So this is gonna be one of those long posts, ones where I ramble…you get bored and roll that mouse down through the pictures…while I waffle on…
It all started a long long time ago. In fact when I was still in the Old Country. I came across some old bus blinds in a junk shop. Hmm, I'm likin those. But I walked away not really sure what I would do with them.
Now, sugarbums, I would clutch them to my breast, do the treasure hunting dance and run, run, run as fast as I could back to this old cottage. Put them on the wall, open a beer and stare at them, with my feet up, in gleeful thrifting ecstasy for a whole evening.
However, I have not come across real ones here in Australia, though I sure have not stopped looking for them, for four years. Certainly I've come across imitations of them, I've seen them on Ebay & stalked auctions wondering whether to bid or not, viewed them on blogs and I've even seen them made into cushions. Ahem.
I've come across them in shops in Sydney too, but since the real budget kicked in and is still very much in force right down under here in Beach Cottage Land, I haven't even tempted myself by looking at the price tag. As with most things in my life, if I like it, it probably won't be cheap. ( Edited to add: since writing this post I found myself in a shop up the beaches, and spied the price tag of $1000. Yes that said one thousand.)
What I didn't expect, on my way to pick up the kids from school just before Christmas, was to see one quietly sitting in the corner of the most lovely florists that I pass regularly as part of my day to day life. It sniggered beautifully at me from beside the stairs…
I stopped dead in my tracks, staring through the Christmas decorations and flowers. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.
I've been thinking about that unreal bus blind since then.
And then the other day, driving home from a sporting event, musing, I thought surely I must, somehow be able to make one myself. Think out of the box.
So I thought I'd try black paint on an old frame and print off my own bus destinations. Beaches ones.
And I did just that. Printed off a fictitious bus route around Sydney's beaches….
And stuck them to an old thrifted frame
And placed it on the wall in the kicthen…
I love the almost retro feel to it, hinting of days gone by when one might run for the bus in T-Bar shoes and utility skirts, the hand-typed feel of the font, when people sat at a chair with a clunky old typewriter with a wheel and a ribbon not pulled a Blueberry out of their pocket…
And the days when people got on buses and trams…I remember as a young girl commuting up to the big smoke, transfixed by those iconic London buses…I lusted after their red forms queued up at the bus depot at Victoria, I loved their curved bottoms, with the platform for anyone to hop on as it lurched along…and the ticket inspectors, more often grumpy than chirpy and nearly always Cockney, but mostly offering the term of endearment (or not) 'love' to most everything they said….where you going love?…that'll be 1 pound fifty pence love…you wanna get the Number Fifty Eight bus to there love…
There's certainly none of that here, and perhaps I am some kinda nostalgic fool…alright I definitely am…I can't deny this to me has some kinda vintage-life-gone-by appeal…somehow conveying a slower world of timetables, and shopping baskets, where one's main concern was to set out for a ride on a bus.
I wonder what you think? Don't forget the new Entry Conditions of this tatty old beach cottage…no lurkers, hahaha!!
I have to say, it turned out a whole lot better than I thought it would. I wondered how the black would go, but in fact I think it anchors things quite nicely…I love the way it's nautical and a little bit whimsical…it kinda speaks to me old beach vintage days….coastal towns…salty breezes…sand sandwiches…
you can find other Do It Yourself Beach Cottage Tutorials, including an old vintage table in our bathroom here, some shutters I made myself out of fence posts here and an old wooden ladder I madeover here.
{ and if you want some more vintage bus blind inspiration, go and see Michelle, atRetrophenia tell her I sent you and she'll give you a nice little discount }
and thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for her Met Monday event
Thanks for adding that picture of the bus to help explain what a bus blind is for us in busless areas!
It reminded me of riding one when I visited England back in ’05.
I love the names you chose, too! I remember some of the towns we drove through: Yanworth, Fossecroft, Perrots Brook, Ampney, Chippenham, Chicklade. Hmmmm….I’m thinking I might have to make a bus blind, too! I’m off to your tutorial!
I am jumping up and down with excitement.
I LOVE these things and have them on my wish list for this old living room when it gets fixed up. This is positively the absolute coolest project I have seen anywhere in a very very long time!!!
