For the Love of Daisies

 Our lawn has been invaded by the sweetest of invaders....hundreds of daisies. Whilst I would be happy to let them be I am told by those that know better about such things that the grass must be mown. This will probably take place at the weekend when our pack leader is home from work. If the wind is in the right direction, it's a full moon and pigs are flying it is also possible boys large or larger may  cut it even sooner. Either way it seems I must soon say farewell to their cheery little faces....

or do I? 

 Found at the Scout Jumble sale on Saturday (at 8 o'clock in the morning sporting hangover from hell) I spied an old 1960s book on wild flowers. It's great and guess what's at no.50. Yep - Bellis something - the daisy. 

 

Well from then on it seems that everything is coming up daisies. 

I took a tour around the house today whilst waiting upon absent plumber and spied more daisies. There were 3 sets upon my favourite fibreglass trays.

And on the stooly bin thing I think I spy a daisy.  There's my precious patch of vintage vinyl wallpaper all covered in the palest and softest of daisies. And from the corner of my eye whilst deep in conversation with caller I spy another daisy invader on one of the kitchen pinboards.



Well now I became rather alarmed. Have I been a daisy fanatic all these years and never known it? Have I been lurking jumble sales and charity shops with what I though were eagle eyes but which were only actually eyes capable of focusing on things with daisies on? Surely not.

A brief inspection of what passes as my wardrobe revealed no daisies. Phew. I'm 4* for goodness sake - I cannot wear daisies. Cushions, throws and bedding all a bit granny chic floral but no daisies.
But then it hit me how many other flowers I was seeing in the patterns and design. Flowers are truly inspirational and in honour of that I am launching a monthy "floral favourites" round up of all that is best on the interweb/etsy/flickr etc.

Every now and again (roughly monthly) I'll pick a flower and we'll see what we can find. I'd really welcome your suggestions. If there is enough interest I'll set up a flickr group or something where you can submit your entries for that particular flower.

So the first flower to inspire is...the daisy.

And to kick us off I've made my selection of favourite daisy inspired goodness.

My Darling Daisy Design award from Etsy goes to......

1. Letterpress recipe cards from 622 Press 2.  Sheer vintage daisy drapes from beedteed 3. Edible sugar daisy from Andiespecialitysweets 4. Daisy 3 piece part set from PartyPoms

5. Paper art framed daisies from RedEyeVintage 6. Vintage bed sheet from Pumpkintruck

7. vintage handpainted tray from thepetitemarket 8. Summer Breeze ring from LizHutnick

.....and from Flickr the Darling Daisies award winners are...

1. Daisy, Daisy from a A Thrifty Mrs 1    2. the most fantabulous granny chic daisy barkcloth thrifted by Dottie Angel 3. cute collage by Picnic by Ellie

Wait a minute, yes - there are even daisies in the Follyandglee shop too. Now what a suprise.

What have you seen inspired by daisies you really Love?

Make over, make new- it's easy to do.

Connie Con-Tact is so right - sticky back plastic is great for giving you a lift as well as your home.....

..or at least it can be.  Apartment Therapy and Design Sponge have both blogged excellent round ups in the past of what's available in stores (in the US) today. Some of it seems a bit grim. Its the vintage stuff that I love - the patterns from the 1960s were amazing.

I've been collecting original pieces for a couple of years now. It started with the kitchen shelves. We would love to remodel the kitchen at some point (who wouldn't) but as that's not an option right now it seemed like the shelves were going to have to get a paint job like all the other cabinets. Being so close to the hob they get grimy easy so I tried a temporary piece of contact paper and it was so easy to wipe clean it's still there several months later. It seemed silly to stop there so you see the rather crazy results below. The shelves are certainly a cheery sight for bleary eyes on grey mornings.

 You already saw our paper organizer files covered in assorted contact papers but I'm afraid that is not the end of the story. I found evidence in the hallway with telephone directories hiding in a box filed covered in Pucci inspired 1970s fablon. (The furry one says why keep the directories at all cos you can look everything up on the interweb. Gotta point cos then I could get rid of that naff hall stand.)

 ...and I fear there are plans for this gorgeous roll on vintage French paper to soon be in the bedroom. 

Alas I may be saved from completely covering the house because seems like its getting harder and harder to find. You can still score some great vintage rolls for sale on Etsy. Try searching the vintage section for fablon, contact paper or adhesive shelf liner.

1. summer flowers manufactured by Adorn from pumpkintruck 2. gold Kwik Cover from JenniesJunque 3. set of 3 vintage samples from lovenestdesign

4. cute fruit print from BluePrintVintage

I haven't found a Flickr group of sticky back plastic lovers yet? Anyone know of one or want to set one up with me? I did find a few pictures with a couple of inspired ideas of what to do with your precious roll once you find it.

1. faux bois parcels at bugsandfishesbylupin 2. Go Gay from strangebehaviour 3. magnetic mushroom noticeboard from vintage pleasure

I'd love to hear if you get sticking. Any one wanna swap contact paper samples?

Colour Combo love

Well is almost a year since the chosen one bought me what is still my favourite Cream top from the lovely boutique that is MyaRosa. No....that's not me in the photo...if only.

Wearing sparked an almost uncontrollable love for the pink/orange/lilac combination which has had untold implications for both the kitchen and the bedroom.

But now a new piece of retro loveliness has fallen into our lives and is both folly and cause of much glee.

 A fabulous 1950s/60s eiderdown quilt in perfect unused condition. Look at that colour combo - chartreuse green/yellow with rose pink. I do not dare even place it on the bed for fear of sparking another new colour combo fetish.

Better put it into the shop quick.