D.I.Y Christmas Wreath 2018.

Hey my lovelies, hope you're all well!
So you may or may not have seen my previous wreath tutorial for a half effect wreath, The process for this one is relatively similar but I am going to run through it again here for you :)

I'll start by showing you the end result!



So what you will need...
(I will link everything I'm able too)

1. Rattan Wreath base, Hobby craft
2. Wreath Wire for attaching stems. Hobby craft
3. Satin Ribbon , Hobby craft
4. Cinammon Sticks , Hobby craft
( can you tell I love hobby craft yet?)
5.Mistletoe Stem , Hobby craft
6. Pineones, Hobby craft
7. All other stems Dunelm.
Im not going to link every single stem I used that are not christmas specific because the idea is that you use the stems you want, so I've linked to Dunelm stems in general. 

Country baskets is also good for faux stems!

      

   So now we have all our bits, lets begin! its super simply just very fiddly, so if you have a short fuse, this will test you haha! 

- You want to start with your wreath base, and the stems you want as your base, so for me it was my bay leaves. I wanted these to cover the wreath and be the volume of it so I am able to build on top of them. So you basically get each stem, bend it in a curved position (always going the same direction for example clockwise). I then pushed it into the rattan wreath base & secured with a wire. 

- In order to secure with a wire, I fed the wire through the gaps between the rattan base and had both ends of the wire facing the ceiling over the top of the stem, I then simply twisted the wire together a few times to get it tight and tucked under. You'll find forcing it into the rattan base will secure it mostly, the wire is just for added strength , especially if hanging outside. 

So we basically continue this step clockwise, feeding underneath each previous stem for a seamless finish & just keep securing where you feel it requires. After finishing these steps you should have your base stems complete.





- Next I added some eucalyptus to add more texture and thickness, you'll notice the more you add the less space you feel available in the rattan base to pierce through. If you cannot find space in the suitable place I just used more wire, and then tried to feed the end of the stem through wherever I could if able after securing. These are the bits that become fiddly, but be persistent, it's worth it :) If you really are not getting on with the wire you can always try superglue, glue gun etc.

So now I have my base, I'm going to start with the pretty stuff! Here I have added some sea spray from dunelm, it's so pretty and rather festive with its white snowy effect.
I used two stems for each bunch, & had two bunches on the wreath, staggering them so as they are not too symmetrical to each other.
- These I secured slightly differently, instead of going in the direction of the wreath, I pierced it right through so the flowers sit flush facing upwards. This obviously leaves a giant stem sticking out the back, so you just need to bed that into the direction of the wreath and again secure down with wire. 

- Follow the exact same step as the flower stems fort the pine cones, they come on a wire so I just fed around where I could securely, you'll find the more you add the more branches etc you have to secure things onto. Alternatively if you have pine cones without wires attached, you can simple glue them on!

I hope yours is starting to take shape now and you haven't thrown it out the window in frustration ;)
It can become difficult now in regards to composition, but id recommend trying to bunch together the larger things or go completely spread out, rather than doing both else it can become messy. Usually groups of three are a good option too, so 3 pine cones, 3 flowers (another flower to come) etc.

- Ive now focussed on the behind area, adding five of these palm style stems evenly around the wreath base on the edges of the base again to add thickness and size which has also given a more natural edging.



Now for the cinnamon, they come separately so I put them in three bunches of three and secures the three together with wires as seen in the image below.
-These are probably the hardest thing to attach, but persevere! I used a wire feeding it through the base but this time on tying around the cinnamon I wound it through the wire that is keeping the cinnamon sticks together also. This is so they do not slide when the wreath is lifted. Again if it's becoming too fiddly, glue should work but it just means you may end up flattening and ruining the stems below.
- Mistletoe can also be seen in these images which were attached next, you'll be pleased to know, these can just poke in and remain well secured due to everything thats already attached. Nice and easy! & I also added larger bunches of white berries into the bunches on flowers.

Nearly there! obviously you may be well ahead, it really depends how complex or simplistic you want your wreath has to how many stems and bits and bobs you will be attaching. 

-Next I added two rose stems, one into each bunch of flowers, one white and one pink. ( I believe these were also from Dunelm, I've had them a while).
These had long thin wires attached and so I stuck the straight through again and out the back and again just bent the back to sit flush against the base.
- I had some lambs ear stems lying around also, so I used a couple of leaves from them to stick into the edges of each bunch of flowers (they're the slightly lighter green you can see). 

