A room fit for a boy.....

I seem to see so many lovely, pretty things perfect for a little girl's room but when searching for my little boy's room I did struggle.

I like bold, bright colours and wanted the same for my little boys room – no pastels here please!

So here are some of the best bits of what I found for a fab and fun boy's room without breaking the bank and even some DIY ideas.

This chair is so very cool and great as it can be stored flat when you need it out of the way.

This can be found on the Rockett St George website, which also has these great wall transfer letters.

At just £5 a letter these could make a really fun feature wall. A cheaper option is to buy 3D cardboard letters from Hobbycraft and paint them.

Bunting can be made to order so you can keep the theme or colours going in the room, here is some I made to order for a little boy called Daniel's room, which as you can see is also personalised.

I love some of the more modern wallpaper available, which would be great for just one feature wall of fun!
These two are my absolute favourites:

Rush Hour Wallpaper

Penguin Wallpaper

Another really fun idea is to paint a wall or part of a wall with blackboard paint, which costs £11.49 for a 750ml can. You can make it look neater by just painting a shape or speech bubble or even use a frame without the glass to frame the painted area. I love this idea as it's great to be able to add areas where kids can put their own stamp on their room. The paint is also available magnetic so you can add colourful fridge magnet letters and use it to display paintings and party invitations.

Adding a moon and stars and some white shelving is another great way to break up the black wall and add even more fun!

Brilliant Lego storage that's practical and can also be stacked.

Lego Storage

I couldn't let you go without a little something vintage. Hard to get hold of and they can be a bit pricey but a vintage flip top desk is a great edition to a boy's room. Add a bright colour to update them.

Love Lemon x

 

Inspirational Packaging

I thought a lot about how to package my creations when starting Love Lemon. I didn't want anything too fussy and I wanted a handmade touch to fit with the handmade creations I was selling.

I have always loved using brown paper, so simple but there is something about 'brown paper packages tied up with string' - yes I did just quote from The Sound of Music!! It feels old fashioned and there's something about getting a brown paper package delivered to your door.

I also had the idea of Lemon slice stickers and loved the brown (paper), yellow and turquoise colours together.

Of course now Christmas is fast approaching - she says having been to the beach in glorious sunshine yesterday! It's another time to be inspired by packaging and how a few small details and added elements can make packaging look that little bit special.

I love this packaging from the delightful oh hello friend blog

 I also found these party bags made by thenewdomestic.com

The colourful fabric and pegs really work with the brown paper bags.

A great use of buttons, colourful string and cut out shapes in this packaging, so inspiring!

Here is some packaging of my own.

 

 

Brown paper and lemon stickers for my bunting, bandanna bibs (above in the little boat shapes) and T-shirts and handmade turquoise pouches with bright yellow ribbon for jewellery.

For Christmas this year I am going to add white and silver. I'm thinking snowflake cut outs, angel wings and white ribbon corsages with silver buttons.

Love Lemon x


 

Crafty South Londoners

Although I am no longer living in London I have wanted to do this blog post for a while, to share all the lovely crafty events and things happening in South London that I enjoyed so much when I lived there and some things that I just never got around to doing. Hopefully some of you South Londoners will find this useful.

Firstly.... SW Craft - a blog site that has so much information about craft courses, meet ups and great crafty places to visit. They also host some great events in the area. If something crafty is happening in South London these guys will know about it.

Oh Sew - Brixton - I didn't get around to booking on any of their courses but I just loved the fact that they did a variety of courses and you could choose something like 'Easy 50's Dress' which would of been right up my street.

Swish and Pout - This is a fantastic idea and I am always looking for a way to re cycle and get use out of some of the clothes I no longer wear. Clothes swapping is the new way to revitalise your wardrobe without the expense!

The Scarlet Peacock - I was bought a crochet course for Christmas which took place in February. I absolutely loved it. It was a small group and we had tea and chocolate biscuits while we learnt to crochet a lovely flower brooch. Everything was provided for us from the gorgeous Debbie Bliss yarn to the purple crochet hook. It was nice to learn something new in a relaxed atmosphere and great to walk away with a finished item after just 2 evening classes. There are lots of different classes to choose from including knitting, quilting, sewing and cupcake making.

