Charity Shop Bonanza

I guess I was just in the right place, at the right time, when these treasures were being put out in a charity shop, which admittedly has a bit of a reputation in town for being “a bit too expensive”,  but occassionally yields up some bargains.

These small dies from the Tattered Lace, Forest Pines range were just 20p each, they are brand new and unopened.  Now, I don’t do a great deal of die cutting, but these delicate designs are really up my street, especially the Bare Trees at the front. I can already half see a very less is more Christmas card in my minds eye. I took just the designs I thought I would use, but I reckon the whole Forest Pines collection was there.

The nesting circles and squares from the same range were marked at 50p each, well it would be rude not too!

These three Joanna Sheen Signature Dies were also 20p each.  It was the pumpkin one I saw first, followed by the birds and poppy.  The birds are again perfect for a very less is more card, perhaps with a tiny stocking hung underneath?

The thing that had my heart racing though was this pack of paper, which is my most favourite Christmas design of all time. The pack had a Create and Craft band around it, but for the life of me I just can’t remember the name of the design or maker (all suggestions gratefully received). Around the time when it first came out I just couldn’t afford it, we’re talking back in 2007 at least, but I did find a digi kit (Little Joys by Zoe Pearn, now also long since retired) that I have used so many times over the years and spookily enough had thought about looking at again for this Christmas. Because all the items for sale were so current and in pristine condition, I wonder if this design has been resurrected more recently on Create and Craft, however, I just can’t reference it anywhere.  I paid £3 for 24 A4 assorted papers, glitter, velum and embossed.  I just want to stroke them at the moment.

This pack of 80, 15cm x 15cm glossy, Raymond Briggs Snowman papers was not originally cheap judging by the quality (again, I think probably from Create and Craft), but for which I paid just £2.  These are probably destined to be used on some very simple Christmas cards for the class of children I listen to reading on Wednesdays and Thursdays in school.

A finally, a lot less glamourous, something I hivered and hovered over for a short while,  25 sheets of black, adhesive vinyl for £2, time to get my Silhouette or Scan and Cut out in an effort to master cutting sentiments and alphabets me thinks.

I am guessing that this was part of one persons craft collection, as there were no duplicates and appeared to be whole collections from Create and Craft, including the Muppets, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tom and Jerry, dies, papers etc. and mostly unopened and so unused.  I am very grateful to them, I spent £10 in total, buying things I might never have otherwise, due to their individual cost ……. but the snowman papers, well they are priceless! 

Very Simple Snoopy Mini Canvas

This was Lu’s “birthday card” from me this year ……….. it’s very basic, but it’s something she can keep on her shelf as she loves Snoopy, rather than more as like put in the bin after the event.

It’s just simple a Poundland mini easel (I’m not sure if it was £1 or 50p), a black mini canvas (50p) and a Snoopy badge (£1) bought from a lovely independent shop in Leamington Spa.

I simply stuck them altogether using B-7000 glue for a really secure fix. 

Jobs a gud un!!!

Wooden Snowman Pin Badges

Following on from yesterday’s Christmas pudding pin badges, today we have snowman ones, something else I can’t believe I haven’t done before.

I started by covering one side of 35mm mdf circles (eBay) with Dovecrafts white, 3D Enamel Effects with a light sprinkling of ultra fine, translucent glitter ……..

However, I have to say I wasn’t 100% happy with the results when the Enamel Effects was dry, a little too lumpy and bumpy for my taste perhaps ……..

….. so I added a layer of Ranger Glossy Accents on top for a smoother, glossier finish.

I had made the noses ahead of time using orange Fimo.

The eyes and mouths were made using two different sizes of black, dome, flat back gems (eBay), all glued on with B-7000 glue for a really secure fix.

When all the faces were dry I added a little faux stitching around the edge of the back using a fine tipped, permanent black pen and a brooch fitting.

I then made little display cards for the pin badges before putting them in small cello bags.