Lurker here. I love all the things you do with nearly nothing so I start my day here with you. I’m a grandmother in Connecticut in the US so I have quite a few years accumulation that I can ‘shop’ without leaving home. Thanks for all your inspiration.
So I was really wrong in my guess. I am so glad I was. I have never seen one of these before. Here in the states the buses only have one sign( which is usually wrong). This would be so fitting here at the Jersey Shore as all the beaches are right in a row. Thanks for the great idea I’m off to read the tutorial. As usual Sarah… brilliant!
Wow, I learn something new every day. Never knew until today that bus blinds are such a sought after vintage item! (makes me wonder where I’ve been sometimes)
I love the ingenius way you came up with an alternative to spending 1000$ for one. Your comment about thinking outside the box hits the nail right on the head. I’m going to take it and run with it!
Sarah, Love this idea, but I’m so not crafty. Please excuse the following questions: you mentioned the type of font, but what size did you choose so that it shows up so clearly on the wall? Also, did you make your background print color black in order for it to turn out this way and did your printer just naturally leave a white border around the paper as it printed? Apparently, I’m not crafty OR computer savvy!!
Thanks!
so many ideas are waking me in the wee hours of the night (morning?) and i try to figure out my next project for homesweethome. do you ever rest? entertaining, painting, shopping or “researching” what is out there…so impressive.
i lived in gidea park for a bit (a village of romford) and took the bus here and there (but mostly the tube to the city). what i fondly remember: the greens, with cows and public footpaths everywhere. through the traffic. and the signs for the bus to home are pure comfort! in fact, your sign caused me to google your area for the beaches you list. saw some beautiful photos, (not as nice as yours!) so i feel i got a tour of your area. sigh! lovely!
i have an old ladder like yours, which i am considering placing in the guest bathroom. (right now it is in the yard) (aging) have you secured it to the wall at all? doesn’t look like it.
and i’m thinking about shutters for my ALUMINIUM windows. (atleast they work, silver lining and all…) this is long enough for several lurkers to get credit. sorry! jkj
Hi Sarah
Again another brilliant idea! It looks great and like I said once before, I went the opposite way round to you – an Aussie in good ol’ England so I get where your coming from on both scores. Thanks for emailing the other day I felt quite priviliged lol and yep decorating with a budget and thrift store finds is um interesting. If I get fed up I just have a look at the good ol’ beach cottage pictures to cheer me up and more inspiration. K
Keep up the good work!
I love, love, love this!!! It looks classic, nostalagic and the black and white just goes. There’s a pub in Sydney – I forget which – where I saw some old tram signs high up on the wall – I liked that – this reminds me of them.
What a little ingenuity and paint can do!!!
Good for you!
I too have been looking for old bus or train schedules. (here in the USA) Not very affordable for me, either.
I’m about to do mine on wood.
I’ll let you know how it all turns out…
annie
p.s. I am SO envious of your weather right now. I could use a little sand between my cold white toes.
It’s fabulous! I like how you put it…”it sort of anchors things”…I liked all your ramblings here, such perfect use of words, like reading a favorite book. All of your nostalgia of the Old Country, “love, this, and love, that” so romantic really. It’s not like that here, in the States, either. We could sure use some of that here.
I didn’t realise you meant destination roller blinds when I began reading. I thought you meant those corrogated blinds the drivers used to let down at night on the window between the cab and the passengers. I thought ‘what’s she want one of those for?’. Now I understand. Your board looks really good. How about a London one for old times’ sake? xx
Amazing, I love the bus signs. I am also amazed at how many people you have managed to de-lurk including myself. well done Sarah.
I mangaged to pick up a tea towel of my local area in Victoria at our local Mitre ten for $5. I am just convincing hubby to make a frame. I was going to do it like a canvas but, now seeing the black frame is so stunning…………….
Hi Sarah! Very cute the Bus sign. I’ve been folowing you on Facebook(maybe a week from now), but I’m now blogging too! It’s good to feel the warmth from Australia around here!
Have a wonderful week, Li by Creamy White
I clicked on over here from Met Monday intrigued by what a bus blind was (being from “acrossed the pond” from the “Old Country” and all). I love it! It turned out darling. I love the price tag as well.
teri
oh my sarah….you have out done your creative self! i love it! but what i really love is that you figured out a way to get what you wanted with a budget in mind. AND that you created it yourself, which i love because it is truly YOU now. soooo inspiring you are!
kathi
I also love the look and was lucky enough to find a black and white teatowel printed with lots of great Victorian beach towns, most of which we have enjoyed family holidays!
