Category Archives: decor

DIY Geometric Feature Wall

So after sharing pictures of the wall we painted in our guest bedroom on Twitter I had an influx of people asking about how we did it, so here it is!

The fabulous thing about this geometric paint style is that it looks so cool but its actually surprisingly quick and simple to do, its just a case of knowing what you need, and what you need to do, and hopefully I’ll cover all that in this post.

So the things you’ll need:

  • Frog Tape – this is an absolute must, and this is the only thing where I feel really strongly about not cheaping out on. Regular masking tape will not give you completely clean lines as often paint will creep underneath the edges of the tape, but Frog Tape is treated with something that stops this from happening – I swear this post is not sponsored so please take my advice on this. You need the green tape (it also comes in yellow and orange, but its the green that you need for this), and for our wall we used the widest of the three sizes that B&Q keep in stock.
  • Your paint choices – we opted for 3 colours and got 1L of each, but obviously you can have as many or few colours as you like – I’ve seen similar things on Pinterest where people just paint one colour and have the lines as the statement!
  • Rollers/paint brushes, trays, dust sheets etc – y’know, the usual painting kit

Because our house is a new build, it already had a lovely fresh white wall for us to paint over, but if you’re not in the same position then make sure you paint your wall and let it dry properly before getting started on the pattern. Also don’t feel as though you have to have a white backdrop, you could do this with any colour, but if you’re going to use a darker background, you’ll want to do a coat of primer over your pattern before you start on the colours to make sure your background doesn’t show through.

So we started off by taping around the whole edge of the wall to create an outside border. This is totally optional but it gives it a nice edge and saves painful hours of cutting in so I do recommend it. Be sure to also tape around any sockets or switches.

Now the actual pattern we completely improvised. If you want to plan it before you start taping then that’s fine, but we actually were happier making it up as we went along, and the beauty of tape meant that if we did change our mind on a certain line, you just rip it back off and do it again. With a triangle pattern, the one thing I would say to keep an eye out for is that no three triangles have the same border line if you’re using three colours as we did, otherwise you’d end up with two triangles of the same colour touching, so just watch out.

Once we were happy with the pattern, we took a little bit of tape and wrote the colours on them so we could mark out which triangle was going to be which colour, again just to be sure that we didn’t end up with the same colour touching, and also just to make sure we had a good balance of the colours. Before you start to paint just double check that all of the tape is well stuck to the wall by smoothing over it all again.

Working one colour at a time, its just a case of filling in the gaps! When you’re only painting a few little shapes its amazing how much quicker it seems to take compared to painting a whole wall one single colour. Don’t worry about going over the edge of the tape a little bit with the paint, in fact you’re better off doing that to make sure you’ve filled right up to the edge of the shape.

Wait until you’ve painted in all of the colours, but be sure to peel the tape off before the paint has completely dried as this will prevent you pulling up any paint by accident with your tape. Start by peeling the pattern, and leave the outside border to last to peel, and most importantly take your time with the peeling. You don’t want to rush and end up flicking paint into the wrong section or getting tape stuck on wet paint.

Once you’ve peeled everything back off, you’re pretty much set, just allow plenty of time for the paint to dry fully before you do anything else to the wall!

 

So just to recap on the key points that I think are crucial to making this as perfect and painfree as possible:

  • Frog Tape is a must, do not risk using regular masking tape
  • You don’t have to overplan the pattern, in fact improvising can be easier
  • Peel the tape off before the paint dries completely
  • Having a border around the edge of the design saves a lot of time

For anyone wondering, we used Valspar paint in You’re Blushing, Angel’s Sigh and Petite Pirouette, as shown below:

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
12 Comments

Our First Weekend In Our New House and What We Got Done

So even though it feels like we’ve waited forever, in reality its only been 2 1/2 months since we saw our house for the first time, and on Thursday we officially completed and its now ours! We picked up the keys on Friday and the weekend has been the first phase of our moving process – I don’t actually leave my job until July 6th, so until then we’ll only be able to visit on weekends, but that hopefully means by the time we’re up there permanently, it will be mostly finished in terms of unpacking and decorating! (This is a bit of an unedited photo dump so apologies that some pictures are a bit dark)

We went up with my parents in a one car, one van convoy, both packed to bursting with the stuff we already have, and then once we’d unloaded that all into the garage, it was on to Ikea for the big furniture shop. I won’t bore you with the details, but 5 trolleys and one delivery coming on Tuesday, and we’re actually still not completely done as we realised we’ve picked up a few things in the wrong sizes and forgot a few little but key things like hinges and legs for cupboards.. As that was a fairly manual labour filled day, we didn’t build anything that night, and Matthew and I had what I believe is a traditional ‘first night in new house’ evening of takeaway pizza on the floor because we don’t have a dining table/chairs or even a sofa, and slept on our mattress on the floor because its our bed being delivered on Tuesday..

