You Tube

I think I am getting slightly addicted to You Tube videos, particularly tutorials on things I am thinking of having a go at.  I am also finding things I did not expect to find on there.  I am finding it quite cathartic actually as I am technically learning something rather than just watching a programme on TV and some of the tutorials are very good.  I am hoping it will give me more confidence to dive into things a bit more readily in the future.

I have also been quite intrigued to see people find charity shop items both here and elsewhere and then doing something simple with them like give them a paint job and making them look quite stunning.  I am not sure that some of the accessories are quite my style but I have been very impressed with some of the furniture makeovers with paint I have seen.  I am quite interested in this but I am not very good with paint on any sort of level so if I do decide to dip my toe in the water it will be very much a baptism of fire but I suppose that is how we all learn.  I do have a couple of trays that ideally could be prettied up with some nice paint and probably a little decoupage.  I will have to see how things go.

I think my interest probably falls more on upcycling things like traditional linens, lace mats, fabric scraps etc and making something out of nothing whether that be fabric or something else.  Sometimes things just cry out to be re-used and re-loved but you do not have to spoil the pieces and lose their integrity in the process.

I know recently when I went to the antique centre with my friend there was a new to me stall in there (I had not been to this centre for a little while) and they had lots of traditional old linens and bedding most of it was French.  I will in due course be sharing another post on linens, and that is to do with my bedroom, but that will happen once the bedroom has been fully cleared.

Now I already have an interest in old linen and have been collecting cotton sheets etc for a good few years.  It all started off with me being given an old whitework hand worked white Victorian over-bedspread that had belonged to my great aunt.  It does have a tear in it which had been patched at some point but as I have no recollection of her it is something to remember her by.  My Nan gave me this and she also gave me a hand worked and crocheted best tea table cloth that had belonged to her other sister and also my great aunt - yet again I do not have a clear recollection of her although I believe I met her a couple of times as a child. 

My family always looked after stuff and I am convinced that is why so many lovely items have been passed down through the family.  Things were precious and money was even tighter than it is today.  We were brought up to treat things with respect. Today with our standards of living we would be looked on by our predecessors as being extremely rich as we have so many more options and processes available to us.  I think we forget that in the greater scheme of things.  So when I am having a not too good a day which happens lets be honest about it I try and look for something good in that day i.e. helping a little old lady over the road; the sun came out to play. Helping a friend with this, pointing someone in the right direction on something that they are not sure about. 

Or you found a little trinket that just matches something you already have and which did not cost an arm and a leg.  You had food on the table and a roof over your head.  It all helps move us on a bit and it gives you a good feeling (well it does me) to help someone else but also leads me to give thanks for the grace of knowing that I am blessed.

It is nice to see so many youngsters who are buying their own homes and having a go at renovating them themselves and not being too proud to accept second hand furniture and then attempt to do something with it.  Some of the results I have seen have been stunning.  

So I think that this You Tube fascination on how to do things is more likely to grow as I slowly find my way around all the videos and how to instructions that are on there.

Right I must to bed.

Catch you sometime during the day.

Pattypan

x