• Personalised Liberty pouch
    Crafts for adults - Sizzix crafts

    Personalised Liberty pouch

    February 26, 2016 - By 

    I can’t believe it’s time for my second Sizzix project already. Today I wanted to show you how I used my Sizzix Big Shot Plus to make a sweet personalised Liberty pouch for my daughter. At the tender age of 4 years she can’t go anywhere without a little something. She’s also a bit fo a magpie and I’m always telling her off for picking up things she finds on the ground. Anyway I used my Sizzix Big Shot Plus and the Sizzix Bigz Alphabet Uppercase Die – Sassy Serif Letter “N” (654729) to make this personalised pouch. Find out…

  • Mother's Day rosette
    Cath Kidston - Crafts for adults - Handmade gifts - Mother's Day crafts

    Mother’s Day Crafting with Cath Kidston

    February 25, 2016 - By 

    You know by now that I love giving homemade gifts. I never have as much time as I would like but today I want to share with you a gorgeous fabric rosette which can be put together in about 30 minutes and would make a special gift for your mum this Mother’s Day. The full tutorial can be found over on the Cath Kidston blog and I would like to say a big thank you to them for sending me a hamper of crafty products so I could make my own Mother’s Day rosette. Whilst the children were at school…

  • DIY Han Solo Carbonite soap craft
    Crafts for adults - Handmade gifts - Star Wars crafts - tutorial

    DIY Star Wars Han Solo Frozen in Carbonite Soap

    February 9, 2016 - By 

    We’ve been having a lot of fun with Star Wars crafts recently. Like many children, The Force Awakens really seems to have struck a chord with my two and now they are Star Wars obsessed. My son recently bought the Lego Carbon-Freezing Chamber set I thought I would turn this to my advantage with an easy DIY Star Wars Han Solo Frozen in Carbonite Soap craft activity! DIY Star Wars Han Solo Frozen in Carbonite Soap You will need: 2x disposable plastic containers Han Solo plastic figure soap base wooden stirrer How to make a DIY Star Wars Han Solo…

  • festive upcycled sign
    Christmas - Christmas - Crafts for adults - tutorial - upcycling

    Make a festive upcycled sign with lights

    December 18, 2015 - By 

    We love to decorate the house for Christmas and every year we try to add a new decoration to our stash. I love our handmade tradition, my mum always made room for the handmade Christmas decorations we brought home for school and I fully embrace this with my own children too. Harveys asked me to write a post about my favourite Christmas crafts as part of their Harveys Yule Rules. This year we’ve made festive wreaths and tree decorations and a couple of weekends ago we made something larger for the house. Harveys featured the finished craft on their blog…

  • Chocolate Gingerbread recipe
    baking - Crafts for adults - gingerbread

    Chocolate gingerbread recipe

    October 4, 2015 - By 

    I’m always on the look out for gingerbread recipes and a friend recently introduced me to an amazing Nigella Lawson recipe for Chocolate Gingerbread. Once I’d made it I couldn’t believe I hadn’t discovered it before, the combination of gingerbread and chocolate makes an amazingly rich cake, and a ginger glaze really sets it off. Chocolate Gingerbread cake ingredients: 175g unsalted butter 125g muscovado sugar 2tblsp caster sugar 200g golden syrup 200g black treacle 1/4tsp ground cloves 1 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tsp ground ginger 1 1/4tsp Bicarbonate of Soda 2 eggs 250ml milk 275g plain flour 40g cocoa 175g…

  • 14 ways to upcycle a Monopoly game
    Crafts for adults - Handmade gifts - Recycled crafts - upcycling - vintage

    14 ways to upcycle a Monopoly game

    August 30, 2015 - By 

    Growing up I loved to play board games with my family. My favourite was Monopoly and I’ve picked up a couple of vintage  sets on recent charity shopping trips. Did you know that the game is named after the economic concept of monopoly—the domination of a market by a single entity? Yep, it’s not just a fun board game, it actually reinforces the idea that wealth creation is a good thing. You may not believe in the ideas behind Monopoly but I’m hoping my children will enjoy playing it one day. I think it’s a useful way to learn about…

  • hand stamped plant markers - the gingerbread house
    Crafts for adults - garden crafts - tutorial - upcycling

    Hand stamped plant markers

    July 7, 2015 - By 

    I have a small addiction to San Pellegrino sparkling fruit drinks, especially in the Summer months. The only problem with this is our recycling bin is full of empty cans. I’ve been looking for ways to recycle them and made some hand stamped plant markers for the garden. I don’t have the greenest fingers but this is a great craft for the garden which anyone can do. Time to make: 30 minutes You will need: Empty drinks can Dremmel Tin snips Metal alphabet stamps Centre punch Hammer How to make hand stamped plant markers: I used a Dremmel to cut…

  • Scrabble tile coaster for Father's Day
    Crafts for adults - Father's Day - Handmade gifts

    Scrabble tile Father’s Day coaster

    June 13, 2015 - By 

    We celebrate Father’s Day with handmade gifts in our house. We’ve already been busy with decorating candles and drawing pictures. I thought I would try something a little more grown up with my stash of Scrabble tiles. Vintage Scrabble tiles 2mm cork sheet UHU POR glue Swann Morton scalpel How to make a Scrabble tile Father’s Day coaster We kept our Scrabble tile coaster simple with the words ‘I love you Dad’. We arranged the Scrabble tiles, using blanks to make each line the same length. We placed the tiles on a sheet of cork (purchased from eBay) and glued…

  • How to make Scrabble tile badges - the gingerbread house
    Crafts for adults - Handmade gifts - tutorial - upcycling - vintage

    Scrabble tile badges

    May 21, 2015 - By 

    Did you know it’s Scrabble Week? This May over 6,500 new playable Scrabble words join the Collins Official Scrabble Wordlist. To celebrate the biggest update in 4 years, Collins are hosting Scrabble Week which runs from May 21-28 2015. I love playing Scrabble and crafting with my vintage Scrabble tiles. I felt I should make something special to mark Scrabble Week so I made some fun Scrabble tile badges. My two favourite things (after my family of course) is sewing and drinking tea so I made simple badges using my Scrabble tile stash. I used: Vintage Scrabble tiles 2mm cork…