The thing I fell in love with this week

December 5, 2015 | blueskygirlie

Teal vase £1.50 – Store Twenty One

We are currently decorating our bedroom (part of a house revamp which will see us pretty much redo every room in our house bar the kitchen) and a few weeks ago I painted over the strong red (!) the bedroom had been when we moved in, to a new deep teal colour.

I have been looking out for accessories that will add a highlight of teal to our existing items and while in Store Twenty One saw this lovely little vase. Regular readers of this blog will know I’m a big fan of Store Twenty Ones homeware range and often pop in to see what bargains they have. This beauty was in their sale for only £1.50 reduced from £3!

It reminds me of a Jonathan Adler vase and looks much more expensive than it was – plus it fits in with our new colour scheme perfectly!

What do you think?

Look out for my blog on the finished room coming soon.

Advent Calendars with style

December 1, 2015December 1, 2015 | blueskygirlie

So, today it is the 1st of December (how did that happen?!?) and if you have kids (or are a kid a heart) its time to put out your advent calendar. The question is, what do you do to count down the days of December?

A few years back I decided that I (and my stylish home) could no longer live with the cardboard calendars filled with cheap chocolate that come covered in advertising for the latest TV show or movie. Plus when you have three children in the house under 10, you end up with three Peppa Pig/Spiderman/ Star Wars/Disney etc ones dotted around. Also just to make it a bit more complicated we are a ‘blended family’ so at different times we have different amounts of children living with us – the idea of having uneaten chocolate building up and calendars three or four days behind didn’t feel festive at all, just slightly depressing.

So what to do? I have seen some lovely ideas via Etsy of bespoke handmade creations – here are some of my favourites…

Envelope advent calendar by MummyPuddleduck buy here

Box tree advent calendar by DorsetHodgepodge buy here

Fabric pocket bunting advent calendar by SewSweetViolet buy here

Paper bag kit advent calendar by PeachBlossomUK

buy here

All lovely reusable and flexible solutions.

I happened to be in Ikea when I chanced upon our stylish solution – a 3D cardboard calendar in a Scandinavian style design with 24 drawers that could be filled with whatever (and most importantly whatever amount) of sweets we wanted! We decided to fill it with milk and white Christmas chocolate coins but you could as easily add small toys, messages or small amounts of money. And best of all its completely recyclable and something we can bring out every year as a family tradition. I love that.
The kids are happy, my partner is happy and I am happy. I call that a win!

Why not try something new this December and create a family tradition of your own? Look out for more blogs this month on how I like to do Christmas.

The thing I fell in love with this week

November 28, 2015November 28, 2015 | blueskygirlie

Face mug and coaster £2.00 each – Tiger Ah, Tiger stores have done it again. A bloggers favourite, this range of cute illustrated face designs comes on mugs, coasters, cushions and vases…and I’m a sucker for a great bit of modern illustration.

The mug is European style with no handle so can easily be used as a storage pot or plant pot too. And the coaster is large and could be used as a pot stand, tray or just as a decorative ornament. The other design is in green but I stayed with my favourite colour palette of a flash of orange with white and black. She’s also super cute though, don’t you think? I can’t believe these are retailing at only £2.00 each! Do you love them as much as I do?

The thing I fell in love with this week

October 10, 2015October 11, 2015 | blueskygirlie

Iwako Japanese rubber sets – £6.75 Paperchase

Rubbers…boring huh? Well not in Japan. In Japan they are AMAZING!!!

You know sometimes you don’t need something but you just really want it? Well this was one of those times. Iwako erasers are unbelievable in their detail and can be collected singularly or in sets. They come in every variation you can imagine and if you like a quirky bit of design (and maybe are a child of the 80s when rubber collecting was big) you’ll love them.
I now have the fast food set sitting on my desk…on its own tray! They are sort of too beautiful to use! I’m a total nerd I know…

Look out for my blog next Saturday on what else I’ve fallen in love with.

The thing I fell in love with this week

October 3, 2015October 3, 2015 | blueskygirlie

Heart shaped scouring pads £1.00 (per pk of 6) – Tiger Stores

Ah, its the simple things…I couldn’t resist this cute variation on the dull old dish scourer by great Danish company Tiger.

In a pack you get three pink and three green sponges all with a red heart scourer front…they almost make me love doing the washing up! And here one is by my sink…I love how they’ve taken something so boring and mundane and given it a quirky twist.