I made 20 of these badges in total, not sure where they are destined for just yet, but Iris and Bertie will certainly be getting one for their coats starting on 1st December.

Heads Up To The Works

Just an extra heads up today to let you know that The Works are currently having a half price sale on their arts and crafts range, which includes various wooden and paper craft products, to help make way for Christmas no doubt.

Although cards haven’t been “my thing” for ages now, but I did pick up 4 packs of these 30, 6ins x 6ins cards, thinking that I could put something together for all the little ones I listen to reading at school for Christmas. At only £1.75 per pack that’s about 6p per card, including the envelope, making the hassle and/or expense of cutting your own card blanks really not worth it.  Cards are available in various sizes, both in white and Kraft and in different quantities depending on the quality of the paper/card I guess.

I reckon the best buy among all the wooden crafts has to be the drawer sets, perfect for advent calendars, reduced from £18 to £9.

I might also avail myself on one or two of these small crates for £1 as I can see them as a Christmas table setting, filled with goodies, a paper hat, a joke, a few sweets and perhaps even a little wrapped gift, something a bit different from a cracker perhaps, which are usually pants anyway, no matter how much you pay.

Anyway, it might be worth popping in or having a look online as prices are only likely to go up in the coming months.

https://www.theworks.co.uk/c/offers/half-price-art-event

What’s Under My Desk Thursday ……… More Walnut Shells!

Following on from last week ……… I so far I have managed to sort out at least 70 odd workable shells from the 1 kilogram bag I got from eBay, which were supposed to be smoked on a BBQ, (£1.99 plus £2.99 P & P) so if I just sell four of my walnut, snow scene Christmas tree ornaments for about £1.50 each, the rest will owe me nothing!

The shells under my desk have all washed, scraped out and drilled, (my least favourite part of the project)  with a tiny, gold, eye hook glued in position, ready to add the snowman scene, which is a pretty bish, bash, bosh sort of operation.

When these are all done, I will go through the bag again to see if there are any more shells I can repeat the process with. There are also quite a few “not quite half” shells that I am wondering if I could make into hanging cradles with a little acorn baby in them, but this might take a little extra thinking time and experimentation to work out a way to hang them…….. so watch this space.

What’s on My Desk Wednesday

This used to be such an autumn ritual for me since forever, but something I haven’t done for the last five years, I am talking pickling onions!

I had been sort of contemplating the idea for a while and nipped into the greengrocer on a whim to find out when he might be having some in, only to find that he already had a few sacks, with the prediction that they would certainly be going up in price in the coming weeks/months.  Well, it would have been rude not to make a considered purchase wouldn’t it, especially when shop bought jars never quite hit the pickled onion button!

I’ve never done them this early before, it was always a September thing, but after three and a half hours of constant peeling on Sunday morning, as I was on the brink of developing blisters, I was done and feeling pretty smug and satisfied with myself.   Now, I’ve just got to forget about them for a while with fingers crossed they turn out OK ……. then look out cold meats, cheese and crusty bread, because here I come!

Re-vamped Felt Reindeer Decorations/Tags

Today I bring you ……….  re-vamped Primark reindeer tags!

When I saw these reindeer tag decorations reduced in Primark (Wolverhampton) from £3.50 to £1 for a pack of 4 it was a no brainer.

They were pretty basic as they were, not brilliant, but nothing, I thought, a pair of googly eyes, a red nose and a bow couldn’t fix.

Before I chopped off their noses, there were a few repairs to the antlers to be done where some of the gold layer had come away from the felt antler underneath. Then 20mm eyes replaced the printed eyes ……..

……. and 25mm red pom poms replaced the smaller black noses, glued with a glue gun for a really secure fix.

I also removed the two bells, but then fastened one of them to a red bow from The Works (pack of 12 for £1), also stuck down using a glue gun.

I reckon the reindeer cost me another 35p each to revamp, so still a bargain at 60p. A substantial gift tag that you could then hang on the Christmas tree and hopefully keep for many years to come with all their associated memories.

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.