Capybara Birthday Card

My son Tom’s favourite animal is the capybara, it has been for more years than I care to remember, so this year his requested birthday present was a met and greet capybara experience at a nearby family attraction.

 https://www.allthingswild.co.uk/attractions/capybara-experience/

So, it goes without saying that I had to make him a capybara birthday card!

As you can see, there are no great shakes to it, made using a white, 5ins square card blank as the base ………

….. with a random selection of self adhesive, alphabet letters and confetti stars and a scattering of three black dots here and there, made using a fine tipped pen.

The large capybara sticker came from Temu, part of pack of  50, that cost around £1.50 (the prices vary every time you look for anything on Temu, so it pays to shop around before putting anything in your basket).  I trimmed a little of the white edging from around the sticker, before giving it a generous coating of Ranger Glossy Accents to help the cartoon stand out. I also attached adhesive foam pads to the back to add extra dimension.

With 49 stickers left, I also able to make Tom this fridge magnet, using a blank magnet frame, part of a box of 20 or so, found in a charity shop a couple of years back for just £1.99 ……… sooooooo now ……. only 48 stickers to use up!

A Small Festive Fairing In The Making …….

Please will someone tear me away from Temu, I am seriously addicted, but having said that, at least it’s seems to be helping in getting my crafty mojo back. I’ve bought all manner of silicone moulds, paint brushes, powders for using with resin, embellishments, it’s a lot and now, well, I have to use them all!

So, today I have a little heads up for these cute, little treasure chests that I thought would be perfect for either little fairing gifts or as place settings for the Christmas dinner table etc.

I bought a couple of the smaller size, in a gold finish first to see what they were like.  I think they cost me about 70 –75p each, but trust me the prices on Temu are constantly changing, so I always try to find the best deal.  Impressed, I ordered a few more at the same price, but when they arrived they were a bit bigger, but still with bags of potential. However, wanting  a few more of the smaller ones, got my tape measure out and ordered the bronze ones when I couldn’t find any more gold ones at the same price, but they are out there!

The tops are crying out to be embellished by something, when I get round to putting them all together…….

…… but the main reason I like them is that they fit two Ferrero Rocher chocolates, perfect for Iris and Bertie to give as small Dinner Lady fairings, without breaking the bank.

If I put a few together for this Christmas, I think I will line the bottom with a small piece of festive scrapbook paper and add a punched holly leaf or two with flat back, gem red berries on the top.  To be honest, it wouldn’t take much to dress them up for any occassion, I am already think about decorating and filling two for Halloween for you know who!

As for the large ones, there’s plenty of room for a couple of chocolates plus a little something else ……. we shall see. 

Bejewelled Insect Mirror

I have admit to being a little disappointed with this bejewelled insect mirror, as it doesn’t look anything like it did in my head when I first had the idea …….. it’ll do for now ………

……..but it’s too blue, too wishy washy and all the flowers make it far too busy for the insects to really stand out. I think I could have done an awful lot better, if I had unlimited funds to buy the hundreds of insect brooches I think I really needed to pull it off.

I made it to replace the retro, metal framed mirror in my hall where I check my hair before going out!  The 22ins x 14ins  mirror I used as a base cost me just £1 from my favourite Evesham charity shop.  It was absolutely filthy, but it was exactly the right size for the position.

In preparation for the project I ordered what I thought would be too many insect brooches from Temu (not all shown) costing between £1.30 - £1.50 each. It wasn’t enough!  A few broke as I took the pin backs off them, but then it wasn’t to difficult to disguise the fact when I eventually stuck them on the frame.

I started by spraying the mirror gold and then worked from the corners using cabochon flowers and other jewelled bits and pieces from broken bracelets and necklaces and generous dollops of E-6000 glue.

It didn’t take me long to realise as I set things out that the insects were going to be drowned among all the other frippery, but I persevered ………

……. adding the first layer of jewels etc, and then leaving it all to settle overnight  …….

…… before adding the majority of the bugs the next day ………

……. followed by filling in all the little gaps with smaller gems and flowers the following day.

For me, it doesn’t work, however, now it’s hung on the wall I am sure it will grow on me, sometimes you can work too close to something and not see the bigger picture.  However, I have ordered four more ladybirds from Temu and will probably keep on adding another couple to my basket whenever I make up an order (as I am seriously addicted to the site).

I am also thinking that I would like to have another go, on a much smaller scale but using plastic toy bugs instead, that I can spray and embellish with glitter and gems and set out on a much simple background of painted paper clay leaves? We shall see.

I was also hoping to make a few jewelled wreaths for Christmas presents this year, but this mirror has totally wiped me out for flower jewellery, which is really hard to find as it’s been out of fashion for quite a while now, so I guess I’ll have to start trawling the charity shops again to build up a new supply……. happy days!

I Try Temu For The Very First Time.

I said I wouldn’t get sucked into Temu, but after being bombarded by ads I gave up just to see if it was any good, well, I have to admit I am now hooked!

Orders over £10 are free and unbelievably parcels arrived via Evri (not my favourite delivery company admittedly) within a week!

My initial order was mainly for Christmas brooches, with the idea that if my mojo doesn’t return, what else could I find as small fairing gifts from Iris and Bertie to give to their lunchtime supervisors, kitchen staff, Breakfast Club etc. for Christmas instead.

I ordered quite a few, with fingers firmly crossed as these snowmen only cost me 98p each. I can’t believe the quality and how well made they are and most importantly, the pins look like they will definitely not let them down. 