& LASTLY..... the Ribbon :) you can attach it where ever you want you bow! you could even make the bow and glue it on. However how I did mine was as follows...
- I fed the ribbon around the back and pulled it to the front, but instead of just tying over all the stems, I pushed the ribbon in between the stems so it sat nice and close the base. I then simply made a bow like you would tie a shoelace , left the ends long and cut the them at an angle. 

AND TADA....

I hope you enjoyed this tutoiral and managed to follow this well. If you have created your own beautiful wreath please send me any images by DM on my Instagram, I would love to see!

  Lots of Love, 

Emily- Louise

xoxo

Easy D.I.Y Decorative Display Trays

Thank you so much for all the love on my recent Instagram stories and post regarding my new DIY trays.
It was highly requested that I create a step by step :) so luckily I'd taken process photos just incase ;).
This is a really quick and easy DIY that anyone can achieve and heres a list of what you'll need and where to find it!

1. Photo Frames - yep believe it or not the bottom of the tray is just a £4 photo frame! from Hobby Craft. Unfortunately I can't find the product via the website but any photo frame would work as long as it is the size you're after!

2. Handles, 2 per tray. I bought mine from Wickes, Click here for link.  Obviously you can use any handles you would like for the look you're going for.

3. Decorative Base, now initially I'd used textured card which I painted, this is one option. However I've since changed it today to multiple Photographs of the same Shagreen effect photo. I printed them at 8''x6'' and needed 4 per tray. There is such a variety of things you could use for the base, fabric, wallpaper, printed images, card etc etc. This is the image I used below

4.Paint, I used Culprinol Seasoned Oak for the edging of the tray to give it the dark wood effect. Again any colour you'd like to use would work. I just used a £1.50 sample size which was plenty.

5. Adhesives- I bought both Superglue and All purpose extra strength glue from Hobby Craft.

So now you have all your bits, not much right? You can now follow these really easy steps to create these beautiful trays.

Step 1 -
Lay your photo frame flat onto something you don't mind getting paint onto. & use your selected paint to paint around the edges making sure to get into the inner edge. At this point it doesn't matter if it goes all over the base of the photo frame as i've done here!

Step 2.
 This paint dries super quick so I pretty much moved straight onto this next stage. This is the stage that could vary depending on what base you decided on. Obviously if you've chosen fabric, or wallpaper etc that is larger than the tray itself then cut to size, ideally using a stanley knife to give you a neat straight edge. For myself using 8''x6'' photos, I needed four per tray. Now this only really worked because the pattern is quite small and busy that the line blends into one another, you wouldn't really want to use this option if your chosen pattern/photo doesn't match up. 

I put the all purpose strong glue around the edge of the photo and in dots around the back and placed it into one corner of the frame.

Step 3 -
Repeat this four times, not cutting the photo but overlaying them.
Once the glue settles and you push the edges down effectively these minimal lines will reduce. But ideally if the base you like is in a wallpaper or fabric that would be your neatest option!

Step 4 - 
And basically the last step. How easy is this? So let that set, again doesn't take much time at all. Now here comes the handles, there are two ways you can attach the handles but firstly you want to measure up to make sure it's even at both ends. You can either attach the handles with superglue at the bases and press and hold for sometime to secure or screw them through the back, as you would if you were attaching to a drawer.

Rather than doing this all twice, I did each step on each frame as I went along so that both trays were completed together at the end!
Then all is left to do is style your new beautiful trays using all your favourite little pieces.

And well, that's pretty much it! Easy hey :) I feel like it's a really short tutorial and I've missed things but it really just is that simple!
Please DM me any you create yourself I would really love to see some!
Hope you found this useful and don't hesitate to DM me with any further questions but I've really included all that I feel I can.

Happy creating!
Emily- Louise
xoxo

OUR NEW MATTRESS FROM WAYFAIR

WAYFAIR INTRODUCES NORA

The all new and affordable premium mattress-in-a-box. 

& I'm so excited that we got to try one out!

We all know how important a good nights sleep is. Therefore can we really skimp on quality when it comes to our mattresses. Thats exactly what I did when we first moved into our new build.

I figured go cheap on the mattress and it'll allow us to have more money for other aspects of our home.

ohhh I was wrong. The first thing we had to do was go out and buy a topper just to make it comfortable enough to sleep on, and I know how tough it can be moving into a new home feeling stretched with funds after all the fees etc, but If I could advise you now I would make sure you buy a good mattress from the start.


