Illuminated Christmas Fairy Door

Following on from my earlier fairy door post ........

...... as I put it in place against the skirting board in my lounge area I remembered some tiny wire lights I had, so I carefully wrapped them around the trees, door and fence  with this result.  I then looked along my festive shelves and found this little ceramic figure  of Mother Christmas, who was in perfect proportion to the house.  I was so chuffed with the how it all came together, which further added to the enchantment when Iris and Bertie saw it ........  I am sure I can add more to the scene, perhaps a street lamp, a robin etc. but that will have to wait until next year!

Crafty Christmas Charity Shop Finds

With not much crafting going on at The Towers at the moment,  I thought I would show you the contents of a couple of goodie bags I got from the Sue Ryder shop in Evesham, all ready for next years crafting!   I have been on the look out for old, retro, kitsch type Christmas bits and pieces, but they are either few and far between or extortionately expensive.

Sometimes looking through a sealed bag you can't be entirely sure what you are actually getting, but I have to say I was really chuffed with these three Santa's and two snowmen. I am already thinking diorama's, perhaps in globes or small bottles to hang on a tree.

..... a bit like the one below from Hema https://www.hema.com/en-gb/kids/kids-party/balloons-garlands/glass-christmas-jar-4.5x4.5x7-25104845.html

The bag cost me £2.50 for the five quite substantial embellishments, working out at 50p each which is a no brainer really.

The second bag of goodies at £1.50 and was (without any real ideas in my head) not such a good buy. It was the robins I spotted first, again thinking dioramas, however, everything else is a bit kitsch and I am sure I can work them all into some sort of retro type project, when I have a Ulrika type moment!

This tiny plastic box also caught my fancy at just 25p from St Richard's Hospice shop also in Evesham.  

Again it is quite solid, with potential and in perfect condition on the outside  ...... it's just shouting out to have a tiny scene put in it .......

..... I have some tiny snowmen somewhere that might just fit the bill  ...... with Christmas upon us followed by the New Year, it's quite a nice feeling to think that I've got a few ideas to start a new crafty year with, when sometimes you can just feel past it and not in the mood!

Iris's Little Christmas Display......

This is Iris's little Christmas display in her bedroom .....

...... again, like Bertie's Christmas list, it makes me both shed a tear and smile at the same time.

It's soooooooo full of childhood innocence......

...... with bits and pieces made both this year and in the past .......

...... and things with a special significance like the Wolves monkey .......

...... or given to her by the special people in her life  ...........

..... all very carefully arranged by herself and all treasured, hopefully for many years to come with all their associated memories.

It's impossible to say which memories and what, if any of the small things she will take with her into the future, but the foundation of love and caring that continually surrounds her and Bertie will always be there. 

It breaks my heart that Grandy Andy has never been there to physically hold their hand and hold them so close it hurts ........

......... but I know he is in their very DNA by the things they say and do, and has his gentle hands resting constantly on their shoulders protecting them, keeping them safe and whispering in their ear,  I love you and you can do it ..... and this Christmas, as always, will be very much in our hearts.

Bertie's Christmas List .......

This is Bertie's Christmas list, it moistens my eyes a little and makes me smile every time I read it, it just sums him up perfectly ........

It's the plastic fruit and the salad spinner ............. that's Bertie all over, everything has to do something, I lay bets that when he grows up he will be some sort of engineer or inventor.  

My Festive Shelves

I don't think I have single spare inch of space left on any of my festive shelves in my lounge this year ........

I didn't think I'd added that much since last year, but said shelves appear to tell a very different story.

I've not put my Tesco Advent house out this year as it is in need of some tender repairs, but managed to replace it with some of the Christmas themed frames I have made during the year.

I could have also sworn that I had another of the tall, metal glittery trees from Home Bargains (£5.99), I feel I could do with another one as they give the "displays" a bit of extra height, but have so far have resisted actually going out to another one.

I have added tiny wire lights along the shelves and in domes (balanced on several Poundland faux, mercury glass candle sticks, also for extra height) to give the twinkle factor when the main lights are turned off to make the room cosy.

