Blast From The Past - Sizzix Christmas Favour Box From Christmas 2013

I have been wracking my brains trying to think of a festive idea to use as a gift idea for all the bags of starlight mints I bought back from Las Vegas …..that filled my suitcase to bursting point!
And then I remembered my Sizzix Bigz XL Shaker Box Die (Item # 655134), that hasn’t seen the light of day for at least two years!!!  OMG, it was perfect!

I used it to cut the red striped card from Payper Box I got a few weeks ago which just spelt Christmas to me!  Not wishing to waste any scraps, I stuck the piece that came from the window in the bottom of the box as a background to the sweets.

The inside of the box didn’t look quite right, it needed a little something else …..

…… but it had to be flat,  so I decided to punch some red scallop edged hearts and then add a Christmas message using a white gel pen, sorted!

I used Marc’s band idea from his Christmas cards to make one for the boxes to stop them flapping open, using a strip of contrasting red card …… and creasing it using my box maker board.

I then made the sentiment decoration using my Stampin’ Up scalloped punch, scraps of card and gold, white and silver  Christmas circles from Craftwork Cards http://www.craftworkcards.co.uk/products/1585/in-circles-christmas-gold-silver.html

The felt holly leaves and berries were from this years Hobbycraft Christmas collection  but I just couldn’t find them on the website to make a link! I think a tub of 12 cost about £2.99/3.00.

I made twenty six boxes in all, some of the decorations on the band vary, because I ran out of the holly, so it was an excellent opportunity to use up all my other bits and pieces that have been hanging around in my Christmas embellishment box for far too long!

Blast From The Past - Rudolph Chocolate Bar From Christmas 2010

Nothing much to this …. just a way of making an inexpensive bar of chocolate look extra special and festive. I’ve just added googly eyes, antlers and a red nose, which I’ve stuck on with a sticky foam pad to make it stick out more.

You could add a loop of ribbon on the back to hang it on the Christmas Tree.

My Festive Guest Room 2018

I think you could say that this is suitably over the top ….. but when Iris and Bertie come to stay over the holiday I want to make some lovely memories for them, even if they are of a daft old nanny who always wore a Christmas top and had Christmas bedrooms!

You may remember I had the shelving built in January, to add more storage to a storage bereft flat and well, it would be rude not to dress them up for Christmas …………

I found the duvet set first and then followed the stag/reindeer and Christmas tree theme through, adding a little silver here and there.  The large, silver, star candle holders were a charity shop find for just £1.49 each, but I think they will stay up all year.  And yes, I have changed the bedside lamps just for the month of December, what am I like?

The stag cushion was another poundshop find, I just had to have it, as it was just perfect to finish off the bed.

I’ve dressed my terrarium up again with a lit Santa scene, as there’s nothing like a bit of awe and wonder with noses pressed right up against it!

My bedroom is pretty much the same as it was last year, a low key festive look, all duvet a few fairy lights and red snowflakes……. however I have decided to treat myself to fitted drawers and shelving  units either side of my bed in January, slightly more “decorative” than in the guestroom …… so who knows how it might look next Christmas!!!

My Festive Shelves 2018

I spend far too much time for my own good drooling over the Christmas shelf displays on Pinterest ………..

I think I am slowly getting there, but it’s a lot harder to put a whimsical shelf together than I imagined.

I would dearly love to go totally and truly vintage, but that’s never going to happen, so building on from last year I have added a few more bits and pieces, mostly new but adding a few charity shop finds here and there when I find found them as these tend to be a little more quirky.

I have gathered enough stuff for the three shelves that are spread over three of the walls in my lounge sitting area. I think it will always be a work in progress, new things will be added and others replaced I am sure, and then perhaps in twenty odd years time it could be called vintage!!!

