A modern twist on the friendship bracelet...

I love mixing up textiles in Jewellery making (see here and here) so I've loved seeing all the thread and chain combinations that have been popping up over the internet. It was my friend Cath's birthday on Saturday, I knew I wanted to make her jewellery as a gift so I dusted off my tools and started playing around with some chain and this gorgeous embroidery thread (I'm a sucker for anything dusky coloured)...and this is what resulted!

For each of these bracelets you just need chain, thread, jump rings and a clasp. and a little patience (that's mainly just for the blue bracelet).

The chains in the blue bracelet are held together by two pieces of embroidery thread woven through each link and then secured in a knot at the end.

For the coral bracelet I had a throwback to my friendship bracelet making days when I was inspired by this post from I Spy DIY. 

And finally I used some light grey thread to create the simple plaits of the third bracelet to tie the pink and blue bracelets together. I love how these bracelets look when worn together!

Does anybody else love wrapping up presents...any excuse to make something look pretty!

Important news for Bumbling Bee readers...

I came across this photo from last July when we visited Wakehurst Place...it's got me dreaming of Summer!

But now for the more relevant bit of news...

You have probably heard by now that Google Reader is shutting down on 1st July. So if you use Google Reader to manage your favourite blogs then it's time to start thinking about alternatives. I have made the switch to Bloglovin' and actually much prefer it! They have made it really easy to import your favourite blogs over from Google Reader. Simply log in to Bloglovin', click on account > settings > other - import blogs.

Having made the switch I'm really pleased that I have. It is even easier to keep up to date with my favourite blogs and it marks posts as unread so you don't have to accidentally miss any.

Click here to follow The Bumbling Bee on Bloglovin'

I'm not too sure what this means for google friend connect - I imagine it'll also be on it's way out but if you know more then I would love to hear from you...

D.I.Y. travel-sized safety pin holder...

So are women really meant to have Mary Poppins bags that contain all you could ever possibly need for every possible circumstance? Because my handbag mostly just has old receipts and empty chocolate wrappers in it (hence why I will never do a 'what's in my bag' post...it would be completely staged because, as much as I love you, I'm never going to reveal to you how much rubbish I really carry around with me!)

Up until now I have never (intentionally) carried around safety pins. They're something you will hardly ever need but equally if you do need one, it normally warrants an emergency situation where either your arms are clamped to your sides for the rest of the night or your friends form a shield around you as you, clutching your skirt/dress/etc, make for the nearest exit trying to avoid showing everyone your choice of underwear that day.

Suffice to say I decided it was time to add safety pins to my handbag.

After the pretty addition to my handbag of the mini notepad I decided to continue the theme with my safety pin holder. Again, this is so simple (a common occurrence in my D.I.Y. adventures!).

What you need:

Thin card

Ribbon

Scissors/craft knife

Glue

Stapler

1) Cut out a strip of card (I cut mine 16 x 5.5 cm)

2) First fold your card 2cm from the bottom of the strip to create a small lip. Then fold the top of your card to meet the first fold.

3) Next using either a knife or scissors ( but knife is easier) cut two slits in the back of the card. this is going to be for your ribbon so they need to be slightly wider than your ribbon width.

4) Feed your ribbon through the back of the card so that the ends can be hidden under the first fold. Add a dab of glue to secure the ends of the ribbon together.

5) Staple the small fold...and you're done!

What are your travel necessities? Share if you have any cute ways to organise your bag, I would love some inspiration :)

D.I.Y mini notebook...

I meet up weekly with a group of my friends to read through a book called Women By Design. It's by a woman named Penelope Swithinbank, who we got to meet last week when she came to lead a retreat day at my husband's college. The book looks at identity and self esteem, challenging the measures we so often use to measure our worth. In the first week we were challenged to name things we like about ourselves...needless to say we all found it a little embarrassing and, well, very unbritish! We were much more comfortable talking about our shortcomings which I think as women we are very good at doing. It was a good challenge though because, actually, we should like ourselves. God made me to be me and you to be you, so we should celebrate our individuality rather than constantly compare ourselves to others! As a little joke I made these mini notepads for each of the girls the following week with the covers saying things like 'I'm just blooming marvellous' to serve as a cute reminder that actually they are just that :)

These are so versatile, I'm thinking of making another one to use to record birthdays and maybe another to carry around with emergency numbers in.

I didn't initially think to share these here so there aren't any step by step pictures...but that doesn't really matter as it's pretty self explanatory.

What you need:

Pretty card

A3 paper

Pencil and ruler

Scissors or Guillotine 

Glue

Printer (optional)

1) Take the A3 paper and cut into strips (one per notepad). You can make them any size you like, mine were 7.5cm wide.

2) Fold the strip of paper in a concertina fold using the ruler to score the edges.

3) Next cut out two rectangles from the card, these are the front and back covers so you want them to be slightly bigger than the folded paper (I cut mine 8 x 6 cm)

4) Next print out your statement on the printer, cut to size and glue to one of the rectangles of card.

5) Finally use a small amount of glue to secure the front and back covers to the folded paper. Place under a heavy book (or similar) until dry.

And that is it!

Happy Sunday :) Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend...has anyone else had snow (albeit a tiny amount) over night? 

Going (a little more) natural...

Apart from the rather large consumption of cake I think I eat pretty healthily...but I find that it's so easy to get stuck in a food rut, and what was initially tasty and different becomes a bland repeat of yesterday(and the day before that)'s lunch. For a while now I have been wanting to incorporate some more variety into my diet, especially if it means I find some healthy alternatives to satisfy my ridiculous sweet tooth. Here's a few recipes from around the web that I've tried and loved so far:

- Almond and Rosemary Crackers from Elana's Pantry. Whilst not perhaps the cheapest way to make crackers these were really tasty with some salsa.

- Granola Bars from Sincereley Kinsey. A completely healthy sweet snack that actually tastes quite nice? Yes please! Whilst I'll never be able to convince myself that these are flapjacks, they were far better than I was expecting - I used apricots and walnuts for my fruit and nut additions. Next time I think I'll add in an extra banana to make them a little more moist.

- Date Honey from Brewed Together. This is my favourite find so far...I am not exaggerating when I say that this has transformed my porridge experience! Porridge was something I endured whilst repeating the mantra 'it's good for you' but add in a spoonful of this completely natural sweetener and I can't get enough of the stuff!

- Almond milk - So the granola bars called for almond milk and since I had some almonds lying around I figured why not have a go at making it...I used the rest of it to make a delicious smoothie by blending it with a banana and a handful of spinach.

I have no intention of cutting out sugar completely, I feel cake and healthy living can be friends, but I would love to work towards cake being more of a treat than my first choice whenever the hunger pangs strike...do you have any tasty snacks ideas? I'd love to hear them!

Here's an interesting article on the health benefits of nuts I found over at Good Food (if you're interested)...