Charity Shop Shopping

I can’t tell you how good it feels to be able to go out and have a good mooch again.

Today a few small tranklements to fill the odd corner all from the Vale Wildlife Shop in Evesham. They cost me pence and when I tire of them I can simply donate them back or put them in my various tut sacks for Christmas family gatherings!  My total spend was £1.90.

I  had so wanted to be able to find a few more Easter bits and pieces to add to my festive shelves this year before lockdown fraughted my ambitions, which is why this little Easter egg trinket box was a no brainer at 40p!

It wasn’t until I got home that I saw the label on the bottom that said Gisela Graham.  I reckon there’s a bit of age to it as the style of the label print looks a bit different to a present day one and I can only find one other reference to it online on eBay. I also guess that new it wouldn’t have been that cheap.  Not to everyone’s taste, but on my festive shelves, for just three or for weeks, it will do very nicely.

Another no brainer here, 20p (?) and again when I got home I saw the label ……..

…… this time it’s from East of India and is still available on Amazon for £12.99, all be it without its fancy box.  I’ve found a home for it for now as I really like it, but where else am I going to find something for 20p as a whimsical nonsense at the Christmas or Boxing Day table?

I am assuming that this 80p hand painted vase was possibly originally from Greece (?), bought because I had just moved something from my shower room shelves and it seemed to fit the space.

The shelves are filled with other bits and pieces that also cost no more than £1, except for the largest of the hands which cost me £4.00, which is going some for me! The vase on the top left annoys me as it really doesn’t go, so I am now on a lookout for it’s replacement, then I shall take it back from whence it came.

I also found a small terracotta pumpkin tealight holder for 50p, safely put away for Halloween, it’s nothing special, but I think I might cover it with a lightweight, small print, Halloween design paper and varnish, even perhaps adding a couple of plastic creepy crawlies to it ……… we shall see.

Very Simple Zig Zag Daisy Birthday Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and uses a smooth, plain, white pre-scored blank from a bulk pack from Hobbycraft.

The zig zag paper used to cover the front of the card  came from an M & C Boutique paper pad from The Works on a buy one get one free offer, although a really lovely quality Christmas design pad, most of the designs are suitable for a lot of other occasions/themes, so a bargain at just £1 per pad.

I took a 3D sentiment sticker from a pack from Home Bargains (69p or 79p?) ……

…….. and mat and layered it on the same design paper, followed by silver mirror card

I then added punched white daisies and lime green leaves to add extra interest and texture to the card (for my niece Daisy), before adding a tiny button to the centre of each flower………..

N.B. Not a single dash of faux stitching or clusters of three dots in sight, now that’s got to be a record for me!

Beach Hut Magnet Decorations

A variation on my basic craft stick “house” design, turning my thoughts to small themed fairing gifts for Iris and Bertie’s teachers as a Thank you at the end of the summer term with perhaps a stick of rock?

I started by making the basic house shape using small blue, red and yellow coloured craft sticks (Hobbycraft, pack of 50 for £1.00) ………..

……… adding a few doodled lines using a white gel pen …………

…… and ready made bunting, (I know, I could have made my own), £1 from The Range.

All the MDF shapes came from BR Garden and BR Crafts, their range of shapes is fantastic and could keep me busy for years.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/qualityquickly?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

I just ordered a few shapes in the first place to see if the proportions worked and found that the 20mm and 30mm sizes suit this size project best. 

I had treated myself to a full set of Ranger Enamel Accents, but to be honest, white is all I really need. By covering the whole shape completely with the white I can then add the colours I need using Sharpie pens, especially on something as small as the seagull and buckets and spades.

I added yellow Dovecraft Enamel Effects on the shelf of the hut for the the sand, as the texture is more “blobby” and not as refined as the Ranger Enamels when dry which I  prefer on some projects.

I added googly eyes to the large crabs and just a white enamel to the small one with a black centre using a fine black permanent pens.

