• DIY gold foil Easter egg decorations
    Easter - Recycled crafts

    DIY gold foil Easter egg decorations

    March 13, 2024 - By 

    I saw some pretty recycled decorations made from the gold foil inside a tube of tomato puree so thought I would have a go. It was surprisingly fun so I thought I would share the results in case anyone else wants to try it. All you need to make your own recycled decorations are empty tubes of tomato or garlic puree. I tried both and got similar results with both types of tubes. Clean out your tube The most important part is to thoroughly clean your tube before crafting with it. To do this simply cut both ends off the…

  • Upcycled vintage ruler heart
    Crafts for adults - upcycling - Valentines Day crafts

    Upcycled vintage ruler heart

    January 25, 2022 - By 

    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…

  • DIY Orla Kiely inspired wrapping paper
    Crafts for adults - upcycling

    DIY Orla Kiely inspired wrapping paper

    December 22, 2019 - By 

    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…

  • PUMPKIN BIRD FEEDER nature craft for kids
    Autumn - Crafts for kids - STEM activity

    Turn your pumpkin into a bird feeder

    November 14, 2018 - By 

    This year we carved a few pumpkins to decorate the house over Halloween. I also bought a selection of gourds and munchkins to display. I didn’t want to just put them in the food waste bin when Halloween was over. I’m trying so hard to reduce our food waste and pumpkins can be quite wasteful. So this year we upcycled our pumpkins, making them into simple, natural bird feeders. It’s a really fun STEM craft to make with kids and it reduces waste too. Equipment needed to turn your pumpkin into a bird feeder Carved pumpkin Skewer String Bird seed…

  • Vintage foot stool makeover with Orla Kiely fabric
    Crafts for adults - Orla Kiely - Pinty Plus Ambassador - upcycling

    Vintage foot stool makeover

    February 7, 2018 - By 

    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…

  • Easy recycled Valentine sun catchers for kids to make
    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

    February 1, 2018 - By 

    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…

  • DIY Sylvanian Families gingerbread house
    crafts - Friends of Sylvanian Families - upcycling

    Sylvanian Families gingerbread house

    November 14, 2017 - By 

    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…

  • DIY Sylvanian Families snow globe tutorial
    Christmas - crafts - upcycling - vintage

    DIY Sylvanian Families snow globe

    November 7, 2017 - By 

    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…

  • 9 ways to re-use Scrabble tiles
    crafts - handmade - Handmade gifts - upcycling - vintage

    9 ways to re-use Scrabble tiles

    July 7, 2017 - By 

    I love searching for vintage toys and games in charity shops, especially when the pieces can be upcycled into something else. Scrabble and other letter games are brilliant for upcycling and I’ve made quite a lot with vintage Scrabble tiles. With the end of term fast approaching some of these items could easily be made as handmade thank you gifts for teachers too. Here are 9 ways to re-use Scrabble tiles or things to make inspired by Scrabble tiles: Personalised Scrabble wall art Scrabble tile Father’s Day coaster Scrabble tile badges DIY Scrabble tile dishwasher magnet  DIY magnetic Scrabble board…