Our current living room set up

Saturday morning my parents brought round some food for breakfast; we got to use our toaster and kettle for the first time with toast for Dad and a cup of tea for my mum. Matthew and I then headed off to do a bit more shopping with Mum while we left my dad to start building some of the Ikea stuff. We hit Costco (for mainly cleaning supplies at this point), B&Q for paint and decorating bits and then went to DFS to order our sofa, which was a pretty easy job as we’ve had it picked our for ages! On our way back to the house we decided to try out our first local chippy to see how it was (a solid 7/10) and then after we’d eaten, again on the kitchen floor, Matthew and I set to work painting the feature wall in our guest bedroom. (I’ll be doing a full post on how we did this later on this week!)

Once the wall was painted, we could then build the bed in there and position all the furniture, and then my parents headed home. Matthew and I drove into Crewe for another B&Q trip, this time for paint for my office, plus some screws and wall plugs and a few other bits and bobs, and I spent the evening painting the feature wall in my office.

Sunday morning was another coat of paint in my office, then we headed back into Crewe and hit Home Bargains and Dunelm for some things for the bathroom, grabbed lunch in Nandos and headed back to the house where the Sky man had just arrived to set up our Sky box. I built all the bathroom bits, then while Matthew screwed them into the walls, I built the desk for my office and got that all set up.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing some finishing touches in the guest bedroom, which is now pretty much finished apart from a mirror needing to be put on a wall and a few other little decor additions, then tidied up all the mess into the garage.

So one weekend in, we have pretty much finished the guest bedroom and the bathroom, bar a few little details, and made a start to pretty much every other room. We still haven’t decided how we want to decorate our bedroom or the living room, but as neither have that much furniture in them right now we’ve got plenty of time to decide! If you want to see how some of these rooms looked before, check out the first look at our home here.

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
4 Comments

My January Sale Buys

January sales are a weird concept. We’ve just spent all our money showering our friends and relatives with gifts, and have been showered in return, yet the second we see a sale poster in a shop window, or a promotional email slides into our inbox, we suddenly forget our credit card bills and piles or presents and shop til we drop. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a bargain.

As you can see, the majority of my steals were homeware – including the gorgeous throw blanket that I’ve doubled as a backdrop here! Its the prettiest creamy-blush colour, not to mention being crazy supersoft, and d’you know where I got it from? Homesense, £16.99, boom. I’m also completely obsessed with this yellow neon ‘hello’ sign by Talking Tables which I got on ASOS. I had my eye on it before it went on sale, but as soon as I saw it was less than half price, it was in the bag!

Also from ASOS, I picked up two of these amazing pastel furry throw cushions for only £8.50 each, and also this Skinnydip ‘Time to Get Ship-Faced’ bag for future Disney cruises, which was also half price. This little plant pot is one of two which I got from Homesense for just £2 too!

Lastly, Matthew and I picked up some tealights and diffuser oil in Passionflower and Mango, which smells amazing! Both were half price and under £2 from Sainsbury’s of all places.

Have you managed to resist the sales?

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
6 Comments

Welcome to Our Loft

Last month I made the big announcement that Matthew and I were finally moving in together, and that we’d be turning the loft into my family home into our own little space. Well I have no idea where the last month has gone, but I’m so happy with our loft and just couldn’t wait to share it with everyone!

The loft was converted into a room for me and my sister to use when we were teenagers, but over the last few years became somewhat overlooked and needed a good old clear out and a little bit of TLC. Matthew and I spent a good few days sorting out all the accumulated rubbish, donating furniture to charity shops and taking anything that couldn’t be salvaged to the tip, and then started the mammoth job of repainting, which we still haven’t actually finished completely, but our main priority was making the room ready for us to move in, and we can patch up the paint over the coming weeks.

When you come up the stairs, first thing on the right is the window bay, which Matthew has turned into his desk area, but I also have my sewing machine set up as well as a few bits and pieces for my businesses, but I’m not much of a desk person so its really his space.

We used the sofa as a sort-of room divider, which created a bit of storage space. I’m still keeping my clothes and bits in my bedroom, so again this space is really for Matthew’s clothes – hence the little clothes rail! – but its also created a nice little display space for some of our photos and my Lego Disney castle.

