Simple crystal pendant...

I've talked before about how my style seems to have been simplifying over the last couple of years. Somebody I work with was surprised when I told her I made jewellery because apparently I never wear any! That's mostly because I don't see the point of trying to jazz up my work uniform (hey there tunic and bottle green trousers!) but even outside of work I find I don't really wear that much jewellery, normally just a necklace or earrings. I have accumulated a lot of statement necklaces over time but sometimes I just want something a little more dainty. When I was shopping for beads for my shop plans (which are currently on hold) I spotted this pretty 10mm tourmaline vintage Swarovski crystal which I just had to buy for myself :)

 

If you have made jewellery before then the picture is probably all you need to recreate this pretty necklace. but here's a little step by step in case you're new to it...this is the perfect project to start with :)

What you need:

I had a ready made chain and eye pin to hand so I used these. If you don't have an eye pin then just use wire - you just need to make an eye loop before adding the beads. Also if you don't have a finished chain to hand, all you'll need extra is a clasp and two extra jump rings. I use flat nosed pliers to bend wire at sharp angles and round nosed pliers to 'roll' the wire but round nosed pliers would do both jobs adequately if you don't have both pliers to hand.

1. Add the beads to the eye pin and bend the wire 90 degrees with pliers.

2. Trim the excess wire to 1cm.

3. Make an eye loop with round nosed pliers to close the wire (learn how to make an eye loop in this previous post).

4. Find the middle of the chain and cut in half. Use the jump rings to add the pendant to the chain. If you're not using a ready made chain then you'll just need to add the two jump rings and clasp to the other ends of the chain.

And that's it :) Despite wearing green every day for work it is still one of my favourite colours so this is a perfect splash of colour for me to add to any outfit!

origami gift boxes...

So now you've seen the little crafty gifts we gave at the party (clay stamped magnets, felt heart bookmark and fancy paperclips) all you need now is the box to put them in!

These boxes have got to be my favourite piece of origami yet - they are so simple to make but paired with pretty paper they make perfect gift boxes! I love that it is a closed box but only uses one piece of card - I always dread finding out that the separate lids to boxes don't fit - even after I supposedly measured it carefully! To open you just pull out one of the triangles that are tucked in to the top and the box opens before your eyes :)

I followed this tutorial over at Homemade Gifts Made Easy so do head over there to find out how to make these beautiful boxes. After a couple of boxes I didn't have to use the instructions any more, don't be daunted by the amount of folding involved, it really is very simple!

Happy folding :)

d.i.y. pretty fabric paperclips...

This is a really unessential piece of crafting, it's crafting for crafting's sake. I mean, these paperclips will work just as well without fabric...but when paperclips are involved in my life it normally means hours of boring organisation is also involved. So anything that makes it a little more bearable is always welcome :)

These were the final d.i.y. addition to the gift boxes (see here, here and here) for the party. Since everyone receiving the boxes are soon to be moving house I figured these pretty paper clips might help bring a smile when surrounded by the inevitable paperwork that comes with sorting things out for moving!

This is perfect for using up scraps of fabric and is so simple. I got the idea for these paper clips from Amanda Rydell's instagram feed, I recommend her for crafty inspiration, her photos are lovely!

Just cut a strip of fabric (mine was about 2cm wide) and tie it into a single knot around the top of a paper clip. Trim to your desired length by cutting the fabric at a diagonal angle.

Now all I have left to share are the pretty origami boxes for it all to go in to!

D.I.Y. felt heart bookmark...

I'm a chronic page folder...I know some consider it a crime but I like my books to look read so I don't mind. Not that I would dare do it to any books I borrow - the problem is I can never find a bookmark so I always end up spending time trying to remember where I last got up to! I saved this bookmark idea a while ago as a simple solution to my night time reading woes but then decided they would also make great additions to the party gift boxes.

As with the clay magnets I have no step by step photos but the instructions are really simple! Here's how I made them:

What you need -
Felt
Contrasting embroidery thread and needle
Scissors
Paper
Pencil

1) Firstly draw out a heart template on paper, making sure the point of the heart is 90 degrees. Cut out the template and pin to the felt.

2) Cut out a heart from the felt and repeat to make an identical second heart. Pin the two felt hearts together and trim if any sides mismatch.

