Monday, 31 December 2012

Popular posts of 2012

Posted by Alison on December 31, 2012 in dip dye, DIY, refashion, Swarovski, tangled / 3 comments

2012 has been a crazy busy year,lots of DIY and gardening and not nearly as much crafting as I would have liked, hopefully next year will be less house renovation and more crafty fun!

Here is a roundup of my 10 most popular posts of 2012...

1. DIY Dip Dyed / Ombre Skirt

2. DIY Swarovski Earrings

3. DIY Swarovski Bracelet

4. Woodland Wonderland Tree Stump Wedding Cake

5. Wooden Bead Necklace

6. Star Wars ATAT Cake

7. Skirt from Scraps

8. DIY: old jeans to new skirt

9. Pintrest Inspired Foot Art

10. Rapunzel/Tangled Dress Up Costume

Looks like jewelery and refashioning posts are most popular, more of that next year then!

Christmas Sewing

Posted by Alison on December 30, 2012 in ballroom dancing, Cath Kidston Sew, covered notebook, Dancing Shoes bag / 7 comments

Along with the Christmas Crochet I also managed to get some Christmas sewing done between attending nativity plays, running the kids to various parties etc!

I made a make up / toiletries bag for my cousin, which I filled with a crocheted headband and some hair slides,

and a dancing shoes bag for my mother in law who loves going ballroom dancing.

Both were made using modified patterns form the Cath Kidston Sew book, a great book with very detailed instructions and one of my most used sewing books. The fabric for the toilet bag is an Ikea pillow case lined with an old shower curtain and the shoe bag is made for fairtrade organic cotton from here ( a fantastic shop).

I also russled up two covered notebook's using this fantastic tutorial.

This one is for my oldest friend who has just got engaged so embroidered 'I do' on the front

and this one for my sister who is pregnant with my first niece or nephew,

I think I may be more excited than her at the moment, roll on July and teeny baby cuddles!!

Christmas Crochet

Posted by Alison on December 28, 2012 in crochet, earwarmer, headband, neckwarmer / 3 comments

In the week before Christmas I realised I was significantly less organised with pressies for people than I thought so ended up making quite a few gifts in some rare quiet moments!

Here are the crocheted ones...

First was an earwarmer using this pattern but I forgot to take a photo of it...

Then a knotted earwarmer

using this pattern. It was so quick to do, only look about an hour.

Finally neckwarmer which I can't find the pattern for, I will add the link when I have found it again! It was great to make, you make 4 strips then plait (braid) them and crochet the ends together, a bit fiddly at the end but pretty easy!

I have the crochet bug again so am about to embark on my first jumper, wish me luck!!

Merry Christmas and a Thank You!

Posted by Alison on December 26, 2012 / No comments

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you had a great day yesterday, we had a lovely time with my parents and grandparents and my house now looks like a lego shop!

Now for the huge thank you...

Amanda from City Girl Gone Costal had a giveaway a while ago and I was one of the winners:) She sent the most beautiful package of goodies.

Some wee Christmas shapes,

two gorgeous Christmas hearts,

and some beautiful Christmas bunting!

Thank you so much Amanda!

I will be back soon to show you some of the handmade gifts I made for Christmas.

A busy month!

Posted by Alison on December 13, 2012 / 1 comment

Wow, it is a month since I last posted and what a month it has been! We now have a new (almost finished) kitchen and new living room!

Here are a few photos of the evolution of the living room of the last year...