Handmade Xmas cards by a 6 year old :)

Hello my lovers,

 

Well today is the last day off rest before another chaotic working week for many of us, my little/big angel have been receiving some Christmas cards from her classmates at school, but we didn't leave the house this weekend has there's been an awful so much to do, plus I'm a really homy kind of person...

 

 My God she was going on and on and on about the cards " mommy we have to do them, mommy everyone gave me one so I've got to give some as well -that's fair" - Ok OK lets do some then... what size do you want?! what about the shape?! , what colour card would you prefer?, what about the design on the front?! " MOMMY... can we put some glitter on them as well please" - Yes honey, which colour?!! "Can we have a santa as well" - Yes, sweetie... it is your cards after all.

 

 So here's the end result:

 

We used : Big Shot Machine, Martha Stewart Scoring Board, the second biggest square from the framelits, the snowflake embossing folder, modgepodge and white glitter,1 small red rhinestone &  here comes santa stamp...

 

I helped with the scoring, placing of the framelit, putting the glue around the snowflake and the rhinestone in the middle, she then wrote all her class mates names on her own, I hope they like it, she had so much fun and I'm one proud mommy :D .

 

I hope that this incentivates you to make your own cards instead of buying them, they don't have to be like this they can be has elaborate has you wish, I suppose I'm trying to give her the crafting bug lol.

 

 

See you soon!!!

xxxx

 

DIY Christmas Presents on a low budget

Hello my friends,

 I've been overwhelmed with all the blog views I've been having lately, for that a thank you very much for all of you out  there :).

 Now the subject in matter here today is Christmas presents and more importantly a low budget, if it means giving one or more people a similar thing then let it be it, there's nothing wrong with that is there?! Plus hand made by you as a lot more meaning to your family and friends...

So I been here thinking and thinking pondering on the budget issue of things and I reached the conclusion that you can do it  for less than £5 for each person, so lets tackle the groups one by one

CLOSSE FAMILY ( Mother, Father, Sisters or/ & Brothers, Grandma's, Grandpa's, Son, Daughter, etc.)
CLOSE FRIENDS (Best Friends, Life friends, School mates etc.)
WORK MATES (presents exchange)

 So regarding the closse family, think... do you have children yourself if so, your mum and dad would love something that they could look at and remember them of their grand kids or of family fun, like for example their hand print, foot print, something written by them, a journal or photo book with their pictures (grandparents with grand kids); and this my lovers you can definitely do yourself :)

 Here's a list of supplies for different projects, and some suppliers here in the uk (I'm sure you'll find and have craft stores in your country as well)

 www.hobbycraft.co.uk ; www.bakerross.co.uk ; www.craftycrocodiles.co.uk
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porcelain paint pens or whatever you need for your project ( the pens would cost around £2.20 each)
porcelain plate; mug; egg cups or anything related to your project it could even be a tile ( this item range in between £0.35 and £1.50), the end result however is priceless :)

Here's some examples:

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Fabric bag, Plain t-shirts, Plain aprons etc. ( this items cost in between £0.95 and £2.50 per piece)
Fabric Pens, fabric paints, Fabric Dies ( this will cost in between £1.95 for pens and £3.95 for pots)

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For Journals or Photo books you can do a lot of different things, use different materials, stuff that you might even already have at home : cardboard patterned paper, photos, stamps, fabric and wadding for the covers who knows the world is your oyster, here's some pictures;

 

If you don't own anything whatsoever than to keep things on a low budget you can always buy a scrapbook ( which is +- £1.00 depending on the size, update the cover with either some fabric or patterned paper and print the pictures and cut shapes to decorate, write stuff in it, just be sure to take your time has it is supposed to be something with a lot of sentiment in it)

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 For other family like brothers/sisters you could have a really nice picture frame with you and them and this would definitely cost less than a fiver specially if you print the picture yourself, if you'd like to personalise it even further make some a mattboard behind the picture, you could use your patterned paper for that or some wall paper depending on the size that's really up to you, you could also stencil & paint a plain frame to add some character to it.

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NOw, FRIENDS AND PRESENTS EXCHANGE  why not do a batch of home made jam, I have some recipes on my blog or you can search the internet and recipe books for others ( to save some extra cash you can reuse old jars, don't forget to sterilised them tho)  make a really nice label either with your pc or patterned handwritten card stock and add some ribbon and fabric on the top to cover the lid. ( it will certainly make more than only one jam jar, so you'll have more than one gift right there.

