Sunday 31 March 2013

Hoppy Easter!



Wishing everyone a happy and relaxing Easter weekend!




We are going to have a quiet family lunch and a walk today. The sun is out this morning, so fingers crossed it stays that way!






If it doesn't oblige, we at least have these beautifully sunny daffodils to cheer us up!

Coco Blue

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Easter Tree (A Blogging Fail)



So, my first blog post was back in November last year, and since then the post have been fairly irregular and generally brief. The last few weeks I have been trying to make them a little more regular and to plan ahead.
With that in mind a few weeks ago I planned to do a post on an Easter Tree I was making. I collected my twigs and arranged them in a terracotta pot which I had 'aged' to take away it's shiny newness. Then I topped it with some moss and planted some spring bulbs in the pot as well.












All sounds good, right? Well here's the problem. I planted the bulbs and hung a few of my eggs and it all looked pretty good but I never found a chance to get good photos of it. Somehow other things just always got in the way. By the time this week rolled round, when I had planned to publish the post, the spring bulbs I had planted were finished blooming and although I had every intention of getting more and replanting, it just never happened.






In addition to the bulb issue, the spot I chose for the tree is in my living room in front of a wall of pictures, and, in another instance of something not being done as planned, although I hung the frames back before Christmas I only got round to putting the pictures in the frames a couple of weeks ago. Early shots I tried to take of the Easter tree show these empty frames. Later shots of the tree show the filled frames, but the spring bulbs are passed their best.






(I also thought the shots in front of the frames were distracting, so I tried photographing it in front of a bare wall, but the light that day was not good, and then it started snowing and you get the idea).





I don't really like doing things badly. I think if I were honest, sometimes I would rather not do something, than not do it well. But life doesn't really work like that, and this blog (for me at least) is supposed to be a chance to show the ways we can make the things of everyday beautiful even when they aren't perfect and motherhood is teaching me, everyday, that perfection just doesn't exist. So while I thought about just abandoning this project as a blog post and writing about something else, I thought instead I'd just post my rubbish photos and the story behind them.





And I feel I should explain my camera skills are pretty non existent as I only got my DSLR in November and haven't even managed to read the manual yet, so everything is done in the automatic settings (I know, I know, what's the point in having it etc- but I intend to learn, just when I have five minutes to myself again).

Well, I hope I haven't put (both of you) off reading this and you will still pop back next week to see if I've managed to do a proper post with better pictures!

Coco Blue

Wednesday 20 March 2013

In Search of Inspiration



For about 6 months now I have been wanting to do something with my master bedroom. It's ok as it is, but it's very blah.




 In my ideal world I would be able to start again from scratch and indulge my every passing whim with new furniture, curtains, carpet, rugs, wall paper, lighting and even change the shape of the room. In reality however, there are constraints on what can be done.

 Firstly, I will need to keep most of the furniture that is in here. I have neither the money nor the inclination to change everything, but in my fantasy this is always the ideal as it often seems harder to work a new scheme around existing items than it is to just start again. The only things which will in all likelihood go are the small bookcase and the bureau. These were put in here as cast-offs from other rooms and have done service variously as bedside tables and holder of clothes, but they don't really function well enough to justify keeping them. They are here only until new homes or replacements are found. The cot will also go in due course as my daughter now sleeps in the nursery and it just acts as a convenient place to let her play while I go about my housewifely duties.

The second big constraint is the fact that we rent. We have a very lovely landlord (I have to say this, but it is also true) who has allowed us to make some fairly big changes to the flat so far, including laying new flooring and changing fixtures and fittings in the bathroom and soon new lighting as well. But, we moved in to this flat nearly three and a half years ago and the intention was to be here for five, so while I am happy to be involved in changing things which are integral to the flat and add to it's rent-ability after we leave, I'm less willing to sink my money into something which is just to our tastes and will need to be changed for a new tenant, at this point in time.

So, with these points in mind (working with what I have, keeping the cost down and not making changes which  either can't be changed back easily or can't come with us when we move on) I need to come up with a design/plan for this room.

The starting points for me are that I want it to be restful, light and simple. I'm not a huge fan of clutter, but I like to have things around which are beautiful/meaningful to me. It's a fine balancing act sometimes!
I like the colours blue, aqua, grey and green. I like small bursts of clean colour, but otherwise I prefer my colours a little more muted. I find them more restful.

