Olympic afterthought

It's absolutely no secret how much I loved the Olympics. I was beside my self in the run up, completely torn during them (what to watch? So many things on, how was a small brain like mine meant to take it all in at once!? But now it's truly over and the aftermath has started to die down, I am having withdrawal symptoms. There, I've said it. So, rather than continue with this cold turkey approach (which is clearly not working!), I thought I'd try and wean myself off it slowly. And in this vein I shall share a few more of my favourite pics from the big events. 

Turns out I wasn't the only massive Olympics and Paralympic fan out there. Wills and Kate seemed to have managed to get super lucky in the ticket ballot, wish I knew how they did it! Here we saw them at Wimbledon, ahem, I mean the Olympic tennis... and they looked almost as engrossed by Murray's walkover of Almagro as I was with them!! ;) 

So Wills, erm who's winning now?

You are my dear! 

Murray grimaces, aherm I mean grins, upon beating Almagro

The most astounding thing at the tennis was the crowd! Even those with doubts about Murray were able to get behind 'Team GB' with the Robson Murray duo on court. Who'd have thought?! And they even did us proud, good job guys!

Serena 'the wall' Williams

Wishes: to eat more greens

Figs, picked fresh from the tree!

Oh it's easy to make these brash resolutions on here, and it's even easier when the villa has five huge fig trees in the garden literally weighed down by the plum juicy figs on it's branches! I couldn't get through enough of these little green fellas in Ibiza, but luckily the rest of the garden wildlife was doing a good job of helping. 

So now we're home it'll take a little more effort (who am I kidding) to keep up the good work. Especially as we descend into the wild, wet and windy winter and figs become a fig-ment of my imagination (ta-dah!). But at least there will be plenty of turnips, swedes and other root vegetables in the supermarkets....sob sob. 

Oooh and the legendary sprouts of Brussel might make it on to the dinning table for their once annual outing, on that holiest of holy days. Aha, there's something to look forward to! 

DIY: Going Potty

We are going totally potty in this household, cooped up indoors during the rain. So it was a lovely treat when the man around the house brought me these beautiful delicate purple campanula flowers from the diy store! He even popped the pot into this marrons tin I'd had lying around for a few weeks, and doesn't it look perfect? He's a fast learner this one!







































So simple, yet effective. Just take a fun old tin can and use it as a container for your plants. I picked this up in a supermarket in France, but if you keep your eyes peeled in the shops there are some super pretty ones to be found!

If you are going to plant directly into it then make a few drainage holes in the bottom, or if you have a pot that fits inside then simply pop it in.

Add it to the collection!

Gold Fever!

Olympic fever is all around us in old London town. It's hard to avoid, so luckily I'm 'well into it'! As well as feeling completely and utterly inadequate as all these over-achievers break records and win medals everyday you look, we have to admit to being just a tent bit inspired!

In honour of all the fabulous athletes jumping over poles, running around in circles and lifting heavy objects in our little old city, here are a few photos of our 'lympics so far.

Trooping of the colours in Horse-guard's Parade!

Glorious sunshine for China v Germany in the beach volleyball

Secret code - adds a bit of excitement (even if they do broadcast it to the opposition on the giant screens!)

Mid-point entertainment. Should def be a new Olympic sport of it's own!

The orbit in the Olympic park. Is that a giant helter-skelter?

Meadow and the stadium - the first time Stratford's seen wildflowers in decades!

The fantastic aquatics centre under the spotlight

The USA v Hungary in the women's water polo - not a game for the faint hearted!

Diy project: Mr Munch the Sock Monster

I introduced you all to Mr Munch my sock monster in my very first post. What a cutie! :p

Mr Munch the Sock Monster

The Munchster on his hosepipe swing

But here's a little bit more detail on how you can make your own little monster.

What you need:
1. One knee high sock - the more colourful and patterned the better!
2. Wadding to stuff your monster with
3. Needle and thread
4. Coloured felt for the facial features

Knee length sock

Coloured felt, wadding and needle and thread

For Mr Munch I used the long leg of the sock for the body and legs and used the foot part of the sock for the arms. But depending on the style and length of socks you use you can mix this up a bit!

You'll need to sew each of the limbs and body inside out to your desired dimensions, depends if you want a shortie or a lean leggy monster! The ears are another area you can experiment with, the certainly add to it's character. Be sure to leave a gap at the crotch through which to turn your monster inside out, it's quite a transformation I promise! Carefully sew on the arms and then try out a few different facial expressions, depending n your mood!

I gave the Munchster a moustache to lend him an air of authority.

There are some great instruction diagrams out on the internet, particularly at the Monster Munch Club: 

http://www.monster-munch.com/how-to-make-a-sock-monster/

I opted to make the stitching a feature on his moustache

Finally, take your monster out exploring!

Mr Munch out enjoying the garden

Wishes: Throw some shapes

4. I shall endeavour to throw more shapes. In the shower...in the kitchen...or on the tiles!

I simply cannot resist a great beat. Any excuse for a shimmy! But occasionally if I don't put on the radio or just leave my iPod at the bottom of my bag it's easy to forget to lighten your step and put in a quick spin as you trot down the street.

DIY project: Hey stud!

The latest addition to my wardrobe: diy studded cut-off shorts

Everyone is going crazy for studs, and I'm no exception. My favourite pair of skinnies recently got wounded in action when my scooter misbehaved, resulting in an irreparable rip down the calf. Rather than abandoning them completely I chopped off the bottoms and turned them in a fab pair of cut-offs. 

Not content with that I decided they needed some embellishment. And so this is the story of what I did.

Take one pair of your favourite skinny cut-offs....

and a handful of metal studs...

plan your target spots...

And then get studding!

This is my finished product, I love the result!

A few tips from what I learnt - if you have stretch jeans, image what your design will look like once stretched a little, you can see that once I popped on these shorts the studs separated a little. I actually prefer that a little, but it's something to bear in mind. 

The inside of the studs could get a little scratchy, luckily on the areas I covered there was some thin cotton between the studs and my skin, but if not I'd be a great idea to cover the inside with something soft to protect your pins!

When cutting off your shorts take a guideline from a pair you already love - that way you should get the length just right. I kept a slightly longer length on mine so that I an wear them long or roll 'em up if I'm feeling a little braver!

Happy studding all!

There are tons of cutoff diys all over t'internet. Here's a couple of great examples:

From the talented hands of Geneva at a pair and a spare: http://apair-andaspare.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/diy-studded-denim-cut-offs.html

Five fab different ways to diy your cut-offs from the lovely ladies as a Beautiful Mess if you want to mix things up a little:
http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2012/07/5-ways-to-diy-summer-shorts.html