3) Cut a length of embroidery thread and thread through the needle. Knot the end of the thread and pull through one heart (see photo below for a guide on placement) so the knot will lie on the inside of the bookmark.

4) Sew the two hearts together along the two straight sides of the heart. Next continue to sew around the edge of one of the hearts for the front of the bookmark until you reach the first stitch. Tie a small knot on the inside of the bookmark to secure the thread. The back will look like the heart on the right in the photo above.

And you're done! I thought it might not be obvious that these were bookmarks so I added a little explanation to help people out!

I have the practice one in my current book of choice and it's holding up well! I did worry that it might fall off the page but it hasn't so far!

For more on the gift boxes you can see an overview here and a clay magnet project here.

Happy sewing!

D.I.Y. printed clay magnets...

In the last post I shared the little gift boxes that we put together for one of the parties we had last week. It was so much fun thinking of what to put inside but also a little tricky. It had to be things that were small,  inexpensive, easy to replicate but also practical because, whilst pretty things are lovely, I didn't want to just create things that would add clutter to people's homes!

Thank you Pinterest! I don't claim any of these gifts as original ideas, pinterest was hugely helpful and inspiring (as always!). Except for the gift boxes, I didn't actually use any of the tutorials so I'll share on here how I made them. Although please excuse the lack of step by step photos - everything was made 17 times and there was a process to making it as time efficient as possible and that process did not include my normal over-the-top camera action! I'm just amazed we finished them in time for me to even take any photos!

First up I thought I would share these pretty clay magnets which were inspired by these Easter ornaments. These are a very sweet gift idea as you could personalise them and give them as a set, and if I dared bring up Christmas at the start of summer, I would suggest they would make great stocking fillers too. But of course I wouldn't dare do that ;)

What you need:

White air drying clay

Clingfilm

Rolling pin

Round cookie cutter

Alphabet stamps
Tissue paper
PVA glue

Magnetic strip

1. Take a small chunk of clay and place between two pieces of clingfilm (I found this gave the smoothest surface for the clay) and roll out the clay until it is about 5mm thick. You can of course vary the thickness, I tried slightly thicker but personally preferred them on the thin side. 

2. Cut out the clay with the cookie cutters, I suggest only doing a couple at a time so that the clay doesn't dry out before stamping your wording.

3. Stamp out your phrase, and place the magnets on a cling film lined baking tray. Smooth out any marks or rough edges with a slightly wet cloth and leave to dry according to the pack instructions. It can take up to four days for the clay to fully dry. Note: the thinner magnets have a tendency to curl up as they dry so keep an eye on them and flatten them out if they start to curl up. I made a couple of 1cm thick magnets - these didn't curl up at all.

4. Cut out strips of tissue paper and glue to the magnet, trim any excess and flatten the edges to the back of the magnet. Next paint a thin layer of glue over the tissue paper. I like the contrast of the matte clay against the glossy tissue paper but you could gloss the whole magnet if you prefer. Leave to dry.

5. Cut small strips from the magnet strip and adhere to the back of the clay.

This is a really easy but very effective DIY, I love the colour the tissue brings to the magnet - forget these as gifts, I want to make set for my own fridge!

D.I.Y. gardening kneeling pad...

I feel like the title for this post ages me about 30 years! But I am truly intent on getting into gardening so I may as well get accessorised appropriately ;)

I've mentioned before that, because we rent, we can't do too much with our current garden, so it is more about maintenance. I can't help but dream about all we would do if we had complete control over it but for now I'll settle for weeding, pruning and adding spring bulbs. When it's chilly, tidying up the garden moves waaaaay down our priority list...so when the wave of warm weather hit this weekend we made the most of it and got outside...but first I made my kneeling pad!

Now I use the term kneeling pad in its loosest way since really I've just made a rectangular cushion...but it works for me and, since I had all the supplies to hand, it cost me absolutely nothing!

Ideally I would make this with a waterproof fabric like oil cloth however I had this blue fabric lying around so I just made a removable cover so that it could easily be washed.

It's so easy and I plan to to use the same method (but with much prettier fabric) to make some indoor cushions!

Just in case you fancied making a kneeling cushion then here's a quick guide to how I made mine...