I intend to stick a small magnet on the back of the beach huts, I just need to order them from eBay.

I have other seaside shapes like octopuses and seahorses to use, but I needed to sort out this basic design before going wild, but expect to see variations on the theme in the coming weeks and perhaps even a few brooch/badges.

Non Essential Shopping!

Oh my goodness nearly four months without being able to explore the delights of a charity shop, I have sooooooo missed a mooch.  Well, I hung on until Tuesday before venturing out and oh it felt like bliss, even if I didn’t buy that much ………

My foot for scale in second picture.

……. however I did buy…….., a huge bag of wooden building blocks for just £2.50!  I did hesitate, as I need to find a place to keep them, but as soon as I saw them my mind was racing, after the success of my Jenga block snowmen, to all the other block ideas I’ve seen on Pinterest for Christmas and Halloween.  I’ve already sent Marc over a picture saying that when I go over to the cottage, legally, for Eurovision we can busy ourselves by either re-painting them or sanding them down to make them look rustic and aged.  I just need to sort out the shapes and sizes and see what combinations I can make up and how to decorate them.

I also found this extremely kitsch 50’s/60’s piggy bank, complete with stopper for 50p, it’ll probably end up in my festive tut sack, but for now she’s making me smile on the side in the kitchen.

The Works was also open, I went in hoping to find some more butterfly wings (no luck there), but these packets of 15 wooden fruit beads were a no brainer for 25p …….

…… as were the alphabet charms ………..

……. made all the more sweeter by the fact that I had £1.50 on my Works card, so in the end I only paid 50p for the lot.  I just need some ideas ……… though I am sure Iris and Bertie would also appreciate a bag of the letters to “do something with” ………………

Very Simple Hip Hip Hooray Card For A Boy

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and uses a smooth, plain, white pre-scored blank from a bulk pack from Hobbycraft.

A very, very simple birthday card today for my friend’s teenage son, not knowing his interests etc. I thought I would keep it pretty basic.

The paper came from an M & C Boutique paper pad bought from The Works on a buy one get one free offer, although a really lovely quality Christmas design pad, most of the designs are also suitable for a lot of other occasions/themes, so a bargain for just £1 per pad.

I covered the whole front of the card with a page from the pad ……………

……… and then mat and layered a 3D sentiment sticker from Home Bargains (I think they cost 69p or 79p a pack?) on the same paper, followed by silver mirror card and then a plain turquoise paper ……..

…….. before adding a little faux stitching using a black fine liner pen round the edge.  I did wonder about adding a variety of different sized silver stars here and there but when I tried it they just got lost in all the pattern, so I left it at that, short, sweet and to the point.

Finally …….. I Have A Craft Room!

It’s been an awful long time coming, what with three blooming meltdowns, but finally my spare bed, as was, has gone off to its new home ………..

……… and I’ve been able to move my Habitat sofa bed (Argos) from the lounge into the “guest room”, which is where you find me today!

I must have measured the settee and the space between the two sets of drawers a hundred times before making my considered purchase, and then daren't measure it when it arrived for fear it wouldn’t fit! 

Let’s just say it did slide in, but with about 2mm spare on each side, if that, talk about flying by the seat of my pants, someone was really watching over me when I tentatively ordered it!  The light grey colour isn't perfect, but I knew that, but it soon got the fiddle fart treatment when I covered it with the crocheted blanket I bought from a Worcester charity shop while out and about with Marc, a couple of years ago,  £8 very well spent!

The sofa, which has been well tried and tested for comfort and height over the past few months, folds out, with ample space on either side to get in and out, even with my craft table still in the room, giving an extra surface for guests to put things on if needed and saving me from having to move it back into the lounge if I didn't fancy it.

I really loved the bedroom as it was, but it served no purpose for around three weekends in every month other than for my continual traipsing in and out to find craft stuff.  This way I have everything instantly at hand, the mess stays contained and if I haven’t finished a project, I can just shut the door and leave it, where one thing out of place or extra in the lounge and it used to look as it a bomb had hit it. 