 

You can also make some biscuits or cakes and decorate the outside with some cute packaging or make a little box to put it in if you don't do it yourself you can find some cute boxes in this website www.craftcompany.co.uk.

 

Make some scented drawer or wardrobe freshener with just some fabric and dried lavender, dried lemon grass, you name it... you can also personalise this little tokens with your friends initials or a drawing in case the fabric is plain.

 

This are only a few ideas there is so much you can do without having to spend tons of money on shop bought presents... I know you will come out with great ideas, even better than mine to be honest. So why not start right now, have a brain storm and put your hands to it, I would love to have your feedback and hear about your ideas .

 

See you soon my lovelies :) 

 

xxx 

Air Drying Clay Christmas Decor. with your kids

Hello my lovers,

Well I wasn't feeling very well, so I decided to stay home and try to have some rest, you may be thinking " you had all weekend for that"... well that's actually not the case... with this 2 little pretend to be monsters and all the house work one has to do, cause it can't possibly be tackled during the week for work reasons has you may well know... I'm already knackered even before the working week starts ... oh well...

 So it got me thinking well I may not be able to walk due to a pain in my leg buuuuttt I can sit down, I may not be able to right or read a book due to my headache but I can still craft...hummmmm

 So I grabbed the air drying clay, my fimo moulds called my little one (she's nearly 3, if you do it with your kids be very careful, not to let them touch their face or swallow any bit) to help me as well, she sat on my side and looked eager to start "What are you doing mommy she asked" - "we're going to make some Christmas tree decorations" I told her; Yeihhh she said with the chickiest smile you could ever see on a child...

 So the material you'll need and that we used is:

- air drying clay
- moulds or cookie cutters
- rubber stamps for patterns or designs
- plastic bags to cover the table
- 1 toothpick ( to make the hanging holes)
- some ribbon or cord
- gloves (optional - if you don't want your hands to get all mucky)
- an hard surface covered with foil or plastic bags to let them dry
- acrylic paints ( spray, etc. - your choice really)
- PVA glue + Glitter ( you choose the colours)

NOTE: it obviously only gets decorated after completely dry which may take around 24h depending on how deep it is; Let it dry away from any windows or sun exposure or it may crack.


How to:

1- take some clay and shape it into a ball or several balls that's up to you, with a pvc roller or one you would only use for crafts roll the clay out into about 0.3mm thickness;

2- place it on your moulds, or use the cookie cutters at this stage, and demold or stamp with the designs you want them to have;

 3- Place it on the hard surface covered with a plastic bag or foil and let it dry;

 4- when completely dried, paint it and decorate it;

 5- attach the ribbon when the paint is dry, and finally hang it up, and enjoy your and your kids work of art.

Hope you enjoy doing it has much has I did.

Go on have some fun and quality time with your little ones, there's nothing like creating memories with them :)



xxxxx

St. Mary's Cathedral Christmas Raffle DIY Prizes

Hello my lovers,

Sunday seems to go by really fast... in fact faster now then ever before, Christmas is nearly here, Kids are going crazy asking for this, that and all the rest and to top it off school holidays are upon us :) yes yes I know we all love it...

 So, St. Marys Cathedral is holding a raffle after the show that the kids will present before the holidays start, parents friends and family were asked to help out with some prizzies to get people interested and then raise funds that would then go towards the school; SO you ask?! - well, I decided to get crafty and make some prizies...

I made a list of things that I could do, and this is what I came up with:
* a x-mas saying canvas
* a blue soft toy
* a box of x-mas tree decorations
* 1 set of Gift boxes
* 1 stationery set
* 1 mini album set

I already made one of the prizies " Christmas saying canvas", I used the sizzix eclips machine some vinyl , a canvas board, some modge podge and some glitter .
Here's a video off some of the steps.

I apologise in advance for my english has its not my native language :) hope you like it, it was my first video ever so hopefully the following ones will be better ;) .

My baby Girl is 6

Hello everyone how have you lot been?!!

Busy yeah, I can believe that more than you think this day to day shores, Christmas run, and in eventuality b-days or other party's do take the better of you every now and then, the secret is "FOCUS" yes you heard me.. "Focus " is the key ingredient in any recipe, any shore or any project, don't loose hope it will all get better or done soon, and then a wonderful thing happens you "will" be able to relax in the knowing that all you had to do is now done... so start it early so that you can finish it early and then  RELAX...

Anyway, with all I had to do this week I also had to prepare two birthday cakes, yeahp not one not 3 2. I cant believe that six years and 3 days ago I had the most traumatic, intense, amazing moment of my life or any women's life GAVE BIRTH... there is no words to describe it really at one point we just want it out, and another we just feel so much love when we see and hold that  little sprout for the first time; it is magical.

 We didn't make any party per say because it was a school day, instead my lovely sprout :D asked me to make her a cake so that she could celebrate with her school friends and colleagues, and another one so that we could sing happy b-day with her, that was her day and she decided what she wanted to do, so we ended up going to Macdonalds as well.

Here's some pictures of the cakes:

 

She is an Hello Kitty fanatic, so I designed the topper and then e-mailed it to a lady on e-bay that printed it onto icing "paper"

 

This one was my first ever done with Icing I think it came out quite alright don't you?!

Now, If I were to buy this from a shop it would cost me at least £15 to £20 each and making it myself I spent £15 including the boards and cake box to take it all the way to school ( inc. the hello kitty topper) 1 kg of flour costing at around £0.80 the same on sugar and eggs plus butter it all brings me to less than £20, so there you go 2 cakes for the price of 1 :) I'm one happy mommy, and whats best is that she loved it .

See you soon my lovers and remember sometimes it pays off to do things yourself, and it has a whole different meaning to it obviously :)

xxxx

Letters for Santa

Hello my wackys,

 How has everyone been lately?! Yeahp that time of the year is arriving once again, and there's only 6 weeks until Christmas the most busy time of the year in any shop, everyone is rushing around buying this that and all the rest, many people I know have all the Christmas shopping sorted, me however is a whole different story, I haven't done a thing yet the work, my girls, housework and this pregnancy... yes yes I know... its true Pregnancy are leaving me drained;

 However in the hope of changing this little fact I'm making this letters to Santa Template for my little ones, I saw some in the shops but I believe they are charging way to much for what it  is £2.00 to £3.50 for a couple of A4 cute letters with 2 envelopes and 2 pretend Santa stamps seem a bit of a highway robbery :), so little old me thought, if they can do it why couldn't I?!

So here they are, I used a software called craftartist:

 

Now , all we need is a red or green envelope and a pretend stamp, and voila your own letter to santa, you can ask your child to make the stamps themselves, and that way it will be much more magical, and santa will get it way faster.

 

If you don't have the software I used you can always do it with word and some google images :)

 

Go on, you have a try I'm sure the kids will love whatever you do.

 

*****

Halloween Holidays, Keeping Kids Busy

Hello my wackys,

 Now, we all know how demanding motherhood is, now I'm not saying it cant also be rewarding... we never forget the first smiles, when they first started to eat the first time they started to talk and walk, the first day of school and so on...

 Now what about the bit that drives us crazy, the tantrums, the winning, the moaning, the arguing with the parents, the mess, etc. you know where I'm coming from.
 
Most of us work, and at school holidays we would then leave them at the nursery or take the same amount of time of so that we can take care of them and not spend tons of money in childcare.

 Now, speaking for myself, I would love to spend more time with my kids but it is granted that they drive me completely nuts, they cry they moan they fight over the smallest things ever and on top of it all they never stop, it is definitely draining; so I thought I cant possibly be the only one feeling this way, what can WE do together so that they don't drive me nuts here's some ideas:

 * Take them to the kitchen and make some cookies for when daddy comes home from work;
 * Make time for art, like finger painting, drawing, colouring, etc.
 * Have some home cinema time, prepare some popcorn and drinks in advance and darken the room for a more truthful experience;
 * Ask them for help to tidy up and them give them a reward;
 * Have a treasure hunt
 * Have a picnic, if the weather allows, if not why not a tea party

This are just a few ideas, and you could always go to websites like www.bakerross.co.uk ; or www.craftycrocodiles.co.uk; which have craft kits available and many other things that would help keep your kids busy, why don't you have a look I bet you'll be surprised.

Hope I helped you some how.

See you soon my wackys ***