New Years Tut Part 2

 Just a few more bits of Tut today ......

My Brother In Law is a bit of an artist, so  I have taken three pictures from his website and turned them into this set of badges.

I’ve made my mum two brooches using wooden laser cut embellishments with a broach pin glued on the back.

The “dinosaur fossil” above  was my son Tom’s Christmas Pillow Present.  It was embedded in a piece of “rock” and Tom had to chisel it out, giving him hours minutes of festive fun!  I thought that it could have been easily lost or cast aside in the tidying up after Christmas, so I rescued it,  with the idea of making a Bind It All notebook and using the fossil as an embellishment, making a more lasting reminder of our Christmas night! The fossil kit cost me 25p, the newsagent across the road takes all the free gifts off the magazines and sells them for 30p each or 4 for £1, it’s a little box of treasures and I usually pop in once a week to see what’s new in it.

And finally, I have made everyone New Year sweetie bags using Milky Way Magic Stars

On the front they say, “Wish Upon A New Years Star”
It’s all quite exhausting ….. all this thinking!!

New Years Tut 2010

Last year, when I posted this idea, several people said that they were going to start this tradition in their own families too, I’d love to know if they have……

I’ve knitted a lovely messy/rough looking scarf for Lucy.  Last year I knit her a lovely mohair one, which she washed and shrank to an inch of it’s life ….. but nothing lost, as I have now used it to make felted flowers with my Tim Holtz Tattered Floral die.

This is a family tradition going back to the days when my daughter Lucy was young and said she didn’t really enjoy bringing in the New Year, as nothing really happened, so we came up with the idea of everyone busying themselves in the days after Christmas making New Years Tut…….

 

I’ve also altered an old set of jewellery drawers for Lucy, that cost me 20p from a car boot sale (which I will post in the next day or so)

We call it Tut because that’s what everyone usually does  when they open their parcels!!!

After Boxing Day we all start scurrying around and being VERY secretive as we start  making little presents for all those we will be seeing or thinking of as we see the New Year in. 

On New Years Eve afternoon I will make my Father in Law a bread and butter pudding that he can slice up and eat cold …… instead of layering the bread, you mash it all up to a cake like consistency and sprinkle with sugar, Nom, nom, nom!

It’s funny, but I can remember most of my tuts from years ago vividly, like my Derek Acorah night shirt, made by Lucy, or the bananas and custard with chocolate buttons on the top made for supper by my son Tom, a frozen shepherds pie from my Brother in Law and a simple jigsaw of Jose Murino in a jar from my sons girlfriend …….. oh how I tutted!

My brother is Lego mad, so when I found these Lego sweets in amongst the “pick n mix” I just had to have them.  I’ve made the box using my box scoreboard and then found pictures of the Lego logo and bricks on the internet to decorate it.

I’m not really sure who this gift is for, I think I may keep it for myself ….. it’s a string jar, all I’ve done is drill a small hole in the lid of a squat coffee jar and then squeeze quite a fat ball of string into it. Aye Walla!!  I had wanted to embellish it with my ceramic pens, but the effect was a bit too opaque and so didn’t show up too well.  I could add stickers I suppose, but I think I’ll leave it plain for the moment.

More Tut to follow tomorrow ……

Button Covered Notice Board

Sorry about the wet glue, I am always a bit too eager to get things photographed.

I have too many buttons and have decided that I must use them ......  most of these came from the craft section of Home Bargains, for no more than £1 a bag.

All I have done is cover the frame of a Poundland notice board with them using a strong PVA glue.

When I had covered the frame once I added a few more buttons on top to give it a bit more depth.  I think I will keep the board somewhere safe and use it as one of my Christmas/New Year makes.

Happy New Year – It’s 2010!

Our Family New Year’s Makes ……
Look what I had …….
 
My lovely sister Jan decorated our lounge for Christmas  with paperchains, all hand punched beautifully with holly as one of her makes and she also made these post-it-note holders for my husband and I. I am thrilled with mine.

 

My husband made us all pocket sundials, how brilliant are they?

My daughter Lucy made me a box of chocolates that said Happy New Year, but some of the icing fell off on the way home, but still very scrummy.

She also made some chocolate dipping sticks, yum,yum, yum!


My brother in law made cottage pies for everyone …..

…… and Granddad Colin made us all pots of crocuses

What a brilliant way to start 2010 !

New Year’s Family Tradition

SORRY THIS IS A LONG ONE ………….

It’s a family tradition that we busy ourselves in the days after Christmas making small gifts for the people we will be seeing the New Year in with, which is usually very close family, so it’s not too daunting a task.  It all came about 10 years ago when my daughter Lucy, then a teenager,  declared that she didn’t like New Year, as it was an anti-climax and boring.
The planning and plotting starts after Boxing Day (sometimes before)….. in some ways it’s even more exciting and thought provoking than Christmas Day
Featured in this post are the gifts I have made, some ideas you may have seen before  ….. I just hope no one in the family peeps at it before the event…..

I made this bag for Laura (my sons girlfriend) using a Hobbycraft cotton bag, decorated with felt flowers (Sizzix die on BigShot) and button centres.

I knit this scarf for Lucy using two balls of mohair wool that I got from a car boot sale, the massive  button  came from a brilliant button shop in one of the beautiful old arcades in Cardiff.

My sister’s bag is a bit of a cheat as I  got it from Vistaprint as a freebie (you just pay P & P).  All  I did was choose the text – my sister is the world’s best shopper , she never gives up until her quarry is in her bag!  I have added flat back pearl stars, because she is a star and three red jingle bells  on  the handle so that people can hear her coming and get out of her way!!!!!

Lucy and Laura are also going to get a fridge magnet calendar and set of pegs each.

Tom, my son will be getting  a fridge magnet post-it note holder and pen.  A beer mat makes the base.  I have added a very thin piece of magnetic tape to the pen and clip so that the pen stays in place.  I have embellished it with transparent footprint stickers as identifying shoeprints is part of his job.  The magnetic clips were a bargain.  I saw the exact same pack  of 4 in a posh  shop in Manchester at over £5, these were from Home Bargains– 79p – result!

I have recovered a Poundland tin moneybox for my Father In Law and decorated it with odd self adhesive letters to say “Colin’s Pennies”  and gold stars.

This is my husbands gift, a magnetic post-it note holder and  calendar to hang on his filing cabinet.   The self adhesive tiles are from a pack of fishing embellishments I have had for ages that resemble the scales on fish.

This artist palette post-it-note holder is for my Brother In Law’s desk – he is at Uni doing Art.  The palette was from Poundworld and also came with several paintbrushes, two of which I have glued on.  The circles of paint are bazzill paper, cut using a large circle punch.

I am quite impressed with the palette and may get a couple more to use for other ideas.

I’m not sure if this counts, but I treated myself to a beautiful notebook to jot my ideas down and stick pictures of things that inspire me during the year, and I could not resist gluing some beautiful (and quite expensive) flat backed jewels on for extra bling. The picture doesn’t really do it justice!
If it isn’t being to presumptuous, tomorrow, I hope to show you the things that have been made for me.