Category: Craft

November 24, 2014

Count up count down

There’s lots of things happening right now. The first one to mention is that fabrefaction TURNS 1 TODAY! I know, crazy right? I will leave any sentimental ramblings to my new year post, but it seems mad to me that my first little blog about an advent calendar made from egg boxes was only a year ago.

The other major thing that’s happening is that MEGAN IS GETTING MARRIED. In 12 days no less. Gawsh.

In honour of this we had a hen party last weekend in beautiful Bath. For part of the afternoon we had time to kill and every activity we looked up was crazy expensive or not available etc etc. After some deliberation it was suggested that I conjure up something to do.

So in honour of Meg’s wedding, fabrefaction’s birthday, and being as close as we are to December, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to use our make shift craft workshop to make an heirloom for Meg and Olly to obligingly hang at Christmas…at least as long as we’re friends…which will be forever, so…

DISCLAIMER: This post isn’t so much the usual step-by-step, more a little inspiration and a few tips along the way.

You will need

These little drawstring bags (or some like them)

24 little pegs (I got mine from Tiger, they’ve got numbered ones at the moment too)

3m ribbon to hang the pegs off

A whole plethora of Christmas themed haberdashery (The Range and Hobbycraft furnished us nicely)

A team of Santa’s little helpers

Now it depends how crazy you are, I rate as ‘very’ on the scale when it comes to craft. Cool kid I know.

Well, I didn’t quite fancy the thought of the hens free styling the numbers because I think a little bit of consistency helps the overall look of this kind of thing. Yes, I did tell them that as an introduction, and yes, I do have problems.

I printed the numbers in a chubby font to begin with using them as a template on felt.

If you don’t trust yourself to hold and cut at the same time turn the numbers upside down and draw round them very lightly. Then you won’t have pen marks when you turn them over. I was a bit heavy handed with the pen at first, so be warned.

I love a little blanket stitch on Christmassy craft. You basically need to put the needle through the felt at the height you want your stitching, and as you pull the thread through catch the loop so that it is held at the top.

Voila. Not fiddly at all. Nope.

If you are cutting regular fabric use pinking shears (the zig zag ones) so it doesn’t fray. Otherwise you may have to hem it all. The alternative if you don’t own pinking shears and don’t want to sew is to use felt, or just chance it with the fraying (but then we can’t be friends).

How cute are those little gingerbread buttons?! It helped to hold them down where I wanted them and half turn the bag inside out to sew.

I found it best to sew any details onto the individual items and then glue them down using a few dabs of PVA. You can be a lot more precise that way.

One down. Twenty three to go. Time to rope in some helpers…

Everyone got involved with the gluing action so don’t be ashamed. I loved little Rudolph with his number 11 antlers.

A few more.

The whole shebang! I love the way this turned out, and now Meg has a keepsake from some of her favourite people.

Thank you for visiting my little space of internets. It’s kept me going all year, here’s to another.

Katie.

November 10, 2014

Katie’s home cinema

Another little post about our half term day of fun. I hope you will forgive the lack of photos given I was supervising two little humans at the time.

I had promised my little friends that we would take a trip to the cinema during our visit, but it turned out there was nothing worth going to the cinema for.

Ever the crafter I decided we would recreate our own home cinema experience. I conjured up a recipe for toffee popcorn and made some popcorn boxes and tickets.

You can download the templates for the tickets and the popcorn if you’re in a similar fix, or if you’re just looking for a cheap school holiday activity.

You will need

1/2 cup Popcorn kernels (or a bag of sweet microwaveable popcorn)

125g/4.5 oz Unsalted butter

170g/6 oz Soft light brown sugar

2 tbsp Golden syrup

The templates

Step one

Pop the popcorn. If you’re using kernels and it’s the first time you’ve done it then you need to add some butter or unflavoured oil to a large saucepan and one or two kernels. Once they’ve popped you can add the rest.

When the majority of the corn is popped (the pan will be full), remove the pan from the heat and place the corn in a bowl. Get rid of any unpopped kernels.

Step two

Heat the butter, syrup and sugar in a pan until bubbling. Turn down to a simmer cook for 5 minutes, keep stirring so that it doesn’t catch.

Step three

Stir the toffee into the popcorn.

Step four

Spread out on a large baking tray. You only really want one layer of corn to stop too much of it sticking together.

