New sparklers: diamante and windows

It's probably not something that happens to many people, but I now have more diamante than I am ever likely to need. I'm not talking about jewellery, this is loose stones I'm talking about.


My plan to wear a wider variety of jewellery this year has led to me wearing stuff I don't take out of the box very often, and in the case of brooches with a plain C-clasp rather than a locking clasp, there's a good reason for that. A week or so ago I wore a very nice round, autumnal-looking brooch to work (the one on the bottom-right of the photo). It's got a C-clasp, and managed to detach itself in the Ladies at work – luckily while I was at the sink, it didn't end up in the loo. Annoyingly, one of the stones popped out and I could not find it.

After a couple of days keeping my eyes open for the missing stone, I gave in and ordered a mixed bag of ambers and browns on Etsy. The stones were cheap but the shipping was not, so I ordered a second bag of diamante in springy pastels so if I lose stones from one of my other brooches, I'll be more likely to have a replacement handy and won't have to pay for another lot of shipping. (This diamante is all on top of the hotfix ones I got for my burlesque costume before deciding not to carry on with it.) And then a week after dropping my brooch, the same day as the stones arrived, I found the missing one under the hand dryer.

Dot of glue, brooch all fixed. Super. I mended a broken 'pearl' (finest plastic!) earring and swallow brooch that had lost a stone while I was at it. And I've got about 199 stones spare, so if you ever lose one from a favourite piece, ask me if I have a replacement!

That's not the only repair going on at the House of Robots. Today we had the back doors and all bar one of the back windows replaced (reason: the spare room is so full of kipple, there isn't any way to get to the window. And actually, that one's in okay condition). I am SO excited at having a back door that closes properly and doesn't leak out all our heat. And windows I can see through - the old wooden ones had got all cloudy, which was great for when I wanted to walk around in my pants, but not great for seeing through or letting maximum light in. I can see all the way into our now-much-tidier garden. There's even a shiny new microchip-sensitive catflap for the urchins.

Mr Robot has also ordered a bookcase to match our dining table. We're finally grown up enough to have furniture we choose, not just the cheapest thing in Argos and it feels so good. The rickety old black ash bookcase that we've had for about 18 years and currently holds all the cookbooks in the dining room can GO. Doing all this and seeing Cate and Sarah talk about how they're doing up their homes, and Marija's stories about getting her home more or less rebuilt, have made me look again at our house. I seem to have two 20th century rooms (kitchen and bedroom) and then Victorian Explorer for the rest, but that's fine. That's what we like!

Comments

  1. Ooo I have been replacing stones in brooches so would love to know the store where you got the stones from? I had some missing in a 'leaf' shape and had to order from the US via Ebay. They sent the wrong ones and I'm still awaiting replacements.

    My dreams of an Art Deco interior aren't going well. The husband HATES a lot of what I pick out. Domestic ructions! He wants everything 'rustic' or red. Sigh...

    xx

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    1. It was an Etsy one, MoonSpheres. The stones are cheap but the shipping is not. If you think I've got any that would go in your leaf, let me know and I can post them to you.

      Yeah, interior design can be a real compromise. My husband hates patterned things (though he lives with the robot and trains duvet covers). How rustic does he want to go?

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  2. This happens to me after every craft project! I have boxes of rhinestones and sequins... I don't know why I keep them but I do!

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    1. Because of the hoarder's motto: I Might Need This One Day.

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  3. I'm so lazy about repairing things. You're right though-just a matter of applying a drop of glue, so perhaps I should force myself to sit down and tend to some brooches this evening.

    You're still going to walk around in your pants even if the windows are clear aren't you?! That's all the more reason.

    Our place was built in 1968, and it looks it, so our interior design is roughly from the late 60's to mid-70's. Not only does the house have a similar layout to the one I grew up in, but we now have similar decor.

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    1. Hmm, probably not - the street behind mine is allegedly one with plenty of prostitutes (not that I've ever seen any), and I don't want anyone thinking I'm advertising a rival service!

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  4. One can never have too much diamante!
    (Speaking as someone who wears bejeweled metallic sandals nearly every day.)
    http://calmlycookingcurry.blogspot.com/2016/02/blue-blue-my-love-is-blue.html

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    1. I bet the sandals are ace. There's no bling like desi bling.

