Recent Purchases - Christmas Craft Special

This year, I’ve decided to get creative and have a go at making some Christmas presents and decorations. Over the past few weeks, I have been planning what I’m going to do and I’m starting to get everything I need ready and organised. In the past, I’ve left things too late and its hard to get exactly what I need.

 

One of the things I love to do at Christmas is a nice bit of festive baking and this year I’m very excited to decorate lots of biscuits to give to my friends and family as they make great presents. I’ve bought a collection of Christmas cookie cutters from a fabulous seller on Ebay who has cutters for almost any occasion. If any of you are interested, their ebay shop can be seen here. The cutters all come beautifully individually wrapped in cute tissue paper.

 

 

From Top Left - Angel, Santa Face, Snowman, Mitten, Stocking, Toy Soilder, Wreath, Candy Cane, Bauble, Holly leaf, Snowflake, Bell, Bow, Christmas tree, Gingerbread Man.

There are so many ways in which you can package and wrap these biscuits which I will show you in future posts, including using lovely Christmas ribbons and cellophane and old jars/tins and boxes.

 

Ebay is the perfect place to buy lots of cheap ribbons and twines, wooden decorations, paints, felts, buttons and fabrics to make some lovely handmade gifts and decorations so I fully recommend taking a look and getting lots of inspiration!

 

Here is a little sneaky peak of some of what I have bought over the past few weeks. I will be bringing you a series of Handmade Christmas posts to hopefully inspire you to get creative this festive season!

 

Selection of Christmas ribbons from Ebay

Fabrics

Felt and buttons

 

Will you be making anything this Christmas?

 

Hannah xox

Craft Project – Cath Kidston Photo Frame

Christmas is my favourite time of year and with it being just around the corner, I have been trying to think of some little creative crafty gifts for Christmas.

 

You can have lots of fun creating unique gifts for family and friends and I have a number of projects that I’m going to share with you over the coming weeks.

So here is my first one: Cath Kidston paper mache photo frame.

 

 

You will need:

• An old photo frame (I got mine from a charity shop for 50p)
• Patterned tissue paper (I chose Cath Kidston paper tissues in provence rose for 85p)
• Plain white tissue paper
• PVA Glue
• Paintbrush

1) Cover the photo frame with plain white tissue paper using the PVA glue and leave to dry.

2) Tear the patterned tissue paper into small strips and using the PVA glue layer the photo frame with the patterned tissue to give it a decoupage effect.

3) Leave this layer to dry and the repeat step 2 a couple of times.

This is the final result:

It has a vintage effect because the paper has dried slightly crinkled which I think looks great!
I will be giving this photo frame as a gift to a friend who I went on holiday with year with a photo of us together.

 

What do you think of this craft idea?

 

Hannah xox

DIY Project: Cute As A Button Tealight Holders

 

I saw this little crafty idea on the Hobbycraft website and instantly fell in love. I keep coming across the most adorable button crafts lately and I want to do them all. I’m addicted to cute little buttons as they can instantly update any old, plain treasures into lovely new creations with just a little work.

These cute tealight holders are really easy to make but they look great once completed.

You will need:

·        Tealight holder - £1 from Primark

·        Selection of small buttons (I bought mine from Ebay, which cost about £2.99 so over 200 buttons!)

·        Superglue,

1)     Add a small amount of glue to a button and place onto the tealight holder holding in place for a couple of seconds to secure.

2) Repeat this process until all your buttons are in place and your desired pattern is complete.

I have a number of cute, simple crafts coming up in the near future which I hope you will like.

xo Hannah xo

DIY Project: Customised Oversized Pearl Embellished T-Shirt

I have wanted to get into sewing and crafts for a while now and now that I have a sewing machine (I got a lovely one for Christmas) I have been doing a lot of practising and getting ideas for future projects.

One of my first projects was this customised oversized pearl embellished t-shirt that I wanted to share with you as it is so easy to do, really cheap to make and looks great.

You will need:

An oversized t-shirt (I bought this one from the men’s section in Primark!)

Fabric scissors

Needle and white cotton thread

Small pearl beads (I got mine from this Ebay seller) It's entirely up to you what size beads you use. I used 4mm ones but they come in a wide range of sizes so it really depends what you prefer.

  

1. Use a pen to roughly mark on where you want the beads to be sewn. The more random the position of the beads, the better.

2. Using the needle and thread, carefully sew on each pearl bead securely. I used white thread as you cannot see this when the beads are sewn on.

3. When finished sewing the beads on, tie a knot in the thread to secure.

4. You could also add a small stitch to each sleeve to turn them up.

 I also added some extra beads around the collar which is very simple to do. Just sew two beads together in line with each other, followed by another bead directly below. Repeat this along the collar line, leaving a gap in between each collection of beads.

It's not just an old t-shirt that you could update with pearl beads. This simple method could be used on almost any piece of clothing including a cardigan or pair of shorts.

Tip – It is best to hand wash the embellished t-shirt to ensure that the delicate beads do not drop off in the washing machine!

Do you like customising your clothes? What are your favourit projects? 

xo Hannah xo



Handmade Shabby Chic Hanging Hearts

Sorry I haven’t posted for a couple of days, been super busy with my new job. I just wanted to start todays post with a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and comment on my blog. The comments left for my Happiness is… post really put a smile on my face and I really appreciate the kind words :)

Over the last few days I’ve been feely pretty creative and crafty and decided to make something for my new room when I finally get around to redecorating and so I made these shabby chic inspired hanging hearts.

The picutre doesn't really do the purple colour justice - it's not as dark in real life as it looks in this picture. They were really easy to make and didn't cost a lot either. I have written a quick description of how I made them below if anybody is interested.

I have decided that I want my room to be painted cream/ivory but with one side a rich plum purple a bit like this room.

Image from WeHeartIt.com

How I made the hanging hearts

You will need:

3 big hearts (I bought these from a local craft store but you can get similar ones on ebay for really reasonable prices, like these)

• The little hearts I bought from this seller on ebay

• 2 colours of acrylic paint. I chose Violet and Sand Reeves paint which cost £1.99 each for 75ml but I hardly used any so you could probably buy smaller tubes for cheaper.

• Paint brush
• Superglue

I painted each heart with about 3 layers of paint. When they were dry I simply stuck a little heart in the centre with super glue. To make the dots on the purple heart I used the other end of the paint brush. Simple!

I think they will make cute little Christmas presents so if anyone is interested and wants some making, I might put some on ebay. What do you think?

I still have loads of paint left and some little hearts so thinking of making a garland to hand around my mirror. Will post a picture of it when it's finished!

Hope everyones having a good week.

xo Hannah x0