Flowery Hair Clip

I was inspired by SJ's Fabric Bib Necklace over at SJs Little Musings to try making fabric flowers.
Having looked on youtube I came across allsorts of different flowers but this was my favourite style.....

This is actually made from a black ribbon with red spots on it.

Having made this I then took an old hair clip that I no longer liked..



I added some lace which I had spiraled and hand sewn. I then added 4 "flowers", 1 large red "rose" and 3 black & red flowers. I also added some black feathers as I thought it was getting a modern victorian look to it.

When it was finished I also found I had a red rose left over so I attached it to a broach so I can either wear it as a broach or attach it to a necklace.

matching necklace, earrings and bracelet

I fell in love with this necklace from Primark and had to get it, but I do like my jewellery to match, and they didnt have anything that did, so I bought 2 of these necklaces, one to wear, and one to take apart and create these .....

A bracelet....

and matching earrings, I only had to add the hooks for the earrings, the rest came from the necklace.

ring pull belt

You may remember I featured Ring Pull Makes on one of my Want to make wednesdays. Thanks to my good friend Choccy (& her friend Julia, many thanks to both of them) for collecting ring pulls and sending them to me I had enough to make a belt....

It took 206 ringpulls to create. This does up nicely on my size 14 jeans, but is loose when fastened around my waist (to give you an idea of size, ring pull ratio)
I used a headpin, threaded through the bead & then looped to create and end for the ties.

Altered shoes

As you have seen, I like altering shoes, and with the sun shining there are plenty of canvas shoes out in all different sorts of designs that are easy to create on.

These I got with the idea of making them match the dress I've just made to make it a bit more casual than with my heeled shoes that go with it.

By drawing around measuring cups and then painting with fabric paint I came up with these.....

But this isnt just a hobby for adults, kids love it as well..

And with pumps only costing about £1.50p (thats how much these cost) its a cheap craft for them that will keep them entertained on wet or dry days.

To make it even cheaper I let them use acrylic or poster paints, they stain them quite nicely, as many a school jumper sleeve will prove.

These are the shoes Kai (whose 3years old) altered himself.

Boys Necklaces

I was walking with Kai to pay for the new pair of sunglasses he'd chosen from Primark when I spotted these mens necklaces. I found them rather plain but envisaged I could use the beads mixed together to make a patterned necklace, and maybe stop Kai raiding mine!
I snipped each thread right by the knot so I could use the elastic in them again.
With adding a few of my own beads this is what I came up with.....
2 necklaces for both of my lads, with loads of beads left over

Here's Zack with his, I used the brown and cream beads, and added 2 larger beads to put either side of the surfboard charm I had.

& heres Kai with his. I used the black and cream beads, adding my own red beads. I need to get more elastic to make this one larger as though it fits perfectly at the moment Kai grows very quickly and I dont want gaps in the necklace. The elastic in the necklace is extremely stretchy, stretching to almost 3 times the size of the necklace so I have no worries with Kai wearing it.

I also had the biggest compliment I could get from my OH, he's asked me to make him a couple of bracelets like them.

Hampers

I love making hampers they make lovely gifts and can be so personal for the person they are made for, plus, if your making them yourself they work out a fraction of the price of bought ones normally. Hampers arent normally seen as a "craft" but I think they are, to make a very nice looking on anyway. It takes time and effort to match colours, organise the layout, let alone choosing what items to go into it.


For example

My mother-in-laws birthday present last year. It was a pamper hamper. I took the colours from the box handbag as my inspiration. I couldnt find a decently priced wicker basket so chose this one, especially as the colour went perfectly. The pink tissue paper contrasted nicely against it.
The bottles at the front contain imperial leather and again match the colours. I know my MIL likes Lush and winnie the pooh so kept this in mind when buying products to go in the hamper.

When finished I normally wrap the hampers in celephane and tie with first an elastic band and then hide this with ribbon. This makes it look neater and more professional

Burlesque Shoes

I love clothing thats a little bit unique, and the same goes for shoes. The easiest way to get something totally unique is to make it yourself! Or at least alter it.

In the autumn I got an idea of making a corset style, burlesque-esque shoe in black and red, but it wasnt until closer to Christmas that I raided my Mums unwanted shoes, for something to alter and found these......

Just the shape of shoe I wanted! No toes poking out (they look awful with 1950's style tights), a nice heel, and a single high strap.

