Frugal Finds

I love a good old plunder around charity shops, though if I'm honest I'm rarely very lucky where greats find are concerned.

For instance, I've yet to find the bin bag stuffed with vintage Laura Ashley fabric for a tenner, nor have I come across the shoe box stuffed with great granny's buttons for a quid. It just doesn't happen to me.

But occasionally I do find some real gems, especially on days when Robert has been abandoned very kindly offered to stay at home with Chloe while I go a rummaging.

On Saturday I snaffled these lovely patchwork pillow cases out from under somebody else. A lad had been looking at them and had hung them back on the rail again, but I could see her mulling it over so as soon as she turned her back I grabbed them.



Not very nice of me I know, but you snooze you loose:)



I do have a thing for the flowers, don't I.

I've also been keeping my eye out for a summer quilt or blanket for Chloe's bed. During the Summer the front of our house is baked by the sun for most of the day and Chloe's room is at the front of the house. It's not a problem if we're just pottering around the house and in the garden because I have all the windows open, but if we've spent the day at the beach and arrive home at about 6pm the heat in her can be powerful and by that time opening all the windows is like locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

I found this lovely, very light quilt (I've said before I don't do ironing, don't you judge me). It's a very pale yellow with little feather prints all over it. She really loves it and I'm hoping that because it is slightly satiny (not a word) when she turns over in bed the quilt should just stay on top of her rather than getting tangled around her and making her sweat.



Well, I hope so anyway.

And speaking of cushions.....

I've finally finished the first batch of new cushions for me:) They're mine, all mine.



It feels like an eternity since I've made something for myself so I'm a teensy weensy wee bit precious about these cushions.

Husbands who arrive home from work, kick off their nasty work boots and fling themselves onto the sofa feet and all, not to mention 4 year olds who will still occasionally wipe a stray booger on anything unlucky enough to be within arms length are in very real danger of winding up on the endangered species list, if you get me.

I've been meaning to make these for, ooh a couple of months now, isn't it amazing how easily time gets away from you, and yet what it all boiled down to was an hour or so on Thursday evening pressing and cutting the fabric and a very thoroughly interrupted 90 minutes this morning and I have six completed new cushions, plus two more covers ready to be filled.

I already looked like a mad bag lady carrying six of the inserts home on Wednesday, adding the last two would have been just pure insanity. Plus I can always collect them on Monday.

In the end I went for simple envelope cushion covers because in this house zips tend to get broken and I figure they'll last a heck of a lot longer this way.

In case it isn't immediately obvious from the photo the cushions are a pale buttermilk yellow and a soft pistachio green which are conveniently enough the very same colours I've chosen to repaint the living room eventually.

So I'm moving ever closer to my cosy welcoming home and so far I'm managing to stick to my very tight budget because I saved a bundle on the fabric.

Because my local fabric shop also carries out a curtain making service when a new print arrives in one of the seamstresses whips up a curtain so that it can be hung to display the fabric properly, but because of the limited space they only do this with the most expensive fabrics, then once they either decide they won't be reordering any more of that print or it becomes an end of line print, the curtains are taken down and popped in behind the counter out of sight.

However if you know they're there you can buy them for £3 each! Each curtain is roughly two yards of fabric and both of those prints originally sold for £22.99 per yard. Picture me with the big grin on my face. Add to that the fact I found 300 thread count heavy weight cotton sheets on sale in Makro for £6 and my new covers ended up costing me a little more than £1 each and I still have a little more than half the fabric left.

I did spend a bit more on the inserts though, but I opted for the ones that love the washing machine and tumble dryer. I have the same pillows on my bed and they've lasted years so I really can't fault them. I'd much rather spend the extra now, than end up replacing crappy inserts every few months.

I'm also working on a little something for Chloe's room at the minute which is turning out to be just about one of the cutest things I've ever set eyes on. I'm taking my time though, because I will be posting a tute once it's complete.