While the sideboard, cupboards and TV stand were new from IKEA, we managed to save on buying a new bed and sofa as Matthew already had those so he just brought them down from Manchester, along with his TV and bedside tables.

Our bed area is probably my favourite part of the whole room. At the end of the bed we have a huge beanbag, adding to the seating around the TV, and I love that it also matched the colour scheme of our bedding – in fact the whole room is generally themed yellow, blue and grey, or Donald Duck style, as I like to call it. Our amazing bedside lamps are also IKEA, and they create so much light alone that we rarely have the main lights on in the evening.

Moving into the loft also gave us the opportunity to set up the Nanoleaf Aurora that I got Matthew for our anniversary earlier this year, and I just love it!

I’m so happy with our little space, and I’m so happy that we’re finally passed the long distance part of our relationship, and the future is looking exciting!

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
6 Comments

How to Create a Disney Inspired Desk Space

In reality, my desk is a very fluid space. It goes from my creative space, complete with sewing machine, a million pins and strewn with fabric off-cuts, to my blog photo studio, to the place I pile up rubbish I need to get off the floor, all in the space of a few hours at times.

Every now and then, however, I can bring order to my little desk, and last weekend was one of those occasions. With the help of my recent Disney Store purchases, I was inspired to create a magical little work space, perfect for any dreamer and doer.

Want to create your own? Here’s what you’ll need!

The desk lamp

Proper lighting is super important when it comes to an area that you’ll be working in – eye strain is not cool. My desk is a subtle nod to the classic Pixar lamp, but there are a tonne of cool Disney themed lights out there to match the look you want.

Adorable stationery

Can anyone honestly say that they don’t have a weakness for cute stationery? Notepads, pens, sticky notes, you name it, I’m all about it. Right now, Disney Store are absolutely killing it with some of their stationery, but there are so many places you can buy Disney inspired products on the high street and online.

My Mickey Mouse highlighters were from John Lewis a few months back, but there are similar ones now available on the Disney Store website!

All the mugs

I’m all about any excuse to buy a new Disney mug, but they’re so multi-functional! Sure, you’re gonna need a lot of mugs for drinking from while you’re busy at work, but they also make for excellent pen pots, or storage for push pins, paperclips.

Practical decorations

I’m obsessed with my new Mickey and Minnie washi tape dispenser and Mickey glove business card holder from the Disney Store, they make for great desk centrepieces but are also actually useful. You can also find practical uses for some of your favourite Disney items; how about using a Funko Pop as a paperweight?

Magical artwork

Now your desk is kitted out, bring a little magic to your walls! My desk is surrounded by Polaroid style prints of my favourite Disney trip photos from Sticky9 (who also do cute little magnets!), but there are also so many amazing Disney artists out there – try Etsy and Redbubble!

How do you bring magic to your workspace?

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
3 Comments

My Creative Space

Something that has been making me really happy recently has been my return to the world of crafting. I’ve never been artistic, but I’ve always been creative, so while I can’t draw or paint, other activities like sewing and papercraft are absolutely my jam.

In the last month, I returned to the world of sewing, and my desk is once again being used for its proper purpose, rather than a dumping ground/photo space, so I thought today I’d share my little creative space, and the supplies I keep on hand for those crafty moments!

my craft drawer

craft drawer

craft drawer

My craft drawer is in no way Pinterest-perfect, but there’s a place for everything, and everything’s in its place. I use this plastic organiser tray to separate out my little bits – buttons, patches, spare bobbins, elastic etc – as well as washi tape, bias binding and ribbons, with zips tucked in the front and spare little boxes at the back. To keep my thread spools tidy, I used wooden dowelling and Sugru to create little stands for them, and I’ve also got a stash of fabric paint, paintbrushes, pens and pencils, as well as my fabric scissors and all my stickers.

creative space

On the shelving unit next to my desk, I keep a small selection of my fabric, although there’s almost always a load of it stacked up on my desk too, depending on what projects I’m in the middle of! I also used more wooden dowelling and Sugru to make a little shelf for my bigger rolls of tapes.

sewing area

sewing space

For prettiness, I’ve got my Ikea gerberas tucked in the corner, and my watercolour castle print to match my pastel pom poms! My desk area is probably my favourite part of my room, which only adds to the happiness that being creative gives me. Watch this space for some of my creations!

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
Leave a comment

Changing with the Seasons: Winter to Spring

Its March 21st.. HELLO SPRING!

Ok, its still pretty cold right now, but Mr Sun has been poking his head out a lot more in the last few weeks, and despite having to still occasionally de-ice my car, I’m definitely starting to feel this Spring thing coming on.

