Christmas gift exchange.

Twice a year, Linda at Craftaholics anonymous hosts a gift exchange. Once again I took part in the Christmas gift exchange and it was so much fun!

 

This year my partner was a very sweet girl called Lisa. We chatted back and forth a couple of times , via email, and then set to work.

I received the sweetest gift through the post!

A crochet mug cosy!

I am so so excited. I have wanted one of these for such a long time and I love anything that is crochet.

And it is red. Be still my heart.

(Please excuse the ropy pics, my favourite new camera is needing batteries and I have been housebound for the past couple of days!  So the old faithful has to do)

I adore the purple heart on the front

and the super cute co-ordinating button on the back.

Love.

Thank you so so much to Lisa for my wonderful gift! I can't believe you are only just learning to crochet! You are a pro already!

And as always thanks to Linda for hosting the giveaway. It is lovely to meet new people and to enjoy exchanging something handmade and yummy!

Merry Christmas everyone! xx

View from the pumpkin patch

I have seen lots of toilet paper pumpkins on my travels around blogland and thought it would be a great "craft" for K and I to do together. It was super quick! And she loved it!

Basically you take a roll of toilet paper and some fabric (roughly a fat quarter is a good size), I then used a piece of stick we had gathered on our autumn travels and a little raffia. You lay your roll of toilet paper in the middle of your fabric piece and tuck it into the hole on the top. Then pop in your stick and tie on your raffia. Done. Simple and easy.

K did this one all on her own

Cute huh?

I also had to get in on the act

Mine is more of an apple because of my fabric choice , apples are autumnal right?

(gingham surprise surprise)

I love this idea because there is no sewing or glueing involved, so we can dismantle them and still have all of the fabric intact to use for another project.

I love this so much it could become addictive, we may be living in a pumpkin patch soon! lol

another project done

I know this is by no means as crafty or creative as most of the other projects linked up to






but it is one that has been on my to - do list for quite some time! I also busted some of my stash in the process.

As I mentioned in previous posts , I am in the process of arranging a tiny crafting corner for myself, in the corner of my bedroom. As part of this I was in need of somewhere to store magazines, print outs of tutorials, books, patterns etc.

But I didn't want to buy something to use, I am a real cheapo  a little thrifty and so kept a look out for something I could use for free! That something arrived with my Autumn / winter Next catalogue. The box was in 2 halves with a little perforated edge.

I asked Beebs to keep hers when it arrived so I would have 2. I have been using these as they are, since early summer. I am such a procrastinator!!

I used stashbusting September as my kick up the butt to finally cover them in scrapbook paper. I didnt have anything that would match my bedroom, but I used my favourite papers and I think they look cute. I have since decided to make my corner as colourful as possible!

They were pretty self explanatory to make, I drew around the edge of the box and cut the paper to fit. I hot glued the boxes together and then hot glued the paper on.

I, of course, had my usual crafting company lol.

Done!

 I am super happy, but a little annoyed with myself. It didn't even take 15 mins and I have been putting it off for months!

Stashbustin'

I am always ALWAYS starting/planning crafty projects but never finishing them. I came across a great idea on another blog (Atelier Caroline)

It is time for a little Stashbustin' in Septmenber!







I will not be allowed to buy any fabric or crafty accessories. I must use only things I have on hand and finally, FINALLY finish off all of those projects that I have started, or have just bought fabric for!

I am super excited, I like a challenge! Although it is a little daunting! Because I am so bad at not finishing anything, the number of projects on my to - do list have already run into the teens! !

Am I allowed to buy time during September??

This will also leave me guilt free and with an empty cupboard to concentrate on all of my fun Christmas crafting ! And seeing as I wont have much stash left, maybe a little shopping wll be in order......................

Bring it on!

Anyone for afternoon tea?

Yesterday I had mentioned that we went to a car boot sale. A few people asked me what this was, so for all of the non - brits reading this, it is like a sort of portable yard sale. Car boot sales are an organised event where people take thier unwanted goods and sell them from the boot/trunk of their car. Well, really on tables and rails. Mostly you can get good bargains, but also some over priced rubbish, especially if the owners class them as "antiques". Are they old??  yes. Antiques?? no way!

Anyway, I had a project in mind so we popped along to our local bi-weekly car bootsale.
Here are sonme of my bargains.

I fell in love with this sheet ,music

Isn't Rudolph adorable???

It has even been signed by someone, I have no idea who, but someone!

I can see this becoming a super nice Christmas decoration, but not sure what yet. It will have to be framed as it is old and pretty fragile. But not bad for £1.

I fell in love with this plate. I remember a similar one from my childhood,

I am sure my mum inherited it from a Great Aunt or something. I remember it from parties and with cakes on for afternoon teas.

Mine was only £1.

Next I gathered what I needed for my project. I saw one recently at an event and just knew i had to give it a try!

2 plates

One dinner plate and one side plate

Or you could use two dinner plates, I suppose, depends on what kind of look you want.

Next, a sweet little glass.

All 3 items purchased from a sweet old lady for £1.50.

You will also need your trusty glue gun.

My cousin Ashley left me a link for a super sweet crocheted cake slice, in a comment on my post from last week. I was asking for suggestions for sweet things to put on my new cake stand. She mentioned she would like a vintagy cake stand. So I though I would share this idea for a sweet DIY (read cheap) vintagy cake stand.

Take your small plate and your glass and do this

You need to make sure it is in the centre as much as possible. This isn't always possible with old plates and glasses I guess, but as close as you can get.

