Swapsies

You know me, I'm always looking for a bargain and to try to overcome my horder tendancies. Ok I don't try hard enough at that but the bargain thing is true. Recently a fabulous lady suggested a swap event. Something they make for something I make. I was well up for it and immediately starting showing pictures of things I could swap, thankfully lots of people were interested and soon trades were made. I've had jewellery from Beautiful and Precious, buttons from Jellybean Home and Decor and a gorgeous print from Hope Eternal. You can find all of their pages on Facebook but if you're stuck message me, I would be happy to point you in the right direction. I figured this was a good way to stock up on Christmas gifts. But then the horder in me reared up.

I fell so in love with the prints from Hope Eternal I bought an extra one, just in case. Then I realised I'm allowed presents. What a bizarre concept, well not really I love presents and often keep things I like too much to give away. Maybe I should actually do something about being a horder.

I digress. 

When I had the print I decided I wanted to turn it into a real feature for my porch. Picking up on the Nottingham lace theme I bordered two edges with trim. Then picking up on the nature theme I used leaf print fabric to create a mount board. 

The craft side of it - mostly glue and staples is a bit crude- but the finished product is beautiful. I love it and I know for sure noone will have another one like it. 

Hungry eyes

I get a fair few people asking me about homemade gifts, which I take as a massive compliment. I love searching for appropriate gifts or thinking about things I've already made and how they could be adjusted to a suitable recipient.
No problem so far. But you see I then get what I call 'hungry eyes' I look at the new idea all shiny and pretty looking and immediately want in on it. Sometimes because I don't think the people understand the vision I have in my head (how can they, they aren't mind readers) so I think they might ruin it, then other times I just want to make it myself - just to prove to myself that I can.
This happened recently. Under the guise of being helpful, after a friend said she had lots on, I suggested I made some flags she needed for our church holiday club. She only asked me to cut the shapes out to save her a job, I may have gone too far...

They're multiplying!

So put your hand up if you've ever thought of an idea and just run with it only to have that idea completely crash and burn. Yeah me too. Well since I set up the page FattyCrafterTales and have opened a shop on Etsy I'm sad to say I have become much more cautious. I would blame age but then I would have to admit that I have aged and of course I haven't, not since I hit 25.

By the by, when I have my ideas I try now to actually think about them which is what leads me to this sorry little picture.

I had decided to extend the quilled paper range onto candles - look at me sounding all posh with my 'range' - but I also realised that paper and heat forms two elements of the fire triangle so could essentially catch fire. Not good: the flames are supposed to be pretty not terrifying. Also I didn't know how PVA stood under heat. So I sacrificed some quilled paper and attached them to a tea light. As you can see the papers stayed on the casing and as I am writing this you can deduce it didn't end in a house fire and lots of trauma. It did end with me cleaning lots as I had to wait the two hours it took the candle to burn. Grrr, I knew there was more than one reason I don't like candles.

After I knew it was safe I set about turning this:

(Lots of shredded paper)

Into this:

Those tiny coils take ages but I am thrilled to discover cotton buds are great glue applicators. Not in the least because I'm a messy crafter as well as a fatty crafter and I don't always clean up after myself and I do regularly have to throw brushes away because they are too hard with glue to use again.

Then it was just about sitting watching a film (Magdalen Sisters to be precise) while I applied the glue and coils to plain candles.

Firstly we have a rainbow candle:

And I promise you I am sick of the song - I won't be making anything more in a rainbow style for quite a while let me tell you. Then when I was feeling brave I used bigger coils to be a little bit more arty:

I have left the bottom bit empty although I did think about green to represent land but instead I thought it looked really nice with the blue and white.

At this point my film finished and I had run out of inspiration and coiled up papers - they take a while to make. So I put the little family together.

These will be going in my Etsy shop this week of I don't get any interest on Facebook or here. Hope you like them and if you can think of any more patterns I would love to hear from you.

Toodles x

When is it ok to crochet?