So with the seasons changing, what else do we change?

SONY DSC

Scents

Say goodbye to cinnamon and winter spiced scented candles and hello to fresh floral fragrances. There’s also significantly less pumpkin spice and gingerbread smells coming from Starbucks.

Colours

Oh hi there pastels! As much as everyone rocks deep lipstick colours, the sunshine welcomes back the reign of pinks and corals, and the same goes for our clothes too.

Food

As the mince pies disappear from supermarket shelves, we obviously can’t wait for the return of Creme Eggs! Suddenly the warming soups we’ve turned to in winter are dropping off menus everywhere and being replaced with fresh salads and pastas.

Wardrobe

While we aren’t always lucky enough to put our warm jumpers away just yet, we can welcome back the idea of light layers. Of course we’re already thinking about our summer wardrobes at this point, so tights become every girls best friend as it gives us an excuse to wear those cute new dresses we snagged in the ASOS sale.

Home

Yay for fresh flowers, and excuse to buy pretty vases, am I right? Its also time to put away the extra blankets we’ve piled up on our bed over the winter months, and of course, with all this spring cleaning, we’ll be feeling like domestic goddesses!

Are you ready for Spring to begin? I know I am!

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram

 

 

Leave a comment

Dream Home with HomeLife Direct

I don’t keep it much of a secret how much time I spend thinking about my dream home, and although I write a lot of wishlists about home decor dreams, I often overlook furniture!

So when I was invited to take part in HomeLife Direct’s Dream Home Competition, I jumped at the opportunity to browse their selection of beautiful, good quality furniture, and pick out a few favourites to share!

HomeLife Direct

The products on the site are categorised by room, making it super easy to browse and visualise where your picks will fit into your home!

Now quite honestly, I’ve never really pictured my dream home with a conservatory (wicker furniture is always something that reminds me of my gran’s house!), but I had a little browse of their range anyway, and was surprised to be quite taken with the Chester Banana Leaf collection:

Chester Banana Leaf Conservatory Suite Set

I definitely picture my dream home having more of a contemporary design. I love simplicity and clean lines, so the Geo Oak range of dining room and living room furniture caught my eye.

Geo Oak Dining Set

This is the extendable dining set, and I love that you can choose your own fabrics for the seat pads to make it your own style!

Geo Oak Media Unit

There’s also a selection of matching furniture, like this media unit, and sweet drawers and tables to tie everything together. I just really like the simplicity of the design; it could fit into any home!

Finally, my favourite piece, and this is a total guilty pleasure item..

Orange Faux Leather Tub Chair

I know, I know, it probably doesn’t fit in with all the other classic items I’ve already talked about, but I love tub chairs, and this orange faux leather one is so bright and beautiful. It would be perfect to curl up in with a book!

All of the materials used by HomeLife Direct are from sustainable sources, which is a big plus for me, and they offer free UK delivery and a 12 month warranty with every product!

What furniture would be in your dream home?

Leave a comment

Disney Art Wishlist

There is so much beautiful Disney artwork out there. My collection started when I fell in love with Thomas Kinkade paintings in Epcot last summer, and I ended up bringing home a canvas box print of his Tangled piece. Since then I added to it with a Finding Nemo World of Disney print from the Disney Store, which I got for Christmas.

So today I’m sharing a few more beauties that I’d love to have in my future home!

Honey Lemon Disney Watercolor Print, Big Hero 6 Watercolor Poster, Kids Decor, Girl Room Wall Art, Not Framed, Buy 2 Get 1 Free! [No. 46-1]

After watching Big Hero Six when it came out, I immediately fell in love with Honey Lemon as she is literally me in Disney character form; I’ve never really totally identified with a single princess, but a yellow loving chemistry nerd is me to a tee.

Free Delivery

These Art of Aurora lithographs from the Disney Store are really sweet. Sleeping Beauty was my favourite princess as a kid, so I’ve got a total soft spot for anything Aurora.

Free Delivery

Another from the World of Disney collection, this Up! print would go perfectly with my Finding Nemo one.

TachaDesigns on Redbubble has the best collection of watercolour silhouettes of Disney Parks. This is the California Disneyland print, but there is also Disneyland Paris, and all of the Disney World parks, and I’d love the full set!
Main Street U.S.A.,® Walt Disney World®
thumbnail
Another few Thomas Kinkade designs from the Disney Dreams collection.. The full images are actually rectangular, but my box canvas print from Epcot was square, and I’d love a few more of those to go with my Tangled one.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow, but it seems to be turning into a wishlist week, so I’ll come up with something!
°o°
1 Comment

Disney Kitchen Wishlist

I love window shopping; its what I spend at least half of my time on the internet doing, and of all the window shopping I do, most of that is for my dream home of the future. I know that’s probably a little way off, but a girl can dream, right?

