Keyrings And Fridge Magnets - Guest Crafters – Iris And Bertie

The idea for these keyrings and fridge magnets has been in my head since the summer, it just didn’t come together properly until the very last moment before Christmas when I wanted to make some small presents for Iris and Bertie to give the special people in their lives.

They feature pictures drawn by the dynamic duo earlier on in the year of themselves and Granny and Granddad that were just too cute not to find a way of using them to keep us all smiling throughout the year(s) to come.

The 7cm x 5cm blank plastic magnets originally came in a tin of 20+ for just £1.99 from an Evesham charity shop.

Judging from the other tins and their contents they had, someone had been having a bit of a craft room sort out.

The keyrings came from The Works, a pack of 12 for £3.

I started off by resizing the scanned drawings to fit the magnets and keyrings using my ancient copy of Publisher 2003.  It was a bit of a fiddle fart but despite my trepidation I got the measurements pretty bang on, so I didn’t have to go back to make any adjustments after the first sheets were printed off, woooo hoooo!

All that was left to do then was cut out the pictures and fit them into the frames, putting two pictures back to back in the keyrings so that there was a picture visible from both sides.

No great shakes craft wise I know, but a way of ensuring that a little bit of Iris and Bertie is always with us.  Happy days ………

A Long Term Project – A Cabinet Of Curiosities -

As I love a bargain, I was so excited to find the wooden Advent houses  in The Works had been reduced from £15 to £4, especially when one (I bought two) just cost me 25p, as I already had £3.75 on my loyalty card, but when I got home I knew I had to do something with one of them, at least, pretty quickly to justify the splurge and the space they were taking up. A crafty bargain is only a bargain if you use or do something with it!

However, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to go down the Christmas route with either of them, so my initial thought was to try to put a Cabinet of Curiosities together with each door opening on to a scene or random, but interesting collection of little tranklements that I always seem to pick up in various Charity Shops, but often get lost on my normal shelves.

Soooooooooo I did some mooching on Pinterest, saved a few ideas …….. and a nugget of a long term project was born. 

I wanted the outside to look a bit sort of antiquey, worn and old fashioned, so the first job was mix a concoction of tea and coffee and a bit of paint to use to stain the wood. I’m not sure how long it is going to take to darken in multiple layers to my taste, but I’m sure I’ll get there by next week!  I also decided to wash over the back of the doors and the insides of each compartment while I decided how I might line them, but that stage might be a while off yet.

  

I removed all the knobs, no mean feat, with some of the surface wood splitting, but as the doors will be covered anyway with various papers it didn’t really matter.  Said knobs were then soaked in the tea/coffee/paint concoction to age them too. This also helped to soften and remove the glue that had originally been used to fix them.

I’m planning on using some of the papers above to cover the sides of the cabinet, doors and possibly to line some of the compartments.  I might also try to age them with the tea/coffee mix, before using a quick drying satin varnish to help seal everything, but again this might be a little way along the track.

I’m excited! My other mission now is to find all the curiosities to go inside, which is going to take time. I have a few bits already, but no charity 10p box etc. is going to go unscoured for tiny treasure, as I allow my usual obsession for getting things in proportion to fly out of the window, for once, scale just doesn’t matter.  I can see it all in my minds eye, but it’s hard to explain.

When finished I hope the cabinet will be a bit of an heirloom piece for Iris and Bertie, with each door opening to reveal a magical display which will be filed with awe and wonder……..  well, that’s the plan anyway!

What’s A Girl To Do?

OMG ……… what’s a girl to do ……….?

Even the ladies in the shop were shocked to see how low these advent calendars had been reduced to, four flipping pounds, that’s less than a posh coffee and a slice of lemon drizzle any day of the week! Well, it would have been rude not too wouldn’t it? Sooooooooooo, I bought 2, I know, I know, but one was only 25p as I had £3.75 on my Works loyalty Card, what am I like?  I am already thinking of a couple of cabinets of delight?????? I just need to get cracking!

The other plainer advent calendar drawers are now reduced from £18 to £13 online but £8 in the shop!  I did however manage to resist this time, mainly because I have one set already to do something wit in time, but nevertheless, what a bargain!

A New Tradition?

