Christmas crazies!

How did Christmas get to be only a week away? We still don't have our tree or any decorations up! I would have been blogging about everything I've been doing for the last couple of weeks (mainly crafting of presents and eating of christmas dinners) but I've been too busy doing it all! I've started to feel rather stressed.

I can share 2 gifts I made last week, both were pretty quick and easy so you might still have a chance to copy the ideas if you're so inclined!

Gift 1 is a set of herb jars, inspired by an article on xoJane. They're normal jars (purchased from Amazon) but I painted the lids with blackboard paint. That way they can be custom labeled, and seen from the top in a draw.

 

I bought fancier jars than the ones in the article a. as a nice gift but also b. so that the jars can be stacked side on with the lids showing on a shelf. The blackboard paint in a tin was about a quarter of the price of the spray, but it has left some slight streaking, so spray might be a better bet! I've bought a chalk pen to write on them so that it's nice and neat and I'll give it with the jars.

Gift number 2 was a fairly simple bag for my Mum to carry her knitting in.I took a square of the cord and rounded the bottom edges, then sewed the 2 sides up and sewed a long rectangle with the corners cut off into the base. I then lined it with this cotton wadding, and a cotton lining over that.
The top was just a wide rectangle sewn over the raw edge, though I added some piping to give it a more professional look. If I made this again I'd make the tuck a box pleat, but it looks ok as it is (pain to sew though - had to turn the tension WAY down because it was so thick!).

The handles are cotton tubes with cotton wadding in too and were top-stitched in flace with purple thread (but light green inside).
The catch is another tube but with the ends pointed, and I added a magnetic clasp to the catch and the bag, then sewed a large button over the top for decoration.
Very easy and, if I do say so myself, very effective!

I just hope my Mum likes it (and that she hasn't found my blog yet!).

Stand by for some rushed shots of me going out for various shindigs (including a 1940s party on Saturday), recent sewing projects (tap pants, trousers and a golden corset!) and me cooking Christmas dinner for 7 on Saturday...Roll on 2012!

Cracking fun

Last night I sat down and made all of my crackers. I was surprised how easy it was and it only took me about 2 hours to make all 12 (in fact I made 13 but the first one went quite dramatically wrong).
It's a simple process and I basically followed this guide from Kirsty's Homemade Christmas.
I didn't bother to measure anything (I like my crackers to be organic, and I'm lazy) but I regret not using luxury paper as recommended - mine was thin and ripped a bit while I was scrunching it and tying ribbons on.

Essentially, I placed 3 toilet roll innards in a row, end to end, on the wrapping paper and cut a rectangle that would wrap about one and a half times around them.
I used a tiny square of double sided tape to fix the snap in place, a small piece to fix the edge of the paper to the middle tube and then rolled all 3 tubes up in the paper, fixing the long edge with a long piece of double sided tape.
Then I pulled one of the tubes out around 1-2" and scrunched the paper between the 2 tubes. I tied this with a ribbon, filled the cracker and repeated the scrunching on the other end. Since I don't have a paper perforator I snipped little holes all the way round both ends of the cracker so that the paper will rip when they're pulled - if you don't do this you'll have a tug of war over your dinner!
And that's it! Kirsty goes on to top her crackers with lots of amazing decorations and I may try to do this next week. Right now I'm pushed for time and cracker decorating comes pretty far down my list of priorities!

I bought the 12 snaps and hats on ebay for about £5. Other than that, I only needed the toilet roll innards (the one time of year I encourage wanton use of toilet roll around the house!), wrapping paper, double sided tape and ribbon.
I got my husband to pick 12 jokes form the internet (we'll see how funny these are soon) and added these, with the gifts. I find places like Hawkins Bazaar (a sort of toy and joke shop), craft shops and markets useful for finding lots of small gifts. I try to keep the price low, but if you look for nice things to put in them you will end up spending £3-5 per cracker in my experience so making several can work out expensive. Plus you end up walking around shops putting things in toilet roll tubes...
This year I've used a chocolate bar, nail varnish, a pocket tape measure, 2 key rings, a Sheriff's badge, a finger puppet and the dice bags I made. In the past I've used alcoholic miniatures, those flat pack toy planes, sweets, mini soaps, needle books, lip balms and small ornaments. I find, as with most gift related things, women are easier to buy for than men!

