A peek at things to come

I’m in the process of working through a pretty amazing art course book. Seriously, I am having such a good time!

I’ll post a more comprehensive review soon, but in the mean time here’s a little taste of one of my latest projects 🙂

Homemade advent calendar

I have another nifty #christmasinjuly post for you today.

When it comes to Christmas crafts I am a sucker for any craft shop. Last year I was completely blown with the advent calendar section in my local Hobbycraft store and decided to make a reusable calendar for my boyfriend and sister-in-law.

I love reusable advent calendars, it’s so nice to be able to personalise what’s inside in each drawer, and they are a lovely thing to have on display each year.

Hobbycraft have an amazing selection, I used the house (below left), but you can get the tree (right) from store now for £10 as it’s out of season. They also do a pretty incredible Coca-Cola-style truck. Of course you don’t have to get them from Hobbycraft (I must sound like I’m on commission) there are loads of other shops offering similar products. Have a browse online you’ll find a whole host of other options.

There’s no real method to making one of these. Just let your creativity inspire you. I spent a couple of hours armed with red and green paint, old christmas cards, craft paper, PVA glue and some pretty fantastic seasonal buttons.

The result was really quite handsome, even if I do say so myself.

Personalised mugs

Personalised mugs make great, affordable stocking fillers. I made these for my family last Christmas but didn’t get them finished until quite late on Christmas Eve, which, I’m sure you will agree, is no time to be making christmassy blog posts. Thank goodness for #christmasinjuly! To make these you’ll need several white mugs, a ceramic pen, masking tape, carbon paper (if you don’t have this, normal paper that has been blacked out with a pencil works just as well) and a print out of whatever design you want on the mugs (I used initials).

When it came to buying the mugs I got mine from the value range at my local supermarket for about 50p each, but you can also explore charity shops for cheaper or more varied alternatives. First, use masking tape to stick the carbon out paper (black side down) onto the mug where you want the design to be, then do the same with the design but keep the design facing up. Then use a pencil to draw over the design making sure to press down firmly, this will transfer the design from the carbon paper. When you remove the tape you should have a faint outline of your design left on the surface of the mug.

 

Using the ceramic pen carefully trace over the lines of design, if you slip or go wrong the ceramic pen can be easily wiped away with a piece of damp kitchen towel or a wet wipe. Don’t worry about excess carbon on the mugs, as this will wash off later. Once you have the designs on the mugs transfer them to a wire wrack and bake them in the oven following the instructions on your ceramic pen (normally 30 mins at 350 degrees).

After baking remove the mugs from the oven and allow to cool completely before giving them a wash, this will avoid any cracks or damage to the ceramic. Once the mugs are cool and clean you are good to go. They are lovely gifts as they are or they can be filled with whatever takes your fancy. I filled mine with chocolates, marshmallows and hot drink portions (hot chocolate for most of the family and some nice coffee samples for my caffeine addict father), before finishing them off with cellophane and ribbon. They went down a storm on christmas morning!

Color Therapy: An Anti-Stress Coloring Book

I recently bought an adult colouring books for one of my friends. She had been under a lot of stress, and I thought it would give her an excuse to do something relaxing and creative to unwind at the end of the day.

Adult colouring books have only really been a ‘thing’ for the last year or so, but if sales are anything to go by they certainly seem to be proving popular. There is no shortage of them on the marketplace, just type the words into Amazon and you will be well and truly spoilt for choice.

I was a little envious of the book I had bought my friend, so I set out to secure one for myself – for review purposes of course.

I was lucky enough to be sent this one for free by Michael O’Mara Books Ltd.

Color Therapy: An Anti-Stress Coloring Book – Cindy Wilde, Laura-Kate Chapman and Richard Merritt

My first feeling upon opening the package was one of great satisfaction – the book itself is lovely. There is none of the horrid flimsiness you often get with traditional children’s colouring books, not a single sheet of sugar paper in sight. It’s nice and weighty, with a hard cover and thick, good quality pages.

I spent a few minutes leafing through the pages and was impressed by the effort and attention to detail which so clearly went into the making of the book. A children’s colouring book would normally include a selection of crudely drawn outlines of trees, houses, tractors and smiling faces –  perfect for a child to scribble outside of the lines. Color Therapy, however, shows the sophistication that divides grown-up colouring books from their traditional counterparts. The pages are stunning, an eye watering mix of outlines, patterns, blank pages and illustrations on which to colour, doodle and sketch to your heart’s content.

Here’s a little taster of some of the pages I am most looking forward to:

Even the layout of the book pretty sophisticated – despite the introduction stating that there are no rules ‘pick up a pen or pencil and get creating…’ – it is split into seven sections, each of which focus on a different palette, fiery reds, happy yellows, majestic greens and icy blues.

I’ve spent the last few weeks taking half an hour or at the end of the day to use Color Therapy, and I have to say I have really enjoyed it. Although I should confess that so far I have only focused on the first section, Red, as it seems the perfectionist in me is unwilling to complete the book in anything other than chronological order.

Colouring in is incredibly soothing, I suppose it is a bit like curling up into the foetal position, there is something comforting about retreating back to more innocent times. I’ve been suffering from headaches a lot recently, and I’ve noticed that using Color Therapy in the evenings has helped to ease the pressure a bit, and as a result I have been sleeping better.

I’ve also found that while colouring in my mind begins to wander, it gives me time to think, but not about the stresses of everyday life. Rather, I find myself thinking about my writing. Since I’ve started using this book I have found it easier to sit down and start on the writing projects I have planned.

The following are a few of my creations – I particularly enjoyed colouring the flamenco dancer!

