Pretty Cath Kidston Knobs

If you've been following me over the summer you will know that I've been busy with a bit of decorating in my little cottage (more to come on that) and one of the biggest jobs was painting my kitchen ... no mean feat when you own a rather ridiculous amount of cups and saucers and bowls and plates and ... let's just say I've been accumulating rather a lot of kitchen paraphernalia for many years now :O)

Not content with painting the walls I then decided to paint the kitchen cupboards, my dresser, kitchen island and just as it was all done I decided to give the door knobs a bit of a makeover too.

I painted them first with white paint and initially I planned to paint little roses on them but then as I was putting things away I came across some of my Cath Kidston napkins and had a eureka moment and decided to decoupage (or decopatch) them.

It was super easy, super quick, super cheap and (I think) super effective.

All you need is PVA glue (Modge Podge also works) and some napkins.

I decided to cut out clusters of roses from my napkins.  Once you've done that you need to remove the white backing (sometimes there's two layers)

Apply a thin layer of pva to the knob and very gently lay the napkin piece over it, apply another layer of pva over the napkin and allow to dry.  Be VERY careful as the napkin can easily tear.

Leave the knobs to dry and then reapply another coat of PVA, leave to dry again and apply another coat of PVA.

Don't worry too much if it looks a little wrinkly it does flatten out during the drying process.  Trust me.

 Finally attach them to the cubpoard, stand back and smile at your handiwork :O)

Really pleased with how they came out.  I just need to do all the drawers next !

So has anyone else been doing a bit of DIY over the summer?

Lovely bunch of daffodils

Is there anything nicer than a bunch of daffodils?

They just brighten up the dullest day.

God knows in the past few weeks we've needed something to brighten us up.  For me it's been a bunch of daffodils in my kitchen.  

What do you do to cheer yourself up in the dull days?

Filling my cottage with lovely flowers

I'm feeling a little teased by Mother Nature lately.  We've had some glorious sunshine where I've got myself all carried away opening windows in the cottage to let the air in, cleaning windows and dusting (downside of the sun is that is shows ALL the dust!) then ............ she takes it away from us.  

Seriously, what's that all about?   We really need some sun now.  Can you actually remember what it felt like to feel the heat of the sun on your face??  I can't .  Unless I literally stick my head right up beside my wood burning stove that's as close to the feeling I can get :O) 

Big sigh!

However, I feel I need to be patient.  I was just looking through a diary from 2011 and on March 7th I have written about putting all the garden furniture outside, the sun beaming, planting seeds and clearing the garden so there is hope.

Until then I am filling my cottage with lots of lovely flowers. 

Beautiful snowdrops from my boyfriend's driveway.  Aren't they just stunning!

Pinkilicious tulips .. I think these were from Aldi!  They lasted ages !!!

More snowdrops :O)

And these roses were my bargain of the year so far!

9 stems for 35c in Tesco!  Yes you read correctly.  I didn't get too long out of them but they were lovely while they lasted and for 35c who cares :O)

So what do you do to beat the winter blues?  Would love to hear your suggestions?