Up cycled baby grows

When you first meet me I promise your first instinct will not be 'wow what a maternal woman' it's much more likely to be 'wow how has this person survived on her own so long'. You think I'm kidding but my nearest and dearest often joke that I'm on day release and they are my carers.
My point: I'm probably the least likely person to be interested in baby clothes. Now I haven't gone to the lengths of Sarah Millican who accidentally collects baby clothes for when Cheryl Cole pops by but I do think they are cute.
This is not your invitation to suggest I start having babies, I know I'm a person in possession of a uterus that is still ornamental but I promise you, I'm merely making a statement.
My latest craft fix comes from taking the baby grow that the child has grown out of, (taking the clothes from babies while they are still wearing them is probably more frowned upon than taking candy right?) cutting it up and making it into something new. This something new happens to be a love heart made out of covered buttons using the baby grows. The parents pick the clothes so they get to treasure the memories for much longer than it's acceptable to keep the baby grow, if Sarah, you are reading this perhaps it's time the tiny jeans go, and you get a keepsake for their room. And it's not just for girls. When a colleague passed me a bag of boys clothes I had a mini melt down but then came up with the dinosaur you see at the bottom.
Both sets of mummies at least liked the pictures from what I could gather and it kept my hands from shoving cake into a reluctant face for at least a day so it's all good. Ok so the face wasn't reluctant. I want cake.

Embroidery for a tea addict

Good morning folks. Just sharing with you another make done in stages and finally handed out recently for a birthday that happened a long time ago. Long distance friendships, what can I say.
The stitches read 'you're just my cup of tea' and the ribbon reads 'handmade with love'. My crafting seems to be improving but my ability to take pictures is not.
I saw this idea in a shop and thought I should give it a go. I drew the pattern on the back of the fabric so you wouldn't see the pencil marks - I'm not a brilliant artist so I knew I would need to hide the pencil marks.
This worked quite well except you have to keep turning the fabric over to make sure you're following the pattern but making sure that the stitches look good on the right side. I wish I had used my embroidery hoop and cannot highlight enough how useful these rounds of wood are. It would've made my life much easier. I used backstitch for the pattern and the words which I think worked quite well.
If you're looking for an alternative mothers day gift and have a little ditty that you and a special someone share, these might be just the thing. I'm really pleased with the outcome, it's a really personal gift that I think my friend likes. I guess I will know if I see it when I next go and visit.

Valentine's craft

If you are in a couple or not you can't deny the fact that Valentine's day is very much upon its way. I used to hate the smooshy saga and would happily retreat to my living room with a lot of takeaway food and watch action films, this was until of course I discovered the joys of being in a relationship. For me Valentine's day is now all about the presents. I still stick with the mantra that you don't need one day to tell your person that you love them but I am a present addict, both the giving and receiving. Let's be honest, you can only give your friends so many valentine's gifts before they start to give you a wide berth!
So for this year, while I very much look forward to the surprise of my gift - nudge nudge other half- I've kind of ruined the present I made. I've gone back to string art which this time was much more successful as the shape was smaller and easier to work with. There's just one problem. It's very very girly, very suitable for the lovely lady in your life should you wish to purchase it from me (shameless plug I know). Oh and I've already rubbed my other half's face in it (metaphorically) like a small excited child which would very much ruin the surprise. Oh well, I guess it means I can go back to the drawing board and make something else!

Quick gift ideas part one

I've finally caught up with one of my best friends and been able to hand over some very delayed presents, but actually this is a good thing because now I can share them with you lovely bunch of coconuts and maybe you can use the idea for an up and coming gift swapping festival. Not dropping any hints but you could share this blog with some of your fellas, they need a nudge around February time.
This part of the gift looks pretty shoddy without its other half but I hope you'll appreciate it. The candle was bought but then embellished using jute string, dried orange pieces and cinnamon. It smells amazing already but when it's lit it's so much better. The candle cost very little to make and chances are you have everything you need to make it already in your craft stash or fruit bowl. I'm thinking dried apple would make a nice spring occasion alternative. Then the wash cloth (I've become American here because my blog is actually read more by Americans - yes I check the audience and thanks American followers - and also because the English equivalent of 'Flannel' just sounds awful, I mean how many of you are thinking of grandma's spit being rubbed off your face right now?) Anyway, then the wash cloth was just rolled and unrolled using a YouTube clip I found. It's supposed to be a rose for those of you that lack imagination.

Decopatch-ish?

It happened again. I read Crafts Beautiful and had to succumb to its crafting compulsives. This time it's a crafty hoop art thing. 

This is something I find really frustrating about my hobbies within craft I find they don't really have a real name. 

Anyway, before I get too involved with my rant, these 3D pictures caught my eye and with one of my besties having already had a baby and another one 18 weeks along, these were what I thought great ideas as a replacement present. Although I made a baby blanket for the first bestie, the second has a mamma that is essentially a knitting machine and I know when I'm beaten so thought I'd give this a go instead. 

To start I got a large embroidery hoop, weirdly enough I had one lying around the house. I then used this to draw the required circle shape onto a piece of wall paper sample - also just lying around and the perfect colour to boot. I cut the circle and attached some green material for the grass to give a 3D effect from the outset. I also had the fabric lying around, it was last used 12 years ago for a school project. I then cut out geometric shapes from patterned paper that, you guessed it, was just in my craft stash for the trees. The rainbow was the hardest and part of me wishes I had printed this off to save time but I quite like the uneven element, I mean how many times do you see a perfect rainbow? It then was about assembly and deciding which parts belonged where. 

I decided that it looked far too bland and as the magazine had a bear I thought I would copy their idea, except the baby is due in June when it's sunny (hence the rainbow) and I didn't have a bear. I did have a printer and laptop so I printed a cartoon Dino for the baby boy who already has a Dino themed room and a puppy for the baby that is unborn, I know the parents are dog people so thought this was a safe choice. 

