Birthday Wishes and Champagne Kisses

Last month it was my birthday so it was the perfect time to receive some gifts from I Just Love It*. Of course these were treats I picked out for myself but nonetheless they were well received.

First was the 'Birthday Wishes & Champagne Kisses' Candle* which comes complete with it's own tin and would make an ideal birthday gift for anyone I think. It looks far more expensive than it's £19.99 price tag. A soy wax blend the candles scent is Toasted Marshmallow and whilst it might not necessarily be that time of year I'm really enjoy this candle at the moment. The scent fills the room even when unlit and once it's finished this is one I'll be cleaning out and re-purposing.

Sadly it does appear to be currently out of stock online at the moment but never fear I Just Love It have a large range of alternative candles, for any occasion not just birthdays. I have my eye on the Bellini Candle next.

Long term followers will know that my blogs origins lay in a love of vintage homewares so I could resist the Let's Get Warm & Toast Butter Knife*. I really enjoy and smile to myself when I use this and its definitely a gift that would make someone smile and remember you when they used it. I Just Love It has a great range of various vintage items stamped whether for Father Day or the recently married so do check them out. It's a little something different without being too over sentimental.

If you're not a fan of myself a quick look round the site will show you there is an extensive ranges of gifts for everyone and every occasion whatever your price range. It's definitely somewhere I will turn to in future when I have an event coming up and I want something that I won't fear another guest turning up with.

What item would you pick?

Please note items were gifted for the purposes of this review but no additional payment was made by I Just Love It for the review itself.

*this post contains press samples

Yellow Roses

I can't keep flowers alive for love nor money. Many a weekend I'd treat myself to a bunch of flowers to decorate my home and within hours they're a wilting mess not to mention my floristry skills aren't the best. If you've read my previous posts (link) you'll know I'm lucky enough to have a fabulous florist who makes all their arrangements with faux flowers which even I'd be hard pushed to kill. When I discovered this gorgeous vintage Victoria Plum jam jar on eBay I knew it was destined for some yellow roses which are my favourite and still look fabulous as we head into Autumn.

Are you a faux flower fan or is that the ultimate faux pas in your book?

 

Victoria Plum Doll - Where is she now?

My blogger stats tell me my most viewed post is this one about my Victoria Plum doll purchase. As it was originally posted 4 years ago today I thought I'd give everyone a little update to say that Victoria Plum is still living with me and happily sits on my bookshelf alongside my Russian Doll (a gift from grandfather when I was very young) and a box of sewing threads I kept from my great aunts belongings when she passed away.

BEDM: Book Love

Today's BEDM post is our favourite books and as will you see from the photos I have one or two favourites to talk about.
     
Hello Kitty presides over some childhood favourites of mine. Every Easter, birthday or Christmas I would be given a Beatrix Potter book to add to my collection. My Brambly Hedge and Milly Molly Mandy books bring back so many nostalgic memories, I can remember making the paper dolls just like Milly Molly Mandy did.

It's no secret to regular readers of my blog that I love Enid Blyton books and amassed a huge collection whilst living at my parents from boot sales and charity shops replacing the books I had when I was younger (which even then came from boot sales!). During the declutter of last year I paired down my collection and only kept the books that really stood out for me and if I had to pick favourites it would of course be the Naughtiest Girl in the School series.

Twinkle annuals remind me of my nan who would give me one each year (and my dad who would walk me to the local newsagents to buy the magazine, something he now does for my nephew but in his case the latests Teenage Mutant Turtle release). Unfortunately this isn't my original collection but I have managed to gather together those from my birth year and it's amazing how looking through these I can remember reading about Nurse Nancy and many others.
Mum brought me the Ivy Cottage series of books I believe from a book club as it came with an accompanying doll of the character Violet Pickles who was a fellow glasses wear like myself. I hope the dolls is floating around somewhere and just typing this out I want to have a hunt round my parents to track her down - she deserves a place on the shelf!

The Secret is probably the most influential book I have ever read and the one I will continually recommend to others, in the next photo you will have seen The Power, equally as influential. Kelly introduced me to Rhonda Byrne returning from holiday with a copy of The Secret that I actually already followed it's principles naturally, always having created wish lists or talked about things in the present even when that wasn't the case. If you have never read or do not have a copy of any of these books - BUY ONE NOW!

Atop my bookcase sits my "I want a fabulous life" manuals, The Goddess Guide books from Gisele Scanlon and How to Walk in High Heels. These books are easily picked up time and again, browsed through and a chapter read here and there.

And then finally I bring you to my treasured Rachel Ashwell books, perfect to sit with a cup of tea and admire the pretty pastel pages and floral treasures. One day I will own a beach home in Santa Monica and dress it head to toe in Shabby Chic style.

