I have the best friends. One of them called me today and asked me if I'd like three (yes three) chandeliers that another friend of hers was throwing out! She is now known as the chandelier fairy around here as this is not the first time she's done a bit of chandelier wrangling for me!

Actually the friend's son was throwing them out but let's not get all factual. Oh Chris...thanks for calling...let me think about that for a nano-second...yes please!

There are two with five lights and one with three...

They're quite dirty, but nothing that a bit of soapy water won't fix. 

And Chris has even offered to help with that...the chandelier fairy has been promoted to fairy godmother!! Like I said...I have the best friends.

All I had to do was buy three good bottles of wine...one for each chandelier...doesn't get much better than that does it? Can you see some left over pink feathers from the frou-frou juju lying around on the table...sorry about that...

And sorry about the poor quality photos but I couldn't wait for daylight to take some snaps...I was so excited. So no styling in evidence here bloggy peeps.

They will be going in my living room...replacing lights like these...and I'm ever so glad about that!

Now, where's the phone number for the electrician?

1st and last images from here; others by me taken in a most excited state (i.e. they're not very good!)

Thank you so much for some of the very funny comments about the DIY fake frou-frou juju post from yesterday. 

They cracked me up. Edith has even refused my (I thought) very kind offer to make her one to wear to Ascot! I really don't understand :) And alas I have had to deny Jackie's request for me to rustle her up a Faberge egg out of old necklaces and some gold leaf (but only because silver leaf is my gilding metal of choice...otherwise, not a prob!) And Deborah swore that she saw her mum wearing one just like it in the 60's. Janette warned me about the dangers of being tarred and feathered if the pink fluffy thing should fall on my head while sleeping with night cream slathered on my ageing face (she didn't actually say ageing I hasten to add; I believe she is far too nice for that!) Felicity wrote me a gorgeous little poem. But best of all, Tina's Miss Lottie said she thought it was cool...high praise indeed! One day I'm going to collect all your clever comments and publish a book of bloggy peep wit! It will be too heavy to lift for sure.

Anyway, I thought that it might be fun to go etsy surfing for some feather bags to go with my feather 'hat'...so here are some of the results of a feather bag search...







hmmmm...I just happen to have some peacock feathers...and nothing planned for this weekend! Breathe Edith, breathe...



I think there must be a lot of naked birds out there...




Oh laugh..I laughed till I stopped! And on a completely different note, I finished my first Jodi Picoult book on the weekend while pretending to be watching Australia play England in the rugby with the MGM...

I had been avoiding them (Jodi's books, not the rugby players) because they are so popular (some of them anyway...the rugby players I mean), but I have to say I was quite impressed (I'm back to talking about Jodi now) so I may even read another one...when I get through the fourteen books that are already lined up and waiting! Fourteen books on the sidelines (note another feeble rugby reference) would have been nothing before blogging began! Have a fun Tuesday. Here on this side of the world where yesterday was the shortest day of the year, the days are now getting longer. Good! I could use more than 24 hours at the moment.

Juju hats...they are fabulous, are they not?

Unfortunately they are not in my budget. So I thought to myself...Self? How difficult would it be to make one? Oh I make myself laugh sometimes with these ridiculous notions.

The answer of course is: bloody difficult! Which is no doubt why they cost a bazillion dollars. Anyway, surprise, surprise, a degree of difficulty that would daunt even a Chinese high tower diver did not deter me dear bloggy peeps...so I had a go!  And here's the result....looking less juju, more frou-frou (as the 22 year old was very quick to point out...everyone's a critic around here!) 

I do however quite like the bold splash of hot pink on my black wall. At least for a while...until it falls apart or on my head, whichever comes first...not that it would hurt if it fell on me as it's...well...light as a feather!! It looks a bit like a rose don't you think? Or perhaps a peony if you're being really generous.

Want to know how I made it? Read and weep (as I felt like doing at various stages!)

Step 1: assemble the makings...clearly it's all in the type of feathers you use...and clearly these are not juju making feathers; but they were all I could find (from Spotlight and Lincraft, because of course one place didn't have enough...). I knew I should have stopped there and then. Next time, less fluffy and straighter feathers. Because speaking of straight, these would look right at home in the gay Mardi Gras. (And absolutely NO offence intended)

Perhaps I'll start chasing cockatoos and collecting their feathers to have another go one day....in the very distant future!

Step 2: make a cuppa...this looks like it could take a while (that may also apply to those who are reading this I might add)

Step 3: glue the rubber mat stuff that you put in the bottom of drawers to stop things rolling around to the top of a bamboo paper plate holder. This, in my humble opinion, was a stroke of genius on my part! Flexible, easy to glue and holes that would hold the feathers in without the need for stitching. The pegs were obviously just there while the glue dried.

Step 4: While the glue is drying sort the feathers into like size piles...

Step 5: start poking feathers through the holes in the non-stick mat...

First and second rounds done...

Continue with the feathers in a circle...at one stage I used a small plate to make sure I wasn't getting too wonky a circle...

...and just keep going, using smaller feathers as you get closer to the centre

So...I certainly can't claim this to be a raging success because it doesn't look exactly the way I wanted it to 

...but you know what...it doesn't much matter...because when I look at it, it makes me smile. 

Mostly at myself for thinking I could match the talent of the ceremonial juju hat makers from Cameroon...ha! Not likely :)

I'll be sharing this throughout the week at The Girl Creative for Just Something I Whipped up Monday and BNOTP Metamorphosis Monday and Someday Crafts on Wednesday. And goodness knows what I'll try this weekend!

image 1 elements of style

I really liked this quote...so much nicer than living to fight another day don't you think?  

It got me thinking about conflict and contest and how much of it there is in our language (if not our lives). We battle the traffic, we hope the best man wins, we'll 'die in a ditch' over something, or we won't, we fight an uphill battle, we run into barriers, we surrender to the inevitable, we revel in a contest of wits, we can have a clash of cultures (or colours!). We lose control, or joust for it. We use our arsenal of skills. We struggle with the housework...

It's exhausting...let's just smile today instead :)

I'm smiling, because I now have my 200th follower, thanks to Michelle at Paper Tree Design. Go and check out the beautiful things she creates if you haven't already. Thank you Michelle. I'm gobsmacked. Is it crazy to get ridiculously excited by that? Awesome you lot are, absolutely awesome!

Plus!!  Get this! My friend Mary in Canada sent me a real, live letter...mail that isn't a bill! With fridge magnets...I loooooove fridge magnets. Double awesome...thank you Mary!

Well, you've put up with two days of my craft so I will reward you dear bloggy peeps with the visual feast that is the weekly top ten. I am getting to love Thursdays! So, so pretty...

via lou boos and shoes

clever use of a very small space...

via table tonic

perfect, casual flowers...

by chania at razmataz

rich, wonderful colours...

via brown button

simple, subtle...(a bit like me really...ha, not!)

via burlap luxe

subdued and elegant...

via greige

pretty, but not too pretty...

via house of turquoise

modern boho...I think!

via belle maison

dark and seductive...and those lights!

via la maison boheme

because she'd kill me if I didn't put one of hers in (joking Jackie!!) 

curves, booze, fur...

via home

And while many of you may not agree with me about this...I would have to say that I was totally underwhelmed by the current issue of Lonny magazine. No images that made MY jaw drop I'm afraid. Not this time :(
So because of that disappointment, a bonus 11th in the top ten! Can't help myself...

by nanette at rummage

And just one more...I knew I should have stopped blog stalking earlier!

via desire to inspire

I do hope there was a little something here for everyone...

Do you have a favourite?