Has anyone else made their own crackers? Any helpful tips? Any gift ideas?

Crafting like mad

I've been so busy making things for Christmas this last week, I've barely had time to do anything else!
This is just a quick post, mainly to say thank you to some lovely people and to show you some of what I've been doing, before I get my head back down and sew.

Firstly, Jen's 10pm Cookbook has arrived! It's every bit as wonderful as I thought it would be. What shall I make first? Sherried Livers? Crunchy Prune Cream? Frankwiches? The world is my Oyster.

I am having a few friends over for a pre-Christmas dinner and I think they'll be the perfect audience to try one of the fabulous recipes out.

Secondly, The Vintage Knitter has given me an award! I love her blog too - go and see her...

Thank you!

Thirdly came Land Girl 1980 tagging me for one of these interview thingamies. As soon as I get a chance I'll be posting that up.

So thanks to all of those lovely ladies, and to all of you who read and comment on a regular basis - it does feel nice to know that you're interested in what I have to say and I am planning a reward very shortly (it's not bribery, it's a giveaway. Honest).

So I know you're all desperate to see what I've been up to.

I've finished my Secret Santa cross stitch (good job as the party is on Wednesday!) and framed it tonight. I'm very happy with the way it's turned out and I hope that the recipient will be pleased with it.

It only took me about 2-3 hours to do and the only cost to me was the frame, as I had all of the cross stitch bits beforehand.

I've also sewn the patchwork pieces together for the quilt I'm making and will be assembling and quilting the whole thing this week I'll post pics when it's all done. Finally I've cut out my pieces for a bag I'm making my mother in law. She runs kids clubs and is always carrying loads of stuff around with her, so I thought I couldn't go wrong with a new bag! I'm using the pattern from 'Quilt Yourself Gorgeous' and it seems to be going ok so far!

I also spent Saturday at a 'Homemade Christmas' workshop. We made loads of bits and pieces, but the main focus was on wrapping presents. The pictures below are the various bits I made - if anyone would like to know how any of these were made (they're mostly pretty self explanatory) just let me know and I'll do a quick guide! The workshop was excellent and I learnt quite a lot of basic skills which I'll be able to use on lots of other crafty things. I must say that learning how to wrap a box properly is probably worth the cost of the course all on its own!

This wreath was made for the kitchen using a bridal hoop and then decorated with bunches of thyme and bay leaves, and pouches of mulling spices.

Another kitchen decoration with dried fruit and a chilli!

Wrapping a box and a bottle (useful skills!).

Spare gift wrapping - soap.

Gift bags for the tree. One is a fabric covered toilet roll inner and the other a cone made from wallpaper.

I also managed to fit an evening out into my weekend - I know, I'm a mad party animal!

This was a 1940s dance at Bristol Temple Meads and was a very fun night out. I didn't do any dancing but the band, the University of Bristol Hornstars, were excellent.

I wore my green Butterick dress because, although it's not a wartime era dress, I hadn't planned well enough to have anything else to wear! I think it'll be making another appearance next week at my husband's work do, which is black tie. I don't think I have anything else black tie appropriate!

Wreath-ed in ivy

As promised, I'm detailing the method I used to make a wreath this Christmas.
I should start by explaining that I took a day class last year where I did my first ever floristry. I made a wreath and a table decoration under the watchful eye of a professional.
This year, I showed my Mum what to do, half remembering and half making it up as I went along.
You're getting a refined version of that second method, so although my wreath turned out pretty well, you may want to supplement my instructions with YouTube videos!

Disclaimer out of the way, I'll start by listing materials.

