• Upcycled ruler Christmas tree
    Christmas - Crafts for adults - Recycled crafts - tutorial - upcycling

    How to make an upcycled ruler Christmas tree

    December 4, 2014 - By 

    A while ago I saw a brilliant image on Pinterest of a Christmas tree made of vintage rulers. I thought I would attempt it this year and have been buying up old wooden rulers and cribbage boards whenever I see them. Thankfully you can get them for a few pounds and I seem to have amassed a lot! Equipment needed to make an upcycled ruler Christmas tree: collection of vintage wooden rulers mitre block PVA glue clamp How to make an upcycled ruler Christmas tree: I traced a rough shape on a piece of paper of the shape I wanted…

  • Vintage Scrabble tile decorations
    crafts - Recycled crafts - tutorial - upcycling - vintage

    Vintage Scrabble tile decorations

    November 13, 2014 - By 

    I picked up a couple of vintage Scrabble sets at the weekend and thought I would upcycle the tiles and stands into Christmas decorations. They are so simple to make and work out quite cheaply. I’ve signed up for a couple of Christmas swaps so have been making some as gifts too. Today I’m going to share my simple way of upcycling vintage Scrabble tile decorations. Equipment you will need to make vintage Scrabble tile decorations: Vintage Scrabble tiles Vintage Scrabble tile holders (the wooden ones work best) Glue gun How to make vintage Scrabble tile decorations: Lay out your…

  • crafts - Kids crafts - Lego - Recycled crafts - tutorial - upcycling

    How to transform an Ikea table into a Lego Duplo table

    June 12, 2014 - By 

    One of my favourite upcycled crafts has been transforming our old Ikea coffee table into a Lego Duplo table for the children. It’s probably the piece of furniture we’ve had the longest as I think we bought it 8 years ago when we first moved in together. It’s served us well. A couple of years ago it got its first transformation. It was given a coat or two of blackboard paint so the toddler could do his mark making on it. He quickly got bored of that idea (walls were much more appealing) so it was pretty un-used and even…

  • crafts - Gingerbread house finds - upcycling - vintage

    Gingerbread house finds: Scrabble sets!

    May 18, 2014 - By 

    If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know I am constantly on the look out for old Scrabble sets to stock in my Etsy shop. The letter tiles are perfect for crafting with, such as this fun Scrabble bathroom sign I made. Well last week I found a couple of sets, but they weren’t the sets I am used to seeing. The first was an Australian version, published and distributed by T.R. Urban & Co., Sydney under licence from Production & Marketing Company USA.  There aren’t many differences from my English versions, except obviously where it was made,…

  • how to make a vintage board game display
    crafts - Crafts for adults - decorating - interiors - tutorial - upcycling - vintage

    How to make a vintage board game display

    May 11, 2014 - By 

    A couple of days ago I wrote about my collection of vintage board games, all picked up at local charity shops for a few pounds. The game tokens will go into my Etsy shop as soon as I have time to list them and this weekend I finally persuaded my husband to let me hang them on the wall. Last weekend was spent painting and decorating our bedroom and we just have a few final touches to make. We obviously got bitten by the bug as we also went out and bought the things needed to decorate my daughter’s room…

  • Gingerbread house finds - housekeeping - upcycling - vintage

    Gingerbread house finds: vintage board games

    May 5, 2014 - By 

    I’ve been obsessed with vintage board games for a while now. Part of it is trying to re-create the games my grandparents kept in their wardrobe which we were allowed to play with when we visited. They had a great collection which included Tell Me, a metal wind up car racing game made in East Germany, a magnetic fishing and more, all stored in a green enamel bread bin. When they died I really wanted to take all of those with me, just to preserve the memories, but I couldn’t and I suppose I’ve regretted it ever since. What a…

  • book review - crafts - tutorial - upcycling - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: Pimp Your Pumps

    January 21, 2014 - By 

    Battered boots? Tired trainers? Then why not add some glitz and glamour to everyday shoes! Charlotte Liddle offers the perfect solution for those who need to spruce up their shoe collection with 35 ways to make your feet more fun. We were sent a copy to review and my head is bursting with ideas! Removeable fixes are a non-permanent way to add life and colour to a tired pair of shoes with clip-on flowers and ribbon laces leading the way. You can transform really old shoes more permanently and add a splash of colour with vibrant fabric paints, a splatter…

  • easy handmade flower pot snowpeople
    Christmas - crafts - garden crafts - handmade - tutorial - upcycling

    Winter activities for small people

    December 27, 2013 - By 

    I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas. Not that our winter holiday is over but I have let out a small sigh of relief that presents have been opened and enjoyed and several big meals have been cooked and eaten. My two little people have not let Christmas get in their way and have been wanting to be crafty regardless of their piles of presents. We’ve had playdough, practising our writing, colouring and stamping as well as outdoor family activities including a couple of walks, a trip to the park with their scooters and taking my son’s model boat…

  • Toilet roll angels
    Christmas - crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - Toilet roll crafts - tutorial - upcycling

    Toilet roll angels

    December 2, 2013 - By 

    Have a plethora of toilet rolls in your house? We seem to go through lots so are always on the look out for some crafts to help use them up. Our latest one is very seasonal – toilet roll angels! Toilet roll angels craft for kids What you will need: cardboard tubes white paper silver paint scissors sticky tape yellow pipe cleaner The great thing about toilet roll crafts is  that they come together really easily. The first step was to paint them silver and when they were dry we added a face. Then we drew around both children’s hands…