Tag Archives: Christmas

January 14, 2013

Mollie Makes giveaway

I’m a bit late in reviewing Mollie Makes Christmas but it’s a lovely book and well worth getting hold of. I’ve long been a fan of Mollie Makes and Mollie Makes Christmas brings together a collection of different projects from Mollie Makes magazine’s favourite designers.

Perfect for those who love to make their own decorations and gifts, the book features over 20 projects to knit, crochet, fold, stitch and sew.

I recognised some of the names of the contributors but many were new to me and I love discovering new designers. The book appeals to me on lots of levels; I’ve enjoyed spending time flicking through it, I’ve tried many of the projects and the projects have inspired me to make my own versions.

Some of my favourite projects include the needle felt Christmas cottages, heirloom stocking, crochet reindeer, and the paper fold Christmas tree. Each project is well laid out and lists the materials needed, with illustrated instructions, and includes helpful tips along with a little note about each designer. Templates are included at the back of the book but they can also be downloaded from www.lovecrafts.co.uk.

Although the book is aimed at Christmas decorations and gifts, many of the techniques translate equally well to other seasons. I adored the lino-cut festive stationery so much that I’ll be making my own lino-cut stamps for birthday gift tags. The paper decoration string of stars will look great all year round and the beribboned cushion would make a lovely gift for birthdays.

I’ve been given an extra copy of Mollie Makes Christmas to giveaway. If you’d like to win a copy just tell me which craft is top of your list this year. I really want to make some fimo gift tags with the toddler.

For an extra entry tell others about the competition using the Retweet button below or tweet this message: I want to #win and get my craft on with @gingerbread_mum http://tinyurl.com/b9jw5ta

For a final extra entry follow my Google + page for the gingerbread house.

Small print:

The prize consists of one copy of Mollie Makes Christmas. The giveaway ends January 21st at 8pm. The winner will be selected at random from all entries received using random.org and notified by email or their twitter handle. The prize is as stated: no cash alternatives are available.

Giveaway now closed and the winner is Samantha from Happy Homebird

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Filed under Christmas, competition, crafts, handmade

Tagged as Christmas, competition, crafts, handmade

January 3, 2013

Naughty or nice?

Was Father Christmas good to you? I must have been a good girl last year as he was very nice to me. I received a years’ subscription to Ancestry which will really help me with my family history research. I want to capitalise on the creative writing course I did at the end of last year so I’m going to make time each week to work on it. I was also given a subscription to Mollie Makes. I think it’s rather expensive for a magazine but I do love reading it and now I won’t feel guilty about spending the money each month! My husband treated me to the classic 1962 Volkswagen Camper Van Lego set which I’m itching to make and I also received a rather lovely new Orla Kiely handbag for my collection – the Daisy Stem print in yellow from the Spring 2013 collection.

I love my new bag but I think it will be my last. My Orla Kiely handbag obsession has lasted 8 years which is a long commitment for me but my latest bag isn’t of the usual quality, it’s not even lined but was the same price as previous ones which were. Not sure it will last too long but Little Sis has plenty to choose from if she likes them!

This year I want to spend more time being creative both with the children and in my free time for myself. I think I spent a little too much time blogging last year. According to my end of term report my blog was viewed about 110,000 times in 2012 and I wrote 447 new posts, which grew the total archive of my blog to 1,248 posts. That’s a lot of posts and I dread to think how much time I spent staring at the laptop screen. I’ve started a new blog for my baking obsession, baking counts as creative, right?

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Filed under baking, Christmas, Orla Kiely

Tagged as baking, Christmas, Orla Kiely

December 27, 2012

Christmas swapsies

I think I signed up for a record number of swaps over the festive period. I really enjoyed putting them together and it gave me the opportunity to make some lovely decorations.

You may remember last year I signed up for an Advent Swap and I enjoyed it so much I did it again this year. The idea was to send 25 small items and I loved choosing the little items and wrapping them. Of course I was equally happy to open a small gift every day through Advent! I was paired with Melanie, aka The Patchwork Robin, who sent me a lovely selection of items. I hung her gifts from a coat hanger to stop my children from opening them all.

Again like last year I also joined in with Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping vintage Christmas swap. We had to send our partners a mixture of items: something second hand, something handmade and something relating to a Christmas carol or song. I made my partner three felt decorations and received a brilliant parcel from Tracey who blogs at Single Married Mum. She used a vintage box as packaging which is a great idea. I also love the knitted donkey which looks perfect on our tree.

Craftaholics Anonymous organise two swaps a year and I’ve previously signed up to the Summer Handmade Gift Exchange. My partner for the 2012 Handmade Gift Exchange Holiday 2012 was Jenn who knitted me a gorgeous washcloth as well as a knitted sleeve for my takeaway hot chocolates!

Finally, I signed up for the 2012 Secret Santa Bloggers Gift Exchange. It was a secret exchange so I can’t tell you what I sent my partner but I received the perfect package from my Secret Santa. Gingerbread cutters, chocolate, a gingerbread man ornament and a lovely tin.