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  5. I know who to send the old brooches with missing bling to next time I come across a bagful at the jumble sale!
    Giggling at the thought of you running about in your pants, you're as bad as me.
    How exciting to have home improvements and nice furniture to look forward to. Victorian Explorer is a great look, mine's more like council tip explorer at the moment! xxx

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    1. Oh, it's so good having a back door that closes properly. The house actually stays warm! I had been putting a towel up against it to try to minimise the draught, but the urchins would pull it away, presumably trying to find a way to get to the garden.

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  6. Oh, it's so fab to get rid of old cheap crappy box-standard furniture and actually choose something you really like, isn't it? I can't tell you how happy I was to see my Ikea bookcase and display cabinet go. Just got to find a replacement for the Ikea TV stand and flea market blanket box coffee table and then it'll all be gone! x

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    1. It feels so good. Making do is all very well, but being able to make a choice is such a luxury. I'm still going to be making do in other rooms - bought some furniture paint in Wilko's to try to make the bedroom bookcase more tolerable.

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  7. Extra stones are never a bad thing! I lose them all the time.

    All my rooms are 20th century rooms since the house was built in 1929! My husband and I are very lucky that no one had remodeled our house. We saw so many that had been "done" in the 90s--they had turned houses from the twenties into McMansions. Words cannot express the horror.

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    1. Augh. My house is late Victorian but didn't have any original features bar the world's dirtiest, rattliest, draughtiest old sash windows, which we replaced with ones that looked like sash windows. Oh, and we have the original floorboards downstairs. But I really can't understand people who rip out historic interiors; why buy something old if you don't like old stuff?

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  8. I need to replace some bits in my brooches but it's easy to put off! I got a gorgeous deco brooch which shed a stone on the first wear :(

    We have two rickety Argos bookshelves which we didn't buy, but 'took on' from my nans when she died. They're serviceable but I want to paint them.

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    1. I'm going to paint our bedroom bookcase. It's black, but it's going to be cream.

      If you think I'll have any stones in a colour you need, let me know and I can post them to you.

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  9. I was going to make jewellery once upon a time so I have loads of beads and stuff too! Though annoyingly whenever I do seem to need a rhinestone they are always the wrong size!?!

    How lovely to have new windows and doors. It's the time of year I think, it makes you want to home make. Our house is more like a frightening explosion of stuff than any kind of theme, I wage a losing war on our combined hoarding tendencies. Ce la vie.

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    1. I'm getting better at not hoarding, though I do still have bouts of 'I MIGHT NEED THIS ONE DAY!' Pete is better at not hoarding than I am; books are one of our main problems and he's thinking of going Kindle-only, whereas I'm convinced They might take my Kindle books away one day (or there might be a zombie apocalypse or whatever) so I need my papery ones.

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  10. My dear!
    First of all: many thanks for the mention (that reminded me: I need to dig up some more articles about housing) :)
    The odds of you finding your missing gem without ordering a batch were slight to none existent. It's just Murphy's law. That all. :)

    M.

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    1. Yup, if I hadn't bought more, I'd never have found it. Still, at least now I'm sorted for spares!

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  11. Ooh home improvements and getting rid of horrible bits in favour of nice things sounds fab. Anything homey always interests me. Damn, you're going to have to dress properly now though! :) xxx

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    1. I have a very nice dressing gown, but I don't wear it because I worry about spoiling it, thereby rendering it pointless. I really should get some use out of it.

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  12. That is fab finding your missing stone again. It is really handy having spares for fixing things. I don't throw anything out either and am turning into a crazy, hoarder lady. Home improvements sound brilliant. It makes a big difference having somewhere that is *yours* and expresses your individuality. I am afraid that I have the UK equivalent of a (small) "McMansion" that Lauren mentioned above. I am in the middle of changing all the taupe/cream to boho colour but it is taking time. I love buying things from second-hand shops and doing them up. Much cheaper even than IKEA, better quality and helping charity to boot. It does cause a lot of friction here though as I am the only one that likes this style of decor. Victorian Explorer sounds amazing. Xx

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    1. Our house is ex-rental, so in some ways a McMansion would have been an improvement. Over the years we've slowly been able to put things right, though I fear it will be a work-in-progress for many more years. (But then people evolve, perhaps homes should too. It must be very strange having a house that never changes.) The Victorian explorer look is what it's evolved into; we pick up bits and pieces on our travels, and have a general 19th century love of clutter!

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