Christmas Gift Guide | 2014

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Can you believe how close we are to Christmas! This year has flown by. Most people are in the midst of their Christmas shopping, so I thought I would share with you my top picks from my Etsy store Little Miss Lorraine. A lot of these products can be used right throughout the year - not just for Christmas!!

Make sure you are following Little Miss Lorraine on Facebook and Instagram to hear about new products first!

xx

 

Little Miss Lorraine | Etsy

I have a few gorgeous vintage items currently available in my Etsy shop Little Miss Lorraine. Click on the picture of each item to check them out!

Set 4 Royal Grafton Bone China Floral Teacups & Saucers Gold Rimmed

Colclough Bone China Teacup, Saucer & Sandwich Plate

Scotch Ivory Hexagonal Sandwich Plate SPC Co. Ltd

Set of 3 Crown Ducal Bristol Pink Roses Small Triangular Pin Dishes

xx

Bike Makeover | DIY

A while ago I wrote this post about the vintage luxury ladies bike that I picked up from Castle Collectables. The makeover has finally been finished thanks to my very helpful partner (who did pretty much everything!) I am so happy with the results (considering we have never attempted to makeover a bike before!)

 

Before the makeover - in good condition but quite rusted
 

To remove the rust, we used a combination of coke and aluminuim foil! Weird I know but it really works as the pictures below show. See this video for a run down of the process.

Before

After

Once the rust was removed, we used a crome polish on the rims & other crome parts to make them stand out.

Before & After

My partner then had to remove all of the paint from the frame of the bike. For this step he used Selly's Kwik Strip which is a metal paint stripper. Gloves and being in a well ventilated area are a must for this product. You apply the product with a paint brush and once it starts to blister / bubble, you remove the paint and the product with a rough sponge / scrubber. This step took a while as he had to keep going over it a few times (especially where the stickers were.)

Before

 

Paint Stripper at work

  

After



 

To paint the bike, we used a spray gun which my lovely dad got for me! (I am beyond excited about this and have so many projects lined up using this already!) If you are painting a bike you seriously need one of these. It made the whole process so much easier! We used a primer firat and then applied a gloss top coat in an off white colour. You need to leave the gloss paint to dry for at least a couple of days - after this it will be pretty scratch resistant.

Putting it back together!

It took me a while to find the perfect basket for this bike - I ended up getting one from Super Elliots Cycles in Rundle Street (for those of you who live in South Australia!)

We were able to keep around 70 - 80% of the original bike. Some of the screws had to be replaced as they were rusted quite badly. I also purchased a new seat, new wheels and new handle bar grips. We were planning on keeping the wheels but unfortunately they fell apart when we put air in them. I managed to get the bell and the stand from my sisters old bike which Mum and Dad still had in the shed!

I am so happy with the end result - but I don't think we will be "upcycling" another bike anytime soon :)

- J x

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On Trend | Upcycling

 

Over the weekend I read a great article in the Sunday Mail Home lift out titled "Move On Up" which talks about the trend towards upcycling furniture. If you have been reading this blog for long enough, you will have noticed my love for upcycling items and reusing them (a few items include: serving tray, side tables, and my bike - post finally up this week!)

The article talks about a few of the reasons why furniture upcycling is such a great idea. This includes the fact that it is eco friendly and the furniture is usually built tougher than the furniture we buy today (hence why it has been around long enough to "upcycle") It also give you a few tips when it comes to upcycling furniture.

One of the main reasons I love upcycling (apart from those listed above) is the satisfaction from taking an object that may or may not have been used for a few years or is no longer wanted, and turning it into an item that is loved once again!

I thought I would also leave you with a few of my own tips I have found along the way when it comes to upcycling.

1 | Check the condition of the item
When I purchased my bike for example, I really wanted to make sure that most of the bike was working and that I could keep and reuse most of the parts. The point is not to rebuild the item from scratch (you might as well build a new one yourself or buy a new one!) Obviously as you will see in my blog post about my bike makeover, I did have to buy a few new parts, but we managed to keep 70 - 80% of the bike itself.

2 | Have a vision
I think it is really important to have a vision of what you want to do with the object before you buy it or start working on it. I get a lot of my inspiration from Pinterest. Usually I find a few different pictures and decide what I could do to my chosen object (such as the photo above for my bike). I believe it is important to also follow this process before you buy an item so that it isn't left sitting in your shed waiting for you to decide what on earth you are going to do with it!

3 | Consider the use of the item
Do you only want the item as a decorative piece or are you wanting to use the item once you have upcycled it? This is a really important question to ask as it can affect how you finish off the piece. If you are wanting to use an item, the finish of the piece is really important as you are going to want it to last! For my bike, I knew I wanted to use it a lot after we were finished so we used a primer before we painted the bike and a tough gloss paint so that the paint would not scratch of easily.

Once you have considered the above - you are ready to upcycle! I have so many upcycling projects I want to do which I promise I will share on the blog!

Have you jumped on the upcycling bandwagon? Where do you love to shop or where do you find your items? I am currently loving Castle Collectables (for those of you who live in South Australia) I have mentioned them on the blog before!

Ps. Please excuse the pun of using my bicycle as my example of "upcycling" (get it!)

- J x

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New Purchase | Vintage Bike!

I was so excited when I found this vintage ladies leisure bike at my new favourite place - Castle Collectables!  For those of you who live in South Australia and are into thrifting, I suggest you check out them out. My sister had received one from her boyfriend (brand new lucky girl) and I knew I had to have one too. Being the thrifter I am, I decided to see if I could find one much cheaper and possibly do it up. I could not believe it when I saw this bike the next day on the Castle Collectables Facebook page - fate!

The bike is in pretty good condition but could definitely do with some TLC. I will be keeping you updated as I do up this bike (eek what have I got myself into!) I am aiming for something similar to the picture below.

- J x

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Esty | Little Miss Lorraine

I just wanted to share a quick little reminder about my Etsy shop Little Miss Lorraine. This year I am planning to add a few homemade items to my little shop, but for now I am still selling some cute vintage items that I would love you to check out!!

- J x

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Christmas Shopping | Little Miss Lorraine

I cannot believe Christmas is only 5 weeks away! This year has flown by so fast. I have not even started my Christmas shopping yet - I still don't know what I want to get a few members of my family!

For those of you like me, who have not started shopping yet, here are a few vintage christmas gift ideas from my Etsy shop Little Miss Lorraine. Some of these items would also come in handy for your Christmas celebrations if you are hosting Christmas this year!

3-tiered Christmas Cake Stand

$20 + Postage

 This gorgeous vintage cake stand would be perfect for displaying homemade cakes or biscuits on Christmas Day. The stand comes apart for easy storage.

Russ Commemorative Christmas Cup
$8 + Postage

This cute Christmas cup is the perfect stocking filler for your Gandchild's first Christmas that they can look back on for years to come!

 Set of 4 Milano Floral Collection Fine Bone China Coffee Mugs

 $25 + Postage

This vintage set of 4 fine bone China coffee mugs would make the perfect addition to a coffee lovers mug collection. Each mug shows a different child with either a doll or a pet.

I have lots of other vintage items for sale, you can click here to visit my shop.

Happy Christmas Shopping!

- J x

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