Upcycled, Faux Ceramic Mirror

I’ve had this mirror in my shower room for a few years now, but it wasn’t really doing anything for me, it was dull, uninspiring and just plain boring!

I think it may have been originally gold in colour before I bought it, but it was tarnished and I’d already spray painted it silver …… but it still didn’t really work where I’d put it, soooooooooo ………

I took it apart ……..

…….. painted it white and then roughly patched it, leaving white gaps, with part of a sheet of the decopatch paper below, (Ref C6290 – blue and white floral ceramic pattern paper) using Matt Modge Podge to glue it down.

It didn’t take that long.  I wanted it to look like a broken blue and white patterned plate cobbled together again to make something new, if that makes sense?

Then followed about 7/8 coats, perhaps more, using Wickes quick drying, clear, glossy varnish, in place of my beloved Wilko varnish ……….

………I’d say the results were as good as Wilkos.

I am really, really pleased with how it’s turned out ……..it was tempting to add a cabouchon flower or two or a few scattered pearls, but I resisted, telling myself, less is more.

However, I do wonder how a little crackle glaze might look?

Making Memories And Random Acts Of Christmas Kindness …

The run up to Christmas, as to be expected, was hectic and busy and in the end I just ran out of time to post everything, so before I launch into my 2024 crafting posts, I thought I’d go back a week or so to the things I did with Iris and Bertie on the way home from school, before school broke up …….

At the very the start of December we again decorated one of the bare trees on the school drive  …….

…… using a few peg decorations I made back in 2022, plus others from last year and then a few more gathered this year from the 10 for £1 baskets in the local charity shops.

Hopefully, memories were made for Iris and Bertie to take into their futures and share, who knows, with their own children and maybe even grandchildren.

Then, in the weeks leading up to the end of term, they dropped off various Christmas tranklements that I’d made and had leftover over the years to randomly drop off on peoples doorsteps along the way.

They both made me really smile as they tried to dodge being caught on the various ring doorbells looking like characters out of a Mission Impossible film, bless them!

And then, on the last day, I realised that this was indeed a memory to save and cherish, as it will be probably be the last time we will do it again at Christmas, because in September Iris will be moving up to “big school”, when school run duties could be quite different, me not being able to collect two children at the same time and no doubt Iris will want to be a more independent and grown up.   

I know they have to grow up, but I’m not sure I’m quite ready yet …… so I am going to ensure that all the school runs from January, right to the end of July are as happy and magical as I can, every second  with these two, as they continue to grow, is sooooooooooo precious, I can’t afford to waste any of it.

A Very Happy Christmas And New Year ..........

With a week to go .......  may I wish you all a very Happy Christmas & 2024.

I'm taking a week off or so, to just sit back and relax but will be back on Monday 1st Januray 2024, with, hopefully, some new ideas for 2024. The past six months or so have been an up hill struggle to keep things going, as I've just had no mojo or inspirartion, I have just about managed to cobble a few ideas together to limp to the end of the year.

That being said, at the beginning of November I started to give my craft room a really good sorting out, it's taken till now, on and off to do. A lot of stuff went to a local Guide Group, school and various local charity shops and to be honest I think there's still a lot more that could go, however I'm holding back for now, but then, what hasn't been looked at or touched by November 2024 will probably go the same way.

Temu may turn out to be my 2024 crafting saviour though, because in the run up to Christmas, I spent far too much time watching crafty haul videos on YouTube and then, of course, out came my phone ........ that's the reason why I am starting 2024 without said app, it's just too tempting.  I now need to get cracking using all the things that were delivered in Temu's distinctive grey bags with the orange logo, before I do anything else, no matter what I see in the shops in the January sales etc. If I didn't buy something when I first saw it, then I certainly don't need it now. 

It's a lesson learned, I went mad in the aisles in The Works and Hobbycraft in the January 2023 sales, but have I done anything with most of it yet? Have I heck as like! However, in this current very positive frame of mind they and all the Temu stuff WILL be used first, even if I do end up posting Christmas in January ....... otherwise, I'll have just thrown my money away!

See you on the other side ………..

School Christmas Cards

As promised, today I present the end results of the Christmas cards I made with one of the Year 2 classes (6 – 7 years old) that  I listen to read on a Thursday ……..

…….. needless to say, they all hit it right out of the park ………

…….. and beyond!

I think they all really enjoyed being able to choose their own component backgrounds, noses, hats and eyes ………..

…… which already made them quite individual, but when they added their own unique doodled ears and antlers the reindeer’s personalities came through  ……

……. and then, one little one went off piste and added a mouth, which I hadn’t originally done on the example, which I now regret, because the mouth really did make them! However, once the others saw what she had done, the trend followed suite and I daresay a few more will be added to those without when they all write and stick in the inserts.

I love them all.  It was a joy to do, but made me realise how out of practise I am working with a group of little ones, I was mentally and physically exhausted by the time I got home!

The Legend Of The Christmas Spider

How come I’ve completely let this story pass me by? 

Copyright Jai Moore Designs

However, enchanted and inspired, I have a spooky sort of feeling that this might just be one of my first projects for 2024. Sorry, sorry, sorry …. I know we haven’t even done this year yet, but after all these barren months, I am really praying it could be the start of getting my mojo back!

I’ve already got a few ideas, it’s something I think I could really run with …… however, saying that, I’ve had these wooden, pickle shapes stashed away for a couple of years now, so perhaps I really should start with them first?!?!

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!