I have moved!

I have packed my virtual bags and moved to a new online home. Please come and join me over at my new blog, Homely Missus. I have decided to move from Vintage Jelly as I felt it doesn't describe all that I am, and all that I want to blog about. I am a homebird and I hope my new blog will reflect this. I will be so happy if my followers come over and join me on this next step in my blogging journey!

Hope to see you there!

Stepping back in time

A few weeks ago when we visited Seaside Nanny in Cornwall we payed a visit to the Bodmin Steam Railway. Both the kids adore the steam trains but I rather like it for the feeling of stepping into the past. I have always loved old typography and graphics, particularly of the 40's and there were plenty to be seen here.

I wonder if I am a bit geeky to be excited by vintage signage and fonts, and the London Underground font is particularly lovely! There were also stacks of vintage suitcases which got my heart a-flutter!

And of course, the obligatory 'blogger's footware' shot!

Bye for now x

Holiday Thrifting (and some lovely non thrifted things!)

We had a short holiday to Seaside Nanny's in Cornwall last week, although we nearly didn't make it as the boys both had hand, foot and mouth the week before. Why do kids always get ill when you are planning a holiday or special occasion? Germs are so inconsiderate!

Anyway, North Cornwall is a great place to indulge in a little thrifting therapy during peak season. I managed a few lovely finds even though it is off peak and the main Bude car boot sale has not yet restarted. Plus there are some lovely little independent shops that rely on tourists to survive.

I spotted these baby blue metal tea, sugar and coffee canisters in my favourite shop in Bude, Shabby n Chic. The lovely lady who owns this shop spends her time combing the car boot sales and jumble sales for vintage and retro items to put in her shop, and makes lovely hand sewn cushions and home wares. What a wonderful job she has! I spotted these canisters in her shop and I knew they were coming home with me.

These white metal tea pot hooks were in Nana's favourite shop, Wild Wood, also in Bude. 

Now I have a tea station all ready to go when the urge for a cuppa arises!

I spotted this metal sign in a gift shop and it made me chuckle.

Don't forget ladies, keep your hot bottoms off the worktops!

The boys and I managed to find a small car boot sale that only had a handful of stalls. Eldest spotted this globe, and having recently become interested in countries and the Earth I snapped it up for him. 

Thrifty and educational. Marvellous!

And again in Wild Wood, I couldn't resist this rainbow and cloud bunting. Yes, I could probably have made it myself but it was fair trade and quite honestly I can't be bothered!

Now completely off topic, I have been thinking about changing my blog name. I feel like 'Vintage Jelly' doesn't really describe my blog anymore, in fact it sounds more like something mouldy you'd find in your grannies cupboard! I was thinking about something a little more homely. What do you all think?

I live with my mum - living with extended family

I live with my mum, and have lived in the same house as her since I was 4. Seem strange to you? Well, some people who I have told this to have given me a decidedly odd look! Let me explain.

I was a student living at home with my mum when I met Beardy Hubby to be, and he moved in with us and we all lived happily together. A few years later we were making plans to get on the housing market when I discovered I was pregnant with Eldest. We decided that at that time we could not afford a house and a baby, so we decided to stay where we were. And that is how we still are, 4 years and 2.5 children later!

A special moment with my mum on my wedding day

This arrangement may not work for everyone, but it is becoming more common with the tough financial times we have been going through these past few years. Many people are either moving back in with their parents to save for a mortgage or clear debts, and other families are having multiple generations under the same roof as is common in Mediterranean and Asian countries to make living easier and cheaper for everyone.

For us, this arrangement means we can work towards paying off our debts, something all the adults under the roof are working hard on this year. It also means I not only live with my children and wonderful husband, but I also live with my best friend - my mum. How lucky can one girl be?! Mine and Beardy Hubby's relationship with my mum is really special, without it I doubt this arrangement would work.

Nana's 'Best Kept Allotment Plot' award and the whiskey she she won and polished off with the help of Beardy Hubby!

Advantages 

• It is the ultimate in being frugal, we share bills so we can pay off more towards our debts
• I get to live with my wonderful husband and children AND my best friend - my Mum!
• I have a live in babysitter (sorry Mum!)
• Having a wonderful support network around me for when baby 3 arrives
• My kids get to grow up with their Nana around, and they have a really special relationship with her
• Beardy Hubby works shifts, and living with my Mum means I have adult company on those evenings when he is working
• Last, but by no means least, when I have finished putting the kids to bed, she has usually loaded the dishwasher and has a cuppa ready for me so I can relax and enjoy my evening. Thanks Mum!

Is it me or do mum's make the best cups of tea?

Disadvantages 

• I occasionally get nagged at for my slovenly housekeeping, as she has higher standards than I do!
• Space is an issue. We are a 5, soon to be 6, person family living in a small 3 bedroom house. It is a squeeze, especially when the boy's bedroom is a tiny 7 foot square. We have to think really carefully about storage and regularly declutter to avoid it looking like something out of 'How clean is your house'
• Mum is an independent person and I worry sometimes that she finds living with our noisy young family a bit suffocating. Luckily she has the allotment to escape to.
• It is like being a teenager again and having to be really quiet when Beardy Hubby and I are....ahem....snuggling, in case she hears us!