Most of you reading this will know that recently I've been bitten by the crochet bug. I've made six beautiful blankets and just had my seventh order www.facebook.com/fattycraftertales if you want to see the pictures.
The first blanket was a trial one because I liked the pattern and needed to stop putting food in my mouth when I really wasn't hungry - more challenging than it sounds. If you've never tried to diet it's kind of like trying to pick up eye lashes with chopsticks whilst blindfolded.
After that I spent every stationary moment with my hook and some wool but as I repeatedly reinforced this habit, as soon as I sat down, anywhere, I started to look for my hook. Now of course I know that some places you aren't supposed to crochet; at work for example I am sure it would be frowned upon (unless I got a new job teaching crochet.... there's a thought) I'm pretty sure whilst the sermon is in full flow on a Sunday the crochet hook is supposed to stay in my bag but what about other times?
Last week I went to the in laws. I had my crochet in my bag. I left without growing the blanket because there didn't seem to arise a moment where it would be socially acceptable to get my wool out. It's wool for goodness sake not my boobs but still when is the socially acceptable time? I was sat down, I was still able to contribute to the conversation but alas my hook and wool stayed stowed.
I've figured that if you come into my home while I am crocheting it's totally ok to keep going - obviously I would break to offer tea I am British after all - which makes me think if I just walk around crocheting all the time is it ok never to stop?

Books, books, books

I love books. I love reading nearly as much but I adore books. I love the feel of the pages, the smell of an old book and the excitement of settling into a new good read. It's more than the stories that are contained on the pages, it is the books themselves that I love. It is no surprise therefore that I own a lot of books. Here's the top of my stairs to prove my point:

Floor to ceiling full of books, glorious books. It will probably come as no surprise to you then that I hate it when a book is ruined by being used for something else. When a lovely golden page is ripped out and used to decorate a card or to decopatch a bowl. I nearly disowned a friend after he had cut out the centre of a beautiful and old hardback book to house his stupid kindle. don't even get me started on kindles and ereaders. Just sacrilege. 

But as an avid crafter this poses somewhat of a problem because as much as I hate the torture books endure they do make cards and bowls look all the more gorgeous. It still feels wrong though - it's book murder. I'm probably going to have to get over this hurdle with years of counselling but for now it's book killing with intent.

I approach book murder with seriousness and have a few rules:

1. The book has to be a modern publication.

My dad is as eccentric as they come and a collector- cutting into an old book is just wrong, painful even, just plain wrong.

2. The book has to have served its purpose at least once.

Cutting into a book before it has been read is like killing a tree before it has chance to grow.

3. A book can be cut up if there are lots of versions of it

Wordsworth classics and penguins are available a plenty unless they are the orange kind. Then you're not allowed to cut them up.

But anyway back to craft.

As I see lots of book inspired crafts I tread with caution but I've found one recently that is brilliant. Page folding. Now after reading a semi good book I don't know what to do with them as I don't want to recommend a semi good book but I can't bring myself to throw them, see previous blogs on how much of a horder I am, so what to do. Well turn them into something pretty without ripping the pages out. Point in question: 

Now although I'm adverse to cutting books up I don't mind bent pages - I think they are nice as it shows the book has been loved and done its duty. Yes I personify my books. So this craft is brilliant because you could still technically read the book should you want to but it is also something new and pretty.

I'm tempted to decopatch the sleeves but think I may need that counselling first.

The art of quilling

Well hello all, have you missed me?

Today I am turning my attention to the very therapeutic art of quilling. This tale starts not so long ago and in a fairly nearby location with two extraordinarily beautiful women who had decided to get together to do some craft. Being one of those women I'm happy to share with you what was made. 

Our theme was 'rainbow' anything could be made but by the end of it rainbow had to have been incorporated. While on a trip to a seaside resort I frequented a charity shop. Those of you that know me already know that I'm a bit advocate of the charity shop especially for craft items and this trip was no less successful than the many other trips I have made. I found my base. A thin cylinder that I imagine could be used for drinking out of, holding flowers or just storing your dreams. I then got all my quilling papers together and toddled off to the other beautiful lady of this story's house.

With our supplies at the ready: 

We made a start. The day was spent chatting and drinking tea- perfection and pretty soon things started to happen with the receptical: 

More tea and chatting and more than likely at least one wee break lead to: 

But before I knew it the world was put to rights and time had evaporated so my bag of papers and I returned home. Now I'm always at risk of not finishing projects - mostly because I lose motivation but the other beautiful lady of this story wanted results so I pressed on. 

And before I knew it, my project was completed.

Many of you will know that I make things to sell at www.facebook.com/fattycraftertales (shameless plug) but with this I could never sell it. Although the paper and the jar were quite cheap the time it took was phenomenal. 

