Christmas Pudding Pin Badges

It seems ages since I have done anything with a Christmas pudding theme, I don’t know why as they are such an easy subject to reproduce.

So, I got to thinking, Christmas pudding pin badges would be a perfect fairing gift for Iris and Bertie to give, along with a few other bits and pieces, to the lovely Breakfast Club and Kitchen staff at school.

I started with some 35mm MDF circles (eBay), simply colouring the bottom part of them with a brown Sharpie pen.

After leaving the brown ink time to absorb into the wood and thoroughly dry, I added the “icing/custard/sauce” using white Tulip Slick dimensional fabric paint, sprinkling it lightly with translucent, ultra fine glitter while still wet, before again leaving overnight to dry.

Then the magic happened, when I covered the whole of the pudding with Ranger Glossy Accents.  I don’t think I will ever get over how wonderful Glossy Accents is, as it transforms the ordinary into something really special and professional looking.  I could never craft without it. Once more the puddings had to be left until thoroughly dry.

I deliberately left adding the currants to the puddings, using a medium nib, permanent black pen, until the Accents was dry, if I had done it before the Accents, I would have risked the ink bleeding into the wood. That’s the beauty of Accents, you can draw on it when dry with a permanent pen(s).

Then the fiddle fart, adding the holly to the top of the pudding using holly confetti (I’ve had this for years but not a clue where from, I must have a look on eBay as I will need some more before too long) with three, red flat back pearls for the holly berries.

I tidied the back of the badges up by adding faux stitching all around the edge with a black, fine writer pen, before adding a brooch fitting using B-7000 glue for a really secure fix.

I then made small cards to attach the puddings to, before putting the whole thing in a small cello bag.

As I said at the beginning I think a few of these will be going to Iris and Bertie’s school at Christmas with the message “Thanks for pudding up with us!” attached.

What’s On My Desk Wednesday – Walnut Shells

With the success of my two walnut shell Christmas tree decorations from a couple of weeks ago, I was really keen to get on with making some more, but I only had a few shells left and was impatient to find more, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get any locally at this time of year and if I did, knew they wouldn’t be that cheap, especially as I wanted a couple of nets.

So, then I got to looking on eBay and found a 1kg bag of organic walnut shells for BBQ smoking for £1.99 (plus £2.99 P & P).  When I looked at the pictures it looked as though there were plenty of half shells within all the other bits, so I threw caution to the wind and bought them.

I was not disappointed, I was able to rescue more halves that I will probably need/use this year, as well as finding some other interesting shapes that I think I may be able to make something else with, bargaintastic!

Christmas Fairing/Favour Tins for Merci Chocolates

I think this year is going to be a small tin sort of year as far as a lot of my Christmas and Halloween crafting is shaping up and I can also see the potential of Merci chocolates to use in small fairing gifts, so why not combine the two.

Talking of tins …… I have to confess to a moment of stupendous madness regarding 56 of the creatures, because after saying how expensive they were last week, I stumbled upon a bundle of small cigar tins for £4.99 or nearest offer plus P & P. I promise I tried to resist, but they kept calling to me and so I put in a cheeky bid of £4.50 and got them, aghhhhh, so including the P & P they worked out at 16p each, but what to do with them?

There’s no great shakes to this first idea, I simply gave the outside of a tin two coats of white spray paint, leaving it overnight to really dry.

Next day I glued three metal Christmas tree embellishments on to the front using B-7000 for a really secure fix.

The sentiment is a silver table confetti piece sprayed gold to coordinate with the gold of the trees.  A smattering of gold three dot clusters and the front was done! Very less is more.

The inside was pretty easy too, as I just lined it with a lightweight,  small print,  Christmas design paper and then faux stitched round the edges with a fine tipped black pen.  I will add a handwritten message to the inside lid nearer Christmas when I know who I am going to give them to, at the moment  I am thinking the Lunch Time Supervisors at I and B’s school.

I wish the Merci chocolates (box of 20 for about £4.99, but I am hoping to find a better deal nearer Christmas) were just a fraction thinner, the tins are approx. 7/8cms deep, so as a precaution, I have also bought some small, round, clear, adhesive seals to put on the sides to keep the lid from popping and chocolates safe, but that’s me, I am a bit anal about that sort of things, wanting things to look professional. 

My eyes will be peeled now for other chocolates that could fit the tins for different ideas and themes, chocolate coins for little ones perhaps?

I am also thinking of using the tins as Christmas/Birthday money holders, with a box containing another 50 odd I have plenty of scope for ideas.

Halloween or Christmas Skeleton Fairies

About ten years ago skeleton garlands were such a Halloween staple in discount shops that they got boring. I bought my fill, mainly for decoration and then the novelty sort of wore off.

Picture from https://fabfinds.co.uk/products/halloween-skeleton-garland-1-8m – not in stock at moment

Then, when I was thinking “fairies”, you couldn’t find them for love nor money and if you did, the prices online were stupid. So, last year when they made a reappearance  I bought both Marc and I a few packs, they were no longer a pound, but at about £2.99 they still worked out at 50p each, which wasn’t bad going as the main component of a project.