The shelf unit in the kitchen area (over the sink) of the through lounge  has also undergone a festive transformation (another work in progress). Last year I just put cards in the spaces but this year I decided to make it a little more Christmassy and over the top ……… and in the evening, yes I do turn the main lights off and light a tea-light in each of the lamps, which makes me feel all festively fuzzy, especially with a cherry brandy in my hand! 

Finally, not a shelf ……. but I found this cushion in Poundland Worcester (£1) ……. I now wish I had bought a couple more, ain’t that always the way, as I love it so much, and knowing pound shops and their stock, I very much doubt  I will ever see them again …… but never say never!!!!  I may unpick one of the seams on this one (after Christmas now) to add a little more plumpness to it, but it just looks perfect on my armchair. Yes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Blast From The Past - Mini Christmas Button Wreath From Christmas 2011

This was a bit of an experiment that has turned out pretty well.

I’ve used a bracelet (part of a set of six for £1 bought from a funny discount shop in Wolverhampton) and buttons that I have found at various car boot sales.

I attached the wire hanger before I started gluing on the buttons.  I only intended putting one layer of buttons on, but as I delved in my various boxes I found I have various other sizes that fit perfectly over the original ones and it progressed from there. Dead chuffed!

Blast From The Past - Snowman Chocolate Bar From Christmas 2009

From this to this ………

This must truly rank as the most unnecessary embellishment of a item of all time!!!

As my sister would say, “You have far too much time on your hands!”

This is a bar of chocolate that I have wrapped round with white glitter felt (but ordinary or textured white paper would be just as good), using double sided tape to keep it in place.

The hat is ….. a finger from a child’s magic glove (the ones that look tiny but stretch as soon as you put them on). I  have cut off one finger and rolled it a little around the bottom and plonked it on the snowman’s head.  (I got the gloves from a Pound Shop – and one pair of gloves gives you 10 hats).

The scarf is just an oddment of ribbon, the eyes and buttons are black Paperchase acrylic gems and the nose is a filmo embellishment I bought a while ago but I just can’t remember where, but orange card would be just as good.

Daft idea I know, but cute!

Blast From The Past - Mini Christmas Printers Tray Decoration From Christmas 2011

This is just pure Fiddle Fart Fiddlefartness just for the festive sake of it ….

The tray was a container for little wooden shapes and it seemed a shame to throw it away …. so I had a very happy and indulgent  time filling each square with all the little Christmassy leftover bits I’ve had lingering from Christmases past..

And I made such a mess …  looking for things that would fit,  as you can see.

…. As to what I am going to do with this piece of frivolity …. I don’t have a clue!

Blast From The Past - Jingle Bells From Christmas 2009

A few people have said that they have looked at my blog for Christmassy ideas. This has got me racking my brains for all the little things I have made over the years. I've put a few together now and will share them over the next few days.
The reason I try to keep coming up with little “fiddle farty” things is that I don’t usually send Christmas cards to work friends as they have probably already bought them from the box I leave in the staffroom.

But, I do like to give them something that I have made, that they can keep for more than just one Christmas, unlike a card that is soon forgotten.

Often these trinkets cost less than a good card, like this jingle bell I made last year.  The bells were from Poundland, I think I got 20 in a tube (for £1 !!!!), all I had to add was a length of burgundy ribbon, for a loop and a bow, and a punched tag on which I wrote,  “….jingle all the way”, and then attached to the top of the bell.
I made small boxes, using brown Kraft card, which I love to use, and my box maker (the first few were a bit trial end error, but when I got the size just right, I made a template to use over and over again).  The final touch was tying the box up with soft parcel string. I am useless at costing, but I bet this cost me less than 50p to make.

Blast From The Past Elizabeth Shaw Mint Robin From Christmas 2011

Oh my life, what possessed me?  This is definitely too much fiddle fart for just one Elizabeth Shaw mint crisp!!!!!!

I thought that I had flogged the whole chocolate mint thing to death, but then I got to thinking about robins  after finding this robin embellishment below  that I bought last year and as I had a few mints leftover from something else, one thing led to another!