I'm usually one for perfect lines and symmetry which in this project went straight put of the window so by the end of it I embraces the merging of the colours. I think it looks better for it. What do you think?

Craft for non crafters

I find craft really easy so I'm always a little bemused by those that say they can't do it but then again I can't bake and am truly fed up with the amount of people telling me that 'as long as you follow the recipe you'll be fine' well it's not always fine and before I get into another rant of you're in for a laugh at my expense head to the post 'maker not baker' to find out more.

That said I recently taught a craft at a church event and was thrilled with how many people said they were chuffed that they had successfully crafted even though they believe they aren't craft folk -

- maybe there's hope for me as a baker yet! 

The night was a wonderful mix of cake - always a favourite- men all poshed up, it is possible; 

And craft along with testimonies of God's work in some very special ladies' lives. 

I have to admit I was incredibly nervous to start with I mean there was a church full of women!

But all of them went home with something handmade, unique and as special as each lady in the room. Some also went home with a belly full of cake but I don't see any issue with that, I'm the fatty crafter not the fitty crafter after all.

Adding a little creativity

Sometimes crafting isn't always about what you're making. Often it is just the way you arrange things; cupboards, lunch boxes... yourself?
Although the above are a little silly I hope you get my point.
In a bid not to succumb to a Sunday afternoon nap to let the awesome home cooked pie work its magic, I decided today to do a wall display, I've been meaning to do it for a while so no further to do I went in search of my husband's tools.
He was safely stowed on the sofa with headphones completely unaware of my intentions- occasionally the best way to be.
After I had selected the pictures and pieces I wanted I laid them out on my bed to get an idea of how I wanted them to look. Usually it takes a while to play with the layout but this one fell neatly into place.
Then came the banging. At this I was thankful my OH was watching his zombie programme because as the plaster started to come off the wall I feared I had made a female error of some sorts.
But then I figured 'ah well, it's off now so may as well keep going!'
Ten minutes or so later I had my finished wall. I've got one last thing I want to put up but I haven't made it yet. Will update you when I can. Although some of the things on my wall won't make sense to you, they mean the world to my husband and I. Seeing as we are the residents of the house, I guess that's all that matters.

Long time, no blog

I've not blogged in a while; I think I might even have forgotten how! Only kidding, I ramble about me and then you all indulge me with knowing nods right?
The reason I've been absent is two fold. I've recently contracted a cold that has left me feeling like a 90year old and sounding like darth vader. I'm not heroic either so my husband has had a very long week and bless him it's only Wednesday! But prior to the defunct nose the institution in which I work had a Mocksted. A mock Ofsted. Now as teachers we are perhaps more vigorously checked than the students we teach and considering they have weekly formative assessments and summative exams that's some going! I love teaching so I kind of accept that things will be so stressy that I won't have a life and it's not constant so that makes it bareable. Which kind of brings me to my next point. Mother's day.
If you only have one mother it is your mother's day - the day belonging to her.
If you're referring to the whole nationwide celebration of mothers (plural) then it's mothers' day.
If you are saying your mum is superior to all mums then she might be the world's best mum but seeing as we only live on one world the apostrophe can't move.
It might just be the teacher in me, but I think wrong use of a simple apostrophe takes away any sentiment attached to the message. When this has then been immortalised on a card or gift - your error is going to last forever!
Let's try our best to get this one nailed to prevent an apostrophe catastrophe.

Have you seen...?

My husband has to put up with a lot. I'm not going to list my faults here because I'm hoping the most of you still think I'm normal and I don't want to risk changing that, but trust me, he puts up with a lot. One such fault though is a regular in our household.

I'm renown for temporarily forgetting where I've put things. I'm also not great at putting things in the same place more than once. As such objects are often prefixed with 'have you seen...?' 

Depending upon the urgency that my voice is saturated with my husband will start the inevitable three minute search until the item comes to the surface. 

I'm so bad at this sometimes I start the call to search the house but before my plea is finished I have found what I am looking for. Like I said, he puts up with a lot.

 Recently I purchased some items to give a craft I had seen a try - when I find them again I will no doubt be blogging about it - but because my husband is selfishly at work and I have the attention span of a five year old I moved on to do something different than I had planned. Reason being in my search I found something I had previously temporarily forgotten about and decided to play with that.