Popped it into a white Ikea frame and hung it on our family room wall.
I think it looks great and it is a relevent piece of art to our family!
I have seen these at shows, but their prices are way above me. I was wondering if doing one using a white window roller shade would look authentic. The material the authentic ones are made of seems similar. At the Country Living Show, a dealer had made pillows out of authentic ones and covered chairs and ottomans with them for clients. Great looking but a bit pricey for that use and the real ones can’t be cleaned.
I love your blog! I was looking for some design ideas to flesh out my Luxury Homes page the other day and left rather disappointed. I came back to your blog for a totally different reason and – Voila – here is exactly what I was looking for!
Nice work all the way around – content, theme, presentation!
If you want to buy real estate, you will have to get the loan. Moreover, my mother commonly utilizes a auto loan, which supposes to be really reliable.
Great idea Sarah. Reminds me of getting on what I thought was the right bus as a child. Only to watch the driver change the blind and therefore destination, 5 minutes or so into the journey. So I would have to get off and go back to the bus stop and start again. Not such good memories, so maybe I won’t be making one of these……………………
G'day! I'm Sarah, I live in a tatty old cottage, near the sea in Australia with a battered old deck & a big old fig tree out the back...stripped wooden floors, old sash windows & a jumble of vintage furniture. [Read More …]
Well G’day Beach Cottage ladies. Of course some of you guessed correctly, no flies on Beach Cottage gals are there? A Summer House window dressing, beach vintage style. One that I got very wrong. I’ll keep this short and sweet The vintage crochet patchwork curtain? Love. Pure love. But, put it this [...]
G'day ladies, let's have a Too Easy Beach Cottage recipe yeah? The original place for Too Easy Recipes on the web ;-)
So, after my last salad went down a storm in my inbox, that's here if you missed it, I had to do this one seeing as I make it most weeks.
There is a problem with this salad and kiddos though...it looks, well, it looks, kinda yucky...but once they try it, they'll ask if and when they are next having it....at least that's what happens in this ratty old cottage...but I must interject here that my kiddos are 'good eaters'? ...they didn't get a choice in that ;-)
Now, stop, don't start running and hitting that next on your blog reading list, pulses are your best friend in the Too Easy Dump & Go kitchen for the busy mum, or busy anyone for that matter...that reminds me I must blog the garlic canneloni Go To for when you forgot to do dinner, feel like a bath but have three ravenous young Beach Cottage Kiddos on your hands...another day.
I am almost embarrassed to tell you how easy this is, we have it so much that I always have a couple, make that six, cans of lentils around and a jar of goat's cheese in the fridge...the great thing about this is that it's all too easy to get ready in just a few minutes, but it looks, tastes and seems like you did oh so very much more than that.
You can obviously too change it up a bit depending on what you have to hand in your kitchen, and I must say that is how I settled on this version...because one day when I made it I didn't have enough Parsley in the garden and so I chucked in some basil too, and liked the Summer feel it added.
I think of this as being a rather posh salad, not sure why, because it couldn't really be further from the truth...the great thing is that it works so well for an average run of the mill day, (when I did this for this blog post, it was a hot Sydney Sunday and I did it just simply to go with Rosemary & Garlic stuffed pork, you can see that pork here),
...but just as easily it works on a regular old Wednesday night when you have lost all enthusiasm for rustling up yet another meal, or indeed on Saturday night, when your friends are on their way over for dinner and you my friend, are in your new vintage inspired clawfoot bathtub (that's me in a few weeks time, k?) without any clothes on, a tipple and no idea what to cook for dinner...
I have a complicated and ever-changing relationship with goat's cheese...it never fails me in its performance and it never fails to impress me (you can find out a bit more on what I like in food here if you like) and I kinda collect it...because it's very easy to collect and has a fairly long fridge-life, I love trying out different ones and there's not many things I love more than goat's cheese on sourdough...but I think the best thing about it is not thinking about it exclusively in the toast/salad department...I've stuffed it in chicken and all sorts of things as a last minute and it's been fab.
