Hello everyone. Hope you are not too busy in the run up to Christmas. I am on my holidays from work these days and I am enjoying my time off.  Below are some images of the decorating I have done for Christmas. First up is our new Christmas tree which I have put in our good living room. I also tried drying some oranges for their scent and decoration in the house. This was my first time trying to dry them and they worked out alright. They took so long in the oven that I gave up. Instead I dried them on top of the wood burning stove which took far less time than the oven. The smell was lovely in the room though as they were drying up on the stove. I also made some pretty paper doily snowflakes. They are now hanging over the double doors into my sun room. I'm thinking of adding some red to the centre of them to make them more festive. You should try and make some of these doily snowflakes they are so simple to make and look cute.

Below is just one more  photograph of my tree. The lights are a bright white so they match well with the grey/blue colour scheme in my living room. Today I made this flower arrangement to sit on my kitchen island. All the items were free as I just picked them from the hedge. Three of the hydrangea were already dried and one of them is a fresh one from the garden. All the foliage is fresh from the gardens. The final photo is just me deciding where to put the fairy lights, I haven't left them here and have yet to decide where to put them. I have a lot of dried hydrangea so hope to make some more arrangements.

Hope you like having a look around my home and also at my homemade/handmade items. Have a go yourself or if you have some items you have made, I would love to hear about them and see them. Until next time.... 

Here is a quick DIY idea for you all. I love bringing the outdoors into my home in the form of nature inspired home decor. Yesterday I made this moss covered star. Why not have a go yourself.

Step 1: Pick some moss from the countryside, I used moss from hedges and large stones. The larger the pieces the better, try to avoid moss that is very wet or with lots of twigs and creepy crawlies in it.... no one wants them crawling around your home...

Step 2: This is the boring part. Bring your moss home and remove any twigs/ stones/ insects and leave to dry on kitchen roll paper. I dried mine next to the wood burning stove and then on the radiator.

Step 3: Make a large star shape or any alternative shape you would like, I used a star made from wood but you could also use thick cardboard or paper to make your shape. Begin by gluing the moss carefully onto your shape.

Step 4: Continue to glue the moss to cover the entire front.

Step 5: Leave for a few hours for the glue to fully dry. Lift and shake for any loose pieces to fall off and re-glue again if required. There you have it, fully complete! 

Finally my living room is almost complete. I just need a few items to finish the room including an over mantle mirror, TV, ceiling light fitting and curtain tiebacks. I'm thinking of painting the inside of the unit a crisp white, as it is ivory and looks quite cream next to the white marble fireplace. What do you think? Have you any ideas for my over mantle mirror or the light fitting? I hope to use this room over the Christmas season. I am now on my holidays from work so have lots of time to decorate the house for Christmas, I just need less rain so I can go pick ivy, moss and berries in the hedges. I will keep you posted on my DIY Christmas decor.

I have been procrastinating for a long time now over decorating my good living room. I have it painted since the summer time. It is a pale ice blue/white colour. I have my sofa and armchairs bought and am now trying to source a fireplace which I have spotted online.

Below are a few images of some wallpaper I like from Sanderson. I like both wallpapers but I think that the floral bird pattern is more to my taste. It is the voyage of discovery range (Clementine Dusty Pink). I will get this wallpaper for both alcoves each side of the fireplace.

In terms of the fireplace I like the Victorian fireplaces with the decorate corbel detaling, Below right is an image of our chimney breast. I need to buy a fireplace and get it fitted before getting the skirting, wallpaper and flooring can be started. 

I have my sofa bought, it a dark slate blue colour. Have you any nice inspiration for me for the room?

The Christmas decorating is almost complete here at home. My husband has the large tree put up in the sun room, it is around nine foot tall. It is so big and full that I can put the Christmas cards through it for decorations. It is a real tree that he cut from the local woods. I always love having a real Christmas tree in our home. I was busy decorating it this evening. The smell is lovely. We also have a smaller artificial tree in our entrance hall too. I have to finish the garland over the fireplace nearer the weekend as the foliage dries out fast. Hope you are all set for Christmas now.... I would love to see some images of your home at Christmas.

Here is some DIY I did over the summer, but never posted it. My birdhouse which my Dad made for me was beginning to get a bit weather beaten so I decided to paint it using Ronseal Wood Sage paint. I think it turned out pretty. My shrubs are still small as they are only planted a year but they are coming along well. Did you do any DIY jobs over the Summer? You will also notice that we now have the wall to the rear of the house painted and it looks much better. So we don't have that much work left outside the house. The next work to be done is finish the sitting room which I painted over the Summer months too. I will post some photos of it as it progresses. Hope your enjoying the weekend.

