Book shelf: My Cool Shed

What do you have tucked away in your shed? Apparently, sheds can be much more than hidey-holes for lawn mowers and cracked plant pots, as Jane Field-Lewis proves in her new book, My Cool Shed.

Following on from the success of My Cool Caravan and My Cool Campervan, this latest offering delves into the nation's hippest sheds, cabins and beach huts and invites you to meet their creative / reclusive / crafty owners.

Check out Jane's My Cool... blog for a little taster of what's in store.

Have you read any of Jane's books? What do you think? Let us know below!

Vintage umbrellas for drizzly days

It is not easy to look good in the rain. Damp clothes, frizzy hair … let's not get started on the see-through shirt issue. If you’re not planning on embracing pac-a-mac chic, we’ve found another way to guard against unseasonable drizzle. Etsy is an online treasure trove of vintage umbrellas and parasols.

Miss Salty Vintage has found this vintage floral print umbrella. We adore the bottle green and rose pink combo on the fabric.

For a 50s vibe, check out this Vintage Pagoda umbrella from Archivia. Its listed as a ‘dress umbrella’, so we’re not sure how good it’ll be at keeping you dry, but we couldn’t resist its retro charm.

Or, if you’re really planning on splashing out (sorry, that was unintentional… honest), Aesthetikara has managed to get her hands on a vintage Dior umbrella with wooden fittings and a suede handle for true rainy-day glam.

Find a miniature terrarium landscape

The Slug and the Squirrel have done something magical to the humble terrarium.

In their unique designs, wild mosses, locally grown plants, sand and earth find their home in vintage and found bottles and jars of all kinds, to create whimsical designs inspired by far-away landscapes.

Pop over to The Slug and the Squirrel's beautiful website to see their unique range of terrariums for yourself.

If you fancy making one of your own, pop over to crafty blog The Little Red House for a terrarium how to. We love the way blogger Sheena has chosen straight-edged jars, and used her terrariums as quirky book ends.

Wordless Wednesdays ... street party nostalgia

From Join me in the 1900s.

Deck the house out in Jubilee designs

It’s another Jubilee themed post, sorry. We can’t help it, we’re caught up in all the excitement! This time, its a round up of all the best products inspired by Her Majesty. Back to normal tomorrow, we promise.

First up, this pop art postage stamp bunting from Etsy's LottieDots1. Crafter Laura’s design has a cool, retro feel that will definitely stand out in the midst of all the red, white and blue.

Secondly, we’re buying into the age-old tradition of commemorative tea towels. Our favourites are Rocket St. George’s Singing in the Reign design (love a good pun), Lovely Jubilee from Hunted and Stuffed (there we go again) and this commemorative Corgi tea towel, also from Rocket St. George.

Finally, we’ll be rounding off our day with a lovely cup of tea, which we will be sipping from a delicate corgi teacup purchased from Emilou Makes on Etsy. With a raised little finger, of course.

Button up a shirt cushion cover

Cushion covers are pretty easy to make, right? If you can make anything, you can make a cushion cover. Impressively, Ducks In a Row has managed to simplify the process even further with her upcycled shirt cushion cover DIY.

No fiddling around with zips or buttonholes, no painstakingly hand-stitching the final seam. Just sew around your cushion pad and unbutton! (Pop over to Ducks in a Row for proper instructions, we definitely missed a few steps there...).

These will look fab just as they are, but it's also really easy to make a kids' version. Blogger Chrissann has customised hers by tucking some surprises into the pockets - check out the cute love heart, retro pocket watch or for the more tech-savvy infant, a felt Blackberry!

Craft yourself a piglet tea towel

We’re always on the lookout for ways to put our stamp on our homes and we think we may just have found the perfect idea.

This piglet tea towel tutorial from Elsie Marley is a great way of adding individuality without compromising on functionality – after all, it’s no good if it doesn’t dry the dishes and can’t be thrown in the washing machine!

Elsie has included a simple how-to and we're pleased to find that it requires hardly any effort (and minimal artistic skill!) to achieve such a professional-looking result.