I wish I’d started doing this with Iris and Bertie before, but as they loved doing it so much, especially Iris, it’s something we’re definitely going to continue in the future.

Iris and Bertie chose the “best” tree along the path in the school grounds and then decorated it with the wooden peg decorations I made in the run up to Christmas and despite being outside for at least six weeks, in all sorts of weather, including snow, they have stood the test of time really well with none falling apart. 

A week later we added a whole pile of silver, glittery icicles, found in a charity shop for, I think, £1.99.  We were going to add some glitter snowflakes the following week, in the the last week of term but unfortunately the snow set in and put paid to that idea.

Unfortunately the pictures don’t do the tree justice, it did look really pretty.

Inspired, Iris now wants to decorate the tree throughout the year (????)  starting with Valentines Day, when we’ll decorate it with red hearts at the start of February, so my mission, should I wish to accept it, is to scour the charity shops and sales for heart baubles etc., followed then by bits and pieces for Easter six or so weeks later ……….. fingers crossed I can find all they things we need.

Fabric and Lace Rag Wreath

So, it’s the start of new year, with my vintage style, wooden toy, door wreath safely put away for the next eleven months, but what to put on my front door now? Putting my autumn one back just doesn’t seem right, I needed something a little more cold and wintery …….

Well, some sort of madness came over me and I decided to make a rag wreath, something I seem to remember doing once before, years and years ago, but I don’t think it was any good, it might even have been heart shaped, but recollections may vary!

Taking the rolls of material strips Marc gave me when I saw him back at the end of November and a 12in copper wreath ring I’ve had for goodness knows how long now, I set to work …….

…….. cutting the fabric in very rough 5ins x 1.5ins pieces and then simply knotting them all around the ring.

When all the fabric was used up, the wreath looked OK, but still needed something else, so I raided my ribbon box and sorted out all the random lengths of lace I’ve collected.  I added the lilac lace first, which instantly lifted the fabric and the feel of the wreath.

Then I  added all the narrow silk, organza and glittery ribbons that I also thought would go well.  The finished wreath looks so pretty and I have to admit the pictures really don’t do it any justice.

It’s almost fairy like and very feminine.  There was only one blot on the landscape that stuck out like a sore thumb and that was a small piece of bright pink fabric at the top which was quickly snipped as soon as I noticed it.

I’d say the wreath took a good four hours to complete, without a single break and I am thrilled with the results, this little beauty will hopefully take my front door through until Easter now.

I am eager to make another one with a Christmas theme, in pastels, sparkles and glitter.  I now know to fill the frame with fabric scraps first, the patterns don’t really matter, so I’ll be looking  in the local charity shops for really cheap pale blue, lilac, pink and white cotton blouses etc. to cut up ………. 

…… and then pop in to the Evesham Fabric Shop where they sell bags of lace remnants at really reasonable prices for the fiddle fart part. I might even add a few gems or sequins here and there, we shall see. I just need to remember where my other wreath rings are squirrelled away. Happy days!

New Years Crafty Sales – Heads Up …..The Works

I don’t usually purposefully “do” the sales, I am just happy when I stumble upon an unexpected bargain, however this Christmas has been a bit different, with Lu and I deciding to go for a walk and then a posh coffee in town on Boxing Day to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. The only place open, except for the coffee shops and pubs was The Works and well, it would have been rude not to have a little mooch wouldn’t it, especially when the windows were all plastered with up to 75% off signs.

Well, it seems the early bird catches the bargains as the ladies in the shop were putting stickers on, among other things, all the Christmas craft bits and pieces.

Now, I had lusted after these little wooden houses ever since they came out but at £1.50 each they were a bit pricey, but at 50p each, that’s a very different matter, I bought all they had.  They look pretty simple to put together, I am thinking a quick flick of varnish, followed by Ranger Enamel Accents highlights?

They also had a few of the wooden sledges left, so I availed myself of them too, I think they were 50p a pack.

These other wooden embellishments will come in very handy too.  I am already thinking of putting the penguins on small 4ins x 4ins cards for school?

The packs of 4 house treat boxes were also reduced to 50p, perfect to pop a small chocolate in etc. to hang on the tree. I am thinking school dinner lady fairings?  I would simply go over the lines with white 3D paint, add some nail art peppermint swirls and candy canes and then perhaps a wooden gingerbread man or two.

