The Interior DIYer
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Lovely feature – From China Village

This morning I am tore up from the floor up to share with you an exciting feature featuring yours truly over on Emily Westbrooks’s website, From China Village! Emily got in contact with me about a new feature she was rolling out on her website – meeting up with bloggers in their favourite blogging environments. Emily asked if I’d like to show her around the charity shop / thrifting scene and of course, I was well up for it. 
Look how co-ordinated we are with our stripes and North American accents. Well played. Click on over to Emily’s feature – Let’s Meet Bloggers Face to Face // Alex of Hydrangea Girl – to read all about our day at Merchants Market, and you can see me doing what I do best; digging through stuff, finding weird, unusual and cat-related items, and making faces.

For those of you curious to know if I took home the crazy-cat-lady-teapot I found, um, hell yes I did … 

… Look at her – helping herself to a plate full of sausages, a slight crazed look in her eye and a if I’m not mistaken, blood dripping from the corners of her mouth. Or possibly sloppy artistry. Who wouldn’t bring her home? But in all seriousness, I’m on the lookout for some ceramic paint or pens so I can give her a bit of a makeover. Friendlier eyes, a less gross ensemble, and maybe a pretty flowery plate. I think I’ll keep the bloody grin though. Accidental or not. 

ADDED BONUS – I fancied up a map of one of my favourite Dublin charity shop routes for Emily in conjunction with my thrifty feature – Alex’s Dublin Charity Shop Tour. It’s one of my favourite charity shop routes in the heart of the Dublin city centre, and is perfect if you’re stuck for time as you can easily hit all 6 shops in 20 minutes if you’re in a hurry. 

Thank you so much Emily for being such great company, both online and in person {oh god – mustn’t forget Julie the uber cool photographer too!}, for being such great sources of inspiration, for the pep talks and for letting me get carried away. xx A

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The Innocent Big Knit

Knitting miniature hats? Um, of course I’m in.
For the fifth year in a row now Innocent smoothies have run the Innocent Big Knit in aid of Age Action. What happens is – you knit a teeny hat {pattern can be found here}, donate it to Innocent or directly to an Age Action charity shop, said adorable hats are popped onto unsuspecting bottled beverages, and for every fashionable fruit drink purchased, 30 cent goes towards supporting older people during the colder and lonelier months.
I jumped on board this year and so far I’ve produced one measly practice hat. Black and white stripes with some faux hydrangeas. Yummy, no? And are you really all that surprised? …

I’m hoping to whip up a couple fancier hats in the coming weeks. I’m thinking skulls, kitties, possibly tandem hats – we’ll see. Or even better – got any crafty ideas?
As for the rest of this week, check back here on Friday as I’ll be sharing my latest and biggest revamp to date. Totes cannot wait.
xx A
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Thrifty things – bust must plus

I struck charity shop gold again this week. For some time I’ve wanted something nifty and a little out of the ordinary to display my favourite necklaces. I had seen busts being used all over the internet machine for this very reason, and I wanted in on some of that action. Since I’m cheap as hell, I casually kept my options open for sourcing a sturdy bust perfect for the job. I dropped into Second Abbey {where I found my new / old footstool}, and there he was. Mozart. At the time I wasn’t able to bring him home, so I figured if he was there the next time, I’d buy him. Lo and behold, the next time I ventured in, he was still there. Lonely amidst the chaos …

The poor guy looked like he had been massacred by fake tan. His face says it all. For a steal at €15, I took him under my wing {actually, I placed him in my bike basket}, and cycled home. A little scrub behind the ears and a fresh coat of Montana’s ‘sh. white‘ spray paint, and Mozart regained a little bit of his former dignity. That is, until I draped him in jewels. 
Mozzy, as I now refer to him, is currently taking first place as the focal point in our bedroom, which I’m slowly but surely revamping bit by bit on a budget. He’s perched on our dresser, which I also recently revamped. I’ll be sharing that little upgrade as soon as I can, so keep your eyes peeled! I just gotta get around to taking some decent ‘after’ pictures. 

Chin up, buttercup.

xx A

Also featured – our living room painting.