So, what makes me realise this now? Well.. I was kindly sent a NORA mattress from Wayfair.co.uk
a few weeks ago now to review and from the moment I rolled it onto our bed from its easily deliverable box I could feel its amazing quality and comfort and was super excited for our first nights sleep using it. Delivery was also super speedy and efficient.

The ease of rolling it onto the bed from the box was great, it pretty much does all the work for you by expanding and sitting into place. Plus, who want's to waste time and disrupt life waiting for a large delivery of a mattress that is pushed and squeezed up the stairs and into place, potentially ruining things on the way up.
Not me!
As you can see from the image above, after letting it settle for a few hours, it moulds around the area of pressure perfectly allowing for the right balance of that lovely 'sinking' into the mattress feeling & support. First impressions were great but I was curious to know if it would give us the support we needed because as nice as feeling as though you're falling into your mattress is, its important to remain relatively flat to aid posture and avoid any back pain etc.

Wayfair.co.uk has everything you could want in regards to home ware and decor, with products ranging from high end to very affordable, they have it all covered. I've loved Wayfair for years and even before working with them recently, I purchased many items for our first home form them and always found exactly what I was after and so I'm so delighted to have received this mattress!

Nora Promises the best Quality sleep experience at the best value backed by Wayfair UK's commitment to customer service excellence. Nora was engineered using sophisticated sleep technology to deliver an outstanding rest. It consists of four layers of foam which provide an optimal balance of support and pressure relief, while the cooling cover regulates body heat better than other mattresses. It provides a cooler surface for the best sleep possible and don't we all love a cool bedroom with cool bed sheets and pillows to cosy up into?

Plus, there is nothing worse than waking up in the night in a sweat hey? which we found happened with our memory foam topper on our previous mattress, however I can confidently say that we are kept nice and cool with an undisturbed night sleep.

4 weeks later, how do we feel about it now? ... Very happy! It moulds perfectly to your body and has the perfect balance between comfort and maintaining a good posture throughout our sleep. My other half Mat suffers with a bad back if he sleeps a certain way, or over sleeps which was a regular occurrence with our old mattress, but since using the NORA mattress he hasn't complained once about his lower back and is able to lay in on his days off without fear of waking with a bad back. Further to this, and this is definitely a bonus with me working shifts but there is very little transferred movement with this mattress so we can slip in and out of bed without worrying about disturbing the other!

I have yet to have a bad night sleep since this mattress came into our lives, and I couldn't imagine returning to our previous now that we have experienced Nora.

If you're uncertain which mattress is for you, you have Zero- risk rest with 100 night risk free trial for your nora mattress with an introductory promotional price of £359 (20% off) and a regular price of £449 (this is for a double size, our bed is a king size).

Therefore I urge you to go and check out the link and seriously consider one of these mattresses whether your moving into your first home, needing a new mattress or simply not satisfied with your current mattress, you won't be disappointed.

WAYFAIR INTRODUCES NORA - CLICK FOR LINK

Everything I review is honest and true to my thoughts & feelings towards a product & brand, I only work with brands & products I truly love and believe in. 

Emily- Louise 

xoxo

LUXE CURTAINS : How to achieve my look for just £150!

Love the full, thick neat pleat look for your curtains, but not wanting to pay the hundreds it costs for bespoke curtains to create this look?

Well in this blog I'm going to talk you through how I achieved my look for as little as £150!!

So, its pretty simple and quick (the only long boring part is ironing all the curtains, because we will have 6 panels in total urrghh!). 

And that's essentially the main  part behind this look, panels panels and more panels!

What you'll need and where to find them! 

Curtain pole - you want this to be much longer than your window in order to create the look i've gone for where it is essentially a wall of curtains and it creates the illusion that the window and wall is much larger than it really is!

My french doors are very large so I've gone for a 4meter pole. You can find most required length poles in your usual places, however for my extra long one I searched 4 meter pole on google and searched around. I decided on a brushed chrome effect, I previously just had chrome and I find the brushed chrome a beautifully subtle silver with a more classy feel and less 'bling'.

Curtains- Now this is where the cost can really vary, due to needing more panels than normal if you choose an expensive curtain the price will significantly increase. This is because you'll need 6 panels In total which means 3 packs. However I tried a few different curtains some being quite expensive that just didn't do it for me, when I came across a new curtain in Dunelm. 

