I spotted a picture of fabric covered flower pots on Pinterest a while ago. True to form though the link to the source was broken (I won’t even get started on my mixed feelings towards Pinterest!).

This weekend, while buying some herbs for the kitchen garden, I picked up some ranunculus for the kitchen as I just can’t resist their tightly wound petals. When I got them home the notion of fabric covered pots took hold and a little searching led me to this post.

I didn’t read further than the list of equipment as Mod Podge had me stumped. A little more searching and I found it on Amazon. Although it would have taken a mere couple of days to arrive I couldn’t wait and from the description (water-based glue and sealer) I figured trusty old PVA would be a good substitute. Update! I spotted on Kelly’s blog (thanks Jen for the pointer) that she made Mod Podge with 50;50 PVA to water - worth trying as my PVA was a bit thick under the fabric.

Rather than use one piece of fabric for each pot I decided to make mine patchwork with some precious Anna Maria Horner Good Folks scraps I have been hoarding for an indecent amount of time. I like the way they look although there are a couple of mistakes I made in my haste. If you’d like to make a patchwork fabric covered flower pot here’s what to do…

You will need:

• Terracotta flower pots
• Fabric in various colours, enough to cover them with some excess (I used 8 prints)
• PVA glue (or Mod Podge)
• A piece of string, ruler, brush, scissors and newspaper.

Measuring the fabric:

• Use the string to measure the circumference of the top and bottom of the pots as well as the length.
• The length should allow for about 2cm overlap at the top and about 1cm at the bottom.
• Cut your strips to size in a tapering strip (top width = circumference of top of pot ÷ number of strips of fabric then repeat for the bottom allowing for a small overlap) this will avoid large overlaps which cause wrinkles.
• Trim all stray threads and neaten the edges.
• Snip two slits in both the top and bottom edges which you will tuck over each other to give a smooth finish.

Sticking it to the pot:

• Use the PVA sparingly (I used way too much!) to brush over the section you are about to apply fabric to.
• Apply the fabric starting at the bottom and pushing it up towards the lip of the pot.
• As you press the fabric down, push any air bubbles out to the side and smooth wrinkles.
• You want to make sure there is no excess glue at the edges of the fabric as it will form wrinkles when it dries.
• At the top and bottom tuck the outer flaps in toward the middle so there is no bunching.
• Repeat for the next piece of fabric, overlapping the first slightly.
• When all the fabric is on the pots use the PVA to seal it. You want to coat it completely but not leave any big build-ups. Make sure you do the rim and inside before turning it upside down to do the outside.
• Leave your pots to dry overnight. I stood mine on empty jars so they didn’t stick.

Fill an enjoy!

As you will see from the pictures I made plenty of mistakes but the finished product is no less gorgeous. They looked so sweet sat in the sun today, well worth the half hour and sticky fingers!

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

After showing you all the terrible mess in our attic and spare room it is only fair I share the progress. Now if wanted to wait until it was finished or even just tidy you’d never get to see it so this is what it looks like right now.

The little velux window faces South over the village which can prove to be a rather distracting view at times.

This is the widest shot I can get with my camera. The room is pitched on three sides and the ceiling isn’t much higher than my head. To the left is Mr Kat’s desk which is actually my Dad’s desk which has followed me around from place to place over the years. To the right is my desk which looks over the bannister and stairway.

I got the desk and chair from eBay. Although you can’t tell in this picture, the desk is quite scratched and is in need of some kind of attention soon.

Aside from the mess and cables I have some faux flowers on my desk. The smaller pot are some fabric pansies in a vintage French honey pot and the larger ones are tulip lights in a Champagne bucket from our wedding.

After some excellent advice from Louise at the British Chiropractic Association event I attended I invested in a monitor so I’m not sat hunched over the laptop – such a difference.

So there you have it, our chilly little attic office. It may not be much but oh my is it good.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

That photo is for everyone who has ever sent me an email asking me how I ‘get it all done’. The truth is there are things I simply never get around to dealing with and they all end up in the spare room or attic. But no more!

The plan is that Mr Kat and I will have a proper home office in the attic room and Monty will move into the spare room to be joined by Betsy when she is ready to leave our room.

Of course before any of that can happen there are a lot of things to find new homes for. Quite a bit of it will need to be accommodated in the house (don’t ask me where) but the majority is going to leave the house one way or another. The attic formed part of our storage and as you can see I can barely get in there to photograph it at the moment.

I have spent this weekend sifting through the mass and listing items for sale on eBay. This week my mother is visiting to help us get through the clear out as quickly as possible. The aim is to create the office first and clear the spare room for decorating.

I am sad to see the baby things go if I am honest. We have pretty much every piece of equipment and clothing which has ever crossed our threshold and saying goodbye to it will give us our house back. Doesn’t make sorting the tiny babygrows to be passed on any easier though.

