Monday 10 January 2011

Thrifty prettiness

Hello - hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  Wasn't the weather glorious yesterday - it really felt like Spring!

We trotted off to the big smoke on Saturday to see George's Marvellous Medicine (Roald Dahl) at The Bloomsbury Theatre which is owned by the University College London, situated near the West End, in fact 10 minutes from St Pancreas.

The beauty of going to this theatre is that the ticket prices are a fraction of what you pay in the West End, and you get lots of leg room! We couldn't justify several hundred pounds for a family of 4, however £62 for all four of us is well within reason.

The performance was staged by the Birmingham Stage Company - only 6 actors but absolutely brilliant and lots of interaction with us the audience.  The boys really enjoyed it and so did we.

On our way back to the car, we had a walk round St Pancreas which is an incredible building and we enjoyed taking a look at the sushi bar, the longest champagne bar in Europe and watching where all the trains were coming and going.  Having been to St Pancreas a couple of years ago, we always feel it's quite a calm place but I guess for those queuing for a ridiculous amount of time for a train, before Christmas it wasn't!

Back to thrifty - During the Christmas break I got a craft magazine which came with some pretty paper's - I never normally know what to do with them and end up giving them to Jack to do something with.  This time I thought it might be nice to brighten up my shelf with some paper edging.



I cut 2 hearts out, sewed round the edges - you could glue them together.  Stuck some recycled buttons on and tacked it to the shelf.  It's come out quite well I think.





The Seville Orange marmalade season is approaching again (having only seemed like yesterday since I made some).

Now I know it can be tiresome peeling and chopping to make it, so I bought this


from Lakeland.  It contains pure Seville Orange pulp and peel and claims to make 6lb, at a cost of £2.29.  I thought I'd give it a go.  All you need is sugar and water.  Wow, what a difference - looked like marmalade, smelled like marmalade, and tasted like marmalade. 



I got 6 respectable jars from it (1 in fridge already!), so from a cost point of view, I'm not sure how £2.29 compares to buying the oranges.  I guess I'll wait till later on in the month to find out.

I thought I'd keep the tin as a plant pot as it looks quite retro.

Have a good day!

18 comments:

♥ emma bear forever ♥ said...

What a good way of using up those free papers.

I was going to make some marmalade, with all the peeling and chopping, but the product from Lakeland looks fab. I will have to get myself some of that and the container looks very retro ~ keep it :0)x

Andi's English Attic said...

What a great way to brighten up a shelf. Looks great.
I think the tin is worthy of reuse, too. It has quite an unusual look to it.
Happy New Year to you. xx

bellaboo said...

I love your edging,what a clever idea!
I didn't know you could buy that for making marmalade,good to know it tastes just as good that way.I've never bothered to make it because of all the hassle,but I will now!
Have a lovely week. :0)

Vintage Tea Time said...

Lovely heart border - you'll have to re-do your header now! Yes, I've used the marmalade in tin before - it's v good. Great tin for a plant - perhaps an orange plant!

LissyLou said...

those hearts are very very pretty x

KC'sCourt! said...

Love the hearts.
The marmalade looks good, a recommendation to have a go myself.
Julie xxxxxxx

Thedarkerside73 said...

Sounds like you had a great time in London.

Love your shelves! Bright and colourful. A great idea with the papers.

That sounds like a great way to cut the labour out of making marmalade. It looks so pretty and colourful in those lovely jars.

Have a lovely week.


MBB x

The sewing room said...

Love your heart shelf edging and great idea with the marmalade ,thats what i love about blogging you always learn something new thank you for sharing. Your trip to the theatre sounds like you had agreat time.

Hugs Pat

Jacquie said...

Love your Hearts , so pretty .
Must try the marmalade ...great idea for the tin :0)
Jacquie x

Unknown said...

aww what a lovely idea love the hearts it looks so cute on your shelves. What a great idea with the marmalade to i reckon that it is heaps cheaper to doing it that way. Have a lovely week. Dee x

JuicyFig said...

it has just cost me £2.99 for 1.5kg of seville oranges, so I think you have a bargain there - I used to use the Marmade tins (I think they might have stopped making them recently) - they were fantastic value at about £1.50.

Enjoy!
Kath
x

Country Style Living said...

Sounds like a great visit to London....what a reat idea re the orange pulp! May have to try that one.

home made gorgeous said...

Ooh that marmalade looks lovely, sounds like a real bargain (and much easier to make) and I love the tin! Will definitely have to look into the show that you mentioned it sounds fab.. Sarah x

kim said...

What a brilliant idea to edge your shelf with paper hearts.....really effective.

florrie x

Poppy said...

I’m loving the hearts, what a fab idea and pretty!

Lou xxx

MelMel said...

Very pretty hearts!xxx

magsmcc said...

George is coming to Belfast in April! Booked tickets yesterday for husband's birthday- we will be taking our two small boys as well for appearance's sake!

GardenOfDaisies said...

I absolutely LOVE your little paper heart edge on the shelf!!! I want to make some too!