Matchbox Lollipop Favour

This is not my idea, I found it on Pinterest and I thought I just had to have a go.

This first effort was done very quickly, just to see if it would work, hence it is very plain, but it would be so easy to add stripes using tape or sprinkles etc. to make the boxes look more realistic

 

I used my Sizzix/Stampin Up matchbox die to make the box and simply glued a standard craft/lolly stick, which was in just the right proportion, to the back of the drawer.

So, simple but effective, I am already thinking Halloween!

Shop Shop Shopping in Evesham

Today, an object of desire, a considered purchase and the one that got away ………..

I just fell in love with this mirror …….. but, had I got a space for it (which I don’t) it was made of, I think, cast iron, so it would have undoubtedly taken down whatever wall I had the urge to hang it on.  At £150 I thought it was a bargain, but on this occasion not for me or my walls.  Please excuse my flip flopped feet, I am desperately trying to break in a pair of Sketchers for my walks back and forth to nursery, after 20 mins I has two blisters, I knew I would, so the flip flops were thankfully packed in my shopping trolley for such an anticipated discomfort! I HATE shoes with a vengeance!

I did however buy a set of six matching pressed glass sundae dishes, something I have been looking for for ages to go with my old fashioned Royal Doulton Minden dinner service for strawberries and cream.  These were perfect  and at just 20p each, it’s sinful really! They had at least another eight, and I am sort of regretting not getting another two for when I have a few extra guests, but hey ho!  And the one that got away?  ……….

…….. this humungous “wooden” bowl, perfect for Decopatching ……. and only £2, but just too huge to keep anywhere in my bijoux flat, I don’t even have any space left under the beds anymore.  I can hear Marc saying now, “ ….. you should have bought that gal, £2?  Oh my god!”   I tell you, it was so big you could have turned it into a coffee table, and I dare say I will one day regret not buying it, if only to store in Marc’s garage at the cottage for us to work on one weekend, again, another hey ho moment!

An Engagement Card

My nephew has just got engaged, much to the excitement of ALL the family.  They are a very unfussy couple, so I knew a plain congratulations card was probably the way to go. The original idea behind the card isn’t mine, I found it on Pinterest and saved it on my “Inspiration” board thinking it was  an idea that I could adapt at sometime in the future.

The blank measures 5ins x 5ins and was hand cut using a white linen effect card.  I was just not brave enough to draw directly onto the card blank, hence the centre and sentiment panels.

I started with the centre, with two black buttons, knowing that I needed to get the dress and bodies roughly in proportion to them.  I drew arms and legs very lightly in pencil first and then when happy went over them again with a black fine liner pen, rubbing the pencil marks out after.

I mat and layered the centre on silver mirror card, leaving only a very narrow edge, glued it to the card base, and only then did I feel happy enough to add the heads.

The ring was the final touch to the centre using a tiny clear flat backed gem. I then handwrote the sentiment, but decided against mat and layering it on silver, to keep it all very less is more.

Naturally, I have volunteered to help make any wedding paraphernalia when the time comes, if they want me to and to help keep costs down, so no doubt I will now be adding wedding invitations and save the date ideas etc. on my Pinterest Inspiration board in the coming months……….

Christmas Houses Craft Stick Tree Decoration.

Another craft stick Christmas tree decoration today, as I am on a bit of a roll with them.
The frame is made from two standard craft sticks and two mini ones, glued together and edged with faux stitching using a black fine liner pen.

I made the background using a scrap of glittery starry sky design paper and a scrap of white glitter paper.

The laser cut wooden houses came from an assorted boxed set that I think I got from e-bay.  I stuck tiny scraps of yellow and red paper on the back of them, so that the windows and doors showed up as yellow and the hearts and flourishes red, a bit of a fiddle fart but I think worth it.

I then stuck the houses into the frame, the three fit perfectly.

On the back I used red cotton thread to hang the frame from, covering the ends by sticking another scrap of card over it, which I then edged again with my ever faithful fine liner pen.

I have to be honest, I am not 100% about the holly, it goes, I know, but isn’t quite to my taste, so I have ordered some 6mm red buttons for the corners (and other projects) to see if they give the more homely, county-fied look I am after.

Craft Stick Christmas Gingerbread Men Tags

Not a lot to these tags made using mini craft sticks frames and self adhesive gingerbread men stickers.

These tags came about when I was just mooching through my Christmas box of bits and found some small craft stick frames that I had put together but didn’t know what to do with. 

