Alpha Design

If you are anything like me you will have an abundance of wooden clothes pegs that you use to peg up open bags so that the contents don’t dry out. If you are anything like me then you also have a box of ribbons that are in a tangled mess and drive you crazy every time you take the lid off. I decided I would jazz up some of my wooden pegs to make my kitchen brighter (what with my pegging obsession) and my ribbon box neater.

You will need:

-Scissors

-Double sided tape 

-Ribbon (corded ribbon ideally)

-Wooden pegs

1. Stick a length of double sided tape down the front of your clothes peg and cut it down to size.

2. Cut a piece of ribbon that is slightly longer than your peg (so that it overhangs a little at each end).

3. Peel the backing off the tape, line your ribbon up and stick it down.

4. Cut your ribbon down to size.

These are great for use around the kitchen and also for keeping ribbon tidy!

After seeing lots of beautiful pictures of tea cup candles on Pinterest I decided to have at go at making my own. I already had a stash of vintage tea cups from a previous craft tutorial I wrote about afternoon tea themed weddings. I picked up a couple more last weekend at a clutter sale (where I bought 3 cups with saucers, a tea pot, a chair and 5 baskets for £4.50!) and so had about 9 cups in total. Here are the ingredients you will need to make you own super cute vintage tea cup candles:

-Vintage style tea cups
-Eco Soy Wax (I ordered 1600g)
-Eco Wick (I ordered 1.5m)
-Wick Tabs (I ordered a pack of 20)
-Wick pin (or you can use pens and a bit of sticky tape)
-Pink Dye (I ordered 5g)
-Scent (I used strawberry)

1. Firstly clean you cups and make sure that they are dry and dust free.
2. Cut a length of wick that is longer than the height of your tea cup.
3. Thread the wick through a wick tab and use a pair of pliers to close it up.
4. Pop a tiny bit of double sided tape on the bottom of the wick tab and stick in the centre of your cup.
5. Tape 2 pens together and balance them on the top of your cup. Thread the wick in between the pens so that it stays upright and central (or just use your wick pin!).
6. Fill your cup twice over with your wax bits and pop it in to a measuring jug.
7. Add a piece of the dye to the measuring jug. The more dye you use the brighter the colour will be.
8. Pop it in the microwave and heat until it is completely melted.
9. Add a couple of drops of scent to the melted wax.
10. Carefully pour your melted wax in to your cup, make sure you don’t disturb the wick.
11. Leave it to set for an hour or two. Don’t be tempted to move it and don’t leave it in a drafty place!

I had been thinking about trying to transfer some designs to canvas for a while and today, as a bit of an experiment I gave it a go. Here are the materials that I used:

-T-shirt transfer paper for light materials

-8 x 8 canvas

-Floral fabirc

-Double sided tape/glue

-Paint

                                                            -Wooden buttons

1. Firstly I printed my bird cage design to the transfer paper. I did a test run on a plain piece of paper first to make sure that I had got the design to the right size for my fabric. If using wording you must make sure that you ‘flip’ the image so that when it transfers the words appear the right way around.

2. I cut my fabric down to size using a decorative blade on my guillotine. I wanted it to be approximately 2/3cms smaller than the canvas along every edge.

3. I cut out the birdcage and laid it face down at the centre of my fabric. I then ironed it on as per the transfer paper instructions.

4. Next I used a combination of double sided tape and glue to attach the fabric in to the centre of my newly painted blue canvas.

5. Finally I attached a wooden button to each corner in order to finish it off.

I struggled attaching my chandelier design and the fabric seemed to go a little bumpy. I am definitely going to work on developing these in to something nice. I am selling some crafts at a ladies breakfast tomorrow and will take them along and get a bit of feedback on them.

Vicky

(Or you could do it the proper way with Stuart Morris!!)

I was really pleased to be asked to write a feature for the  www.weddingdays.co.uk handmade touches section. I decided to go with an afternoon tea theme ready for the Spring. I made a wedding invite, napkin rings, floral tea cup centrepiece and paper wedding bunting. Here are the pics!

I scoured the charity shops in my local town for tea cups and plates that I could use for my centrepiece. I was super lucky and found this amazing large tea cup and saucer set for 99p! It was perfect for my afternoon tea themed centrepiece.

I decided to make paper bunting as it is one of the most popular tutorials I have on this blog and I knew that it would go down well. I used a Forever Friends paper stack called “Pink Parfait” and a roll of Anita’s Ribbon, both from the Range.

These napkin rings were really easy to make. I cut up strips of the Pink Parfait paper and threaded the cutest little tea pot charms through the ribbon. I then wrapped both around the napkin and used double sided tape to secure them in to place. The charms were £2.50 from ebay – bargain!

I actually used a piece of paper from a Laura Ashley stack as the base for the wedding invite. The green colour of it contrasted so well with the pink parfait paper and I think that the twine handle is a really unique touch.

To see all of the pictures and read the tutorial click here!

Vicky

I have got a bit of a thing for Kraft card at the moment. I think that it makes a really great base for cards, tags and all sorts of crafts. I think that the colour works particularly with pastel shades and is very natural, which is a great look for spring. My prediction is  that Kraft crafts will be huge this year!