1. Cut the lining fabric into a 30cm x 90cm strip and fold in half. Sew the sides together, starting 10 cm from the folded edge to leave space to pull the fabric through to the right side. I added a line of zigzag stitch to further strengthen the seam. Trim any excess fabric.

2. Turn the lining cover inside out by pulling it through the hole. And stuff with your filling (I used hollowfibre filling)! Sew the small opening together, I would normally use a slip stitch for this but I was feeling a little lazy so I just machine stitched it closed.

Ignore the seam in the middle of the cushion, I used an old curtain lining which had this seam in it already!

3. To make the outer cover cut the fabric into a strip of approximately 33cm x 110cm. Double hem the short sides (if your fabric allows, otherwise a single hem would be fine).

Now right after my scissors started slicing up the fabric I realised I hadn't added the extra length to allow the fabric to overlap so please ignore the added fabric in the next photo...I went into automatic mode!

4. Lay the fabric out right side facing up and lie the cushion on top. Fold one end of the fabric over the cushion and position so that it is roughly in the middle of the cushion. Fold the other end of the fabric over so that it fits the cushion snugly. Pinch the two ends together as you remove the cushion. I'm sure there are more technical ways to do this but it just saved added measuring out! Pin the sides together.

5. Sew down the two long sides and then turn the right way out. Now it's ready for the cushion!

This took me no time at all...and it really did help my knees! In fact, there is a significant lack of chairs at work so I often end up kneeling when I chat with people...I wonder whether I'd get away with carrying one of these around the hospital for such times?! I could even make one to colour coordinate with my OT green trousers :)

Party decorations - giant tissue paper flowers...

So before I get stuck into this post, can I just talk about the weather for one tiny moment - how amazing has it been here?! This last weekend I visited family and friends back in Kent and I didn't need my coat once, it was even warm enough to sit outside! I really hope this is genuinely Spring starting, the daffodils certainly seem to think it is :)

Anyway back to my original subject...

I was also in Kent two weeks ago to celebrate my Mum's birthday. It was a significant one so she decided to throw a big party in the local village hall. It was so much fun - we had mountains of sandwiches and cake for afternoon tea and then a barn dance in the evening. Now I'm a fan of cake, and barn dances are my kind of dance (basically I need to be told how to coordinate my body when dancing) but my favourite bit of the day was the preparation. We came down on the Friday and I spent the Friday and Saturday with my family getting ready for the party. There was a lot of baking, sandwich making, amazing cake decorating (by my sister), present wrapping and party decoration making going on. It was such a lovely time together - I love my family so much. One of the cutest moments was when my oldest nephew (he's 7) was allowed to stay up right to the end after the others had gone to bed, he was getting fully involved in tidying up, carrying lots of chairs and showing me where they were meant to go...he obviously felt so grown up - it was adorable!

See what I mean about my sister's awesome cake skills?!

I offered to make decorations for the party and spent the week leading up to the party surrounded by tissue paper...anybody visiting our home got roped into making things too. My Mum had decorated the cake stands with pretty white and pink orchids so I tried to stay close to the colour and floral theme. I decided to go with paper bunting, giant flower pompoms and pin wheels. Annoyingly I left my camera at home so here's my instagram shot.

These tissue pompom flowers were top of my list to make. I had helped to make them for a friends wedding and loved them! I wasn't sure of the layout of the hall but knew these would bring lots of colour and fun. It turned out we were able to hang the flowers across the ceiling which made the space feel a lot cosier and more intimate...I was so pleased with how it turned out!

Here's how I made them...

A note on buying tissue paper. If you're planning on just making one or two pompoms then it's probably easiest to buy the paper in your local shop. However, it gets really expensive very quickly that way so I ordered mine online from Blue Star (UK) on ebay. They were the best value I could find and free postage. The paper was softer than the shop bought paper but that actually lends itself to this project! If you're making the pompoms to the same dimensions as mine then aim to buy 75cm x 50cm paper.

1. First cut your tissue paper to size. For one large pompom you need 10 sheets of 38cm x 50cm tissue paper, for the medium pompom cut 8 sheets of 25cm x 38cm paper, and 6 sheets of 25cm x 19cm paper for the small pompom. Lay all the sheets (for that one pompom) on top of one another and position them with the short sides facing you.

2&3. Concertina fold the paper (approximately 1" wide).

