• Crafts for adults - upcycling - Valentines Day crafts

    Upcycled vintage ruler heart

    I always enjoy making little handmade gifts for my family at Valentine’s Day. It feels like a while since I made anything substantial but I couldn’t resist upcycling a few of my vintage wooden rulers to make a sweet keepsake. I love upcycling and made an upcycled folding wooden ruler tray which I still use to hold my cotton reels. I also love the wooden vintage ruler Christmas tree I made and still get it out every year! Upcycled vintage ruler heart supplies MDF heart shaped blank, 20cm across selection of vintage wooden rulers wood glue clamps How to make…

  • Crafts for kids - Star Wars crafts - upcycling

    DIY Star Wars Day tin can lanterns

    My son is a huge fan of the Star Wars universe and has been planning how to spend May the 4th for a few weeks. Over the last few days he’s enjoyed a glass of blue milk, made BB8 pancakes and even encased his Hans Solo figure in jelly. We had grand plans to make a special Star Wars Day cake but unfortunately it didn’t work as planned. We also decorated the house for Star Wars Day. We hung Star Wars figures on a little tree in our living room and put our Star Wars Day wreath up. We wanted…

  • Crafts for adults - upcycling

    DIY Orla Kiely inspired wrapping paper

    My favourite Orla Kiely print is stem print. I recently bought myself a new stem print handbag for work, I just love it! The print is a classic and I wanted to use this print around the home, so tried my hand at cutting my own Orla Kiely inspired stamp. DIY Orla Kiely inspired stamp I already had a DIY stamp craft kit from Flying Tiger which contained the rubber sheet and carving tool. I photocopied a sheet of stem print paper which I then cut out to make my template. I placed this over the top of the stamp…

  • Christmas - Crafts for adults - upcycling

    How to make a Playmobil family snow globe decoration

    I love crafting with toys and I also love to make personalised gifts. Today I’m combining the two to make a fun Playmobil snow globe which I think would make a lovely handmade gift. It also makes a fun Christmas ornament. I’ve crafted with Playmobil figures before. The children love Playmobil so I’ve used vintage ones – Playmobil clock, Playmobil jar toppers, and vintage Playmobil figure badge. Playmobil family snow globe decoration supplies: Playmobil figures Plastic snow globe (from Hobbycraft) Fake snow Hot glue gun How to make a Playmobil family snow globe decoration First choose a selection of Playmobil…

  • Crafts for adults - Halloween crafts - upcycling

    DIY upcycled pallet Halloween sign

    Disclosure – this is a paid post in collaboration with Haribo Halloween gives us a great opportunity to enjoy the season. My kids have always loved Halloween. Every year they dress up and go to a Halloween party, they help to decorate the house for our Trick or Treaters, and love to bake spooky treats to enjoy at home on the day. We like to offer a mix of mini bags to our trick or treaters, especially when we know it’s a night where we all share and receive so many treats. This year Haribo asked us to collaborate with…

  • Crafts for adults - Orla Kiely - Pinty Plus Ambassador - upcycling

    Vintage foot stool makeover

    A few years ago I picked up a vintage foot stool at a car boot sale. I wanted to re-cover it with some lovely Orla Kiely fabric. I think the foot stool may have sat in the spare room for about 6 years until I recently found it again. You know that 2018 is the year of tackling those little projects I stashed away. So this is what it looked like before I upcycled it. There were two parts to it – the wooden base and top. The top was embroidered over a foam pad (although we didn’t know this…

  • Bostik Family Craft Bloggers Network - Crafts for kids - Recycled crafts - upcycling - Valentines Day crafts

    Easy recycled Valentine’s Day sun catchers for kids to make

    My children are both excited about Valentine’s Day later this month. It’s a lovely day to mark and a great reason to craft handmade cards and gifts. My children have both been making little things to give. So far we have made fingerprint heart keepsakes and today I’m going to share our easy Valentine’s Day sun catchers. There has been so much in the news about plastic waste that I’m pleased we were able to raid the recycling box and use plastic milk bottle. Easy recycled Valentine’s Day sun catchers for kids to make We used: empty plastic milk bottle…

  • crafts - Friends of Sylvanian Families - upcycling

    Sylvanian Families gingerbread house

    My daughter has a great collection of Sylvanian Families buildings. She can create her own little rural Sylvania with her tree house, log cabin and other buildings. I recently bought her the Baby Sleigh Ride Set, she just *loves* the babies. It’s a sweet little Christmas set but got me thinking. The only thing missing was our Sylvanian set up was a gingerbread house! So I made one. Sylvanian Families gingerbread house I bought a pretty shabby village Post Office Shop which came with a counter and accessories. The cardboard detail was ripped and bent which I thought made it…

  • Christmas - crafts - upcycling - vintage

    DIY Sylvanian Families snow globe

    I spent a very happy morning Christmas shopping yesterday. I love having the time to do shopping early, it makes a huge difference if I can make lists and cross off everything as I do it. Getting my Christmas shopping done also means more crafting time which makes me extra happy! Recently I bought a huge bundle of vintage Sylvanian Families figures. My daughter loves Sylvanian Families and I thought it would be fun to craft with them. My daughter and I made our own snow globe and today we’re going to show you how we did it. Equipment to…