That's so Pinteresting ...

I finally did it.

You will notice a new little page has been added to my blog.

If you're "Pinterested", pop over and have a peek.

Happy Monday.

Love Katie

xxx

Market Day

Today I had a stall at a local Craft Market.

It was a fun day (albeit a wet and windy one!)

... A few stall photos ...

... A few recent Craft Fair makes ... 

  ... Christmas Decs ...

... Keyrings ...

... Brooches ...

... Spectacle Cords ...

... As well as my crochet goodies, I took a few of Dad's Makes along to sell.

My favourites are his "Norfolk Produce" crates and Shaker Pegs (like these one pictured above in my bathroom!!)

I brought this tatty letter holder recently at the Scrap Box. With a lick of paint and abit of TLC I transformed it into a greetings card stand.

Did you spot it?

Over the next week I hope to find the time to catch up with all of your lovely blogs. Time seems to escape me.

I haven't forgotten about any of you!!!

Thanks for sticking with me.

Lots of Love

Katie

xxx

Tutorial : Christmas Tree from milk bottle tops

O.k Ladies, here goes ...

My first tutorial.

This Christmas Tree decoration is really easy to make. My Nan made one of these for me a few Christmas's back and I really wanted to share this with you.

I hope you like it!

First things first.

You will need:

Green and red felt (or fabric)

26 plastic milk bottle tops

A scrap of card

A pencil and compass

Scissors

Soft toy stuffing

A needle and strong thread

Hot glue gun

and

Buttons and twine for decoration.

Draw a circle measuring approx. 9 cm across, on your scrap of card.

Cut this out, it will be your template.

Using your template, cut 21 discs of green felt

and

5 discs of red felt.

Tie a knot in a length of thread. Using a running stitch, stitch around the edge of one disc.

Keep the needle attached, you will need this to sew in the ends.

Take the first bottle top and fill the middle generously with soft toy stuffing.

Place the filled bottle top upside down in the middle of your disc.

Pull the thread end tightly, to close up the disc around the bottle top.

Sew a few stitches over the opening to make it tight and secure.

Repeat this process with the remaining discs and bottle tops until you have 26 completed "puffs".

You should have 21 green and 5 red.

On a piece of green felt, lay out your puffs using the picture above as your guide.

The discs now need to be glued in place, using your hot glue gun.

Place your glue on the base of one disc and press it firmly into position. Take the next disc and do the same, but as you go, place a little blob of glue on the side of the disc already glued in place, to stick the puffs together as well as to the felt. This will help your finished decoration to be a little more ridged, otherwise it will be all floppy when you pick it up!

Once all the puffs are in place and the glue has cooled.

Cut around the Tree. This is usually easier to do from the back.

(Take care not to cut into your puffs!)

By now you should have your completed tree base.

Now It's time to decorate.

I've used buttons for baubles, secured in place with hot glue.

If you have one, thread a star button onto a length of twine.

This will be your hanger.

Knot the twine securely at the end.

Again, with your hot glue, secure the twine to the top, back of your tree.

Take a scrap of green felt and glue over the twine end.

Now your tree is complete and ready to hang.

I also wrapped a long length of twine around the red base of the tree and tied a bow in the front to finish.

(see first picture)

Advent Idea

This tree uses 26 puffs, but I did think it would make a nice advent calendar. Stitch a pretty design on one disc of green felt and embroider the others with numbers 1 - 25. Make up the puffs and secure together to make your tree. Use a decorative brooch or pin to count down the days.

I hope someone finds this useful. Start saving your milk tops!

Have a lovely week.

Love Katie

xxx

A Celebration Post ... A year ago today ...

... Our wedding ...

... It was sunnier and warmer then ...

Thanks for being here.

Love Katie

xxx

Hedgerow Harvest ... Tastes of Autumn

Hello Ladies.

Lots of pictures today, so I'll keep my waffling brief...

Recent Hedgerow Harvests

(two trips down the lane)

Blackberries (destine for Bramble jelly)

and

Rosehips (soon to be Rosehip Jelly)

Blackberries for "Bramble and Apple Jamming"

Beautiful beginnings, Bramble Jelly.

Smooth and Glossy, Bramble Jelly.

"Chuck it all in", Rosehip Jelly

Plenty of jars, in "jewel like" colours.

... What does one do with 14 jars of jam?!?!

Homemade Bakewell.

Dainty Jam Tarts.

And Gingerbread.

Gingerbread?!?!? I hear you cry!

Yes, Gingerbread was on the cards, but alas no Golden syrup!

That's when that cupboard FULL of Rosehip Jelly comes in handy!

Worked well. Tasted yummy.

And last but not least ...

Did you notice my teaspoons?

Charity shop of course.

Blooming cute.

Thanks for being here.

Lots of Love

Katie

xxx

Craft Room Re-vamp #2 - Ways with Wallpaper ...

Good morning ladies.

Happy Sunday! I hope you all have lovely, lazy things planned for today.

Here is the second installment of "Craft room re-vamp".

... Ways With Wallpaper ...

A while back I picked up three wallpaper books at my local Scrapbox.

They were super cheap and the papers inside were gorgeous.

For months they were propped up against a wall in my craft room and forgotten about ...

 ... until now! 

As we all know, storage for our crafty goodies is essential, and in my opinion, the prettier the better.

I quickly whipped up these A4 sized envelopes using an old, disassembled envelope as a template.

Simple, right?

They now house various templates and patterns.

I never throw away useful boxes.

I have covered an assortment of shoe and toiletry boxes in some of the papers.

I have an easy peasy method of covering boxes, leaving no folds and ugly bits.

Again, simple as can be.

The largest, sturdiest box is now used to organise some of my ribbons.

Somewhere in "Blogland" I saw this idea for ribbon storage and tried it myself.

All you need do is:

Cover your chosen box,

Punch holes all the way around at regular intervals,

Set an eyelet  in each hole, (to allow the ribbon to flow freely and not snag)

Place your ribbons inside and pull the beginning of each length through a hole.

Ta-dah!

I also used some papers to line these drawers...

I brought this little pine chest of drawers on Ebay for £1.99.

Gave it a quick lick of AS paint and cut the papers to fit.

Recently I have also used my wall papers to:

Wrap parcels sent in the post (it's really sturdy after all!)

Make little envelopes for handmade cards

(again, using a disassembled envelope in your chosen size as a template)

and

Cut out shapes to use on Christmas cards!

But, why not try:

Snipping out flowers etc, to use for Decoupage on furniture?

Creating little pouches for handmade goodies?

Covering or creating your own books?

Paper bunting?

Any other ideas, Ladies?!?

I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for reading my waffle today.

Lots of Love

Katie

xxx