Our branch of The Works doesn’t carry the greatest range of crafty bits and pieces, I notice the variety of crafty stock tends to differ from store to store, so I will admit to having a look online in the evening (as the TV yet again was rubbish this year) to see what else was being reduced. Click and Collect is £1.99, which seems a cheat, but hey ho!  A pack of the wooden Christmas trees above was 50p, a no brainer, as the bigger trees are a really useable size and all are a decent thickness that would take to being glued upright and then standing up on say a wooden domino to create a little scene?

I’m not sure why I bought the card Christmas puddings, so no ideas how to use them yet, but at 50p again they were worth a punt, perhaps Glossy Accented and glittered …….

Then at the bottom of the bag I found that whoever put my order together had also popped in two packs of these felt shapes for free!  Perfect again for small school cards.

My apologies if it’s to early for you to be thinking about Christmas, but these past few years I seem to work it all year round. I promise I will give Valentines Day and Easter some thought.

I will also admit to putting in an order with Hobbycraft, it was the wreath frames in particular I was after, but as they had some real bargains in the 50p and £1 range, again it would be rude not to. I’ll post these next week, but it might be worth a look beforehand if you are interested, as things seem to be selling out fast.  The Range is also worth a look, but I always find their site so difficult to navigate.

Anyway, I start the New Year with no excuse whatsoever not to get crafting so watch this space ………

Happy New Year 2023 – I Really Thought I Had Craft Fatigue!

Happy New Year

When I first started this post just before Christmas I really thought I was suffering from the most humungous dose of craft fatigue. I hadn’t crafted for at least six weeks and I didn’t think I’d missed it all that much either.  I will admit to overdosing on Christmas crafting throughout 2022, most of my projects made in bulk, thinking that I might have a festive craft stall at sometime in the year (but in the end I didn’t!!!) and in turn, it did take away some of the pleasure in the making. I know I could have tried a bit harder in looking for a table, but then in September I had a flare up of osteoarthritis in my knee that took the wind out of my sails physically and confidence wise. 

I now realise it had been creeping up on me for years now, especially since I moved to Evesham where I walk everywhere because the buses just don’t go where I need to, so I’ve been clocking up the miles thinking I was simply getting slower  and more achy with age.  However after an x-ray, diagnosis and a steroid injection a month ago (which seems to have done the trick), I  am back on track, a couple of stones lighter and moving a lot better.

Christmas was lovely, a little different again from past years (traditions have changed since Covid), but tired from the run up, I was sure I’d start 2023 bereft of any ideas and enthusiasm to craft, even though I didn’t have an excuse especially after I was able to spend a wonderful, long weekend at the end of November with Marc, who showered me with boxes full of fabulous things after he bought almost all of the contents of a ladies craft room after she sadly died ……

I came back with enough cello bags (something I always seem to run out of) to sink a battleship, dies (I am loving the Brenda Walton 3D Christmas Tree in particular), inks, interesting material swatches, papers, embroidery hoops, you name it, all very interesting things.

Then from his own collection Marc gave me all these papier mache houses, plus a pile of small and large wooden decoration kits from Hobbycraft, all begging for festive embellishment, which I’m pretty sure he’ll get back after a little fiddle fart, ready for next Christmas.

On top of all that, when I was in a more crafty frame of mind I treated myself to a whole box of MDF shrines and wooden dolls in various shapes and sizes from https://www.calicocraftparts.co.uk/shrine-kits.html. I can’t believe I simply put them away as soon as they arrived, so I really don’t have no excuse do I?

I just need to get back to making one thing at a time, whether it takes a couple of minutes or an hour or so, simply for the fun of it, for the next few months at least with no pressure. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to begin by completing some of the projects I have started but never finished, as per the first few pictures.

For the next little while, I am going to continue to post on a Monday and a Tuesday if I’m tickled by something, have a particularly good charity shop find or I have a guest crafter or two, but this might not be every single Tuesday while I try to start to build up my schedule of posts again.

I hope see you, hopefully, tomorrow for a quick catch up of a few things I've found in the crafty sales that helped get my creative juices flowing again   …….. happy days!