The "No Gifts" Rule

Let's get things straight. I hate the "No Gifts" rule given by well meaning friends and family. I know it's given as a means of controlling the intake of crap, it's often a heartfelt "please don't spend your hard earned money on us" plea, and I don't know, is there another reason?

Well, I have a loop hole. Homemade gifts.

It can't just be Handmade, like you can't pay someone else to make it, that's cheating and and not covered by the Loophole. The aim is to give a gift that you made. That's the loophole.

The buying of supplies doesn't count, so shop away.

Unfortunately, or fortunately (we are trying to save for a house now. Remember my dream house?) I had all I needed for this little project.

First, I checked with the hostess on the colour scheme for her home. This is when the "No Gifts" rule was proclaimed and I hit back with my loophole (while also promising that I would only make something if I had the time. Pfft! I make time for crafts baby!)

Next I grabbed an inherited-from-a-friend, mini square canvas.

I covered it in a grey/white scrapbooking paper, using double sided tape to stick it down.

Add another strip to that thing and it's covered!

Then I printed out An Irish Blessing, using grey and yellow ink.

I stuck it on my covered canvas with tape.

It looks like it's coming off, but I assure you I fixed it!

Then wrapped a yellow ribbon around it, taping it all around.

Cute enough to display and small enough to stash in the cupboard if they hate it.

Voila!

Wrapped it with some inherited-from-a-friend wrapping paper, tied a bow with a strip of scrap fabric, and That's it!

I love this green paper... but I only have a little bit left *sob*

Gratuitous bow shot.

I did fail to make a card, but I wrote on the back of the canvas. That'll work.


What do you think of the No Gifts rule? Do you bend it, or smash that sucker?

Christmas in July

Christmas came early this year.

It started with a gift for my mum, who is basically Christmas crazy. She has all manner of decorations and even has her own shed to store them in. What she didn't have was an Advent Calendar.

I'm not sure where I found the idea. Probably Pinterest. Or maybe I morphed a couple of ideas together. Anyhoo, I'm sure Pinterest is the reason I held onto my old baking trays when Mr Frog bought me new ones from Aldi. It can't just be because I'm a bit of a hoarder. Right?

Here's what I came up with.

It's one of the simplest crafts I've done in ages.

1.Take one old baking tray/cookie sheet (FREE) and go at it with a can of spray paint. I chose white (because I had some. FREE)

2. Measure some xmas coloured scrapbook paper to size (already had because I bought it on sale ages ago. FREE)  and wrap around some matchboxes (ten of which I already had because I had to have them when I first saw them. FREE) from the craft shop. They come in packs of ten, so I bought another pack ( stupidly expensive when you're buying this many!) and then they didn't have any more. Commence swearing like a sailor, then save the day by buying actual matchboxes and turf the contents. (Seriously thought about keeping the matches, because surely I could use them for something, but after two weeks on the dining table they had to go.)

3. Adorn each box with a number from a purpose made sticker sheet. Thank you Kaisercraft for making my life easier.

That's basically it.

But then I realised that mum could display some of her massive magnet collection on the tray during the year, so I found a box to house the little boxes in (also FREE).

I love it when  a gift does double duty.

So, not long after I posted this off, we were invited to Christmas in July. Of course, I'd need a hostess gift and it would need to be homemade. I've got a rep' to protect.

I've been dying to make Mulled wine "teabags" almost as long as I've been obsessed with handmade tea bags. So, I went to Pinterest again, and used this and this as guides. The American measurements annoyed me no end, so there was a little bit of educated guessing going on.

Sadly, there was no time for a tasting so I can only hope they're as delicious as they look!

One "teabag" will do one bottle of wine, so I figure two bags will generally do for the winter. And of course they need to be packaged just so...

The morning of our lovely lunch date, Mr Frog trimmed the herb garden, so they came too.

Properly dressed of course...

And that is how we Christmas'd in July.

 Mr Frog has decided that next year, from Yule (in June...yes, I'm Pagan. The nude dancing is optional.) until Bastille Day on 14th July we will be celebrating Xmas, with decorations and everything.

