More preparations for our tea party including a dyeing fabric tutorial.

We are still very excited about our tea party. It's the first time we've done a summer party that is open to all and I think it fits our tagline perfectly - so we hope you will come along and Make Friends!

We want it to be fun, so this week, in honour of it being Create UK week I have been dyeing fabric and gathering supplies.

This is the first time I have dyed fabric so I thought I'd share a quick tutorial too.

First, gather your supplies. You will need; fabric, fabric dye (I used Dylon in Flamingo Pink), a spoon, dyeing salt, a measuring jug, at least two large tubs and water.

That's it really. Some rubber gloves would be good (as I didn't have any, I took all my rings off and put my hands in some plastic bags. Yep, seriously. Although I looked a bit daft, it worked!).

Then, follow the instructions on the pack. I filled one of my large tubs with 6 litres of warm water and mixed in 250g of salt with a spoon. I mixed the dye with 500ml of warm water in my measuring jug and then poured it into the tub filled with water and salt mix. I dipped my fabric in my other tub and covered it with cold water and then squeezed it out and put it into the tub filled with dye.

 

 

I stirred it for a few minutes and then left it to sit for about 45 minutes. It said an hour, but I like instant gratification and am impatient! I used a bamboo garden cane for the stirring.

 

 

While that was sitting I gathered some supplies for the tea party. I know it's a while off yet, 12th July, but I wanted to be organised. 

 

Teapots, obviously fairly important and we need to get a few more of these. Trays and teacups.

 

Oh how I love my Bamboo 1970's coffee pot.

 

You can never have too many patterned plates and cups. Mix + match is totally the best way too, right?

 

Few bits of decorations for the table. Don't worry, more to come.

 

 

And then, look at the pretty tea bags. They inspired me colour wise! Making a mental note to find some paper plates and bowls that are very bright...

 

And then, I went back to my table cloths. (Which, btw, I picked up from our local charity shop for £1 for both. Total bargain. Happy.)

 

I got them out of the dye bucket and rinsed them in the cold water. Then I put them in the washing machine, just on a delicate cycle and then hung them up to dry. The whole process took around 3 hours in total, but I was only really doing stuff for around 20 minutes. Not bad.

 

And here they are... My first dyeing attempt.

 

 

 

I know this picture isn't great but some lovely details appeared after dyeing that you simply couldn't see before. I love this!

 

The embroidery came out particularly well.

 

Oh so pretty.

 

The colour isn't perfect, it's quite mottled in places. But I like it, it looks homemade and that's fine by me. I think it's probably from doing 2 cloths at once and from not stirring enough.

 

 

They will have pride of place at the party and will look great adorned with saucers and cake crumbs!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading,

 

 

Kirsty

Tuesday Tutorial; Read something uplifting

Hello folks,


It's Tuesday Tutorial time! Yay!

So this week, I'd like to talk about reading and more specifically, the power of reading positive and inspirational books.

Firstly, a confession, I'm a massive reader and would happily refer to myself as a bibliophile. I don't watch a lot of telly and I've stopped watching the news as it's too miserable. When someone invents a good news channel or paper I will turn on or open up. Instead I read. I kind of devour books really, so it gets expensive too. I borrow books from the library a lot, and even listen to audio books in my car now.

I also buy a lot of books from charity shops and a few weeks ago on the way to a meeting in Clitheroe I spotted this one...

As I have been really thinking about this blog and sharing happiness wider I bought it there and then for the bargain price of £1.99. Of course, I bought other books too, as I can never stop at one, but this is the one I want to share with you today.

I've enjoyed it and it has made me think. So here is  a book review (my first one since school) about Happiness by Richard Layard.

Richard is an economist (as am I) and he likes to explain things from quite a scientific point of view. I don't agree with every word but his ideas overall are interesting and make sense. He has identified what he calls 'The Big Seven' factors which affect happiness...

• Family relationships
• Financial Situation
• Work
• Community and Friends
• Health
• Personal Freedom
• Personal Values

Family relationships are the most imporant in affecting how happy we are.

He makes it clear that one thing that can really help people to feel happier is to set goals. They need to be stretching us and achievable though as if they are too low we get bored and if we can't do them we will feel worse about ourselves.

He talks about how we can train our feelings and that we can be happy if we develop a positive outlook.

He also explains that it can be helpful to spend time appreciating what you have and to be satisfied with what is good enough. Not everything needs to be the best.

I can give you a clear example of this from everytime my husband and I shop online for anything jointly. Usually these tend to be things like insurance policies or a new toaster for example. We don't sit about jointly picking out each other clothes or shoes or DVD's or anything like that. I will sit down and look for what I want. As soon as I find it, I show my husband and then order it. He however, despairs of me for doing this. He thinks he can search every website, and find discount codes and check it isn't available somewhere else but £2 cheaper. This can take him a hour or two. I'm happier to have the hour or two to do fun things, but he needs to check he isn't missing out on something. After we have bought something I don't even think about it anymore, but he has more regrets and wonders if he really did get the best deal. He wants perfect, I'm happy with good enough and happier overall really.

Overall, Happiness by Richard Layard, well worth a read, but not the easiest book out there, it can be quite scientific. There is an online talk from Richard here if you want to know more.

Following on, for this weeks Tuesday Tutorial I want to give you three options to choose from.

1. List some achievable goals (I think one of mine should be to learn how to spell achievable without having to look it up each time!)
2. Just let something be good enough.
3. Read something that inspires you or is positive

If you don't fancy reading 'Happiness', you could try one from this list of inspirational books or you could see what is in your nearest charity shop or library.

For those who struggle to choose and want something to help a specific condition, why not try the Books on Prescription scheme through Reading Well (full website here, just follow the link to the core booklist halfway down the page.) It lists books which can help with many different conditions including Anxiety, Depression and Stress and all of these books are available in any Lancashire Library. I have tried this scheme and although it's not always easy to find the books in the library, just ask. I read 'Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway' by Susan Jeffers when I was feeling anxious and it really helped me.

Finally, if you just want something short and easy or don't feel you have time for a whole book, why not have a look at our Pinterest board where we share lots of different inspiring quotes... The Art of Cheerfulness.

Thanks for reading,


Kirsty