Cake Cake Cake

Last week I went cake crazy. No...it was Chris' sister's boyfriend's Birthday and also my Mom's.

I decided to try the ultimate chocolate cake for Rhys' cake and it was HUGE. I followed the recipe and yet it kept rising...and rising some more. Together with the chocolate topping (Mars Bars, Maltesers, Snickers, Buttons, melted Dairy Milk and sprinkles) it ended up being about 20cm tall!

The second cake was a Maple & Pecan 3 Layer Cake with Maple frosting...

They were definitely the best 'large' cakes I've made yet...even if slightly oversized! But that's no bad thing eh?

Looby xx

eBay Purchase: Kitchen Dresser

Here it is.

 I'm in love....

I happened to stumble upon this kitchen dresser last weekend on eBay. It was a buy it now auction which was perfect 'cos we needed more kitchen storage pronto! I dashed to the kitchen to measure the gap we had and well....it was meant to be.

Its a 60s dresser already painted in Annie Sloan Old White paint and has beautiful carved detail on the front drawers and doors. And it fits like a dream.

I now have a place to store my baking ingredients and our pots and pans! The drawer on the left has been allocated as the 'junk' drawer (you know the one....old keys, batteries, receipts etc.) Everyone's got a junk drawer, right?! The right side drawer is now home to all my fabric kitchen items such as napkins, aprons and tea towels.

I am SO pleased with it - it couldn't be more perfect.

I strongly recommend eBay for bargain furniture. It takes a while to sift through the crap / wholesaler listings but you really can find a few gems and at very good prices. I prefer to Buy it Now - as its quicker and I don't have that worrying niggle that someone is going to outbid me!

A few tips for buying larger items on eBay:

Try a few different search words, for example, for kitchen dresser...Also try 'vintage dresser', 'old dresser', kitchen storage' etc. You'll get different results each time.

Sort you search results by 'Distance: Nearest First'. Our dresser was only in Solihull which is about 15 minute drive away. Its surprising how close you can be to a few gems. Luckily, my Dad has a van which our dresser fitted into (just!). Make sure you collect your item in suitable transport - with blankets to protect it from knocking against the sides and ropes to keep it on place if need be.

Persevere. It may take a few days / weeks to find exactly what your after. Keep checking the same searches each week as all listings average at about 1 week in length - so each week there should be something new. Don't expect to find exactly what you want straight away - that only happens on rare occasions!

Add anything you like or to your Watch List. This makes it easy to compare prices of similar items and keep track of when auctions are ending. I also get emails on my phone to let me know when listings I'm watching are due to end. Although, as I said above, I do prefer to Buy it Now.

Finally, don't be afraid to ask the seller any extra questions for measurements or extra photos. You're a potential customer!! If you do buy an item that needs collecting...make sure you email the seller straight away to let them know if you've just paid, or if you would prefer to pay on collection, get their address and a mobile number - in case you get lost!!

Happy bidding!!

Looby xx

DIY: Painting a Wardrobe & Dresser

We were kindly given 2 wardrobes and a dressser by Chris' godmother just before we moved in a few weeks ago. They were a little battered and musty so I decided to bring them back to life with a lick of paint....

BEFORE:

How wrong I was.....

2 weeks later, 5 hours of sanding, 2 tins of undercoat, 1 tin of emulsion and 5 coats of satinwood...I was finally finished.

AFTER:

I have a small obsession with Duck Egg blue....the majority of house items I've bought have been duck egg. So I thought well....why not have a duck egg wardrobe too?! I call it my 'feature wardrobe'!

I decided to paint the insides too - as I refused to put my clothes inside, in case I ended up smelling like an old lady! Little did I know, but the insides actually took longer than the outside..gah.

After all the work, I am very pleased with them... it was my first DIY project after all. They're definately not perfect but hey ho. The only problem I encountered was that after 3 coats of undercoat, you could see yellow patches through the white...which was a tad worrying...but the satinwood covered them up nicely.

I finished them off with some scented draw liners and Laura Ashley handles here. We also found a large handle to match for the wardrobe - but I can't find the link to that....

The existing handles were dark brass which wouldn't have fitted in with the fresh look I was going for. But I may use them on another project I've got lined up.

Paint used:
Primer: Homebase - Home of Colour - Quick Drying Primer & Undercoat - Pure Brilliant White - here
Outer: Homebase - Home of Colour - Quick Drying Satin Paint - Duck Egg - here
Inside: Homebase - Home of Colour - Matt Emulsion Paint - Duck Egg - here

Here's a pic of the dresser next to our (huuuge!) new bed:

See a few more photos on my Flickr here

Here's to more DIY posts....Hurrah!

Looby xx

Cappuccino & Cake

Cappuccino and cake in Stratford upon Avon last weekend <3 This was a well needed break from housey tasks. We actually wore proper clothes instead of slouchy pants and hoodies. I also wore make up for the first time in a good 5 days.

I'm planning a before and after post tomorrow....to show you all my newly painted wardrobes!

Looby xx

Hello there.

So I decided to start a new blog. Its kiiiinda a new chapter in my life now....I have a house of my very own...eek! And I'm recently engaged...double eek!

My aim is to blog about my DIY projects, my life, my baking....pretty much a random collection of me!

Looby x