Love To Visit... The Oak Room...

The Oak Room - Hatfield House, Hertfordshire

Last week two of my very best friends came to visit...

We had a lovely girly weekend with lots of eating, drinking, chatting and of course shopping...

On Sunday we decided to visit the Stable Yard shops at the historic
Hatfield House...
where we came across 'The Oak Room'...

Set in an old barn, The Oak Room is a beautifully unique shop selling homewares, gifts and vintage furniture...

You will find enchanting items in every corner...

 It even has its own vintage style library of books at the back of the shop...

The Oak Room holds a quirky selection of stationary and cards for all occasions...

... and at the moment a colourful selection of Easter goodies!..

 A little hidden treasure in a magnificent setting...
My friends and I had a great day!.. and would definitely recommend a visit...

Take a look at The Oak Room webpage...
or send them a tweet...
... they even have their own blog!..

The Oak Room - 10am - 5.30pm Tue to Sun
Closed Monday (Except bank holidays)

Stable Yard

Hatfield Park

Herts

Twelfth Night...

 Its 'Twelfth Night'... 

and Christmas is officially over :( 

However I am managing to keep that Christmasy feeling with this delicious Christmas cake and sloe gin...

A handmade gift to me from my mam...

 For my gorgeous Christmas Cake my mam used Delia's Classic Christmas Cake recipe...

I love cherries so she added a few extra to my cake... and topped it with a marzipan layer decorated with stars...

...and to make the sloe gin...

Recipe (per bottle):

500g sloes – pricked /squeezed

250g sugar

Bottle of gin

Glass bottle

1. Prick the sloe berries lightly and put all the ingredients inside your bottle.

2. Shake the bottle each day for first 2weeks until the sugar dissolves, then leave to rest.

3. After 4-8 weeks filter using muslin to remove sediment.

So... I'm off to enjoy my gifts :)

I would love to hear your thoughts on the recipes...

So why not leave a comment below... alternatively you can tweet or fb me...

Christmas Advent Swap...

As you may know from my previous post,

'Christmas is Coming...',

a few months ago I signed up to  

Hookin With Laalaa's Advent Swap... 

After two months of hard crafting my partner and I were ready to swap...

...and yesterday I received my gorgeous advent swap parcel from Sarah at Tilly Mint Boutique blog...

I was absolutely thrilled when I opened my package!.. My advent gifts are beautifully wrapped in a lovely Christmasy box... 

There were even some chocolates and sweets mixed in :)

I cant wait to open my little advent packages each day!..

Also bundled up inside my parcel was a bigger gift for Christmas day!...

and a little Christmas card, which looked very familiar...

I sent the exact same card to Sarah!..

These are the advent swap gifts I sent to Sarah...

I chose which gift I would like Sarah to open each day and then numbered them accordingly...

... I then wrapped up her bigger Christmas day present in hand stamped brown paper... I made the stampers out of potato halves and cut in Christmas tree and star designs...

I hope that Sarah is as happy with her package as I am with mine!...

I will be blogging up to Christmas on what I receive from Sarah and what I have sent to her... So keep and eye on the blog...

Check out Sarah's lovely blog, Tilly Mint Boutique to see her advent swap posts...

Love to Visit... Willow Home & Gifts

Willow Home & Gifts - Great Ayton, 

North Yorkshire

Willow Home & Gifts is a lovely little country style shop, in the pretty town of Great Ayton in North Yorkshire...

Selling everything from shabby chic furniture, attractive cushions, quilted throws  and even decorative hearts & bunting...

Their beautiful items are made up of a collection of pieces sourced in the UK, France and Holland...

An adorable little shop tucked away in a charming countryside town... 

Willow Home & Gifts will soon be stocking their Christmas decorations and accessories, hand crafted in Holland... 

Why not pop in and take a look!...

Check out this link to their website,where you can also buy online...

Willow Home & Gifts - Mon to Sat 10am to 4pm

Closed on Sunday

4a Park Square,

Great Ayton,

North Yorkshire

Love to Visit... Croft Interiors...

Croft Interiors - Stokesley, North Yorkshire

 

Croft Interiors is a lovely family run interior business in the historic Georgian market town of Stokesley...

 Alongside offering various interior decoration services, using the likes of fabrics, wall hangings and upholstery... Croft Interiors also sell a wide range of decorative home accessories...

A gorgeous shop full of both modern and traditional country style items...

Children's home accessories room...

They also stock a wide range of East of India gifts and accessories... Which I love!...

Croft Interiors constantly update their stock, which includes garden furniture, kitchenalia, cards and gifts, worldly items and one off individual pieces...

Check out their website at:

http://www.croft-interiors.com/index.html

Croft Interiors - Mon to Sat 9:30am to 5:00pm

Closed on Sunday

8 Bridge Road

Stokesley

North Yorkshire

Happy Fathers Day...

Handmade Fathers Day notebook -
daffodils & snowdrops

Why not hand craft your own unique Fathers day gift this year... 

Cover a recycled paper note book with some of his favourite images... Add a colourful trim and hand stencilled lettering...

Happy Fathers Day Dad...