Step five

Bake until golden (about 25 mins) on 180 degrees C/gas mark 4/350 F.

Leave to cool so that it crisps up.

Step six

While the popcorn is cooling, assemble the boxes and cut out the tickets. The kiddies can help with this, or you could do it in advance.

Step seven

Put your feet up and enjoy the film. Or do what I did and placate the children with sweets and clean up feverishly in the background.

November 10, 2014

Half term hair bands

This half term holiday I had promised two little friends of mine a day in my London pad. They were very excited and had all kinds of crafty plans and ideas to keep us busy.

When thinking about what we could do on a budget, I remembered learning how to sew when not much older than them.

I was pretty impressed with these two; by the end they were using the sewing machine unaided (although for their parents’ benefit – heavily supervised!)

This is a great little project for beginners of any age, but for the reference of anyone planning to do this with children, these two are 7 and 8 and handled it very well. It would certainly be doable if you don’t have a machine too.

You will need

Cute fabric

Elasticated hair bands

Needle and thread (or a sewing machine)

Step one

Cut two lengths of fabric, one 7cm x 22cm and the other 3.5 cm x 12 cm.

Step two

Sew a small hem along the long edges as shown above.

When doing this with the girls they used the foot while I guided it through at first, then I took a turn with the foot so they could guide, then they took the helm altogether.

Step three

Join the larger piece with right sides facing. Turn it through so the right sides are showing.

Step four

Lie the smaller strip down, right side facing upwards. Place the larger piece on top with the seam running down the centre.

Pop the hairband on top.

Step five

Loop the smaller strip of fabric through the hair band and squeeze it all together. Don’t worry too much about the shape of the bow for now, plenty of time to sort that out later.

Step six

Sew across the smaller piece of fabric as close to main body of the bow as your machine will allow. That being said, if you are hand sewing (and therefore have a bit more control) do leave a little wiggle room.

Step seven

Chop off the excess fabric.

Step eight

Turn the loop the right way round and attach it to some hair.

October 20, 2014

Burning the midnight oil

Winter is fast approaching and it’s time to get cosy. Cosy equals candles. At least it does this week, because I had left over spray paint from my mat making, and I really like spray painting things. Like really like it. In an unhealthy way.

This is a pretty easy quick make, and is satisfyingly effective. I recommend it for adding a bit of pizazz at a dinner party or even for sticking a couple of flower stems in rather than candles.

You will need

Clear glass bottles

White or cream dinner candles

Spray paint of your desired colour(s)

Newspaper and masking/washi tape

Step one

If your bottles have labels like mine did then you need to pour boiling water over them to soak alla that off.

They drink a lot of posh juice at work so I got these bad boys for free. You could also buy some from the home brew section of a Lakeland/Wilko’s; if that’s you, advance to step three and collect £200 as you pass Go.

Step two

If you’re using recycled juice/wine bottles then stick a little screwdriver or a knife in the metal bit and prise it off. It’s worth not being lazy and skipping this step.

Step three

Wrap the tops or bottoms of your bottles in newspaper, securing it with wash tape or masking tape which would be a lot cheaper if you have it to hand. As you can see, I didn’t.

The more care you take over this the better as you want the lines to be as straight as possible. Otherwise your OCD friends won’t enjoy your company at your dinner party; they will be too distracted by your wonky candle holders. They will be totally justified in this.

Step four

Go outside and put down some newspaper. Obviously the best time to do this is on a dry day, but let’s just see how well the British weather co-operates with you…

Shake the can of spray paint and hold about 20cm/8 inches away. Spray thoroughly until the bottle has an even, opaque colour.

Leave to dry.

Step four – bonus tip

If you’ve wrapped the top of the bottle rather than the bottom, I found the easiest way was to hold the neck in my hand and spray while holding it.

In order to dry it you need to find something to wedge between so it’s sides/the bottom won’t touch anything else. You could just hold it as they don’t take long to dry at all, but I found this storage chest/bench in the garden was just the ticket.

Step five

Whilst your bottles are drying you might need to do a little candle whittling. Mine had really handy grooves in them already but unfortunately were still a little on the large side, so I had to trim them down.

Just for the sake of everyone who knows how clumsy I am and would reel in horror at this picture, I still have all ten digits.

Step six

Push candles into the bottle necks and admire.

