The Home made year....Christmas 2013

Happy New year!! Did you all have a wonderful Christmas?? Are you full to the brim with turkey and mince pies?

How quickly it has flown by, so much preparation and its all over in a flash. But in all honesty I wouldn't change a single thing. I love this time of the year, its hard to choose between this and Halloween, and I enjoy the preparation as much as the day itself.

So needless to say I've made lots of things and rather than waffle on for ages I've put them into a visual collagey feast. So take a break from putting away the decs, grab that last mince pie and cast your eyes over this lot.............




 

Clockwise from left : countdown door hanger for Jacks room, which says Santa's been on the reverse, cupcakes with cinnamon butter cream.

 Flying reindeer applique blanket. Those that follow my facebook page will have seen this in the making.

 

 

 

 

Tulip decoupage card made with a kit by Papermania.

 

 

Cards made with digital stamps from Pink petticoat, and handmade sentiments.

 

 

Handmade Polar Express picture. I love the Polar Express and watch it on Christmas Eve every year, and yes the bell does still ring!

 My special Santa and reindeer that came home with me from Lapland last year.

 

 

Homemade gifts.

 Finnish piparkakut, gingerbread to you and me. We had this in Lapland last year and it was so lovely I knew I had to find a recipe for it, its different to our gingerbread as they use different ingredients and its much more spicy.

 Sweet chilli jam normally I make red pepper relish at Christmas but I'm told its not hot enough so I made this for a change.

 

 

 

Homemade mince pies and homemade apple and cinnamon ice cream. Those who follow me on Instagram will have seen this in its early stages, and I have to say its tastes amazing. Recipe courtesy of the icreamists.

 

 

Felt Christmas trees,

 yarn wreath,

 felt reindeer's, with button noses from nans button jar.

 

 

Jingle bell wreath with ribbon flower.

Close up of card made with digital stamps from pink petticoat.

 

So all that's left to say is have a fantastic new year I hope it brings you all you dream of, and don't forget in between blogposts you can always catch up with me on facebook, twitter, instagram and pinterest by clicking on the links at the top of the page. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sew Sunday ; Easy Halloween blindfold and FREE pattern

Every year at our annual Halloween party we play a 'pin the something on the something' sort of game. Last year was pin the nose on the witch, the year before pin the bow tie on Mr bones, you get the idea, but every year we end up using a black woollen scarf as a blind fold, and as much as this works it looks a bit rubbish. so this year I set about putting that right...

here's how. I decided that I wanted to make the blindfold a cat face copying a design I drew for a brooch. So firstly I changed a pattern for a regular sleep mask by adding some ears and making it more cat like. You can download the pattern below. Just right click on the image and save then print off as A4.

Not the most professional pattern I know, but still, it works!

Cut out two cat shapes in black felt. One would probably be sufficient seeing as your adding eyes but I cut out two just to be sure the little monsters really cant see!!

cut out your eyes and nose shapes and pin into place on one piece of the black felt. Stitch over the eyes in straight lines. I used a straight stitch in black cotton but you can use any colour or stitch, I think a zig zag stitch would look cool, or you could hand sew it. I used a zig zag stitch to sew around the nose which was a bit fiddly so in hindsight it might be better to hand sew this bit.

 

Next you need to stitch your elastic onto the back of your black felt. I recommend doing this bit with a machine as you want the elastic to be secure when using the blindfold.

Then stitch the spare piece of felt to the back using a zig zag stitch around the edge. If your hand stitching I think a blanket stitch would be nice, and voila there you have it an easy peasy blindfold to play all your Halloween games.

 Seriously this took less than an hour and in my opinion looks way better than a woollen scarf tied around your head!! Don't forget to check to back for my home made year post to see what pin it game we are playing this year!

Xxx

sew sunday......a work in progress

Yay spring/summer is finally here. How nice is it to have some sunny weather for a change. Its so nice not to have to wear loads of layers to keep warm. I even managed to get out in the garden to plant some seeds, potatoes, and have a general tidy up. Its also great to be able to photograph things outside in the natural light.

So its Sew Sunday and I'm sew sorry! This fortnights Sew Sunday is a work in progress, it took a little longer to work out than I thought. But I'm guessing you can all tell what its going to be.

 

Yep its a beach hut. 

 

I looked around for a pattern but couldn't find one so I made my own.  Ive started to attach the stripes with blanket stitch and I'm hoping to get the door and roof on over the bank holiday, and then add a few extras. All this might be easier said than done as no doubt my six year old will have different ideas! :)

 

Vicky Xxx

 

Sew Sunday ... scotty dog

This little scotty dog was actually a gift for my mom last christmas. I know its a bit lazy but the new stuff i'm working on is still a work in progress, but it will be ready soon. So back when it was very cold and wintery I made this. Yes I know its still fairly cold and wintery now but rest assured the new things im working on will remind you of warm sunny days!!
We did have a name for him or her but I honestly cant remember what it is, so any suggestions let me know.

I think I might have wanted to call him 'button' due to his button eyes, or maybe petal. But honestly who knows, it was christmas and ive slept since then. Anyway I guess its up to my mom to name it really seeing as he lives with her now.

I also wanted to show you this fab new magazine I found 'Ruby loves'.

 

I know anyone who has little girls will love this. Its packed full of stuff to make and only costs a fiver. The best of it is everything you need to make the projects inside is in the bag, apart from the eggs and flour for the cookie pops because that would be stupid lol, but theres no need to buy anything. In this the first issue you can make a bag, cards, a ring, a keyring and loeds more. I cant think of better way to get young girls interested in craft, and yes I know its aimed at young girls but I couldnt help but buy it anyway. So if you've got little girls who love to craft I suggest you check it out.

 

Love Vicky

Xxx

sew sunday...

Just a quickie today to show you these fun little hair clips. I'm busy busy busy at the moment trying to sort out stuff for the little fellas birthday and Easter.

 

OK so there isn't an awful lot of sewing to these, but they're easy peasy to make and would look so cute in a Little girls hair. And there really cheap too, I bought a pack of 30 hair clips for £1, the felt I already had but that's not too expensive either.

 

 I really like the bright pink one, Its such a pretty flower. it looks complicated to make but its really easy when you know how. maybe if I get around to it I will do a quick tutorial.

 So now I'm off to bake Star wars cakes in preparation for my little mans tea party and I'm off to the craft show on Thursday to spend some of my hard earned cash lol.

Thanks for stopping by
Love Vicky Xxx