Bargain Charity Shop Find

I saw this Ikea dolls cot in a charity shop window in town a few weeks ago, but at the time I was heavily laden with shopping and there was no way I could get the shopping and bed back home on the bus …… so I left it.

On subsequent passings it was still there, despite the silly £4 price tag, but then I started erming and ahhhing, thinking that it might be a little while yet (at least eighteen months) before Iris would start playing with it …..

But yesterday….. it was still there ….. I really was meant to have it and at an aforementioned £4 what was I thinking about???

The temptation to fiddle-fart it is there, but as it’s in such good condition I think I will just pass it on to Great Granddad Colin to see if he could sand it down and give it a coat of varnish just to freshen it up ….. and then perhaps if Granny Denise sees this she might, just might, crochet a blanket or two…. and I with my limited sewing ability could make a couple of sheets and a pillow.

Halloween Dangling Spiders Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut plain purple card blank.

Another Halloween card today using five confetti spiders from an assorted pack of confetti sprinkles I found in Wilkos the other week (99p). All I have done is give the spiders a pair of tiny googly eyes each. 

A scattering of tiny silver stars, a handwritten sentiment, some threads to dangle from drawn using a fine black liner pen and a few white dots here and there using a white gel pen finish the whole effect.

Memory Box  - MB98187 WOODLAND BRANCH DIE  Code: MB98187

Halloween Boo Brew

It seems ages since I have made any Boo Brew (a Halloween version of Snowman Soup), but this year I thought I would “resurrect” it!

My first hurdle was the art work ….. I lost all my Halloween digi sets when my computer died a couple of years ago and I chose no to replace them, I didn’t fancy doodling my own, and as I have said before there is a right dearth of Halloween theme stickers in the Pound and cheapie shops this year!  In the end I found this free background sheet on Pinterest, which was perfect

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoqAp3IInvERk6IVF2i_wxxmk83OrFWAy_roKHTG1mJD31LubToGuHMo1Uf0gP7Gmn770t4KluI33QNKj6TosjHLKZUa5CKTQoBDMax3seCDJpiyKjUtD91iLbhwdjWeHo6wybA9CGLk/s1600/Halloween+Freebie+01.jpg

And then with a bit of jiggery pokery using Publisher I added the Boo Brew poem …. which I have evolved over the years to suit the contents of my packs, which you are free to us as I don’t think anyone can lay any claims to it!!!

This year I have managed to find Halloween mallow poles in B M Bargains (69p for 10) and Witches Broomsticks in Poundland (15 in a pack) to replace the mini marshmallow packs I used to make.  I was always a little iffy about handling loose sweets, even though I always wore plastic gloves, so as these are already singly wrapped they solved my problem.

I decided to use the broomsticks for this years brew as they were the shorter of the two for the 6.25cms x 6.25cm cello bags I was using, although I still had to turn the ends over using double sided tape to make them fit, (but I “think” I have an idea for the poles for another post).

I attached a plastic spider and bat ring to each pole from an assorted Halloween novelty pack I had already bought from Pound World, to add a little something extra.

Also included in the packs is a sachet of hot chocolate (box of five Malteser or Galaxy from Pound World), a suckie skull lolly (pack of at least 12 from Pound World) plus a chocolate lolly and pumpkin chocolates available in most supermarkets at the moment and another two plastic spiders for good measure.

Please note :- *If I was selling this sort of thing at a school fayre etc. I would make sure that they were clearly labelled saying  that they were not suitable for young children under 3 (at least) because of the nature of the contents.

Halloween Hand Painted Spider Glass.

What am I like? ….. I was in a discount shop in Wolverhampton and they had a range of really cute, hand painted Halloween glasses, some stemmed, some tumblers, mostly featuring spiders and they were only £1 ….. it was, to pardon the pun at this time of year a “wicked” price to pay because at craft fairs something similar would have easily been quadruple the price …….. but I resisted buying one ….. because, inspired,  I came home and made my own erm…… “unique” version ……… which was much cruder and lacking in the finesse of the shop version, but there again, I did do mine at 6.30 in the morning, when I should have been getting ready for work, and the mood and the inspiration was compelling me to do it there and then ….. next time I would be much more careful and refined with my pen strokes!

I used a black Marabu Porcelain Painter pen to draw the spiders and the web …. I then had to leave it to dry for 4 hours, so, I left it and went to work and then banged it into an non preheated oven at 170c for 30 minutes when I came home, voila!