1 Oasis ring (I bought mine from ebay but florists and craft shops often stock them)

1 pair of secateurs and/or sturdy scissors

Some string

Plenty of greenery, consisting of 2 main types;

 - Thick, bushy foliage for the base - I used Conifer branches for mine

 - Pretty greenery like holly, ivy, anything with berries, etc.

Decorations - these can be baubles, orange slices, apples, bows, tinsel, pine cones or anything that takes your fancy

Glitter/metallic sprays (optional)

Old towels to work on
Florists wire

Green florist tape

Once you've cut your green plants, soak them, if possible, for 24hrs in a cool place. This helps to prolong their lifespan in the wreath

Then, lay everything out within easy reach.

To prepare your oasis ring, soak it completely in water, this gives the plants something to drink!

Then, with the seam in the ring towards the bottom, tie a loop of string around the top and pull tight, so that the string cuts into the oasis. This will be where the wreath hands from.

 Next, Trim the corners off the oasis ring with a knife. It doesn't need to be very sharp as the oasis is so soft. You're looking to give the ring a curved top so that the finished wreath looks thick and bushy, not square.

 Now you can start on the green bits! pull out some of the bushy base plants and find the end of a branch. Take a piece off about 5 inches or so long and trim the leaves from the stem.

 Push the stem into the oasis so that the piece of tree lays almost flat on the oasis. Repeat on each side of the ring to make one row, all going in the same direction. Move down the ring about 1 inch and do the same again for row 2.

Every so often, stop and check for gaps. look at the wreath from all angles and hold it up by the string, you shouldn't be able to see ANY oasis - if you leave gaps it'll look tired and thin.
Keep going all the way around and pretty soon you'll have something that looks like this!

Now comes the fun part - the decoration! You should think about the colours and shapes you want now, and try playing with some of the seasonal bits and pieces you got together before. If you have only a few of one thing, you should think about where to place them. Objects like fruit and bows look better if they're balanced left to right or top to bottom.

I decided I wanted to make it look like I'd wrapped holly around my wreath, so I too several short pieces and pinned them diagonally across the wreath. Because the holly has a thick stem, it can become tricky to get it in and keep it in the oasis. So, I took some of the florist wire and wrapped it around the piece of ivy. I then covered this in florist tape and pushed the end into the oasis. If it's long enough, the oasis can be wrapped around the ring, once it's poked through on the far side. This makes sure your decoration doesn't go anywhere once it's hanging up!

 To secure the loose ends I used a bent piece of wire like a hair pin.

You can use the wire in the same way to add other decorations. I used orange slices and cinnamon quills on mine. If you tie a ribbon in a bow, you can use wire on the back of the bow to secure it. For baubles, push a twist of wire into the ball and use the rest to push into the oasis. Pine cones can be secured by wrapping wire around the last few rows of spikes.

Finally, I took some of the ivy berries I'd collected and prayed them gold with a waterproof paint. These were wrapped with wire as before, and pushed in as a clump at the centre top of the wreath.

And that's about it!

I'd urge you to keep holding the wreath up to see what it'll look like on the wall or door, and to remember that minimalistic isn't in the Christmas spirit - keep it thick and full of colour and decoration!

I'd love to see you come up with if you do make one yourself!

Ah, on the sofa at last.
I've had my Mum staying this weekend and today has been exhausting. We (along with 68,000,000 other people) went shopping. I love shopping but today has put me off leaving the house for several months to come. Still, I had a very enjoyable trip to John Lewis' Haberdasher, where I finally bought some wool for the jumper my Mum's knitting me, and some sewing supplies, including my first pair of pinking shears! While we were browsing, I saw this book

There are 8 'vintage inspired' patterns in it and I really like most of them. I'm going to see if my Mum wants any other clothes sews so we can do another swap after this one!

We also took a trip to Ikea and had a thorough mooch around. I picked up a wicker basket to put the projects I'm working on in, hopefully this will stop the cat from sleeping on them.

