The Lion says RAAAH!

Because lions represent courage, strength, bravery and Gryffindor and cross stitch is cool.

xo

How To: Make a Book Bag

Dear Fellow Bookworms,

Like me, I'm sure you are always carrying around a novel or a book to read 'just in case' in your handbag or floating around in your car. If you're also slightly scatterbrained (guilty), you may find your books tend to look a little worse for wear after they have been living in your handbag for awhile.

So I created this book bag. It keeps my books dog ear free, saves them from that odd m&m floating in the depths of my handbag just waiting to melt all over something precious, and on the odd occasion when there is a makeup explosion it's an impenetrable shield.

Even if you're not a big reader, this little book bag is super handy to keep your diary, a pen and any paperwork that you might be carrying all together and neat.

Best of all it's super easy to make.

You will need:

• sewing machine
• 2 pieces of similar coloured, high wearing fabric cut into 55x30cm strips (I used Ikea Gunilla fabrics - they are cheap, hardy and funky)
• thread to match fabric
• needle
• ruler
• 2 pretty raised buttons
• 40cm of thin ribbon

This project will only take about half an hour, so let's get started.

NB: you can make the fabric pieces larger to fit school books, sketch books or magazines; or smaller to fit a small diary or even your mobile phone and iPod.

• First thread your machine with the matching thread. Don't worry if you are new to using a sewing machine; all you need to do for this project is sew in a straight line.
• Line you two pieces of fabric up so that the colourful sides face inwards and the back of each piece is visible.
• Using the machine, stitch the fabric together about 1cm in from the edge of each side and leaving a 10cm open gap along one of the short sides.
• Turn the fabric right way around, so that you can now see the colourful sides of each piece of fabric. Use the ruler to push the corners out as best as you can through the gap.
• Fold one end of the fabric over about 20cm to make a pocket and stitch it together about 6mm in from the edge. MAKE SURE the end with the gap is at the top of the pocket, where it will be least visible.
• With a needle and thread hand sew the gap together using a simple darning stitch.
• Sew one button on the front part of the pocket and one on the flap.
• Then tie the ribbon to one button, securing the knot with a stitch.

Now stuff your book bag full of books, carry them in your purse for as long as you like and marvel at how pristine and perfect your books stay forever (provided you don't spill chocolate on them while you are reading them!)

xo

PS To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (pictured above) is one of my all time favourite books. What's yours?

Pretty Paper Frames

About six months ago my mum gave me some old family pictures from the '60s and '70s. Being both amazingly retro and featuring my lovely family, I loved them instantly and wanted to make them part of my decor ASAP.

Not wanting to cut the photos or damage them, I hunted around for cute frames. But a lot of the photos were odd sizes and I couldn't find frames to fit.

Then trawling through the ever fabulous Design*Sponge I found the answer to my problem and a quick easy way to make the old photos into a feature in my cottage: handmade brown paper frames.

I made a few little changes to the original instructions:

• I backed the frames with black paper, and cut the black a little bit larger than the frames on purpose to create an extra boarder around the brown paper.
• To protect the old photos, I also used clear Over Head Projector sheets (how very '90s of me!) between the black paper and the brown paper frame (like glass in a real frame).
• Unlike the lucky people at Design*Sponge I don't have a sticker maker to run the frames through, so I just used double sided tape to secure it all together.
• Admittedly my frames are not quite as polished as the original, but I was careful not to be too careful when creating them in order to give them a crude look and make them more dramatic.

This is my favourite, my parents in 1976 not long after they first met.

And I love these two as well, taken in the early '90s, Daddy's little girl, and Mummy's boy.

PS I did actually find a frame for this picture featuring two of my favourite women, Mum and Nana circa 1960.

Hello World

My name is Katie Day.

Welcome to my world!

I have had this blog on my To Do list for a long time now, and it feels good to get it up and running at last.

What Katie Day did will feature all the special things in my world:

• craft projects
• culinary triumphs
• op shop finds
• decorating my cottage
• quirky musings
• and my favourite creations by others.

But before you go down the rabbit hole, here are a few things you should know about me:

• my friends call me Nana K due to my deep connection with all things vintage and 'Nana chic'
• my greatest dream is to write stories for a living
• I am trying out vegetarianism and loving it
• I deeply regret not being around in the 60s
• Glee makes me very happy and I don't care how dorky it is
• recycling, reusing, regifting and reviving is my religion

And now without further ado, I'd like to share my first creation with you.

This cute stitchery sits above my light switch and reminds me I always have love in my world even when I'm alone.

Stitched on beautiful linen using my favourite pink DMC floss from my sewing box, it was a quick project I dreamt up to make use of a 3" hoop I had lying around.

Now it is one of my favourite things in my bedroom.

I hope you like it too.

xo