My Bargain Blanket Box

Whilst looking for things for my room, somebody told me about a blanket box that they were selling. I am always wanted a blanket box as they are such versatile pieces of furniture. Not only can you store things in them, but you can sit on them, stand on them and generally abuse them and they will stand up to pretty much anything!

This particular blanket box is from Laura Ashley, and is made of solid wood. A new blanket box of this size would cost in the region of £425, however I am now the proud owner of one, for the grand total of £35! It had a few bumps and knocks, and one of the inside chains was broken, but with a few tweaks, it is now as good as new. All the little imperfections only give it more character, and the fact that it has been recycled into a piece that somebody else will love is a fantastic example of the Make Do and Mend mantra that so many are trying to live by today.

Bedroom Renovation - Before...

Insert appropriate exclamation of shock. Bleurgh! Or Yuck! spring to mind. These are picture of my room min-renovation. We were just in the process of removing all of the furniture so we could put the dust sheets down and start painting.

As you can see, the walls are a delightful shade of duck egg blue and dark pink, and nothing really matches. However, we didn't get rid of any of the furniture, and pieces were tweaked and re-designed so that they would fit in with the new scheme. The single bed has been swapped for a double, and a new carpet has been laid. The small wooden cupboard has undergone a complete re-vamp, and the wardrobes all have new knobs.

In my next few posts I'll show you how I achieved many of my interiors projects, and then show you how my room looks now...

New Room Plans

Since finishing university, my first big project was to design my new room. I started my inspiration with my colours, and chose calm, country chalky paints from the Farrow and Ball Range for inspiration. I love sage green for it's restful quality, and grey is such a classic and timeless shade, that it works well in any scheme.

The next few images show the inspiration that I found in various interiors magazines, focussing on my colours and the country style that I wanted. Texture and pattern is key to this trend, against a neutral background it is important to have some interest in the textiles, paint finishes and decorations.

The image above shows a very neutral cream colour scheme, but the different textures make it beautiful and restful. I love the wallpaper and also the cupboard with it's stone coloured paint and white details, and also the fact you can see the linen inside though glass panels.

I found these two schemes in a magazine, and decided to combine elements of both of them, the classic grey in the 'Elegant Country' and the green and florals from the 'Cool Country'. The images below show the schemes in different rooms.

'Elegant Country'

'Cool Country'

I loved the use of colour in this room, especially the use of the black and white ticking stripe chair against the chalky green and florals. It's a bold statement, but brings the country theme right into the 21st Century.

'Natural Elegance'

This beautiful bed room, again with a cream base colour, has been lifted with fabric textures like embroidery, a beautiful seagrass carpet and the pale wood of the four-poster bed. This image instantly appealed to my sense of a beautiful, snugly and comfortable bed, and the vintage country appeal shows through in the bed linen and cute jointed teddy.

'Pink and White'

The colour scheme of pink and white is perhaps the most quintessential colour palette for the Country style, it has enveloped to envelop a whole spectrum of pink, ranging from the lightest cherry blossom, through to bright fuschia pink.

Birthday Flowers

To compliment my cakes and the venue, I decided that I wanted small floral displays on the tables along with the candles. Whilst visiting The Pudding Parlour I picked up the business card for a local florist Kirsty Austin of Peony Flowers, and rang her to discuss a meeting for my ideas.

I wanted to create an English Country Garden venue at the party and decided to use only flowers that were in season at the time, such as roses, lavender, rosemary and ivy. Kirsty suggested certain types of roses, Amnesia, Cezanne and Cream Spray, to fit in with my vintage theme, and they truly were the most beautiful roses, perfect for the aesthetic of my party.

Amnesia roses are gorgeous full roses with a beautiful deep dusky pink centre. The outer petals have a faded sepia or yellow tinge to them, giving a truly vintage feel to any arrangement.

Cezanne roses have a bright pink tinge to the edges of their cream petals, so give a shot of colour to an otherwise plain flower.

We also used Lavender and Rosemary in the vases to add fragrance to the room, and as the room became warmer throughout the evening they gave off a beautiful fragrance.

To display the flowers, I settled on a very cheap but pretty way, and decided to use old jam jars. I asked friends and family to collect jars in many different shapes and sizes, and ended up with 15 beautiful and free glass vases! To decorate them I used several lengths of ribbon that I bought from Northampton Market for £1, and wove it together with raffia string to tie around the necks.

The small bouquets were made up with a mixture of the roses and herbs, and then and tied with ivy to be placed in the jars. We dotted them around on the tables, and they made excellent presents to give away at the end of the night to friends and family that had helped with the party.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to take any actual pictures of the flower arrangements, but you can see one in the background with the cakes!