I really don't think I need to buy much more new stuff, but, if I do come across any old retro/vintage bits and pieces in any charity shop in the coming few weeks, as this is a time they seem to put it all out, I need to donate something back!  Well that's the theory anyway.

I also need to keep these pictures in a safe place to use as a reference for next year to give me some idea when I unpack the boxes once again of what goes where.

My sofa has also had three new additions, as if I don't have enough cushions on it already.  The navy snowflake ones came from Shepherds Bush Poundland, when I stayed with Marc earlier in the month. 

Poundland cushions are usually pretty pants, but these were quite well stuffed for a change and have the potential, if not this year, certainly next, to be zhuzhed up with perhaps a few clear flat backed gems, we shall see.

Fiddle Fart Guest Crafter - Bertie's Framed Works Of Art

Unlike Iris, Bertie isn't naturally drawn to arty activities, unless it's Play Doh .........

....... however over the half term holiday I managed to entice him to the crafting table........

....... with a lot of praise and much oooooooing and ahhhhing, as well as being allowed to use "the very special big boy pens" from Uncle Marc's that even Iris isn't allowed to use, at £19.99 a pack, I nearly passed out when I saw how much they were when researching this post.........

......... he became quite an enthusiastic artist, however creating one masterpiece per day was his absolute limit!

He used the Arteza pens first, they really are proper paint brushes at the end of a pen!

Then he added squiggles and diddles, as we like to call them, over the paint using a black fine liner pen (I am teaching him well!).

....... before finally adding a few sequin stars or spiders, and on the bottom picture, black bead glitter.  

These beautiful works of art will now  be carefully wrapped  and given to special Granny's, Granddads and doting Aunties as Christmas presents. 

The white picture frames came in packs of 3 for £2.99 from B M Bargains.

Christmas Elizabeth Shaw Mint Table Favours

I've made a little pile of Elizabeth Shaw Mint favours for Marc and Iain to help set the festive table at the cottage this Christmas.

My very first Christmas present to Marc was a box of blue, snowman themed favours about seven years ago, before we had even met "in real life"!  We finally got together seven months later in July 2012, when I was in London for the Olympic Games. Andy had died, very suddenly at work, about six weeks earlier, he was only 56 and far too young, and I had decided that life had to go on BUT was too short and precious to put anything off for another day. So I messaged Marc, we arranged a rendez-vous, he bought his friend Stephane (who I also adore) for support and although we'd never exchanged pictures, we recognised each other instantly .....the rest is history and we've been very dear friends ever since. 

But I digress ......Marc still has the front and backs for those original mints, which he puts together each year, with everyone under pain of death not to tear them when they are opened, so this year I decided that he really could do with some more.  As per usual I used my trusty, old plain and scalloped edge Stampin'Up punches which are now showing their age. They are temperamental about the papers they punch, nothing to thick and the edges are not as crisp as they used to be, but hey ho, they still work, and I would be lost without them.

I used foiled Christmas stickers left over from last year (I believe they were from Flying Tiger, but I could be wrong), and simply added a little faux stitching, doodles and clusters of three dots using a black fine liner pen.  The white dots were made using a white, 1.3mm bullet shaped Posca pen.

I then sandwiched the mints between two of the embellished scalloped circles with just a little double sided tape to hold everything together.

Such a simple idea (first seen at a Stampin'Up demonstration at The NEC Hobbycraft Show years and years ago), but such a staple for any time of the year.  I have a few mints left over that I am going to use on my New Years table ..... I just need to see what new yearsy type stickers I have to put on them.  Happy Days!

Blinged Up Poundland Tinsel Wreath

I needed something on the one wall of my festive guest bedroom to replace the two bejeweled mirrors that didn't quite go amongst all the other Christmas frou frou ........

...... and this is what I came up with, a bit in your face, but when can you go sooooo over the top other than Christmas?

I took two Poundland silver tinsel wreaths (£1) and added some small red baubles with either a glitter, smooth or shiny finish to them, removing the gold hanging part and using a glue gun to fix them into place. 

The wreath still looked a little sparse .........

........ so I then added even smaller red baubles with the same finishes to fill the spaces in between.

