I normally wrap my presents pretty plainly, using brown paper and some nice ribbon, but this year I thought it would be fun to get Roman in on the action.I set up a fingerpainting station for him with some red and green paint and let him at it!He was concentrating so hard and had his head really close to the paper. He somehow managed to get a smudge of paint under his nose, but ...
Gifts
Fabric Scraps for Gift Wrapping
I was given a gift that was wrapped in this way and it was so cute that I kept it in the back of my mind for later. Since Christmas is the season of giving, I thought I share it with you all!This is a lovely way to use up little scraps of fabric that you have and takes a plainly wrapped gift up a notch. Fabric Scraps for Gift WrappingYou'll need:A wrapped giftRibbon of your ...
Tea Towel Gift Wrapping
I love using tea towels to wrap cook books. I think it's a great way to wrap them up that's a little bit different. It's really simple but looks like you've gone to lots of effort. It's nice for house-warming presents too.You need a fairly large tea towel for a regular sized cook book, so keep a look out for jumbo dish cloths. Finish it off with a wooden spoon, whisk or a few ...
Decorative Plates DIY
If you're on Pinterest, then you've probably seen this idea before. While this will work with Sharpies (and I've tried it) the result is not dishwasher safe. I love my dishwasher and get a bit annoyed by things that aren't dishwasher safe.Pebeo Porcelaine 150 paints and pens are dishwasher safe. They give a lovely glazed ceramic look to your work. I used the pens and like that ...
Felt Christmas Ornaments
Does your sewing machine have a heap of decorative stitches? Did you think how cool they all were when you bought it? Have you EVER used them?? This is the prefect project to test them out.If your sewing machine doesn't have any decorative stitches on it, tracing around Christmas cookie cutters onto the felt and then hand embroidering over the outline would look lovely.It's a ...
Pincushion and Thread Basket
I've made up a few of these sets and they're lots of fun! The pincushion is as close as I've ever gotten to quilting and I can see why people get addicted. I know I'll never have the patience to do a whole quilt, so the pincushions will have to do for the moment. This is a great scrap busting project. I'd recommend sewing the button on before you stuff the pincushion. ...
Make your own Rice Heat Pack
We don't live in the coldest of climates, but I'm one of those people who is always cold, so a heat pack comes in handy. This heat pack is based on the one in The Crafty Minx, a lovely book I have full of simple, crafty and recycling ideas. It's great for headaches or a stiff neck and is even nice cooled and put over your eyes on a stressful day. Heat packs are quick and easy ...
Reusable Cotton tea bags
Ok, so you probably think I'm mad - reusable tea bags?? Bear with me though. My cup of tea usually ends up with lots of tea bits in it, and I have to leave the last mouthful or two. The diffuser/tea ball I have does a terrible job of keeping the tea in. My tea press isn't much better. In the middle of the night when I should have been sleeping I wondered if anyone has made ...
Peppermint Schnapps
Day 10 of my 12 days of Christmas...and time for a drink! Peppermint Schnapps is a lovely and refreshing aperitif and makes a nice, home made Christmas gift. I can't figure out if there is a difference between Peppermint Schnapps and Creme de Menthe, but I don't think it matters. This recipe is made using grain spirit. It's also known as Polish spirit or Everclear. You can ...
Cookies in a Jar with Free Printable
For the second day of Christmas, here is a quick little gift. These cookies are so good, I won a KitchenAid mixer with the recipe. The jars make great gifts, party favours, teacher's gifts and are perfect for the school fete. The cookies are so yum that this has become my 'go to' cookie recipe. Cookies in a Jar mix makes about 30 cookies You'll need: 1 jar. I bought a ...