But let's get down to the nitty gritty of this super salad that makes you look like an angel who has been on her knees all day scrubbing the front step when really you are in the digital world and spent most of ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, howdy, howdy howdy today for a Beach Cottage Too Easy recipe.
If you like cake, cream, sugar and chocolate, make this.
This is, rather than a recipe, a putting it together...as you know I am no dessert maker, but, I do make quite a few sweet things, because, somehow I have ended up with kiddos, who in their roles as offspring, believe that part of the deal, is that not only do I feed them a home-cooked meal with a few homegrown ingredients in there, yes, they also believe that dessert and not the kind that comes out of a packet is included too in this All-Inclusive Deal they call Parenthood.
So, this, for sure, is no culinary masterpiece, but if you are looking for something that is so very easy, dump-able, uses everyday ingredients and at the same time makes you look like you spent hours pulling things together plus tastes good....well, then this is for you.
Best though, you don't make this for yourself, if you have spent the most part of your week sitting on your derriere reading blogs...this my friend ain't low in the calories department...if, however, you are treating yourself to a delight in a mason jar, this is so for you.
I first had a version of this when at dinner back in Old Blighty with a girl, I once, in another life, caught the train up from our village to London with...she was a funny thing really...I am not quite sure how we got on...she was kinda prissy and a bit bothered by too much...I would run to the train flustered, having got up late, and she would have a spreadsheet on the train times, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, a few years later when we both had bambinos, I bumped into her again and we met up for playdates and dinner sometimes....this particular night, after a lovely meal she served up little bowls of creamy, cakey fruity stuff topped off with chocolate flake...it was delicious!
She didn't serve hers in little jars like this, hers were in a champagne glass and not quite so layered as these ones, plus she used tinned fruit not fresh or frozen.
Years later when said offspring kept requesting dessert, one day I wangled together somehow these from what was around in the fridge and they've been with us ever since.
Most likely, if you ever come here for dinner, and shock horror, you dont' bring the dessert with you, this, if you are lucky, will be what you will get.
Throw it all together, sprinkle a lil bit of chocolate on the top and the blog reading past-time you so rudely left in order to make this, is my friend, your oyster.
Beach Cottage Too Easy Layered Raspberry, Cream & Sponge Dessert
1 small maderia or butter cake or a pack of cupcakes (or of course make your own)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
8 tbsp fruit
1 x chocolate Flake or chocolate bar for grating
1. beat the cream cheese until it is soft
2. whip the cream until soft peaks form
3. combine & add the sugar through
4. cut your cake into portions
& layer into the bottom of your jar
5. add a tablespoon of fruit
6. layer on top the cream combo
7. repeat
8. grate chocolate or Flake on top
*Beach Cottage Recipe Notes : this is just a guide really, you can use any cream that you have on hand...I have made this with clotted cream (don't even go there unless you want to seriously get these babies on your thighs), with double cream and I have even, in desperate times squirted in that, ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, well I thought it was time for some blogging tips here today, alongside a few nice flowers and shells ;-)
I was recently part of a blogger discussion group over at Kidspot and a couple of hours later had a few questions from girls who couldn't make it to the live chat, one was on my Facebook page and one via email, the Facebook one I will deal with in another Real Girl Blogging Tips post...the email one asked me what essentials do I think every blog needs?
Well I have been around here for a while now doing the blogging thing, so I should know this, yeah and I mused this on my walk by the sea this morning I thought well what do you only need?
...I think it is really very easy when blogging, whether or not you are blogging up there in the lofty heights of the Super Bloggers or you are just dipping your toe in the water, to get side-tracked by 101 million different things that are 'essential' to your blog and if you are someone like me who actually gets a thrill from reading blogging tips then you are in an even worse place because you will find yourself literally buzzing with these essential things to add/do/implement on your blog.
However, walking along, gulping down that brisk sea air today (no sunshine & clouds) I thought you actually don't need any of that professional blogging stuff to be successful...but there are a few things that are pretty much crucial ...and once I started to think about it I got it down to about 5 - these are the only things that you need to concentrate on...once you have read through take a look at some of the big girl's blogs...you'll see that actually they don't have bundles of stuff on their blogs...but they do have all of these...