I'll be honest, I am not entirely sure about them, they are rather garish and not entirely to my taste, however perhaps after Christmas, when the sales are on, I might try to find some other similar sized bauble sets in different colours and see if I can tweak them a little.  If not they might find themselves donated to a charity shop next December, we shall see!

Winged Skeleton

This is an idea not to everyone's taste I know, but it's been an inkling of an idea after I first saw similar projects on Pinterest, however it's been kept on hold for quite a while because actually finding suitable small plastic skeletons for the project has been a huge stumbling block.

A few years back Poundland sold skeletons on strung garlands (from memory, having about 8 skeletons on one). Marc and I did buy a few over the years, but then they disappeared, never to be seen again, along with the nets of skeleton hands that I also loved using. My memory is also that they had movable joints, but here, I think, my memory may be playing tricks (??). Anyway, we've been looking ever since, but the only ones we have found were mostly available in the US with stupidly expensive P &P.

But then ...... when I met up with Marc in Worcester in October he was sooooooo chuffed as he'd managed to find these packs of two in Tesco for £1, and Marc, being Marc, had got me several packs, I was thrilled!  They measure 15cms long.

I'll be honest, with Christmas fast approaching I really didn't think I'd be able to do anything with said skelliebobs until the new year, but then found these glittery wing tree decorations  (2 for £1 in gold, silver) in Poundland.

Now, when I first saw them I wasn't thinking skeletons, instead my mind thought "winged hearts", something like the one below, putting a tin heart that I already had in the middle, but when I got home the hearts were just a little bit too big (.......so still a project for another day) .........

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/679896331/winged-heart-wall-art-ceramic-wall-piece

........ however, all was not entirely lost because when I put a skeleton with one instead the proportions were perfect, my only doubt was that being grey the skeleton disappeared a little into the silver,  if you know what I mean?  Then, while mooching in Home Bargains I saw that they also had winged decorations, not only in gold and silver, but also white, pink and blue and were only 49p each they were a no brainer ......

......... and when I got home the colours were perfect next to the grey ....... which means I now need to go back and get a few more.

I was so excited by this stage that I completely forgot all about Christmas cards etc., I needed to see if the ideas in my head now actually worked on the crafting table.

Wrapping the chains round the bottom of the skeletons legs proved fiddly and needed Super Glue, the kind that not only sticks your project but almost instantly to your fingers.  

The bracelets, fancy jump rings from an old necklace, were a nightmare to open and close, but I got there in the end.

The three necklaces were also sections of thin chain from old jewellery, however they kept disappearing down behind his ribcage, so in the end I had to glue them in position down his front.

I also gave the skeleton a red flat back gem heart and gold, flat back eyes.  

The crown was made using a thin piece of aluminium foil and coloured later with a brown Sharpie pen to give a more aged grungy look.

I then decided the skeleton needed a scepter, made using a skull bead (The Works) and a cocktail stick coloured black.

I can't tell you how thrilled I was with how it all turned out, everything just seemed to come together as I went along..

I prepared the background using a wooden plaque (The Works £1) which I covered with black tissue and some crackle glaze that I have had forever, again to give the illusion of age. 

The plaque was necessary because due to the angle of the skeleton's feet and the weight of the wings he can't stand up alone.

After completing this first idea I have some thoughts ...... to get other projects to stand I need to get some 4mm or 5mm dowel, colouring it to blend in and then either glue it along the spine at the back or inside under the rib-cage. Then I need to think about bases, I have seen some on Pinterest that use a wooden cotton reel for this. Although it wouldn't work with these sort of wings, as they are too heavy, I think it's worth a try.

I also think they would look really good just hanging, it wouldn't take much to put  a small screw eye hook in the top of a skull, and Bob's your uncle!

From what I have read other crafters have been able to change the position of skeletons arms and legs by holding them in very hot water and bending them gently before putting them quickly into ice cold water, however I am thinking heat gun (as in stamping and embossing) ..... I need to try it, and if the skeleton melts a bit, it really could add to an idea!

There's a lot of ideas whirling in my head I need to try out ..... and as I have a good supply of skeletons I guess it's going to be a case of watch this space over the next few months once Christmas and the New Year are over.  Happy Days.