Thank You Paula …… Halloween Just Got Even Better

Oh my goodness …….

…….. there was me thinking that I’d got everything all  ready for a wonderful Halloween half term with Iris and Bertie ………

……. but, on the first morning of our celebrations…….

…… Rob our lovely Postman, said he’d got a large package in his van for me  and proceeded to bring over a mahooooosive and totally unexpected parcel ……..

……. containing the most magical Halloween door wreath I have ever seen, from Paula, one of my lovely blogger friends from Plymouth, I was speechless.

The colours really seem to glow and as for the witch!  Let’s just say, what I already had on my front door was unceremoniously removed and swiftly and suitably replaced.  It’s so gorgeous I think it will probably remain where it is now until on 1st December, my old Christmas toy one, in turn, takes it’s place.

Also in the parcel were three, paint it yourself Halloween squishies for Iris, Bertie and myself (or, the Monkeys, perhaps) to decorate over the holidays, of them more later, once adorned!

It was such a lovely surprise and a real treasure to be enjoyed for many, many years to come.  Thank you so much Paula, you really did make our Halloween special!

4ins x 4ins School Christmas Cards

I thought I would get an early start on my school Christmas cards, as I need at least 60 to send myself, one each for all the children I listen to read each week and then the same again for Iris and Bertie to give to their friends for Christmas too.

The cards all measure 4ins square, made using packs of card blanks bought from The Range (I think, but don’t quote me) last year as the base ……….

…… and embellished with adhesive, foam based, card stickers from Home Bargains, again last year, for something silly like 79p for a pack of at least 40/50 stickers, that I was keen to get used up.

The centre panels measure approximately 2.75ins square, made using scraps of small print, Christmas scrapbook paper with a white glitter card along the bottom to create a basic background scene to then add the stickers to. I  mat and layered these squares on silver or gold mirror card.

It seems like an age since my craft table was this laden with so many bits and pieces, however, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too precious about the scenes, I just wanted them to look balanced and the characters and other objects in them to appear in some way connected.  The floor, as you can see, was my drying area!

This batch turned out pretty OK, all were slightly different to accommodate the mix and match of the slightly proud stickers.

Then came all the fiddle fart ………

……. the faux stitching and clusters of three black dots made using a fine tipped pen, plus the odd white spot too  …….

…….. followed by tiny, fimo, nail art, peppermint sweets, red flat back pearls for holly berries …….

….. flat back red noses and black eyes, buttons, candy canes, stars and tiny fimo snowflakes, you name it, they are all there ……… and more.

There are so many cards, done over a couple of  few weeks, there will be a couple more posts to follow, to show all the combinations. It felt so satisfying to have them under my belt so early on in the run up to Christmas …… now, I guess, I need to get them all written, but perhaps not just yet, I need time to recover!

Adding A Little More Colour To The Towers

As I’ve mentioned before, with autumn closing in and winter on the horizon, I wanted to add a little more colour to my flat to compensate for the cold, dull days ahead, so here’s a couple of other things I’ve done, most worked out, but the judges are still out on this first one ………

The large, metal and glass candle holder was originally gold when I found it in the Salvation Army shop in Evesham for just £3.99, but just doesn’t work where I meant it to go next to my nik-nak shelves/cupboard. It’s not the colours, it’s the proportion and as a result adds nothing to this area of the hall, so it’s currently in the bathroom, waiting for a new position/home, which sadly might be back at the charity shop, unless it would work on some sort of plinth type base ……… if I can find anything suitable? Hmmmmmmm

However, I think dying my 6, off white, dining chair covers (from Ikea and now sadly discontinued) purple definitely worked.  I used Dylon, machine wash,  Orchid Pink dye, which was so easy to use and the results exactly the depth colour I wanted.

I still have a complete set of the beige suede effect covers (on the left)  plus two extra, and four unused off white ones, as I bought spares of each, in case of accidents or them being discontinued! So, I still have the option of dying the white ones in mix and match colours if the mood so takes me.  The purple, it has to be said, is so much more practical now with little ones about and helps lift the mood of the room.