So today I’m featuring a few of my favourite goodies that add a bit of Disney magic to the kitchen!

kit

1. Mickey and Minnie Salt and Pepper Shakers from Disney Store

2. Mrs Potts hand painted teapot from Hannah’s Hut on Etsy

3. Finding Nemo Cookie Jar from Hot Topic

4. Azul Plate from Disney Store

5. Mickey Casserole Dish from Disney Store

6. Simba and Pumbaa Salt and Pepper Shakers from Hot Topic

7. Starbucks ‘you are here’ mugs exclusive to the relevant Disney Parks

For someone who doesn’t drink tea or coffee, I own a lot of mugs, pretty much all of which are Disney, so I’ve tried to avoid looking at mugs, but I’m totally in love with the Starbucks ‘you are here’ mugs. You can only get them in the park they represent, and there are six altogether as you can also get ones for the California Disneyland parks, so I’m hoping if they’re still available I’ll be able to pick up each one in January! I also dream of owning a proper Mrs Potts and Chip tea set, so when I stumbled across this beauty on Etsy, I had to add it to my favourites.

As well as great clothes, Hot Topic also has a great collection of Disney homeware. I struggle to choose favourites, but thought today I’d feature the Finding Nemo cookie jar and Lion King salt and pepper shakers.

The Disney Store obviously has a fab lot of kitchenware, and the newly released Azul Dining Collection has definitely tickled my fancy; there are dining plates, bowls, mugs etc, but they’re selling quick! I also love the casserole dish, there was a similar one in the Disney parks.

Tomorrow I’m going to do a little feature of my favourite Disney artwork 🙂

°o°

Leave a comment

Colour Outside The Lines – Valspar Paint Giveaway!

This is so exciting!

This week I’ve been working with the fabulous Valspar Paint UK as they’ve been building up for the big reveal of a huge project they’ve been working on as part of their Colour Outside the Lines campaign, and today the UK gets to see what they’ve been painting..

House_art2

This amazing work of art has been painted on the side of a building in Clerkenwell Road in Islington, London to inspire the people of Britain to ditch magnolia walls and boring white woodwork, and take up their paintbrushes to colour outside the lines, and we’re going to give you a little helping hand..

120.0029201.330

We’re offering one lucky follower a chance to win these Valspar goodies:

2 x Valspar tester pots 236ml

1 x 5L Valspar Premium for Walls and Ceilings

2 x 2.5L Valspar Primer and Undercoat

Worth over £100!

All you have to do to enter, and here’s how:

1. Follow @lottieanddisney and @ValsparPaintUK on Twitter

2. Tweet your answer to the following question: how many shades is Valspar available in? (We might have let the answer slip in our last post!). Use the hashtags #ValsparColour and #lottiedoesdisney

Entrants must be UK residents as vouchers will be sent to the winner in order for you to claim your paint!

°o°

2 Comments

I See What You Did There, Valspar..

I’m a bit of a DIY junkie. I can’t wait to move into my own place and start decorating and re-decorating constantly, and one of the things on my Disney Bucket List is to have at least one Disney themed room in my house, so this week, with the help of Valspar Paint UK, I’ve been looking at ways you can bring a little Disney into your home, without going too overboard!

The challenge I set myself, and this is going to be an ongoing series with different themes each month, is to pick out colour schemes to represent Disney films using Valspar colours, but only if the name of the colour relates to the film! You see, each of Valspar’s 2000 pre-selected colours has its own name, from the cutesy Party Pattie and Freshly Squeezed to the slightly stranger Cabbage Juice and Warm Alpaca!

Every colour can be mixed in whatever paint you need, from matt emulsion for walls to gloss for wood and metal trims, and even masonry paint, so you can throw old ideas of painting plain out the window, and colour outside the lines!

So this week I’ve taken on Disney princess films!

SONY DSC

Frozen – Cold as Ice (R191E) Frosty Aqua (R219F) Snow Flurries (R184E)

Once I found Cold As Ice, the rest of the colours came easy. Lots of the pale icy colours look great together, but I really liked the hint of purple Snow Flurries brings to the table, without being too in your face.

