Sunday Favourites

Here's all the little things making me smile in this week that has been full of stressful dissertation writing...

Planning and shopping for my holiday! I got this awesome polka dot bikini and I can't wait to wear it on the beach (although I've never been on a beach holiday and so never worn a bikini before, so feeling a little self-conscious..) We don't often go out shopping and buy things as we are on a budget so it has been lovely to go out just once and say, 'hey, I'M BUYING THAT!'

Catching up on all the newer books from the last year or so I never got round to reading.

Getting my sewing machine out and making this super cute sleeveless tie shirt. I've got all my pattern pieces ready and I've started sewing - I'm a bit baffled by the instructions at the moment though (I picked what I thought was the simplest shirt pattern!), but hopefully I'll finish it before my holiday. If you're a genius at deciphering mysterious sewing patterns, do let me know in the comments!

My Lucky Dip Club box arrival, which you can read about here.

Bringing home more of my favourite Strawberry and Kiwi fruit infusion from work - I ran out ages ago and have missed it! Tea time <3

Let me know all your Sunday favourites below! If you haven't already, it would be great if you could follow via Bloglovin'. You can also now follow me on Twitter (yes, I do that now!). See buttons on the right :)

A Sequinned Beach Bag DIY

This DIY was inspired by a recent post over at The Things She Makes, turning a plain old canvas shopper into something much more golden and sparkly. I liked it so much, I dug out a canvas shopper I had already and my glue, and headed to the sewing shop for a sequin-themed shopping spree. The result was pretty similar to the original, but also inspired by the speech bubble noticeboard tutorial on the same blog - find it here! This was my version:

As I had also picked up plenty of blue strung sequins as well, I decided to make another bag to use them on. I had bought a dress in the Primark sale last year for a bargain £3, because I loved the cute boat print on it. It was clearly never going to be worn (I am certainly not a size 6, unfortunately!), so it has been in my pile of 'scrap fabrics' to use for ages. I dug it out to see what could be done with it...

Now, I could have just drawn around the above canvas bag on the fabric and had a nice rectangle. But being lazy, I looked at the elasticated waist and thought, hey, that's the top of a bag ready made right there!

So I chopped it off just above where the elastic was sewn in, turned the excess down on the inside and made a hem. This also meant that the sides of the bag were already done for me, being, as they were, the sides of the dress. All I had to do then was chop off the bottom to vaguely resemble a square and sew it up. Hurrah for laziness! Of course, it couldn't all go so perfectly - I wanted to recycle the straps of the dress as handles, but they were too short, so I made some handles out of the bit of fabric cut off the bottom... (even THAT had one side already sewn from the dress hem, so only seconds work!) I did manage to recycle the buttons and used them for where the handles were sewn to the bag.

Taking a grand total of 20 minutes, with precisely zero measuring, pinning or effort, I had a pretty decent gathered beach bag. OK, it isn't perfect - yes, it does feature 2 different colour threads because I didn't stop to check  - but it proves quick crafting is certainly possible, and sometimes lazy ideas even work! And who cares on the beach anyway?!

Then came the fun bit - I glued on my sparkly blue sequins in an anchor shape on the front, and.. ta-da!

Loving my 2 new bags... Now, what can I use the large amount of leftover sequins for?!

Recent additions to my home..

This beauty of a vintage typewriter has joined my home, ready to be made use of for PostCircle and other correspondence. It was a gift from my Nan, who hunted one down for me after reading my blog (and got a bit of a bargain!). Still in absolutely perfect condition, it came in a rather lovely original tartan print case... original 1950s receipt still inside.

..As has THIS little beauty! (And helping me achieve one of my 25 goals..) Hello Pancake! My instagram will now probably only feature cat pictures for ever after. Cat-themed craft ideas, anyone?! (I'm already planning on making him a bow tie..)

Pancake training to be an acrobat..

..and a very rare sleepy moment!

I also got this Storyland Cross Stitch book recently, from What Delilah Did, which is really pretty, and not at all like most other cross stitch books I've seen, being much more modern and with cute patterns you'd be proud to put on the wall. I can't wait to make a few designs, starting with the frog prince (very Valentine's) and the unicorn. The book was also a bargain from The Book People, and has a little kit in it too!

My family and friends have all been treating me with all sorts of crafty little things recently, so I really have no excuse not to get making (except the essays, and the dissertation, and the tea selling...), although a crazy kitten who is determined to eat everything means crafting stuff has had to be hidden away for fear of things vanishing. I'm hoping to do some Valentine's DIYs before the big day.. any good ideas I should know about?