I printed them out three times and gradually just built up the characters to create the 3Dness using foam sticky pads that were in my craft corner. After that it was about assembly again before sticking the lot down.

The flowers were a strike of genius that I can take no credit for, I found them when looking for a craft knife and thought they would look awesome. I think that they do anyway. The spaces at the bottom are for names or messages for the parents to decide on. Next to what Crafts Beautiful made I'm pretty pleased with it.

It's not as good but I do love it. My other half is already listing the variations we could do although I'm going to have to find a better way to attach the picture to the hoop as my elbow is still sore from the carpet burns I got from crawling on the floor with my glue gun!

Craft presents... for me!

I've found a way to blog about handmade gifts without spoiling gifts -yep I've still not given all the gifts out. For the record I'm not a social recluse it's just my nearest and dearest live far away. Anyway, these blogs are going to be about gifts I've received and although I'm in danger of upsetting a few people I'm going to put my neck on the line and say this is my favourite.
This is the friend that gets cross at me for making her stuff, she claims she can't make stuff. Clearly she has been lying.
You may be asking why I would stay friends with such an obvious liar, however she knows too much about me and we have too much in common for me to ever consider not treasuring this friend.
One thing we have is Grey's Anatomy. After I had a really rough week about 18 months ago my friend bought and had delivered the entire 1-8 season boxset. She claimed the reason I needed to watch it was one of the main characters reminded her so strongly of me she was sure I would love it. She was right. As my husband and I watched the programme even my other half saw the resemblance to Christina Yang - clearly the best character. When I told other Grey's addicts of the links to the character they were shocked my bestie could think something so mean of me. See Christina Yang is a harsh character. She has an insane work ethic and is prepared to sacrifice friends for the benefit. She says what she thinks even when it's not socially acceptable. She is completely unable to control her facial expressions and lastly she is an ugly crier. Beautiful the rest of the time but when she rarely cries - it ain't pretty perhaps a reason she doesn't do it very often. She also only lets a select few in.
Maybe now you're wondering why my friend is still invested in a friendship with me. Seeing all these things makes me happy that my friend is my person. A concept from the show. Your person is someone who you can rely on. They know how ugly you can be and happily take a selfie with you. They are the person that if you rob a bank they drive the getaway car. Or as my person wrote on my gift: 'if I murdered someone she is the person I would call to help me drag the corpse across the floor'.
I'm not advocating murder. For the record I'm against murder. But I'm glad I have my person.
This gift is my favourite because I love the type written quotation, I love the scrabble tiles and the black chunky frame. It's already up on the wall. But mostly I love what the gift will remind me of. By the rules of written work I should now systematically round up all the things I love about my friend. That wouldn't be very Christina of me though would it.

Still no spoilers

It's Thursday. On Thursdays I write my blog. Unfortunately I still haven't seen all of my friends to give them their gifts so there are somethings I just can't talk about yet. However, my husband has opened all his gifts and as he isn't immune to the odd handmade gift I can safely share with you one gift he received.
Along with having the unusual name, unusual hobbies and an unusually accepting nature - comes in handy when I want yet another craft machine- my other half is unusually difficult to buy for. I know men can be difficult to buy for but this guy tops the charts.
He treats himself as and when he likes, he doesn't covet things of others', except the PS4 pretty sure he covets that and he prefers to buy his own clothes. He has expensive taste: he fell for me after all and his collections require detailed research.
That leaves me with buying him the obligatory socks, dvds that he hasn't already bought and the necessary onesie or I break into a bank and get the money for the PS4.
I went for a more original idea. Toiletries. Boring I know. However, this set had a special coupon inside. It was a kind of voucher/I.O.U that he is allowed to redeem throughout the next year. I've done him a book of vouchers before and as they were so successful I decided to keep up the tradition as it allows him to get a present he wants, me to spread the cost and Christmas to last all year. That's a hat trick folks.

Not for the love of money but for the love of making

I love craft. I love going to charity shops and finding things I can upcycle. I love making things from a whole host of goodies. I also love looking around me for inspiration and producing cute little makes either for myself or predominantly as gifts. And, let's face it, who doesn't love a bargain. But if that's your joy in life, craft might not be for you.

There is the assumption that if you make gifts they are cheaper- this is not always the case. Unless the ingredients can be found or sourced for free, other peoples clear outs for example or autumn leaves, crafting can become quite expensive and even if you do manage to forage some goodies the time it takes to make such items - even if you work for minimum wage - can start to add up. Look at the airsoft magazine I made:

Remember that one? Ignoring the paper, ink, card and double sided tape it took to create the magazine I spent an entire day putting it all together. To sell it in order to make money I would have to sell it for at least £30 which is beyond ridiculous. Another example:

These are my wool words. The wire and the wool are inexpensive but each one takes about 30-40minutes to make, depending on the length of the word. To be worth selling I would have to charge £8 per word.

Thankfully making these gifts was an absolute pleasure. For not a second of the making process did I count the cost, I enjoyed what I was doing and got a real kick out of knowing how much the recipients would like their gifts. I was even more pleased when those people displayed their presents and told others how much they liked them.

My point here is that when you try to make a gift for someone don't assume it won't cost you as much. Equally when you receive a handmade gift, consider how much it may have cost the person if not in money in time. Or if you buy handmade items, don't quibble over the cost - it isn't cheap to do!

I'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty I'm trying to point out how loved you actually are for another to invest so generously.

My motives for handmade gifts are purely selfish- I love to make things. A friend of mine has asked me not to make her things because she can't return the gift- what she doesn't realise is my being able to make her something is as much as a gift to me as it is to her. Here's hoping she lets me keep going!