FEAST - I also wanted to mention this market in West Norwood. I went to the very first one and it was such a good atmosphere. Loads of stalls and I got to meet some lovely crafty people, the market takes place on the first Sunday of every month.

I met Amy Aardvark who designs and prints her very own lamp shades that are so gorgeous!


Please post a comment below if you have any London craft events/blogs/groups to add.

Love Lemon x

My first ever crochet flower brooch I made at The Scarlet Peacock

Colour

I am so inspired by colour at the moment.
I am not influenced only by fashion and trends but what is around me. I love bold and bright colours a lot more than pastels and muted colours no matter what the season dictates and I use a lot of bright colours in my home and work.

I went to the local market on Saturday and there were bunches of bright yellow and red flowers that looked good enough to eat. I bought a bunch and they look fab in a bright yellow retro style vase.

Last week I was out browsing the shops and saw mini buckets stacked together, bright pink and yellow (again). It made me think of holidays, sunshine and ice cream and I just thought these colours went so well together.

There does seem to be inspiring colour combination's everywhere I turn at the moment. I am loving a bit of turquoise.

I especially like the combination of turquoise with yellow, navy and brown.

See below for some more colour inspiration. 

Le creuset, vintage yellow and deckchair stripes!

Another bit of visual inspiration from this collection at Topshop:

Lovely vintage style winter items. I have seen lots of leapord print included in the A/W collections which I love!

I also loved the bright colours on this dress, again from Topshop:

Love Lemon x

Back to School

Today I am keeping busy, I made some soup, took my little boy to his first dentist appointment, did a little shopping, put some washing on the line, did some gardening and now this blog post....I am feeling nervous and trying to distract myself and not make it a big deal but tonight I start my sewing course at the local school.

The last time I did a course was in February which isn't too long ago but that was just 2 evenings of crochet. This is a 10 week course on home furnishings and dressmaking. I wanted to build my sewing skills and meet new people in the area.

My pre conceptions of the class is that I will be the only one there under 50 and the teacher will be mean and strict and I will get all in a fluster trying to keep up. I don't know why I think this!

I am excited to learn some new things and be able to ask some questions about things I want to make but not exactly sure the best way to make them. However I am shy - yes If my friends are reading this they may laugh but around strangers I get shy and nervous and always have done. I hate that new person starting school feeling.

I always see old sewing paper patterns, there are tons in my local charity shop and love the drawings and old dress designs (well some of them). So hopefully this course will help me to make my own clothes using these patterns!

So wish me luck! I promise you will be the first to know if I am being bullied by any elderly ladies or if I make an absolute fool out of myself in front of the whole class!

Love Lemon x

Silent Sunday

Handbag Contents

I saw people doing this on flickr and thought it was a great idea but first can I just say thanks so much for popping over to my new blog and I hope you enjoy it. Please do join me (using the tab on the left next to this text) and become a member so I can see all the lovely people that enjoy what I have to say/share on here. Ta very muchly xx

I loved being able to nosy at other people's handbag contents, it's like a little story about who that person is.

So here is mine.

My bag is a very bright Marc Jacobs bag that I got for my 30th birthday this year. I absolutely love it! I was so desperate to have a nice bag of my own after carrying around a nappy bag for so long! I don't have to carry much around for my little boy anymore but there is a handy pocket for a nappy or 2.

1. Blue and white mini toy car - something to amuse my little boy, I tend to find cars or old mobile phones in bags/pockets for him.
2. Camera - Sometimes a photo says it better
3. Hairband - I found 2 in there and can never find one when I need one!
4. iphone - basically I can't live without it
5. Benefit concealer pencil - I used to carry a lot more make up with me but now I'm just down to this!
6. Vaseline - who doesn't have this in their bag?
7. Chewing gum
8. Keys - with my lovely Harrods heart keyring my mum bought me years ago
9. Love Hearts - I have no idea why they were in there but I got them at a wedding a few weeks ago
10. Purse - I love this purse which my brother and sister in law got me for Christmas last year
11. Pad and pen - for ideas for my blog, website etc. I love the pen as I bought it for my wedding guest book
12. Umbrella - a must have!