But as I say, a bargain isn’t a bargain unless you use it, so this is what’s on my desk this week ………

My aim now is to use all the fairies I have  (finding more suitable wings permitting) and then get them out of my system.

The fairies are pretty basic, the skirts are made from two layers of 6cm wide, wired, sequin lace that I gathered and then glued in place with a glue gun, because it’s quick and almost impossible to remove from material once stuck.

The large black and purple wings were part of a really cheap artificial flower spray from a discount shop in Evesham.  I am hoping they will have a few more when I next pop in.  I teamed these up with a smaller wing from a craft pack, now sadly discontinued, from The Works

I then added iridescent flower sequins (The Works), adding a small flat back pearl in the middle, on the shoulders and breast bone of the skeleton …….

……. finishing it all off with a silver crown finding (E-bay) using B-7000 glue for a secure fix.

On the back, so that the fairy can be hung, I glued a flat bail and pendant fixing.

They needed something else to add to their fairy-ness, so I decided to give them wands,  I used a cocktail stick and a silver snowflake embellishment, to which I added a purple flat back pearl in the centre.  What really made the wands up was the silver, chrome pen I used on the stick, it really does look like metal. 

For good measure I also used the chrome pen on the skeletons toe nails!

I used B-7000 glue to attach wand on one hand and up across to mid section of the opposite arm.

I’m thinking that these fairies could do for Halloween, Christmas or just general, not to everyone’s task I know, but if I do get a craft stall later on in the year, I think I also need a few things that are different from my usual cutesy stuff and these might appeal to someone?????

Guest Artist – Bertie Boo

As I have said before, Bertie is a reluctant artist, he’s more model maker, writer or a numbers man, everything is always quite small, understated and neat  ………..

…….but these two pictures, the bottom one in particular,  from his school RE book touched all our hearts …………

I think I am going to see if I can shrink the first picture of Bertie and Iris to fit in fridge magnets and key rings for family crackers this Christmas, it’s just to beautiful to leave in a book.

Snowman Walnut Tree Decorations.

I nearly gave up with these little blighters, nothing went or looked right, so I walked away from them, slept on the idea and the following morning everything just fell into place.  I just found I needed a much lighter, less is more kind of touch.

I’ve had the walnut shells waiting for at least two years now, left in frustration after similar ideas didn’t work a couple of Christmas’s ago. 

All I had to do was drill a small hole in the top of the shell and then add a tiny screw eye hook, adding a little B-7000 to help secure the fix.

I used HobbyCraft Superlight Air-Drying Clay (£1 for a 30g pack)  for the snow.  It’s really, really weird stuff, with a texture not unlike chewing gum!  Learning from my mistakes the day before, I used a lot less of the clay than I thought I needed, pressing a small amount into the bottom of the shell, leaving room for the embellishments.

I put a cotton bud tip in the picture (above) so you can see how small the snowman and tree are, aghhhhh!  I made a pile of snowmen a while ago using white Fimo, adding a scarf (red thread) and black wire arms, but again, aghhhhh, the heads weren't really quite big enough to add a full face of eyes, nose and mouth except for these two, which means making another pile as I now know I definitely want to make a lot more of these decorations.

The little wooden trees had to be cut down a little to fit at the back of the shell, after a light covering of green glitter. I stuck the snowman and tree down with B-7000, again for a secure fix.

I also learned that I had to hold back with the white Americana Writer for a more delicate covering of snow, on the clay base and round the edges (I was far too heavy handed with my prototypes),  followed up with just a delicate dusting of Stampin Up Dazzling Diamonds to add a subtle wintery sparkle.

 

I am really pleased with how this second version have turned out …….. next mission ……….. to make a pile more!

Ghost and Ghoulies Halloween Trick or Treat Tins

Following on from the Skeleton Trick or Treat Tins of last week ……….

……. this is my second design, this time with a haunted house theme.

Using old 2cm deep cigar tins I found on eBay for just £1 for ten, plus £3.80 P & P which I sprayed with black paint on the front, back and inside.

……. and then edged with slime using Dovecraft green Enamel Effect 3D paint.

While the slime was drying I started to paint/colour all the various MDF shapes (eBay). I painted the ghosts white with a layer of Ranger Glossy Accents and the haunted house orange with doodles and more green slime.

The other shapes were coloured with orange and black Sharpie pens (bats and pumpkins etc.) followed by more Glossy Accents

When the slime was set I was able to add the shapes to the front of the tins using B-7000 glue to make sure I got a really secure fix, before adding the writing using a fine tipped, white, Posca pen, a few more wooden shapes and then small, coloured confetti stars and clusters of three white dots to fill in the empty spaces and bring the whole design together.

On the inside of the tins I used scraps of Halloween themed papers, gluing them into the lid and bottom of the tin and then edging with green Dovecraft Enamel Effects and writing “Boo” in black.

Then came all the embellishments, with ghosts, silver confetti webs and wooden spiders with tiny red gem eyes and a scattering of clear, flat backed gems…..

……. followed by lots of stars, swirls and dots ……..

……. again using a white Posca pen to fill the area around the centres.

Sooooooooo over the top, but why not?  ……

I just can’t wait to find the foil wrapped chocolates to put in them!