The Interior DIYer

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Thrifty things – pretty in pink

Last week I spotted some serious gems while on my charity shop adventures. I have a hardcore weakness for anything and everything nautical so the moment I saw this miniature ship vase in Second Abbey {for only €1}, I knew it was heading home with me. It was probably used as a plant pot in its previous life due to the amount of dirt in, on and around it, so I gave it a scrub and up onto the mantle it went.
On Saturday I saw this My Fair Lady print in the Oxfam Home store and I held on tight. Pretty pinkness, black and white stripes, AUDREY HEPBURN. For €10, I couldn’t not. 

In honour of my newly purchased print, we got a copy of the movie and watched it yesterday. I’ve seen My Fair Lady a good few times – or at least I thought I had. It turns out I had only ever seen up to the intermission – I never knew there was a second half to the movie. It was a lovely surprise to get another hour of Audrey and dreamy dresses, so I’m not complaining. I just fail at watching movies apparently. 

The first signs of spring sprung near our apartment on the weekend, so I cheekily picked a couple of buds for my new nautical vase. Beautiful. Except they set off my allergies and eyes swelled up within 20 minutes. Totes worth it. xx A

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A touch of glass

Back in December my edible Christmas ornaments were entered into the DaWanda Creative Xmas Decorations Facebook competition, which I was quite excited about. All entrants received a €20 gift voucher to spend online at DaWanda, and the winner received a €100 voucher. Not bad at all … My DIY didn’t win said Facebook competition {and I wasn’t expecting to}, so I was pleased as punch with my gift voucher. Now, what to spend it on? 
I trolled the DaWanada site and decided I should treat myself and spend my voucher on something I wouldn’t normally buy. A little fancy treat. Home related, obv. So I searched, and I don’t know how I happened upon Everstraw one day, but I’m glad I did. 

Made by Michael Kraus, Everstraw glass straws are exactly what you think – glass straws. They’re beautiful, dainty and the perfect quirky accompaniment to our bar cart. I was worried they’d be quite frail, but they’re tough and have survived their first wash in our sink. I bought six straight straws, and a bent straw to throw in the mix to make it look more convincing and natural. Do other straws look natural? Nope. You get my meaning though.
We took our new glass straws for a spirited spin yesterday {for photographic purposes, of course … } and they’re very smooth to drink from! Does that sound weird? It does to me, but they were really nice to drink with. 

For those of you wondering, we have teeny pipe-cleaners at home that I use to clean them, alternatively Everstraw sell cleaning brushes for their straws. For those of you, like me, who immediately thought of the maintenance side of things and how many hours I’d have to spend cleaning them. All of 30 seconds should do the trick. 

xx A

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January Instagram roundup + Oxfam news!

Before I dive into my exciting Oxfam news, can I take a little moment and say my monthly Instagram roundup is becoming a blog post lined with panic. Wait, it’s the end of another month already? January was busy. Full of ups and downs and for the most part it kept me from Instagramming and writing here as much as I usually do. NOT COMPLAINING, because I’ve learned a lot and accomplished some neat stuff {that sometimes make me think too much and panic. I’m a worrier}.
One of the highlights of January was when I was approached by Oxfam Ireland about working on a piece for an upcoming project* – they’d like me to upcycle / revamp a piece of secondhand furniture, display it in one of their stores for the month of March, and to finish, it will be auctioned off at the end of the month. Um, woah.

To say I’m excited would be the understatement of the month. I’m heading to Belfast tomorrow and I’ll be dropping into their Belfast Home branch to see what gems they have up there for upcycling for the project. Up to my eyes in second hand furniture? I’ll be in my element. They may need to use force to escort me from the premises. You have been warned, Belfast. xx A
If you’d like to follow along with my road trip tomorrow {and exciting cat photos any other day of the week}, you can check out my Instagram feed. 
*More details on this project laters.