• No sew Christmas pudding ornaments
    Christmas - crafts - tutorial

    No sew Christmas pudding ornament

    December 21, 2014 - By 

    Earlier this month I made some no sew Christmas pudding decorations to sell at the school Christmas Fayre. They were quick and easy to make and look great on a Christmas tree so I thought I’d share a little tutorial with you. Equipment needed to make no sew Christmas pudding ornament: ping pong balls silicone glue brown wool green and white felt red sequins scissors How to make no sew Christmas pudding ornament: Wrap your ping pong ball completely with brown wool, make sure there are no gaps. When you’ve finished leave a small loop to hang your ornament and…

  • clay gift tags
    crafts - handmade - Handmade gifts - tutorial

    Easy personalised clay tags

    December 21, 2014 - By 

    As we’re hosting a family Christmas I really wanted to add as many handmade touches as I could. This year I’ve made some super sweet clay tags to hang on everyone’s cracker. When they’ve finished with the cracker they can remove and keep their tag and hang it on the tree. Equipment needed to make easy personalised clay tags: Sculpey oven-bake clay Small cookie cutters Acrylic paint and brush Small letter stamps How to make easy personalised clay tags: Roll out your Sculpey clay until it is 2-3mm thick. I rolled it between two sheets of greaseproof paper so it…

  • crafts - gingerbread house - handmade - Patchwork & Quilting

    Gingerbread house quilt block

    December 20, 2014 - By 

    A couple of weeks ago I was asked to take part in a collaborative quilt with some other crafty bloggers. The idea was that we each made a quilt block which would get sent to the next blogger via InPost. They would then attach their block to the quilt and send it on to the next person. I made a couple of blocks as I couldn’t decide what to make. This morning I received a text message to say our #CraftTheParcel was waiting to be collected at the locker I designated. I scanned the QR code I had been sent…

  • Christmas - crafts - handmade - tutorial

    Brown paper packages tied up with string

    December 19, 2014 - By 

    This evening I’ve been playing around trying to pretty up some Christmas presents. I love wrapping my presents with simple brown paper but they are not always well received. I remember last year my father in law looking a little puzzled when I handed over our presents, he asked if we had run out of wrapping paper! This year I made sure to wrap his presents in the brightest Christmas paper I could find. I wanted to re-visit my idea of simple brown paper for some gifts but I thought I would embellish them to show I’d put some effort…

  • Liberty scrap baubles
    Christmas - crafts - handmade - tutorial

    Stash buster Liberty scrap baubles

    December 18, 2014 - By 

    I love crafting with styrofoam baubles. We’ve made a styrofoam snowman, styrfoam pumpkin, and even a styrofoam spider. I have lots of them so am always trying to think of different uses for them. Today I’m sharing my tutorial for stash buster Liberty scrap baubles. This is the perfect activity if you have any left over fabric scraps, but I think Liberty fabrics are exceptionally pretty. Equipment needed to make Liberty scrap baubles: scraps of Liberty fabrics PVA glue water bowl and brush styrofoam balls How to make Liberty scrap baubles: Cut the scraps into small pieces about 1cm square.…

  • crafts - giveaway - Kids crafts

    Win 1 of 5 Spirograph Optical 3D Studio Sets (worth £24.99!)

    November 28, 2014 - By 

    I have a really fun giveaway for all my crafty readers today. Remember Spirograph? Well it’s back! Kids of all ages can draw cool, geometric creations in bright colour. The new 21st century Spirograph now comes with eye-popping 3D technology, so kids can watch the drawings jump out from the page in an amazing display. Sets are available from £4.99 to £24.99. I have a great giveaway where five readers of the gingerbread house have the chance to win a Spirograph Optical 3D Studio Set, worth £24.99. With it’s geometric and swirling patterns, Spirograph has helped kids big and small to…

  • felt busy bag gingerbread house
    Christmas - gingerbread house - Handmade gifts - Kids crafts

    Felt busy bag gingerbread house

    November 20, 2014 - By 

    I’m sure you’ve noticed my obsession with gingerbread house but it really comes to life at this time of year. In the last week we’ve made a gingerbread tree, gingerbread biscuits, the gingerbread man story stones and today I wanted to share our felt busy bag gingerbread house. The gingerbread house appears in the well-known fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a witch living in the deep dark forest in a house constructed of gingerbread and sweets. The two children survive by outwitting her. Aspects of the story are a…

  • 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 - handmade - Handmade gifts

    Personalised drawing tiles from Live, Love and Create

    November 8, 2014 - By 

    I love sharing my finds with you so today I wanted to tell you about Live, Love and Create. They are a husband and wife team who operate a small family run pottery, craft studios, gift shop and tea room in a wonky old shop in rural North Lincolnshire. Recently they have launched one of their most popular products, personalised drawing tiles, to the wider world via their new online shop. They invited me to try out a personalised tie and I knew it would make the perfect birthday present for my mum. She loves receiving letters and drawings from…