SONY DSC

Brave – Fiery Sky (133E) highland Loch (R193D) Shadows of Time (R220A)

The names of these colours are a little more loosely linked to the film itself, but Shadows of Time really reminded me of the magic in the movie, and Fiery Sky made me think of Merida’s fierce personality.

SONY DSC

Tangled – See the Light (R143A) Birthday Bouquet (R63C) Purple hibiscus (R50D) Lantern Glow (132C)

I actually had a fifth colour for this colour scheme called Sun Sparkle, but it was very similar to See the Light. I think the names of these are really self-explanatory, but the photo makes the colours look a little darker, they look better together in real life!

SONY DSC

Princess and the Frog – Bayou Serenade (R13C) Ribbet! (R236A) Frog Prince (R226A)

I love that all the names of these tie in together because they look so good together! Bayou Serenade would make a great main colour (grey is totally in right now), with Frog Prince as a feature wall and Ribbet! for the skirting and other features.

SONY DSC

Mulan – Ming Dynasty (R160A) Green Reflection (R225F) Samurai Fusion (R70E)

My camera’s gone a little wacky today, Green Reflection isn’t quite as light as it seems here, its a shade or two lighter than the green Mulan wears in the films. Samurai Fusion and Ming Dynasty are great feature colours!

SONY DSC

Pocahontas – Nice Tan (R114C) Soul Searching (R6F) Soul Blue (R168C)

I really like this selection; I watched Pocahontas last night so I’m feeling it right now. Soul Searching is more brown than the photo shows!

SONY DSC

Aladdin – Three Wishes (R227E) Bengal Tiger (W24C) Glistening Aqua (R128E)

Ok, so Glistening Aqua doesn’t strictly fit into the theme of the movie, but I’m sure you can say water is somewhere in the film, and the colour matched Jasmine’s outfit so perfectly!

SONY DSC

Beauty and the Beast – Bonjour (R140C) Consomme (R119C) Pain Au Chocolat (R98F)

I struggled a lot with this one as there are so many colour scheme options that could all represent the film, but I went for a French theme that incorporated Belle’s classic ballgown!

SONY DSC

The Little Mermaid – Cajun Shrimp (R72E) Enchanted Mermaid (R220C) Purple hibiscus (R50D)

Ok, so Enchanted Mermaid is the perfect name, and a great colour. I kept to Ariel’s classic look when picking out the colours, which are all very bold so perfect for playing around with artsy stripes and tape tricks.

SONY DSC

Sleeping Beauty – Sleepy Kisses (R29A) Budding Beauty (R32A) Princess heartbreak (R68E)

The camera has washed the pale pinks out a little bit, but either would make a great light wall colour, with the other for accents and skirting and Princess heartbreak as a feature wall.

SONY DSC

Cinderella – Daydream Believer (R61B) Little Glass Slipper (R171E) Periwinkle Dream (R159E)

Little Glass Slipper, come on! I was half expecting to find a colour called A Dream is a Wish, but no luck so I settled for two more dreamy colours that look perfect together.

And I totally failed with Snow White, but mainly cos I totally spaced and forgot about her!

If I’ve inspired you, keep an eye out for our next post and you could win your next decorating project!

°o°

Leave a comment

Sea Shell DIY

In keeping with this week’s Little Mermaid theme, I’ve been crafting away with sea shells.

Shells are a great craft supply; if you live near a beach, you’ve basically got a free supply right there and a lot of fancier seafood you can buy from the supermarket comes with shells now too. Cleaning them up is easy enough with hot soapy water in the sink, but you can also put them in the dishwasher too!

So here are just a few quick little DIYs to add a little under the sea to your home!

 First of all, you could spray paint them..

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Or turn them into cute hair accessories..

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Or miniature trinket boxes..

SONY DSC

Or fill a decorative vase..

SONY DSC

Or make into cute little tealights..

SONY DSC

And large shells would make a great jewellery dish..

SONY DSC

Or key dish..

SONY DSC

Or even a soap disc..

SONY DSC

°o°

Leave a comment

DIY Tangled Inspired Lampshade

This has been a working progress for months now, only cos I can be lazy and unmotivated, but I’m so happy to have finished this..

SONY DSC

I’ve also really struggled to get a good photo, but it looks better in person, promise!

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

It was super easy to make, all you need is a lampshade (preferably a plastic lined one), a needle, and a template/artistic talent!

I printed off the images that I wanted, and while holding them in position with sewing pins, used the needle to make holes along the outlines.

SONY DSC

Although its a little fiddly, you’ll get the best results working on the design from inside the shade (poking the needle through to the outside) because the lining will pucker outwards, making the light shine through better.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

With no light, it looks pretty sweet..

