End Of School Year Bubbles Favour

Sorry, this is very late in the posting, but this is the cute gift that all Bertie’s class received from their teachers at the end of this school year (2021 – 2022) ……..

…… a mahoooosive tube of bubbles with a lovely gift tag and beautiful sentiment.  From what I gather the teachers became incredibly attached to their children over the year and picking Bertie up on the last day was, how shall I say, A little emotional!

I love the idea. I have a small collection of mini party wand favours squirrelled away (somewhere??) that I was thinking of using with tags on Christmas/birthday presents etc. I might have a look on Pinterest to see if I can find any other similar sentiments/bubble wishes that can be used to go with them that would fit the bill for other occasions.

Guest Crafters – Iris and Bertie, Expert Modellers

The first thing Iris and Bertie ever say to me after they come over is, “We’ve had breakfast Nanny but we could have another one!”, swiftly followed by “Can we make models?” ……. what are they like?

Thank goodness my sister-in-law sent over a huge pile of posh boxes (mostly Kiehl's and Jo Malone) before the start of the summer holiday, as they were pounced upon like two starving lions!

The first thing I noticed was how sophisticated and more demanding both their model making ideas and skills have become Oh boy, did they know what they wanted and exactly where the “best things” in Nanny’s drawers were.

Their little eyes when they alighted on the Tumbling Chairs Game I had found in a charity shop for 99p, which I’d originally bought it with some sort of Christmas tree decorations in mind, was a delight to behold.

Iris was all about making the perfect house, with no detail spared, from the toilet made from a metal tealight container glued onto a wooden block for the cistern, to the pictures and mirrors on the walls ………

……. rugs on the floor, books in the bookcase, cushions on the sofa and bed various potted plants and meals on plates.

Bertie, on the other hand, being Bertie, had to create a place of purpose, to wit a café!

…… with its menu board, ambient lighting (cotton wool buds hanging from a piece of string running along the top of the box), tables made from mini chalk boards with domino pieces for legs ……….

……. and a fully functional kitchen area! My favourite was his use of some London stickers as a backdrop to the kitchen, he has been obsessed since staying there a month or so ago. How they ever got him home I will never know, among other things the underground simply blew his mind, with them often having to go a few stops further than they needed just to prolong the joy of counting down the stations.

It was a morning of pure pleasure, with memories made, time disappeared and didn’t matter and, as sure as eggs is eggs, will be asked to be repeated more or less every time they come over, time, boxes and Nanny willing!

Decopatched Boots

This has got to be one of my weirdest ideas, I’ve Decopatched a lot of things, but never a pair of boots.  I was pretty sure it could be done, but only found shoes on Pinterest and YouTube.

I put the idea on the back burner, until one fateful day I found some hardly, if ever worn, Paver boots for 70p in my very favourite charity shop in Evesham. The style is, ermmmmm ……a bit frumpy (????), but at that price, it would have been rude not to, especially as they were my size and if they didn’t work out, well, what’s 70p and a few papers I already had …… and I could always donate them back!

Covering them didn’t take long and wasn’t as fiddly as I first thought and the finished effect remained surprisingly supple, which I thought might actually stand up to being worn.

The drying however took forever ………. and I mean forever!

I’d used Outdoor Modge Podge, because the bumf said:- ………..

“Mod Podge Outdoor - Finish, seal and protect all your crafting projects.
This water-based sealer, glue and finish lets you decoupage for the outdoors! Seals and protects wood, terracotta, slate, tin and more porous surfaces. Specially made for outdoor projects.”

It was thick and very sticky. Putting them in the sun to dry out didn’t really work after the initial drying process, they just felt a tad tacky to the touch, so in the end I shoved them in the hall cupboard to niggle away at me to finish them.

I knew that the water based Modge Podge might not be completely waterproof and I thought just plain varnish would crack if I actually walked in them, so when I decided I couldn’t delay their finish any longer, I bought some dubbin to help protect them, “Mad dog’s an English woman who goes out on a soaking day!” me thinks. 

I think, in the end, it was all a fools errand, since dubbin is made to feed, restore and waterproof leather and I doubt very much that pleather and outdoor Modge Podge would absorb anything (???)! DOH!  However, despite thinking this, perhaps the waxy finish might offer just a little protection, so I repeated the dubbin and polishing process twice, any way.

At the moment I’m not sure, I still think they’re a bit frumpy, but there again, I do have very wide feet!   I only wanted them to add a fun and colour for when I listen to little ones read at school, do I dare? Will they be my “ When I am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple” moment?

MDF Shapes - Halloween Pumpkin Badges

Some Halloween pin badges/brooches for you today …… something Iris and Bertie, as well as Nanny will be sporting from the start of October, right up until the end of the month.

There’s not a lot to them, just lots of waiting for paint, enamels and accents to dry.

I started off by painting the MDF pumpkin shapes with orange Wilko emulsion test pot paint.

I then gave them a generous coating of Ranger Glossy Accents, before adding the lines and outline using a fine tipped, black, permanent pen. I used a green Dovecraft, pearl effect,  dimensional paint on the stalk.

My table was then full of bats, skeletons and ghosts while I tried to worked out the best combination. The skeletons were coloured with white Ranger Enamel Accents and the bats with a permanent black pen and then given the Glossy Accents treatment, along with tiny, green gem, nail art eyes.

I then built up the front of the badges, using my ancient Dymo label maker for the “boos”, trimming them down a little, before gluing them down, along with small green and gold stars and a few three dot clusters here and there.