I covered as much of the black leather as I could in newspaper and masking tape, keeping the heel free. I then spray painted it red, it took a few coats.

After this was dry I removed the paper and tape, and went down either side of the back seam with my cropodile putting in 3 eyelets on each side. I took some suede cord and criss crossed it through the eyelets and tied a bow.

The final result......

......my new going out shoes.

I have lots of different ideas for altering shoes so your bound to see more here.

I need to find something to cover the heels in that doesnt scrape off like the spray paint, they are ok for everyday wear but if they catch against some metal that would normally just scratch the heel slightly they show the black underneath. Next time I may try lightly sanding it to give it something to hold onto, anyone know of any products that might work?

Altered Mirror Frame

I picked up a mirror from poundland for my downstairs toilet. I liked the swirls on the frame but not the colour, and thought it a bit snoresville.
(why its on a black sack will become obvious soon, and ooo look, my lil fingers waving at you!!)

I took the mirror and back off and laid it onto a black sack to work on. I stuck on embellishments I had removed from another project that I'd lost interest in with a glue gun.

I then gave it a coat of spray paint (see, this is why there was a black sack behind it)

One coat was not enough, but better to do several thin coats and let it dry imbetween than to do a thick coat and have it run.
Do the coats from different angles to ensure an even coverage and that the paint gets to all the nooks & crannys

When dry replace the mirror and backing, hang up directly opposite the terminator head, goblets & other oddities, then take a photo! Oh boy I'm glad the way I hold a camera at this height hides my face :D

Note to self, make a curtain rail and curtain to hide the cleaning goods at the top, Kando hand wash and Andrex cocoa butter loo roll does not enhance the gothic feel! Maybe a coffin to keep them in? A coffin in the loo, now that would be novel!!!!

I actually had to stand on tippy toes to take this as my OH is about a foot taller than me and he wants to use this mirror as well, without bending over double like he has to for most of the mirrors in the house which are positioned for me & the kids.

A few close up details......

An old spider web earring, you may remember the other one was used on my scrapbook layout here.
Some little paper roses I twisted together along with leaves.
Another earring, this time a skeleton one, that moves quite nicely when touched
A little dancing skeleton charm.

I know a mirror like this is not to everyones taste, but others could make it using purely flowers and spraying say pink to go with a little girls room, or cars for a stereotypical boys room (my youngest son would probably want trains and sheep). Or even spray the frame first and then add the items such as flowers to give a variation of colour.... the items could even be sprayed first, and then stuck onto the frame after that had been sprayed .... can you hear my brain whirring as I type this, lol

Talk of Change .....

I have to admit that I have been a little despondent about my blogs and my crafty pieces lately, lacking a bit of confidence, so I've decided to spend a little bit of time on them and try focusing my craft blog. So, starting monday, what have I got planned .......

Mmm....mondays:
Mondays are about food, something I've recently cooked, tried out, or a recipe I've come up with/tweaked. On occassion it'll be a recipe I want to try, or a display, such as a cake, that just wows me.

Tip Tuesday:
On Tuesdays I shall be giving away tips that have helped me out, or maybe a tutorial on crafting, and sometimes blogging.

Want to make Wednesdays:
An item, tutorial or some other inspiration I've seen that I want to make or try out.

Papercraft Thursday:
Maybe a card, a box or anything else created out of paper. Sometimes a tutorial, sometimes just showing off what I've made.

Free Choice Friday:
I dabble in a lot of crafts, On fridays I will post items that dont fit into other sections.

Scrapbook Saturday
A way to try & get me scrapbooking on a weekly basis, I have a LOT of photos, and am always adding to them so need to keep going at this, so not only is it motivational but also shows you what I've been upto.

Sewing Sunday:
I keep meaning to sew, wether its just repairs or make something new, I just dont get round to it so now I must ;)
Sundays will be about showing you what I've made, or where I've got up to. Sometimes it'll be a tutorial on how I made something, other times it could be showing what I want to make, or a free pattern I've found.

So thats the plan anyway, there will be other things included as well such as blog hops, or something linked to a specific occassion.

The layout is also going to change slightly, so what I'd like to know from you is what do you like to see on a blog? what do you hate (I really dislike having to type in verification codes, choose a profile etc when posting a comment, I'd like to post a comment, not jump through hoops!)?