Fungilicious Forest Fun

I've been off for a spot of forest camping this weekend, at Rendlesham Forest, a forestry commission site near Woodbridge in Suffolk. Though it's not far from home, you could be anywhere and it has a wonderful recuperative effect - it's just so relaxing being so close to nature. The weather was really kind to us.... as you can see from the sun glinting through the woodland. I just love the changing colours of Autumn

We took bikes and went on the UFO forest trail. The picture below is quite eerie I think, but still beautiful.
My bike screeched to a halt when I saw these magnificent funghi! Aren't they gorgeous? I thought of Jane, our Artist friend when I saw these.

We saw squirrels collecting for the winter and here's some bounty for them.

Even this moss growing on an old trunk looked really pretty in the autumn sunshine.

This one looks like it is dripping! How delicate.

And then there were these gorgeous frilly edged funghi below, all huddling together.

But, I couldn't go the weekend without some crafting. Nic had given me a ball of the gorgeous Knit Collage Kinari Bazaar to experiment with some time ago, but I was so nervous of doing it justice, being a novice knitter I almost didn't feel worthy! A weekend of beautiful natural inspiration spurred me on to try.

I've decided to have a go at a cowl using a pattern on Knit Collage "be inspired" section. It seemed straight forward enough......

Until....I got to row 12 and it said to cable stitches. Damn! I hadn't done this before. I called Nic and she talked me through it but I decided I would leave it until I got home, so this one is to be continued - watch this space!

And finally, I couldn't go without including a picture of my lovely veteran westie. He just loved his weekend away, even if he is a bit slow... here he is in his winter finery admiring the view!

A good weekend was had by all.

Hope yours was good too.

Jacqui x

Get the pots out, it's dyeing time at Halfpenny Home!

This week we thought that we would try a something new and dye with brazilwood, we were not disappointed...you soak the brazil wood (tied up in a little stockinette bag) overnight in water and then simmer it for an hour.

When we added the mordanted items it went this berry red!

Lovely!

The colour result is affected by the acidity of the dyebath and to make it more purple than red we added some soda ash.

Gorgeous!

Look at this washing line of loveliness, all natural dyes!

Did a bit of dip - dyeing

And finally, you've all seen Barney, Jacqui's dog so here's my dog Bob - a miniature pinscher. He gets jealous when we have evening meetings and once ate the ends of all my knitting needles, I still love him though!

Have a good weekend, Nic x

Decisions, Decisions

I finally had some time to search for drapery fabric for my living room redo. While there were an overwhelming number of choices, I ended up with two of my favorites - silk and linen. I am having a hard time deciding between the two as both options would work wonderfully. Hopefully you can help!

Before I show you the drapery fabric choices, however, I wanted to share another development in this room which may sway your opinion. During my search, I fell in love with this fabric:

I have already made two large pillows – one for each of the chairs. I loved the graphic nature and playful quality of the large print. The color picks up the red in the Rosmaling plate and helps coordinate this space with other rooms in my house.

Now back to the curtain fabric options.

Choice number one is a blue/gray silk - the top fabric sample shown below - from Calico Corners.

Silk fits with the feel of the room and the color plays beautifully off the foyer rug just outside the door. My hesitations with this option are twofold. First, I don’t want to make the room too formal. Second, gray is such a popular color at the moment, I don’t want the room to feel dated in a few years.

Choice number two, also from Calico Corners, is off-white slubby linen banded with navy blue slubby linen.

This option is safe and classic. I don’t think I would ever grow tired of white and navy curtains. My hesitation here is with the red and white pillows the room may feel too nautical – red, white and blue.

This is going to be a hard decision as I truly love them both.

What would you do?

Super Stylish Swish!

In amongst all the activity at Halfpenny Home, I've also been involved in working with friends to organise our third, and most up-market Swish! Remember the Twiggy programme on TV where ladies got together to swap their unwanted quality clothes? Well, this is our version. This time around we're doing it in aid of EACH, the East Anglian Children's Hospice for their Treehouse Appeal and it's going to be on 11th November 2010.

It's a brilliant and fun way to recycle and get yourself a new wardrobe to boot! (yes, maybe some new boots too!!). We're organising a fashion show with some of the swap items to be compered by Rachel Sloane, from our local BBC Radio Station, Radio Suffolk. And, of course, given the thrifty nature of the event, Halfpenny Home was happy to be involved and will be having a stall, along with some other local businesses. We're hoping the lovely buttons and notions, ribbons and trims will give ladies lots of ideas of how to maybe customise their new attire!

Above is a picture of the venue for our Swish! Creeting House! You may recall it being featured on Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue in the summer of 2009. It's a gorgeous place with lovely owners, Di and Steve, who've so generously agreed to let us use it for the Swish. Take a look at their website http://www.creetinghouse.com/. Highly recommended if you ever want to treat yourself to a weekend in Suffolk and a visit to Halfpenny Home, which is just a stones throw away.