I love cushions - but my husband definitely does not. So unless I want to find a mountain of cushions and throws on the floor each night when I go to bed I need to keep the bed dressing simple.

Although I want it to be restful, I would also like to have something in here which has a bit of impact. Maybe wallpaper or pictures. I need something on the wall with the bed to balance out the very large map of Paris we have on the facing wall.

So any way, I have rambled enough and shown you pictures of a very boring room, if anyone is still awake and reading here are some prettier pictures I have found on the web to help me get a little bit more inspired.


Lovely, light and airy.

 Here
Cosy corner with chair.
Gorgeous Chandelier.

Calm retreat.

Sumptuous white bedding.


If anyone has suggestions for what I might do, or wants to share their own woes of brightening up a dull room in their home (whether rented or not) I'd love to hear about them.

Coco Blue

Thursday 14 March 2013

Easy Easter Crafts

I have a confession to make. I am a faux crafter. I like to visit craft stores, handle the goods, I even buy them, but sadly that is often as far as it gets. I love scrap book paper and can buy it by the armful, but then, once home, it languishes in a drawer. Actually, it all goes into my special set of 'craft drawers' which is full to bursting with lovely bits and bobs. Occasionally the urge to make something strikes and I go through the drawers and admire the pretty papers but then I get a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff in there and put it all back, the urge to create gone.

I'm hoping to cure this illness though and  have been challenging myself to finally use some of my supplies. I've found the trick is to pick a project without too many steps - it seems I am all about instant gratification and fuss free crafting. This is understandable perhaps as my 'free' time is limited to nap times and post bedtime these days and always with one ear listening for my 'call'. But the two Easter crafts which follow are so simple and mess free that they are finished in moments, but still leave you with that virtuous sense of having 'made' something.



First up is this lovely Easter Egg banner. (Another confession: I'm afraid this did necessitate a trip to a craft store and so didn't involve me using up anything from my stash, although it could easily be made with paper or card stock you already own and a small measure of steady handed scissor wielding. Alas, I am a recovering faux crafter but a champion shopper).





I took two packs of ready made card blanks and (this hardly needs instructions) snipped them in half, trimmed the edge and punched two holes in the top. Thread a length of ribbon through the holes and voilĂ , a lovely Easter banner. Of course if you are not quite as lazy as I am you could mix these up with all sorts of other lovely bits; traditional bunting flags, rabbits, chicks, tulips or daisies. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination, inclination and time!




The next craft (and I hesitate to call it that as it is barely a moments effort, as you will see) are these decorated Easter eggs. I can proudly say this did use up some of my stash. I took half a dozen polystyrene eggs I had left over from Easter crafts (shopping trips) of yore and some washi tape bought on a whim months ago. Put the two together and you have instant decorations. I did find with this project, that thinner tape was best on smaller eggs as it covered with less need to 'wrap' the tape to the egg form. Likewise on the larger eggs wider tape covered more quickly.



I have, in the past, decorated these eggs with the tissue paper and glue method, but it was too messy and time consuming for me to consider doing this year with a baby in tow. Perhaps in future years, when she is less likely to try to ingest anything left unattended for too long (two seconds appears to be the limit), this will be a craft we can do together.

For now, this Easter Bunny seems happy enough with my more labour free efforts.




If anyone has other insta-craft tips or ideas I'd love to hear about them!

Coco Blue


Friday 8 March 2013

Signs of Spring

It's finally March, Easter is just around the corner and this week we have even had a few lovely days of sunshine  -Spring is nearly here!

After a bout of flu struck CB HQ after Valentines day these signs of spring are more than welcome. So earlier this week I gathered together some spring bulbs and a few other items to bring a little bit springtime into our home.



 Primroses, Grape Hyacinths, Dwarf Daffodils and Hyacinths, in shades of yellow and blue, are arranged in simple white pots, straights from the kitchen cupboards. These flowers look lovely dotted around the house and fill each room with the heady scent of spring.





The little nest was inspired by this wonderful post from a blog I stumbled across last month, which is simultaneously inspiring and envy inducing (I'm pretty sure I would commit criminal acts for that kitchen).



And here's a little sneak peak at something I am making for Easter and will share soon.



Hope you have a wonderful weekend, especially all the mums out there (as this will be my first Mothers Day as a mum myself  I'm looking forward to Sunday in particular)! 

Coco Blue