Saturday 25 February 2012

DIY Studded leather coffee table

Our canny little IKEA coffee table has been with us since we moved into our flat over 18 months ago {in fact it was the first piece of furniture we bought for our new home. It was highly necessary to replace 'the tea stool' - a literal stool upon which you would place a mug of tea - that my boyfriend considered to be appropriate furniture}. It has seen its fair share of dinners on the sofa, meals with friends and has held up well to the barrage of socialising that we inflict upon it. But things came to a head a little while ago when it started to look like this:


Yup. Embarrassing. Especially in extra large like that...It stayed that way for far longer than I'd care to admit {I was reluctant to buy a whole new table but wasn't quite sure how to fix this one, despite plenty of pinterest inspiration!}. My Mum recently took up and upholstery class though and the other week she sent me through a couple of metres of a good quality fake leather and some strips of studs. One episode of one born every minute, some quality time with my staple gun and a sore thumb later and it now looks like this:


I love it! I can't believe what a difference it has made and by taking the leather down the sides of the table top, it looks like it was meant to be this way all along. I'm amazed at how simple and easy a task it was. Now to build up to things like this chair, the latest addition to our flat courtesy of that very talented mother of mine! Please ignore the rubbishy iPhone photo...


Love Bx

Wednesday 22 February 2012

A stitch in time...


Like I mentioned the other day, I popped into town to get some sewing bits and pieces {for the craft club I help run at school} and I decided to buy myself a little tin to corral all my bits and pieces together. Bits and pieces which, until now, have been scattered all round what we have affectionately termed "the rumpus room". Anyhoo, I picked up this sweet little tin for £5 from John Lewis and whilst it fits the essentials in, it really isn't big enough. Now this beauty would be perfect. Pretty pretty pretty.

{here}

Or this one, though it might be a little small again...


{here}

What do you think?


LoveBx

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Graham and Green



Right. So I reckon this gorgeous mink velvet sofa would be much more at home here, with us, than it is in the Graham and Green warehouse. I won't bore you with the 900,000 other bits and pieces I would also like to purchase. It's safe to say, I could most definitely kit our entire house out in Graham and Green if funds allowed.


Love B x

Sunday 19 February 2012

Statement Necklace


Isn't this pretty?! This necklace was a Christmas present from a lovely friend and it's from French Connection. It's not something I would've picked out for myself but I really love it - the black dipped chains and heavy and solid and I love how it took a dull jumper and jeans and really made it far more interesting.

Hair looks good too! Oh yeah! Why is it my hair looks awesome on days where I'm not really seeing people and then has to be temperamental when I actually want/need it to look good?! Credit where credit is due, mind you, it's much more consistently attractive since I've been using Moroccan oil!

Hope you've had a lovely weekend - I'm gearing up to go back to work tomorrow after a lovely week off!

LoveBx

Friday 17 February 2012

Pop of Colour

I nipped into town today {to update my sewing box - so thrilling} and on my way back I swung into some shops on my way back. Knowing that I'm going back to study for a PGDE, I've been starting to think more and more about the image I want to portray as a primary teacher: How I want my clothing to reflect my personality and yet be professional and work appropriate. I need to look smart without being in business wear. I picked up a couple of cardigans in town - kelly green and mustard - having been inspired by these images on my pinterest account. 




{all via my pinterest}

Love B x

Thursday 16 February 2012

Emerson Made


I am absolutely head over heels in love with EmersonMade and their beautiful clothing. It really is the epitome of the effortless chic that I strive to incorporate in and express with my own wardrobe.




Absolutely effortless - it's exactly the kind of look I want to emulate in both my professional and personal wardrobe. Definitely one for the inspiration folder.

Love B x

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Celebration


It's been over a week since I got some brilliant news and last Thursday was my chance to celebrate with some of my lovely family. Not only do I feel so lucky to know I'm going back to university and I'll actually get to train as a primary teacher {!!!} but I feel so lucky that I have family that lives here in Edinburgh as well as not too far south of the border and seeing a bunch of them all together is just brilliant.


We started off in this great little pub in Edinburgh, The Canny Man, where I surreptitiously had to take these shots on my camera for fear of being spotted by the man in the suit behind the bar {who oh so kindly brought our drinks and nibbles to the table}. I've just realised, having seen them looming large, how blurred that photography was.  Oops! I love the eclecticism of the place - from the array of clocks and knick knacks on the wall to the sheet music plastered all over the ceiling.



A sneaky glass of wine later and we headed over to a fab little italian - Caffe y Cuchina - further down the road. I wish I'd snapped more photos but the food was delicious and I completely forgot in my rush to try it all. Deli meats and the most delicious rosemary foccacia to start followed by a seafood and chorizo tagliatalle and slices of delicious carrot cake to round it off. Nom nom nom. I had such a great time with my Mum, Sister, Aunty and cousin - it's always so nice to have a catch up. Now if only I could have all my favourite people in one place, all of the time, that would be ace. A little bit of bending of time and space would fix that no bother.


{so pretty}


Love you all

x

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Valentines Day

{awesome graffiti in Paris 3 whole years ago!}

I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic, it has to be said. I don't much like paying over the odds for restaurants and flowers on February 14th when I think gestures like that should be made all year round but I have absolutely no aversion to spending a day celebrating love, in all its forms.

Happy Valentines Day S.

Monday 13 February 2012

Weekend Away

Things are going to get a little bit picture heavy around here! The Mr and I have just come back from our first break alone in about two years and, with an up and coming ski trip to France with some friends, we took it as a chance for me to learn to ski and for him to brush up on some skills.

We started off our awesome little mini break with some great food and drinks at a little restaurant in Edinburgh called Bia Bistrot. Amazing food at totally reasonable prices - we tried roast bone barrow, pork belly, fish pie and deer liver between the two of us. Washed down with a great bottle of red it was a gorgeous start to the weekend. {The quote is from the menu at a different bar where we grabbed a sneaky drink first}.



Our weekend of skiing in the highlands - with our crash course of lessons starting at 10am on Saturday did mean we were up at 5 the next day - 


But it was totally worth it. Sore shins and several falls on my arse aside, it was such a laugh and so great to spend quality time together {groan. but true}. We had lessons with a great company and the ski instructor {who was with us for the full 6 hours over 2 days} was so great - especially when I was trying to explain that my body simply did not want me to turn down the hill at any speed {such a wimp}.





We stayed at a lovely little hotel called The Kirkmichael Hotel where the owners, Chris and Danny, could not have been lovelier. Especially when we rocked up late to dinner on Sunday after a faff with a slow puncture. The price was totally astounding considering the quality of the food and the room we stayed in and it made the weekend so perfect to have somewhere nice to flop down at night {I was determined we were going to stay somewhere at least as lovely as our own home if we were going to pay!}. Cozy dinners in the snug and glasses of wine in front of the fire were exactly what I was after from a romantic mini break.


And the views? Oh to be out of the, albeit lovely, city. It's breathtaking up there.



Home after a glorious couple of day, I could genuinely not be happier. I had the best weekend, with my favourite company.


Awesome. Oh, and now I can kind of ski! Bonus!

Love you
x



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