There are still a few tickets left for the Swish so if any of you would like a ticket or more details, do get in touch. You can email enquiries@halfpennyhome.co.uk and I'll send you further details. For those further afield I promise to take lots of pics of the event and post about it afterwards!

Jacquix

PUMPKIN PALOOZA

I got a little carried away at the pumpkin patch this year...

These fabulous warty pumpkins were originally orange, a color which is not really a fav here in the land of SWEET PEA. They got a little facelift with a can of spray paint.





This one has a blue green look which I found so pretty.



Gotta tuck some white baby boos in here and there...



I fell hard for these warty dried gourds.



This is one of my favs and is a very dark gray green.



I bought two of these large white pumpkins in Texas.



Never too many boos...



And just when I thought I had found the most delightful pumpkins at the patch...

I saw these two and my heart melted into a puddle of pumpkin soup...


Jax and Auriana, my grand~boos, at the patch.

How to Install Drapery Hardware Brackets

After the curtain hardware was painted and glazed for my living room makeover, it was on to the installation. As you will find from the tutorial below, this is a very simple project which even the most inexperienced DIYer can feel confident about tackling. Whether your brackets are wood (like the ones in this tutorial) or metal (like those pictured in my family room below), the process is the same.

Womans Day Budget Decorating

Photographer – Michael Portenio

Stylist - Donna Talley, Regional Editor and Producer for Meredith Publications

Tools:

Small level

Drill
Drill bit
Screw driver
Hammer
Pencil
Stud finder

Background Information:
I prefer to hang curtain panels about 5 inches or more above the window molding and about 3 or 4 inches outside the width of the window - like the ones shown below in my daughter's bedroom.

.
By using these measurements, the window appears larger and the ceiling taller and less of the window is blocked by the curtains allowing for more natural light in the space. Of course, these guide lines are subject to change depending on the architecture of the room.

Procedure:
Measure the placement of the bracket using a small level.

As you can see from the photo above, the rod will be hanging 5” above the window but the height of the bottom of the bracket is lower.

It is important to use a level to keep the bracket plumb, i.e. straight up and down.

Once the bracket is in the correct position, use a pencil or screw to mark all four of the holes placements.

Using the stud finder, determine if there is wood where you will be attaching the brackets. If there is wood, skip the next step as wall anchors will not be needed. If there is no stud, you will need to use wall anchors. Most times they are included with the brackets.

For wall anchors: Drill pilot holes for the plastic wall anchors using a drill bit slightly smaller than the wall anchor to allow for a snug fit. Tap wall anchors into place using a hammer. (I don’t have any pictures of this part, as we were lucky to find studs.)

Attach brackets to wall, through the bracket holes and into the wall anchors if necessary.  Use a screw driver and the provided screws.

Gently tap in button caps with hammer to cover screw holes.

Note: I was a little disappointed to discover the brackets I purchased did not come with caps to cover the screws. It was an easy enough fix – 3/8” oak buttons from Lowe’s solved the problem – but I found it hard to believe they were not included with the brackets. To me, without the caps the brackets look unfinished.

Place curtain rings on rod (which I did not do before I took this picture - whoops!) and screw in finials to ends of poles. Place rod on brackets.

Now that the hardware is up it is time to find the fabric for the curtain panels. I have my choices narrowed down and will be sharing them soon.

Yay! It's the new Oh Comely!

We always get excited about parcels at Halfpenny Home, though the contents are usually yarns, buttons or vintage notions from all over the place. This week though it was a parcel containing the latest issue of Oh Comely magazine. Time to put the kettle on and get comfy in the armchair...
Oh Comely is a lovely mix of art and craft, food and creativity - fits in very well at HH where you will find it by the tea trolley laden with bias binding...you can always come and have a look through our shop copy, the photography is beautiful.

This issue features a friend of ours, Jess from Cuppa Tea and Cake and some of her polka dot bunting! Jess is also one half of the I Make Fun Stuff duo who organize the fantastic craft fairs in Ipswich - we've been to a few...
We stayed very close to Halfpenny Home this weekend when we attended the annual craft fair that is held in Needham Market - it has 50 stalls and we were one of them!

We took along the new Alpaca Select yarns that we have just got in - 4 ply for socks! It's so soft and comes in lovely colours. It's one of the many new yarns that we were introduced to by Stewart from Maid of Fibre - he visited us the other week and braved the Wednesday morning knitting group who ooohed, aaarghed and sighed their way through all his lovely samples...

More Alpaca Select....!

We were lucky enough to be opposite Kimbeau. who make these gorgeous marinades and sauces along with spectacular fudge and sorrel jam that is out of this world!
We did a lot of tasting before choosing...yum!

If you've ever paid a visit to us at Halfpenny Home you will recognise this table but it is usually completely covered with strawberry tea cosy covered tea pots, hand thrown and painted mugs, projects on the go and cakestands piled high with wool - it's never this clear, ever! I'm just about to cut some fat quarters of our new fabrics and there is an awful lot of them to do...

It will be back to it's usual chaotic messines when normal service resumes tomorrow, Nic x