You've been warned.

Now, it's time to start preparing those xmas crafts... don't leave them till the last minute, you'll just do yourself a damage.

What do you have planned for Xmas? Or is that a dirty word right now...?

MC

An Itty Bitty Xmas Gift

Last year, I nearly gave myself an ulcer making fabulous gifts for the fabulous women in my mothers group. It was ridiculous, and just another example of how I often expect too much from myself.

Do you do this? I'd like to think it was a mum thing, something I could be at least a little smug about, but it turns out that motherhood has just put a great big magnifying glass over the habits, traits and "issues" that were already there.

Anyhoo. This time I was good. This time, I made an effort without breaking a sweat, and talked myself down from going over board.

You might say my mothers group were ripped off this year.

All they got this year, was this itty bitty box of homemade chocolates.

And when I say homemade, what I mean is, I poured some melted chocolate into a mould and put things like almonds and crushed mint lollies in them.

You don't have to make the chocolates either. Buy some wrapped ones and pop thoses into a little box. Or tailor it to the recipient. Do they love Skittles? Fill it with Skittles. Make a bunch and keep them hany for those times you realise it would be nice to give Rhonda from work who you only see in the tea room, a little something for xmas.

1. Fill a little box with chocolates or lollies, homemade or otherwise.

2. Tear strips of fabric (for that rustic look) or cut lengths of ribbon, so they're  not quite as wide as your box. Oh, and it doesn't have to be "xmassy". Trust me. It's quite freeing.

3. Tie a bow. To get it looking perfect it takes a bit of faffing. I always do a test run first, then cut my lengths (or tear) to match. To get an even length, you need to start with one side longer than the other. Or simply trim and be done with it!

4. Repeat.

Voila! Cute little pressies people will be happy to receive, and you'll be even happier (and ulcer free) to give.

We're off to France for Xmas (please pray for snow!), so if I don't see you before we leave,

Shop Local, Buy Handmade, and remember, Happiness is a New Handbag.

Joyeux Noel!

MC

Pressed Metal, The Not Quite Tutorial

Remember these box/shelf thingy's?

My Wedding Expo display

I thought they looked great at the wedding expo. Black and white, bold, simple. Mr Frog/Mr I-Always-Have-A -Bloody-Opinion thought they looked too modern. "Your style is "Vintage"" he said.
Damn.
He's right.
Although it did look great, something a little more vintage would look even better.
But what? For awhile, I was thinking black and white damask scrapbooking paper. Easy Peasy.
But then I remembered something I saw on Bloody Pinterest.
Pressed Metal.
I adore pressed metal. I dream of having a Silver Pressed Metal splash back in my kitchen.
I didn't actually go to the original source. It seemed pretty simple. And it was.

Simple, yet I think, incredibly effective.

First, cut your cardboard to size. I used a random piece of cardboard and stole the giant box of un-opened Cornflakes. (Remember, Already had = Free)

Then I marked out my pattern. You know me, I kept it simple. This is a little less fancy than I imagine in my dream kitchen.

I then went to town with the hot glue. If you're doing this with kids, you could probably use P.V.A glue, it'll just take longer to dry. So scratch that, and just let the kids design while you take command of the glue gun. (There's gotta be some perks to being the grown up).
Be careful not to make the glue to high/thick. It'll tear the foil.

Next, lay the foil shiny side down and put your cardboard glue side down. Fold over the edge of the foil, carefully, and tape down.

 Flip it over and gently rub your hands over the foil.

 Then go over again with more attention to detail.

 Now remember when I said gently and try not to make the glue too thick...? This is why. The foil won't like it. And neither will you.

 Nevermind. Pretend it didn't happen and continue with the next two pieces.

 It's about this time I heard a little voice in my head saying " It doesn't look as good as you thought huh?".
Doubting bitch. I Ignored her and carried on.

It looked promising. I had such high hopes.

Hmm. Not quite how I imagined. I stared for a bit. Maybe it'll look better with a bag in there?

 Maybe up close?

Hmmmm.
Maybe with the black bags instead. Yes, that's it.

