Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Some beautiful gift ideas for Mother's Day by some lovely crafters on Etsy.

Enjoy, Jen x

'Mother's Day Gift Ideas'

A collection of gift ideas perfect for Mother's Day.

Mother of Two Bird Nest Neck... IvoryCove $38.50	Personalized Gift for Mom- ... KreationsbyMar... $15.00	Silver Family Tree Necklace,... SweetBlueBirdJ... $35.50
ON SALE. For her. Cream, bro... CROCHETTT $29.50	Personalised Text Heart Fram... PaperHeartCrea... $22.00	Pastel Peach Crochet Earring... MagazinIL $10.00
crochet rose ring, flower ri... Giftsandbobs $6.50	Dandelion Seed Make a Wish N... SeaMeadowDesig... $23.00	Lace crochet bookmark choice... BabanCat $6.00
Peach Earrings - Silver Fram... lilabelledesig... $28.00	Knitted peach daffodil stitc... TheFluffyDuck $19.50	Women's Wristwarmers / A... bebbyjumpers $14.00
Grandparent 8x10 Print for G... SincerelySadie... $13.95	Vintage Style Sewing Kit wit... OliviaMadeNew $18.50	Bridesmaid Petal Shawlette HuggleKnits $50.00
10 Things Love About MOM Mam... iloveitall $13.00

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Tutorial: Make your own Notebook!

One of my new years goals was to make one crafty project a month, and this month it was to make a notebook. So far I've made three! They're super fast and easy to make and you need to buy very few supplies, most of the things you'll probably have lying around the house somewhere! So here's my tutorial to make your very own notebook that you can personalise however you like. I should probably give you a link to the tutorial I followed and this tutorial is pretty much the same thing: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-100-page-Notebook/

Supplies needed:

 

• Manilla folder (or something similar)
• 50 sheets of paper (I used standard blank printer paper and I used 50 sheets which will make a 100 page notebook as the pages will be folded)
• Scissors or artists scalpel
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Cotton thread or embroidery thread
• Needle and embroidery needle (The needle is used to puncture the holes, you can also use a thumbtack or something similar)
• Hot cup of tea (optional)!

Step 1: Fold your pages in half. I had 50 pages so I folded five bundles of ten and ended up with 100 pages.

 

Step 2: Measure the size of your cover. Make the cover an inch or so larger than the pages. Also if your using a manilla folder, there should be three creases in the middle. You need three creases in the middle so if your card doesn't have three, make two more an inch from the centre crease. (Sorry if this sounds very confusing, hopefully you'll understand what I'm saying from the pictures below) Measure your cover not from the centre crease but from one of the outside ones. Cut card to make you cover.

Step 3: Line up all your pages with the cover, and make three marks on each. I marked them at two inches, four inches, and six inches, from the beginning of the pages not the cover. I marked the cover on the inside so the pencil marks wouldn't be visible when finished.

Step 4: On the cover where marked, make five holes at each marking. On the pages make three holes where marked. To make the holes first puncture with a needle or something similar and then go through again with an embroidery needle. It can be hard at first to make the holes in the pages, I got a few too many pricks with the needle! A thumbtack might be easier and safer and also you could use paper clips to keep the pages together and stop them from slipping.

 Step 5: Line up all the pages with the cover to get ready to stitch them together. Make sure they're all matched up evenly.

Step 6: Stitching it together! Cut 5 pieces of cotton or embroidery thread, mine were 15 inches long. Make sure you cut them long enough as you'll need enough of a tail to knot them at the end. Starting with one of your page bundles and the bottom row of holes on the cover, put your embroidery needle through the middle hole on the cover and through the middle hole on your bundle of pages.

Now from the inside put the thread through the bottom hole (as above) making sure you use the hole on the same line on the cover.Then from the outside put the thread through the top hole, then from the inside, back out the middle. It should look like the pictures below when finished. Knot the thread securely.

Repeat this with all your page bundles.
When you're finished it should look something like the picture below. You can tidy up the loose threads on the side, but make sure they're all tied securely.

Your notebook is now finished and you can decorate however you like.

 

I hope you've found this tutorial easy to follow, sorry if it's a bit long. If you have any questions please ask.

