2 weeks till Valentine's Day

Given its only 2 weeks till Valentine's Day i though i'd share some easy gifts you could make. This is just a small selection and i will post some more idea's later in the week.  If you don't feel like making them you can always find them on my facebook page or in my Folksy shop If you need any instructions or help just drop me an e-mail.   

So what Valentine's Day are you making?

First Valentines Day tutorial

Hi everyone.  Hope you all had a good weekend.  Personally mine was not great as in my day job we are going through a restructure and whilst my post appears safe (I'm taking on 2 more teams and approx an extra 100 staff including site staff for no extra pay)some of my staff are at risk and there are a number of people fighting for posts.  The formal process of the restructure began on Friday.  Anyway lets not dwell on that and focus on something much more cheery like crafting!. 

Today's post is a tutorial (though the projects that easy you probably don't need one!) on how to make the wooden keepsake below.

This project is an easy peasy one that anyone can have a go at.  All you will need is a wooden heart ( have a search on eBay for these or try your local craft shop or www.woodencraftshapes.co.uk ), some ribbon,buttons, tester pot of paint emulsion or acrylic will do and either a cricut machine and vinyl or letter stickers (or failing that a gel pen and you can do your text freehand).  First of all paint your wooden heart in the choice of your colour and leave it to dry.  Once it has dried cut out the following words using your cricut machine and a piece of vinyl. I loved you then i love you still i always have i always will. If you don't have a cricut machine its fine just use letter stickers (available at any stationery shop/craft shop or hand write the text on).  Stick on your letters as the photo above shows and then add a hanging ribbon and glue on some buttons as embellishments. That's it valentines gift number one in the bag!

Back from the sun!

We came ack from hols on monday night and it has done nothing but rain since :-(. I feel like my tan has evaporated and i'm mad busy at work and with orders and restocking at Btany Bay.  Its like i have never been away.... (but was fab whilst it lasted!)anyway thought i would share a couple of pics from hols and a couple of recent makes with you all. 

 This photo frame is one of my faves and i almost resisted listing it in my shop as i want to keep it myself!

Shabby Chic noticeboard

A few weeks ago i found two large wooden hearts in a charity shop.  They were definately in need of recycling but i knew exactly what i wanted to do with them.  I have been meaning to try and make a padded noticeboard for ages and just haven't got round to it.  Till now!.  I cut wadding to the shape of the heart and used red and white polka fabric to cover it. i also covered the buttons in the same fabric to match.  I also made some matching pins using fabric heart embellishments.  I also used East of India ribbon which i love so much... Anyhoo what do you think?....

How to dress a bottle

Today’s post is about how to dress up a plain present and card. This weekend it was my father in laws mum’s 80th Birthday. She said that she didn’t want anyone to buy her a present as there is nothing she needs. Of course I didn’t feel right turning up empty handed so we bought her a bottle of Campari (her secret tipple- not recommended as it tastes awful in my opinion but each to their own!!). At first I was going to put it in a bottle bag and jazz up the bag but decided instead to use tissue paper and cellophane to create pretty packaging. If you want to do something similar you will need tissue paper, florists film/cellophane (There are loads of suppliers on ebay), ribbon, scissors, clear round stickers (or sticky tape) and other embellishments. Embellishments recommended but not essential.

First of all wrap your bottle in tissue paper. Then cut the cellophane large enough to wrap round the bottle and overlap slightly. Wrap the film round the bottle and secure with round clear stickers (or sticky tape). I used the round stickers as they look neater but don’t worry if you don’t have any. I got mine from a pound store. Next take your ribbon and tie in a bow. If you are adding a tag (or wooden heart) then thread it through your ribbon before tying your bow. I painted a wooden heart and added some handwritten text and a fabric dotty heart.

I then decided that the plain white envelope for the card was far too boring and I was on a mission at this point so decided to try an experiment which I am so going to do all the time now as it looks fab. I cut a piece of the cellophane the same size as the envelope then used double sided sticky tape to attach it to the envelope. I then stuck a piece of ribbon along the bottom. I wrote her name on a coloured luggage tag and jazzed that up with some paper flower cut outs and a dotty brad.

My wood addiction continues!

I can't believe that i haven't tried any wood crafts before as they are so easy to do and look quite cool.  It also gives me an excuse to get some mod podge out!.  Here's a couple of things i made last night...

This little plaque took 5 minutes to make.

This love heart magnet has already been claimed by Lili!! Who has then put in requests for her friends at school!

Come on England!

Well it just had to be done didn't it!.  I thought this was a little more girly than making a flag!!.  i have stuffed it with wadding and dried lavender so it smells girly too!  While i was at it made this...