4. Fold the paper in half to mark the centre with a crease and tie a long piece of string around the centre of the paper, with the knot on the edge of the paper.

5. Scallop both edges.

6. Now comes the slightly fiddly bit. Open the folds out as shown and start pulling the outermost layer of paper out to the centre, pull it out as far as possible and then move onto the next layer of paper. Continue doing this until all layers are puffed out on one side. Then repeat on the remaining half. It doesn't have to be perfect and don't worry if you rip the paper a little. Once all the layers are pulled out, adjust them until you are happy with the final look.

And you're done! Unless you're making as many as I did...in which case you have 35 more to go! I made them up to step 5 at home and then puffed them out at the venue.

So pretty!

Playing with paper flowers...

In the January edition of Making magazine they interviewed the authors of the beautiful book Paper to Petal. It reminded me of all the pins I had accumulated of various paper flower projects but have yet to try out. I can't believe the transformation as paper is made into flowers - they look so beautiful and real. That book is most definitely on my wish list.

I have a ton of tissue and crepe paper at the moment from some decorations I made for my Mum's birthday, so it was the perfect time to try out a couple of different ideas I had stored up. It just meant I made gold flowers which doesn't necessarily reflect nature!

First up I had a go at this pretty rose from The Bride's Cafe, made from scalloped crepe paper. I found it to be the quickest of the three tutorials I tried and it would look gorgeous as a bouquet!

Next up I attempted to make a peony from a tutorial over at Freutcake. As you can see my flower does not resemble a peony. in. the. slightest! I still like it though but I think I need to work on my cupping and fluting techniques. I found a helpful guide over at Martha Stewart which goes through the different techniques of shaping crepe paper.

Next up I tried these paper flowers from Wedding Chicks. Whilst the other two types of flowers are made to be formed onto a wire, these have a flat bottom. It wasn't obvious from the instructions as to whether they had cut circles of the same size but I gradually increased the sizes of the circles as I added each layer. i really like how these turned out. These also worked great with tissue paper, they resulted in that pretty delicate pink flower in the picture.

A while back I was inspired by the D.I.Y. fresh flower ampersand on Paper & Stitch and I think I'm going to use these different flowers to create a word to decorate our home with...I just can't decide which word! Maybe Hope? or Love? Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Last minute valentine's idea - Origami fortune teller card

That's right, I'm bringing back the memories of school days. Yes, those days when you needed origami to tell you ground breaking truths - such as 'you smell'.

I have no idea what's come over me this week, considering I've never had the desire to share any Valentine's DIY's before! This was something I did a couple of years back in place of a card on Valentine's day. It's great because it's A) thoughtful, and B) totally perfect for those last minute 'aaargh I forgot it was tomorrow!' moments.

Having already made one for Andrew before (and already having made the origami love notes) I decided to make this one for a friend of mine. Whilst Andrew finds handmade gifts sweet and appreciates the time I put into it, he's always going to be far more excited by something like surprise rugby tickets! So I've been thinking that we should totally have a friend's appreciation day where we can get all crafty...and give the gifts to our friends who will totally gush over them in the appropriate manner ;)

All you need to do is make a fortune teller and fill it with fun or sweet things you love about that person. For this one I filled the centre with fun memories, the middle section with attributes and then I stamped the outside with colours. You could also do your favourite things about them, favourite parts of their body (maybe save that one for just your partner though!), hopes and dreams...hey, you could do anything! Then I decorated mine with washi tape (because everything is better with washi tape right?!).

Just in case you're not sure how to make a fortune teller here's a quick step by step...

1. Start off with a square piece of paper (mine is 20 x 20 cm)

2. Fold each corner into the middle to create a smaller square.

3. Turn the paper over and again fold the corners into the middle to create an even smaller square.

4. Fold in the middle to make a rectangle, open out and repeat with the other two sides. Open out again.

5&6. Put your thumbs and fingers into the pockets underneath and squeeze together to form the fortune teller.

You can make these as funny or as soppy as you like - although I suggest leaving those 'you smell' revelations firmly in those playground memories ;)

Happy Tuesday!

Mini origami love notes...

