Lucky stars and counting 19

On a fairly (no - extremely) remote island walk, we found, along the practically indistinct pathway (I am sure it was just a sheep track ...) this fishing buoy. It had not been there long as the grass beneath was still fresh and only lightly dented.  And the sea? Quite a way off and the path was too high up for the buoy to have just rolled there on the day's light breeze ... so who'd carried it there and then abandoned it? 

'Curiouser and Curiouser' as Alice would have said.

Little lucky paper stars 

You will need ....

Pliable A4 paper (cartridge or origami)

Scissors

Ruler

Pencil

Embroidery thread and needle

Optional (and I hasten to add it should come with a health warning) glue and G*L*I*T*T*E*R

1. Measure, along the length of the paper, 2cm wide strips and cut out - each strip makes a star

2. Tie a 'knot' at one end of your strip of paper - careful not to pull too light as you want your paper to stay flat. 

3.Having tied your 'knot', flatten the creases firmly with your fingers

4. Take the short end of the paper ribbon and tuck into the knot - see photos below

5. Once tucked in, turn knot over and fold the long piece around, tightening the creases as you go along. The knot creates a pentagon shape which 'forces' your paper ribbon to go around the different edges of the pentagon as you wrap. Crease firmly each time. See photo below

6. Once you have used up all the paper ribbon, the last little piece must be tucked in and all creases pressed down.

7. If the very last little bit of paper comes out further than it should, snip off the excess - see below

8. Now for the persuasion part! Pinch the points of the pentagon, working around your shape as you go. You will have to go around a number of times before the star holds it's new form

9. You should, fairly quickly, have a mini galaxy forming. They are little papery delights as they cluster together. It is at this point you should think carefully as to the next step..... to  G*L*I*T*T*E*R or not to G*L*I*T*T*E*R

10 I chose to G*L*I*T*T*E*R

11. I am STILL clearing up the sparkle and twinkle. 

If you have been inspired by my tutorial, 

please could you be so kind to link back to my blog

I would love to see your little lucky stars :)

Linking with Julie's Advent

#hawthorn

#crafts  #christmascrafts  #handmadewithlove #handicraft #inspiredby #imadethis #livelovecraftme

Paperback Novel Trees and counting chrimbly numbers 18

In a small ex-industrial linear village, lined with stone terraces and squashed cottages, a little home pressed up against a shop opposite a local supermarket has the delightful view of a soulless tarred car-park. Quietly it has a very small and almost indiscernible house number at pavement level.

Paperback Novel Trees

You will need ...

Pages from a thrown away novel

Ruler

Hole punch

Wooden skewers

Small block or wood or wooden buttons

Drill (may not require)

Stars - sticky, button, hand drawn

Scissors
Extras - small vase or pots, ethically gathered moss 

1. Fold your page in half - but only pinch the top crease, try not to bend the remaining paper

2. Draw from the central top fold down to create a triangle. Some trees I made were very narrow tall triangles, others fatter and wider

3.Cut out the triangle, keep the off-cuts - they may be a good shape to make tall thin trees

4. Fold the triangle in a concertina pattern, starting from the base. Narrow folds give a nice zig-zag tree but see what you think

5. Punch a hole in the middle of your folds - you may have to do in several stages if you have a small hole punch

6. Thread your wooden skewer through the holes

7.  If you find the peak tends to tip over, which I did, you can lightly pierce the top triangle with the skewer point which works well to keep the tree upright

8.  Before you attach your tree to it's base, this is a good time to add your star to the top. I used a star shaped button and tied it to the top of the skewer. Equally a star sticker would work just as well

9. Insert your skewer tree trunks into the pre-drilled block of wood or in wooden buttons (I was lucky enough to be gifted some ages ago and never had a use for them - until now!) 

Ta-Da!

In my enthusiasm for making my Paperback Novel Trees, I ran out of bases, so I filled a little jar with moss and 'planted' three more trees :) 

If you have been inspired by my tutorial, 

please could you be so kind to link back to my blog

I would love to see your little trees :)

Linking with Julie's Advent

#hawthorn

#crafts  #christmascrafts  #handmadewithlove #handicraft #inspiredby #imadethis #livelovecraftme

Tomte inspired drift wood santas and chrimbly counting 17

The National Trust really looks after her volunteers, we were taken on a jolly out at the end of summer and (Susan from Granny Smith's Quilting will recognise this image) we went to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal. Key places were identified with simple but perfect signs - number 17 - you have been snapped!

During this month of crafty nonsense, I have learnt a lot along the way and I have enjoyed crafting and sharing, however there are a couple of my tutorials that I absolutely adore and  these little chaps are my utter utter favourites - I hope you love them too :)

Tomte driftwood santas

You will need ...

Small pieces of driftwood

Acrylic paints - red, white, black, pink
Small paintbrushes

Drill

Embroidery thread

Tapestry needle

Scissors

1. Prepare your drift wood - ensure not sandy, saturated or too brittle. The ideal would be to have aged looking wood which is light and easy to work with 

 2. Choose which way round you want the tomte/santa face and paint the lower 'beard and face' area with a rough coat of white acrylic paint - I decided I wanted the end item to look shabby and aged

3. Once the white is dry, paint, in pink, a softly square face shape (either with a ready made pink or mix the red and white to a suitable shade)

4. Paint the top part of the wood in red - this will be the hat

5. When the face has dried, dawb a couple of cheery cheeks (I was inspired by the 'Nutcracker Soldier')

6. When the face has dried, paint eyes in a variety of expressions - in black

7. Using the white, give each little tomte/santa a lovely twirly mustache, a 'pompom' at the top of his hat and a thicker white 'fluffy' border at the base of his hat

8. When the mustaches are dry, add the final touch of nose and mouth

9. Carefully drill a hole at the top through the 'hat', thread with the tapestry needle the embroidery floss, cut and tie off.

