Grand Illusions Vintage Paint... We're excited. Are you?

Very sorry that you haven't heard from me in a while, but I think you might forgive me when you see how busy we've been at Drift Living. Between re-vamping stock, re-organising our shop (plus planning a whole shop move, but tell you about that later...), in the process of re-designing our website, we stumbled across Grand Illusions Vintage Paint and fell in love. 

 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT VINTAGE PAINT

Based on the buttermilk paint used in the 18th and 19th centuries, this chalky Matt paint is inspired by Nordic and French colours/design and has over 25 colours for you to choose from. 

DRIFT LIVING AND GRAND ILLUSIONS VINTAGE PAINT

You will slowly be seeing more pictures, updates, and general excitement coming from our direction starting from now! We will be selling a huge variety of paint pots, from 1L (capable of covering 12 square metres approx.) and a generously sized 125ml "small project" pot. Not only that, but we also plan to do our own paint courses that you can buy where we will teach you exactly how to create that paint finish you want! 

We've got lots of lovely new furniture, some of it painted, some of it ready for customers to revamp, all ready for a big launch in our new shop and warehouse in Summer 2014.

Stay tuned in the next coming months!

I'll be back soon with more of our exciting news!

Not to fear, Drift Living is here!

We all know how much Valentine's day can cost. Adding up everything together.. cards.. wrapping paper.. ribbon.. bundles of presents.. champagne.. chocolates.. food for breakfast in bed. It just goes on and on and on. 

BUT we want to help! 

When you spend £15.00 (before shipping) on our website from now (Wednesday 5th Feb) until Valentine's Day, we're giving you 10% off any order you place! We'll even give you an extra day till the 15th of Feb for those forgetful people in a panic! 

Just remember to type the code HEART14 at the checkout and we'll remove your discount!

It's *nearly* Valentine's Day everyone!

That's right, it's nearly here. Whether your loved up or currently single, it's still a time to show those around you that you love them.. cheesy yes, but no-one ever tires of hearing that someone loves them. But not to worry folks, I said "nearly", you've still got 2 weeks and 1 day... that's 15 days... that's 360* hours... that's 21600* minutes... Actually it doesn't seem so long now, eeek!

Maybe you're in a panic searching for unique ideas or just having a browse, pondering about V-day, whichever it is, here's some ideas to help you along the way.

 1. Why not do your own Valentines take on Christmas - Make your own Valentine's Day Tree with your Valentine's presents underneath and reasons why you love them on the heart decorations.

 2. Valentine's morning wake your family/partner up with a special breakfast. If they like eggs, make heart shaped eggs.. if they like pancakes, heart shaped pancakes... heart shaped toast... heart shaped fruit... the heart shaped list is endless!

 3. Surprise your valentine with something baked with love; cakes, cupcakes, cookies, flapjack.. After all, who doesn't appreciate some home baking. Just add a touch of red food colouring and you've got yourself a Valentine's day treat!

 4. V-day themed cards. Etsy (and many other) has some fabulously cute valentines days cards. Lots of cute puns, pretty pictures and funny sayings.. what more could you want on a Valentine's card!

 5. Why not get your valentine a poster? NotontheHighstreet do some super cute prints, and they even have a whole category named "Valentines Prints" saving you the time of searching, perfect!

 6. Everyone loves to reminisce... so why not make your partner a collage of photos looking back on your time together. Pictures of you, of them, of places you've been together, places you're going to go... anything you fancy! Or similarly, why not use this Photo Card Holder (£19.99), you can put your photos in there, along with any V-day card you receive, and use it forever!

FOR HIM- Why not make this Date Jar for your partner? Fill it full of fun things to do on your date night/on the weekends. "Go for a Picnic", "Homemade Pizza Night","Cinema", "Go for long walk on beach", "Free pass for whatever you want on TV" , have some fun and make up some that are personal to you as a couple!

FOR HER- This Ceramic Heart Lantern (£15.50) is a lovely gift for a woman this Valentines day, she'll be able to use it year in year out and it'll always remind her of you whenever she lights it.

Here's hoping that this has helped you imagination a little bit... and wishing you a lovely run up to Valentines day!

MORE PICS AND IDEAS ON THE DRIFTLIVING PINTEREST
 

* I take no responsibility for the mathematics used to work our hours and minutes, full credit goes to Google.

Did you know... it's Burns Night!

(Well not just yet) On the 25th of Jan, Scots everywhere will be getting kilted up and enjoying a dram or two to celebrate the life and work of Robert Burns.

And so here's some of my favourite facts about him!

