Finished baubles and a fun tutorial

After my bauble tutorial I went on to make lots of the little lovelies. I adore them (it's ok to say you adore your own work right?) and I am tempted to save a couple for my own tree.

 They've now taken their place in my ornaments basket ready for the next fair!

Being a 'maker', especially at Christmas, I never seem to get around to my own crafts, just for me and my house. I've got so many ideas for home decorations but the closest I've got to realising any of those ideas this week was beginning to paint our dining chairs with my lovely man. Here's how they're looking so far;

I LOVE the colour against the colour of my ruby red dresser, I'm a firm believer in colour as therapy and this is all the therapy I need; one pretty turquoise chair. I'll get around to painting the rest later.

My blog title also promised a fun tutorial. This time it's not one of mine but a cute, quick make by Lupin over at her much loved blog Bugs and Fishes. Such a simple idea but so effective! I just had to have a go!

Must dash, got a huge WIP box to attend to, and I simply must find time to play in the snow. xx

Button bauble tutorial

Long time away from the blog and one wedding later, I'm back and feeling very Christmassy all of a sudden. Thought I'd share this cute button bauble tutorial.

You will need:

Felt - any colour of your choice

Ribbon - small scraps that need to be used up are perfect for this make

Buttons - various shapes and sizes

1. Begin by cuttng 2 felt circles in a colour of your choice, I simply used a glass to draw around.

2. Choosing the buttons is by far my favourite part of this make. I opted to go for non-traditional Christmas colours for this bauble

3. Stitch your buttons onto your top circle only. You can either leave a space between your buttons or overlap them as I have done. I personally prefer to overlap the buttons for a 'bursting with buttons' effect.

Keep overlapping the buttons....

Until you have a completed buttoned circle

4. When you have stitched your buttons on, choose a piece of ribbon to make a loop with and sew it onto the back of the buttoned front circle.  ETA: I would usually do this first before attatching my buttons but it's ok to do it afterwards too, I was just giddy to get started!

5. Now place the back circle of felt in place and use a pin to secure to the front. Use either a whip stitch or a blanket stitch.

Leave about an inch before you complete the circle, remove the pin and stuff with wadding/stuffing/felt scraps/old shredded tights (washed of course)

6. Finish off your stitching, et voila! A beautiful button bauble.

Variations

• Add matching/contrasting ribbon to the back of your bauble.
• Create different shapes such as Christmas trees or even bells.
• Use ribbons and buttons combined on the front of the bauble.

The possibilties are endless and I hope you enjoy this making these pretty baubles.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The final countdown

Christmas is nearly upon us and I am putting the finishing touches to my christmas gifts (pictures to follow after they have been given to their recipients) The snow has really made me feel like it's Christmas and has meant i've had an excuse to curl up on the sofa and do some sewing. I've always loved sewing and rarely have the time to sit down and do some; I'm hoping to add some more fabric and felt accessories to my shop in the new year. My 'would like to do' list is growing bigger by the day. I'd love to add some tutorials to this blog and begin to market myself a little better. I'd also like to mingle with other crafty types and maybe sign up to a team, oh and get a shop set up on the fabulous Folksy. As you can see it's rather a long 'would like to do list' and i'm hoping that 2010 will be the start of some new crafty adventures...

Christmas, crafting and a jar of buttons...

Here goes my first blog... Having finally managed to create a Google account I am very excited to be part of the Blogging world!

Chrismas seems to have crept up on me a little too quickly this year. Thanks to my long suffering other half we now have a beautiful Christmas tree! Dug up with his own fair hands at a fab little Nursery in Ricall. I love decorating the tree, carefully unwrapping all the baubles and wondering how I managed to be so organised when putting them away last year, deciding which little trinket should go where and clipping my gorgeous jewelled robins on the ends of branches. So here it is, my tree in all it's multicoloured glory:



And after 'borrowing' some foliage from my darling mothers garden and Lisa @ Lisa's Florist kindly making a moss ring, we (my dear OH and I) made a wreath:








And now to a more pressing matter, crafting! Specifically the jar of buttons i've had sitting in my dresser for ages; So this morning, in a flash of inspiration I decided to turn them into button brooches filled with a mix of colours, shapes and sizes. I'm planning on doing some more exciting things with this technique but I shall keep it a close guarded secret for now:



And here's the finished brooch, although I like yellow, a lot, I'm going to try out some other colours for the background....




Phew, that was a long and rather photo ladened first post. Now...on with my much neglected housework.