Decorated Paper Bauble Tutorial

I have a wonderful group of Home Ed friends whom I meet up with “formally” at least every fortnight (and more if possible!!). It is just fantastic to have around me a group of (mostly) women (the odd time you can find a husband wandering around sheepishly among us) who are generous with their time and wisdom and company. 

This week we were meeting up, and for many of us, we won’t get to meet again until January, so I made them a very small gift of thanks and Christmas blessing. These Christmas baubles are lovely and easy to make, and would be a great simple gift for kiddies to make too!

I covered polystyrene balls with strips of paper torn from a book with yellowed pages (“King Lear”, from the early 1970’s if we are to get technical!!) I glued the paper on with PVA glue- make sure to keep smoothing the paper down so any creases are flattened, I kept rubbing the glue on and it softens the paper and smoothes easily.

 

Onto the dry papered bauble, I stuck a 2” x 1” rectangle of an old map, then an old Irish Christmas stamp from the 1980’s. I had tea-dyed a sheet of rose- decorated tissue paper, and tore a strip of this which I glued partially on top (I covered all the collage-ed bits with a 50% PVA and 50% water mix. This glue mix gives coherence to your collage so the parts don’t look disparate in relation to each other)

 

With my glue gun, I glued a piece of tea-dyed linen string, with a button on top to cover the glue.

I also added two more buttons onto the collage (I would have preferred to have had white or cream buttons, but had to make do with a rainbow of colours!)

I also made a couple of fabric wrapped baubles,

also decorated with buttons, and some 

ric-rac and fabric ribbon. 

♥ ♥ ♥ Only 10 days to Christmas!!!!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥

Posted by Emily 

The No-Sew Blanket

I’m still without my own camera, but Fergal got a loan of one for me, so I can do the final pictures of this incredibly easy No-Sew Blanket

(I got the how-to from this wonderful woman called Tammy last year, thank you Tammy! XXX)

This makes a very fast, easy gift, you could easily make it in an hour or two, and once it is cut, any child able to make a secure knot can be employed to help put it together!

(Apologies for the quality of the photo! But needs must etc etc)

The No-Sew Blanket

Materials: fleece material (I use two different patterns, or one plain and one pattern to make it easier to see when putting it together), sissors, pins, measuring tape (and the obligatory cup of tea)

The How-To:

You cut 2 pieces of fleece the same size. Pin one side, approximately 5 inches in

Make sure you have a child in a boat made from a vegetable box, sail over and try to steal your pins, and after that, cut into the fabric, 5 inches in, 1 inch apart, the whole length of the fabric, then repeat for each side.

For the corners, cut them out like this: (i.e. cut a 5″ x 5″ square from each corner)

Once you have all the cuts made, start to knot (yes, just a knot!) around the sides. I tend to knot the middle of each side and corners first to hold it all together, 

then continue to knot, until all the strips are knotted together. Go back over each knot to secure, and and make sure the knot is tight (it is incredibly difficult to pull the knots out once they are tightly knotted)

This also makes a really great present for an older person, as a lap blanket, or for a small child as a buggy blanket. 

Make sure to buy enough fleece, because as soon as you have made one, due to the addictive, relaxing rhythm of the knotting, you are sure to want to make another!!

(Posted by Emily )

Beautiful Tea-light Holder Tutorial

This is the time of year that candles and tea lights come into their own… our natural light is fading by 4pm these days, and the lovely glow from these tealights make everywhere look so cosy!

I love to group lights together, and jars make a great candle-holders (and so much safer) 

I made some beautiful tea-light holders today, using jam jars I had here in the kitchen.

I wanted them to have a “vintage-y” look, so I colour-photocopied pages from old missals and  photographs (you have to really colour-photocopy to get the lovely old tone of the paper- I tried black and white copies and staining them after, but they weren’t nearly as good) 

I am amassing a great collection of vintage photocopies… 

laces, stamps and buttons…

 and had tea-stained tissue-paper, ribbons, lace, and paper a few days ago, waiting for a project like this 

I carefully cut out the old postcards and missal sheets (with relevant “Christmastide” pages!), and, with a 50/50 PVA glue and water mix, I brushed this solution on the back, then positioned it on the jar (careful to wipe any excess glue off so that it doesn’t get “smear-y”)

(you could photocopy old photos of family members, letters, receipts to make them more personal to the recipient if you are giving them as a gift)

I continued to layer, adding christmas stamps and a cut-out of a flower. The idea is to have a beautiful composition that doesn’t look too “formal”, but is still coherent. 

I finished off the jar with some lovely lace and tied an old vintage button on, positioning it so that it balanced the whole composition!

Then I promptly made 2 more!!

Finished just in time to photograph them glowing in the dusky light.

Aren’t they pretty? 

And what a simple, easy gift to make- for a loved one – or yourself! 

Posted by Emily