Heads Up For Early Christmas Crafty Bits

While I was in Swindon for the weekend I popped into Primark to stock up on my reading glasses as they really are the best, (well, for me anyway) and at between £1 and £3 it doesn’t really matter if I lose the odd pair now and again, as I invariably do, as I tend to wear them on the top of my head most of the time!

But, I also noticed that they already have their knitted gloves in, which are a staple for making my snowman chocolate bars, using the rolled up fingers as hats.

At £1 for two pairs it’s a no brainer, that’s 20 snowman hats!!!  The colours, I admit aren't brilliant, they also had pink and beige, but perhaps other colours will be available in other stores as the cold weather hastens, but a button or sprig of holly will soon brighten them up.

The Works do have tiny knitted bobble hats in stock, I bought one pack to play with, but they are £1 for just two.

Also from Primark, a card of 8 bracelets/anklets for £2, working out at just 25p each (other sets/designs available), but separated and used individually these could be put in crackers, table favours, Advent Calendar drawers or even in a small clear bauble on the Christmas Tree.   Just a thoughts and heads up!

The Possibility of More Mice In Walnut Shells (Below) ...........

At the moment the only mice in a walnut shells I have are the three below and they are reserved for Iris.  However, due to their reception, I am now currently looking for some similar and more reasonably priced mice, in, hopefully, a larger quantity .......I may have to "look" at China to find them.  I am also waiting for the festive walnuts to hit the shops ...... if the mouse search proves to be successful, Rebecca I will get in touch, if you could perhaps drop me your e-mail sometime, but no firm promises that any more will be available.

Little Mouse Walnut Shell Christmas Tree Decorations

I had Iris in mind when I was making these little pink mouse Christmas tree decorations .  The mice are from Dress It Up and so weren’t cheap. I made six ornaments in all (using two packets) and I will probably try to sell a couple, but at present I am not sure how much to charge, £1.25/£1.50?

After halving and cleaning out the walnuts I decided to experiment by baking the white fimo base in the shell, not being sure if it would stick or drop out the minute they came out of the oven, it stuck, woo hoo, win, win!

Before baking I made an impression of the mouse’s bottom (oooo-wer matron) in the fimo to help the mouse fit in the “snow” snuggly.

Once baked I covered the fimo in a light dusting of ultra fine white glitter to give the shell a more Christmassy feel, and disguise any less than white marks my grubby mitts may have left!

I also experimented with a tiny eye screw by which to hang the decoration.  The shell was too tough to just screw in directly, so I drilled a hole and then applied a little E6000 glue to the end of the screw to give a real secure fix.

The last thing to do was fit in the mouse, she went in perfectly!  I am so chuffed with how well they have worked out, though nothing was complicated, just fiddly due to the size.

I would make more, but at £2.99 for a pack of three, plus cheese and flowers, that I didn’t use, they are a touch too expensive for my Poundshop ways, but I am now on the look out for similar but more economical embellishments.

Change In Post Schedules And A Quick Catch Up

I think I am going to start posting every three days rather than every other day at present for a little while, if that’s alright.

The ideas are all still flowing, there is a long list sitting next to me at the moment, but having fun and going away for long weekends is the enemy I am afraid …….

This weekend I am in Swindon meeting, for the first time, Di and Mrs A who adopted monkeys, Hank, Marvin and Norman way back in 2011!  We have always kept in touch via e-mail, blog comments and Christmas cards, but had never even spoken in real life until Wednesday evening. It’s all quite exciting, like a big grown up sleepover with midnight feasts planned, goodness knows what the cleaners will make of three separate rooms, all with monkeys inhabiting them! I promise a post when I get back.

Also planned amongst other weekends, I am off on Sun holiday to Devon with Lu and Iris and a long weekend in Bude with my Auntie Beth, where I am hoping to avail myself of the many charity shops of the parish and look for pirate type embellishments to finish Bertie’s pirate mirror, as well as embracing the beach, good food and much catching up of gossip. 

Then, in early 2018 I will be celebrating a significant birthday …….. so what better way to do it than a week in New York with Lu ……. I booked it all about four weeks ago. Our sightseeing will be planned with military precision, but I will also be reserving an afternoon or so to find a Michael’s and at least two/three Dollar Trees ……. we would love to find a real American Thrift Store but we’re not too sure if we can pull that one off. We have guide books and are watching YouTube videos until we go cross eyed on what to do while we are there …….  but I may burst first!

But, I still need to craft and blog to keep my brain working on so many levels,  I started back in 2009 and have 2,172 posts under my belt, it’s a hard habit to kick …….. so let’s see how I go, reducing just a little to fit life in!!

Embossed Foil Snowman Tags Revisited

I made these embossed snowman tags a couple of weeks ago, but there was something about them that wasn’t quite right, the snowman …….

Then, I remembered the white Ranger Enamel Accents I had bought a while ago, dare I risk trying it on the snowman with out ruining him with over fill and/or smudging.

I dared …….

……. even managing to avoid covering eyes and noses, I was sooooooooo chuffed with the results, this was what the snowman was missing!

