Heads Up – Halloween Hits Home Bargains

Just a couple of things today, I nipped into Home Bargains, and lo and behold they got their Halloween stuff out, now I really don’t need anything, but it would have been rude not to look …….. and yes, I caved in and did make a couple of considered purchases ……..

I mean, how cute is this sweet jar …… for much less than my usual cup of coffee when out and about in town, it had to be mine for just £1.99 and I’m sure I’ll think of something suitable to put in it, jelly spiders etc. when Iris and Bertie come over for their annual Halloween sleepover.

I quite liked these stacked pumpkin ornaments for £2.99, but there is only so much I can store in my small flat, which, let’s be honest, will only be seen/come out for one month of the year, so I think I can manage to resist these, but I thought the price was really good.

I will however l admit to sneaking a little ghost planter into my basket (£1.99) and may have to go back for a mummy one too, they just made me smile   …….. I had two of the pumpkins from last year, so I may as well make up a set!

The Works have some interesting stuff too, however I don’t plan on doing much Halloween crafting this year as I have enough bits and pieces leftover from previous years to give as fairing gifts, so again am seriously resisting …..for now …….

…….. however I did buy some of their false eyeballs (pack of 12 for £1.50)  as I thought they might sell out pretty fast …. but goodness only knows what I’m going to do with them ……….

Revamping The Towers

Although I am not in the mood to make any fiddle farty tranklements at the moment, with the autumn slowly creeping onwards and the dark nights closing in, I wanted to add some pops of colour to The Towers without going to the expense and upheaval of redecorating completely …… so to get me started I thought I would tackle a small part of the hall that was looking decidedly a little lacklustre.

I’ve never really liked the darkness of the clock ……… so decided to spray paint it yellow, but after two cans of bright yellow, it didn’t really work …….

…..the colour added nothing and it just looked even more disjointed than ever, instead bringing everything together with a pop, aghhhhhhhh!

I’d toyed with the idea of Decopatch in the past, but didn’t want the flat to turn into Decopatch Towers, but rather than look for yet another paint colour, I decided to give it a whirl, as I already had all the stuff to do it for free (sort of) sticking to papers that had blue/turquoise in them.

Within the first five minutes I knew it was working and then within an hour and a bit it was done, followed by five/six good coats of quick drying, clear varnish over the next two days.  I am thrilled.

I finally felt like I am getting somewhere in this small area and can’t help but smile every time I look at the clock.

I now need to varnish the shelved unit, I had it chalk painted, but am not impressed, as it has chipped in places.  I am going to go over the chipped areas with the leftover paint and then varnish it with a clear, mat varnish, which might (?) perk up the colour a bit too.

The 10p dark wood, charity shop candlestick is destined to be painted pink and the large £3.99 (Salvation Army) candle stand potentially purple, with a large, trailing plant (?)  I also think it needs to be on a square block to make it a little higher, so I am currently on the look for something suitable, not sure what, but I’ll know it when I see it, for just the right price!

Little Christmas Bottle Tree Decorations

During the summer break I had a long weekend with Marc and Rick at the cottage in Worcester and decided to take a small Christmas project with me to fiddle fart with as we nattered and caught up.

My apologies, as it’s something I’ve done before over the years, but with a huge stash of bottles, bought from The Works a couple of years ago, they really needed to be used up.  I bought the bottles when they cost £1 for a pack of six.  They still stock them, but they are now priced at £1.50 a pack.  They also do boxes of 16 for £3.

https://www.theworks.co.uk/p/make-and-create/glass-craft-bottles---pack-of-6/5052089088245.html

Once settled in Marc’s lounge, I commandeered a small table and the upright chair and got to work, it was all simple, repetitive stuff that I didn’t have to concentrate on.

The cork tops were each given a silver, metal space bead, using B-7000 glue to secure them and then a tiny screw eyed hook by which to hang the decoration from.

When the corks were dry, I added a dangly thing for the inside, using a eye pin (that I cut down to fit) with a pearl bead and small snowflake or wish charm.

When the corks were finished I put either tiny silver or translucent stars or artificial snow into the bottles, depending on the charm used and then sealed the cork in position with a little B-7000 glue, just to be on the safe side.