Then, do a happy dance, feel free to clap your  hands and squeal (coz I did) !

I have seen somewhere in tinter-land something like this and I did try to find it so I could credit them, however, try as I might, I have not been able to track them down - but thank you who ever you were - you inspired me!

Linking with Julie's Advent

If you have been inspired by my tutorial, 

please could you be so kind to link back to my blog

I would love to see your tomte - santas :)

#crafts  #christmascrafts  #handmadewithlove #handicraft #inspiredby #imadethis #livelovecraftme

Oranges, Lemons and Cloves and Chrimbly counting 16

16? ? ? - well I don't have one ... I thought I did, but no, I don't... So - oh well, let's get on with today's little crafting!!

Oranges, Lemons and Cloves 

For the scent of Christmas you will need...

Oranges (I added a lemon to sharpen the fragrance)

Cloves

A zesting tool

Skewer or kebab stick

Decorative bowl

Although a really easy and often done festive decoration, I have never actually made one before, so I thought that, in the spirit of all the crafting we have been doing, I would give it a try. I wish I had not waited so long, our lounge has gently filled with a heavenly scent -  a mixture of sharp citrus and rich and warming cloves - yum.

1. Using your zesting knife, scour groves along or around your orange

2. Press your cloves into the grooves, if the pith is thick, then gently use the skewer to pierce holes first 

Ta da!

3. How easy is that? 

Place your decorated oranges into a bowl. I added a couple of cones to help fill out the bowl and then left it in the lounge ... it does smell lovely there :)

Linking with Julie's Advent

If you have been inspired by my tutorial, 

please could you be so kind to link back to my blog

I would love to see your oranges and cloves :)

#crafts  #christmascrafts  #handmadewithlove #handicraft #inspiredby #imadethis #livelovecraftme

Handmade gift boxes and chrimbly counting number 15

Ribblehead Viaduct, a striking 24 arched overpass, is a Grade 11 listed structure. It is a huge sky lifting monument with an interesting history - it also happily supplied today's number - 15!

Handmade gift boxes

You will need ...

Coloured card

CD disc

Pencil

Pen

Ruler

Ribbons

Gift tags

Scissors
Special gift for that special person

1. In pencil, draw around the CD disc and place a dot at the centre point

2. With the ruler bisect your circle twice to give you four quarter shapes (left photo)

3. Using your CD, now draw a curved line through each quarter - see photo on right

4. Draw a second circle (see photo above) and repeat steps 1, 2 and 3

5. Change to a pen and score firmly the curved lines in both circles

6. Make sure that the score line makes a clean 'dent' in your card - you will be folding on these curves

7. Cut out the completed circle shapes as one unit

8. Carefully bending the outer parts of the circle towards the centre using the scored line as the crease

9. Go around both circles, and, where two curved lines meet - make sure you pinch the fold tightly

10. The most 'fiddly' folds are the two where the circles cross over, this does need extra but still gentle persuading

11. As the folds become more pronounced, begin to fold the two circles towards each other to create the little box

12 Ta- da! You have just make the cutest little gift box - go you!

You will find that the box will open up again but once sealed with a ribbon it stays closed beautifully!

All you now have to do is hide a special little gift inside for that equally special person :) Tie closed with the ribbon and add the gift tag all ready to put under the tree!

Linking with Julie's Advent

If you have been inspired by my tutorial, 

please could you be so kind to link back to my blog

I would love to see your little gift boxes :)

#crafts  #christmascrafts  #handmadewithlove #handicraft #inspiredby #imadethis #livelovecraftme

Simple festive trees and chrimbly counting 14

We have a wood burning stove, which I adore (as do the cats) and at this time of year, it rumbles and crackles as it keeps our house deliciously warm and toasty. There is something so memorising and satisfying when sitting by a fire as it flickers and glows while I knit or read. But the beast that it is, requires feeding, so Himself collected discarded pallets all year round, stashing them in his wood store for our winter warmth. 

Very Simple Paper Trees

You will need ...

Firm paper 

Scissors 

Pencil

Metallic or coloured pens

1. There is no set size - be guided by the 'strength' of your paper as it will have to stand up under it's own weight.

2. Fold your paper in half lengthwise

3. Lightly draw diagonally across from bottom to top making a triangular shape (with the fold in the centre of your 'tree') 

4. Draw a slight curve at the base

5. Following your base line, lightly draw lines at regular intervals up the triangular shape, see picture above

6. Cut out your tree shape.

7. Open your tree and if you are going to decorate it, now is a good time to reach for the pens and let your creative juices flow!

8. To turn your tree into 3D, press alternating strips of paper backwards, creating a cone shape

9. The folds should be soft rather than crisp

10. Having made your first one, if you are feeling adventurous, before cutting your next tree out, draw and cut out half a star at the top, when you unfold you will have a complete star twinkling upon your tree :)

11. I used both plain scissors and pinking shears to cut my trees

Now arrange your little festive forest somewhere safe (and away from the cat ... who, in my case 'helped' .... more than once ... I am surprised the trees survived long enough for me to photograph them!)

If you have been inspired by my tutorial, 

please could you be so kind to link back to my blog

I would love to see your little festive trees :)

#crafts  #christmascrafts  #handmadewithlove #handicraft #inspiredby #imadethis #livelovecraftme