Quick Homemade Christmas Cards

I wanted to make all my cards this year- not an easy feat when you have 7 brothers and sisters and the boyfriend has a large Irish family! So I decided to make these little hanging cards (to go on the tree). It still took an evening to make all 20+ but I used a book of Christmas Stickers and some pre-cut colored cardboard squares to make it a little quicker. Just thought it was a nice way to make something unique and cute for everyone, here are the pics:

 Happy Holidays x

Christmas Dotee Dolls!

Hey Folks, 

Its been a little while since I posted- I've been crafting as much as possible to get everything ready for Christmas! I'll be posting up all the gifts I've made soon, but for now- here are a couple of Dotee dolls I made for the Christmas Dotee Doll Swap I hosted on CO+K- 


Dotee Dolls are usually about 3-7 inches tall, they have a loop at the top so they can be hung up (in this case- on the Christmas tree!), and they usually have a beaded or embellished tail. Traditionally they are made, given a name and then sent to a friend. 

If you've not heard of Dotees before, here are some good resources to find out more information and for inspiration too! 


The Creator Of Dotees Blog 
How-to make A Dotee on You Tube 
And a Flickr Group


This first one I made was for a lady in the Netherlands- the doll is called Grandma Christmas: 
                                                                                           

And the second is called Connie (like Conifer- get it?) and was for a lady in Washington, USA

And ->Here<- is the link if you want to check out what everyone else made in this swap.

More Christmas crafts coming soon!

Happy Holidays, 
Hayley xx

Organize your crafts on the run up to Christmas!

Okay, I've just seen it with my own eyes- The Coca Cola Truck is on its way- The T.V says so, which MEANS.....

Its finally time to start getting excited about Christmas!!!! Yay!!!!!

Family, friends, colleagues maybe even neighbours- for many of us, when you add it all up you've got a fair amount of people on the Christmas list, and if like me you have a lot of loved ones (I have 6 brothers and sisters!) then you'll need to start planning and organizing what you'll be making and for who. 

Depending on how many people you're planning on making homemade gifts for and how complex the gift is to make, planning and creating all your gifts could easily take a month or two! But don't panic if you haven't started yet- with a little organisation and (of course) a handy spreadsheet, planning your homemade crafts doesn't look so daunting after all.

You can't go wrong with a list, but other factors you'll need to consider are if you need to buy any materials before you start and how long (realistically) the project will take- I usually go by number of evenings as I work full time, this is when I do most of my crafting. 

I've made an example spreadsheet, close to the one I use that can be found on googledocs here:

Christmas Crafts Plan

I'd recommend filling out all your gifts and how long it will take, then using the filter function on the table you can sort out what will take the longest (and therefore what you should start soonest) and what projects you don't have to worry about for a little bit! 

Happy Crafting, 

Hayley x

5 Non-Slutty Halloween Costumes- How to!

Hello Folks,

Tis the season for scary movies, too much candy and dressing up in creepy costumes. Here are my top 5, DIY, easy, non slutty Halloween costumes I've found- far cooler than your average lingerie and cat ears combo.

5. Carrie from "Carrie" (1976)

An absolute classic of the genre, based on the novel by Steven King- if you haven’t heard of Carrie and the bucket of pigs blood scene- well- just rent the movie, its iconic. 

Heres how you make Carries gory prom night costume, it’s pretty simple but messy!

You will need:

1. A long light dress or silk night gown- ebay!
2. Long blonde wig
3. A TON of fake blood- As you’d need quite a lot, I’d advise making your own WASHABLE variety, heres a good recipe.

Easy enough to do- put the dress and the wig on, get in the bath and douse yourself with a load of fake blood and you’re done!

4. Coraline from "Coraline "(2009)

I’d recommend Coraline by Neil Gaiman for a short scary read for Halloween, the film is pretty good too! If you know and love it already, then the costume is pretty simple to do, for a Coraline Costume 

You will need:

1. A Short blue wig.
2. Pale face paint and and kohl black eyeliner- here is a good tutorial for the make up: But I wouldn’t recommend GLUING BUTTONS TO YOUR EYELIDS like this crazy Italian lady did.
3. A yellow raincoat.
4. Yellow Wellies
5. Jeans
6. A dragonfly hair slide- Ebay has them (of course!) or you could make your own from a hair slide, cardboard, paint and glue
7. Optional: 2x very large black buttons & some clear elastic or wire.

