littletree does Halloween...

A happy Halloween and Monday to everyone, hope you all had lovely weekends, did you get up to any spooky mischief? As you may remember I mentioned I was having a little dinner party/double feature film fest on Saturday evening? Now I did manage to take a few pictures before I got too busy with cooking but I tried a few night shots with everything lit up and although they looked fine on my camera screen they were actually super blurry once I had loaded them onto my computer! So I have a few pics of decorations and some DIY jack-o-lantern jars to share with you but none from the evening :( hope you enjoy!x

The jack-o-lantern was made by my friends boyfriend, think he looks more scared than scary!

For the table decorations I used my DIY jars (below) and a collection of miniature squashes in all different colours dotted in and around the bowls of food, I even managed to print some pumpkin shaped placemats! For the food I made my squash soup, sticky honey and balsamic roast sausages, crispy jacket potatoes with sour cream and cheese, my friend made a fab chili...oh and a bit of salad for a touch of healthy green! I also made some very orange cupcakes with green frosting and a gooey ghost sweet on the top!

Now I don't usually do Halloween as I'm not a fan of dressing up so this was something a little different and it turned out to be an amazing evening! We watched some classic spooky movies, Hocus Pocus and The Craft, really took me back to sleepovers as a teenager! If you doing something tonight or just out trick or treating with the kids have a fab time and watch out for witches! x

This was a really simple little DIY that just popped into my head the other day...they obviously look much better once it gets dark!

1/ Collect empty jars of all shapes and sizes just make sure a tealight will fit though the opening.
2/ Stick a length of masking tape to a cutting mat and with a craft knife cut simple triangle shapes for eyes and toothy mouths. I did two of each design to stick to the front and back of the jar.
3/ Carefully peel off the masking tape and stick to your jar making sure it's stuck down with no loose edges.
4/ Now outside (or a very well ventilated room) use a glass etching/frosting spray to completely cover the jars, I did two thin coats. Take care not to get spray in the jars as it's obviously flammable which won't mix with the candles later!
5/ Once dry remove the masking tape carefully and decorated with ribbons, twine, buttons, whatever you like!
6/ I found that lighting the tealight and carefully dropping it in the jar was the best way to get the candle lit, unless you have super long matches or taper lighter.

Done! Now sit back and enjoy their little spooky faces!x

pinterest pick of the week...

Another weekend is here again! So in honor of Halloween I'm having a bit of a pumpkin fest here on today's pinterest picks. They are by far my favourite part of Halloween, how many other vegetables can you decorate with and eat?! So today's board comes from Rebecca Karr and is called Pumpkin Goodness, there are some really different ideas, the owls above for example (how cute!) as well as some super scrummy looking food. I'm having a little dinner party/double feature film fest tomorrow night with friends and I'm planning a pretty table and decorations as well as my famous squash soup so hopefully if all goes well I will have some pics for you next week! If your having a party this weekend have a spooktacular time! x

How beautiful is this carved pumpkin? And how delicious do those whoopie pies look?! Yum! As usual click on the links above for more pics and sources. Thanks to everyone that stopped by this week and hope to see you next week. x

Etsy...begela

A jolly Thursday to everyone out there today! Realised that I hadn't done an Etsy post in a while even though I have found so many lovely shops to share! So today I am going to share this lovely little shop called begela, run by Ekaterina Trukhan and I think this image above shows exactly why I love it! The little red cat on this badge has that sneaky look in his eyes that cats often get when they're up to no good...here are a few other little gems from Ekaterina's shop. x

littletree loves...chestnuts!

A jolly Wednesday to all! One of the greatest things I love about the autumn are amazing, wonderful, glorious...chestnuts! We never buy them as our local forest has them in abundance, you just have to get there before anyone else! They are so sweet and if done over an open fire, as we are lucky to be able to do, they have a wonderful hot smokey taste. I eat them by the handful and would do so everyday if I could! Generally we just roast them but over on pinterest I found this super tasty looking recipe for Chestnut Truffle Cake...mmm think that is definitely going to go on the 'must bake' list! Do you have any favourite chestnut recipes? x

Photo and Recipe from BBC Good Food

beautiful books...A Child's Garden of Verses

Hello all! I have another beautiful book to share with you today, A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson is illustrated by Brain Wildsmith (modern version here), this book is my mums and as you can see above she received it for her 8th birthday! It has always been one of my favourites to look through and read as both child and adult, mainly because of the amazing illustrations. The colours and energy just leap off the page and draw you into this magical vibrant world of multicolour madness! I wasn't sure if the illustrator Brian Wildsmith was still around given the age of the book but he has a website here, with more wonderfully illustrated books. Now I apologise in advance for the amount of pictures today but I just couldn't cut out my favourite pics and poems! Hope you enjoy! x

The Cow

The friendly cow all red and white,

I love with all my heart.

She gives me cream with all her might,

To eat with apple-tart.

She wanders lowing here and there,

And yet she cannot stray.

All in the pleasant open air,

The pleasant light of day.

And blown by all the winds that pass,

And wet with all the showers.

She walks among the meadows grass,

And eats the meadow flowers.

Robert Louis Stevenson

(This is one of my favourites! And she looks like such a happy cow in her flowery meadow...x)

littletree visits...Power of Making at the V&A

A happy Monday to everyone, hope you've all had nice weekends? I was in London this past Friday on a spur of the moment visit to the V&A where they had a fab exhibition called the Power of Making, which is a collaboration with the Crafts Council to celebrate making and crafting in our lives.There were some absolutely amazing sights to behold, from the enormous silver back gorilla made entirely from coat hangers that greets you at the entrance to a pretty ceramic eyepatch, a lifesize crochet bear and a super delicate sugar sculpture...unfortunately there was no photography in the exhibition but I've managed to find a few pics on the V&A website.

Michael Rea, Prosthetic suit for Stephen Hawking with Japanese Steel

'Alphabet', pencil-tip structures, Dalton Ghetti, USA. Photo by Sloan T. Howard Photography

These pencil lead carvings by Dalton Ghetti are just so amazing up close, you just don't realise how tiny they are and of course the patience required! I have a few other pictures of his work here on pinterest. There was also a huge wall sized piece of knitting, a lace work chainlink fence and a mind boggling machine designed just for the purpose of decorating spherical objects such as eggs...hmm, on top of everything else we had a lovely afternoon tea in the amazing surroundings of the V&A cafe (below) this picture doesn't even begin to show the grandeur of this amazing place! So if your out and about in London then do stop on by!x

pinterest pick of the week...

Phew! What a week and yet again it has flown by! I had ordered some paper to test for prints in my (hopefully upcoming) Etsy shop (eep!) and so I spent lots of time sat at the printer waiting patiently, biting my nails waiting to see the final results...so watch this space! This week for our pinterest picks we have traveled to yellow and grey country, now if you visit here often then you will know of my slight obsession with this colour combo and so today I am going to share my love with you! This board by jcv is of course named grey and yellow and is packed with inspiring interiors, prints and fashion, so you can imagine the endless umming and ahhing that went into picking the final few! So here they are...x

This very last pic is of a cushion designed by the fab Virginia of roddy & ginger, I'm very lucky to own my own cushion (here), loving the vase too! As usual click on the links above for source details and hope you all have a lovely weekend...x

website update...

Just a quick note to say please stop by the ol' website as I have had a bit of a re-design and added a few of my more recent designs and prints, some you may have seen here...some you have not! Ooh I bet the mystery is killing you! x