SONY DSC

And then BAM!

SONY DSC

°o°

Leave a comment

So I’m a bit of a collector..

Disney girl (noun) – a special kind of female who’s life is controlled by a major love of all things Disney. Symptoms include spontaneously bursting into song, a need to bring Disney into all aspects of day to day life, and a serious hoarding problem for Disney collectibles.

SONY DSC

So this is the start of my collection of collections: models, figures and tsum tsums. I’ve had some of these for a few years now, but I’ve only really just got round to getting a proper unit that I can display them on.

SONY DSC

The top makes the perfect stacking space for my Tsum Tsums. I hate how they’re not available in the UK yet, but its been announced they’re coming soon (eek!), so until then I’ll have to stick to eBay. I have two medium sized Tsums and 13 minis, 8 of which are Halloween edition.

SONY DSC

Also on the top are my Wikkeez. This collection started off with my mum buying me a packet, and although at first I wasn’t entirely sold, I’m ashamed to say I now have 20 out of 51 available!

SONY DSC

So then comes the vinyl shelf: Vinylmations and Vinyl Pop figures. My Vinylmation collection began in 2010, although grew massively thanks to my 2014 Disney World trip. The collection includes one 9″ figure, a few Star Wars themed, some Mystery Bakery figures, one variant and one chaser: Mr Toad.

I’m relatively new to the Funko Pop scene. I decided I’d rather build up my collection one film at a time, but I’m not sure how well I’ll stick to that over time; I really want Wall-E and Baymax soon!

SONY DSC

Lego runs in my family, and I have an enormous collection, but only two sets of the recently introduced Disney Princess range: Rapunzel’s Tower and Merida’s Highland Games.

SONY DSC

I know its designed for kids, so I’ll overlook that the builds are really quite basic, with lots of pre-formed pieces, but they’re sweet little sets all the same.

SONY DSC

Then there’s my little R2 unit. I built him in Once Upon a Toy in Downtown Disney; you pick your own body, arms, head and Mickey ears or novelty hats to create a unique little droid!

SONY DSC

And Olaf.. Olaf is a handblown glass ornament who came from the Arribas Bros shop on Main Street USA. My super sneaky parents bought him, and got him back to the UK without my knowledge so he could be my birthday present; he’s super sweet!

SONY DSC

So yeah, just a measly collection..

In the weeks to come I hope to share more aspects of my Disney home, including artwork, homewares etc 🙂

°o°

2 Comments

Giving Ikea furniture a DisneySide

So its DIY Friday, instead of Wednesday this week due to a mix up in my work shifts. I’m also sharing a bit of my DisneySide, which I’ll follow up tomorrow 🙂

Nevertheless, the posting must go on! And as Fantasia is a bit of a jumble of a film, I struggled to find anything specifically from the classic to settle on for a DIY, but as I’ve spent my whole week honouring the main mouse himself, I thought I’d concentrate on him, and share my latest addition to my Disney bedroom. As part of my new craft/Disney area, I bought some basic shelving units from Ikea (I really love that place), but I wanted to add some hooks on the side, and also Disney it up a bit, and managed to kill two birds with one stone..

SONY DSC

I have a huge Vinylmation collection, so I bought some cheap, damaged models on eBay (I’d never use a good one, I’m too much of a collector), and spray painted them white to match the unit. I used project enamel because its designed for use on all kinds of materials, it dries quickly and has a good finish.

SONY DSC

Depending on the original colour, it can take 2-3 coats, and be sure to let it dry properly on each side before flipping it to do the other. Once dried, work out how you’d like to arrange your figures, marking if point if you find it easier, then carefully apply superglue to the back of the head and feet.

SONY DSC

Then place the figures into position, holding them in place for a little while to allow the adhesive to bond properly. Superglues are instant adhesives, so begin to hold straight away, but you’ve got a minute or so during which you can re-position them.

SONY DSC

And while the glue set quickly, you should ideally leave it overnight to 24 hours before hanging any weight from them.

SONY DSC

°o°

1 Comment

So today I Tsum-Tsum’d my car..

If you don’t know what a Tsum Tsum is, google it now, thank me later. If you have an iPhone, download the game and see how quickly you get addicted (took me about a minute).

So my Tsum Tsum addiction is fairly deep set now, so when I was browsing Etsy for Disney goodies I instantly fell in love with these vinyl decals from SkinDR:

Tsum Tsum Minis Inspired Vinyl Decal Laptop Wall & Vehicle Art : Japanese Skin Sticker Stack Stack + Free Shipping!