6 of the Best...Inspirational Bakeries

1. The Little Venice Cake Company

As mentioned previously, Mich Turner is a fantastic baker and icing artist, and I would recommend any aspiring cake decorator to purchase her book, Cake Masterclass. Not only does she include basic techniques and recipes, but she provides step-by-step directions of how to re-create some of her signature masterpieces.

http://www.lvcc.co.uk/

2. Peggy Porschen

Beautiful, exquisite girly creations that range from wedding cakes to mini cakes and cookies. She has written several books on how to make her creations from her small cakes and cookies to beautiful tiered cakes for Romantic occasions. A fantastic baker for all those who love pretty and floral designs.

http://www.peggyporschen.com/

3. The Cake Parlour - Zoe Clarke

A whole range of stunning designs, all under the stylish silhouette of a lady holding her cake stand. There are a large selection of designs from confections and desserts to her beautiful wedding cakes. Zoe has written several books, that show you how to create some of her inventive, stylish and classic designs at home, even involving the kids in some of the decorations. You can also learn the tricks of the trade in person by enrolling on one of the cake courses.

http://www.thecakeparlour.com/our-story/

4. Maisie Fantasie by May Clee-Cadman

Stunning and classic wedding cakes mixed with beautifully modern design twists. Her designs range from wedding cakes, cupcakes cookies, to Birthday and party cakes, each one personalized with the client in mind. Her cookies make beautiful favours for guests, and every design is made with the best ingredients possible with tasty and unusual fillings and icings. They also sell their own range of cupcake wrappers, so you can make your own creations look even more delicious and professional.

http://www.maisiefantaisie.co.uk/

5. Lola's Cupcakes

From experience, some of the most delicious cupcakes I've ever tasted! A delicious mound of creamy butter icing perched on top of a moist spongy cupcake, with the trademark colour coded ring to show the flavour. They come in standard and also mini sizes, great fun for trying as many different cupcakes as you want! The 'Making Cupcakes with Lola' recipe book is now available to buy and shows you how to bake the signature flavours as well as a few more unusual tastes, Full of hints and tips, you may soon be able to perfect that perfect cupcake swirl.

http://lolas-kitchen.co.uk/index.html

6. The Primrose Bakery

A jewel in the heart of Primrose Hill and Covent Garden, The Primrose Bakery started out selling simply their beautiful cupcakes. Now, due to popular demand, they have introduced many more capes and pastries to their Bakery, now selling layered cakes, Lollipops and Wedding Cakes. Their new application for iphone, available to download from the App Store, features 70 of their recipes.

http://www.primrosebakery.org.uk/index.php

Cake Decorating for my Birthday

For my 21^st birthday last June, I decided that I wanted a party, and also that I wanted to make the cake! I’ve always wanted to try my hand at cake decoration, and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to develop a new skill that would not only look good but be utterly delicious at the same time.

One of my birthday presents was a book called Cake Masterclass by Mich Turner, which I used for all of my experiments, and also for the tutorials of how to make the decorations. If you haven’t heard of Mich, she is the sugar paste genius behind the Little Venice Cake Company. To look at her fabulous creations and drool just a little bit, follow this link to her website.

http://www.lvcc.co.uk/

Unfortunately, time did not allow me to make all of the cakes before the party, so I took my ideas to a local bakery, The Pudding Parlour in Yardley Hastings. Based in a beautiful rural location, not only is The Pudding Parlour a joy to visit, but the cakes, puddings and pastries made my Denise and her team are simply delicious. For pure decadence try one of her cupcakes, loaded with chocolate butter icing, sprinkles, glitter and the odd chocolate bar, or her amazing brownies in many different flavours such as Smarties, Oreo and After Eight mint. For more information on The Pudding Parlour, follow this link to the website.

http://www.thepuddingparlour.co.uk/Main_Page.html

After a consultation with Denise, we decided that she and I would both make 20 decorated cupcakes, and she would also make me a plain iced chocolate cake that I would then decorate. Enthused and excited I set about baking and decorating my first ever batch of cupcakes, and as you may agree from the images below, I think they turned out rather well!

The Icing Decorations Drying

Top Tip: Let the pieces dry on a foam sheet, as this allows the air to circulate and dry them thoroughly.

The Assembly of the Decorations

Top Tip: Draw out your designs first, so you know exactly how many pieces you will need.

The First Finished Design

The Second Finished Design

All 20 Finished Cupcakes

Top Tip: Do not store cupcakes in a completely airtight container. As the moisture from the cake itself escapes, it has nowhere else to go but into your icing decorations, and this will make them soft and fall apart.