Thanks for reading and enjoy making your notebooks!

Jen x

A Little Something for St. Patrick's Day

I  just made this cute simple shamrock ring, perfect for St. Patrick's Day. They are available here if you're interested: https://www.etsy.com/listing/124076328/shamrock-crochet-ring-st-patricks-day#.

Jen x

An Etsy Treasury

Here's an etsy treasury I made for a team challenge, all about the farm! I love all the adorable knitted and crocheted farm animals.

'Down on the (knit and crochet) farm'

This is a Knit1Treble2 Team Treasury Challenge entry! Anyone can play!Inspired by Pamela's cute pink little flying pig!

Crocheted Flying Pig Amiguru... crochetbypamel... $6.50	Milkshake the Cow toy knitti... fluffandfuzz $3.00	Sheep Lamb Amigurumi Crochet... ViridianMuse $26.99
Crochet Girl Cow Amigurumi S... YouHadMeAtCroc... $35.50	Set of Four Farm Animals Cus... MillieFern $63.00	Toffee Rooster - Hand Knit O... yarnmiracle $72.00
Crochet Fluffy white Westie ... TheFluffyDuck $19.50	Hand Knit Wool Barn Storage ... PailandPie $65.00	Cat tea cosy knitting patter... madmumknits $2.75
Knitted Baby Chick in Egg Pl... chantelstar $14.50	Felted Woolly Sheep NicsGifts $5.00	Bruno the knitted hedgehog SilverleafShin... $5.00
knitted, stuffed with wool b... WoollyFamily $20.00	Farm Animal Finger Puppets EightLittleFin... $18.00	Hand Knitted Owl Tea Cosy jacksknits $25.00
Knitted pigs sachiyoishii $17.00

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5 Crafty Things to Do with..... Food!

Today's five crafty things is all about using food in crafts. I found these ideas and tutorials on Pinterest and each source is linked under the picture. Enjoy!

1. Make a spaghetti starburst mirror.

Food used: Spaghetti.

Source: http://tuckerup.blogspot.ie/2012/09/diy-starburst-mirror-under-5.html

The mirror in the picture was made using wood skewers not spaghetti but I'm pretty sure I've seen a mirror like this made using spaghetti, and would mostly follow the tutorial given in the link provided.


2. Make stamps from food, for pictures and even clothing, like scarfs.

Food used: Whatever you can think of!! (Within reason, I don't think things like a banana and bread would make very good stamps!)

Source: http://blog.luulla.com/paper-craft/food-stamping

Source: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2012/08/fruit-veggie-stamping.html

This is a fun one as the possibilities are endless.

3. Restyle a picture frame.

Food used: In the frame pictured, green peas, barley, and pasta were used, but you can change it up a bit if you like. I think pasta type foods and seeds and grains would be best, things like that that wouldn't go bad.

Source: http://stranamasterov.ru/node/212745?tid=451

4. Make a food flag.

Food used: Whatever food matches the colour you need. (Try to use food associated with that particular country to make it more fun and challenging.)

Source: http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/national-flags-made-out-of-popular-foods.html

I like this one, I think it's very fun.

5. And lastly, why not make some handmade tea bags with heart cookies.

Food used: Ingredients to make your favourite cookies.

Source: http://www.merrimentdesign.com/handsewn-teabags-tied-to-yummy-cookies.php

These would be a lovely little present for Mother's Day.

Thanks for reading this installment of 5 Crafty Things, I hope you've enjoyed these foody crafts.
Jen x

Some New Etsy Listings

Here are some new crochet rings I've added to my Etsy shop.
I really like the yellow one, so bright, perfect for Spring!

Happy Wednesday!

www.etsy.com/listing/123513168/crocheted-rose-ring-yellow-with

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/123513651/crochet-rose-ring-brown-rustic-looking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Craft Project for February: Notebooks!

For my craft project for February, I'm going to make some notebooks! I've been looking for the perfect notebook for ages but haven't been able to find one I really liked at a reasonable price and that's when I came across this tutorial: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-100-page-Notebook/!!! It looks perfect and reasonably easy. Very excited about this crafty project, back soon for an update!

Jen x