I doodled a bit on the back, as well as colouring the back of the bats to give the badges a proper “finished off” look, before adding the 30mm brooch pins (eBay)

All the MDF shapes were sourced from eBay through trial and error size wise.

Et voila, done and dusted. I am really trying to use up all my Halloween MDF shapes this year, but I swear they are breeding in the dark!!!!

Pumpkin Pin Badges

Following on from yesterday, I re-did the pumpkin badges, even managing to save the original ones by scrapping off the Crackle Accents and sanding down the fabric paint a little, before painting them with a Wilko orange coloured tester pot instead.

When the two coats of paint were dry, I added just plain old Ranger Glossy Accents and then drew on the lines and faces when it was dry, using a fine tipped, black permanent pen.

On the back I doodled a quick outlined pumpkin before adding the brooch pin using B-7000 glue for a really secure fix.  These will do, I think I’ll save the Crackle Accents for when I have more time to experiment, although I think the problem was I am sometimes just a little too heavy handed with products!

Pumpkin Pin Badges ……… A Humungous Disaster!

Ok, so this idea seemed to start off pretty well ……..

I’d bought some MDF pumpkin shapes off eBay with the intension of making a few Halloween pin badges.

I drew the lines on the pumpkin shape lines first using a black Sharpie pen and then filled between them (in two goes), using an orange Trimits fabric paint, trying to get a reasonably bumpy, pumpkin type texture.

When all sections of the paint were dry, I used green enamel accents on the stalks and again waited for that to dry thoroughly too ……

……. before going over the lines again and drawing on the faces, looking good and this is where I really wished I’d just used ordinary Glossy Accents ……..

…… but reached for the Ranger Crackle Accents instead in the hope of giving the pumpkins a vintage feel ………..

…….. but this is what I got! The Accents was even coming away from the badge! What did I do wrong? Was I too heavy handed with the Accents? I am soooooooooooooooooooo disappointed, but I will work it out, starting with brushing on the Accents instead of “blobbing” it on ………… we shall see.

Small Anniversary Easel Favour

Can you believe it’s been 9 years since Tom and Laura got married?  In some ways it seems like its been forever and in others just yesterday, so while they were celebrating, Lu and I were away with Iris and Bertie in Dawlish ………

………. and this is the little fairing I left behind for them.

There’s no real great shakes to the idea, I just took a small, white, easel place holder from Home Bargains (pack of 4 for 99p Wedding Section) and stuck a Moomins pin badge, bought especially for the purpose from an independent shop in Leamington Spa (£1) on it using a foam pad, so that it could be removed and worn at a later date, if wanted.

Roughly working out where the badge was going to go and using a fine tipped, white acrylic pen, I added the writing to the chalk board, before gluing on the small, silver nail art hearts (eBay) and a few clusters of three dots here and there ……..

……. and Bob’s your uncle,  done and dusted!

Snowman Diorama Christmas Tree Ornament – Altered Tins

Some of my ideas are done and dusted in a couple of days (allowing for drying) while others linger, as was the case with these altered diorama tins.

They started off as below, bought from eBay with a single bid of £1.80 plus P & P, so they cost me 58p each, which isn’t too bad, considering the price of tins at the moment.  I took a gamble on their depth, so was well chuffed when they arrived.

The first thing I did was stick a small pendant bail on the back of each tin before I spray painted them. 

I sprayed them with a white paint first to ensure all the print was completely covered and then red to give them a true Christmassy flavour.

Any little bits missed by the paint was covered using a red Sharpie pen.

When the outsides were dry, I cut a template and then used scraps of small print, Christmas design paper on the inside, saving paper on the one side where the snow was going to be.

I added faux stitching, using a black fine liner pen around all the edges.

I used Hobbycraft, white, Superlight Air Drying Clay (£1 for a 30g pack) for the snow.  It’s a weird constancy, a bit like chewing gum, but for this and my other tin and walnut projects it’s perfect as it dries overnight.

I prepared the wooden houses beforehand, (The Works, 20 pack for £1) ……

…… sticking tiny scraps of paper on the back over the windows and hearts, then painting them white, before adding snowy details using white Americana Writer and a little doodled outlining.

I put a bead on the back of the houses to add a little dimension, before gluing them in the snow/tin using B-7000 glue.

I took off the wooden base off the bristle brush trees and cut the bristles flat at the back, so that they would lie flat once glued into the back of the tin.  I also added glue to the exposed metal wire of the tree before sinking it in the snow.

This was followed by the tiny Fimo snowman, again made in advance, for this and other ideas.

When all the bits and pieces had dried, I added some more white Americana Writer to the clay for extra texture, as well as to hide any gaps to the sides due to any shrinkage of the clay, followed by a light dusting of ultra fine translucent glitter.

While the one side was drying, I used my trusty old Dymo label maker to punch out all the wording on a blue tape, which I then mat and layered very finely on silver mirror card.  

I then added various small confetti snowflakes here and there, some with tiny silver flat back domes in the centre.

Next, the front of the tins, the metal tag I wanted to use was a little bit too wide, but fitted much better after I carefully trimmed off the outer edge.

Then the fiddle fart of various size and textured snowflakes, a few tiny silver, flat backed domes and of course a scattering of three dot clusters made using a white Posca pen.

……. plus a silver thread cord  through the attached bail so the whole thing can be hung on a Christmas tree.

So that’s another set of tins done and dusted ………

…… and I’m really chuffed with how they came out.