Decorating the Main Cake

Top Tip: Place the Cake on a cake stand and try and get down to eye level when piping, as this will make it easier to turn and see your design developing.

The Finished Main Cake with its Ribbon and Lace band

The Cakes at the Party Venue

A Close-up of the cupcakes, showing a mixture of my designs and the cakes from the Pudding Parlour.

Top Tip: An eclectic mix of cake stands and plates makes a gorgeous vintage-style display.

Patchwork

As a compulsive nest-maker, I delight in a good snuggle, and nothing says comfort and cosiness quite like a patchwork quilt. After my success with the Bunting, I wanted to try my own hand at patchwork, and decided to start with a quilted bed runner. I collected pieces of fabric that I had had for years, silk remnants from my prom dress that my mother had made for me, pieces of fabric from Totnes, fabric left over from when I covered my headboard and a lovely soft blue gingham brushed cotton that I bought at the Knit and Stitch Show in London. Stuffed with wadding and simply sewn down the straight lines, I was very pleased with my bed runner. However, contemplating my toasty toes one night, I was struck with the sudden need to make my next project bigger and better.

So I decided to make an entire patchwork quilt. Again using remnants of fabric, including a cotton sheet of my grandmothers that has survived for half a century (oh what a true testament to Make Do and Mend!), I pieced together a quilt of my own, complete with appliqué hearts. On bringing it home one Christmas to complete, we stretched the top patchwork layer out on the floor, and found that it covered half of the lounge, whoops!

So what was supposed to be big enough to cover a double bed has now ended up generously covering a King size. However, it’s fabulously warm and what’s even more special, is that I can tell you where every piece of fabric came from, and its story.

Bunting Designs

As my handmade fabric bunting was the catalyst to design and create this brand, I thought I would share a few designs with you. The first two strings were made from fabric that I found in Totnes, Devon, and will always remind me of a fantastic family holiday and a town that I absolutely love.

As my love for Bunting started to grow, I began to experiment with different designs, sizes and fabrics and developed a whole range of designs from small flags, plain flags and embroidered, beaded and buttoned flags. My designs now all come in several different lengths, sizes and decorations, all priced accordingly, and below you can see just a few of the strings I have made.

The design on the bottom right was designed for valentines day and features a colour scheme of red and white, with decorations such as embroidery, felt hearts, lace and organza ribbon. My favourite embroidered pink floral design on the top left is currently hanging in my bedroom.

The sketchbook that you see on the right in the middle is a little black Moleskine book that I take with me everywhere. It's where I record all of my ideas for projects, inspirational imagery and fabric swatches and I'm sure it will make many more appearances in my blog, so keep an eye out for it!

The Little Bunting Brand

First of all I want to share with you how the name Little Bunting came about. The idea to create a shop came from my strings of bunting that I began to design and make in my spare time during my Fashion Studies degree. The idea began to grow as I thought of more new ideas, and soon developed into an entire brand. Below are some pages from my portfolio to show you how my ideas developed into the blog you see today.

Below are the original drawings that I put together for my logo. I wanted something cute but memorable, not too complicated but stylish, and I think I achieved it with my simple Adobe Illustrator line drawing. I used watercolours and sketching pencils to create a more realistic Bunting, but I love the simplicity of the line drawing.

I then decided to design the other promotional elements that would make up my brand, and soon the idea developed to include business cards, receipt cards, bags, product tags and chalkboards. I have always loved the nautical style, and incorporated this aesthetic into my brand with weathered white boards as the background and an aquamarine blue and sandy yellow for the main colours.

The shop design followed, and below you can see my ideas for both the interior and exterior of the shop. Again drawing strongly on a nautical influence mixed with country charm, the interior exudes a kind of country beach hut, filled with white wood furniture, seagrass carpets and ticking stripes.

Did you Know...?

Decorative Bunting: A row of flags made from fabric, paper, plastic or other material that is used for decoration at various events. Very popular for use at street parties, will you be getting yours out for the Jubilee?

Nautical Bunting: A collection of flags, particularly those of a ship, are known as Bunting. The officer responsible for raising flags in communication was known as ‘bunts’, and this is a term still used for a ship’s Communication Officer today.

Little Bunting: A Bunting is also a bird, and is a family related to the American Sparrows. They are primarily found in Europe, Africa and Asia and travel long distances during migration. There are many different species of Bunting, and these include Reed Bunting, Lapland Bunting, Corn Bunting and Little Bunting!

Welcome to Little Bunting!

Hello, and welcome to Little Bunting, the blog covering a whole variety of different subjects, based in the county of Northamptonshire. I hope to inspire you to hunt out and support your small local businesses and find something you love. There is such a wealth of talent and ideas out there, it only seems right that we experience as much of it as possible.