Christmas Craft Fair

So, Scary did a bit of painting,

I've been doing a bit of sewing,

and finishing a few projects from ages ago,

and we had a little pretend layout in the kitchen (every other surface in the entire house was covered with detritus).

Eventually we were ready.

Everything was finished (well, apart from the Christmas stockings that I intended to make),

a reasonable profit was made

and we still have some things left over to use for Christmas presents!!

I think some major housework will have to be done tomorrow!

Preparation is The Key

Aaaaahhhhhh!

Why do we take on so much?  Correction, why do I take on so much?  You're probably all out there in Blogland with your presents handmade and wrapped, with Christmas cards poised for posting and Christmas puddings aromatically maturing in larder cupboards!

I am not.

Nor ever likely to be.

There is no more productive time like 'The Last Minute'.

Anyway, just thought I better drop in and play catch up; at least, prove that I haven't been spending all my time on Pinterest (ahem).

That strange red thing I was making a while ago here was eventually finished, along with a couple of others and they now reside on my bookshelves.

See, it wasn't rude!  Unlike this thing I saw [click here], which please don't look at if you are of a nervous disposition.  But do you think the Runner would like me to knit him a pair?

The two main things I am in a panic about are a cake stall on Saturday (you know what I will be doing from dawn til dusk and later tomorrow don't you?) and a craft stall the following Friday.

Lots of making projects going on at the moment, most of them half-finished!

Wish me luck!

September Round Up

Well, he's gone back to work at last!  Much as I love him, it is so peaceful to have the house back to myself!

I think we are at the end of all the birthdays at last.  Mother-in-law's birthday is today and now it is just our anniversary on Saturday.  No money left, so I reckon it will have to be a lemon meringue pie again, like Valentines Day last year!

After the marathon bag making session for Scary, I also managed to make a bag for Starfish for her birthday.

The bag was made from a wonderful tutorial found here on Sew4Home which is a site I have found recently and am really impressed with.  Of course, I couldn't follow it exactly, I always have to tweak it a little bit (just like with recipes)!

I was so impressed with it, that I made another one for mother-in-law,

but as you can see, I didn't get around to taking a picture of it finished and The Runner had whipped it away and posted it before I thought about it!  I hope you can see the general gist of it though.  I made the handle out of the floral material on the bottom of the bag and had two more grey buttons and two blue beads for the closing at the top.  The material on the right is the lining, with an internal pocket made out of the floral fabric and a little bit of ribbon along the seam line (mainly because I messed up sewing a straight line!  I've always said that creativity is mainly about hiding your mistakes!)

Poor Marathon Runner didn't get anything handmade (except his cake!).  Well, I did make him a new pair of pants recently!  What more does he want?

Well, he is Irish (he eats a lot of potatoes)!!

Review of Birthday Goodies

Just a few lovelies to show you from Scary's birthday presents.

Shall I start with the boring card?

A couple of little tea light holders.

I did try and get her a decorative bird cage but they were all too expensive for my pocket!

A pretty photo frame in her favourite colours.  Cheap and cheerful from Store 21.

A cutie umbrella, cos you know what English weather is like!

Scary loves peacocks so she had several things along those lines; including a notebook and a hair clip.

A hair band and tie that I crocheted in her current fave colour.

A cute little box and necklace from a charity shop.

Another little sweet box from another charity shop (good job she doesn't mind) to fit in with existing pots.

And I managed to fill it with charity shop and boot sale finds, running with the butterfly theme.

Yes, she did get a bit of money as well!  Along with a guitar; no picture, sorry.

And The Runner gets in on the making act as well.  He made this necklace for her.

Many other bits and pieces, too numerous to photograph, but these were my favourites, along with The Bag, of course, which seemed to take so long to make.

No, not that one!  The real sized one!

Oh, I almost forgot the slippers I bought for her (she suffers with cold feet, poor baby).

And Starfish gave her something she's been wanting with a passion for some time.

Shame he's not real!  Starfish and I went into the shop and said "we want Matt Smith please".  "Oh yes", the lady said.  "We've got one out the back."  Imagine our surprise if she'd come back with a real one! 

Well, if you've made it this far, I think you deserve a slice of cake!

Happy Birthday Scary

Here is The Bag, finished at last!

Miniature

In between making ready for the students today, I have been trying to carry on with my present for Scary.  It is a bag that consists of eight panels and each panel is different.  I am using old sheets, clothes and any odd bits and pieces that I have lying around.

It's coming on but it's taking rather longer than I anticipated.

I have tried some free embroidery (I think this is what you call it) for the first time and I'm reasonably pleased with the result.

I wasn't sure how the bag went together.  I kept reading the instructions and I couldn't visualise it.

So I thought perhaps I needed to make a little practice one before I started putting the big one together.

Does anyone have a Barbie that needs a handbag?

Giveaway Make

Can you guess what it is yet?

I bet you can.

Fancy a nice hot cup of tea?

So along with the sign and cards

I will be offering my homemade tea cosy to one lucky winner on Monday.

Just leave a comment on this post, or the original one here, to be in with a chance!

See you tomorrow.

Giveaway Make - Thwarted

Today I have been thwarted.  Every possible person and thing has conspired against me to get anything done.

So here's just a quick peek at some material from my stash:

and hopefully tomorrow it will be made into something to go with my Tea Time Giveaway!

Fingers crossed!

Pants!

Take one pair of old sleeping shorts (the elastic has gone):

make a pattern;

Take one PE shirt that has hardly been worn (!):

cut it up;

patch it back together, a little bit of sewing and,

hey presto

a new pair of pants!