Scarborough August 2023

Hi everyone! My latest blog post is a description of mine and my Gran’s travels to Scarborough for the week, with accompanying photos. I do hope you enjoy! 😄

Our first evening we dined in the hotel – Lynwood convalescent home, on top of a hill. With me being a vegetarian, the chef really accommodated for me, making me veggie pies and veggie crumbles and others throughout the week 😋 Our first stop on Tuesday morning was Peasholm Park, just at the bottom of the hill.. it was absolutely gorgeous 😍 So tranquil and quaint. There were people on boat rides, an island 🏝 in the middle, and there was a lovely little cafe there, I had an iced latte.. Afterwards, we walked along the North beach promenade, and got a taxi to the city shopping centre, where I bought yet another book, lol.. Entertainment on the night time was fantastic! There was a turn on, a lady singer, and me and my new friend Marie were up Irish dancing, haha! Bingo too, which gran loved 🥰

On Wednesday, we took a fabulous little train to the Sealife centre 😀 There were penguins 🐧 which I loved! Also, a sealion show, sharks, starfish, jellyfish, stingrays etc..We had some funny photos taken with comical backgrounds 😆 At night, we went to a wonderful show at Scarborough Spa..there were three vocalists, a man and two women, and a further two male and female dancers.. amazing! The two women in particular had stunning voices, and the dancers were getting swayed all over the place! Songs from films like James Bond, ABBA compilations, music through the decades such as 20s flapper girls and onwards, 70s hippie flower power, The Phantom of the opera, all sorts! Great array of styles, and versatility showcased in the performance 👏 The outfits were fab too!

On Thursday, we had a mystery tour to Whitby 😍 What a fantastic place, with it’s gorgeous Docks and cobbled streets. Gran grabbed a toasted tea cake in a small cute cafe, and we both enjoyed an ice cream! We strolled around the shops, and I bought myself a new diamond art, a lion 🦁 At night time we had a quiz and karaoke back at Lynwood 🎤 We were affectionately named ‘Norfolk in chance’ by the cheeky bar man Matthew, haha 😄 I got up singing with Marie, even though I’m not the best I gave ‘Simply the best’ my best shot 🤣 Gran pulled! A lovely elderly gentleman was serenading her, adorable! 😄

Our last full day was Friday, and we decided to get a taxi to South Beach. There were fairground rides there, and arcades along the promenade. We had a go at the 2p machines to no avail lol! Gran searched for a new top and we had delicious milkshakes, and a rest overlooking the sea. I went onto the beach and had a little barefoot paddle; writing mine and Gran’s name in the sand 😁😁

And that was the end of our seaside adventure! We went on a turkey and tinsel last November to Scarborough in a different hotel…I almost didn’t go to this one as felt it would be much the same..how wrong was I! We had so much more time to discover the beauty of Scarborough (only one day trip to Whitby) furthermore our group were so friendly and welcoming, a brilliant bunch to be around, up for a laugh! We’ve made great friends! 👍

Thank you so much for taking the time to read/view 🥰 My next posts I believe will be either furniture upcycling or diamond art 🎨

All the best, thank you, Lauren xx

© 2023 Lauren Parr/ https://unicornpostbox.com

Decoupaged purple and white dressing table

Hi everyone! My latest UnicornPostbox blog post is progression photos of a decoupaged purple and white dressing table, upcycled for the Children’s Air Ambulance… hope you enjoy! 😊

I started this upcycling project by first cleaning with a spray and sanding with a mouse sander. I painted then all over with a chalky white paint, a few coats, including the inside of the drawers. I decoupaged a purple patterned wallpaper onto the bottom drawer, stuck and sealed with mod podge. I painted the top two little drawers metallic purple, and screwed on golden knobs onto all the drawers. I also painted the back of the dresser and the back of the mirror with the white chalky paint. I cleaned the glass with windowlene. The final step was to seal with a furniture paint lacquer… and here is the end result!

I am actually really proud of this one! I think it’s one of the best I’ve done! It’s so pretty 🥰 Some of my colleagues have said how you can tell I’m improving, which is lovely to hear…

Shortly, I am going to Scarborough..so keep a look out for a future travel post! I am also on with my latest diamond art…

Thank you as ever for reading/ viewing…

All the best, Lauren xx

© 2023 Lauren Parr/ https://unicornpostbox.com

‘Lucian the Lion’ amateur acrylic pub painting

Hi everyone! My latest UnicornPostbox blog post is progression photos of an amateur acrylic lion painting, painted at pub painting… hope you like! 💕💕

We started out sketching the facial features with watered down paint. From there, we began the brown mane, a cream for the face, and layered cream onto the brown mane. We used a fantastic glow in the dark orange paint to really add character and expressiveness. White whiskers, black and gold shimmer eyes, gold shimmer in the mane and… shazam! 🦁🦁

I think this one is one of the most technical and challenging pub paintings, with quite a lot of detail to incorporate… but the end result isn’t too shabby! 🦁🦁

The next pub painting is a colourful peacock, so really looking forward to doing that one! I’m also on with a ‘tree of life’ diamond art, and perhaps some upcycling projects!

Thank you so much as ever for reading/viewing!

Catch you soon, Lauren xx

© 2023 Lauren Parr/ https://unicornpostbox.com