Toy Wreath

I’ve promised to make a toy wreath for Rick (Marc’s partner) for ages ………

……… but I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous, despite making quite a few jewellery mirrors and wreaths in my time, I knew that this would be a different kettle of fish, toys don’t usually have flat backs, sizes vary and filling the gaps between them might be difficult …….. but I have finally bitten the bullet!

As I didn’t have a large enough solid, wooden frame amongst my stash,  I decided to cover a 12in diameter, metal, wreath frame from Hobbycraft wrapping cotton binding round it, to give something on which to glue an assortment of toys. 

I secured the binding with a glue gun at intervals of about an inch or two, all the way round the frame.

I was nervous about my choice of glue, going for a glue gun in the end, despite having mixed results when sticking plastic on plastic, so I hoped that the first layer of toys would adhere more securely to the binding, before also using E6000 as good measure, to glue toy on toy as I added layers.

The toys came from various 10p baskets and oddment bags from local charity shops. I started by gluing down the four biggest toys to give a very rough symmetry to the wreath ………

…… however, as gaps began to fill, I found that a large area of these toys disappeared under all the layers, but I think it still worked and the glue seems to be holding up, but I did use a lot!

When the wreath was more or less filled, I left it to settle and then had another go, filling even smaller gaps with increasingly smaller toys.

Once happy and reasonably stable, I was able to turn the whole thing over and sew a thread through the binding on the back to hang the wreath by.

I “think” I am happy with the finished item, however, I’m keeping it out, so that I can keep an eye on the glue and will continue to carefully fill in spaces with the glue gun and E6000 until I am ready to hand it over …….

….. though I think it will always be on the fragile side. Would I make another?  Let’s just say, not in a hurry!  Now to remove all those annoying threads of glue, I swear they breed!

Thank You Paula …… Halloween Just Got Even Better

Oh my goodness …….

…….. there was me thinking that I’d got everything all  ready for a wonderful Halloween half term with Iris and Bertie ………

……. but, on the first morning of our celebrations…….

…… Rob our lovely Postman, said he’d got a large package in his van for me  and proceeded to bring over a mahooooosive and totally unexpected parcel ……..

……. containing the most magical Halloween door wreath I have ever seen, from Paula, one of my lovely blogger friends from Plymouth, I was speechless.

The colours really seem to glow and as for the witch!  Let’s just say, what I already had on my front door was unceremoniously removed and swiftly and suitably replaced.  It’s so gorgeous I think it will probably remain where it is now until on 1st December, my old Christmas toy one, in turn, takes it’s place.

Also in the parcel were three, paint it yourself Halloween squishies for Iris, Bertie and myself (or, the Monkeys, perhaps) to decorate over the holidays, of them more later, once adorned!

It was such a lovely surprise and a real treasure to be enjoyed for many, many years to come.  Thank you so much Paula, you really did make our Halloween special!

4ins x 4ins School Christmas Cards

I thought I would get an early start on my school Christmas cards, as I need at least 60 to send myself, one each for all the children I listen to read each week and then the same again for Iris and Bertie to give to their friends for Christmas too.

The cards all measure 4ins square, made using packs of card blanks bought from The Range (I think, but don’t quote me) last year as the base ……….

…… and embellished with adhesive, foam based, card stickers from Home Bargains, again last year, for something silly like 79p for a pack of at least 40/50 stickers, that I was keen to get used up.

The centre panels measure approximately 2.75ins square, made using scraps of small print, Christmas scrapbook paper with a white glitter card along the bottom to create a basic background scene to then add the stickers to. I  mat and layered these squares on silver or gold mirror card.

It seems like an age since my craft table was this laden with so many bits and pieces, however, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too precious about the scenes, I just wanted them to look balanced and the characters and other objects in them to appear in some way connected.  The floor, as you can see, was my drying area!

This batch turned out pretty OK, all were slightly different to accommodate the mix and match of the slightly proud stickers.

Then came all the fiddle fart ………

……. the faux stitching and clusters of three black dots made using a fine tipped pen, plus the odd white spot too  …….

…….. followed by tiny, fimo, nail art, peppermint sweets, red flat back pearls for holly berries …….

….. flat back red noses and black eyes, buttons, candy canes, stars and tiny fimo snowflakes, you name it, they are all there ……… and more.

There are so many cards, done over a couple of  few weeks, there will be a couple more posts to follow, to show all the combinations. It felt so satisfying to have them under my belt so early on in the run up to Christmas …… now, I guess, I need to get them all written, but perhaps not just yet, I need time to recover!

Adding A Little More Colour To The Towers

As I’ve mentioned before, with autumn closing in and winter on the horizon, I wanted to add a little more colour to my flat to compensate for the cold, dull days ahead, so here’s a couple of other things I’ve done, most worked out, but the judges are still out on this first one ………

The large, metal and glass candle holder was originally gold when I found it in the Salvation Army shop in Evesham for just £3.99, but just doesn’t work where I meant it to go next to my nik-nak shelves/cupboard. It’s not the colours, it’s the proportion and as a result adds nothing to this area of the hall, so it’s currently in the bathroom, waiting for a new position/home, which sadly might be back at the charity shop, unless it would work on some sort of plinth type base ……… if I can find anything suitable? Hmmmmmmm

However, I think dying my 6, off white, dining chair covers (from Ikea and now sadly discontinued) purple definitely worked.  I used Dylon, machine wash,  Orchid Pink dye, which was so easy to use and the results exactly the depth colour I wanted.

I still have a complete set of the beige suede effect covers (on the left)  plus two extra, and four unused off white ones, as I bought spares of each, in case of accidents or them being discontinued! So, I still have the option of dying the white ones in mix and match colours if the mood so takes me.  The purple, it has to be said, is so much more practical now with little ones about and helps lift the mood of the room.

I’ve also painted a few old, dark wood candlesticks (from charity shops 10p to 50p) in my now signature colours, using Wilko match pots. Sadly, as we all know, Wilko is no more, so goodness only knows where I’m going to get my sample paints now, as their range of colours was basic, but fitted so many small projects.

I gave the candlesticks two coats of the Wilko emulsion and then 2/3 coats of clear, gloss, quick dry varnish, again from Wilko. This varnish has served me for years now, so again I’m not sure where I’m going to source a product that is anywhere near as good.

The little “brass” mouse came from Temu and cost £1.48, he’d just so perfect for the bottom of a candle stick!