I’ve also painted a few old, dark wood candlesticks (from charity shops 10p to 50p) in my now signature colours, using Wilko match pots. Sadly, as we all know, Wilko is no more, so goodness only knows where I’m going to get my sample paints now, as their range of colours was basic, but fitted so many small projects.

I gave the candlesticks two coats of the Wilko emulsion and then 2/3 coats of clear, gloss, quick dry varnish, again from Wilko. This varnish has served me for years now, so again I’m not sure where I’m going to source a product that is anywhere near as good.

The little “brass” mouse came from Temu and cost £1.48, he’d just so perfect for the bottom of a candle stick!

Simple Halloween Pumpkin Badges

This is my one and only offering for Halloween, I’m just not feeling it this year ………

……. small, pumpkin pin badges!

The wooden shapes came from Temu and cost £2.48 for 50, which isn't too a bad deal.

As I wanted the faces to be black, I cut small discs from a sheet of black, self adhesive vinyl and stuck them on the back of each pumpkin.

Then, to make them look a little more professional I gave the fronts a layer of Ranger Glossy Accents, where it didn’t really matter if some dribbled into the holes.

I wasn’t sure about adding the lines, using a black, fine tipped, permanent  pen, so stopped after the first one. I thought the plain one looked more friendly for little ones, if you know what I mean?

When the fronts were completely dry, I was able to attach the butterfly clasp pins on the back using E6000, for a really secure fix.

The paper leaves also came from Temu, costing £1.68 for 15 assorted leaves and sizes, I wasn’t overly impressed when they arrived, they seemed a little expensive ………

….. but admittedly, in this instance, perfect for presenting the pumpkin badges on.

As I have quite a few other wooden shapes and butterfly clips in amongst my stash that need using up, I think I may repeat this idea to either give on the first day of Advent or as Random Acts of Christmas Kindness for Iris and Bertie to deliver, as is their tradition, on the way home from school throughout December.

I Do A No Show ......

I was asked in a comment from Di how I got on at my second, local, craft fair in September .... my apologies, I forgot to post to say that in the end I pulled out, but giving the organiser plenty of time to fill my table, if they had anyone champing at the bit on their waiting list.

After the first one, the more I thought about it, the more I knew I really didn't have the get up and go to gather all my bits together again to man a table, for little, if any, return.  The venue is in a side street, all be it across the road from a car park, but people just walked by heading into town and then if anyone did venture in I got a few remarks saying that it was too early for Christmas! It was soul destroying,

However, thank goodness I hadn't gone overboard, making anything especially for the fair,  I was simply selling stuff left over from last years festive crafting, e.g snowman in walnut shells etc. So, I've sorted everything out and instead of having to make a whole pile of new fairing gifts (to give in place of a Christmas card) this year, I'm going to put a couple of these bits together, along with one of the tiny Christmas bottle decorations I made when I stayed with Marc in the summer ...... and if there's still some spare, I will give them to Iris and Bertie for their traditional "Random Acts of Christmas Kindness" to drop off on the way home from school throughout December ........ so though initially disappointed, it's now a win, win situation, because in return I've gained untold hours of not having to craft quite as much as I would normally do at this time of year, happy days!

Refreshed Photo Frame

I have a BIG thing at the moment for ornate gold picture or photos frames and I don’t have a clue where it’s come from, I seem to be going from being a minimalist to a maximalist in my old age!

This is what started it, (above) I couldn’t resist the cherubs as the feet.  It’s not that heavy and cost me just £1 from my favourite Evesham charity shop, well anything that costs less than a pot of tea for one has to be a bargain.

Then a few weeks later I found this monstrosity in the same shop, again for just £1, but this one weighs a ton.  I think it’s made of resin.  I’m not sure if someone had already had a dabble with it with some cream paint, but whatever, it was awful but with potential ………

…….. nothing that a couple of coats of DecoArt Glorious Gold, metallic, acrylic paint couldn’t fix!

The painting was actually a lot more fiddly than I first anticipated, I kept on missing hidden, hard to get a paintbrush into crevices, but I got there in the end.

Ta dah ……..It’s absolutely gorgeous now, like something King Charles would have gracing his photo table,  I just need to find a picture to put in it ……

….. and I think it wouldn’t hurt to paint the back now too as it’s a bit of a mess,  even if no one will actually see it.