October 13, 2014

A hearty task

Just when you (and I) thought I was going to stop going on about my wedding filled life, one of my best friends decided to get married in December. Of course being a little bit obsessed with her and with craft, I set about thinking up some decoration ideas.

The bride in question hasn’t got a huge budget, so whether you’re due down the aisle yourself, know someone who is, or just fancy brightening up a corner of your living room you won’t be too out of pocket with this one.

You will need

An embroidery hoop (mine was 9″ from John Lewis for about £2, they are probably even cheaper elsewhere)

Cotton thread

Card/paper of your chosen pattern and colour (I was very fortunate to have an old map that had lots of dark blues and sage greens matching the colour scheme perfectly)

Double sided tape (not totally essential)

Craft punches of whatever shape and size you like the most

A ring from an old keyring

A sticky hook (I bought these from Wilkinsons; make sure you choose one with a very round hook as you are sticking it to the ceiling, not a wall, and you don’t want your decorations to slip off and come crashing down)

Step one

Use the craft punch(es) to cut out loads of your chosen shapes. Meg wanted hearts for her wedding but this could easily work with stars or leaves or something too. I also used some circles and smaller hearts to vary the design slightly. I got a bit cross with the small heart punch though so they are few and far between…

I used the punch upside-down to make sure my shapes were whole and that I wasn’t wasting any paper.

Step two

Keep cutting until you have a big old mound of them. I decided I didn’t want to have the white back of the map showing so needed to cut twice as many as I thought I would use so I could put them back to back. Of course if you’re using coloured card or double sided paper then you won’t have the same issue.

Step three

If you’ve got a sewing machine, run your shapes through it until you have a long string of hearts. I decided not to measure mine as I wanted them to all finish at slightly different lengths and for the shapes to be unevenly spaced. It will cause you a lot less stress doing it that way too!

If you don’t have a sewing machine use double sided tape or glue to stick matching shapes back to back with the thread running through the middle.

Make sure you leave a generous length of thread at the top to tie onto the hoop later.

Step four

Make several more strings like this. I think eight is the perfect number, but you might choose to experiment if your hoop is smaller/bigger than mine.

Step five

Remove the inner circle from your embroidery hoop and mark even spaces around the circumference.

I did this by tracing the circle onto newspaper and cutting it out. Then I folded the paper circle in half three times giving me an eighth sized segment. After unfolding I just used the fold marks as guides for my marking out.

Step six

Wrap the top of each length of garland around the hoop several times at the marked points. Secure with tape on the outside of the hoop.

Step seven

Using two lengths of slightly stronger thread/string if you have it; make a cross for hanging. Attach so that there is thread at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock points of the hoop.

I also then tied a single length of thread to the place the hanging cross lengths overlapped, and attached the ring of a keyring to that. I wanted the garland to spin around gently, and this won’t happen if you use the crossed threads to hang it by.

Step seven and a half

Unscrew the larger hoop part way to loosen it, place it over the top of the inner hoop and tighten as much as possible.

Step eight

Affix the sticky hook to desired space on the ceiling and hang.

September 29, 2014

Nice to feet you

Having been ticked off by one of my nearest and dearest for producing too much food and not enough craft on the blog lately I thought it was about time I sorted that out. Plus, I’m a little bit scared of her.

Having noticed the doormats along the street were pretty much all exactly the same, and needing to acquire one, I thought of this little make.

My housemate provided the rather excellent pun for ours, I can’t take the credit for that.

This could double as a housewarming gift or wedding present too if you’re a bit strapped for cash and want to give something unique and homemade.

Things you need

Plain doormat (check if it’s indoor or outdoor depending where you want it. Wilkinson’s have both for about £4)

Spray paint (again, mine came from Wilko’s)

Newspaper

Double sided tape

A sheet of paper or newspaper as big as the mat.

Step one

Draw a grid on your big sheet of paper. You are going to use this paper as the stencil; the grid will help you centre your design evenly and space everything out well. You don’t absolutely have to do this, but I recommend it. I just used the width of the ruler.

Step two

Sketch out your design.

Have a think about what you want to be sprayed and what will be mat coloured. If, like me, you are spraying the background and leaving the letters the colour of the mat make sure you keep them fairly bold and chunky. The spry has a nasty habit of creeping underneath.