I can't wait to pick up some book recommendations from fellow BEDM-ers and would love to know what you think of any of these books, do some of my childhood favourites bring back memories and do you think The Secret is ridiculous or inspiring?

Ladybird SCORE!!

Today mum and I went to the boot sale following a clear out at home

After mum had finished reading the latest copy of Living she decided to have a walk round the other stalls and I asked her to look out for Ladybird books – unfortunately she misunderstood and returned with these modern versionsI kept laughing that she had redeemed herself a few moments later when she went for a second walk and came back with some of these which I added to on my walk round to see total Ladybird books brought today to 24Look at them all!!!!

I said I didn’t mind how much money we made personally the Ladybird books were worth going anyway!

I’m going to be uploading my Ladybird books to this flickr group and I’ve also decided to set up an Enid Blyton one here to add some of my collection to like those I picked up today

Car Boot Sale Vintage Haul #5

I decided to have a boot sale break today and instead popped into the small flea market held in our local village hall and of course managed to find a couple of things to buyI shall be keeping the tin for myself but the lace gloves (which I was told are 1950's) will be added to my friends vintage wedding basket I am putting together I hope you have all had wonderful Saturday's in the sun and can't wait to hear all the stories from those of you that went to the Vintage & Handmade fair today

Car Boot Sale Vintage Haul #4

I hope everyone had lovely long weekends, would you like to see what I got up to? Saturday I went into Cambridge with my friend, Kelly and her flower girl, Morgan to pick up our dresses for THE wedding

I’m pleased to report that my bridesmaid dress looked GREAT (if I do say so myself!) and even better fitted perfectly – what a relief! Comforted by this fact we decided to head off for lunch….

Hmmmm maybe my dress won’t fit so perfectly if I carry on eating all that cake?! After lunch we collected our dresses and caught the train home. Here’s the Bride guarding our dresses and Morgan and I showing off our new wedding shoes

And there was a bit of fun with feather boas and bunny ears on the train home although don’t panic these aren’t part of our wedding outfits! a hen party had some spare “props” and offered them to Morgan but I had to have a play!

Sunday I took myself to a boot sale and found some treasures. I think my favourite item is the sewing pattern, my mum like the knives and has “borrowed” them for now

I used to love Mrs Pepperpot stories when I was little so I was pleased to find these books and more Ladybird and Enid Blyton for my collections

I also did a few crafty things which didn’t go quite to plan but I will tell you more about those in another post!
Monday I enjoyed lunch here with my brother and his family and then returned home to prepare myself for Tuesday’s return to work

I look forward to hearing how you spent the weekend

Victoria Plum Doll

One of my favourite things to do is hunt on eBay for toys from my childhood to replace those that didn't stand the test of time

Recently I purchased this cute Victoria Plum doll that I used to have. Naturally Victoria Plum was a favourite - nothing to do with her name of course ;o) I even went to a fancy dress party as her (such a shame no photos exist although I'm sure I remember posing for them in the garden!)

Victoria Plum was the creation of newsreader Angela Rippon and wikipedia tells me:

"The character was a tree fairy in "the Great Wood". Other fairy characters - Marsha, Ben, Sugar Plum - and talking woodland creatures inhabited the fictional universe"

You can read a post on my childhood toys on my first blog here

Car Boot Sale Vintage Haul #3

I don't know what the weather's been like in your neck of the woods but Essex has been pretty miserable this weekend. Saturday morning I braved the boot sale (unlike a lot of the usual sellers) but only came home with a ladybird book and some brooches

Sunday wasn't looking too promising either and by the time I'd played with this little fella the rain had started. Instead I decided to pay a visit to a local charity shop which opens on Sundays (although not until 11am so I found myself waiting outside in the car!)

I managed to find lot's of books to bring home (sadly no Enid Blyton or Ladybird) including Twinkle annuals which I used to get for Christmas when I was little. I already have some of these but for the price I couldn't resist duplicating so I can make sure my collection is the better copy.

And my first (I think who knows what I've gathered over the years and is in boxes!) piece of utility china.

You may have seen posts on this china over at Kitschen Pink and Mrs Thrifty

I'll be uploading these images on the Utility China Flickr group shortly. (Don't forget to let me know if you're on flickr or add me as a contact). What treasures did you find this weekend?

Car Boot Sale Vintage Haul #2

Friday morning was one where all you want to do is call in sick and roll over back to bed. Instead I decided to drag myself into the office and request an afternoons holiday. At 12.30pm I happily skipped out of work with the whole afternoon ahead of me. On my way home I stopped to do a little thrifting - here's what I found
Later that evening my SIL and I went to see Coraline

It was a great film if not a little scary in parts (or maybe we're both big babies!!). We both said how peaceful it seemed and described it like reading a book . Let me know what you thought if you've seen it

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend