Fold over leather clutch bag

 

Check out the gorgeous fold over clutch I made for my sister for Christmas! I used up some beautiful camel coloured nappa leather and some cute 50S style fabric for the lining.

 

 

 

I top stitched the zip in gold for a little extra sparkle!

I used this pattern by say yes to Hoboken which was great, my dimensions are slightly different but the proportions are the same

Hope my sister likes it (and isn't a too avid reader of this blog!)

Christmas Tree Bunting

I made cute Christmas tree bunting as gifts for my family this year.

 

 

Theyre just 2 triangles of tweed or green fleece, sewn together by hand, with a folded in half felt strip as the trunk, and stuff with toy stuffing

 

The I threaded gold cord through the top of them, between the top stitches and they were done :)

Baby Fox - Toy Clothes

Check out my friend's daughter's most beloved toy Baby Fox in her new threads! Baby Fox has spent her entire life in the nude, something i thought i could rectify. So i made her a little vest top (from an old tshirt), a pair of knickers (from a sock) and a little cape, which she could also wear as a skirt. Baby Fox (and her owner of course) seem pretty pleased, as am i!

Crochet Taxidermy Moose

After falling madly in love with the crochet rhino i made i knew i had to make some more - and this is the latest addition - taxidermy moose!! Isnt he just gorgeous!! I modified this reindeer pattern by RoxyCraft, extending the neck and mounting it on an oval plaque, just like with the rhino. I love love love him!

First ever craft fair!

I did my first ever craft fair last weekend!! I was selling my snuggly baby blankets, theyre also for sale in my etsy shop. It was quite a small fair, in my local town center, and i only sold one blanket but it was a great experience and i got loads of positive feedback. Unfortunately not many people shopping had babies to buy for. It made me realise that baby blankets are quite a niche market and that i need to diversify for my next fair.

This is my stall, i covered the table in hessian

Then i displayed my blankets in some old metal filing trays i borrowed from my mum

 

I made some chalkboard paint price signs out of old ikea benno dvd tower shelves

 

And decorated the stall with some bunting made out of teatowels!

I also built this quilt display ladder from some left over wood and dowelling. It worked perfectly :)

I had a great time at the fair and met some nice people and i'll definitely be doing some craft fairs again soon - watch this space :)

Spotted Dick for Lovely BM

 

Now i hate dried fruit, its one of my least favourite things, but lovely BM loves spotted dick so, like a good girlfriend, i put my issues aside to make him one! Its a proper traditional one, covered in a muslin and steamed in boiling water, i used this recipe by James Martin, i just halved the ingredients to make a mini version. According to lovely BM it was delicious :)

Profiterole yumminess

 

The 3 stages of profiterole yumminess! Choux pastry dough to puffy baked balls to full deliciousness filled with whipped cream and topped with melted chocolate. They lasted all of 5 minutes when i presented then to my parents!

Taxidermy Crochet Rhino

Is he not the cutest thing youve ever seen!!!! I love all the crochet and knitted taxidermy stuff thats around at the moment so i had to make my own. I adapted this pattern for a Rhino by Sweet and Cute Creations and mounted him on an mdf oval plaque. I just l-o-v-e him!

Blankets For Sale On Etsy

My baby boom blankets are now on sale on Etsy! Please click over there and have a look at my shop if you have time :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homemade apple pie

My aunt has an entire fruit orchard in her back garden (lucky!) including a brilliant bramley apple tree which has had a bumper year. So she kindly provided the apples and i made the apple pie. I always use this recipe for apple pie, it never fails :)

Pen drawer organisation

I thought i had taken a before picture of this drawer but when i looked back i couldnt find it, it probably deleted itself out of shame as this drawer was a shocker! But i finally got round to sorting it out last weekend. I used a load of cut down cereal boxes as the storage, so it was totally free and has really transformed the drawer - i love a bit of cathartic organising!
 

Frying pan pizzas

Lovely BM and i made these yummy yummy frying pan pizzas at the weekend. I followed this recipe and they were fab! Just make sure that your dough is really thin before you start frying it, we had one that was too thick so it was pretty doughy still when we ate it.

 

Toothy Glow in the Dark Pumpkins

I know halloween is past but i wanted to show off the cute glow in the dark pumpkins i made. I added some plastic vampire fangs and a glow bracelet inside and was good to go - so easy and they're so cute!

Homemade Party Rings

 

Party rings were my absolute favourite when i was a kid and when i saw these beauties on pinterest i knew i wanted to make grown up one. I used this recipe for the biscuits and then topped them with 4 different toppings. Dulce leche icing (dulce leche, water and icing sugar), lemon curd, white glace icing with coconut and pink glace icing with hundreds and thousands. All were fab, my favourite was the dulce leche but the lemon curd ones went the quickest!

Cake Tin Shelf

  

It always annoys me when i make biscuits or cupcakes with soft icing and i can only fit one layer in a tin - its such a waste of space! So i decided to add a shelf into one if my plastic tins. I screwed 4 screws, one on each side, in the sides, halfway between the top. Then rested a bit of cardboard covered in tinfoil on the screws. Now it has double the capacity - good times!

Caramel Cupcakes

I made these delicious salted caramel cupcakes for the folks at work and they went down a storm! I used this recipe by Created by Diane but i added dulce leche to the icing and drizzled it on top rather than caramel - nom nom nom...

Knitted Ducks

      

Lovely BM went on a stag do recently and the theme was 'country gent'. Now I love a bit of fancy dress as its a great excuse to make something. I knew immediately i wanted to make him a brace of pheasants (nothing says countryside more than a couple of dead game birds slung over your shoulder!) but couldnt find many pheasant patterns online (who'd have thought!) Then i found these duck dog toys on ravelry and figured theyd be an excellent substitute. So i make a pair, joined then with knitted bailer twine and lovely BM was ready to go! They even made it back home with him with was nothing short of amazing!

Peg toys

I love these peg toys (the shark gets me every time) and my sisters boyfriends son (tenuous much!) if a little crafter in the making so i decided to make some peg toy in a kit for him to make. I basically just put all the parts (pegs and cut out drawings) in a bag with some instructions as posted them off to him - simples!