Step three

Cut out your design, leaving everything that’s meant to be mat coloured in tact and leaving gaps where the spray will go.

Step four

Go outside and lay out newspaper on an even surface. Place the mat on top and arrange your stencil.

I used double sided tape to secure the letters. I won’t lie, this didn’t work perfectly as they did still curl up a little, but I couldn’t think of a better solution – blu tac would have stayed in the bristles of the mat.

Step four

Spray away. Keep the can about 20cm away from the surface. I used two colours and sort of merged them in the middle.

Here’s a tiny gif (I apologise, it’s not my best, I was too distracted by all the spray paint flying in my face to concentrate on the photography) but I got complaints last week for not including one…

Step five

Leave to dry and add another layer or two until the colour is quite pronounced. As you are most likely spraying onto a brown mat it’s unlikely you will get it totally opaque. Try to choose colours that are light and bright or really dark. The lilac colour didn’t work quite so well, so I sprayed some white on top to brighten it up a bit. The blue was good, and I think yellow might work well too.

Step six

Bring a smile or a roll of the eyes to your post man’s face.

July 8, 2014

Twinkle twinkle

Oh hi. Thanks for stopping by. This week I’ve been putting together a little DIY project for all you people getting married this summer. Or basically anyone who likes candles. I can’t tell you just how ridiculously easy this is and it takes no time at all, so no excuses, unless you are scared of fire.

You will need

All the jam jars and glass pots you can find (a great excuse to go to France and gorge on those chocolate puddings, and a perfectly reasonable level of dedication to your craft)

Tea lights/small candles

White tissue paper

Paper doilies

Some kind of nice rustic string or ribbon (mine was from hobby craft)

PVA glue

Step one

Cut the lacy bit of the doily off so you have a long strip. I found these rectangular ones in a bits and bobs shop which are ideal for wrapping round in a straight line.

Step two

Measure the circumference of your jam jar and cut the doily strip to size. Pro tip: when you cut it go with the natural curve of the pattern, rather than a straight line, as even if you have some overlap the join will be far less obvious.

Step three

Use the jar as a measure to cut a strip of tissue paper (one sheet thick) to match the height and circumference. You don’t need to be too exact as the tissue molds easily with the glue.

Step four

Using a mixture of PVA glue and water (about two thirds PVA to one third water) stick the doily around the bottom of the jar as shown. I put the doily onto the jar dry and then just painted over the top which worked perfectly. Pro tip #2: I know, I know, I’m spoiling you today…once you’re about half way round the doily will hold to the jar by itself so you can put your non paintbrushing hand inside it to hold steady and avoid getting glue all over yourself.

Step five

Repeat with the tissue paper, pushing it into the contours of the jar as you go. Don’t worry if it looks really scruffy at this point; it will be alright on the night.

Step six

Leave upside down to dry (or on whichever is the least gluey end!)

Step seven

Once dry, tie some lovely little bows around the necks of your candle holders. If you made a mess of the necks in the gluing phase you can use this opportunity to wrap the string around several times and pretend it’s all part of the design.

Step eight

Fill with tea lights and fire.

May 19, 2014

We’re gonna have a party tonight

Welcome back!

You might remember my mentioning I went on a little trip to Germany recently? I went a-visiting a wonderful little family who I miss very much. Capitalising on their crafty house guest there were some birthday preparations to be done. So aside from baking over 70 cupcakes (very popular little chap) there was the small matter of inviting other little people to come and eat them.

They were throwing a garden party with lots of traditional German party games, I really wish I’d have stuck around a bit longer to join in! So Mr Freddie and I crafted some invites that were fun and festive and will adapt to any theme or themeless party you’ve got going on.

You will need

A4 Card/thick paper (one per guest and an extra for the birthday boy/girl)

Bits and bobs to decorate with

Glue

Scissors

String

A small child with an upcoming birthday

This template

Step one

Draw round the template onto each piece of card and cut out a hat for each guest, not forgetting one for the birthday boy or girl.

Step two

Use a hole punch or something sharp poke holes in each hat (as marked on the template).

Step three

Using an open pair of scissors and a ruler score along the dotted line to create a flap.

Step four

Decorate! Use your (or your child’s) imagination, Freds and I used foam shapes, stickers and glitter that mummy already had in stock. We also cut some shapes out from the left over card so as not to waste anything.