So here are my top things that your blog must have
1. About Page
There are all sorts of About Pages out there, and if you search on it there are many different tips and ideas for what to have on yours
Whatever blogging platform you use, adding an About Me Page is easy, quick and simple and will do everything to grow your blog.
I like a long-ish About Page, I am inherently nosy and I like to know a bit more about the person but at the least you should have on it your name and where you are located. I also think a photo is good too...over the last year or so I think this has become more important in blogging - if you are hesitant about that as I was, you can try using sunglasses or a behind shot until you get comfortable.
There is nothing worse than stumbling upon a new blog and going to find out more to only be faced with a piddly little one liner About Me Page...well there is something worse, not having one at all!
2. Contact Page
The chances are someone, somewhere will want to contact you and you will be surprised what lands in your inbox once you put yourself out there on the world wide web with a blog.
Many bloggers also use this page to include details for PR's/brands that may want to contact them and some bloggers put their stats on there too.
A short, to the point and simple Contact Page works really well...whenever I have wanted to contact another blogger I am often very busy and have limited time so I don't want to hang around sifting through information looking for an email address, so concise and clear ...
G'day lovely Beach Cottage lovelies.
So, yeah, so on a roll people, so on a roll.
I feel kinda home accessory wired right now.
I am always telling people, if anyone ever listens, that blogging is all about passion, not that sort of passion, but about passion that makes one tick.
Things like this make me tick tick boom.
I love finding things that suit my budget and let me treat my home but look amazing too.
So without further adieu I introduce you, ladies of the beach, to the blue vintage glasses that I have been stroking for about a week or two now...
These glasses are from a little boutique I sometimes happen upon, this boutique sells also pet accessories, carpet cleaner, bras and compost...it's quite unique though.
And, thanks to my friend Marnie (she blogs over here, go take a look at her praying position, interesting), who just so happens to be one day having me over for a lil' Greek dinner, has let me in on the fact that we call Kmart....The KMart...with an accent ....as in 'I love The KMart'...just like her MIL does. Oh yeah. Love that.
So I have had my eye on reproduction vintage glass blue wine glasses and being trying to find real true vintage blue glasses for like ever.
Oh yes I have spied them in Frenchy boutiques, I have lusted after them in stores that I shouldn't even enter and I have put them back pretty quickly in those shops with the hand-written price tags. C'mon, you know the ones.
And, though all of the above have tempted me, muchly, really, even with my wardrobe stashing skills I just thought that, actually, I'd rather be saving that casherooni for our next trip overseas..
Hello The KMart.
Tick Tick Boom
Vintage style blue wine glasses.
Do not come to my old place and think you might pick up one of these and smile with pleasure at their handblown quality, their weight, and be secretly jealous that my wine glasses cost more than your car...friend, that would not happen...these do not feel like that...indeed these in a funny way reminded me of my baby girl, she was a tiny little thing, with stick legs, the tinsssssssiest ankles and wrists you ever did see, she slept sideways in her cot wedged in between rolled up blankets and would only settle attached to Mr Beach Cottage or I or a (dirty) pj top of mine scrunched up under her nose...the first few times I picked her up to cuddle, being used to Honeymoon Baby who weighed in at 9lbs at birth and has never really stopped growing, I nearly threw her little bird-cum-rat down covered body over my shoulder.
These glasses are like that...be careful or you might lose your wine down the front of your shirt.
But oh baby, we are not talking picking up here, we are not talking quality, we are not talking house accessory snobbery.
Beach Cottage ladies, we are talking aesthetics.
And this is what I need in my cottage.
Blue vintage style glass, paired with coastal / nautical / beach stuff on my deck.
It's The KMart.
Tune in tomorrow, tomorrow, I have more budget foofing for your home, or maybe it will be the dress that wraps me up in supermarket-chic and makes me feel like me again.
Good Day to you my friends, wanna come hang out on my deck, talk house accessories, The KMart and drink some wine from blue glasses?
Sarah
out of their pocket…
Hi Sarah,
Fantastic idea! You are so clever. Look forward to more wonderful ideas.
Cheers,
Mary
Thanks for adding that picture of the bus to help explain what a bus blind is for us in busless areas!
It reminded me of riding one when I visited England back in ’05.