Clear your clutter with magazine stash seats

We hate throwing out old magazines. For instant inspiration, nothing beats a quick flick through a few back issues. That said, we don’t want to be tripping over piles of paper every time we try to walk down the hallway.

German designers NJU Studio have come up with a solution to our problem in the form of these magazine stash seats. They let us display our collections proudly and neatly, where we can still have a quick read when we fancy. Very hoarder-chic, don’t you think?

Wash away the winter with citrus salt scrub

This year’s spring has been so long coming, it’s taken us a little by surprise. Now the sun is shining and there’s blossom on the trees, and our pasty arms and legs are nowhere near ready to be revealed to the world.

We’re hoping this citrus salt scrub DIY will save us from a spring spent sweating in leggings and long sleeves. Pop over to the Martha Writes blog to find how to mix up your own batch of exfoliator, which will banish dead skin and give it a zingy lemon boost. Alright sun, we’re ready for you.

Craft a blackboard bottle marker

Chalkboard paint seems to be having a moment this season. In a world of laptops and kindles, the combination of white chalk and blackboard has an element of old-school cool. Our pick of the chalkboard projects is this upcycled wine bottle DIY from craft blog Mary Janes and Galoshes. We're not quite sure what we’d use these for (blogger Taylor suggests wedding table markers), all we know is that we adore the unexpected combination of shape and surface.

Grab an empty wine bottle – we know you have one – and pop over to Mary Janes and Galoushes to see how its done.

Light up your life with Mason jar lanterns

We like a bit of nifty upcycling, but we’re even bigger fans when the new product looks even better than the original. Etsy seller Boots and Gus is an impressive example of how to do upcycling the right way. Designers Jeff and Mark have filled their shop with wonderfully quirky chandeliers fashioned from vintage Mason jars.

If you’re not ready to commit to a full-blown light feature in your living room, Blogger Chez Beeper Bebe has gone for a more toned down approach and transformed her old jars into tea light lanterns for the garden.

Gorgeous aren't they? Want to find out out how she made them? Then pop over to her blog for a printable how-to.

Made this? We would love to see a pic on our Facebook page.

Spell it out with Scrabble tile magnets

Vintage Scrabble tile magnets - why haven’t we seen this before?! Like those garish plastic letters that have for so long adorned our fridges, except more laid back and much, much cooler.

If you fancy making your own, visit The Ginger Penny Pincher for the simplest how-to ever.

We were so excited by this revelation, we had a hunt round the internet for more Scrabble-design fun and it turns out that those crafty folks at Etsy discovered the retro appeal of vintage scrabble tiles long ago.

Offerings range from jewellery to wedding favours to wine charms, but top of the crafters is Cool Boy Creations, who has knocked up a whole range of Scrabble tile coasters with quirky messages. Our pick of the slogans? The nerd set. Get your geek on!

Bring the outdoors in with plant print cushions

Sallynoodle may be new to Etsy but she has definitely arrived with a bang! Her plant print cushions are printed with digitally manipulated photographs of trees and flowers for an effect that is chic, fresh and not at all cutesy.

When the rain is dripping from our drainpipes and running down our window panes, this is the perfect way to bring a touch of the great outdoors indoors.

Pop over to her Etsy shop to check out her other designs.

String up some paper doily pom poms

As much as we love bunting, for a new party decoration idea we’re big fans of these paper doily pom poms.

At this summer's tea parties, we won't be hiding our doilies underneath the cakes, but stitching them together with neon thread and hanging them from our trees! We also adore the oversized tissue paper versions which will add a burst of colour.

Pop over to Swedish craft blog Pysselbolaget (nope, we don’t know how you say it either) to see how to make your own. Alright, the instructions are in Swedish, but there are photo guidelines. We think that if we can understand it even without instructions, it’ll be plenty simple enough to tackle in the pre-party panic!

The simple things in life

This is the very first post on the blog. Hello. Nice to meet you and thanks for stopping by. Do you appreciate the simple things in life? We do, which is why we hope you'll make the simple things a regular part of your day.

We are going to put our mission statement here, so you know why we exist.

We believe in sharing. Sharing the good stuff and the not so good. All that matters is that you do. Do you know someone who might like the simple things? Spread the word and tell us what you think, we would love to hear from you.