I’ve been looking for a way to Disney-fy my car some more for ages; I have a Mickey aerial topper, but you can never have too much Disney, so these were perfect!

I ordered the mini-sized decals. You can buy them in black or white and individually, 5, 10 or all of the designs, but for me there was only one real choice: ALL. After arriving well within the estimated time, I set about applying them. They come individually so you can choose your own layout, which was perfect because it meant I could fit them around the shape of my rear window, like so!

SONY DSC

The application was so easy, and there’s a helpful video tutorial if you need extra guidance, but really it was as simple as peel, stick, scrape, peel!

SONY DSC

Ta-dah! I’m actually missing Pluto here, a small error, but really quickly resolved with great service from the shop owner, so he’ll soon be added to my little stack 🙂

SONY DSC

I can feel a fresh addiction forming..

SONY DSC

And Mickey and Chip love them too!

These sweet stickers would brighten up anything from tech to appliances to furniture; I challenge you to find something they wouldn’t look totally adorable on, so really you’ve got no excuse not to buy some!

°o°

Leave a comment

DIY Pocahontas Bedding

Posting a DIY a day late to disguise that I’ve been too busy this week for a Foodie post, ssh!

Another bedspread; working while inspiration is high!

photo 2 (6)

Yep, Pocahontas style!

So it just so happened that I already had a reversible brown and blue duvet set, ace! By folding over the top to show a little blue, it creates a duvet ‘necklace’, and you can opt for brown pillowcases (above), or black (below) to match her hair.

photo 3 (5)

And I came across this fab Colours of the Wind throw pillow on Redbubble, just to top it all off!

photo 1 (6)

°o°

1 Comment

DIY: Mickey Mouse Bedding

This week was a little crazy so I combined DIY Disney Wednesday with DisneySide Saturday.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how to bring more Disney magic into your life, and the most important place in your life is home (or Disney World!), so that’s where I decided to start!

A sad but true fact about Disney is that official merchandise, and even some unofficial merchandise, can be expensive 😦 I was looking into bedding, a guilty pleasure of mine, and the only real options for double beds are designs from independent artists on sites like Redbubble, which although amazing are around £60+shipping, ouch! So I took a little inspiration from fellow blogger Kayleigh and her DIY Disney bikinis, and realised I could do it myself; slightly less impressive, but the options are infinite if you’ve got the imagination, and leave a considerably smaller dent in your bank account!

But where to start?

Where it all started, obviously: with a mouse.

SONY DSC

There are tonnes of ways you can get Mickey’s style. I went for the classic: black mouse, red shorts, white gloves and yellow shoes, you don’t get more Mickey than that!

 I came across black and red reversible duvet cover on Amazon (two birds, one stone), and teamed it with my yellow fleece throw from Ikea, because who doesn’t love a £3 throw?!

SONY DSC

The pillowcases were a mini project: I bought plain white pillowcases from my local supermarket, and added the design of Mickey’s gloves on using black fabric paint and a basic elongated oval template. I think they add a nice touch and were really easy to do, but plain white pillowcases would work just as well.

Then of course you can cover the bed with all your Disney stuffed toys, tsum tsums and pillow pets!

Leave a comment

Personalised Disney Chopping Board

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know I’m a big fan of Etsy shopping. Not only is it packed with a load of fabulous vintage and handmade items, a whole lot of them are Disney related, so what’s not to love?!

sop

So I was browsing through Disney kitchenware when I stumbled across some cute Disney chopping boards from Katez Kreationz, so I quickly popped it onto my favourites list and continued browsing. Not long after, Katherine (the shop owner) sent me a message offering me 40% off my first order, how could I resist?!

message

And then I found out about Katherine’s shop background.. She plans to be the first Canadian Female under 30 to run a marathon in every US state, and all her profits straight towards her charity marathons as she doesn’t have a sponsor.

It was a tough decision, but I settled on her Mickey Mouse design. All the chopping boards are woodburned by hand onto 100% bamboo, all can be personalised with captions or messages, and if you don’t like any of her designs (not that you wouldn’t, I want all of them!), you can ask her very nicely for a custom!

board

Once I made up my mind and added my personalised caption, all I had to do was pop in the discount code I had been sent and bam! 40% off!

Now, you’d expect a handmade, personalised item to take AGES to be ready for shipping, right? Nope. My item was shipped the next day, along with a lovely message letting me know that my purchase is going towards the Leukaemia Lymphoma marathon in San Diego 🙂

And only 10 days from my purchase..

SONY DSC

It’s here! 😀

Leave a comment