Valentine's day isn't a particularly big deal in our house, we're that typical couple that moans about the commercial nature of it...but then still exchange cards! Although often my cards end up being handmade because I leave it too late to go out to buy one - but don't tell Andrew that, I'm happy for him to think it's because I just really wanted to put the time and love into making something ;) 

But this year I've actually already bought a card and made these super cute love notes. Although Andrew saw me making them so they're not going to be that much of a surprise! And although these notes are perfect for being soppy with your partner, they are also perfect surprises for friends and family. I know I would love to get one of these!

Whilst I don't have an issue with Valentine's day, I personally think little notes or gifts on random days of the year mean even more. Why not fill in one of these sweet cards and send them to a friend or family in the mail or leave it somewhere they will find it...a little sweet word telling them why they're so great. An uplifting word really brightens the day.

I feel like I'm constantly saying this but these are so easy. I'm an origamiphobe so when I'm successful with origami I know anybody can be!

I was initially making the squares one evening and then I awoke the next morning thinking about how sweet it would be if they would work as hearts. When your first thought in the morning is craft related you know it's going to be a good day :) I was still in my pj's when I took to the paper and, lo and behold, they do make super cute hearts!

For decoration I used a mix of washi tape, paint, twine, thread, raffia and paper. The options are endless :)

The origami squares and hearts pictured were cut from A4 paper and result in the square notes being 7x7cm. I'll give the measurements for recreating these but you can make then in any size, the only rule is that the length of the paper must be double the width. If you're making it with patterned paper then start with the pattern facing you so that it ends up on the outside of the note.

Let's get started!

Square love notes.

1. Each A4 paper will yield 3 notes. Cut the paper into three equal 10 x 20cm strips - although to be exact the strips are actually 9.9cm! Put the other two strips aside.

2&3. Lightly mark the centre of the long side of paper and fold each end in to form a square. Score the edges with the ruler.

4. Open out and turn over

5&6. Fold the top right corner of the paper down to the middle of the bottom edge to form a triangle. Repeat on the other side and score both edges with the ruler.

7&8. Open out and turn the paper 180 degrees so that point of the triangle is facing you. Repeat steps 5&6.

9, 10 &11. Open out and fold the short sides of the rectangle into the middle, the card should fold in on itself making a diamond. To help the card lie a little flatter you might want to slide the ruler along the top side of the diamond to make the folds sharper.

12. For the lining, cut out a 6 x 6cm piece of plain paper and glue onto the inside of the note.

Now for the fun part!  You can simply wrap it with twine or go as creative as you like.

For the spotty purple note: Dip the rubber end of a pencil into paint and lightly print over the card (like this wrapping paper I shared a while back)

For the stripes: Make a note from plain paper and stick strips of washi tape over the back of the note, trimming the ends.

For the 'open me' card: Seal the opening shut with a strip of washi tape, using the tape to adhere your little message.

Heart love notes

Complete all the steps for the square love note. The only difference is that you need to cut the lining paper just short of 7cm x 7cm so that it covers the whole of inside square.

1. Draw a template of the square onto plain paper and draw out your heart shape. The important part of this step is to make sure that all the edges have at least one part left intact. You can see how I've used the edges to form part of the curve of the top of the heart and then the sides.

2. Cut out the heart template and place onto the square note, making sure the opening of the square lines up with the middle of the heart. lightly draw around the template.

3. Cut out and trim as needed until you're happy with the shape.

4. No step needed here, I just love how this looks opened out!

Again these look so sweet decorated.

For the scattered hearts: Cut out small hearts freehand from plain paper and glue onto the note, using twine to hold the heart shut.

For the wrapped heart: Wrap thread repeatedly around the heart, securing with a knot. Cut out a small heart to write a message and use a needle to make a hole and thread the thread through, finish with a bow.

For the decorated edge: Cut a strip of washi tape and stick over the opening. Use a craft knife to cut down the middle of the tape. Make a hole with either the knife or a needle and use the needle to feed the thread through, tie with a bow.

Who would you send these to? I'm planning on making a stash so I always have some on hand to send an encouraging little word to somebody!

Happy Monday!

Last minute gift ideas - Hot Chocolate Spoons...

