Thursday 2 December 2010

Bits and bobs and lollipops

I don't know why I said that, it doesn't even rhyme properly, lol, but the lollypop bit just popped up when I typed the bits and bobs bit. I blame it all on too much snow.

Snow. Ah. We have even more of the stuff today. LOADS more. This was at 6.30am this morning -

And a little bit later this morning, Poppy going completely loopy in the garden. That girl just loves the snow -
Playing hide-and-seek, tehehe -

Digging for... errmm, no idea -

Remember the pic of the table and chair from yesterday? The soft little cushion and tablecloth of snow? It tripled in thickness overnight! -


I so love watching the birds in the garden, DH and I spent ages this morning giggling at their antics.


Ok, thats enough snow, cold and white. Now for something warm and pink! Ok, so its not warm yet, but it is most definitely the most delicious shade of pink, and you can use the contents to make something nice and warm - a cup of tea! This is the beautiful tin of LADUREE tea which I won from Janet at shabbyfufu a little while ago. Isn't it just gorgeous?


It will look fantastic in our cottage in France.

Whats next? Ah yes. I really have been taken with the sweet little bottlebrush trees in delightful pastel shades, which have popped up all over the American blogs which I follow. Most of them had been bleached, hand dyed and glittered, and they looked fabulous. Could I find little bottlebrush trees here in the UK? Anywhere? Pffftt. I searched for the dinky little green trees everywhere, in town, on the net, no luck. Until I went to a garden centre. And there they were, tiny little green bottlebrush trees! Oh the joy, lol. Only one size, tiny, but hey, they were bottlebrush trees! So I chucked the little green trees into a bowl with bleach and water -


It worked, here they are, still unadorned, unglittered, just bleached -


And while I was at it, I put in a piece of burlap as well to see how it would turn out. I love it in its natural dark colour as well, but I wanted something lighter, so that it would look a little bit less rustic. I am really pleased with the colour after bleaching -


I was photographing these things on the table where I keep two of my inspiration baskets. What are they? They are two baskets where I keep my much loved treasures from two very dear blogging friends, Dorthe and Alexandra -


I have some crafting to do this evening, and now I have to prepare dinner, so off I go!
Toodlepip xxx

27 comments:

Sarah - Red Gingham said...

Now the table looks hysterical!! What do you do with the car when it's covered in so much snow? I can't believe it has snowed so much so quickly! How amazing.

I'm interested in your bleached trees. I'm not sure I'd be able to do that to them when they look so cute green. I bet you make them look amazing after you've worked your magic on them.

Sophie - Chez Sophie said...

Your dog looks like she is loving the snow, our cats are a little unsure about it but come to think of it so would I be if it was higher than I was. They keep burrowing through it, It's quite funny to watch. I love your inspiration baskets and the bottle brush bleaching is genius!
Luv Sophie xxx

Elizabethd said...

Your litle trees took me quickly back to childhood, when we used to find them in the shops ready for Christmas table decorations.

Terri said...

Oh my! That is a ton of snow!
Your bottle brush trees have turned out well. I have been meaning to do a little video about how easy they are to do, I did a bunch of them last week and they all turned out good. They are fun arn't they!
I too had to look around to find them, especially in bigger sizes. I am still looking for a tall one.
Hugs,
Terri
Oh, Poppy looks like she is having so much fun..my doggies go crazy in the snow too.

Jean Franks Beck said...

Wow, I had no idea you could bleach out those little trees! They look wonderful, as does the burlap.... suddenly pretty. Thanks for the tip, and have fun in the snow! (I'm sooooo jealous!)

Salma said...

dear liz!

oh i really love the street you live in! it looks so romantic and is just what comes to my mind when i think of "british streets" *gg*

happy shovelling? to be honest, i really enjoyed the first three times... but right now i just don't know, where to put all the snow! i'm running out of space *lol*

i could build a whole army of snowmen... *g*

have a nice evening!
salma

Dorthe said...

Dear Liz, I love being in your basket, how wonderfull ,to know :)
The snow masses are the same in DK- also the same is the bottlebrusch trees...no one to find --and I did not have the luck as you did !!!
The tea box, is FANTASTIC,-love pink, you know..I would keep that, too alwayes filled with yummy tea.
Love, Dorthe

LiLi M. said...

Ah that Ladurée tin! I love their packages, but I think it is so expensive, I just cannot buy a bag full of lovelies! Hey I'm Dutch!. We have snow up here too, but I think not as much as you, but it is icecold thanks to the arctic wind. Good to see that at least one living soul loves this weather (no it is not me!).