They are their plain cotton collection in Natural, and although looked very insignificant or special in the packet, I knew would work perfectly for what I wanted to achieve. I opted for the largest 228x228cm. 

and just £55 per packet of two panels!! 

(don't be put off by the website picture, the colour is completely different.) 

My look is achieved with eyelet curtains, so If you want different curtains then any eyelet will do the same job. 

Click here for link to product. 

Voiles- I incorporated voiles also, again in the eyelet style, but make sure you go for Ivory instead of white in my opinion. They can look yellowy in the packet but thats because they're all bunched up. By getting Ivory once they are up they just have a softer look to them and more classy than paper white. 

Click here for link to product

Once you have all your bits, and all 6 panels are ironed.... especially if you go for the same product as mine as they come tightly packaged so very deep creases...(the only downside) but the end result...well totally worth the effort! Heres what to do next. 

⥤ We aren't planning on drawing our curtains, just the voiles and so I didn't bother sewing each panel together, however if you're planning on drawing them then ideally you'll need to sew the length of each panel together. Each side will consist of 3 panels of curtains. So you'd need to sew down two lengths to attach the three panels into one continuous panel. 

⥤ Whether you are sewing the panels together or like me, leaving them as they are. You will need to take them up so they sit almost flush to the floor, approx 2cm off the floor. The problem with leaving the length draped on the floor is that the pleats will not sit as neatly at the bottom. 

Sew along the bottom and cut the excess away. I also cut the behind lining just above where the stitch is as it was pulling the curtains causing them to not lay flat, this just took the pressure of the bottom and let them hang neatly. 

⥤ So now the panels are all set, if you're including voiles you will need to pop these on the pole from the outside inwards first, but leave the end eyelet off the end in order to put the first eyelet hole of the curtain on first and then the final voile eyelet. Following this finish feeding the three curtains panels onto the ends. The image below shows how they should feed into each other so no gap is left on show. 

⥤ Once all the panels are on, secure by screwing back on the heads to ends of your poles. 

Finally, push the eyelets close together, so each ring touches the next. This can require some fiddling and puffing, tugging and touching up but once in place they sit and stay perfectly. Each of my pleats is approx 4cm wide. This is when it becomes apparent why 3 panels is needed either side, because we are pushing them close which causes the panels to become very thin, therefore by doing this continuously with multiple panels on each side we can achieve the thick look. 

And there we have it! The actual applications is really quick and easy, the time spent is prepping the curtains but for just £150 curtains It was completely worth the effort! and as you can see from the final images it has really opened up the space and provided the illusion that the window and wall length is very large. 

I hope this has helped some of you achieve the look or has given you some ideas on various curtains styles and what you would like to achieve in your homes. 

Thank you for reading,

Emily- Louise

xx

D.I.Y WREATH

Wreaths can be super expensive, often worth it but why pay so much when you could create one yourself for a fraction of the price and have it bespoke to your own colour and flower preferences! 

So in this blog I’m going to talk you through making your own wreath with all things easily accessible from local stores. This tutorial is based on a wreath from Christmas but the process is the same, just switch up the things you include! It’s super easy to make it’s the design that can be the harder part.
Below is the wreath I'm going to talk through

So to start I got the wreath base, a beautiful intertwined twig wreath which I love compare to the plastic or polystyrene ones in this situation because they’re easier to attach things too and if you want to leave some on show as I did then it looks great! 

Rattan Wreath Base- Hobby Craft, £3.50 Click here for product.

Hobby wire- Hobby Craft £1.00- Click here for product.

For attaching everything to the base you'll want hobby wire & maybe have some super glue if you’re wanting to add things that can’t be wired on such as single berries etc. 

So now the fun part, choose your flowers! Country Baskets, Dunelm and Home sense all have a lovely selection of faux flower stems in a wide variety of types. For my wreath I chose the Ava Cream hydrangea stems from country baskets (click here for product) white roses, eucalyptus and spray blossoms all from Dunelm.

Ava Cream Hydrangea from Country Baskets - Click for product. 

Now you have all your pieces you can get creative! 

• So firstly cut all the stems shorter, you still want about 10cm to play with to allow for attaching but the rest can be chopped off. 