The only thing I would change when I make some more is perhaps adding a snowflake charm to the red bead ….. but, in making more hangs a tale ……..

After seeing such brilliant results I was eager to make some more, cutting up some more empty drink cans and embossing a whole pile of snowmen with my Cuttlebug Snowman Sledging folder, but when I looked in my craft drawers I found that I had run out of the thicker, straight edged type of wooden children’s dominoes pieces I like to use …… aghhhhhh!!!  I do have some others, but they are too thin for the adhesive foil tape to go round the edges, and anyway, in using them, the overall effect would just be all wrong.  So then I thought, all was not lost, I would be able to pick up some more easily on eBay as I had done in the past, but prices seem to have gone stupid, even in the used department……. so production has ceased until I can find some cheaper ones that need to be .5cm thick, sods law ain’t it, so look out charity shops and pound shops etc. you are about to be plundered!

Little Framed Boat Birthday Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a white linen effect hand cut card blank.

I think that perhaps, looking at this picture this card might have looked a little better and more “rustic” on a Kraft card blank.

I didn’t think the frame worked as a tag, so simply mat and layered the centre panel on blue and silver before adding the frame.  Done and dusted!

Pirate Mirror

Today, a project in progress, it’s going to be a pirate mirror for Young Master Bertie’s bedroom, hopefully for Christmas, if I can find a few more of the sort of embellishments I have in mind.

The wooden framed mirror measures 56cmx x 36cms and was a charity shop find for just £2.70, well, it would have been rude not to buy it!

All I have done so far is cover the frame with plastic pirate coins, the design on them is different on each side, so add a bit of extra interest as well as texture.  I used E6000 to glue them on with for an extra strong bond, I don’t want to risk anything coming off.  I used four bags of coins found in The Range (£1.25 each) and have set a few aside to add at a later stage if needed.

The compasses came in a pack of six from Poundland, I cut the top loop off each one as they didn’t really serve any purpose on this project.  I am also not too keen on the plain black sides showing, so I think they may be embellished by winding a little “rope” round them.  If I could take out the plastic fronts and then put them back (I need to play with one first) I would like to add a few jewels to the insides, but I am not sure that would be possible.

The pirate figure came from a charity shop too for 50p and is just perfect.  The wooden parrot came from The Range (£1).  As the overall effect of the mirror is going to be pretty bling and shiny, I am planning on giving him a makeover with a coating of Ranger Glossy Accents and a googly eye.

Before I can now go any further I need to collect some more pirate accruements, which may take a little time as I want them to be of a similar proportion to the coins and compasses,  perhaps an eye patch or two, a telescope, some pirate flags, a couple of small swords, a palm tree (?) and a few shells  I am also thinking that I could make a pirate map or two by rolling out piece of fimo and then drawing on it with a Sharpie pen after it’s been baked.  I have some small bottles that can also be filled with jewels and/or scrolls. With the large pieces in place, I can then go overboard, filling the gaps with jewels, chains and shells etc.  What I would really like to find is a small, toy plastic pirate boat for the top right hand corner ………. but I think that’s a bit of a tall order, but you never know!

Air Dry Clay Snowman Tags

Marc gave me two packs of white air drying clay quite a while ago, but after being inspired by tags I have seen on Pinterest I thought it was about time I got a pack out and played.I am so chuffed with the results and could kick myself for not “playing” earlier!

The clay didn’t seem to need much working, unlike Fimo. I simply took a small piece, worked it just a little into a smooth shape,  flattened it over the snowman image on my Sledding with Snowman Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and rolled over it with a small rolling pin.

When happy with the impression I trimmed the sides down smoothing them over with a damp finger and then added a hole for a thread/string tie.

The packet said that the clay should dry in approximately 24 hours, but my tags took little longer, this was because I kept them for a little while under a couple of books to make sure they didn’t warp as they dried, but I was also mindful that the image didn’t flatten too.

When completely dry, I began to have a conundrum about what to do with them, my intention, when I started the project, was to just add a tie/hanging thread, and keep everything very simple, clean and natural.

But then I wondered if possibly they needed something else, perhaps a little colour, so I accentuated the eyes, nose and arms with pencil, (the clay absorbed almost all the ink from any fine pen nib I tried). I wasn’t sure about the result, for some reason, doing this seemed to make them need more, if you know what I mean……..?????

They seemed to demand glitter, which I really didn’t want to do ……. but I felt I had to just try it on one ……..

……. but where to put the glitter, in the background …….

……. or on the snowman?

During all this experimenting, a small star managed to find it’s way onto an awaiting tag …… I quite liked the look of that, but I seemed to be getting further and further away from my original idea.

The only thing that really didn’t work, I don’t think, was colouring in the background to give a blue sky, adding stars and then a light covering of Ranger Glossy Accents for good measure!! 

It was all very confusing!