For the button eyes, I’d recommend perhaps making a clear wire glasses frame or connecting them with a clear elastic band all the way around like an eye mask so you can take them on and off.

3. A Lichtenstein Girl

Roy Lichtenstein’s 60’s iconic pop art style looks super creepy in real life! This costume is pretty much all about how good the makeup looks.

You will need:

1. Face Paints
2. Kohl Black Eyeliner
3. A bright coloured wig (preferably yellow)

The make up tutorial can be found here, it’s not too tricky or delicate, I’m pretty sure anyone with a mirror and the right tools could do it!

 

Pair it up with any simple outfit you can find, (if you have it to hand anything polka dot or a fifties dress) and make a speech bubble from light cardboard and a hairclip and slide on top of your wig.

2. Tippi Hendren from "The Birds" (1963)

Who doesn’t love Hitchcock? The master of suspense! This costume is great for film lovers,- its easy and relatively cheap as you can get all the items on ebay or charity shops.

You will need-:
1. (If you are not blonde) A blonde Wig
2. A pale green (or similar) skirt suit- there are tons on ebay
3. Fake blood
4. Some fake ravens (ebay)
5. Flat shoes, clear stockings
6. (Optional) a large plain handbag- charity shops are a great place to find “old lady” style bags!

1. Marceline from Adventure Time

For those of you who don't know- I freaking love Adventure Time, i’m not dressing up this year but if I was, Marceline the vampire from AT would be my first choice. The costume is a little harder than your average face paint and wig jobby but any crafty person should be able to handle it.

You will need:

1. A 100cm long black wig- heres a good one.
2. Grey face paint
3. A grey vest
4. Skinny or straight leg jeans
5. Red Cowboy boots or similar style
6. Materials for the Axe Bass Guitar- Theres a great tutorial here.

Everything can be bought on ebay or charity shops if you allow yourself enough time- I’m keeping an eye out for cheap red boots just in case for next year!

Happy Halloween Y’all!

Hayley x

Victorian Inspired Reptile Silhouette Necklace

Hey Folks, 

I made this for spooky skeleton pendant for someone else, so I didn't get to keep it sadly! I made it from bits and bobs I had lying around, some wire, paint and hot glue so it's completely unique! 

It was part of a Victorian themed swap on Cut Out + Keep, I also sent her a top hat ring, a lace and black ribbon choker, and some tie on ruffled cuffs, but forgot to take pictures! 

I haven't done any crafting for Halloween yet, but have seens loads of cool things on other blogs at the moment like these:  Halloween Peg People and Chicken Wire Pumpkin!

I think I'll be trying out my pumpkin carving skills soon though so watch this space...

Hayley x

Cake Pops!

My first attempt at cake pops went pretty well! I used left over chocolate birthday cake...

Here's my Cake Pop Recipe:

Chocolate Cake Pops

Ingredients

• Chocolate cake (I used half a large chocolate birthday cake!)
• Chocolate Frosting (You can make your own by creaming butter, adding icing sugar and cocoa powder but I just used shop bought ready made frosting)
• White chocolate- about 500g
• Cake Pop Sticks
• Decoration
• A large Piece of Foam or Polystyrene (to put the cake pops in)

Instructions

1. Crumble up the cake until its just crumbs.

2. Add a couple of big dollops of chocolate frosting to the crumbs, get your hands in there and mix the frosting and the crumbs together- it should come together nicely into one mega cake ball.

3. Get a teaspoon and use it to scoop some cake pop mix- if you use a spoon to scoop they should all come out the same size.

4. Roll your teaspoon of cake pop mix in your hand lightly until it resembles a ball. Do this until you have used up all the mix- you should have 15-20 balls!

5. Melt about 50-100g of white chocolate- I found the easiest way to do this is to get a small saucepan of water and bring it to the boil, place a good quality ceramic or glass bowl on top of the saucepan so the steam heats it up, then you can melt the chocolate slowly by stirring it.