I will then pop a brooch into one of  these 7cm x 5cm, burlap, drawstring bags (£5.99 for 50, which works out at about 12p per bag)  with perhaps a chocolate snowman or two and then get Iris and Bertie to give them out on 1st December so that everyone has one to wear on their school lanyards etc. for Advent and hopefully beyond.  I need to add something to the front of the bags to jolly them up a bit, I’m thinking a wooden Christmas button (?) and when I do, I will post the result on here, on a Monday, at a later date.

Iris is absolutely panda mad at the moment, so I also added these little trinkets to my first haul.  The pocket hug will go in her backpack on her first day back at school and the necklaces put away for those days when she deserves a little treat or put in a cracker at Christmas. The pendants are lovely, the chains aren't the best quality, but more than enough for a little girl to wear.

As a family, our very favourite animal of choice is the capybara, don’t ask me why, but they are always the animal we seek out first when we go to a zoo etc. and spend most time oooooing and ahhhing at. So what can I say? A pack of huge stickers with the potential of adding to cards and tags plus a badge that will be put on a small 4cm x 4cm canvas and easel for Tom, as he is the pottiest about the creatures.

The stickers (including another panda set, not pictured) were ordered to see how big they actually were. To be honest, I didn’t really read the bumf, so was really expecting something of a teeny weeny nature, boy was I surprised, they are mahoosive, as you can see when set beside a pen! I will definitely be ordering more varieties to cover all seasons, because every child I read with, in school on a Wednesday and Thursday is always desperate for  Mrs Geddes sticker!  Well, these have just upped the ante and are well worth reading another couple of pages for!

I was also curious about the quality of Temu’s socks, as the prices seemed ridiculous, so I ordered one of the prettiest but cheapest set I could find.  Again, I am impressed, I thought they would be all “thready” inside, where the colours change and join up, something I’ve caught my toes in, in the past, when wearing other patterned socks, but these are smooth inside, so hopefully, no snagged toe nails. I’m not sure how robust they will be, they seem OK, and I really like them. I have since ordered a pair of a Skeletor design (from He-man, don’t ask) for Tom to see what they are like.

I will also definitely be ordering some more of these small treasure chests, now I have seen them in the flesh as it were, to put a few more “fairing” gifts together. They are a perfect fit for two Ferrero Rocher chocolates.  How cute would they look as a place setting on a festive table.  I may add a few flat back gems here and there, but I love them and will now be perusing the shop shelves of other things to put in them, small bath fizzers, chocolate coins etc.?

I was also interested in the large capacity tote bags, always useful when out and about …….. but were they that big?

Yes, wow they were, folding flat into a wallet type shape!  This one was £2.48 and again I cannot quibble over the quality, which certainly cannot be described as flimsy in any way, so impressed that I have since ordered a few more, a couple for me and the others as stocking fillers. The designs are delicious and cover all sorts themes and interests of the user.

I ordered a few more other bits and pieces which will hopefully feature in the future as part of a crafty idea ……..

…… including these 3.5ins, wooden, bauble shapes (£3.59 for 20) which I am hoping to use as part of this years Monkey Christmas card/fairing, if I can get them to co-operate in an unseasonal festive photoshoot!

My only tip when buying from Temu is shop around for the best price for what it is you want, prices do vary quite a bit and seem to change continually and if there are multiple choices of design and colour, check very carefully that you have ticked the right option.

Anyway, as I have said, I am very impressed. I have a couple more orders to come and I will share anything that I think is particularly good. I have ordered a t-shirt for Iris and Bertie to check their quality, as I have ordered a couple of adult sizes from Ali Express before for Halloween and the material is dire, a cross between nylon and polyester, OK to wear as a joke or for a one off occassion, but not for, how shall I put it, best! 

Bedroom Change Up

Buoyed by my little hall makeover, I then decided to do something with my bedroom, there really wasn’t anything wrong with it, I just wanted more colour as a comfort for the long gloomy months ahead, all the white made it feel fresh, but cold.

So……. I started with the original 60’s/70’s fish eye mirrors above the bed, which were originally painted black when I bought them from a couple of charity shops and Malvern flea, for no more than £4 each. I re-sprayed the middle one yellow and I liked it, so then decided to spray the other two pink. 

However, despite spraying on to a white base ……….

……..the colour came out decidedly purple, compared to the pink on the lid, this might have peed me off if pink is what I had set my heart on, but as purple was also on my colour palette I carried on spraying with gay abandon!

I thought I may have better luck using the same colour on the other silver mirror I had on the side wall, but again it came out very purple, but again I could live with it!

Next, the bit I was dreading, painting behind the bed in a deeper shade of teal to the other three walls, using paint I already had. I HATE painting, no matter how small the space ……..

…..and even though it didn’t look all that different, it still took three good coats to get an even colour!

Not all that much work to be honest, so within a day I was ready to put it all together.  I had already bought plain mustard, purple and teal bedding to give me the option of making a subtle change or two when washing day comes around, taking colours from the £8 crocheted charity shop blanket I beat Marc to when we went shopping a few years back in Worcester, let’s just say, he still hasn’t forgiven me!

The patterned cushion covers came from Temu and cost just just £1.89 each, which I think work with the blanket as a contrast (?)  The cushion inners cost me £3.00 for the two, from my favourite Evesham charity shop.  They came with pristine M & S covers, which I was able to donate back, so win win all round.

On the mirror sconces I hung all the worry beads and dingle dangles I’ve collected over the years from all our various Greek Odysseys. 

The only thing I need to change up now is the lamp (Ikea), another bargain £6 charity shop buy, so it owes me nothing.  I want something a little more exotic, multicoloured and most likely, Moroccan in style, I’ve got one in my Amazon basket, but I’m currently holding out until I go to Coventry and Poole in the next month or so, just in case I stumble across something really different on my charity shop shopping expeditions, fingers crossed!