One of my first ever pins on Pinterest were some hot chocolate spoons, I'd never seen them before and they looked such a fun idea. Since then I've seen all sorts of varying ideas for these crop up but I've never got round to making them...until now :)

I love giving little home made presents, last year I made a selection of truffles. Chocolate is always a good option at Christmas (Andrew knows to always shower me in it!) but I wanted to make something different this year so I finally made me some hot chocolate spoons! I've never been organised enough to give wholly homemade gifts but these make a great stocking filler or little additions to gifts.

They're equally great if you're in need of a last minute gift idea as you can source all you need from the supermarket! If you can't find wooden spoons then plastic or metal ones would be equally suitable.

These weren't a last minute dash for me, I actually ordered these spoons in ages ago for a craft event at which we made these exact spoons. When they arrived I realised that the spoons were far too shallow to hold adequate chocolate for a decent hot chocolate (who wants hot milk with a dash of chocolate?)...my friend Lizzie came up with the genius solution of using plastic shot glasses.

Using shot glasses results in delicious ultra-chocolatey hot chocolate, yes I tried them out, quality control and all ;)

Simply melt your chocolate with your preferred method and spoon into a shot glass, add a spoon and decorate with chocolate drops or flakes. You can either keep them simple with one type of chocolate or mix it up by layering or marbling contrasting chocolate.

Once you've finished pop the spoons into the fridge for an hour or until set (they set really quickly).

To remove from the shot glass simply dip each spoon into a cup of hot water for a couple of seconds, this should melt the chocolate sufficiently to remove from the glass without ruining the design.

Then pop into a plastic bag and decorate with a label and instructions!

Some practical notes: I got 4-5 spoons per 200g chocolate. Also, two of my chocolates split as I pulled them out of the glass. I'm not sure why this happened but it could have been because I was a little late in adding the spoon to the melted chocolate for these ones. If this happens, don't despair! Simply heat up a metal spoon in hot water, dry and rub over the inside of the chocolate, stick back together and then run the spoon over the seam to secure it back together and leave to set.

I used a range of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and orange chocolate (I was thinking of a Terry's Orange in a mug, oh yum). My test spoons were made with cheap chocolate, I nearly always use Value chocolate for baking, Sainsburys and Tescos are both really great and you can hardly ever tell with cakes etc...but I would advise on good quality chocolate for these drinks as you can definitely taste the difference.

This is probably it now for me before New Year...I did have plans to post about some pretty wrapping ideas but I'm working right up to Christmas and frantically finishing wrapping the rest of the time...so I'm going to be realistic and wish you all a Merry Christmas now! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with loved ones and build some truly fun and joyful memories as this year draws to a close.

Merry Christmas!

D.I.Y. cardboard stag head...

We had a Downton Abbey themed Christmas party on Thursday at Andrew's college. It was the perfect setting as it's an oldy-worldy college with high ceilings and dark wood...it was just sat waiting to be downton-abbey-ized! My friend Michelle was heading it up and she is the most incredible party planner, she transformed the college so beautifully! Seriously, I'm trying to convince her she could totally juggle being both a vicar and a party planner (the complete package for any wedding right?!).

My favourite part of the decor were these cardboard stag heads...stag heads and antlers are all over the internet at the moment so this is a perfect alternative if, like me, you'd prefer not to have a skull in your lounge :)

Sadly my photos aren't particularly great, this is due to two reasons. Firstly it was only as I was going to bed on Wednesday night that I remembered I hadn't cut out all the pieces so I had a slightly rushed early morning craft session Thursday morning. And secondly I was having far too good a time at the party so it was only as I was leaving that I thought to take any photos...so these were taken just as I was walking out the door!

But hey, they looked great dotted around the room. We used this tutorial over at Instructables, except we made the template larger. Head over there for how to make this fab DIY!

Here are some photos of the process...

All cut out and ready to be assembled...

And then everything just slots together like magic before gluing the head to the backing (I don't have a glue gun so I used strong glue instead, it seemed to work just as well). To help the head stay straight it's worth cutting the slots in each piece fairly wide, otherwise it forces the cardboard to twist.

And one final photo of it up on the wall! I stuck mine on a little bit lopsided so it has a slightly quizzical turn of it's head, I'm going with that it makes it endeering...haha!

I'm going to stop now before I allow any more awful puns pass my typing fingers :)

I hope all your Christmas preparations are going well! I've still got a little bit more shopping to do but I think I'm on track! Have a great week :)