Patience is a Virtue!

Patience, they say, is a virtue, and is one I like to think I possess...but during these last three months, that virtue has been seriously tested! The final hurdle with my on-going saga was to spend two hours at a solicitors office this morning...If I were to have written a comedy sketch show for the likes of John Cleese, who's characters are perhaps used to things not going their way, then this mornings events would have made for a very funny (read frustrating) show.
I won't bore you with all of that now, because I'm trying to forgot it, thankfully with my patience still intact...
Yes, today I have finally been given the keys to my shop-to-be!! Yippeeeee!!!!

Now the hard work begins and the first job on the cards is to order paint and start wielding the brushes...that Barbie pink wall NEEDS to go! ;-))

There is a lot of work to be done, which will need to be juggled with all the organisation of Christmas too...something I hadn't counted on, because I actually thought I might have been open by now if all had run smoothly...

Being realistic, I think it will be the New Year now before I can open for business...a New Year and a new chapter of my life...

I'll keep you posted with progress, for anyone interested....but for now, here is a sneaky peek at the place I shall be calling 'Nostalgia at Number 1'.

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As a change of subject, here is something I worked on yesterday - a very quick and easy make if you want to have a go yourself...

Shortly after we first moved into our home, it was my hubby's Birthday, and I decided to plant a Silver Birch tree in our garden for him. Over the years the tree has thrived and become very tall and willowy, with beautiful silvery bark.

Sadly, during the high winds that blew last month, a lot of it's whippy twigs were ripped from it's branches and our lawn ended up strewn with many broken stems.

I decided these could be very useful and so gathered them all up in a huge bundle. Enough for a broomstick(!), but that wasn't what I had in mind...

No, I thought I'd make a festive wreath for our front door. These long twigs are very pliable, making them perfect for the job. You could use the stems from a grapevine or a willow too, as these should also be quite pliable at this time of year and not brittle.

Start by making a simple circle to your desired size, winding the twigs around themselves. They should hold themselves in place quite well, but if you have trouble, then a small length of fine wire twisted round will help, as you build on it.

At this stage hubby walked into the kitchen...sighed...and then walked back out! ;-)) You have to be prepared to make a mess, selecting the best pieces of twig to use...

(They do say 'Creative clutter is better than idle neatness'! ;-))

Winding round and round in the same direction will soon build up a thick and strong wreath. By tucking each end into the wreath, it should hold it's shape well.

Stop when you have made the wreath even all the way around and to your desired thickness.

You can decorate your wreath in any way that appeals to you. I decided to keep mine very simple.

A length of vintage white lace was wound round it and tied at the back. (This will help hold all the twigs together too). I tied another shorter length to create the tails.

A wire loop was made at the top for hanging, by twisting a short length through the wreath (optional).

And a single white millinery rose was glued to the bottom.

I used white glue, applied with a brush...

and sprinkled with old fashioned mica glitter...

Making sure to add the frosting where snow would naturally fall and settle.

Including a sprinkling on the rose.

I then left it to dry.

When dry, it was simply hung on our front door, using the wire loop. Ta-da, a wreath that cost me nothing, as I had all the bits and pieces to hand. I was inspired to make this by Natasha, who has been adding glitter to silver birch logs. You can see what she made here.

Hope you have a lovely weekend...I'm off to celebrate, to order litres of paint and make plans....

See ya!

Niki x