Round the top of the bottles I wrapped a strong blue thread with either a star, snowman or snowflake charm attached.

I also filled some bottles with the artificial snow and stuck on a tiny “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” label on the front that I had made created and printed off a couple of years ago using Microsoft  Publisher.

When I got home all I had to do was add a silver hanging thread and then pop each bottle in a very small cello bag.

Most of these will be given as a small tranklement instead of a Christmas card later on in the year and as I made so many in a concerted effort to use all the bottles I had, there should be enough left over for Iris and Bertie to drop off as Random Acts of Festive Kindness all along the school run in December.

I think I am going to return to quite a few ideas from crafty Christmas’s past in an effort to use up other bits and pieces I seem to have stock piled …… including the Christmas stable decorations (above) where I might make some minor alterations to alleviate the boredom and potentially add a little more colour…… we shall see.

Still Struggling …….

Well, I am back of sorts, but still not in the mood or inclined to craft, so I have little or nothing scheduled,. Let’s see what happens as time goes by.  I’ll try to post on a Monday, even if it’s just a charity shop haul or heads up for any interesting crafty bits and pieces I spot when I’m out and about,  but if you pop by and there’s nothing there, please accept my apologies ……

So, how did the craft fayre go?  ………. It was dire, it was like most Saturdays this summer, raining cats and dogs and Evesham was a wash out.  There were plenty of people passing by, but hardly anyone popped in and those that did seemed to be family and friends of the other stall holders, of which there were about another eight, with two no shows, which meant I could spread myself out a bit more, but all to no avail. 

The table cost me £10, of which I managed to sell enough things to cover the cost and then if I made another £8 after that I was lucky!  It started at 10.30 and finished at 2.30. I was bored out of my tree and spent more online shopping on Temu than I made in the day. Aghhhhhhh!  

To be honest, I am not sure the venue is in the right place for such an event, despite it being across the road from a busy carpark, people seemed to have their minds set on heading into town. Its just off the high street and without posters etc. a lot of people wouldn’t know it was there

I did get a couple of disparaging remarks about having Christmas things for sale and those people wouldn’t even look at what I had. My prices were really reasonable, mostly 50p and £1, with only the odd thing a little bit more!

I still have a table booked for the end of September, I must be mad! I have doubts, but I will take a lot less stuff, no surplus embellishments etc., just my made craft bits and the odd box of decorations, and yes, it will still be very Christmas orientated. However, anything that is left over after that has already earmarked for this years Random Acts of Christmas Kindness that Iris and Bertie love to drop off  throughout the month of December, just in case I don’t feel inclined to make anything new for them this year.

Well, the world loves a trier!

Still Struggling ........... So I'm Taking A Break

My heartfelt apologies ......... but I have decided to take a break until 4th September, at least, as I still remain without a single iota of inspiration or will to craf, so I have decided not to push it.  

I have my first "Craft Fayre" on 4th August, so I am been busy putting together all my crafty makes leftover from Christmas, Halloween etc. which will take up a small corner of my table, the rest will be filled with all the spare crafty bits and pieces that I know I probably won't use or don't inspire me anymore, along with a cuttlebug, a Tattered Lace Baby Blue, piles of cello bags and envelopes, dies and stamps. There's mountains of it, and I am really being savage in my cull. What doesn't sell this time will be carried on to the September Fayre and then I'll see where I am. I think once I am on the list of regulars I may be able to continue in this vain until I have cleared all I want to clear.

With the exception of the few larger items, I am going to keep prices low to either 50p or £1 (easy to add up and give change) appealing to fellow crafts who like a bargain and children with a bit of pocket money to spend.

I found a white double sheet in a local charity shop (£3.50) to cover my table and have ordered a hundred stripey paper bags, so I am pretty much set.

I have to admit that just seeing the sheer volume of stuff I no longer want has been overwhelming, to be honest at the moment it all feels more of  a burden rather than the wonderful treasure it once was, if that makes sense?  

However, I still have Halloween, Christmas and New Year in mind, hoping that, while giving myself a proper break, I'll begin to start putting a few ideas together for my usual random acts of crafty kindness, plus all my festive fairings for family, friends and school, so if I do put anything together over the next few weeks, I'll schedule them from September, so that I already have a bank of ideas to hopefully re-start my regular posts ...... we shall see. In the meantime have a very, very brilliant summer.  