6. Grab a cake pop stick and dip the tip (about 1cm) of it in the hot white chocolate, then place the stick in the cake ball (no more than half way through), repeat with all the cake balls- do it as quickly as possible as after about 5 mins the white chocolate gets lumpy and hard to use.

7. Put them on a plastic tray and pop them in the fridge for about 30 mins until the white chocolate has set the sticks in the cake balls.

8. Melt about a quarter of the remaining white chocolate up in the same way as before, take a tablespoon and scoop up a big helping of white chocolate, take your cake pop and rotate it in the hot white chocolate until its completely covered.

9. Pop the cake pop in the foam to set- quickly decorate with sprinkles if you like while its still warm.

10. Repeat until your chocolate turns lumpy and then add another quarter more of the white chocolate, heat up and start again, twirling it in the chocolate, placing it in the foam and decorating.

11. When they are finished, place in the fridge overnight to set.

12. If they are a gift, you can cover them in cellophane, this is easily obtainable for free from florists and use deco tape to hold it in place. If you are planning to wrap with cellophane, note that the chocolate melts really easy when touched- so try to do it without touching the chocolate at all!

13. Decorate the foam- you can paint it, or cover it in tissue paper, ribbon, or completely cover in deco tape. Arrange your cake pops, and you’re done!

 

They keep for about 3-5 days in the fridge, they’re super easy, fun to do and really tasty, so I’d recommend them to anyone.

I think next i’ll try Red Velvet Christmas themed cake pop in December.

Hayley

Amazing Autumn Fabrics

Hey Folks, 

Autumn is my favourite season! Everything looks really pretty, especially the English countryside AND I can get out my much loved tights, boots and knits! I think it's safe to say the typical English Summer was in full effect this year, but lets just forget all about that and focus on a beautiful autumn.

So I put on my thick PJ's, sat down with a nice hot cup of tea and the radiator on and became slowly but surely obsessed with woodland animal themed fabric! Here are my Top Five Autumn/Fall Fabrics I'm trying not to buy right now! (Trying and failing)

1. Little Red Riding Hood Print- by Aneela Hoey for Moda

Part of her "A Walk in the Woods" range. It also comes in baby pink, baby blue and grey. I really love her whole Walk In The Woods collection, which also has cute woodland themed foxes, toadstools and sparrow print. I think this fabric would look amazing paired with some red gingham! It can be found at a good price for U.K at Quilty Pleasures and is stocked in various US shops too. 

2. Illustrated Squirrells at Fabric Rehab

Squirrels! I'm nuts about this fabric (see what I did there), it's being stocked here at: Fabric Rehab UK but I'm unsure of the designer, so I can't tell you much about it- other than LOOK AT THE SQUIRRELS! I think it's a UK only stockist. Anyway, cute squirrel stamped fabric- Squirrels! 

3. Bears in Woods by David Walker

Bears in woods from David Walker's Get Together collection features fun loving animals cavorting across this adorable fabric. I really love David Walkers inexpensive geometric prints- I usually find geometric print really dull, but I love the twist of using cute animals rather than just block shapes.  This collection also features some little piggies and bird fabrics that are worth checking out, you can find Bears in Woods in this U.K retailers: Stay Stitching or for USA here is a good place to find the whole collection: Hawthorne Threads

4. Pet Deer by Michael Miller

Love this fawn themed fabric by Michael Miller, it's just been released for his newest Orchid Spa collection. Its a really versatile fabric and would look amazing paired with the polka dot fabrics of the same colors that are also featured in this collection. It can be found for a good UK price here: Funky Kitsch or you can go straight to his US website (which I've lost hours of my life too!) Michael Miller.

5. Red Owls on Natural by Kokka Japan

This sweet little owls fabric is really trendy for this season, I think this simple print is freaking adorable. Kokka Japan do a real variety of Japanese cute "Kawaii" inspired fabric, and i'd recommend them to anyone- all there stuff is very different- but always fun, bright prints, perfect for kids projects. This fabric can be found for UK here: Fabric Inspirations

Or a great place to find their stuff for USA is: Fabric Worm.

I love fabric shopping! I just wish I could afford them all! I'd love to hear from anyone who is planning on or has already bought these. 