And then, me being me, just couldn’t resist adding googly eyes to all the spiders using E6000 glue, which sticks everything.

Plus, some very small, flat backed gems on the web and on some of the dots round the top of the glass!

Like I said, not a lot of finesse and it wasn’t really made to particularly last that long ……. just a bit of fun for when I toast all the ghosts and ghoulies in my life as I sip my hemlock on October 31st!

Safe …. Mini Halloween Pumpkin Lanterns

I don’t know about you but though I love candles, I am very wary of Halloween, candles and children …… but it’s so lovely to create a little awe, wonder and magic for them ….. so I got to thinking ……

………. what if I married some mini pumpkin pots (6 for £1 from some Poundshops and DiscountUK stores) with Poundland battery operated flickering tea lights?

I wasn’t sure if the tea lights would fit or the light would be strong enough to shine through, but they did, on both counts!

….. and looked so cute all lit up. DiscountUK also had packs of skull and Frankenstein pots too.

So for £3 you could have six little decorations that children could safely carry around or have in their rooms without any worry (well, except for perhaps the odd nightmare!)

I was also thinking that you could take the handles off the skull pots, put a tea light in each one and then stack them on top of each other in threes or a six to make a spooky tower of skulls!  Watch this space!!!

Halloween Hanging Bat Card.

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut plain purple card blank.

I haven't used this Memory Box branch die before and was thrilled to see how delicate it actually was ….. I can think of so many cards I can make with different things hanging from the branches for all themes and occasions so watch this space.

For this card I used three mulberry paper bats that I’ve had for years and just given them a set of tiny googly eyes each.  A scattering of tiny silver stars and a handwritten sentiment and a few white dots here and there using a white gel pen finish the whole effect.

Memory Box  - MB98187 WOODLAND BRANCH DIE  Code: MB98187

Magic Glowing Lanterns

I’ve seen this idea so many times on Pinterest and wondered if it really worked, and now, having a little granddaughter I want to make sure that there is always something wonderful and magical going on at Nanny Nell's!

I just got a clean,  dry jar and added a string hanger …….

……. then took two glow stick bands and some micro glitter (but I wouldn’t bother with the glitter again as it didn’t seem to add anything to the overall effect).  The idea is to cut the glow stick in half and let the liquid drip into the jar ….

…… not as easy as I thought (!!!!) and then I chose to “paint” the glowy stuff round the inside of the jar. Perhaps it’s a good idea to wear goggles or at least glasses, and I don’t think this is really something that children should do!

The overall glowy effect lasted for about twenty minutes, after that the liquid gathered in the bottom of the jar, but still continued to glow for another hour or so after.  But I only used two small glow sticks (18 wristbands £1 from Discount UK) …. I could have tried more, but this was only my first experiment.

This also got me to thinking of other ways to use glow sticks ….. my next experiment ….. is to see what they look like worked into my twig door wreath, perhaps for Halloween.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Mason-Jar-Glow-Stick-Lanterns
http://chemistry.about.com/od/glowinthedarkprojects/a/Decorative-Glow-Stick-Lanterns.html
http://www.pinterest.com/havingfunathome/glow-stick-ideas/

Another Display?

I don’t do a display for ages and then two come along in the same week!!!

This display is on the opposite wall to the waterfall display …. a contrast to the cold and bleakness of Iceland!!

It was much, much easier to do as well because I found much of the papers/materials were already in the Geography store cupboard, including the sea frieze paper, must fortunate as I did not particularly relish the thought of painting the sea!The trunks of the palms trees were made using strips cut from a corrugated cardboard box, which I then charcoaled and chalked to create the ridges on the trunks. I was also fortunate enough to find some grass patterned border roll from which I was able to cut into palm leaf shapes and fringe to give an element of dimension. I did the same for the ground foliage and a few palm leaves using green copier paper which I crumpled for texture and then drew the leaf veins using a mixture of charcoal and chalks.

There was a temptation to then glue gun some shells on to the plastic doors of the board, but I thought better of it …. as I didn’t want to be on constant call to go over to glue them back on every time one fell off!

Duvet Covers Of Desire

I have a bit of a thing about bright duvet sets …….


These sets were on Achica the other week and you will never know how much I lusted after them ……

….. especially the last set ……If I had such a set (fortunatley or unfortunatley, well out of my price range) I would have been forced to linger and lounge in bed ….. perhaps forever …… feeling (if not looking) absolutely fab-uuuuuuu-lush!!!!!!