When the table is down and the chair back in the lounge Iris and Bertie have an extra place to play, as well as crafting to their hearts content. There are more than enough plugs in one small space to run a printer, computer,  glue guns etc. plus a kettle, it’s pretty perfect!  Another benefit of the extra space is that I can have my Dry:Soon heated airer out without it too being on display in the lounge ……. bijoux living takes some organising, as I am still discovering after almost 5 years, but I'm getting there!

The next job is to sort out the drawers (again), they are not too bad to be honest, but now it can be done on a table instead of on the bed, where things used to have a habit of rolling off and disappearing underneath.

The lounge feels pretty empty and bare without the sofa now, as does the kitchen area, even though its only the Ikea table that’s gone. With the radiator where it is, it’s not the ideal place to put something in front. I am toying with the idea of putting a narrow, white, console type desk there as place to blog, the view is pretty amazing (as opposed to the car park at the front), but I think I need to live with the space a little while longer before making another considered purchase.

Halloween – Fairy Skeleton

Typical, I’ve put off making these fairy skeletons for far too long, but now that I have finally got round to it they have turned out even better than they “looked” in my minds-eye, so obviously I now want to make a few more ……… except getting hold of the main components is turning out to be nigh on impossible, doh!

Marc found the skeletons two years ago in Tesco, he got me a little stash and though I have used a few, I was sure I still had a lot left, sadly, I find that I am down to my last three.

The same goes for the fabric butterfly wings too, bought from The Works specifically with this project in mind a while back, but now no longer available on their website, why didn’t I buy a few more packs (as usually is my want) when I saw them? Aghhhhh!!!

It was this reel of sequined lace that finally got my started, found in The Range (£1 for 3m).  I simply cut a “right looking” length off it, put a running stitch along the top, then gathered and tied it firmly together round the skeletons waist, before securing it with a blob of glue gun glue to create a skirt.  When it didn’t look full enough I repeated the process to add another layer to the skirt.

 

I then added the wings by putting a large and small butterfly wing together, sticking with my glue gun, to make a double layered set of wings, perfect!

The wand was made by putting a skull bead onto a cocktail stick with a small,  silver, star shaped spacer bead underneath before colouring the wooden stick with a silver felt pen.  The bead hole was a little large for the stick but another blob of glue gun glue at the bottom of the bead sorted the problem out.   The wand was then attached to the skeletons hand and chest using an epoxy resin glue as I wanted a quick but strong fix.

I wasted so much time trying to work out what sort of headdress the fairy skeleton needed, nothing looked right, so in the end I bought some large, silver crown charms from eBay, also attached with epoxy resin glue. The size was a bit of a guess, but the proportions are pretty bang on.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Silver-CROWN-Princess-Tiara-Royal-alloy-Charms-Pendant-Bead-Craft-Card/224326787458?hash=item343aeb2182:g:yigAAOSw4OFd4CcP

As an afterthought I decided to bend one of the skeleton's legs backwards using my heat gun to give him/her a more fairy like pose.  As this was my prototype I think I could do the same with the arms on the next two.

On the back of the wings I put a small jewellery bail fixing to hang the fairy by.

I can just see my twig Christmas tree full of these fairies ……. it might take some time, but at least I have a mission now to look out for more wings and new skeletons when I am out and about or searching online.

I do have another set of skeletons, but unfortunately they have a zonking great hole in the back of their heads, I could fill and cover it ????),  but I also need to try bleaching the skeletons too, as they are very dark. There is also, for me aesthetically, a problem with the positioning of the head, but I won’t bore you with the details until I work it all out!  I also have a few feathered butterflies, however their backs are very plasticky, and if I am making things to hang I like it to look good from all angles.

I could perhaps buy a large, plain butterfly die to cut my own wings, using a similar material to the originals and then spray starch them to add, pardon the pun, some extra body! Lots to think about and problems to solve, any suggestions would be very gratefully received …….