Glittered Toadstools

When I saw these wooden mushrooms I just knew I had to have them as I thought they would be perfect for my Winter Wonderland theme. I decided to make them pastel coloured to fit in with my colour palette, and sparkly because they are for Christmas!

Glittered toadstools
What you will need:

• Wooden mushrooms
• White undercoat paint
• Pink Clematis tester pot of paint
• Proud Peacock tester pot of paint
• Water tester pot of paint
• White spot stickers
• PVA glue, tacky glue
• Pink, teal, mint and white glitter

Equipment

• Paint brush
• Pot and spoon

Instructions

• Paint wooden mushroom in white, leave to dry
• Paint top of mushroom in a colour, leave to dry
• Stick white spots to painted top of mushroom

• Paint PVA glue on mushroom top leaving spots free of glue
• Sprinkle coloured glitter onto mushroom top
• Tap gently to remove any excess glitter, leave to dry
• Carefully paint PVA glue onto white spots

• Sprinkle white glitter onto glued spots on mushroom top
• Tap gently to remove any excess glitter, leave to dry

They are now neatly stored in a box ready to decorate my home with at Christmas.

Have a sweet day!

Pretty hand made paper chain garland

A couple of years back I hung polka dot paper chain garlands in pink, green, blue and red around my home at Christmas and loved how they looked. This year I wanted to hang a paper chain garland but this time in my colour palette of snowy white, pale pink, vintage bubblegum pink, icy aqua, teal, fresh green and olive. When I saw the Tilda Winter Bird design pack I knew this would be perfect as it is full of printed double-sided card with bird motifs, stripes, polka dots and rosy florals, all in my colour palette. To get a touch more pink in my garland I also used card from the Tilda Flower Garden design pack.

Coming soon are instructions on my twinkly mushrooms, sparkly felt birds with free downloadable pattern, and glittery letters to name a few...



Christmas decoration: Pretty paper chain garland

Tools and Materials

• Tilda design card - Winter Bird or printed card (230gsm)
• Tilda design card- Flower Garden or printed card (230gsm)
• Double sided sticky tape
• Scissors
• Guillotine (for quick and easy straight lines)
• Ruler
• Pencil

How-to, step by step

On a piece of card, using a ruler and pencil, mark out rectangles 23mm wide by 155mm long and carefully cut them out using a guillotine for crisp, clean, sharp edges. Make as many strips of card from different patterned cards as desired.



Carefully place a piece of double-sided tape on one end of a rectangular strip of card and form a loop by curling the other end under. Adhere the other end to the taped end. Get another rectangular strip, place a piece of tape on one end, insert the end through the first loop and join the ends of the second loop together.



Repeat above steps for as many rectangular strips needed to form the length of garland you require, alternating the patterns of the strips you use and the sides of the card that face outwards.

Tips
I cut 20 strips of card from 10 different printed pieces of card, which means I have 20 different prints on my paper chain made out of 200 strips.




Have a sweet day!

Cute ceramic birds

This week on "Wonderful World of Etsy" I have gone all a-flutter and I wanted to share with you some cute ceramic birds, from the birds perching cake stands from Whitney Smith to the handmade clay birds.

• Ceramic cake stand with bird
• Large bird cake stand
• Ceramic bird charms
• Handmade polymer clay birds

Have a sweet day!

House Doctor Winter 2011

Today on label love I am sharing with you some of my favourite pics from the new House Doctor catalogue. I, for one, absolutely adore their ribbons on wooden spools and have started to put many of my ribbons on wooden reels. I am also loving their Christmas tree decorations like the pretty aqua snowy pine cones, mini toadstools and elegant deer. To see more inspiring pics check out the new catalogue here.

Have a sweet day!

Pretty wooden birds

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on some hand made Christmas decorations to fit in with my Winter Wonderland colour palette and theme. First up is the pretty wooden bird I will decorate my home with at Christmas.

When I spied the wooden birds in Panduro Hobby I knew I had to buy a couple. At the time I had know idea how I would decorate them but knew I wanted them to be part of my Christmas decor. After much deliberation I decided to decorate them with a pretty floral pattern and a sprinkling of glitter. Now I just have to decide where they will sit at Christmas!?!

Christmas decoration : Pretty Wooden Bird< Tools and Materials

• Wooden bird
• Pink Clematis tester pot of paint
• Proud Peacock tester pot of paint
• Tilda design card - Winter Bird
• PVA glue
• Pink glitter
• Teal glitter
• Scissors
• Small paint brush
• Pencil

Pretty wooden bird, How-to step by step

Start by carefully painting the sides of the wooden bird in pink paint using a small paint brush and leave to dry. Then, carefully paint the entire branch section of the wooden bird in peacock colour, turn upside down and leave paint to dry. To get a perfect fit on the printed card, place the dry wooden bird on the underside of the printed card and carefully trace around the edge of the bird with a sharp pencil, flip bird over and place next to previously drawn bird shape to avoid wastage and trace around the other side of the bird.



With a sharp pair of scissors, carefully cut out the bird shapes from the card and place to one side. Brush PVA glue onto front of the bird and firmly press the corresponding card shape onto glued front then leave to dry. Once dry, repeat with the shape for the back of the bird. With your bird in an upright position, coat the front and back in PVA glue to give it a protective coating and leave to dry.



Brush PVA glue onto teal-painted branch and immediately sprinkle with teal glitter before the glue starts to dry. Tap bird lightly to remove excess glitter and rest bird on its head to dry. Once dry, brush PVA glue onto pink-painted sides of bird and immediately sprinkle with pink glitter, tap lightly to remove excess glitter and leave to dry.

Tip
I hold my bird over a clean small plastic pot when sprinkling with glitter to catch any excess glitter so it can be reused

Have a sweet day!

Glitter bird inspiration

This Christmas I want to add lots of birds to my Winter Wonderland and what's Christmas with out a sprinkling of glitter! So, some glittered birds are a must!

• A Creative Mint
• Frog Prince Paperie
• Yule log favour boxes
• Such Pretty Things
• Glitter bird vase filler
• Haust
• Enchanted Rose Studio

Have a sweet day!

Christmas Winter Wonderland wreath inspiration

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you some pretty, inspirational ideas for Christmas wreaths. I have a polystyrene wreath just begging to be decorated and I'm thinking of wrapping it in yarn and adding some birds and roses.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

• The pretty pink Cotton candy yarn wreath by Knock Knocking
• The glittery bells in Merry & bright yarn wreath by Goodie True Shoes
• The darling bird in Merry & Bright Yarn Wreath by Goodie True Shoes
• The sprays of baubles in xmas wreath white dove pink rain1 by Enchanted Rose Studios

Have a sweet day!