Mums Monkey Seasonal Offering 2023

For Christmas 2023 I decided to make some tree decorations instead of my usual Monkey cards, something a bit more lasting.

I started off with a photoshoot with The Boyz, creating a sheet of the chosen photo, specifically sized to fit the baubles, using my ancient copy of Publisher 2003.

The pictures were then cut out and laminated to help give them extra durability.

The large, wooden baubles came from Temu (diameter 3.5ins, overall height approx. 4ins), which cost £4.98 for 20 (25p each).

I painted the body of the baubles on both sides using a red Wilko emulsion match pot, before varnishing both sides again with Wilko clear, gloss, fast drying varnish (both now sadly unavailable due to the recent demise of Wilko.

I originally coloured the caps with a gold marker pen, but for some reason, best known to myself, I then covered over with Dovecraft gold, pearl effects paint instead, probably to add extra texture (?) ……. hmmmmmm.

Then, the pictures didn’t look quite right cut in a circle ………

…….. so I cut out the background and then mat and layered the resulting pieces on gold mirror card to help them stand out a bit more, that looked much better.

I then got a little involved in the rest of “the doings” and forgot to take many more photos! However, the fur on the hats was given the Dovecraft’s 3D Enamel Effect treatment, with a generous sprinkling of ultra fine, translucent glitter for good measure.

To fill in the space at the top of the bauble I painted some wooden sentiments (The Works) before sticking them down securely with E6000 glue.

Around the edges of the front and back I added faux stitching using a white acrylic pen.

With all this done, it was time to finally add the pictures, using foam pads on the back to add a little more dimension.

It still looked a little flat, so I added tiny gold stars and clusters of three white dots ……..

……… which really lifted and bought everything together, especially after adding a small white pom-pom on the end of each monkey’s hat.

I’m pretty pleased with them, but, if I could change anything, it would be the caps, I should have left them as they were with the gold pen and simply adding glossy accents over the top for a smoother, more professional finish, oh well, a lesson for next time I guess!

Funny Christmas Card

I LOVE this card, spotted in a shop in Christchurch, near Bournemouth ……

…….. sounds a little too familiar!

Santa Sleigh Favours

Another idea I have used before, but I thought I would post them again …….

……… seeing as I managed to snaffle a few packs on the sleighs in The Works January sale this year for just 25p a pack.  I am not sure if they are currently available, but  I think originally they were £1 for a pack of two.

I was also able to find the M & S Italian Chocolate Assortment again, which were a perfect size to act as Santa’s sack on the sleigh.  The chocolate Santas came from Home Bargains, costing, I believe, 79p for a net of 12.

I simply stuck the wrapped chocolate onto the sleigh using a double sided, adhesive, foam pad and then the same again sticking the Santa to the sack.

The silver bows with a tiny bell attached were a present from my dear friend Diane. These were attached to the back of the chocolate with the tiniest amount of glue gun glue as I didn’t want to risk melting any of the chocolate.

So simple, but such a cute little favour to pop into my neighbours mail boxes in December instead of a Christmas card …….. happy days!

Iron Orchid Ginger and Spice Mould Christmas Frame

Aghhhhhhhhhh, I just knew I would come unstuck with this idea, following on from my post of 25th September featuring the Iron Orchid Ginger and Spice mould Marc sent me a while back …… BUT, I think I got there in the end!

I’d given the characters ample time to dry completely, so I couldn’t put off painting them any longer, especially as I’d also treated myself to two new sets of pointed tip paintbrushes from Temu (a posh set for £2.66 and a cheaper one for £1.79), to see what the difference was, in the end, there was very little, but I think I prefer the more expensive ones.

My choice of paint, Wilko emulsion tester pots, was perhaps not the wisest, using acrylics may possibly have been better?

The characters came out awfully dark and even though I was in full blown Christmas mode, I wasn’t really sure about the red and green either …….

……. especially when teamed up with the 33p picture frame I found in a charity shop that I thought would be perfect for the idea …….

……. but again, at this stage it also came over as too dark. Sooooooooo, I put a new background paper in and painted the frame gold.

However, I was still not feeling it! I hated the green and red (red and green should never be seen?), despite gently rubbing the paint to get a more faded and subtler effect, but I felt I had invested too much time to simply chuck it all in the bin and start again.

Yet, despite loathing the green, what did I go and do, only painted the wooden letters green as well, in an effort to try and draw things together?

There followed far too much fiddle fart, before deciding, rather than being an all year round decoration/picture, I should instead “embrace” more Christmas, by going the whole hog, adding wooden snowflakes (Temu, £2.48 for 50) in an effort, this time, to draw the attention away from all the “dreaded” red and green.  The letters were duly Glossy Accented and that is how I left things overnight, still not convinced, this wasn’t an absolute pigs ear!

By the morning it was all change, again everything was wrong, the “home sweet home” didn’t say Christmas, it was all so flat, where was the magic?

The original fabric background was resurrected, with slopes of white glitter card stuck along the bottom to form a basic snow scene.

A new set of letters were painted white and glittered, as were the snowflakes.  A long forgotten gingerbread house was rediscovered, as were some small Christmas trees.  It was finally coming together.

With everything in position, I then set about carefully lifting each piece, one at a time, to glue down exactly where they had been placed. 

When I saw the end result, after all the fuss and bother, I was pretty relieved.  I liked it. It is on the “busy” side, but that’s Christmas for you and I’m not 100% about the bead noses, but again that’s working up close to a project over a period of  long time, from a distance they work.

All it needed then were my signature clusters of three white dots and a sprinkling of confetti snowflakes ………

……… only to then discover that I’d been working with the frame upside down, with the hanger fastenings at the bottom, but nothing that wasn’t easily sorted, duh!

The frame will now be carefully wrapped and given to Marc as an Advent  present for 1st December  ……. after all, it was him who started it all!  Happy, if at times, frustrating days!