Using the robin as a sort of template, I used my 1 3/4”  Stampin’Up circle punch for the bodies, made with brown card and the breasts with red glitter paper (which I then re shaped), then I cut a section from circles made with my 1” punch  for the tails, (also in brown card). 

But my main problem was that my feeble brain just couldn’t, after making the first side of the robin, fathom out how to put together the reverse one (? what a numpty)  …. and I am ashamed to say I had to have several attempts at getting both sides to match up, the poor robin’s tail ended up in some very strange places before I was happy!

Eventually I managed to match both sides up, including googly eyes and then thought about adding a pair of dangly legs, using brown thonging and two beads.  I have to admit it looked very cute! 

 

The final stage was to add a thread to hang him up by and sandwich a mint between the two sides, but as I said when I first started …. far too much fiddle fart for one blooming mint!!!

My First Christmas Card Of 2017 ……… From Marc

This has got to be my most favourite card from Marc ever …………. it’s just perfect …… all boxed and tissue papered, very Marc xxxxxx

The sentiment was stamped ……. I love the delicate font, perfect with the snowflakes …….. I think I may have to borrow it sometime next year.

The snowflakes were made using a  Martha Stewart Himalayan Snowflake punch, now sadly discontinued or else I would have been straight online to order my own, so another borrow I think!  The snowflakes are mounted on tiny foam pads to lift them up.

Marc said that it was the bow that drove him mad as it was so fine, but so worth all the fiddle fart, cross eyes and cussing!

I love it ……. and it will be treasured for many Christmas’s to come.

It’s That Time Of Year Again ............

I have to admit that I have been really mithering about my lack of crafting over the past four months (too many weekends away and having fun), which has led to a sad lack of posts for this December,  but then Marc had the brilliant idea of reposting projects of Christmas's past, ideas that could still be repeated and/or revised accordingly for this year and the future, as well as being  a bit of a blast from the past from the days when I first started blogging ………. so, that’s what I am going to do ...... posting every few days for this month at least, interspersed with a bits and pieces from this year on  most probably on a Monday and Tuesday  …………

So today ……..  I bring you …… my 2017 festive wardrobe ……..

I have done Christmas jumpers to death, although I am not really a “jumper person”, as a woman of a certain age they do tend to make me rather hot after a while, however I do wear a lot of swing tops, so imagine how chuffed I was to see festive ones start appearing in the shops and online this year, as they are just perfect. The one above, for which I really splashed out is my “best” top from Yours https://www.yoursclothing.co.uk/black-multi-christmas-gingerbread-man-print-novelty-longline-top-p …… and will be worn on the big day itself and on “occasions”!

The other three are to wear on my Iris and Bertie days, found on eBay for silly money. The red and blue snowmen ones were just £4.95 each plus £1.99 p & p

…… and the Santa one was £3.50 plus £2.99 p & p. Well, they were no brainers, it would have been rude not to make a few considered purchases and at least I don’t have to worry about what to wear every day in December!!!

Button Flower Tags

I am not sure about these tags at all, hence the reason why they have just lingered in my “done nothing with” box on my desk for a bit too long.

The tag base is a thinner than usual, wooden children’s domino which I have covered with a scrap of self adhesive, floral, cotton material from The Works.  I then drilled a hole in the corner for a jump ring and tie attachment.

The small buttons also came from The Works, the flower left over from a previous project. I then simply added a punched foliage spray and a little doodled faux stitching round the edges.

The back was similarly edged, leaving plenty of space for a message/greeting etc. 

At the moment the tags don’t really work for me, I can’t put my finger on “what’s missing/wrong” though, perhaps a discreet scattering of small, flat backed gems in the centre of the printed flowers, a gem in the middle of the centre button, or some matching coloured beads on the tying thread????  I guess they will probably stay on my desk for a little while longer until I can work it out, or perhaps they will just come into their own when put on a parcel wrapped in a matching plain paper?????