Hayley x 

A Sweet Treat!

Just wanted to share this amazing website I found! I'm a big candy fan and am now in love with these cute candy themed embellishments by Sugar Pink Boutique! 

http://sugarpinkboutique.com/

International shipping is $10.00 so its a little steep for me in London! But I may just treat myself, I mean- look at the pretty!

Hayley x

My New Sewing Machine!

I've been saving up for a sewing machine all year and it's finally arrived!

Check it out! 
http://www.johnlewis.com/231078148/Product.aspx

My sewing machine experience is limited, but I have used a mini sewing machine before (with limited success!) and then recently went on a dress making course where I was able to brush up on my skills, I used a machine similar to this one (but not as pretty) and can't wait to start using it! What shall my first project be?

Also, if you fancy it- i'm selling my mini sewing machine on ebay here- *shameless plug* 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140855071835&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123#ht_500wt_1156

Cheers!
Hayley x

Revamp your wireless internet router!

Totally stealing this idea to cover our ugly router! 

http://www.anamublog.com/re-style-your-wireless-internet-router-diy/

Hayley 

I wrote that!

Hey guess what!? I'm a published writer yo'

Check out the newest edition of Snippets online magazine- I wrote the interview with David Ryan Robinson!

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/snippets/issue27


Hayley x

Sew Into It!

So... I've got this pipe dream to one day move to San Francisco with my boyfriend and open up a very English style sewing cafe/shop. We went on holiday there a couple years ago and absolutely fell in love with the place.

Sewing cafe's have grown quite popular in the U.K in recent years, with crafts and DIY becoming an increasingly trendy hobby. With the dreaded RECESSION looming over us, money saving has become more and more important to people. I'm not going to go into details- but we've all been hearing the words "economy" and "tough" a lot more. 

Shows like Kirsties Homemade Home (which I freakin love by the way- watch it here) praised and promoted home made gift giving and sewing, and I hope its a trend that will grow and grow (hopefully not as we all get poorer and poorer).  Though a few of my mates do make fun of my "granny" hobby, so perhaps I'm being a little jaded!

Anyway, I recently came across this lovely little sewing cafe in Clapham, London called Sew Over It (get it?) and cant wait to try it! The owner Lisa Comfort says;


"I set up Sew Over It in a response to the growing feeling that sewing was becoming a lost skill. I hope that I can pass on my passion for sewing through Sew Over It and encourage more people in London to pick up a needle and thread!" 

Here's the link: 

http://sewoverit.co.uk/

The idea behind this sewing cafe is that you bring your projects along, and for only a fiver an hour you get to use the space, snazzy Janome sewing machines and overlockers as well as domestic quilting and embroidery machines, theres also unlimited cups of tea! And cakes!

Oh and they also run classes, private tuition (its a bit pricey though) and parties.

So yeah, i'm going as soon as my knee heals (I recently tore a ligament in my knee, doh!) Cant wait to check it out and maybe even get some inspiration for my own future sewing cafe, you never know!

Hayley x 

Martha Stewart Organizational Clipart

I love a bit of organisation I do- so when I stumbled on this selection of pretty template designs to help organise your home I was very excited! The Martha Stewart Pinterest team has come up with a load of downloadable free templates that are not only snazzy but useful too- heaven! I particularly like the Cooks Helpers one, and it’s now definitely on my list to make a few of my own- a list of lists....interesting.

The Wonderful World of Swapping

Hey folks,

Last year when I first rediscovered my love of crafts (I've only been sewing and crafting since around November last year but became obsessed quite quickly!) I found a website called Cut Out + Keep, which is a site for crafters to share projects and ideas with each other, I ended up a regular on the site in no time, using the discussion boards to chat about project ideas, and sharing photos of stuff we were working on etc- this is where I found my newest hobby- Swapping!

I've always really enjoyed gift giving, and who doesn't like receiving gifts? Cut Out + Keep members organize group swaps- the idea is that a theme is set, the host will pick how many items you want to send to each other and a deadline and away you go, a board is set up and members of the website opt into the swap.