While not everyone's cup of tea, this arrangement really works for us. It is unlikely to be permanent, as once we have all become debt free we will probably look for somewhere bigger to live, and Mum would like a place of her own. But for now, it makes me very happy.

Do you have an unusual living arrangement? I'd love to hear about it.

A look inside my home - the kid's room

Who doesn't love a good nosey inside other people's houses? I know I do, but not the type of houses belonging to obscure celebrities that Lloyd Grossman showed us around on 'Through the Keyhole' (that show was blatantly fixed). Nope, I love a good mooch at normal, everyday people's houses. Like yours!

You all seemed to enjoy the tour of my living room so I thought I'd show you how I managed to squeeze two kids into a room that is only 7 foot square.  

There are 5 of us living in a cosy (read small) 3 bedroom house. Nana has her room, Beardy Hubby and I have ours so that just leaves the smallest room for the boys. 

Firstly, to get two beds in the room we brought an Ikea Kura bed. It is actually a reversible cabin bed, but a mattress fits on the floor under the top bed, and this means Littlest won't have far to fall if he rolls out of bed in the night! It is not too tall, as the boys are only 4 and 2 we didn't want a towering bunk bed that would cause me to sprout more grey hairs every time they got in and out of it.

I spotted this fabulous 70's style chest of drawers in a charity shop and snaffled it up. I knew with those funky legs it would look great spray painted red. It looks great with my vintage blue case that now houses the kid's dressing up clothes. An old painted box makes a good place to store bedtime stories, and is a nice place for some beloved soft toys to live.

Nana rescued this rocking chair from the dump, I am itching to paint it but for now I will have to make do with putting a camper van cushion on it. The rug was made like the one in my seriously thrifty crocheted rug tutorial using whatever scraps of blue and red fabric I could find in my stash!  

The play kitchen we made for Eldest's 2nd birthday now lives in here, it needs a bit of TLC but they still love it!

I love love love this horse wall hanging made from an antique quilt. I got it from Treasured Quilts, I could easily spend a fortune on all those amazing vintage quilts!

Hello Peter! Vintage Post Office money box found at a boot sale for £1.

Vintage book collection and cute mushroom cottage I made two Christmases ago.

I really love the kid's room, I have managed to fit everything into a small space and I think it looks lovely too!

Send me your links so I can take a nosey inside your homes!

Shed sweet shed

I have got 3 minutes before I need to collect Eldest from school, so just enough time to show you the Mother's Day gift I knocked up for my Mum's shed to be.

She is soon to get a shed for the allotment, and has plans for it to be a shabby chic shed to sit in and enjoy her allotment.

This was made in the style of Dottie Angel out of odd scraps of vintage linens and fabric that I found about the house. What do you think?

Phew, 1 minute to go, bye!

Recycling an old jumper into a cushion - tutorial

In my house, jumper accidents are common. Either Beardy Hubby puts my hand knits in with the rest of the washing (I caught him loading one in yesterday, how many times do I need to tell that man not to put them in the washing machine!) or the kids fiddle with the temperature controls of the washing machine after I have put it on. This results in much sobbing from me, cradling the damaged jumper like a baby. Dramatic, I know, but it is heartbreaking to spend hours and hours knitting something for it to get mangled in the washing machine in just over an hour.

This sad jumper was a victim of the kids fiddling with the washing machine AGAIN. Maybe a lesson will be learnt this time, because the woolly victim was a jumper belonging to Eldest. After being consoled by Seaside Nanny's promise to knit a new one, I decided to cheer him up by recycling it into a cushion.

You will need

A ruined jumper or one destined for a charity shop. Coloured or textured ones are great for this

Cushion pad

Scissors

Sewing machine and thread

Tape measure

Pins

Cup of tea (choccy biscuit optional)

1.  Grab your scissors and cut the arms off. Go on, be brave.
2.  Measure your cushion pad, and cut 2 squares from your jumper that are an inch bigger than the pad.
3. Right sides together, sew all around the pad with 1/2 inch seam allowance. Leave a gap at the bottom of the jumper that is big enough to squeeze the pad into, this depends how big it is, I left 5 inches.
4. Turn it the right way, stuff the pad inside it and hand sew the opening closed.
5. If you want to be able to remove the pad for washing, then try an envelope back, a zip or buttons. 

Apologies for the lack of in progress pictures, my camera ate them.

Voila! You have a gorgeous new cushion that cost you next to nothing. You clever thing you. Chuck it on your sofa and admire it. You can use other types of clothing to make these, outgrown t-shirts with funky slogans would be good or even the bum of some old jeans!

It must have done the trick, Eldest was so pleased with it that he cuddled it all evening and took it to bed last night.

 

He wasn't so pleased with me taking pictures of him, and had a mini strop at me then proceeded to sulk. Bless!

I would love to see any cushions you make from old jumpers, send me your links!