xxx

I have a book you must buy........x

When the big bumblebee announced she wanted to make something. I knew exactly where she should look. Before half term I invested in a children's craft book, which is quite wonderful. GREEN CRAFTS FOR CHILDREN BY EMMA HARDY  is such a great buy. I can't recommend it enough for children 7yrs or over.........

She set her sights on a dog..............and off round the cottage she went, finding buttons, fabrics and an old long sock of mine which had a hole in ( darned for the dog )........

She filled her long sock ( or use one leg from a pair of thick tights ) with some old cut up clothes and fabrics we had.....

She added some gloves she had grown out of ( or so she said ) 

  

She's 8 and was quite capable of getting on and doing it all by herself, in a big girl kinda way. I'm so pleased my bumblebee's enjoy doing and making, what on earth would we do otherwise?????!

Mornings like this are soooo up my street. No rushing about for this or that. Nothing in particular planned. hair unbrushed, no make up on, just me and my girls doing stuff.

We plan on making many a make from the book, I particularly love the felt necklaces featured on the front cover...super easy and I think even little bumblebee will cope with that ( she's 5 )......

So right now? I have cakes cooling on the side, ready to be iced and taken to a friends for afternoon tea later. The dogs are snoring on the sofa, bumblebee's are playing marbles,  and I'm going to catch up with some blogs I think.

Where oh where did this half term go I ask you????? Back to business next week, but right now, I'm as happy as can be....pootling.

xxx

New post, new floor..................x

Or old floor, as it goes.

This morning I set myself a mission. To get rid of the horrible velcro-like ( cos everything sticks to it ) carpet. The carpet in question is , at first appearance unassuming. Reliable even. Practical absolutely. Plain and calm almost. But under this ordinary exterior lied a monster. This bloomin carpet has made me cross on many occasion. For the life of me, I can never EVER clean it properly. Everything gets stuck to it, like my hair in the Q's beard. I had quite honestly had enough of it snarling and smirking at me.

IT.HAD.TO.GO.....

And go it did, my goodness it gave a good fight...........but I am feeling victorious and smug. Because underneath ( albeit a little woodwormy ) was a jewel of a floor. Why cover up this beauty?

I admit I got a little carried away and started on the bedroom carpet. I gave up half way through. The Q will be enlisted on the weekend for the great carpet battle. And I can't show you the floor in the bedroom just yet, as I want a before and after ( though the boards are sound, they need a little colour to their pale selves )....

I'm sure you have better things to read about than a whole post about carpets. Sorry about that. But I got ever so excited...........

Hope all the mummies are enjoying their half terms, lets hope the second half of the week goes by at snail pace. I enjoy my morning lazy lay-in..............hehe.

xxxx