BRAND NEW: Handmade Vintage Butterfly Decorations – Unique Spring & Easter Décor

With the arrival of spring, there’s something special about bringing a little bit of nature indoors. My handcrafted antique-style butterfly hanging decorations, available exclusively on Folksy, are a beautiful way to add a timeless, vintage-inspired touch to your home this season.

Limited Edition: Each butterfly in this set of five hanging decorations features 5 different gorgeous vintage images extracted from antique books and cards. I’ve reproduced the images, carefully cut them out individually and decoupaged them onto the delicate birch wood shapes. 

The delicate patterns and colouring of each butterfly evokes the charm of vintage design – giving them a timeless feel, perfect for those who love handmade touches in their home.

Customer Review: "I love wooden decorations so when I saw this set I just had to get it straight away. The butterflies are all perfect and such a sweet size for dotting around my yule tree. They were packaged so nicely that it was like a gift to myself. I most likely will be back for the other sets!"

Although they’re made from wood, each butterfly is very light and ideal for displaying anywhere in your home:

• Decorate your Easter tree or hang them on a pretty twiggy branch in a vase
• Hang them from handles or hooks around your home
• Display them on a bookshelf, mantelpiece, shelf or window – or pop them on a pin board
• Dot them around individually, or group them together
• Perfect for the Christmas tree too – these lovely little butterfly decoration will add touch of vintage charm!

As well as being a lovely treat for your own home, this little set of Butterfly Decorations will make a great gift too – ideal for Easter, Mother’s Day or a birthday gift. Strung with pretty satin ribbon, they are ready to display around the home.

I only have a limited number available, and you can only find them in my Folksy shop – click here for details.

With their soft vintage aesthetic and delicate hand-finished details, these butterflies bring a sense of warmth and nostalgia to any room - whether as a treat for yourself or a thoughtful gift for someone who appreciates handmade beauty and has a love of nature.

Sarah :)

How to Find the Perfect Gift: Solve Common Gifting Struggles with These Simple Tips

Struggling to Find the Perfect Gift? You’re Not Alone!

One of the hardest things about buying a gift for a loved one is simply not knowing what they want. You want your present to be meaningful, useful, and appreciated - but finding the right balance can be stressful. I'm in the gift-giving business, but I find it really hard sometimes too!

What’s the hardest thing about buying a gift for a loved one? Especially when you have no idea what they want! Sometimes it can feel really hard to find the perfect gift. We all want to give loved ones something special: thoughtful gifts, meaningful presents, something with a bit of wow factor that will make them smile... But how to choose a gift for someone who has everything (or seems to) - how to find an affordable but thoughtful gift idea, or pick a unique gift for a loved one?

Here are the Top 5 Most Common Gift-Giving Struggles (and how to overcome them):

1. Finding something meaningful - something that shows how much you care, that reflects their personality or interests.
2. Choosing something they’ll actually like - there’s always a worry you’ll pick a gift they’ll have no genuine interest in.
3. Balancing practicality with sentiment - some people like useful, practical gifts, others like something more sentimental; finding the right balance between these can be tricky.
4. Budget - It would be easy to find the right gift if money were no object, right? Having a budget can make decisions difficult, especially in times of rising prices (and often, lowering value).
5. Repetition - worry that you might keep giving them similar gifts each time, that your gift might be a bit boring.

Add into the mix a little bonus struggle: Overthinking! I personally do that a lot - it makes the whole process go from something that should feel pleasurable and fun to something more stressful that it needs to be!

So go on then, how do you solve all these gift giving problems and worries? I’m glad you asked - read on for a few little strategies..!

Simple Strategies for Stress-Free Gift Giving:

1. Finding something meaningful
   A great gift should reflect the recipient’s personality, interests, or emotions. To make it meaningful:
   ✔ Pay attention to hints or conversations, not necessarily about things they want but things that mean something to them.
   ✔ It could be a problem they have - maybe they complain about something, perhaps there’s something they find a bit irritating and you can solve the issue for them?
   ✔ Any particular interests such as family, travel, history, etc that they may have? If you can tie a gift into an interest, or help with an issue for them, then you’re 80% of the way there!
   ✔ A personalised gift also goes a long way to showing how much thought and care has gone into their gift. Something that has been made especially for them will have so much more significance for them than a mass produced item.
   
   
2. Choosing something they’ll actually like
   Worried they won’t love your gift? Here’s how to make sure they do:
   ✔ Subtly gather ideas - you could, of course, just ask them outright but that spoils the fun! When you’ve got a birthday for example that’s coming up, start conversations that might make them mention an item, style, problem or issue they have.
   ✔ Pay attention to what they talk about without making it obvious(!) to give yourself some ideas to start your gift searching with.
   ✔ Focus on their passions and interests, think about their personal style. Bring up topics related to shopping and see what they say.
   
