Sunshine and Treasure Seeking

It's been rather too long since I last wrote a post, so I thought it was about time I put fingers to keys and wrote about something new! This weekend was filled with treasure seeking of rather grand proportions...but more about that when I've had time to unpack and photograph the goodies I brought home with me.

Hoorah for sunshine! It was fabulous to have the sun shining over the weekend and in honour of this not-frequent-enough occurrence I filled vintage milk bottles with springtime blooms from our garden.

It seems a shame that milk doesn't always come bottles anymore. They do make such good vases!

I'm going through a bit of a hat craze at the moment, perhaps because of my current City and Guilds project (all about hats!) I bought these two over the weekend...they don't quite fit, but I have grand plans to display hats somewhere in the house.

I bought this fabric over the weekend too. I was drawn to its bright colours like a magpie to something sparkly!

I've been working on a small project over the last few days. I had a couple of Woman's Own magazines from the 1950s and was itching to do something creative with them. I thought I'd start by making a little display box (for my end of year City and Guilds exhibition and perhaps for my stall at fairs too).

Here's how I did it:

Materials - wooden wine box, thin white card, PVA glue, paintbrush/glue spreader, old magazines (you could use newspapers, ephemera, your own artwork...anything paper really!)

1. Cover the wine box with the card.

2. Stick adverts, snippets etc on top of the card, making sure you glue all over the back of whatever you're sticking down (ie, not just the edges).

3. Once all the glue's completely dry, grab a paintbrush or glue spreader and cover every inch of the box's now covered surface in PVA glue. You might need to do it in stages so the glue can dry before you move onto a different side. I'd recommend several coats of PVA glue as this is what seals everything and protects your images once they're on the box.

4. Fill with whatever treasures you fancy!

Some of the snippets I found in Woman's Own to stick on to my wine box made me laugh out loud. This was one of them...this Fifties lady really does look thrilled with her new oven!

This had me in stitches. I wonder what classes as 'interesting socks'?! I read it out to Mr Treasure, who said he'd rather I didn't 'decorate' him as he might look a little bit silly going to work with a carnation in his buttonhole!

By flicking through the pages of the magazines, it became so clear what a 1950s woman was supposed to strive for in life...finding a nice man to marry, taking pride in her home, looking after her family and being serene and beautiful throughout.

Another snippet that had me howling with laughter!

Instant pudding anyone?! I've been fancying a bowl of 'Angel Delight' since I saw this advert (do they even make it anymore?!)

Now, what can I cover with vintage adverts next...?!