Craft Feature in 91 magazine

Issue 6 of 91 magazine is out today! an online magazine for the vintage style and craft lover. Featuring Homes, Style, Vintage, Shopping and Crafts.

"91 Magazine was launched in October 2011, and is a quarterly online magazine, published by interiors and lifestyle brand, Patchwork Harmony.

Collated by a range of fantastic creative people, it features news, style tips, shopping ideas, interiors, features on craft and vintage style and proudly supports small businesses, designers and crafts people."

The Spring/Summer 2013 issue is packed full of lots of great content like the Vintage guide to Bath, the beautiful home of photographer and blogger Natasha of Candy Pop, a yummy sounding hazelenut blackberry torte and a fabulous interview with style Queen Selina Lake, to name a few.

So I am delighted to tell you I have a craft feature in this fabulous edition, a DIY tea tray made from an old picture frame I picked up in a charity shop for a couple of pounds...









You can check out the new edition here!

Have a sweet day!

Neon & Pastel bird houses

Today I am sharing with you my neon & pastel bird houses I have started making for my Easter Table...

Easter Bird houses
Materials

• Six wooden craft birdhouses
• White undercoat paint
• Neon yellow paint
• Printed paper, (I used Kimono series 3 from Pleased to Meet)
• Rolls of Japanese washi tape from Superlovely
• PVA glue

Equipment

• Paint brush
• Craft knife
• Glue spreader

Easter Bird houses, how to

Paint house roof with white paint, and leave to dry. Paint base, perch and underside of roof and edges in neon yellow paint and leave to dry.
Starting on the outside edge of the roof, carefully stick lines of masking tape to roof. Trim off any excess.


Carefully make a pattern for the front and back of the house. Trace the pattern on to printed paper and carefully cut out. Stick a ring sticker where perch hole needs to be and cut out centre. Apply pva glue to front of house and place printed paper cut out piece on to front of house, carefully smooth down paper. Repeat with back of house. (I used a ruler to get into the point at tip of roof).



Using a craft knife carefully cut out hole in centre of house.
Make a pattern for the sides of the house and cut out in printed paper. Apply pva glue to side of house and place printed paper cut out piece on to side of house, carefully smooth down paper.(I used a ruler to get under the roof) Repeat with other side.
Coat house with PVA glue in sections and leave to dry - this ensures that they do not stick to the surface you are drying them on.




Have a sweet day!

My Christmas Crackers

I love Christmas crackers, from the traditional crossed arm way of pulling them, the "pop" sound they make when pulled, the cheesy joke that lightens the mood, to the clatter of the gift falling to the table!
So this year I made my own in gold card wrapped in some pretty Tilda wrapping paper that official Tilda retailer, Musha Makes sent me. I filled my hand made Christmas crackers with some home made gifts, Here's how...

My Christmas Crackers

What you will need

• Wrapping paper cut into strips 19cm x 30cm
• Gold card 19cm x36cm
• Small gifts
• Paper hats - instructions below
• Jokes,(print of free artwork below and cut out)
• Cracker snaps
• Skinny tinsel or ribbon
• Craft knife & cutting mat
• Simplicity pattern punch - Daisy border
• Rotary scorer
• Double sided sticky tape
• Glue stick

Instructions

1. Print off cracker pattern and cut out
2. Trace pattern onto the underside of the gold card
3. Cut out gold card and score along edges as indicated on pattern
4. Using paper punch, punch pattern along the end edges of the gold cut out crackers and attach double sided tape
5. Using paper punch, punch pattern along the end edges of the wrapping paper strips
6. Take your gold card cut out and roll into a cylinder shape, folding along scored lines to create your cracker shape, remove double sided tape and adhere cracker together
7. Wrap punched strip of wrapping paper around cracker so that is is in the centre and using glue stick adhere to card cracker
8. Place cracker snap, gift, joke and hat in centre of cracker
9. Fold cracker ends inwards and tie tinsel round smallest section to pinch sections together

Christmas Cracker paper hats

What you will need

• 2 sheets of star tissue paper
• Tonic studio edger paper punch
• Glue stick

Instructions

1. Keeping the tissue paper folded as it comes, unfold once lengthwise
2. Cut strips 10 cm deep
3. Using the paper punch, cut decorative line along one edge
4. Unfold strip and make into a circular shape overlapping edges by 5cm, glue ends down to secure
5. Fold paper hat back up using the pre folded lines then fold into quaters so hat fits into crackers

Hand made sparkly strawberry lip balm tutorial & Hand made cool mint lip balm tutorial

Snow globe inspired table setting

Have a sweet day!

More beaded hangers...

I decided to treat my guests to some new soft and fluffy towels which feature an attractive sculptured blossom design on in dove grey and duck egg from Laura Ashley. I tried hanging them on the back of the door in my guest room but they kept falling off! I thought about adding hanging loops but decided that some pretty beaded hangers would look better and there would be no chance of the towels falling on the floor!

For my hand beaded hanger tutorial click here.



Have a sweet day!

Guest Bedroom mirror

I wanted to provide my guests with a mirror so when Dad was having a clear out and offered me a hexagonal wooden mirror. I immediately said "yes please!, is it ok if I spray it?" "It is yours now, you do what you want with it!" So after covering the glass in masking tape, I spray painted it in Montana gold spray paint in Crocus. I love it, and think it is a perfect match to all the geo prints I have used in my guest room!
here's how...