Draw around the glass.

Put a line of hot glue on the outline of the glass, thatyou have just drawn.

Place your glass on top of the glue and let dry for a minute or so.

voila.

Next you need to line up your top tier and bottom tier. The only way I could centre it was to place it on and then look down on it from above.

My plates are from the same set, so the little one fitted neatly into the centre of the big plate.

I didn't draw all around the base of the glass this time. I just put 4 little lines to show where it needed to be.

Put a line of hot glue around the edge of the base of the glass. I covered the whole of the base in glue and you can see it! But my glue isn't 100% clear, so this is your call. I am sure mine will be strong but it isn't as pretty as it should have been.

Replace the glass onto the large plate/bottom tier ensuring it is within the little lines that you made.

Once dry you have made a cute little cake stand!

Ta da!

(sweet little bow to hide your ugly glue mistake is optional lol)

Anyone for afternoon tea??

I haven't added photos of all the steps as I thought they were either self explanatory or I could describe them better than I did. If anyone would like more details then I would happily make another and post more pics!

It's Christmas!!!!

Ok it's not really, I know, it is still 162 sleeps until the big guy comes ;-) .

It has however, been Christmas in July over at craftaholics anonymous where blogger Linda, organised a Christmas in July gift swap. It was so much fun! We all had to leave a comment and then send a handmade gift to the person who left a comment below yours.
I was so excited when a package arrived for me,all the way from the US! Inside , tucked into a lovely little organza bag, was the sweetest bracelet ever.

My photos don't do it justice! It is so pretty! needless to say  I am hopeless taking photos one handed!

Thank you again to Kylee who made this pretty gift and thanks to Linda for hosting such a fun event.

Ho Ho Ho

Biting off more than I can chew!

I never seem to do anything by halves! At the moment I am attempting to organise a baby shower, K's Birthday party and attempting to paint up some shelves and bits and bobs for the house.

I am failing miserab;y at all three at the moment.

I almost cut the tip off my finger while using a knife to open the tin of paint. Um yep I now know this is a bad idea!

So I am going to have to try to focus! I only have 2 weeks between the shower and the birthday party and a lot of sewing to be done for the party so it's not like I can get one out of the way then start on the other. So it is all a bit of a mish mash!

So far  the invites are out for the shower! I will share those in a moment. And I almost have one of the favours done for K's party.

What do you think? Does Kitty need eyelashes? This is just my practise one and the first time I have ever used wonder under. I am going to top stitch around the edge of the mask and maybe some eyelashes if we think she needs it. I used pale pink thread for the whiskers, I think this would work better on White felt. I also have some black felt and will use white thread to contrast.

What do you think?

Also, in my wisdom, I have decided to attempt a patchwork quilt for K as part of her Birthday present. I have never made one before so it could all go very wrong!

Inspire me!

I am a bit stuck and uninspired at the moment. I am wondering if anyone  fancies helping me out of my funk?
Specifically I need ideas for

Winter craft ideas to do with the kids. I am ok at Christmas crafts but not sure what to do for wintry stuff?

Valentine ideas, crafts, homemade gifts, decorations ?

New recipes, meals, treats, thinks to make with the kids?

Anything you do often or have tried  or even things you have come across but not tried yet. We want to hear them, My creative butt needs a swift kick! xx

Paying it forward

I have just come across this idea on Sami's fab blog  

Basically the first 3 people who are interested will receive a hand made gift handmade by me! I  have up to 365 days to make it and send it to you, you will not know what it is or when I am sending it until you receive it! In return you have to pay it forward and add this idea to your own blog and you will send a handmade craft/gift to the first 3 people and so on.

Sound good?  If so leave me a comment and a link to your own blog where I can go and find your post about paying it forward! Also if I don't actually know you if you could send me an email with your address that would be awesome!

This sounds fun and challenging! woo hoo!

Let's get started!

xx

Every Picture tells a story

Inspired by week 7 of  12 weeks of Christmas I decided to turn one of my favourite photos into a Christmas accessory for my home.

This picture of my babies was taken last year, we had a lovely day strolling through the woods collecting pine cones and enjoying each others company. Originally this pic was to be our Christmas card last year but I just couldn't let go of my favourite pic from the year before! LOL

However the best laid plans and all that. I sweated blood and tears over editing this pic! I bought a lovely silver frame flecked with black. I bought some  black satin ribbon that would be used to hang the frame and maybe create a little bow for the top edge of the frame.

Just as I was getting ready to go print out my masterpiece my baby girl came to me asking for me to help put on her knickers (such is the glamour of my life ;) )  I laid the frame on my knee and leaned over to help her out. CRACK! I must have leaned on the glass with my ahem .... assets ;) and smashed the glass to smithereens.

I haven't had time to replace the frame yet but I will share the pic anyway.

Stay tuned for the finished article very soon!

*ps- you may need to click on the pic to make it a bit bigger*

Sew busy!

Haha see what I did there??

I have been busy sewing some hoodie towels for the kids ( and one for an upcoming Birthday present) I used a tutorial from Deanna's blog (just Deanna ---> over there on the blogs list) sorry I am not clever enough to work out how to link it here.

Anyway they are actually really easy to make and because I used huge bath towels they fit both of the kids, Fraser can still be totally wrapped in his which is great!

here's my sweet model, she was too busy being a supermodel to stand still and also is digging a toungue out pose at the moment!