As a lot of you know, or if you follow me on Instagram, one of my favourite parts of the week are my weekend breakfasts. It feels so good to be able to eat outside in the garden again. I'm sure food tastes better when eating alfresco! Croissants, fruit, smoothies and coffee! What more could a girl want!

My last post was all about choosing the right cafetiere and I'm really pleased to say we have found the perfect one. We chose the Bodum Chambord and we are so glad we did. It pours perfectly, no drips and spills, which makes it perfect for breakfast in bed. I definitely recommend it. I happened to be shopping in TK Maxx and I spotted it at the bargain price of £19 instead of the Amazon price of £44! Although, I still drool over the copper plated version of this one but it's quite a bit more expensive!

A good, hearty breakfast is always needed when a girl is busy looking for wedding dresses! It's exciting times ahead for us as we plan our summer wedding. This dress business is trickier than I thought!

Have a great week lovelies!

• wooden drawers, or any other piece you want to decorate
• pictures on paper
• water-based primer
• water-based matte varnish
• polyurethane varnish
• PVA glue
• wooden knobs with screws
• satin finish paint (for the insides)
• paper towel
• fine sandpaper (wet and dry is best)
• soft cloth
• paint brush
• glue brush

1. Wash off any grease from the drawers.
2. Lightly sand down all surfaces.
3. Apply two coats of primer, lightly sanding after each coat.
4. Use the satin finish paint to coat any surfaces you are not decoupaging.
5. Plan each face by laying out the pictures. Cut each one out and glue it onto the wood, taking care that there are no air bubbles by pressing lightly with a damp lint free cloth. The pictures can, and should overlap to some extent. Let it dry.
6. Brush on at least four coats (I used six) of water-based matte varnish, sanding lightly after each to remove bumps.
7. After wiping to remove dust, finish with two coats of polyurethane varnish for extra toughness.
8. Finish by giving the knobs a coat of primer, a couple of coats of paint and a couple of coats of oil-based varnish. Screw them onto the drawers from the back.

This was my perfect solution for the extra storage I needed for my crockery. I fell in love with this shabby chic dresser as soon as I saw it. For those of you who know me, you will already know how much I adore all things shabby chic!

The beauty of it is, the dresser is shallow and doesn't intrude too far into the room. Everything is easy to see and reach when you need it. With the shelving being open, it does give me an excuse to buy colourful, pretty pots. I buy many of my pots from the flea market and Jules china shop in Hebden Bridge. Check her goodies out here.

I like to dress it up at different times of the year; see here how it looked at Easter. It won't be long until I'm dressing it up for Christmas!

Have a lovely Monday.

I have been wanting to do a theme night for a while now, so I made it part of my September bucket list. As I wanted it to be a romantic evening, I decided it had to have an Italian theme.

I decorated the table with a red checked cloth to make it look authentic. I added candles and a rosemary plant. You can not have an Italian meal without Prosecco, it is a perfect accompaniment.
With olive bread and olives too, this is a winner.

Starter  - Bruschetta with tomato and basil.

1. Toast ciabatta slices on a hot griddle pan for about 3 minutes each side. Leave to cool a little.
2. Quarter the tomatoes and place in a bowl. Tear in the basil then add the oil, salt and pepper. Mix together, cover and leave for a few minutes.
3. Lightly rub the garlic on both sides of each slice.
4. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture on each slice of bread and place on serving board or plate.
5. Drizzle with the remaining juices, then enjoy.

Main - Tagliatelle with prawns and creamy Marsala sauce.

1. Melt the butter and oil in a frying pan over a low heat then fry the shallots and walnuts for 2 minutes.
2. Over a medium heat add the prawns and tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook for 30 seconds.
3. Add the Marsala wine and cook for another minute.
4. Pour in the cream and the balsamic vinegar, and cook for 2 minutes. Set aside.
5. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until 'al dente'. Drain and then tip back into the same pan.
6. Pour in the cream sauce with the parsley. Toss everything together for about 30 seconds and serve. 

1. Put the drinking chocolate and milk in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool when dissolved.
3. Whip the cream in a bowl until you can make soft peaks.
4. Add the mascarpone, sugar and vanilla extract and whisk for 10 seconds.
5. Dip 4 biscuits into the chocolate milk for a couple of seconds on each side and put one on the base of each desert dish. 
6. Share out half of the mascarpone cream between the dishes, to cover the biscuits.
7. Add layers of biscuits and cream, depending on the dishes, finishing with a layer of the cream.
8. Chill for one hour.
9. Serve with chocolate flakes on each dessert.

Here are my thrifted purchases over the past few weeks. In our house we have a love of eclectic things, very similar to the style of the Mad Hatter's mix and mismatch tea party in Alice In Wonderland!! I don't tend to buy sets, it's usually anything I see which I like, often at flea markets (as you can see here!)

I do have a real love for pastels though; I have a Pinterest board just dedicated to pastels. Mint green, pale blue and pink do tend to catch my eye. The jugs will make great vases for flowers which I always have around the house.

Have you got any other ideas what I could use the jugs for?

Have a lovely day,

I'm so lucky that I have got a partner that can build practically anything he turns his hand to around my home. It's not what he does for a living but he believes anyone can make things if they put their mind to it. One of the reasons we bought this house was to put our own stamp on it. It's just a modest 1930's house but it still has a lot of its original features.

It has two chimney breasts into which we have put log burners. However, the chimney breasts did present us with a problem. What would we do with the alcoves? We came up with the idea of a DIY bookcase that S promptly designed, then made an MDF box to fit a very awkward space (1930's houses are not the straightest!) S made the shelves different sizes to fit different sized books, vases of flowers and a lamp.

I had quite a few books that I wanted to hand (book hoarder!), and the bookcase is perfect. I love shabby chic and French styles as you can probably see. It houses my fashion and lifestyle books and I do tend to collect pretty notebooks so they stand on there too.

It's amazing how much it actually holds, it definitely adds interest to the room without it feeling cluttered. Everyone who visits my home, including my daughters friends, all make a beeline for the books.