In Crafts Beautiful this month there was a feature on floral adornments: 

So when I found my tiny punches again I thought I would use their article as inspiration for my afternoon. As it is mothers day very soon I went with the word 'mum' using little flowers as the lettering. This is the outcome:

It's not backed onto the black card yet because I want to add some ribbon and use it as a gift tag. I don't have a gift for my mum yet but at least the gift tag is ready. Is giving just a gift tag as a gift a bit too mean? Maybe that can be the mum-in-law's gift. But seeing as I was on a punching adrenaline rush I made a heart too:

What I love about these two things is that the flowers are punched out of scraps of paper and card (after I gave my husband his valentines card I immediately reclaimed the very pretty envelope as crafting material) so they're really easy to source although I'm sure if CB wanted to send me some really pretty papers to play with there could be a much nicer effect ;)

Cute as a button

Hello everyone,

I'm very excited to announce I have a Facebook page dedicated to not only this blog but also the items that I am selling. I share this link on Twitter and other forums so although many of you probably already know about www.facebook.com/fattycraftertales I wanted to put the link here just in case you didn't.

On the page you can find lots of handmade goodies, my crafter tip of the week and usually comments about cake. I'm not the fatty crafter by accident! I also post events on there so if you find yourself my neck of the woods maybe there is a crafting party going on.

One such thing that I make, and will be teaching at an event coming soon, is this button heart:

It's selling on my page for £6 but as a special offer to any new likers I get from this blog you can have it for £5 and I will cover the postage. Remember to like my page first then when you message me to get yours remind me that you saw it here first. I'd love to have a good memory but a lot of the time my head is too full of cake. 

Life is better with buttons

It's very rare that I enter competitions, mostly because I am a very sore loser and I don't have a great track record at winning things. Whilst in India last year we decided the order of shower use after a days teaching in incredible heat via rock, paper, scissors and I was always last. You'd think I would learn but who walks the dog at night is decided in this same age old way. As soon as my husband suggests rock, paper, scissors I put my coat on in anticipation of loosing. I'm still optimistic that I will win one day, the odds have to go in my direction eventually right?

Anyway, when I saw one of the many competitions on Facebook run by the wonderful people of JellyBean Home Decor and Gifts part of the realistic me thought I should keep scrolling. But what caught my eye was the fact this company was using National Kindness week to give away some kindness. They invited people to list whatever would cheer that person up. And reading through the list I couldn't help but be encouraged. There was a person asking for purple socks- just because, someone asked for a notebook - we all need a good notebook, another lady just wanted some kind words of encouragement.

The thing was all these people were just looking for something to make them smile and I realised happiness comes in all shapes and sizes but for some it's purple socks because, well, why the heck not! Feeling upbeat already I decided to comment asking for a bag of buttons. Specifically not the chocolate kind. I love buttons. I buy them whenever I see their round goodness and for no reason at all. There shouldn't have to be a reason for buttons. Life is just better with them.

To my absolute surprise, I was picked! I nearly wet myself with excitement. Not only was I getting buttons but I had actually won something. 

Then this happened:

A big package made its way through my door. I'm a huge present fan and I could barely contain my excitement. In fact I think I shrieked. 

But then this happened:

I had a lovely note awaiting my attention with an even better surprise, inside the original package was a smaller package with buttons made just for me!

To appreciate my excitement delve deep into your memories as a child playing pass the parcel, you've just won the first round and then by sheer magic you win the next round. That's how greedily I tore into the package.

This is what I found: 

Buttons!!! Lots of lovely buttons.

As if the excitement couldn't get any better I dug out the second package. 

Look at the size of that green one! I love it! But then look what was inside the green package:

Two beautifully glittery handmade buttons just for me by the very talentalented people at Little Dragon Jewellery. 

I have no idea how I'm going to use them yet and I might not for a while but it certainly made my day. Thank you JellyBean for your lovely kindness. I hope many people are inspired to do the same. 

In that spirit, for anyone that shares this blog post, I will enter your name into a hat and promise three people a chocolate bar. Happy kindness week people. 

Ps. Both companies can be found on Facebook and I believe on Etsy. 

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.