Spray painted Mirror Tools and Materials

• Wooden Mirror
• Masking tape
• Montana gold Spray paint in Crocus

Spray painted Mirror, How-to step by step




Simply mask off the glass, so it doesn't get covered in spray paint. Following the instructions on the spray paint, carefully spray the wooden mirror until you have an even coat of paint and the original colour of the mirror is no longer visible. Leave to dry.

Tips- I prefer to do several light coats so the paint does not drip and I get an even coat.




Have a sweet day!

Coca-Cola bottle vases

For some pretty vases for my guest room I just simple spray painted the inside of some re-production vintage style Coca-Cola bottles I bought from Selfridges, after drinking the coke of course!

I used Montana Gold spray paint in Crocus, malachite lite and Viola.



Have a sweet day!

Fabric covered hangers

Yesterday I showed you my spray painted hangers and a glimpse at my fabric covered hangers for my guest room. So today I am showing you how I made my fabric covered hangers using the scraps of tea towels left over from my Pom pom boudoir cushions.

I am making a lot of my Christmas gifts this year but I don't want to ruin the surprise for my friends and family so I will be sharing the tutorials in the New year. However I think these hangers would make a super cute gift!


Fabric covered hangers Tools and Materials

• Wire hangers ( Dry cleaners)
• Double sided tape
• Scraps of fabric
• PVA glue

Fabric covered hangers, How-to step by step


Start by laying strips of double sided tape on to your scraps of fabric. Carefully cut out your strips of fabric along the edge of the tape so your strips are entirely covered by the tape. Peel back a few centimetres of the backing tape and attach end of strip on to the hanger. Wrap the strip tightly around the hanger, tape side down.



Continue wrapping tightly until you run out of fabric. start up again, always disguising the end from the previous strip.
When you get back around to where you started, wrap the strip round the"hook" of the hanger. Trim off any long loose ends and tie a bow with ribbon at neck.





Here they are with my spray painted hangers...






Have a sweet day!

Bird house herb labels

This past weekend the sun finally came out to play! I finally get to show you some of the crafts I have been working on for my garden. First up are my birdhouse herb labels, which I painted in Cuprinol Garden Shades to protect the wood from the damaging effect of the weather. You can order 30ml mini tester pots from Cuprinol for £1 each! I made the Lavender and Beach Blue colours paler by mixing with Pale Jasmine.

Birdhouse herb labels
Tools and materials

• Wooden lollipop sticks - 114mm x 10mm
• Birch plywood bird house shapes
• Cuprinol Beach Blue garden shade
• Cuprinol Pale Jasmine garden shade
• Cuprinol Sweet Pea garden shade
• Cuprinol Coastal Mint garden shade
• Cuprinol Lavender garden shade
• Ink jet water-slide decal paper in clear
• Clear vanish spray

Start by painting the birdhouse wooden shapes and lollipop sticks in several coats of paint till you have a solid even colour on all sides. When paint is completely dry, glue lollipop stick to birdhouse shape.



Print labels onto a regular sheet of paper so you can check the labels for size and colour. Once you are happy with the size and colour of the labels, print them on to the glossy coated side of the decal paper. In a well ventilated area, and with newspaper laid on the ground to protect the surface, coat the printed labels with an even coat of clear varnish. Leave to dry for about 30mins. Next, carefully cut out the labels. Place cut-out labels into a bowl of water and leave for up to 30 seconds. Before placing the decals onto the painted birdhouses, wet the surface of the birdhouses so you can slide the decals into position easily. Remove label from water and place it facing up on your birdhouses. Carefully slide the decal paper slightly and attach the corner lip of the decal onto the birdhouse shape. Once you have the lip attached to the birdhouse shape, gently pull the backing paper away and adhere label to birdhouse shape. Once the decal is attached to the birdhouse shape, carefully slide it around to your desired position. Then gently rub the label with a lint free cloth to remove any air bubbles and leave to dry for 3-4 hours. Finally, spray birdhouse label with a coat of clear vanish.

Tips: Use clear varnish spray in a well-ventilated area and protect your work surface from overspray with a newspaper. To start the paint flow properly make sure you have shaken the paint enough (refer to directions on can) and spray first on to newspaper. Spray varnish 30cm away from labels and spray in a sweeping motion maintaining a constant distance from the printed labels. Ensure labels are fully coated in varnish or there will be a leakage of ink when placed in the bowl of water at the later stage.


To make my pale aqua colour I mixed Pale Jasmine with Beach blue.




Have a sweet day!

Jungle Bench

For my niece Molly's first birthday we decided to get her a child's bench that she and her friends could sit on in the garden; something she could treasure for years to come as I still have my little wicker chair from when I was a kid. After much searching I found this one at Gardens and Homes Direct.



My other half put it together for me and painted it white using Cuprinol garden shades, Pale Jasmine and I hand painted the animals in a variety of pastel paints. I had some 5cm foam cut to size and made a removable cover using a pastel print jungle fabric from Fabrics Clearance.



Have a sweet day!

Butterfly cupcake toppers

To decorate my peachy white choc cupcakes I made some pretty pastel butterfly cupcake toppers.

Butterfly Cupcake Toppers

You will need:
Pink, blue, yellow, green paper
Butterfly multi-detail craft punch
Cocktail/bamboo sticks
Double sided tape

1. Punch out ten butterflies of each colour
2. Cut a 3mm slither of double sided sticky tape.
3. Stick to top of cocktail stick so there is an equal amount of tape on either side of stick
4. Remove backing paper
5. Press one pink butterfly into double sided tape on one side
6. Press another to the double sided tape on the other side
7. Gently fan wings out
8. Repeat until you have five of each colour

I baked my cakes in pastel coloured silicone cupcake cases.



Have a sweet day!