• Born 25th of Jan 1759 - 1796, Burns was just aged 37 when he died.
• He fathered at least 12 children by four different women, one of which, his youngest, was born on the day of his funeral.
• Robert Burns was voted the Greatest Ever Scot in 2009 by television viewers.
• Burns wrote 'Auld Lang Syne' which is recognised by the Guinness World Book of Records as being in the top 3 popular songs in the English language (Along side Happy Birthday and For he's a jolly good fellow).
• He produced more than 550 songs and poems.
• Burns is known as The Bard, Scotland's national poet.
• His net worth on his death in 1796 was £1.
• When measured after his death, Burns' head was found to be larger than the average human.
• Micheal Jackson said that his famous song Thriller was inspired by Burns' Tam O'Shanter.

• Robert Burns has been into space!... Well not really... his poems have. Nick Patrick, when doing a 5.7 million mile trip and 217 orbits of the Earth, carried a miniature book of Burns' poetry in 2010.

• Pedestrian crossings in Japan play a rendition of "coming through the Rye" to indicate to a walker to cross.
• The US President Abe Lincoln could recite Burns' work by heart.

If you want to celebrate Burns Night too, but you're not quite sure what exactly to do... Here's some quick and easy steps to help you along the way.

 

1. You should be eating the traditional "Haggis, Neeps (turnip) and Tatties (potatoes)", or similarly, a vegetarian Haggis is a tasty alternative!
2. Why not get into the spirit with a nice dram of whisky, in true Burns fashion!
3. Music: For those of you who can't handle the drone of the Bagpipes, you'll be able to find many Cd's of Burn's own songs and poems to play.
4. And no Scottish celebration would be complete without a bit of tartan! There's hundreds to choose from, and you never know, you might find that you've got your own family tartan!

Wedding Inspirations

My previous post was about the struggle to think up wedding gifts, but thinking up ideas for a whole wedding must be even more stressful. That's where I would like to help... 

Here's some small ideas to help with some inspiration for your extra special day!

• These yellow cupcake cases are so cute and happy, imagine some tasty lemon cupcakes as nibbles throughout the night for your guests. After all, everyone loves some cupcakes!

From Drift Living, £2.25 for a pack of 60.

• These Tealight Hurricane Lanterns are positively beautiful when lit, imagine a row of them lighting up a path when the sun starts to go down. Lovely!

From Drift Living, H15 cm x D8.5 cm, Now £6

•  A cute sign to pop on a door to show people where the loo is.

From Drift Living, £4.99

• This Paper Lace Bunting is my favourite. I can imagine this being hung on a tree outside, blowing in the breeze and showing all the passers-by that there is a special day happening. It would also be lovely to have in your wedding picture, standing under a decorated tree full of paper lace bunting, beautiful!

• A gin bar... why not have a separate bar just for those gin lovers, they can gorge themselves on gin whilst socialising with other gin lovers. Great conversation starter; "What's your favourite gin?", "What gin did you choose?", "Oh wow, elderflower with gin and tonic... what a good idea!" and so on, and so forth.
• How about these cute literary confetti for on the table. For all those literature lovers!

•  These striped straws are so cute, and they would go perfectly with some lemonade!

•  A Jukebox. A brilliant idea, and your guests can pick their own songs!
• I've always thought a photo booth would be a fun idea and you'd get a copy of the pictures afterwards! http://www.vintagebooth.me/ is an alternative vintage design from the others.
• I am loving this new trend of writing love notes about your husband/wife to be on the soles of your shoes, a nod to you childhood friends Woody and Buzz from Toy Story.

If you still stuck for ideas or just need some inspiration, have a look at my Pinterest board "For Your Wedding". Plenty of pictures,

Wedding Season Struggles.

If you're like me and have lots of weddings emerging on the horizon, then you'll be getting that same panic of what to get these newly weds for a wedding gift. Not only do you have the stress of what to wear to the special day, but we also have to decide what to buy!

So to give all of you a helping hand, here's a list of some ideas:

For those Newly's don't have everything yet

• Cutlery is always a safe bet, after all, everyone uses cutlery. Why not also make it a bit more unique with some nice napkin rings, or place mats.
• A Mixer. Or is you don't want to spend too much on a present, what about a hand held mixer! Always come in handy.
• A Casserole dish/ other cooking crockery.
• A cake stand with dome.
• A tiered fruit stand.

The list goes on and on for those who need everything, but what about the newlys who already have everything... that's where the problem starts!

For those Newly's who already have everything

• What about a Flensted hanging Mobile? Easy to set up, easy to wrap, and a lovely addition to any room to remind them of their special day! I especially like the Peace and Love mobile for a couple, or this Viking Ships mobile would make a nice addition to a sitting room or kitchen!

•  How about this Bengt and Lotta Couple (small, W10xH10cm) Candle Holder, unique and cute. Made out of solid black iron, this will last them a lifetime! (Also available in large, W19cm x H20cm)

•  However if you still would like to go down the "useful" route and get them something that they will use continuously, what about these Rochere Bee Glasses with a matching Jug? 

 Stay tuned for a post on wedding ideas for those of you planning your very own important day!

 Hope you all have a lovely day, full of laughter and joy. Much Love, Charlotte x