Adult colouring books will not be for everyone. I’ve read somewhere that the trend is, somewhat unsurprisingly, far more popular among women. That said, I would definitely recommend Color Therapy. I have thoroughly enjoyed my adult colouring book so far, and I am planning to continue using it. If colouring appeals to your arty, creative side, or if you just want an easy going hobby to unwind with, I think you could benefit having a book like this in your desk drawer.

An adorable Christmas favour.

It’s been an absolutely manic at the office this week, but there is always time to spread a little Christmas cheer. This year myself and a colleague decided to surprise everyone with their very own little Christmas stocking.

These are really simple and straight forward, and make a lovely alternative to Christmas cards. If you want to give it a go yourself, here’s how we did it.

Firstly, we located our nearest bargain warehouse, making stockings for everyone in an office of 10 people could have been very expensive if it wasn’t for the likes of Poundland, B&M and Aldi. We stocked up on multipacks of Christmas socks, candy canes, chocolate coins, toffees, small oranges, and gift tags.

To make each stocking a little more personal we included a small gift for each recipient to accompany the other goodies. We also attached individual name tags to the candy canes.

Once we had filled the socks with gifts, we poked a candy cane into the top of each stocking so that the name was clearly visible.

Then came the fun part. We waited until everyone had gone home for the night, and snuck around like Santa’s elves, attaching the filled stockings to each persons notice board. So that everyone would be met with a surprise when they arrived at work the next morning.

Needless to say these were received very well.

The finished product

Now I’ve given you a taste of how to make all my natural Christmas decorations I couldn’t resist sharing how the finished tree looks.

Aside from the fairy lights, and an adorable wooden heart garland that I purchased from Hobbycraft, everything on the tree is hand made.

I’m very happy with the result, and it smells absolutely amazing.

Special thanks to Lola Dack for the second photo, and for assisting me with decorating the tree 🙂

A handmade Christmas part four: twig star

The final step product on any well decorated Christmas tree is a nice star. In keeping with my theme I decided to make one. This was one of the easier decorations I made, and I am very happy with the result.

First things first, you need to go out and collect some twigs. I went for a lovely walk in the Gog Magog hills with my boyfriend a few months ago and collected plenty, at this time of year there will be a great selection of twigs on the ground in any wooded area.

Choose five or six twigs depending on the type of star you want to make (I went with a five pointed star) and cut them down to roughly equal size. If you want, you can select twigs that are perfectly straight, and cut them to exactly the same size, but I prefer the more natural twiggy look, and quite like the effect of a bit of differentiation and a few knots here and there.

Cross two of the twigs pieces at a point just below the top of the twigs, angle the pieces so they make an acute angle. Secure the two twigs together using either a hot glue gun, or craft glue. Place the 3rd twig horizontally across the first two, about a quarter of the way down from the point of the first two twigs, and secure with glue. Place the 4th twig diagonally from the left side of the horizontal twig to the bottom of the right twig, secure with glue, and repeat the process on the other side with the 5th twig. The twigs should now resemble a five point star as shown below.

Once the glue is dry, wrap a piece of string, or ribbon around the intersection of the top point of the star, then tie the string off to make a loop.

Voilà, the star is complete and ready to adorn your Christmas tree.

A handmade Christmas part three: Cinnamon sticks

Nothing says Christmas quite like the sweet smell of spices. This is a decoration that will look lovely on your tree, and make your house smell delectable too.

The first thing you need is cinnamon sticks. I very much doubt even the most avid crafter will go out and harvest the inner bark of cinnamomum trees to make their own sticks, so you don’t need to feel bad about buying them. I would stay away from buying the normal sticks that you find in supermarkets though, they can be bought much more cheaply through floristry supply shops. They are more hollow than the ones used for cooking, but still look and smell just as good.

Firstly you need to bundle the cinnamon sticks, I arranged mine into little piles of three. Bind the sticks together using hot glue gun, if you don’t have one ordinary craft glue will do, the bundles will just need to be left to dry for longer. Once the glue is dry use a piece of coloured ribbon to tie around the sticks. Raffia or sting would work just as well it’s purely a matter of personal taste. I used red ribbon for all of my decorations. 

Once the cinnamon sticks are tied together you can add an extra loop of ribbon can be attached to the existing bow, or fixed onto the bundle using glue, to make a hanger. 

Bundles of cinnamon sticks hung on a tree look and smell really lovely, but they can be used for all sorts of other Christmas crafts too. Try using the assorted bundles to make table decorations, or add to a plain Christmas wreath for a personal touch. 

Cute candy mice

I found these adorable alternatives to candy mice at a craft fair this week. They look fantastic, and would be really simple to make, but I did my bit for the local church by buying them instead.

The mice themselves are made from coloured foam paper, and a candy cane tail slotted into the back completes these festive little goodies.

These would make perfect stocking fillers. I can’t wait to see the reaction they get.

‘Brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favourite things’

If you are a dab hand at wrapping, then beautiful, shiny wrapping paper, ribbons and bows can make a present look almost too good to touch… But I’ve never been that elegant, and I always find it best to keep things simple.

This year I have decided to go with the ever popular brown packaging paper and white string. I fits in perfectly with my rustic theme.

I spent hours in hobby craft gazing at the beautiful gift tags, before I decided to ditch the unnecessary frills, and instead chose a big pack of plain, cream coloured, cartridge gift tags.

I used my developing calligraphy skills to personalise the gifts, with a nice red ink to add a little festivity, and I am really happy with the results. I think it looks lovely alongside the wrapping paper. For those of you who are interested, I used a wide nibbed calligraphy pen and gothic textura quadrata script.