Photocall at The Manor House, Woodhall Spa

How exciting! 

We've been asked if we would style a wedding photo shoot 

for the newly refurbished Manor House in Woodhall Spa.

The remit is a rustic country theme, using lots of lace and hessian (burlap), wooden crates etc. 

Such a beautiful setting to be dressing... 

We can't wait... 

Autumn will be in full swing when we do the shoot, so all of the beautiful coloured trees are going to make the grounds look outstanding!

I'm borrowing bails of hay and bringing carved/inked pumpkins too, 

weather permitting we shall be decorating inside and out! 

Pop back at the end of October to see the photo's...

Vintage china table plan

The remit was for "an Autumnal table plan, that is a bit rustic and a bit vintage- using orange as a main colour"...

I used an upturned vintage apple crate and hung some pretty vintage plates that I had, on to it with "Mr & Mrs" ribbon... 

I'm really pleased with the result - what do you think?

From small acorns...

My favourite season. Autumn. 

There's so much to love about this time of the year, the colours, the smells, the sights. Like a putting to bed of the world, tucking it in nice and snug for the cold winter months ahead. 

I've always been a fan or oranges, golds and velvety reds so perhaps that's why I am happiest at this time of year. I love to style Autumnal scenes and am looking forward to doing another photo shoot this autumn with Sarah Riley, Shirley Dee and all. 

I bought some lovely wooden and gold acorns today and decided to do a couple of " mock up wedding sets" around an autumnal, woodland scene... Hope you like the pics and props I used...

Inspiration: Pinterest!, Acorns, gourds, orange satin, red berries, poppies, country checks and tweeds, trees, leaves, bark texture, toffee apples, carnival glass, leather, wooden crates, burlap...

Love these place name ideas for autumnal weddings...

Also going to get some fabric leaves that people can 

"leaf" a message on in a gold pen :-) 

and create some sort of guest book idea from them.

...and while we're on the subject of leaves just look at this lovely, simple but so effective centrepiece...

That would look fab with a light underneath it.

Also, going to attempt to make these amazing roses from leaves...

But for now, here is my take on a vintage autumnal wedding...

On the look out now for country tweeds, pictures of stags heads and other country bits n bobs to add. I've also made a buttonhole from an used bullet cartridge from clay pigeon shooting!

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Preparing the house for Autumn

Well, the leaves are (slowly) turning brown on the trees outside and with the shift we've had in weather this week, I think we can safely say that Autumn has arrived!

Mr Harry Grimwood "testing" the winter furnishings

The summer sofa covers and curtains have been changed for the cozy winter ones and cotton throws packed away and in their place wool tartan blankets strewn over the sofas.
All of those lovely spring and summer woodland walks with Mr Harry Grimwood have been worth it, as we've collected a shed full of kindling. I now need to sort them into bundles and tie with string. The kindling will then come inside along with the recycled paper bricks and logs - all ready for those lovely autumn open fires :-)

our favourite wood in the Spring

Every year I look at the pile of recycled paper logs and think "I wish I'd made more" and every year I end up making loads in September and October. I dry them in the oven when I'm cooking tea! I make them with a really cool mould that I bought on line for just £14.99 - well worth the money as it has saved me a fortune in logs and coal. You an get one from here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAPER-LOG-BRIQUETTE-MAKER-NEWSPAPER-RECYCLE-PRESS-ECO-FUEL-FIRE-BRICK-BLOCK-/330789490291 
These burn well for up to 2 hours on an open fire or in a woodburner and the great thing is knowing that they're made from rubbish post and flyers that come through the door (along with newspaper), so they are FREE !!!

 

Also time now to start making some of the (dare I saw it?) Christmas presents and decorations, so watch this blog for caramel vodka, christmas cookies and decorations to make over the next few weeks.

Top Dog Christmas Dickie Bow

 

 

 

 

 

Recycled Cozy Collar Tutorial

I brought all my Autumn/Winter clothes out of the loft this week and, because I have put lots of weight on, since gving up smoking, I now have a number of cotton fleece/ sweatshirt tops that no longer fit me. The good condition ones will go to the dress agency, to earn a few pennies to buy some bigger ones - but the others are going to be made into "Cozy Collars".

These are perfect to just slip over your head before heading out into the cold - really snuggly and warm.

 

I've put a tutorial together so you can make your own - however if you are not confident in sewing, I would be happy to make you one on commission in your favourite colours.

 

Cozy Collar Tutorial

 

First lay one of your sweat shirts out flat. cut a bib shape from shoulders to whatever size and shape you want your cozy collar to be.

 

 Trim the surplus fabric from the back as shown in the picture.

Now comes the labourious part! Cut approximately 100 circles from however many sweatshirts you wish to use. I used two brown sweatshirts - but you could use a selection of any amount/colour.

 

I used a tumbler to draw around, but you could use any size circular object. All of my circles are the same size but you can mix sizes as well as colours to give a more textured look.

 

Lay one circle on top of another and fold in half

 

Then fold in half again

(sorry not sure how those old ladies hands got in the picture!)

Then stitch each folded piece onto the collar at random intervals. Once you have stitched a few on they will "fall into" each other and give a great ruffled effect.

Continue adding the circles until the whole of the bib is covered

When finished you should have something like this...

Hoping for a chilly day tomorrow so I can wear mine!

I'm really pleased with how it came out.

Recycled, unique and cozy warm :-)