Meg Gets Crafty in Print

Many, many thanks to the very lovely Huma of Her Little Place for featuring this blog in her article on Do-it-Yourself Christmas Presents in Sunday's Observer. It was a great pleasure to have the chance to speak about two of my favourite things; Christmas and crafts and very exciting to see Meg Gets Crafty in print.

Her Little Place has had had a fabulous makeover recently (although it was pretty darn fabulous before) and is brimming with lovely ideas so, if you haven't already done so, I would definitely recommend a visit.

In other news our kitchen is so close to being finished I can almost taste it! Our beautiful yellow Cole & Son Cow Parsley wallpaper is now up on the chimney breast and the floor is nearly complete. I wondered if we were really going to be able to stick to our plan of finishing before Christmas but it really looks like we might well get there! So that should mean some photos for you all very soon. It's been at the expense of Mr Crafty's poor hands which are now covered in blood blisters, cuts and scrapes from working on the floor but it looks so pretty I hope he will agree that it is worth all our hard labour in the end!

Finally I haven't forgotten my blog award from Zoe at Conversation Pieces and the promised post on personality traits will be on its way shortly.

Almost there...

I am so excited I can barely contain myself! After what seems like eons of thinking about our kitchen facelift, planning colours, chosing worktops etc., the end is finally in sight.

Our gorgeous worktop handmade from reclaimed wood arrived just over a week ago. Lidster and Son did an absolutely stunning job on it. Even though it has been joined, sanded and oiled you can really see the age of the wood and all the various markings which chart its history. I love it!

The above photo is a sneak peek of it in situ along with our new tiles. We are mid way through wallpapering the chimney breast and Mr C has a few days off to lay the engineered oak floor we bought second hand from eBay. It won't be too long before I have some before and afters for you!

P.S The lovely Zoe at Conversation Pieces has awarded me the fantastically titled Shoulda Been a Stripper award!! A post on seven personality traits is to follow....

Me Old China

Well things are moving on with our kitchen. Our reclaimed worktop is being delivered this weekend and then with any luck we have people coming in next week to fit it and do the tiling. Mr Crafty is going to fit the floor and wallpaper the chimney breast. So with any luck it should be finished by Christmas and my mind has naturally turned towards finishing touches.

There is one very empty bit of wall. A poster would be the most obvious thing to fill it but I have seen a lot of lovely displays made with china plates in magazines recently and am thinking of something similar. Given that both my grandfathers worked in the pottery industry it seems rather appropriate. Perhaps something along these lines:

Photo sourced from Glassford Hill Girl Blog

Photo sourced from E How

Photo sourced from www.countryliving.com

I better get down to a car boot sale to start collecting!

Cake Autumn: Two and Three

So my mad three weeks of baking have finally come to an end which means that you should hear a bit more from me from now on than you have done of late.

This was the cake I made for my new Goddaughter's christening:



And this was the grand finale for the gorgeous partnership ceremony of two friends at the weekend:






So now I can turn my attention back to our much neglected flat!

Cake Autumn: Number One

I am part way through three weeks of consecutive cake making at the moment. I made the cake for the lovely wedding of one of my school friends in Wiltshire last weekend. It was a nice one to make as it involved lots of sugar flowers which are always fun.


I know some of you have asked about how I make the roses before. At some point I will do a tutorial but in the meantime there is a brilliant set of demo videos on YouTube which I have followed in the past. Here is part one to whet your appetite:



I am making a Christening cake this week and a wedding cake the week after so more cake posts to follow!

Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness

Picture from www.goodhousekeeping.com

Sorry for my extended absence. It wasn't planned but rather a lot has been going on recently including a family member being taken into hospital and I have been running around like a blue arsed fly with every intention to post and not a second to spare to actually do so!

While I have been away the seasons have changed spectacularly. My last post was about my camping trip. We were using suncream and seeking out the shade that weekend. Now I am looking out of the window onto trees with yellow leaves and a bright chilly Autum day.

This is my favourite time of year full of magic and festivity. Halloween is just around the corner with bonfire night hot on its heels and (dare I say it this early) the promise of Christmas is beginning to get me all excited. It's a time for making preserves and hearty soups, for lighting candles at night, for wrapping up warm and kicking up leaves with fur lined boots.

It also means that we are on a race against time to get our kitchen finished before Christmas. We have finished painting the units and have ordered reclaimed oak worktops from Lidster and Son in Devon. We have a new sink and tap, oak flooring, new tiles and wallpaper all waiting in the wings. What we don't have is time so we have a local handyman coming round to quote for doing the rest of the work which means with any luck I should have some proper before and after pics to post. Very exciting!

A Spot of Camping

Well we finally dusted down my parents old tent from the 70s and took it on a trip to Sussex. It was just a one night taster to see how the old girl fared and I have to say for a tent of her age she stood up remarkably well. I slept extremely soundly after a night sitting with friends and drinking wine under the stars. I hope to take her on some more trips very soon.

Here are a few pics from the weekend (given the authentic poladroid treatment!)

Our tent in all her retro glory
Mr Crafty taking a break

Another fine retro tent belonging to friends

Our very cosy sleeping area

A couple of members of our merry band

Lighting of the lamps
And they all gazed happily into the sunset