   
3. Balancing practicality with sentiment
   Some people love practical gifts, while others prefer sentimental ones. If you’re unsure:
   ✔ Combine both! A practical gift with a sentimental touch (e.g., my personalised Cook's Conversion Chart shown below) is the best of both worlds.
   ✔ Practical gift ideas are all about solving a problem. It could be something like a place to rest their glasses without them getting knocked off the bedside table, maybe someone at work keeps nicking their mug, or perhaps they have pockets full of poo bags from walking the dog every day and would appreciate a nice little bag to attach to the lead?! It’s the daft little things that we would probably never buy for ourselves that could become a brilliant practical gift they use every day.
   ✔ Focus on daily use If they’ll use it often, they’ll think of you every time!
   
   
4. Budget
   Great gifts don’t have to be expensive:
   ✔ Set your budget and stick to it, and remember it’s not the price tag but the thought behind a gift. Something simple but heartfelt will always mean much more than an expensive no-expense-spared gift.
   ✔ Personalised gifts really come into their own when you're working to a budget. Likewise handmade gifts (either made by you, or by a professional crafter or artisan) will always feel much more special because there won’t be a preconceived price for the recipient due to the uniqueness of the gift. Custom items feel high-value without a hefty price tag
   ✔ Could you pool resources with other family members or friends to buy a group gift between you?
   
   
5. Repetition
   Keep buying them socks or chocolates every year? Tired of giving the same thing every year? Here’s how to change it up:
   ✔ Keep track of the gifts you’ve given in the past to avoid repeating them. Start by keeping notes on your phone perhaps, or start a small gift journal book.
   ✔ Explore niche or unique interests you know they like but you haven’t tapped into yet.
   ✔ Make it personalised - even if you do end up giving them socks again, maybe think about personalised ones this time so that you’re giving a gift a bit less ordinary.

And overthinking? I find when I’m falling down a rabbit hole on the internet and don’t know what gift to buy someone, remembering KISS helps (Keep It Simple, Stupid)! It can be easy to think too much and find yourself feeling overwhelmed, so take a step back. Sometimes the best gifts are the simplest: focus on the person and/or their needs rather than obsessing over perfection. Trust your instincts, as often the first things you think of are spot on perfect!

So keep in mind these two easy tips:

✔ Think about their interests - what makes them happy?
✔ Simple but heartfelt - it's the thought that counts!

By taking a more thoughtful and relaxed approach, these gift-giving dilemmas can become a lot easier and instinctive, enjoyable rather than stressful. Pay attention, personalise gifts when possible, and don’t stress about perfection - the best gifts come from the heart!

What’s your biggest struggle when picking gifts? Who do you find hardest to buy for? ...and have you headed over to PhotoFairytales.co.uk because you might just find something that ticks all the gift giving boxes - for you and for them!

Sarah x

Do You Really Need the Heating On in March? A Marital Debate

Now that spring is here we can turn the heating off, right? It’s March, it’s positively balmy! 

Agree with me? My husband doesn’t. He also doesn’t agree that snow on the roof insulates, that fresh air is bracing, and being slightly chilly is excellent for the metabolism. He’s all thermal vests, I’m very much not. 

We have what can only be described as ‘thermostat incompatibility’. Or to put it more directly: Thermostat Wars. My husband and I can’t agree on the temperature - at all. He tweaks it up, I tweak it down. The dial is right outside the living room, so in the evening whenever one of us casually asks, “Drink?” the other suspiciously watches as they pass through the hallway to the kitchen. 

Should You Turn the Heating Off in March? The Never-Ending Thermostat Battle

My response to the whoosh of the boiler turning on is the same as the whoosh of £10 notes bursting into flame would be. Besides, making it turn on all the time for the heating puts strain on the boiler - and after the boiler we had in the last house, with it’s flaky, frankly laissez-faire attitude to working, I think that’s a very valid point.

For me, a pleasant ambient temperature is one that will see my husband putting on a coat. And he’s not averse to doing that in the house either. For Christmas this year I bought him some thermal socks, hand warmers and a gilet that heats up when you plug it in. He wears them all INDOORS. He’s still cold.

If I’m going to have a particular phrase etched on my gravestone I think it might be: “Is it me, or is it hot in here?”. And don’t go thinking this is because, as the delightful Mr Wallace would put it, I’m a woman of a certain age. Oh no, I’ve been like this forever. To me, my idea of absolute hell is a turtle neck jumper. Or just any jumper, especially one that’s acrylic. I can feel my eyeballs sweating at the thought of it.

We recently bought a new car, and this thing has not only heated seats but also a heated steering wheel. Ridiculous! Thankfully it also has individual climate control, so he can have his side of the car on ‘Bahamas Setting’ whilst mine is the far more sensible ‘Snowflake Setting’. 

