Crochet: Bathroom Mirror frame

This weekend I had the urge to do something different to my bathroom.
It's been a badly neglected little spot for so long as I just haven't had the "mojo" to do anything about it and nothing as far as decorating as jumped out at me yet.

I have been toying with changing the color, (The pink is irritating me... my hubby calls it "primer pink". ha ha.)but we have such a bad mildew problem in there and I don't want to paint until we can change our bathroom extractor fan (need to install a bigger one)and find a solution to the mildew once and for all. (I believe the essential oil- Clove, kills the spores and the mildew itself-does anyone know about this? Or have another solution? I have done the whole bicarbonate of soda and vinegar thing-I clean it at least every second week with this solution). So for now..it's in "limbo".

So just for the time being, I added a few bits and bobs (didn't buy anything).
I made a head-rest pillow (for those long bubble-bath soaks); a granny-chic style curtain made from vintage finds and scraps of fabric (not everyone's cup of tea, I know, but I love it!) My bathroom is quite dark so I wanted something light and airy. (used to have a blind). Then I made a crocheted jar cover, added some other items from around the house...

The Crocheted frame is something I am very happy about...I had the idea on the weekend, looking at my frame and imaging it with cute granny squares around it...so I googled for pictures, a tutorial...nothing. zilch, zip. I searched on pinterest too...so strange. So I can honestly say that this idea was ALL my own, I didn't copy any picture or pattern (as I couldn't find any!) And I am quite proud of it. (there might very well be something out there,I am sure there is, I just didn't find anything)

It is consists of 18 granny squares. I used a 4mm hook and a combination of bamboo and cotton yarn.
I made one square and fitted it first before I carried on with the size I needed.
When I had done all 18 squares, I began to crochet them together.

 below:
1. measuring to see how many squares I needed. 2. adding the lining and pinning it down.
3. lining pinned down and just hand stitched on (didn't want the machine stitching to show or to ruin the shape). 4. sewed bits of Velcro on at regular intervals around the back of the lining.


I then glue gunned the back of the Velcro strips to the frame itself and fitted it.

Once the squares were crocheted together, I did a single row of single crochet around the inner side and I think 4 rows of double crochet on the outside. The last row I only dc into every second stitch to draw it closer together so that it would turn in and fit snugly around the corners.

I Lurrrveeeeee it! It makes me so happy brushing my teeth in the morning and gazing with adoration at the frame! Even my hubby loves it!


So here is my granny-chic curtain..

fake flowers and crocheted Jar cover...

And some details from around my bathroom....

And tonight...I am celebrating my "new" bathroom with a long, luxurious bubble bath!

Makes and Bakes

Life has been busy once again now that school is on the go again.
In a way it's good to have some sense of routine and structure again, a bit of "me-time" and time to get stuck into all those projects I seem to have had on my "to-do" list for forever!

Saying that, I miss my kids when they are at school. My daughter was sick for two days last week and it was nice to have her at home! We made pom-pom animals.

 The weekend saw some entertaining and I made some roasted tomato and goats cheese mini quiches.

It is the first time I had ever tasted goat's cheese. Very unusual. I don't think I will be buying it again in a hurry!

Assorted mini wraps. 
chicken and mayo, avo and chicken, cucumber, carrots, lettuce and ham....yum

This week I also made my daughter a pair of winter PJ's. It is still very cold here (we have a fire going almost every night!) I don't know how to read patterns or make clothes. But a while ago I found a really easy tutorial on how to make PJ pants so I made them again. The top I made from scratch. No pattern. Well I used one of my daughter's shirts and copied a pattern onto newspaper from it and then cut the material from that. It was a I-will-make-it-up-as-I-go-along sort of thing! I knew what I wanted and I figured it can't be all that bad. It wasn't! I even made  a little collar! 

It has little press-studs and buttons sewn onto the outer to make it look a bit nicer.

The bottom of the pants has some pretty lace and of course a crocheted circle 

 She loves them, they are fleecy inside. oh and for the sleeves, I used a pair of leggings that she had outgrown. So easy and less sewing! Cost me a fraction of the price I would of paid at the shops!

 Everything was stitched with double hems and some parts were zig-zagged.

 Also on the home front was a delicious batch of homemade cinnamon raisin bread. (which I can't eat:)

 Simply Crochet is one of my favorite mags. I've been trying to get through the makes in them, and here is one of the mandela's I made ( I think from issue 4)

 It's become a little decoration.

 I've  enjoyed making some new goodies for my shop too. Pretty Flag bunting perfect for a party, event or wedding. 3m in total. Made from assorted vintage fabric.

Lot's of scraps left when you make bunting and what better way to use them than to make more bunting!

Winter is really dragging on and on...
I have enjoyed it for the most part, but I do miss our outings and going to the park, nature reserve etc.
I am looking forward to Spring so much, it is my favorite time of year. Summer not so much. Summer is way too hot here, it is sweaty and uncomfortable and I hate to sweat.
What's your favorite season?

x

Wedding: The Couple

Let me start by saying,no, I was not the official photographer for the wedding.
The Bride asked a friend to take her photo's who happens to do amazing studio, fantasy photography.
He has the same camera as me! (yay). We agreed to take photo's together and whatever angle he was taking from, I took from a different angle. Just so that she could have a wide variety of photo's of her wedding (even though mine are way less superior to his). I do not enjoy taking photographs of people because I know it is not something I am good at. I think it's good to know your strengths and weaknesses and realize you can't be good at everything!

I love still life photography, flowers in particular and nature scenes. I know my photo's in these fields are not too shabby (not brilliant, but not too bad either). But not of people...maybe because a person moves too much, their expressions change in a fleeting of a moment.

Having gone for a professional photography shoot, I know that this is something I could never do. It's not only about the skill of using your camera, the camera itself but also a lot to do with the photographer interacting with the person, making them feel comfortable, at ease, getting them to feel natural infront of the lens bearing down on them, telling stories and jokes and making the person laugh. I am SOOO bad at small talk. Communication, believe it or not, is NOT a strong point of mine. I could write forever, I love typing, I love the process of penning words to paper, but when it comes to opening my mouth and relaying my thought's, what is supposed to say "You look absolutely beautiful in that dress" comes out as "That beautiful dress looks good on your okay body". Yup, I suffer from the foot-in-mouth syndrome.
Somewhere along the way the throught process crosses the synapses in my brain, gets muddled and comes across as something totally different. Not always, but often enough!

 So without further ado, here are the photo's. And remember I am NOT good at this at all. So please take it as coming from there! The couple...The Groom is my hubby's brother. The Bride comes from a Scottish family and wanted her wedding to portray her Scottish ancestry. Hence the kilts...

My brother-in-Law's(the Groom) little boy was the ring bearer...

 

 The beautiful Bride, KayT heading down the walkway...

The Ceremony was short but sweet with a few tears shed by us onlookers!

The rings being exchanged...


The sealing kiss!

The gorgeous cake...

The favors...

The Wedding took place at a restaurant with a lovely country-laid-back setting. Lot's of chickens, ducks and geese roaming freely around.

The Bride and Groom both wore their Doc Martin boots. Quite cute!

The Bridal party-Bridesmaids and Maids of Honor.

The Men...Far left is my other brother in law.

Just love the kilts!!

The Bride's garter came all the way from Scotland...

Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness!♥

And here is me with my sister in law!

I love the fact that almost the whole bridal party wore boots! Such a fun thing to do!

Thanks for looking , would love to hear from you!