GerryART said...

Love your trees! ! ! ! !
Not so much your SNOW ! ! ! !
I am just not ready for winter yet.

Holiday Hugs,
Gerry

Lyn said...

what a lot of snow you have, makes ours look pathetic!
great post! love the game of hide and seek!
love
Lyn

Heidi said...

I love what you did with the trees, what a great trick and your view out the window was beautiful!
I just had to follow along!

Sonya Badgley said...

Do you prefer Liz or Lulu?
Wow! That's a LOT of snow! Poppy is just adorable in the snow! It's so much fun to watch them go insane in the snow, isn't it?
I just love that tin that you won.I love the color.
I have a few of those green trees too that I've picked up at garage sales. Yes, they are very hard to find anymore. I love the color that they turn out to be after you bleach them.
And I just want to dig right into the baskets to look at all your treasures.
Stay warm!
Sonya

Sissie's Shabby Cottage said...

Hi Liz,
I love your post today. The snow scenes are beautiful and your sweet Poppy running around enjoying it, is so cute!

Enjoy crafting. I wouldn't mind getting into those two baskets myself. I bet they are full of goodies.

hugs
Sissie

Vicki said...

These pics are just lovely! I bleach my trees and fabrics too. I've also used acrylic paint and water to dye the bottle brush trees fun colors. Those baskets full of goodies are yummy!

Serenata said...

Your dog looks like she is really enjoying the snow, aren't they fun to watch?

Your basket of crafting goodies looks great and such fun as well.

Looking forward to seeing the finished trees.

Anonymous said...

LOL! Holy Moly! You all sure are buried under the white stuff! And you aren't equipped over there to handle so much! Have you seen any reports about the Buffalo NY area and the lake effect snow they've had? Wowsers! Talk about winter saying "hello" to all of you! Send some here if you don't want it.
Hugs!
Diane

Home and Heart said...

So many wonderful things to look at!! You can also get cheap bottle brushes at the dollar (pound?) store. If you have them, or baby section of a store. Cut them to shape with scissors. VIOLA!!

Cindy Adkins said...

Oh my goodness...so much snow!!! And beautiful pics!!I love your trees...they're precious!!!
XO

Rebecca said...

Wow Liz you have a lot of snow!!! Beautiful, and the dog is a trip. too funny.
Your bottle brush trees turned out perfect, they are so fun. I can't believe you can't find any over there, most of the old Christmas was made on your side of the pond, strange.
I hope you dig out soon
Blessings
Rebecca

Julia @ Vintage with Laces said...

We have a little bit less snow than you but after a few days I'm already having enough of that white stuff. With that travel chaos everywhere, I doubt that there will be a lot dealers at the antique fair today, sniff. At least your dogs have some fun :-).
It's great that you could find some bottle brush trees. Last year I could get a few but this year I haven't seen them anywhere. The Laduree box is very pretty.
Have a great weekend, dear Liz!
xoxo,
Julia

Victoria - Florence and Mary said...

Hope you have a cosy and warm weekend,

Victoria x

My Creative House said...

Oh Liz your dog looks so cute and happy in the snow, your bottlebrush trees looks so lovely after you have changed them, great idea.
Hugs Anni

Rustique Gal said...

Liz, I can't believe all your snow! The cars look like marshmallows. I LOVE the bleached christmas trees and burlap. The trees are just adorable in that shade. I will try that too. I hope you are enjoying getting ready for the holidays!
Hugs,
Sherry

debi lynn mattingly said...

That is A LOT of snow, very pretty though. Just glad is not here where I am! Down here on the bayou, if we got that much snow we all would think the world had come to an end! :)

LOVE what you did with the little trees! Can't wait to see what you do next!

thanks again for playin' at the Yaya...just never know you might be the next winner!

xo...deb

Debra said...

Liz, I didn't realize you got so much snow there! I come from the land of cold and snow(minnesota)and the older I get the less I like it, though it is nice for Christmas. Love the bottle brush trees, especially the color they turn!

Anonymous said...

Ms. Liz....check out the photo on my blog today of THE CHOPPER! ;-)
Hugs, Diane

Alexandra said...

Wow soviel Schnee hatten wir nicht. Das sieht ja irre schön aus. Bei uns ist er inzwischen wieder fast geschmolzen :/
Ich wünsche dir was
liebe Grüße Alexandra