A Bit Of This and That ……… Time For A Cull

Well, woo hoo, I managed to put together enough posts to cover the week before, during and after my 10 days soaking up the Greek sun, of which, perhaps, I may post a few photos in the next week or so.

However, before I went away, I found 28 of these 6.5cms, metal, pastry tins in the local Salvation Army charity shop for just £1.99.  Now, although I may not be crafting a lot at the moment, these were still a no brainer.  I’m already thinking a Christmas wreath using old, wooden Christmas figures and novelties to create simple scenes inside them and then Marc suggested a Day of the Dead theme, using sugar skulls and skeletons etc.  Hopefully there will be enough to make both, when I can get down to it.

You know I love a good bargain, BUT, I also need to have a very drastic craft stash declutter, having already booked two, local craft fairs in August and September in preparation. I don’t intend on making anything for either fair, as I already have a few bits and pieces left over from last Christmas and Halloween, no, my main aim is to try and sell all the surplus stuff I have accumulated, at a time when others may be thinking about getting their seasonal crafting under way!

My craft room, as it is, is overwhelming me, if you know what I mean. I never intended for the shelves above the bed settee to be full or any available free surface topped with even more boxes and bits! Aghhhh!   I have a few ideas for this coming Christmas and will keep what I think I will need to the side, but in selling the stuff that I have got bored of or am uninspired by, I can hopefully recoup a little money to put towards the trip to the USA that Lu and I are planning for 2024.

I also lost my brother-in-law towards the end of May and seeing the mountains of “stuff” that had to be got rid of before the keys to his bungalow had to be handed back was again overwhelming and I vowed there and then (not that I have any plans to bail ship just yet) not to leave anything like that for my own family to sort out.  So, a real, good chuck is required, in the craft room and beyond, I mean how many mugs does one woman need? If I crafted 24 hours a day for the next 100 years, I would still have enough left over to do another 100 years!    A merciless cull is required.  I’ll let you know how I get on after my first fair,  happy days????

This Girl Is On Fire Birthday Frame

Just a really quick birthday frame for Iris’s 9th birthday, I know, where have those years gone?

There’s not a lot to it.  I took one of the bathroom, shadow type frames I got from Poundland years ago now.  I remember seeing their potential and buying them in bulk, some in one of their sales for just 25p each. I still have a few left, so you’ll probably be seeing them again. sometime in the future.  The wooden letters came from The Works, again a while back now.

I started by taking the back off the frame and covering the front with a scrap of shimmery navy coloured card.

I then centred the letters as best as I could, before gluing them in place using B-7000 glue for a secure fix.

……. followed by various confetti stars and clusters of three white dots using a white paint pen to help fill in the gaps and bring the whole thing together …….

…….. before gluing refitting the back, again using B-7000. 

If I were to repeat the idea, I think I would use lots of different coloured, ultra fine glitter to cover all the letters as the idea could very easily take on some extra bling and sparkle.

Ballerina Frame

Iris was in a dancing show the other week and I wanted to give her something special from Nanny to remember the day by.

There was really nothing to it, but let’s just say it’s keeping Fiddle Fart going while I go through this creatively limbo! 

The ballerina brooch you might recognise from Lu’s and my trip to Malvern Flea and Antique Fair (£1) a week or so ago.

In order for the ballerina to lie flat in the frame I had to take the pin fitting off the brooch, it was soooooooo flipping hard, it just didn’t want to give up its position and I really didn’t want to break off an arm or leg in the process, I finally manged it, although a stone, quickly glued back in, did come out, doh!

The small, white, plastic picture frame cost me 50p from a local charity shop, took on a whole new look after it had been sprayed gold, once the back and glass had been removed.

When the frame was dry, I simply glued a piece of black card onto the back and then closed up the case (I didn’t use the glass again), putting the ballerina slap bang in the centre, fixing securely with E6000 glue.  The final touches were made using the tiny, gold stars.  Sorry, about the glue marks, luckily Iris didn’t notice them, but as you can see my crafting is a bit off!

Iris loved it ….. after the show, she said, with stars in her eyes, that she wanted to dance just like “the big girls” when she was older, she is such a determined young lady, I think she just might!