We also have an ongoing window war in the bedroom. For me, I absolutely can’t sleep with it shut. This worked perfectly in the old house when my side of the bed was next to the window. Sadly that’s not the case now, so he sleeps with the duvet literally over his head and the ever-present thermal vest on (although not the gilet). I sleep with my legs out. I've been googling "Scrooge type nightcap" for his upcoming birthday...

We can both get quite dramatic about temperature levels, and I admit quite freely that levels of histrionics about said temperature are often just as extreme. I can’t cope with being in a hermetically sealed environment (ie, windows closed), he can’t cope with being in the Arctic (ie, a room temperature below 25 degrees). 

I know that this disparity isn’t how things are supposed to be - women are supposed to be cold all the time, men are supposed to be hot all the time. I’ve seen men with my own eyes, walking about in January in shorts. I suppose at least we’re both the wrong way round when it comes to heating, so I guess we’re not so different from other families up and down the country. And there’s always that day or two every year when the temperature is just right for both of us. Not too hot, not too cold, no need for gilets.

So, what’s it like in your household? Do you also suffer from the Great Thermostat Wars/Standoff in your relationship?

Sarah x

Grey February... My Top 5 Tips to get through these gloomy grey days!

Personally speaking, I find February probably one of the hardest months when it comes to mental wellbeing - it's hard to feel chipper when the sky is endlessly grey! With the excitement of the festive season behind us, and the feeling that spring is ages away, it's often difficult to beat off that lingering feeling of gloominess... 

But hang on a second, let's not get swept away with too much doom and gloom! 

It's easy to let the dull winter days pull you down, so I wanted to do everything I can to bring you some colour and brighten up your day a little bit. It's easy to overlook the grey days when Christmas is here - all those twinkly lights to make things cosy. But this time of year is definitely what I call the "bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan" (who hasn't moaned at bleakness and frosty wind?!). 

So let's have a little splash of colour to warm ourselves up!

Spring Colour Inspiration - colourful gifts and home decor to brighten your grey February days!

I think it's also important to take stock and try to look at things with some positivity. Here's my top 5 ways to look at grey February with a bit of positivity:

1. The little glimmers of springtime are starting to appear this month (yes, you may have to look hard, but trust me they're there!). I've spotted little snowdrops by the roadside here in chilly Lincolnshire, and the daffodils will be joining in soon with a blast of glorious yellow. 
2. The cold weather means that we can still enjoy cosiness in our home - lighting candles, cosying up with a lovely blanket, a hot chocolate before bed. Creating a cosy environment and a warm sanctuary to escape the dreariness. We don't want to do any of that in the summer, so let's enjoy it while we can! Treat yourself to the little pleasures in life when you need a little lift.
3. You can always introduce a little colour into your life to balance the grey days. Open your curtains wide to let in as much light as you can, treat yourself to a bunch of flowers (I think you can't beat carnations for bringing a little cheer - affordable plus they last for ages!), add a couple of cheery colourful new decor pieces to your room for a freshen up.
4. Because we're at the start of the year we've got everything in front of us to look forward to. It's a great time to set goals for the year and plan adventures. Having something to look forward to can make all the difference in maintaining a positive mindset. While February may be grey and cold, it’s also a month full of quiet opportunities for self-reflection, growth, making plans.
5. February is short - so if nothing else, at least we know it won't be hanging around for long!

Trust me, there's tiny glimmers of warmth just around the corner - warmer days are on their way soon. And in the meantime, embrace the stillness and quiet of the season, find joy in small moments, and make space for the things that bring you peace and positivity. The days are gradually getting longer and the world will begin to bloom again. Until then, take February as a time to recharge and appreciate the little things that spark joy.

The world outside may feel cold and grey, but there’s always a spark of positivity to be found (even if we have to look hard sometimes). Keep smiling - spring is on its way!

Sarah x

BRAND NEW: 'Couple of the Year' personalised Newspaper Print

Hot off the press and just in time for Valentine's Day!

My brand new 'Couple of the Year' print is a new addition to my existing range of personalised newspaper prints:

It's absolutely perfect for any couple, young or... established! A thoughtful romantic gift for your Valentine, but this charming print also works beautifully for a wedding, engagement, anniversary - or just to say "I love you"!

Personalised throughout from top to bottom, my personalised newspapers are printed on heavy-weight high quality off-white 100% recycled paper stock for that authentic newspaper look and feel. You can add your own photo if you wish too!

Celebrate your love with a one-of-a-kind, romantic gift this Valentine's Day! Celebrate the love between two people with this romantic and thoughtful keepsake.

Find the new 'Couple of the Year' newspaper print - and all my other newspaper print designs - over on my website by clicking here >>

Sarah x