Other the last half a year or so, I've met some nice girls with similar interests and even received a few birthday cards and presents from them recently, I think the thing I like the most about swapping is the time and effort you go into making your items (things like plushies, jewellery and stationary mostly) you totally get back in return- especially with a site like CO+K where most people are experienced crafters. Everything you receive in the swaps is hand made just for you, and if you swap with someone experienced you usually get a lot of extra goodies and everything is nicely wrapped with a card, so its pretty much like receiving gift packages on a regular basis AND you get to make a load of goodies to send out to people too.

A certain level of trust and proativeness is needed for it, you don't want to be flaking on people as you would soon get a reputation for being unreliable- I recently hosted a Studio Ghibli themed swap and there was a little drama with a girl that wanted to join it but I was contacted by several members of the site to say she was a flaker- Oh no! We ended up compromising in the end, but it showed how vigilante and serious people take the hobby- which as silly as its sounds, I kinda like, it's almost like a little self running QC department, and again it shows a nice sense of unity and respect (uh getting a bit bored of myself here)

Back to the facts, there are several big swapping websites, just dedicated to swapping fans alone- some are letter/pen pal based or you swap something called "Artist Trading Cards" or ATC's and Item Swap websites as well, for example the famous Red Paper Clip Story.

I dont know much about these personally as I'm terrible at drawing, and don't have any items I need in particular, Im all about the craft swaps.

To date I've done around 50 swaps (I may have a problem, I am trying to cut back), some group swaps, some personal swaps for a whole load of themes, I did a cat themed swap with a lady named Martha in Surrey, a Pokemon theme swaps with a girl called Joss in South Africa, and regular swaps with a lady named Pam in Hawaii for all sorts of things. Another type of swapping I'm into is Candy swaps, I do these and a few other types of swaps on my second favourite place to swap Swapbot. On swapbot there is less visibilty on who you are swapping with, and there is less emphasis on the crafting and more epmphasis on the swapping itself, many people from all over the world swap candy, local food, stationary tea, coffee, make up etc, so it's got something for everyone (if you're into swapping that is).

Anyway, I thought i'd share, and encourage any crafty people (with the time to take on a new hobby- it is time consuming as you are always working to deadlines) to try and get into swapping. Heres what I received from Pam in Hawaii last time: A aloha tote bag, a personalized notebook, a little make up bag (all handmade) coffee, cookies, sweets and a bunch of felt (I freaking love felt):

 

I'll be posting the items I made for the Studio Ghibli Swap soon, oh and I think as I'm getting a new laptop soon i'll probably be posting way more often, sharing project ideas and inspiration as well as just my own crap. 

Toodle-oo

Hayley X

"Adventure Time" Time!

For those of you who haven't been able to catch this on TV yet (it's on Cartoon Network) I'd recommend doing so as soon as possible. 

Adventure Time is set on Earth after a nuclear explosion which resulted in the near extinction of the human race. Sounds pretty grim, but I haven't told you the best bit- the world is now is inhabited by the Candy People!  

And The Candy Kingdom, is in fact a lovely, lovely place to live,apart from occasional villains- but even the main Villain, the Ice King, is a bit rubbish (and has some serious loneliness issues). The only known human is Finn, a young boy of about 13 who goes around having Adventures and being a hero with his best friend Jake, a dog who can manipulate the size and shape of any part of his body, Oh and they live in an amazing tree house.

This show is JOKES. Its funny, nerdy, weird, full of awesome and has its own unique, creative style- as such Adventure Time is my CRAFT THEME OF THE MONTH and has inspired me to make the following items (on and off- I've not had a lot of time due to moving house this month, see previous post on my rubbishness)...

The characters I focused on we're Finn, Jake and Lumpy Space Princess- mainly because these are relatively simple characters and i'm still hand sewing everything! 

The items are:
A small (12cm high) Finn Doll made from Felt
A Jake Felt pencil case
A little (4cm high) LSP hanging charm.
A Finn "Pin" Face brooch. 

I also made Finn's Sword out of Hama beads- but it broke when I tried to put a key ring on it


Some of these fan items will be on sale in my Etsy shop.

More information on Adventure Time can be found here:

http://adventuretime.wikia.com/wiki/Adventure_Time_with_Finn_and_Jake_Wiki