I then found the foam gingerbread men and started to wonder if I could put the two together ………

For me gingerbread men and gingham are a must together and fortunately I had some small scraps of red gingham card that fit perfectly at the back of the frame.  From here, I knew where I was going with the idea, faux stitching using a black fine liner pen all round the frame edges

Next came the gingerbread man, followed by two tiny green buttons to sort of balance the design.

I then drilled a small hole in the top corner of the tag, put a jump ring through it and then tied some red butchers twine so that the tags could be attached to a parcel or hung on the Christmas tree.  The back was finished off by edging with a fine liner pen again, so that a greeting can be added when/if needed. Viola!

Foil Embossed Snowman Tags.

I thought I would try out my new White and Gray Big Shot with a little embossing to make this tags.

I’ll be honest, I don’t think the pictures do the finished tags justice, I tried from every single angle but to no avail, I couldn’t seem to show the edges and the top to their full advantage.
The foil came from a ginger beer can that I had cut up and flattened.  From one can I could get four embellishments.

I glued the embossed sections onto children’s wooden dominoes using E6000 glue as I needed a strong bond, and don’t think PVA would have been strong enough.  When dry, I drilled a small hole in the corner for a tying thread/wire.

I covered the edges of the dominoes using a narrow self adhesive aluminium tape which really made the tags come together, and look much more professional.

I then coloured in the nose, arms/hands and eyes with assorted Sharpie pens …….

… and added tiny, clear, flat backed gems to the snowflake part, although, to be honest, I don’t think they add that much, perhaps if I added some white Ranger Enamel Accents instead, it might have had more punch.

I added a wire thread with a red bead for extra colour as a tie and then went round the edges on the back with a black fine liner pen as the final finishing touch.

As I said, I think these tags look much better in the flesh, but could be fine tuned just a little bit more ……. so perhaps it’s a case of watch this space!

Twas The Night Before Christmas Tree Decoration.

This idea was originally going to be a Christmas card, but then I got side tracked by other bits and pieces I found in my boxes ………..

…… but after four years I finally say that I have to used the Martha Stewart Crafters Clay I bought in Michael’s in Las Vegas!

 

I was crafting with Iris, and we went halves on the clay, she wanted to make gingerbread men and when I had a mooch through her cutters I decided that I would make some mice, thinking I could make a card along the lines of Twas the Night Before Christmas ……..

The clay was very, very light and I think is made from some sort of paper product(?). I started with the mouse, adding a nose, and eye, whiskers and ribbon. I had a card blank ready, but then  I found some craft stick frames I had made a while ago and got to thinking ……..

I roughly fitted things together and worked out the area where I needed to hand write the first line of the poem so that the mouse fitted neatly over it.

Once happy, I glued the paper behind the frame.

I edged the frame with faux stitching using a black fine liner pen. Deciding that the mouse didn’t look right left white, he took on a completely different character when I coloured him  using a brown Promarker pen.  I then glued him onto the frame, holding him in place with a few small pegs while the glue dried.

I used red bakers twine to hang the decoration by, covering the ends over with a scrap of white card and edging again with a black fine liner pen.

The finishing touches, to add a little more colour and extra Christmassy flavour, were made by adding holly leaf confetti and red flat back pearls in three corners of the plaque.  I am so thrilled with how it turned out, considering it was meant to be a card ………

Iris’s End Of Term Sweetie Bag Presents.

Iris completes her first term at morning nursery in a couple of weeks time and I said I would make a few sweetie bags as a Thank You to all the fantastic staff. 

I had bought the ice cream sweets from the Co-Op a little while ago thinking that they would be perfect for a some sort of summer project and at 3 bags for £1 it would have been rude not to buy them.

I am always careful to use plastic gloves when taking sweets out of their original bags and then seal them immediately in clear cello bags using my ever faithful, but of late, under used  bag sealer.

I cut out the bag topper with my new White and Gray Big Shot, using a largish Spellbinder label die, going back goodness knows how many years.

I folded the topper in two and the used double sided tape on both sides of the reverse to securely fix the topper to the bag.

I then used plain and scalloped edged punches to make three layered circles, sticking them together and then handwriting two parts of the message on either side, adding a spare ice cream in the middle to continue the theme.

I have to be honest, the tops did take me quite a while to work out, using just one circle, as I had originally intended, just looked unfinished and a bit lost, however three circles together just seemed to finish them off perfectly.