One Of My Rare Display Boards

Part of my job is “doing” displays, but these days I very rarely have time to do one as I would really like, as the paperwork element of my job just seems to have taken over, and “arty” displays are just not a priority. I’m afraid it’s a sad case of just wang the work up, I’m not proud, but at least I try and get it done in a vaguely symmetrical way.

However, I did have some time during the summer holiday, when the school was empty to spread myself out, make as much mess as I liked, without any time restriction …… my brief was to “recreate” the Skogafoss waterfall which we were fortunate enough to visit during our A Level Geography trip to Iceland at Easter. 

The board I had to fill must have measured approximately 5ft 6ins x 4ft 6ins (it may have been a little bigger) and I had a budget …… but I decided to do my own thing and use suitable bits and pieces I found round school.  So the gravel at the bottom of the falls was made from a collage of newspaper and the sky, similarly made, using scraps of blue copier paper……

…… and the water fall was made using layers and layers of white bin liners and shredded plastic sheeting.

The cliffs either side of the fall were the hardest to do, I am rubbish at perspective and I was doing this all by free hand and eye, constantly looking at the pictures I had ……

…… So I just got several lengths of black and green poster roll and cut them roughly to the shape of the rocks and then screwed them up to create something that resembled the texture of the rock.Next followed lots and lots of chalking and charcoaling and rubbing out, again trying to capture the texture.  It was at this stage I began to hallucinate!!!  Sometimes when I am working really close to something I need to just walk away from it and then come back to it, standing back and seeing it with fresh eyes.

And when I did, the next day, I could see where I was going and realised there wasn’t that much more to do.

I added a few very basic figures to try and give it some perspective

And then I had to try and get it onto the board in one go, single handedly!!!!

And, if it didn’t fit or look right, I didn’t have a clue what I would have done.

But it did, and I was dead chuffed.

If I may say, the pictures do not do justice to the depth and flow of the water ………… all those layers gave it a sort of fluidity and life …..

….. well, that’s my opinion any way!!!

Problems With Silhouette

Today I thought I might just get my Silhouette out as Marc is always nagging me to use it more and after seeing what The Equally Lovely Denise makes with hers …….  I was going to look at what I have in my library and perhaps make a simple card or two …….

….. well, it all started well and I saw all the files loading …… then it started to initializing and that was it!!  I last downloaded some files from the online shop in mid April and all was well then!  I researched any problems and fixes, and gathered there had been  …. and downloaded in turn the latest two software programmes from Silhouette  - the Legacy being the one that seemed to be the most recommended from forum/blog posts etc.

SILHOUETTE STUDIO® VERSION 3.1.417 (RELEASED 8/4/2014)

SILHOUETTE STUDIO® VERSION 2.9.45 (RELEASED 1/10/2014) LEGACY

…… but still nothing!  Agh … I know I don’t use it as often as I should but it’s a handy piece of kit to have lurking in the background …. I have messaged Silhouette, who have always been quite helpful in the past ….. but at present it is most annoying …. is it a problem anyone else has had.?

A Couple Of Heads Up …….

I have to say that the Poundshops of Wolverhampton are disappointing on the Halloween front this year with regards to stickers …. not a one!  I think this is going to be a duff year for finding interesting stuff to alter and craft with.  I would have liked to have found some skeleton hands as I had an idea or two for them  …….. but it’s all a bit same old, same old, and a little bit uninspiring.  But there’s still time and I’ll keep on looking.

However, it’s worth having a look in Wilkos  as they some nice little bits and pieces, especially as they are priced up at 65p-ish a bag for spiders, bats and skeletons.

And I am wanting this lantern (£5) which would look great at the bottom of my garden sitting on a gnarled tree trunk stump! http://www.wilko.com/halloween-decorations+lights/wilko-halloween-spooktacular-pumpkin-tealight-holder-terracotta/invt/0334938

Also ……. Christmas jumpers are now rearing their head in Primark (men's dept.) I wandered round with the light up Christmas Pudding for about 20 minutes before putting it back …. as I kept on reasoning that I really do have enough Christmas jumpers ….. and the ones with lights were £18.  But ……. I might, just might have to go back!!!!

They had a other designs priced at £9 which were musical …….. and this year the designs aint half bad!