I love the names you chose, too! I remember some of the towns we drove through: Yanworth, Fossecroft, Perrots Brook, Ampney, Chippenham, Chicklade. Hmmmm….I’m thinking I might have to make a bus blind, too! I’m off to your tutorial!
I am jumping up and down with excitement.
I LOVE these things and have them on my wish list for this old living room when it gets fixed up. This is positively the absolute coolest project I have seen anywhere in a very very long time!!!
Lurker here. I love all the things you do with nearly nothing so I start my day here with you. I’m a grandmother in Connecticut in the US so I have quite a few years accumulation that I can ‘shop’ without leaving home. Thanks for all your inspiration.
Barbara
So I was really wrong in my guess. I am so glad I was. I have never seen one of these before. Here in the states the buses only have one sign( which is usually wrong). This would be so fitting here at the Jersey Shore as all the beaches are right in a row. Thanks for the great idea I’m off to read the tutorial. As usual Sarah… brilliant!
Wow, I learn something new every day. Never knew until today that bus blinds are such a sought after vintage item! (makes me wonder where I’ve been sometimes)
I love the ingenius way you came up with an alternative to spending 1000$ for one. Your comment about thinking outside the box hits the nail right on the head. I’m going to take it and run with it!
Cheers,
Siggie
Sarah, Love this idea, but I’m so not crafty. Please excuse the following questions: you mentioned the type of font, but what size did you choose so that it shows up so clearly on the wall? Also, did you make your background print color black in order for it to turn out this way and did your printer just naturally leave a white border around the paper as it printed? Apparently, I’m not crafty OR computer savvy!!
Thanks!
I. LOVE. IT. ’nuff said.
so many ideas are waking me in the wee hours of the night (morning?) and i try to figure out my next project for homesweethome. do you ever rest? entertaining, painting, shopping or “researching” what is out there…so impressive.
i lived in gidea park for a bit (a village of romford) and took the bus here and there (but mostly the tube to the city). what i fondly remember: the greens, with cows and public footpaths everywhere. through the traffic. and the signs for the bus to home are pure comfort! in fact, your sign caused me to google your area for the beaches you list. saw some beautiful photos, (not as nice as yours!) so i feel i got a tour of your area. sigh! lovely!
i have an old ladder like yours, which i am considering placing in the guest bathroom. (right now it is in the yard) (aging) have you secured it to the wall at all? doesn’t look like it.
and i’m thinking about shutters for my ALUMINIUM windows. (atleast they work, silver lining and all…) this is long enough for several lurkers to get credit. sorry! jkj
Love it! I haven’t commented before either, but I’m here all the time. (I’m shy, hahaha) Can’t wait to see what else you’ve got up your sleeve
I love it in your kitchen! Though I wouldn’t have known what it was…..
Love it! What a great idea–
Wow, Sarah! Perfection again at A Beach Cottage!
I remember hopping aboard buses to get to work in Shreveport, Louisiana, way back long ago. Somehow, not the same as the one above!
Hi Sarah
Again another brilliant idea! It looks great and like I said once before, I went the opposite way round to you – an Aussie in good ol’ England so I get where your coming from on both scores. Thanks for emailing the other day I felt quite priviliged lol and yep decorating with a budget and thrift store finds is um interesting. If I get fed up I just have a look at the good ol’ beach cottage pictures to cheer me up and more inspiration. K
Keep up the good work!
I love, love, love this!!! It looks classic, nostalagic and the black and white just goes. There’s a pub in Sydney – I forget which – where I saw some old tram signs high up on the wall – I liked that – this reminds me of them.
What a little ingenuity and paint can do!!!
Good for you!
I too have been looking for old bus or train schedules. (here in the USA) Not very affordable for me, either.
I’m about to do mine on wood.
I’ll let you know how it all turns out…
annie
p.s. I am SO envious of your weather right now. I could use a little sand between my cold white toes.
It’s fabulous! I like how you put it…”it sort of anchors things”…I liked all your ramblings here, such perfect use of words, like reading a favorite book. All of your nostalgia of the Old Country, “love, this, and love, that” so romantic really. It’s not like that here, in the States, either. We could sure use some of that here.