You can use whatever you can get your hands on, cut outs from old magazines/buttons/feathers/draw pictures or each child’s name. Your only limit is the attention span of the child in question!

(don’t decorate the flap)

Step five

Cut two lengths of string for each hat. Use the child you already have in stock to get an idea of length, you need to be able to tie a bow under their chins. Doing it this way rather than one loop means they are adjustable for each guest.

Step six

Add the party details on the other side and voila! Your hats are ready to give out. Each guest is in charge of assembling their hat and bringing it with them to the party (worth having one or two spare just in case!)

To stick together just glue the flap (with the hat right side up) and stick underneath the opposite edge.

Step seven

PARTY ON

May 12, 2014

Dear darling….

Yo. Another Monday, another blog from me. It’s sort of a cheat really, as it’s a spin off from this present I made for my friend Beth a few months ago. I made one for each week she was away travelling, I hope she’s having as much fun reading them as I had writing them. I MISS her.

I’ve been reflecting a whole lot lately on what wonderful friends I have. Beth is truly one of life’s diamonds (I promise I’m not usually this cheesy).

So if you have a special someone in your life, take a moment to make them a little love letter and let them know how much they are valued.

You will need

Large pieces of pretty card/paper (mine are scrapbook sheets 12″x 12″)

Something round/set of compasses

Scissors

The outpourings of your heart

Step one

Using a piece of plain paper/newspaper/greaseproof the same size as your proper paper, make a heart template.

I did this by folding the template paper in half and drawing a circle to almost full width. Then use a ruler and draw a line from the edge of the circle towards the fold to make a point.

Cut out and unfold. Voila.

Step two

Draw round the template on your nice paper/card. Don’t be a peasant – use pencil.

Step three

Cut out as many as you need. I appreciate for you guys this might just be one, not everyone fancies their friends as much as I do.

Step four

Turn the heart around so the point is facing away from you, and fold the sides in. You might want to use the scissor blades to score the lines first if you are using thicker stock.

Fold the domed bits up to make the bottom of the envelope. Finally, fold the point down to make the flap.

A disclaimer for this step is to practice on the template version first so you have the right dimensions, to make sure your envelope doesn’t have any gaps. You’ll see what I mean.

Step six

Write away.

I folded strips of A4 and stuck one section to the back of the heart so it kind of pulls out. You might prefer to write straight onto the it if your paper doesn’t have such busy patterns.

I stuck a button on each of mine to close them.

Enjoy telling people the people you love that they are great!

May 5, 2014

I’d tag that

Well hi. Apologies for being MIA, sometimes the blog falls victim to life’s unpredictability, but I’m back, and thanks for sticking with it.

I had a birthday recently, so in honour of my stepping over the early-mid twenties boundary *weeps silently* I have devised an excellent little make to help your gifts stand out from the crowd. You can make a load of these up in one go so that you have a good stock of supplies to whip out at a moment’s notice.

You will need

Cheerful patterned paper

Some plain card or paper

Buttons

Ribbon

Strong quick drying glue

Step one

Cut your paper into long strips.

The width is up to you, but bear in mind it will be the radius of your tag. I found the thicker the strip, the longer it needs to be to work (I didn’t deserve my Maths GCSE for not knowing that instinctually) so you may need to tape two strips together if you want big tags.

All will become clear.

Step two

Fold the strips into a concertina (one bit forward, one back, just like in primary school when you made paper fans).

Step three

Stick together the two ends of each strip so that you have the star shape type things above.

Step four

Pick up your stars and push the top edges into the middle to make these circular flowery fan things.

Put a small dab of strong glue on the centre and hold until stuck (I mean super glue really, I have zero patience for anything else, and glue burns to prove it). On that note, be careful it doesn’t drip all the way through the middle while you’re holding it – unless you want a charming new finger accessory.

Step five

Stick a button over the join in the middle.

Step six

Find something circular that matches the size of your tags (or use a set of compasses). You want the circle to be a bit smaller than the tag itself.

Cut said circles out from plain coloured card and use a hole punch to make, well, a hole.

Loop a short length of ribbon through the hole.

Step seven

Stick the card disks to the backs of the tags using double sided tape or glue.

Write your meaningful and heartfelt congratulations that the birthday person is still alive on the reverse.

Affix to gift.

Step eight

Smugly produce your beautifully tagged gift at the appropriate moment.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week!