Knockoff

Lately I have seen those milkbottles on many blogs for parties and decorating - I have no intention of ordering empty bottles from somewhere when I can use perfectly formed bottles that came with the added benefit of a Starbucks Frappuccino!

Just drink the Frappuccino, soak the bottles in boiling water to sterilise and to loosen the label and there you go...

Countdown

This is what I made out of all those cardboard rolls I collected: a cracker of an advent calendar :)
I used plain brown paper, string and some glittery stickers. The numbers will be added when I have filled the calendar and then it will be strung onto a garland on the wall.

Christmastree

Experiment No3: A bespoke silver window sticker. Beware- only for patient people...

Deco

Experiment No2: Christmastree of the hard to break plastic lightshade variety. The pattern was punched through the plastic and is illuminated from the inside. Less kittenproof but also possible in black card...

Decoration

First Experiment: Christmastree made of snowflake window stickers.

The "Nightmare" before Christmas

No, this has absolutely nothing to do with the ususal "suspects" like giftlist or cost or organisation of the festivities, I'm pretty good with all that. This year our homelife has changed and all the preparation and decoration will have to change with it: I have to kittenproof Christmas.

As I write this post she has climbed up the curtains and walks along the curtain pole. You see my problem? No tree, no decorations on furniture, no baubles or wreaths on tables or hanging anywhere, no garlands, certainly no candles or even presents left out...no Christmas? I need to get my head around minimalism this season!

Customize

This is the first T-shirt-transfer I attempted. Step one is to work on the motif on your computer and save it ready for printing onto a transfer sheet. It has to be printed as "mirror image" or flipped horizontally for the writing to be the right way round and with the print quality set to the best available.
Step two is to preheat the iron on the highest setting and to cut the picture leaving a 5mm border. It is ironed printed side down onto the T-shirt (pre-ironed and wrinkle free) : Place a smooth cloth between the shirt and ironing board and iron, using the centre of the iron (including across all edges) by applying consistent downward circular pressure for 60-90 seconds, 90-120 seconds for large images.
Step three is to leave the transfer paper to cool down and peel off the interleaving paper from a corner using firm and steady pressure.

Wash fabric at a max 40C, turning the garment inside out. Do not tumble dry and protect the image with kitchen baking paper when ironing.

No, really...

These are for 8 different people

...I HAVE been busy! There is a parcel in a corner as well, but it is claimed as a seat by the cat .

Prep

I have not been lazy in the last few weeks, although I didn't post anything. I have been collecting cardboard rolls for this years advent calendars and I think I have more than enough now. I also have plain brown wrapping paper, double sided sticky tape and string to tie them with. All I need now is some quiet time to finish them...

Gifttags

I have mentioned before that my daughter loves penguins so when I saw this I immediately thought: Gifttags.

Absolutely free and suitable for Birthdays or Christmas.

DIY

I am already on the lookout for new ideas for the season. I intend to make good use of my instrument-playing daughter and my camera for these.

Bookbag for Bookworms

Some time ago my daughter was given a pyjama-giftset in this fabric bag. It seemed somewhat unneeded without its content and, as she likes to drag books around with her wherever she goes, I took the label off and decided to turn it into a protective cover for her 'prrrrrecioussss'.

Writing in fabric pen, ironed on medium heat to fix the colour. For more expensive items I would have added an inner bag of padding, sewn on along the opening.

Variation

Seen in a magazine, but I didn't like the
colour of the  bracelet.

Make your own.

Woof!

Like certain Doggie-Charms for handbags etc.? Make them yourself!

Cut out of leather, add beadie-eyes and a 'leash' and tie to your bag.

Bracelet

Take a broken studded belt,

cut it off, punch one hole 

and turn into a bracelet.

Charmbracelet

Blue strap and the charm I found on the street a few weeks ago (really!).

Knot one end around the main bit,

like so,

and do the same on the other end. Now the whole thing can be adjusted.

Tadaa! Charm - found on the street, ring - found on the dining room floor (erm), cotton strap - already in the house. 

T-Shirt Design

Take a white Tee and some Fabric Pens,

slip newspaper inside and draw your design.
Iron on medium to fix the colours.

Photo-Project

For the birthday of a relative we decided on a few photographs of the children. No, I don't think that they are so fabulous that everyone should feel themselves honoured to receive their pictures (although they are, of course...:-) ). My Family lives about 2000 miles away (by plane!), so they miss out on seeing them.
This Project pretty quickly turned into one I called "Get lost with your stooopid camera!", but we are always up for a bit of fun! I had to promise my son not to put his online though - such a shame...

Customizing Clothes

My daughter ripped the knees of a perfectly good pair of jeans (that cost a bob or two), and as I was not prepared just to throw it away

I asked her what length she would find comfortable for shorts and cut off the legs - easy. The edges will fray quite naturally and she gets more wear out of it.

Mother's Day

This is a fast present for Mums: A piece of wire with red beads, shaped into a heart and with a ribbon attached to hang it up -quickly done last minute.

Store needles

You need a pretty card, a strip of felt and some ribbon.

Sew the felt into the card and thread the ribbon through two
slits. 

These are around at the moment and it is not difficult to make your own. They are easy to slip into a bag or pocket.

Freestyle Card

It is time to think about the next occasion on the horizon. It seems to have been invented to interrupt the bleak stretch after Christmastime, when the weather is at its most dull and dire over here: Valentine's Day. This time I used unlikely templates for the obligatory card - Brussel Sprouts. You could also opt for lettuce heads for a bigger design...

Cut through the sprouts,

dip them into paint or press onto an ink pad and stamp
your 'roses' onto the card.

The leaves were made by rolling the outside of the sprout
over the card.

Lightly scribble the outlines of the roses
on the card with silver or gold gel pen.

Add a sheet of vellum or white paper inside to write your
sentiment on and simply use some ribbon to hold both together.

Scented Napkinrings

For this you need some velvet ribbon, star anise and a hot-glue gun. You could try PVA glue, but it probably won't be as reliable.