I've been recovering from surgery (fine, thanks for asking) so have had plenty of time to contemplate life from the comfort of the Wimblecouch (great timing, eh?).

 

I'm not the only one with time on my hands. It seems a lot of you(whether from illness, redundancy or just the new-found inertia of these cash-strapped days) are pondering how to wile away the hours you used to spend glamming it up in chi-chi restaurants or even visiting the cinema (now £30 in central London, even before you factor in popcorn or babysitter).

 

Hopefully you've got willpower enough to sidestep the abyss of mind-numbing, slebs-eating-worms-in-the-wilderness TV and endless, ego-fluffing Facebook quizzes. You may even be tempted to roust your creativity from its cobwebby cupboard, dust it off and set it to painting, knitting or even waxing lyrical with discarded cutlery, beads and baubles (as above). Fine, so long as you accept that your creations may look more like church tombola fare than these catwalk-worhty creations from the experts at 'socially conscious art collective' Magpie, my Favourite Find for July.

 

The Magpie team are eco-friendly too (bonus points) crafting extravagant decorative objects from all sorts of 'rubbish': discarded bottle caps, shiny bits of plastic and retrieved glass beads and baubles.

 

Now, two of their chandeliers ('Princess' and 'La Riche Ella') have pride of place in the White House (the fabulous Obamas, bang on trend yet again!). 

 

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