Seasonal Brooches From Ali Express

A few seasonal brooches today  from Ali Express, some I have bought for Advent presents to wear from the start of December, a small tranklement instead of a Christmas card. The others will probably be framed rather than being worn, to reflect the interests of the people I am giving them to.

This stunning and quite large enamel and rhinestone pumpkin is for me to wear when I am listening to readers in school during October and a little into November, to look a little seasonal, but not obviously Halloweeny, so as not to offend anyone, as it is quite a church orientated school.

These brooches will be among the others Iris and Bertie will give to their non teaching members of staff, lunchtime supervisors etc. in school. What other Christmassy themed presents could you buy at these pocket money prices?

They are really put together well, all stones present and correct which will hopefully last for the month of December at least. The pins, which I always check out first, also seem very robust.

This is my absolute favourite, just look at all the gems and for just £2.03?  This is one will definitely be framed, I just need to source some small, shadow boxes frames (Hobbycraft, The Works?) .

These two dangly brooches are also destined to be framed.

I have no plans for these enamel affect  cats just yet, I just wanted to see the quality, which certainly did not disappoint.

So, that’s my little haul. I particularly like Ali Express for all their kitschy religious bits and pieces, which are hard to find anywhere else at such reasonable prices.  It’s always been on my mind to make a Mexican type shrine/niche and Ali Express would my first port of call for all the little Mary’s, medals, beads etc.

I Discover ………. Iron Orchid Designs – Ginger And Spice

When I last stayed with Marc at the cottage in Worcester, he introduced me to the wonders of Iron Orchid Designs and had me spellbound watching various tutorials on YouTube on ways to use them, I was hooked. 

https://ironorchiddesigns.com/

However, when I got home I put most of the ideas to bed, as they seemed to be more appropriate for furniture type projects I might have liked to have a go at, if it weren’t for the space limitations of The Towers, although mirror frames, boxes and vases are also a few other options of many,  but then, what does he go and do to me ……..

……. only sends me one of their new release, limited edition, Ginger and Spice moulds, knowing how much I love a good old gingerbread man! I was speechless! So, after ordering a bucket of Crayola Model Magic, air dry foam (only because I’ve used it before and liked it)………

……… plus a pack of white Fimo air drying clay for good measure, I spent the next evening watching more tutorials, so I was sure I wouldn’t cock up too much, when I finally had a go myself.

You are supposed to brush a little cornflour into the moulds to help them release easily, but as I didn’t have any. I used talcum powder on this one occassion as I was impatient to get started, it seemed to work ok though.

The mould tell you how much clay you will need to fill each shape and also has a raised edge round each shape, which, when you tidy up round them leaves no straggly bits round the extracted shape. They have thought of everything.

The detail is unbelievable.  The candy canes and wrapped sweets were a bit fiddly due to the shallower depth of the twisted part of the wrapper and the shape of the cane, but I got there in the end, leaving them to dry for a day or so before I was ready to paint them.

https://www.yorkshiresittingpretty.com/collections/iron-orchid-designs

Iron Orchid products are not cheap, the moulds cost around £26.95 each. I’ve added a link above to a UK company that appears to have a good range (including Iron Orchid air dry clay), however I must stress that I haven’t actually purchased anything from them ……. as of yet!

I was going to put everything together to make a wreath, however what I have doesn’t look right, so I think I need to pop into The Works and see if they have anything among their wooden plaques etc. or perhaps I might find a frame or something of a suitable or interesting type nature on my charity shop travels.

Happy days Marc …….. look what you’ve started!

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!