Yesterday was a fun day, we had several cups of tea while we caught up, and then spent a happy few hours making wreaths. I'm going to try to write up my guide tomorrow, when I'll also post lost of pictures, but here's a sneak peek for now!

In the evening we went to an advent service at a church in central Bristol. This church is the Lord Mayor's personal church and as a council employee I get an invitation to come there at special times of the year, advent being one. Church isn't really my thing, but I do like singing and old places and my Mum is an occasional church goer so it seemed like a reasonable night out. Although it was freezing, the service was amazing. It started in almost complete darkness, and then over the hour we were there they lit more and more candles until everything was bathed in a flickering light. The choir started behind us and performed very ancient pieces, using a style which was a sort of chant with singing interwoven (check out my extensive musical knowledge) and some of it was in Latin. It sent chills down my spine to listen to it in that environment.

After the service we went to Browns for dinner. Browns in Bristol is vaguely deco inside and a great night out. I had mulled wine and a nut roast to thaw myself out, and a stewed pear dessert. All was delicious and a thoroughly good evening was had by all!

So, sleepy time now, wreath post tomorrow.

I also have posts formulating about my check skirt (with the CC41 labels), making your own crackers and all my Christmas present projects, which I feel may have been over enthusiastic and may not be finished in time. Ho hum. So watch this space!

Crafty temptations

In addition to my spending I wrote about yesterday, I've been doing a lot of lusting and drooling over various crafty bits and pieces. As well as the cold weather inspiring me to make some warmer clothes, I've been thinking about Christmas (I know, I know, but we are only 7 weeks away now) and reading the Crafty Christmas Club created by Tilly.
So here are some of the shops that have caught my attention.

I'm looking for 2 ply yarn for my jumper that my Mum has promised to knit me, and it's not been easy! Fortunately I don't need much, but what I've found has mainly been baby wool in soft pastels, or very very expensive! I did find 2 good sources though.

The first, Silver Viscount, has reasonably prices new wool in a good range of colours. It's not terribly exciting, but it looks like it'd provide me a good choice. However, I'm not so terribly keen on wool, firstly because I do find it itchy and it can also be a bit unpredictable in the wash.



The second site I found was much more drool worthy. Violet Green sell the most beautiful cashmere, merino, and cotton yarns in a wonderful range of silky colours. These are the ones that made me go "ooooooooh"

I've also been looking at cross stitching charts.Now, I'm working on a sampler I started back in the early summer and I'm still only about 1/4 done. In addition, I have 3 kits waiting to be stitched and 4 books of projects waiting to be sewn. So, in short, I shouldn't be looking at MORE cross stitch projects, but I did. Ooops.
I particularly liked the charts I found from the Historical Sampler Company. I'm a big fan of the traditional stitching styles and these mostly traditional, with the odd slightly trendier style thrown in.

Since I was on a roll, I thought I'd look for woll dressmaking fabrics. I need some warn skirts and dresses and good wool is hard to find. But. I did a search and came across MacCulloch and Wallis in London who sell on the web. It's pricey, looks wonderful and is fair for the quality that's apparent from the photos. I'm itching to get up there and see the fabrics for myself now!

Finally, I wanted to share this photo shoot. It's by a modern photographer in a mix of retro styles and is stunningly beautiful.

And last by certainly not least, I keep forgetting to mention that the very lovely Evie over at La Couturier Dimanche awarded me my first blog award! Thank you very much!

I'm supposed to pay it forward to 15 other bloggers, but I am very lazy and am finding it hard to find bloggers I follow who don't already have the award! So here are my 10 nominees, in no particular order.
1. Welsh pixie
2. Land girl 1980
3.  A Sewing Odyssey
4. Canadian Twenty Something
5. Did You Make That
6. Miss Magpie's Musings
7. Ohhh Lulu
8. Steam
9. Swingin' it in Vintage
10. Vintage Loving Librarian