Saturday, 25 October 2014

Making a pallet plant stand!

 I really wanted a plant stand in our garden to fill a corner of the top part of our garden. After doing a bit of research I found that they were really over priced!
My dad can get pallets from his work and they are always in good condition and really strong! I decided on the design ( kept it simple) and asked my dad to saw it for me and nail it together.



You can see how we cut the pallets when you look at the pictures. We put 3 strips of wood at the bottom and 2 on the top. We used spare parts from the same pallet to make the side bits.

At first I wasn't sure I was going to like the finished product but I continued to make it as it didn't cost that much!
I went to Wilkinson to buy Cuprinol garden shades paint in Pale Jasmine colour and gave it 3 coats. The only downside about using pallets is that the paint really soaks into the wood. I hadn't discovered Annie Sloan when I made this otherwise I would have used that!



This is a picture of when it was first put out in our garden. I purchased all of the galvanised planters from Homebase and planted lavender in the jug and then seasonal colour in the other planters.

 
Every time I look at it I smile because it is so pretty and I only had to buy the paint which was £10 and I have a lot left over to use on something else. I am planning on making some other things for the garden using pallets in the spring time, with the help of my dad of course!
 Picture below is later on in the summer on a glorious day!
 











Hoar Cross Hall... a special birthday treat!

I am starting with this blog as it is to do with my sister. I am very close to her and she is always so supportive of everything I do. She really encouraged me to start this blog so I wanted to start with one that was to do with her.
For my birthday in September last month, she treated me to a spa day at the very beautiful Hoar Cross Hall. September was a really tough month for a variety of reasons so she thought this would be the perfect place to relax and unwind! Hoar Cross Hall is in Staffordshire and it is an amazing stately home spa retreat! It is a very special place for me as this is where Angelo proposed!
My sister booked the Indulgent spa day which is £125pp on a weekend but £115pp Monday-Friday!






















We arrived about 10am but we could have got there at 8:30am (we were a little hungover from the night before.)
We checked in and were given our robes and towels. You can get fresh ones as many times as you like throughout the day. My sister went to the gift shop there to buy us some slippers! We started off by going in all the different pools, sauna room, steam room, jet showers, plunge pool etc. We then headed to have our treatments which were amazing! The deep cleanse facial was my favourite. It was so relaxing!!



After our treatments we went to the restaurant to have our 3 course meal. WOW! It was delicious. The menu was full of things to pick and they also had a salad bar and hot vegetable bar. We both picked the same food :) Chicken caesar salad to start, grilled chicken with ratatouille for main and summer jelly for pudding. The food was amazing and the service was pretty good! The waiter was in his own little world which meant he forgot to bring us some things and I had to remind him a couple of times!



In the afternoon we went to the gym (I know we are mad) then we went on a lovely bike ride around the grounds. Before we headed back to the changing rooms to change, we had a cup of tea on the sunbeds outside and admired the beautiful grounds!


We headed back to the sauna and steam rooms to finish off a perfect day!
Hoar Cross is a stunning place, so relaxing and the staff are very helpful! It is quite pricey but it is so heavenly it's worth every penny!

Can't wait to go back :)

Kirsty xx

Friday, 24 October 2014

The start...

I really enjoy reading blogs and every night before I go to sleep I catch up on my favourite blogs! You can learn a lot through reading them and see lots of lovely photos!
So... I decided to have a go at it and begin to share some things that make me happy in life. I am currently planning our wedding and hope to be doing many things myself so I hope to blog about that. I also enjoy making things, baking, home improvements and anything to do with flowers! This is going to be more of a hobby than anything else, sharing things along the way! I hope you enjoy! Kirsty xox