Round cushion

The last blog I did told the journey of a cushion from dad to daughter via brother and today's blog looks at what happened to the second of the pair. If you want to read it http://thefattycrafter.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/upcycled-cushion.html?m=1 is the link you need for the first cushion.
In short - massive cushion, didn't match, needed upcycling, done using purple, new cushion that matches, everyone is a winner.
So seeing as I used most of the jersey fabric on the first cushion I needed to come up with either more fabric or an alternative design. Now for those of you that know me will know how stingy I am so obviously I went with the later.
Following a pattern from a magazine I sewed blocks of rectangular fabric together. You're supposed to use four blocks of each colour but because I only had three in each I figured it would do. Told you I'm stingy.
I was a bit amazed that something that was rectangular would become a circle, I teach English not geometry afterall. Don't judge me too harshly.
I joined the ends of the large rectangle and then put Grey's on. This cushion is so simple that you can watch tv while putting it together.
I did a running stitch and pulled it tight. Job done for one end. Then I did it again for the other end. This was trickier, not impossible just tricker. Pull in together slightly so that you have a circle only big enough to put your hand in. Then stuff it. I used the stuffing from my other, old cushion but you can buy fresh stuff from almost any haberdashery. Then pull the thread to seal the second end of the cushion.
I used the thread that I still had on my needle to sew through the middle. It just gives the cushion more of a shape - you don't have to do this, if for example the episode of Grey's that you are watching has just reached the shooter episode where Gary Clarke walks into the lift with Christina. Feel free to pay close attention to that instead.
Depending on your preference what you do next will make your cushion all the more unique. I made hearts to cover the hole, I've seen buttons used and other shapes. It's up to you. Let me know how you get on.

Upcycled cushion

When you start out in a new home you tend to accept every piece of charity that you can. Somehow the word has negative connotations now but I still see it as kindness from those who want to help and don't accept the shame that the word is often spat out with.

When my husband and I first moved in together we were very blessed to have so much given to us. Very little was what we wanted for our home but it didn't matter because we had a home, each other and a house full of stuff. Much of which still adorns our house. Now as much as I would love a new sofa, the one we have is still serviceable, it was given to me by my brother over 3 years ago and he had it in at least four different homes before it found its resting place with me. I'm confident we will have a house of things we've picked for ourselves before we reach sixty but I don't mind accepting charity for now because it means that the money we do have can be put to better use. It also means one thing: upcylcing! 

This is a cushion is one of a pair that my dad gave me four years ago. 

It's enormous for a cushion as you can see by my foot being next to it. My dad's living room and sofa was green when he had it, my brother's sofa (now mine) is gold so thankfully they matched. But, my living room is now purple, with dark wood. It doesn't match. It's also at least 8 years old so the stuffing has gone lumpy and it has definitely lost its shape so I decided to cut it up. 

I took off the cushion covers, I tend to give them to charity, it would be hypocritical not to, and cut the inner cushion down by 15cm on each side making the stuffing more like stuffing again.

I made an envelope cushion cover with some fabric I had lying around - I wish I wrote down where I got it from, it is really nice. Then I cut hearts out of a contrasting fabric, still purple.

This is the end product:

Before you say anything the hearts are supposed to be on the left side. I used the photography rule of threes and am mega pleased with it.

I wanted a waterfall type look which meant lots of hearts. I wish I had been less ambitious. The hearts took the longest. Despite the cushion easily still passing for a floor cushion the fiddley parts always take the longest.

They were pinned in place and sewn on. I used white thread for two reasons, it makes the hearts stand out and I'm too lazy to go upstairs to fetch a different colour thread after spending ages making the cushion. 

For the record, hearts are not the easiest thing to sew around and when you look closely at my stitches they could probably be better. But I'm the fatty crafter not a perfect crafter.

And besides, it looks awesome in my living room. Something that matches, yay!

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.

The Goodness Jar

Some people like to make new year resolutions. There is an idea that when January comes around and you feel bloated and hung over from Christmas that it is the right time to assess your progress and objectively make changes in your life; except it isn't objective because you feel bloated and hung over.
By now and without being pessimistic my guess is many nyr's have been forgotten and regular February behaviour has commenced. One thing we have done in this household though is taken proactive steps to be more thankful. How do I know it will work? Because I made a craft thing that I like playing with too much not to keep it up.
It's a goodness jar. It may look like a strange french maid but it's a goodness jar. Every time something good happens we write it on the pad, fold it up and put it in the goodness jar. It could be seeing friends, getting to talk about God at work, doing a bunch of situps - whatever is good goes in the jar.
The idea is that in a year's time we open the jar and focus on all the positives of the year. It's worked so far so I'm thinking this nyr should last.

