101 Uses Of A Teacup

Well nearly. Mismatched china has found it's home in the vintage world with teacups, plates and saucers adorning many cafes, shops and displays! Where to find your china? The best advice I can give you is to rummage in your local charity shop. Don't worry if you can't find matching saucers, just keep growing your collection so you too can have a home full of teacup crafts! Oh and don't forget they make lovely gifts too...The crafty among you have thought outside the box and I have gathered my Top 5 other uses of the humble teacup.

These blew me away, so pretty and a real novel use of old china. I believe they were originally the idea from ceramic lights designer Greg Bonasera whose modern designs are very sleek yet stand out slightly. But I've found a very simple and easy to follow step by step DIY guide from Ideas Mag tutorial.  Chandeliers are also quite popular, you can cheat and buy a brand new one from Next.

Sticking with teacup interior design, howsabout this amazing clock? A statement piece for your chimney breast or in your kitchen if you have the room! You could always downsize and just put teacups at 12,3,6 and 9. You can buy these but again, here is a tutorial from Vintage Revivals  whose bright choice of china makes a brave use of colour and a welcome change from the usual pastels we often see.

While we are in the kitchen, grab us a glass of wine will you? Oh, no glasses? A teacup shall do! I absolutely love these, so simple an idea I'm gutted I didn't think of it first. Available from the inventively named Teacup Wine Glasses who are based in London.  If you aren't convinced, here is a review of the clever crafters and their teacup wine glasses from Festival Brides wedding blog.

Now how could I forget the humble teacup candle? These are simply everywhere at the moment, widely available at vintage fairs (including our own) and in shops all over the place. If you're feeling particularly handy then they really aren't hard to make yourself, so who better to trust for a home made vintage trinket than Kirstie Allsop. But if you just can't wait, you can buy your candles from Teacup Candles, Kookie Candles and Eco-Antique Teacup Candles as just a few examples.

 To finish, here is a teacup DIY we can all attempt. The teacup pincushion. A very quaint idea that will suit the vintage fashionista and her customising ways or perhaps you'd rather just display a vintage cotton reel beside it as a unique decoration? The lovely, easy to follow blog Sophie Makes Things has a brilliantly simple tutorial for the pincushion below which has fab photography to boot.

But if you're really just that lazy, then click over onto eBay to browse the home made version for sale. This was my favourite on offer at at £6.99. But go on, give this one a go!

Get the super glue out!
Gina x

The Vintage Home: A Harem Of Peacocks

Kelly-Marie Burdekin, a vintage buyer and writer of the beautiful blog Harem Of Peacocks, appears to constantly be rummaging for oddities, curios and inspiring photography and artwork to share with the rest of us. Her blog is a mix up of her own fashion, which is diverse in it's inspirations and outcomes and posts that go to the root of her own love for the past, a plethora of inspiring visual information.

Kelly once posted a blog about her own bedroom here and I've never forgotten it, what a gorgeous Aladdin's cave of vintage trinkets. Working as a prop stylist and vintage buyer, I can imagine how Kelly's house soon transformed into the den of treasures it is over the 7 years she has lived in London. The living room has been used as the set for many photo shoots and music videos and her house is so darn cool that she was recently featured in LOOK Magazine...

Kelly has yet to do focus posts on her living room, bathroom and kitchen so I feel super lucky to be able to share these photographs with you so that they can perhaps inspire you to up the vintage in your home. 

The Bedroom

The Kitchen

The Living Room

How do you go about adding a touch of Kelly's art deco inspired haven to your own bedroom? 

• Keep searching for other fashion, design and vintage bloggers for inspiration and ideas.
• Learn how to rummage! Start with your local charity shops and do not dismiss the bric-a-brac section straight away. Often you must envision how the piece will look among the rest of your room. 
• Hospice shops. These are few and far between, but they're bigger and cheaper than your high street charity shop. I have my favourite in Sheffield and I don't tell anybody about it! Soon you'll get protective over the best ones, so not everyone shares your secrets!
• Find out where the antique centres and markets are in your city or town. They can often be found nestling beside one another in the same area. Some are fusty and full to the brim of bits and bobs, but you have to look UNDER the piles of stuff, look at what the trays of trinkets are sat upon and BEHIND the front row of ornaments. It's a game of patience guys!
• eBay. One of my favourite things to do while I am lying in bed is to search the word "vintage" or "retro" for listings ending soon in a 10 mile radius from my house. This way, you keep on top of what is in your local area and you could grab a real bargain. I managed to get (what I think is) a gorgeous onyx standard lamp for £15 this way. Bargain. 
• Once you catch the thrifting bug, you'll start thinking about early sunday morning carboot sales and markets and travelling to other places to find more and more pretty things to add to your collection.

Love.

Gina

x

P.S Do you have a vintage inspired home? Want to share? E-mail blog@thevintagefair.com