Charity Shop Booty...Pat The Bunny Book Set

Not much time for shopping this week but I did manage to find this really great "Pat The Bunny" book set. Recently, a good friend asked me about book recommendations for her 9 month old daughter. I know her daughter is a bit young for this set but (IMHO) I think these books are classic for young children so I had to pick it up for her.

Little miss loved exploring all the textures and the stories themselves are very sweet as well. I hope my friend's baby will enjoy these just as much :)

Oh and once again, I'm sharing this blog post over at Simple Design as part of their "Share you thrift haul" series. It's a fun way to share and see other people's thrifted finds!

Union Jack Appliqued Sweatshirt

In honor of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee tomorrow, I wanted to make something for little miss that was fun and patriotic. I got my in inspiration from a Union Jack logo'd sweatshirt that I spotted in GapKids a few weeks ago but I didn't like it's hefty price-tag. So I thought I would try my hand at machine embroidering one myself.

I've embroidered a onesie or two but never tackled a project this big. And since the weather this weekend is going to be cool and wet, I hope little miss will get a lot of use out of it!

Oh and in case anyone is interested, I'll put together a short post on how I put it all together later this week ;)

Charity Shop Booty...More Cool Books + Plastic Tiger!

I've had such good luck this week with finding a few great books at a local charity shop and church fair. Sometimes I wonder, who enjoys reading these books more? Myself of the little one :)

And again, I'm sharing this blog post over at Simple Design as part of their "Share you thrift haul" series. It's a fun way to share and see other people's thrifted finds!

(Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!)

In this week's collection: 

"Thank You for Taking Care of My Pets" by Tim Hopgood 

(Little miss currently loves "Wow! Said the Owl" by the same author)

"Eloise Takes a Bawth" by Kay Thompson

(I try to collect "Eloise" books as they are wonderful stories and my Sis' namesake) 

"The Curious Girls Book of Adventure" by Claire Gillman

(my favorite find, a collection of how-to's aimed at young girls)

Oh, and a plastic tiger that only my little one would love!

(she's obsessed with her plastic dinosaurs)

A Summer Snack: Homemade Guacamole + Baked Tortilla Chips

(All I need now is an ice cold Corona!)

It's fajita night today in my house and the pre-made guacamole at my local grocery store didn't look very appetizing so I decided to make my own. I'm a huge fan of Mexican food but oddly enough, I've never actually made guacamole myself (shame, I know). Oh, and since tortilla chips are hard to find here in the UK, I thought I'd try my own baked version.

Both are dead easy to make, but I used this guacamole recipe and this baked tortilla chip recipe for inspiration.

Enjoy!

Charity Shop Booty...Girl's Shirred Skirt

My latest find from my local charity shop was this adorable little shirred girl's skirt for only £2.50! I fell in love with it's fun colors, retro pattern and it's amazing price tag (of course). Oh, and it's also hand made!

It's one size too big for little miss this year so I purchased some red ribbon and plan to make it into a a little top for this summer, then turn it back into a skirt for next summer. I just hope the weather around here warms up soon!

Btw, I'm sharing this blog post over at Simple Design as part of their "Share you thrift haul" series. It's a fun way to share and see other people's thrifted finds!

Books for Girls...Remember Little House on the Prairie?

I've been reading a lot lately about recommended books for young girls, both here and here.

With this in mind, I was in one of my local charity shops today and was lucky to find this Little House on the Prairie book set for only £5. I remember reading the series as a young girl and I was completely hooked on the TV series, watching after school religiously (can you say pigtails and blue gingham dresses?). It's missing 2 out of the 9 books but I'm sure I can find them on eBay. Nonetheless, I was super excited to find the set!

Remember little Laura Ingalls?

Still a good looking set.

What's this? Reading already?

I absolutely cannot wait for little miss to enjoy these books as much as I did!

New Art Supplies :)

Whenever I have a new craft project in mind, I always think, "Oh man, I wish they had Target, Michaels or Jo-Ann store here in England." I really miss being able to one stop shop for sewing supplies, fabrics, paper, yarn, etc. I generally stock up on crafty stuff when I go back but today I was lucky enough to find some supplies for a few future projects.

Cardboard letters! I know, every Michaels store carries these but not here! I found these at my local Tiger store for £2 each. I plan to decoupage them somehow and make something similar to these map monograms. I also picked up a pack of decorative paper for card making. 40 sheets of paper for £2? That's a score in my book.

Acrylic paints and mini canvases for some DIY artwork from Rhymans. I don't think I've ever painted on canvas so this should be interesting. I want some new artwork for my desk space and hope to create something similar to this chevron wall art.

Oh, and finally a work in progress. It's a quilt to go with the pillow that I made here.