Quilling

Just a quick blog to get through some of the pictures stored up on my phone.
I mentioned to you lovely folks before my discovery of quilling. Well, I've uped my game after getting a quilling board with my favourite magazine - Crafts Beautiful. I love this craft. It's quick, simple and very effective. I'm still trying to work out the right ratio of glue to paper so that you can't see the shiny effect pva leaves on card so tips are welcome but I'm enjoying it just the same. So much so I've invited a few lovelies to my home this weekend to give a quilling party to make valentine's day cards. They don't know what they are doing yet so don't tell them. I'm luring them in with the promise of cake. Let me know what you think, of the quilling not the deception.

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!

Snowman soup

Ok. Hands up how many times you go to a craft fair and love what you see but think 'I can make that'? If it's not 50% of you at least I'm surprised that you are still reading this blog but I'm thankful that you are.
What follows is a story about how silly my husband and I can be, if you want to get to the craft part again I suggest you scroll down to 'we wandered the streets' be reassured it has a happy ending.
So just before Christmas my other half and me went to Lincoln to the infamous Christmas markets. We've been trying to go for years but it would seem it wasn't meant to be; the first year was food poisoning, the second was work, the third we were already on holiday, the fourth was bad weather but this year we managed to go.
Like children on an adventure we set out. We arrived in good time, drove down a one way street the wrong way, arrived at the same roundabout from three different directions until we finally found the park and ride. Upon entering the first marquee I was sure we woukd find all our Christmas presents except there was then an announcement. See the beauty of Lincoln's Christmas market is that 80% of the stalls are inside the castle grounds but the anonymous voice from the speakers told us that it was unsafe at this juncture to enter the castle grounds. We did what any couple would do - find shelter in a cafe and eat cake. The announcements kept coming. 'Unsafe'. To be honest the thing that was unsafe was leaving two men at the castle gates to ensure no one entered and as there was a gathering crowd of angry Brits the tutting these guys received was verging on aggressive!
We wandered the streets and came across a church that had a handmade wreath competition going on which was brilliant and then we found a village hall with a craft fair. Hallelujah! This village hall saved the day for me. It was packed with great ideas and several purchases were made for Christmas gifts. Yay!
But one thing I came away with was the snowman soup idea. It's essentially hot chocolate packaged up in a decorative way. Such a simple but perfect stocking filler idea. Finding the triangle bags was the hardest part but since getting those it was easy.
What is lovely about that idea is that it's childish enough that children will invest in the fairytale elements and childish enough that adults want them too.
Snowman soup went in nearly all my gift bags and I will be making them again this year. Just wish I could use them all year round. Any ideas how they could be modified?

Quick gift ideas part two

This is the follow up from my previous post but I've since realised to make this aspect you need a lot of time and ergo not exactly a 'quick gift idea'. Apologies if you have been offended by the misleading title. You can forward all complaints to:
12 never never street
Impossiville
Movingon
So for this side of the gift you are going to need to spend the day at home slowly cooking orange slices on a very low heat in your oven to help them dry out. I did a massive batch all at once and then stored them in a tupperware container so that should I want a quick gift I have them to hand. As my husband wasn't a fan of leaving the oven on all the time I was guilty of putting my oranges back into the oven after every cooked meal. Thankfully the orange smell beats other cooked food smells.
Once you have these you buy a soap base, there are loads of choices out there but I use Bee Beautiful from Amazon and it's always been delivered quickly and is easy to use.
You need to heat up the soap base - I use the microwave - and then add colours and flavours to your heart's desires layering them up as again you please depending on the look you want. These soaps are chocolate orange with a dried orange in the bottom so as you use the soap you will be exfoliating too. I also did a batch that had the orange on the top - much more striking aesthetically but not as practical so you can go for again whichever your giftee will appreciate the most.
For my Christmas gifts some people got a box of one massive soap, some a box of smaller varying soaps and the others a box with the candle and wash cloth. I will go back to being very British soon I promise.
These were all sent out in the boxes I made (there is another blog on here about that if you'd like a visual) and largely the gifts were well received. I'm curious to know what people think of the gifts after they have used them for a while, so feel free to comment below.
The varieties you could do with these are endless and you could brighten up the boxes to make them mother's day gifts or birthday gifts.