I know that with every goodbye there is a new chapter. It feels right to be opening that chapter now. To focus on our home and finally get around to many of those jobs which have been waiting five years for attention.

:: I am so excited about decorating these two spaces and breathing new life into our home.

:: I am excited about moving my workspace from the sofa to a desk.

:: I am excited about moving into the next stage of our life.

:: And I am excited about sharing all of this here, with you.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Not nearly enough gardening has gone on around here this year. The garden and a newborn just don’t seem to mix well for me. Even though we planted a Rocket Garden we just didn’t manage to keep up with it.

So last weekend, determined to get something growing the children and their grandparents cleared one of the raised beds while we cooked a roast. I wanted to be sure we got our garlic in the ground before it is frozen solid.

As usual the children were gardening long after our task was complete.

And in amongst the overgrown bed were three beautiful red cabbages. Fresh from the garden and into my pot. Bliss.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Regular readers please pick yourselves off the floor, yes, this is a post about housework. But not just any old housework – lazy housework. The thought of you scrubbing away at a burnt pan when I have the secret formula weighs heavily so I thought I’d share my tip.

Haven’t we all been there? Distracted by something far more interesting we somehow let a pan boil dry or a sauce burn and we are left with a decidedly burnt pan. You could scrub away at it until it is gone or you could take the easy route.

The big secret? Cola. A small bottle of full fat cola heated gently in the pan will lift the black marks in minutes and leave you with a shiny pan. Hurrah!

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

There is a reason I rarely show you pictures of our house and that reason is my terrible house keeping. This is one of the few surfaces which isn’t constantly beset by clutter and is therefore one of my favourite corners. I loved Amanda’s corners of our home series so I thought you might like to see my little corner.

This is the corner of our sitting room next to the opening into the kitchen. It is a little gathering of things which make me smile.

Although I have completely cut it out of the picture it’s based around a bureau which came from my grandmother’s house via my mother’s. It is packed full of stationary, pens, cards, wrapping paper, posting packages and just about everything associated. It is so full that it often takes several attempts to close the door.

Do you have a favourite corner?

I have a little side project in readiness on the blog which I shall tell you more about on Friday. If you simply can’t wait there is a sneak preview on my Facebook page.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Our crops are not doing so well this year. Untended by me, the lettuces are as tall as the children, the herbs have gone to seed and the cabbages are butterfly playground. In short: there isn’t going to be much of a harvest from our raised beds.

The fruit bushes have been picked bare by the children and birds but our trees are heavy with fruit. Our plum tree is a little erratic in its crop. Our first Summer it was dripping with delicious fruit, the second virtually nothing. The last three years have had average crops with this years ripening as I type.

Mr Kat, who happens to have eaten many plums in his time, says they are not as sweet as we could expect. Personally I like the slightly sour taste of them.

Even more so in a rich buttery cake.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

Somehow I have managed to get to the point where I am so exhausted I can barely hold a thought in my head. It’s a vicious cycle as it takes me longer to do anything meaning my to-do list barely shrinks.

I need to put in some effort next week to get myself back on track but first I’m calling a lazy Sunday.

I’m going to mooch around the car boot sale, potter in the kitchen and chat to my family. Hopefully by the end of the day I’ll have made space to think clearly.

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

It has been on the project list for a long time but I am determined this will be the summer I turn it into a more attractive element of our garden. Once the roof has been replaced I am going to go to town with some shed paint – I’m thinking beach hut colours.

Seeing as I wear stripes on an almost daily basis I’m participating in Holly’s Stripe Mania (ooh, stripes for the shed…)

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve spent the last few days snatching moments to play with my new toy. I have had my eye on a 50mm lens for a while as it is reputed to be amazing quality for very little expenditure. Even though my buddy Camilla often tells me it is not the camera, or the lens but the skill of the photographer I have still been hankering after this beauty for a while.

First and most obvious benefit is that it has a shallow focus meaning messy backgrounds are blurred and artful. It is also making me move with the light more than I would have to with my usual kit lens. The shot above looked terrible from every other angle (in terms of light, I know the peonies are on their last legs). The shot below was taken from the same angle at the same time of day with the difference being the sun is hitting the top of the (new) peonies. Not a perfect shot by any means but interesting how the background goes black (I always wondered how that worked).

I’m enjoying taking pictures of flowers with it mostly because they don’t rush about too much.

Betsy makes a good model (when she is sleeping).

The other two, however, are going to take some practice…

I bought my new lens from Amazon with some birthday vouchers from family and some other vouchers from the Fairy Hob Mother. He visited me while I was on holiday to offer me a small treat from the friendly folk at Appliances Online who have some seriously impressive cookers amongst other things. One of the most magical things about the Fairy Hob Mother is that he likes to make new friends so leave a comment below and he could be visiting you next…

©2012 Housewife Confidential. All Rights Reserved.