In the end, I think that the plain and simple unadorned version worked best, clay is what it is …… it becomes something else when “over” embellished.  So I am just putting red or blue butchers twine on all but six of the ones I have made. The remaining six will then have the coloured features, glittery white background and star treatment, as a limited extra option should I have a stall at a Christmas Fare this year, as Marc is always telling me not to always make things to my own taste because it may not be what other people want, which makes sense …… but what a palaver this endeavour was!!!

Nativity Scene In A Walnut Shell Tree Decoration.

I seem to be a glutton for punishment as far as making myself crossed eyed is concerned! This is an idea I found on Pinterest, I did do something similar, but smaller, in bottle caps a couple of years back so I already had an idea how to make the figures.

I started off by making said figures in Fimo and then popped them in the oven giving them a little extra time to what the instructions said, to make doubly sure they were really “cooked”.

I baked them with their halos (silver jump rings) and shepherds crooks (bent jewellery copper wire) in place, however they didn’t stick, quelle surprise, so I used tiny amounts of E6000 to set them when the figures had gone cold.

While the figures were in the oven I split the walnuts as carefully as I could, but some did go by the wayside. I then put a little yellow/gold fimo at the wider end of the walnut and then baked them too. I wasn’t sure if the fimo would stay in place, but fortunately it did.  This then gave me a base on which to stand the figures.  Looking at the finished results now,  I think that when I make some more (when I can find some more walnuts) I can get away with using a lot less fimo in perhaps a subtler shade of light brown. 

I drilled a hole at the pointed end of the walnut for an eye screw hook to hang the finished decoration from, using a little E6000 again for a really secure bond.

I made around fifteen sets of figures, the sizes differ to account for the varying sizes of the walnuts which I married to the figures accordingly.

I now have to wait for walnuts to hit the shops before I can continue with a few more of the ideas I have ……….. lesson learned from last year, always buy a few more of anything that you think you might need, especially if you plan to start your festive crafting in the summer!

Little House Christmas Tree Decorations Revisited.

In the same vain as yesterday, when I looked again at these little wooden house tree decorations I made a while ago using a craft inspired charity shop find, they didn’t look quite right…….. not really Christmassy enough.

…so I thought, why not try the Ranger Enamel Accents touch on them too …

It worked! It was fiddly, as the houses are quite small and I have sausage fingers, and I found that too much enamel in one go could lead to a few drips which then had to be carefully removed ………….. but even just the tiniest touch around the bottom just gave the houses that Christmassy finish they were so lacking.

So far I have resisted the urge to give the newly added snow a dusting of translucent glitter, I think that could be glitter overkill …….  ……. but I did decide to add a snowflake charm and red bead to the hanging thread, which I think is probably enough.

Why Not So Many Fiddle Fart Cards These Days ……

I thought I ought to explain why I am not making as many cards as I used to at the moment, to be honest I just don’t need to make the quantities I used to now I am not at work. If I do eventually have a small craft stall in the run up to Christmas there are an awful lot of people who also make them so I could find myself up against competition. There is also the matter of “sensible” pricing with shops now selling cards at £1 or less, the work in a handcrafted card to sell, in time and materials just can’t compete. Making tags and charms is a little bit different and I hope that in making them in more substantial materials like wood, metal or plastic they can offer a longer life and perhaps a lasting memory if they are then used as a Christmas Tree ornament, well that’s my reasoning anyway.

My plan, if I do have a stall, is to wrap up a few small boxes in plain paper, most likely to be in brown, white or red to show the potential of the tags and charms with a little ribbon or string etc.

However, as Christmas nears I expect I will be featuring a few cards, I already have a some ideas, but I won’t be making more than two or three of each design, a hard habit to break I know. I will make enough for a blog post and then perhaps one or two extra to make up a box for Iris for Nursery, and Tom and Laura, and Lucy to send to help save them a bit of money during what is an expensive time.

Fimo Reindeer Parcel Charms/Tags/Tree Decorations

There’s not an awful lot to these reindeer parcel charms/tags/tree decorations

They came about after I found an unused box of about 20 metal Christmas cookie cutters in a charity shop for just £2.49.  I did hesitate and put them back once, but then I got to thinking that I have spent £1+ on cookie cutters in the past so they were a bit of a bargain, it was also the “potential” of reindeer head that did it for me.

I started them off at Marc’s, as he had some spare brown fimo …….

It was also Marc’s idea to roll the noses in ultra fine glitter before baking, I was dubious, but it worked, the glitter did stick .  I put a hole in the top of each head before baking so that I could add a hanging/tyingthread later.  It doesn’t show up very well in the pictures, but there are two shades of reindeers, a chocolate brown and a slightly lighter brown.

When I got home all I had to do was add the googly eyes, noses, holly confetti and tiny red flat backed pearls, plus a few white dots, using a white gel pen, which seemed to lift/brighten the reindeer faces.

I did try adding a bell and bead to the hanging/tying thread, but it didn’t really work as they proved to be a distraction that wasn’t needed.

However I intend to order some more brown fimo, as I think there is still some more mileage in the idea ….. for one I think I could put holes in each of the antlers and then add a small, dangling jingle bells to them with a jump ring. Without the holes they could also be added to craft stick or domino tags, so watch this space.