I didn’t realise you meant destination roller blinds when I began reading. I thought you meant those corrogated blinds the drivers used to let down at night on the window between the cab and the passengers. I thought ‘what’s she want one of those for?’. Now I understand. Your board looks really good. How about a London one for old times’ sake? xx
“The treasure hunting dance.” Love it! I am intimately familar with that one, it feels so good.
Kristina
Sweetfern Handmade
Well done you. Chanced upon your blog today – so glad I did. You know the old route masters are gone now. They are sadly missed.
Hi Sarah
Loving it!
Cheers
Judy
Well, aren’t you crafty! LOVE that sign. So glad to find your blog–it’s beeee-u-ti-ful!
Lara
I hate that my comments on your posts are so repetitive BUT… I love it!!! I think a bit of black anchors a scheme
Mel xxx
So lovely! Your projects are always an inspiration and this is no exception.
Sarah – sensational what else. Lesley
Amazing, I love the bus signs. I am also amazed at how many people you have managed to de-lurk including myself. well done Sarah.
I mangaged to pick up a tea towel of my local area in Victoria at our local Mitre ten for $5. I am just convincing hubby to make a frame. I was going to do it like a canvas but, now seeing the black frame is so stunning…………….
Hi Sarah! Very cute the Bus sign. I’ve been folowing you on Facebook(maybe a week from now), but I’m now blogging too! It’s good to feel the warmth from Australia around here!
Li by Creamy White
Have a wonderful week,
I clicked on over here from Met Monday intrigued by what a bus blind was (being from “acrossed the pond” from the “Old Country” and all). I love it! It turned out darling. I love the price tag as well.
teri
oh my sarah….you have out done your creative self! i love it! but what i really love is that you figured out a way to get what you wanted with a budget in mind. AND that you created it yourself, which i love because it is truly YOU now. soooo inspiring you are!
kathi
DIY art on the cheap–my favorite! I’ve got some old tools that belonged to my husband’s grandpa that I’m still figuring out what to do with them.
Brilliant – love it, now off to look at your tutorial and copy LOL!
I LOVE it Sarah~ bravo! I’m off to check out your tutorial now…the black looks fab with all of your white too.
Wow! it took me longer to scroll clean down to the bottom of the page to leave a comment, than it did to read the post lol
Anyhow, love it love it! gotta ck out the tut!
Thank you for a lovely post as always!
Jackie
Sarah your artwork looks great!
I also love the look and was lucky enough to find a black and white teatowel printed with lots of great Victorian beach towns, most of which we have enjoyed family holidays!
Popped it into a white Ikea frame and hung it on our family room wall.
I think it looks great and it is a relevent piece of art to our family!
Forgot to say the teatowel cost $6 and frame about $30
ohh I adore this idea, lets you pick your own destinations
Sarah,
I love your sign. These kinds of retro sign art are big nowadays. I really like the way yours came out. I am off to look at your tutorial.
One word for you Miss Cleverpants….
AMAZING !!!!!
Love your blog and this idea! I have seen these too and think they are utterly charming! Thanks for the tips!
http://www.downwhimsylane.com
I am in love with your blog, so happy I came accross you! Thank you, Kristin
Never would I have thought of this in a gazillion years! The creativity in you is just simply amazing!
I have seen these at shows, but their prices are way above me. I was wondering if doing one using a white window roller shade would look authentic. The material the authentic ones are made of seems similar. At the Country Living Show, a dealer had made pillows out of authentic ones and covered chairs and ottomans with them for clients. Great looking but a bit pricey for that use and the real ones can’t be cleaned.
I love your blog! I was looking for some design ideas to flesh out my Luxury Homes page the other day and left rather disappointed. I came back to your blog for a totally different reason and – Voila – here is exactly what I was looking for!
Nice work all the way around – content, theme, presentation!
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So cute! Our cottage is under construction but mo ing in shortly. I love all of your DIY posts.
Love this, I came across your blog and love it! It’s freezing in Canada right now and it makes me happy to see sunshine, waves and cottage living!
Great idea Sarah. Reminds me of getting on what I thought was the right bus as a child. Only to watch the driver change the blind and therefore destination, 5 minutes or so into the journey. So I would have to get off and go back to the bus stop and start again. Not such good memories, so maybe I won’t be making one of these……………………