Advent Drawer Tuesday

That’s it the last few Advent drawers are in the bag …… thank goodness, it was beginning to make me go even more cross eyed than I usually am!

I had to re-do the reindeer drawer (above) because where I had originally positioned it was in the middle of a row and there was the distinct risk of breaking an antler every time the drawer on either side was opened.

But the last four came together really well, in fact I had them all done one morning before I did the morning nursery run ……

I swear my step was lighter as I walked along!

I always try to schedule posts a little in advance …… so tomorrow I can finally bring you the completed article ….. my work is done!

Heads Up To Poundland – Crafty Cards & Snow Globe Stickers

As promised yesterday a couple more treasures found in the seasonal bargain baskets of Poundland in Worcester.

The self adhesive snow globe bubble stickers were too good to ignore, but I was restrained and only bought two different design packs as I didn’t have a clear idea at the time as to what I could do with them ………

…… however, they appear to be quite robust with very usable designs, so perhaps small simple square cards or gift tags?

The other treasure was a pack each of these snowmen and penguin cards (there was also a Santa design too) with Iris and Bertie and of course Nanny in mind. They are of a fantastic glossy quality and for just £1 a pack I know I had a bargain.  They didn’t come with envelopes but that’s fine,  I have whole box of the things that I can sort through.

The packs came with everything you need, googly eyes, pom poms, glitter glue, and sticky pads to attach the heads and give the characters a 3D element.

I would also add white micro glitter to the penguins hats and red to the snowmen’s hat band and scarves.  They are so cute and crazy value for money.  If  we/I don’t get to do them this year they’ll certainly save for next.

As I said I was restrained in my purchasing, despite the prices, because I no longer craft in the large quantities I once used to.  However, I am still aware that if you see something you fancy then you’re best making a considered purchase there and then because you can bet that they’ll have disappeared by the time you realise that you really should have got them!

Heads Up To Poundland 1 – Paper Pads

I popped into one of the two Poundland shops  in Worcester town centre and was really chuffed with the 6ins x 6ins Christmas paper pads I found.  I very nearly missed them as they were in the seasonal quick sale baskets in the middle of the shop rather than on the crafty shelves.

I bought four pads, although I think there were more to chose from, going for the ones that contained designs and colours that I thought would be the most versatile and “me”.

My favourite was the Cosy Christmas pad, (5 x 6 designs), because all the designs look like knitting samples and as such I am already thinking of a very simple patchwork card with a little faux stitching or using a page on its own to cover the front of a card blank with a simple printed sentiment in the middle.  I am quite excited to get playing.

The embossed paper pack was exceptional value, the embossing is really deep and the paper/card thick and glossy (5 x 6 designs).

The Scandi style reindeer and bird pages are again a card on their own when stuck to the front of a card blank with perhaps a careful application of translucent or white micro glitter here and there.

Elves aren't really my thing, but with the elf on the shelf is becoming more and more popular I think there is a card or two among these designs when I have get the time to experiment. I particularly like the Kraft colour as I have a few Kraft card blanks that really need using up.

The Jolly Christmas pad is “so so” ……. useful as a spare. My favourite designs are definitely the snowmen and penguins.

And ….. there were a few more bits of crafty treasure …… but more of that tomorrow.

Staircase in Fat Face – Worcester

If I want to do any “big” shopping now I go to Worcester, it’s only about 16 - 20 minutes away on the train and the station is right in the middle of the town so not a lot of walking to where I want to get to .

……. and this is a delight I discovered in Fat Face, the clothes store, in the High Street ……

It’s sooooooo gorgeous, and soooooooo me, if I had stairs this is exactly what I would have, life is too short!

The tiles are all old so I reckon that they originally came from one or several of  the potteries, many now sadly gone, in Worcester.  It’s stunning and I have a very serious case of tile envy!

Advent Drawer Tuesday

I am still flipping going …… is it just me or does this set of drawers seem like it’s been going on forever ?

Anyway….. there’s another four today ……. some I am happy with like the nutcracker one above using some really nice foam stickers I got from Flying Tiger …….

……. and the snowman one above.

However, I am not that keen on the star one above, it just says dull, dull, dull to me, perhaps I need to throw caution to the wind and glitter the numbers and stars ……. hmmmm.

Something isn’t right with the blue snowflake drawer either, the background on the numbers is too dark, I think it needs to be white  …..?

Oh well, back to the drawing board for a little more fiddle farting, no wonder it’s taking me so long to get finished.

Button Snowman Tag Decoration

I’m not sure if I have overworked this snowman tag.

I wonder if the simplicity of using two buttons to make the snowman has been overtaken by the fuss of the hat and scarf and really it could be anything underneath????

The buttons were a charity shop find, I got around 20 measuring about 28 mms diameter for £1.99.  To make the snowman more stable and easier to work with I glued the head and body together with a small piece of card.

The hat is a finger from an adult Primark stretchy glove (2 pairs for £1) and the scarf is a small off cut from the rest of the glove, but I wonder if they drown him. His nose is a tiny fimo carrot.  The tag is a wooden children’s domino piece measuring 10.5 x 5.5cms.

I might start again but use a finger from child’s gloves instead and then a piece of felt for the scarf to make the overall effect look less bulky.  Time is a getting a bit short, so it could be an idea I will have to come back to after Christmas.

Heads Up – Festive Smarties

I am always on the look out for sweets that can be put in small bags at Christmas time for favours, re-bagged and popped in a stocking and/or sold at Christmas Fayres etc.

I found these tubes of Rudolph Noses in Asda for £1. I reckon you could get two, possibly three little bags from one tube or simply fill one small jar with a matching Rudolph tag with the whole lot.  I always wear gloves when transferring sweets from one container to another and make sure the sweets are handled as little as possible.  I still have my trusty vacuum sealer too if I need to put sweets in a new cello bag to maintain their hygiene and freshness.

I don’t get unicorns and neither does Marc ……. but we get mermaids, so each to their own ……..  when I saw these Unicorn Smarties I thought of Marc straight away as a wind up sort of  present.

There are a million ideas out there for favours you could use these for  ……. unicorn poop anyone?

Advent Drawer Tuesday

Yes ……. I am still going …….

…… making the snowman drawer brought back so many happy memories, because I bought the snowmen from Michael’s in New York back in March. 

I can remember every single second of that visit, it’s ingrained in my mind as if it was yesterday and probably always will be ………

……. especially memories of the lovely lady on the till who made sure I had every sort of discount she could give me, bless her

Mistle-Toes Sock Pack Band

Socks can, admittedly, be a bit boring as a festive gift, but as plain, black ones are on both my nieces Christmas present lists this year, I felt it was my duty to find a way to tart them up for the big day.

The Mistle-Toe idea isn’t mine, I found it on Pinterest, but I am not sure if anyone else has come up with the idea of putting the sentiment on the band of a multi pack of socks.

I started by taking the original band off the socks to use as a template, cutting out new strips of white  card and then matching the score marks up on my box score board.

Then I measured the front panel and used the measurements to create a text box in Publisher 2003, using  alternate red and green letters in CandystripeFont (size 20) to make the sentiment.  I then printed off a whole sheet of them, as I wanted to put one on the front and the back and have a few spares just in case.

I cut out two of the boxes and glued them to one of the bands.

A little faux stitching never goes amiss ………

…… and neither does the odd flat back star or two.

I used double sided tape down the side to secure the band together.  I’m dead chuffed, at least these socks don’t look quite so functional just this once.