Have you enjoyed the beautiful weather this week, it was up to 27 degrees here in Ireland and it was great! I was in work though but enjoyed the evenings doing work around the garden and painting the walls. It has turned showery today and the temperatures are lower however we will remain positive that the Summer sunshine will return again in August. Below are some pretty stylish outdoor areas with some DIY ideas from Heart Home Magazine

What have I been up to lately?? Well where do I start. I had to work from 9 in the morning until 10 at night three nights this week and work the 5 days. I am trying to organise the wedding, I have the hotel provisionally booked and the band booked. I am taking this week off work and have lots of things to do. I have to look at a wedding dress on Tuesday to decide if I'll buy it. The house is really coming together, the kitchen is fitted, just the counter tops and handles left to put on. The utility is ready too. So myself and my boyfriend have to buy tiles tomorrow for the bathroom walls. 

At the minute I am trying to decide on wedding invitations. In Ireland we don't use Save the Date cards just the invitations. I am in two minds as to buy them or make them myself. Below are a few invitations from Special Day Direct and Wedding Paper Divas which I like, but I have also been looking at Wedding Chicks for their free DIY Invitations. Do you know of any other free DIY wedding invitations template I could take a look at, if so please let me know. I will update my blog with some photographs of the new house this week too so you can see the progress. Hope you are all having a nice weekend!

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Hello all, just for a change of topic I saw this wee owl in the shop the other day and had to bring it home (No I didn't shoplift) I bought it. Ain't it so sweet, it's a wee owl measuring tape with button eyes :)

I also came across some handmade ones on Etsy since then, check them out here at Feltmates Etsy Shop, there are some lovely felt animals here.

Since creating my blog I have got so much inspiration from each and everyone of my blogger friends. It inspired me to start doing some crafting and I have completed two cross stitch patterns and a rug. I am hoping to make a christmas garland next week as I have collected some pine cones for it. I have started to draw and sketch again, these are all things I loved but with work and uni I never made the time to do them. So now I have started to re-visit my creative side. As I don't have a sewing machine, you could almost say I don't know how to sew as I havent used one since I was in secondary school. I want to make so many things I have seen on other blogs, I want to learn to crochet, make some greeting cards, redecorate old furniture, my list goes on and on. You have probably already seen some of my cross stitch and other projects on my blog but for those of you who havent here they are;

I have a few more cross stitch patterns to start but as I have been busy lately I have to get around to them yet. So the projects I have completed so far were easy enough to do as they were projects which I received as gifts. I hope to buy a small/mini sewing machine after Christmas in the sales. Then I want to make some of my own crafts from old material. I have lots of ideas from all your blogs. I have also come across some wonderful crafts from other websites, magazines and even shops, here are just a few of them. I am sorry as I do not have all the links to these projects but some of them are from Prima and Hobbycraft

Some lovely simple bags for shopping should be simple enough to make!

How cute are these teddy bears, I want one! A bit more difficult perhaps.

A more advanced pretty cushion, I might leave this to the more expert crafters.  I can just see it on my bed

Now these look pretty simple & they can be filled with lavendar too as Crafty Mermaid did with her christmas presents. Oh a Mermaids Purse will like the blue and white one with Sweet Pea on the front :)

Now this wee owl I would really like to start on.Oout window shopping recently I saw it in Monsoon Accessorize & thought it looked quite simple to make :) Isn't it sweet!

A simple heart cushion from Prima

This is a truly beautiful idea check it out at Prima

Paper Dove from Hobbycraft all we need is white paper & feathers, even the kids can do it! So I might start here :)

More ideas from Hobbycraft Non-sew bunting which I can make once I get some material

This cat is just adorable and its from Hobbycraft too which has so many lovely ideas and products

These are just a few of the hundreds of ideas I have come across, I want to make one of everything I see but firstly I will have to get a sewing machine and nice material (cheap of course). But for now I will make the Dove with Feathers and try my Christmas Garland. If you have any nice simple projects I'd love to check them out. I'm sure some of you have made all these before, others may get some inspiration from these projects and websites, but whatever you do enjoy yourself making your crafts :)

I just got the new Dulux Colour Guide, some of the colours are fabulous, so for any of you thinking of redecorating, why not try a new paint colour, it transforms a room. From neutrals, creams, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds, violets, to blues, greys and greens. There are natural hints inspired by nature, statement paints, light and bright colours, kitchen and bathroom paints.

*Please note images are from the Dulux Website

This evening I went through my bag of old greeting cards, mostly birthday cards which I have received over the years, I kept all the older ones and special ones, but cut up all the others. I am going to start making my own greeting cards from these cutouts. Here are some of the cutouts below

I also came across some birthday cards my mother sent to my dad before they were married, here is one of the prettier ones which I like, they are married almost 40 years now.

I also discovered this really old card which my great grandmother gave to my grandmother for her birthday. After a chat with my dad, he informed me that my great grandmother passed away in 1969 which means that this card has to be over 40 years old, it is so pretty with the blue ribbon on the side.

I'm really glad I rooted through all my old cards this evening, I came across alot of them which brought back many happy memories. I love receiving greeting cards :)