• I started with my eucalyptus which is my base flower and the one I want to sit at the back that will create the shape for my arrangement. Lay them one by one in the direction you want them to sit and feed the hobby wire around the stem and into and around the nearby twigs in the base. Twist the ends around to secure and continue onto the next.

• Continue the same process for anything you want to be attached in the same way, as you can see I did the same for my sparkly ferns. 

• So now the beautiful flowers. I used the hydrangeas first as they’re the largest flower and the other flowers can be placed around without getting lost. However instead of laying these across I just pushed the flowers stem through and then bent the stem around and fastened wherever suitable with the wire again. 

• I continued this same process with all the flowers, it’s best just to fiddle around, find where it sits well and then find the closest twig to fasten too with the wire. The white roses I’ve used came in a bunch and are thin wired stems anyway so could just be fastened with their own stem.

• I finished with adding some leaves to the back that were from the stems that were cut at the start. 

• It takes some patients and some fiddling and changing as you go but consider where you’re planning on hanging it, for example I wanted mine on the front door so I made sure I secured as well as possible to allow for the wind. Otherwise if it’s inside you can be a bit more lenient and most will hold itself.

• Lastly my wreath hanger was from hobbycraft and with the base being twigs it means I could just slip it onto the hanger without needing for anything else. String, ribbon and most other hanging methods can all be used easily by feeding through the top of the twig base! 

So there we go! it’s nots a long tutorial at all, slightly longer to create, but super easy and effective and the same method can be used for any style weather that’s filling the full base with stems or just as section as I did. 

Lots of Love
Emily-Louise
xxx

Me and my Soft Furnishings.

Oh Hey! so you've clicked on my new blog and first ever post, Thank you. I'm very excited to be doing this and finally having a blog up and running! yay!

I have been encouraged by my other half to do this for a while and now I have decided to go for it after brief chat with one of my favourite bloggers. My blog will mainly consist of, interior design or interior related DIY but maybe a few lifestyle & fashion related content thrown in!

First of all I thought I would tell you a little bit  about me and how I fell into making bespoke cushions and creating Emily-Louise Soft Furnishings, which has taken off more than I could ever of dreamed off.

So me in short... (although I'm not short at 5ft 11) I'm a full time Paramedic for the NHS, and play netball 3 times a week which takes me all over the country :). I've been with Mat for 4 and a bit years now, I have 1 older sister and 4 very close girlfriends. In June 2017, after a very stressful few months, age 23 me and my partner (who wishes he was 23) purchased our first ever home, not our forever house but yet still a beautiful home that I'm so grateful for.

I'll be honest; 6 months prior to moving in, I had pretty much designed our hole house on a mood board app and we had bought the majority of the furniture and stored it all in my room at my parents house or in there front room (which I'm sure they loved). It was a risk but having an impatient nature it just had to be done!

Me and the OH always talked about focusing on the living room first as that is where we new we would spend majority of our time having spent 18 months in a room at my parents to save for the home (a lot of you will know the struggle) and like most I wanted it to be cosy comfy and classy.

The statement piece in our front room we feel is our sofas with the feature mirrors behind which was my other half's idea (he made me write that bit, but i'll give it to him....I thought of a large mirror behind, he came up with the three)

So how did bespoke cushion making come about? Well we loved the sofa style and colour but unfortunately not the cushions it came with and after browsing all the usual stores, I found cushions I liked but either they didn't suit or I just was not feeling them!

So being the creative, impatient person I am I then thought of attempting to make my own and having always liked being creative whether thats drawing , painting or designing I figured why not!

I made my first lot of cushions by hand (can't imagine doing that again, praise the sewing machine!) and here they are in the images below. Friends and family would often pop by and say how they loved them not knowing I made them, which was really lovely and first gave me a bit of a business idea.

Therefore I decided after making my living room set that I wanted to make them for all the rooms, and probably not even the next day they were all done! (impatient strikes again). Below is a picture of the master in which I have made all the cushions also. 

Naturally this then led to posting them on my Instagram which I already had to document the new build process and my interior progress. The love and requests I received was overwhelming and really pushed me to start Emily-Louise Soft Furnishings.

So really It was never my intention to start up a bespoke business, one thing led to another and now there isn't many days that go by (other than my crazy long shift days) where I'm not at my machine and I am so super grateful for all the orders and without Instagram this wouldn't be possible.

lots of love to you all for taking the time to read, & I'm looking forward to creating more content!

Emily-Louise 

xxx