 I couldn't work out why it didn't look like I thought it would. The first piece I did was awesome. I even posted it on Facebook. (So it must be true).
Then Mr Frog chimed in.
In his "I'm trying not to sound like the critical pain in the arse you think I am" voice, he said "Do you like it babe?". I paused for a second too long and he continued with "It just looks like foil".

GAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

He is a critical pain in the arse, but when he's right, he's right.

Now it just looks like a conspiracy theorist has gotten a little fancy with the foil on the windows.

Sometimes, things don't work out the way you think/hope/wildly assume they will. And part of the "fun" of being a crafty minx is working out how to fix things when they don't quite work out fail completely.

I went back to plan B. well, plan A really.
And I got to go to Kaisercraft. So, that's a win.

 A black damask acetate (After Five Collection,  Champagne), on white paper.

Simple, black and white, bold, Vintage.

And I didn't swear once.

What have you stuffed up and then fixed lately?

MC

Beauty is in The Eye of The Beholder. Or Not.

I think it's pretty clear that I am a not a professional crafter/sewer/cook etc. Yes, the things I actually sell are well made, but for everything else, I'm just a chick who likes to make stuff. Sometimes things turn out perfectly. More often then not, they turn out o.k, and on occasion, they just don't work. That's how we learn. It's how I learn. It's usually fun either way.

Here is an example of a project that "technically" kinda worked out.

But it ain't pretty.

I started with this Abomination.

 

Now you can't tell in the photo, but this palstic bag holder is a bit of a mess. It's falling apart at the seams, literally, and bags actually fall out of the bottom. It's time for a new one. A prettier one.

I've always thought a tea towel is the perfect material for these things. I don't know why. It's just an idea that would.not.leave.me.

So, this is how it went down.

I had Mr. Frog choose an old tea towel from those we already own, telling him to "choose a tea towel for the cause!", like it was for the war effort or something. Now my reasoning behind using a tea towel we already own is that, already have = free. I like free. Getting Mr.Frog to do the choosing meant I wouldn't get in trouble later for sacrificing the "wrong" tea towel.

He chose this.

 This "beauty" comes from France, from a place we've never been. I think it was a xmas present from family. Yes, the embroidery is coming undone. Yes, those are holes you can see.

I figured that given where the bag holder lives, it didn't need to be, shall we say, typically beautiful. And remember, it's free.

First, I folded over and pinned the top and bottom of the tea towel. I didn't measure, just guessed how much room I'd need to get elastic and a ribbon through the space. Then I sewed in a fairly straight line. Yes, I was being  nonchalant. The tea towel turns out to be quite wonky, and me quite nonchalant, so it turns out like this:

 

Never mind.

Warning: there are heaps of photos because I got carried away using this:

That's my super cool tripod. I'm in love with it.

O.k, then I folded the tea towel in half long ways, and sewed along the open edge, being sure not to sew over the very ends. I didn't get a shot of this step, so here's one of me in my "craft room", aka, the dining room.
That's either my posing face or I have a pin in my mouth. Or both.

Next I threaded some elastic through the bottom part and tied it off. But first I had to spend 20minutes looking for a bloody safety pin, because who the hell knows where Mr. Frog puts anything! I eventually found one in the depths of my old sewing basket, in an old tin of pins my nanna gave me.

Then, I threaded the elastic. To get the length I needed I measured along the tea towel (now doubled over) and then added half that again.

Then I did the same for the top, but with ribbon. Only, I couldn't get to the ribbon because the baby was asleep (by now anyway, before that there was a lot of crying while I concentrated on sewing moderately straight) where my craft is stored. So I pulled the cord out of the Abomination, and used that. Free!

You need a longer piece of cord/ribbon so you can get into the bag easily, and hang it on something.
And voila:

A new Abomination.

Good Lord!

Well, at least this one doesn't leak bags onto the floor. And it's hidden.

And a bonus?
On my search for a safety pin (so much swearing!) I found some old lace from an outfit I "made" in high school.

If only I had pictures of that. I thought I looked hot!

But what to do with this scrap...?

Stay tuned.

MC