Attic24

Easter Wreath :: Ta dah!!!

Ok, first up a confession. I admit that I am glad this project is finished. I am happy it is over. There, phewww, thank goodness that's out in the open and off my chest. Breathe out, it's all ok.

Occasionally, I create a project in my mind that is way more attractive in the thinking stages than it actually is in the making stages. This was just such a project. A few reasons for this perhaps....firstly it was remarkably similar to the wreath I made before Christmas, so a lot of the excitement that comes with designing and creating something new was a little bit second hand this time around. Secondly, I began making this wreath at a time when there suddenly seemed to be a gazillion other more interesting things that I really wanted to start (mostly studio related ie cushion covers, shelf edging, bunting etc). And I am not one who is comfy with a load of half finished projects, I really like to finish up my projects. I think that's because I am quite addicted to Ta-dah-ing.

And then there is also the fact that this was a seasonal project and had a deadline which I felt obliged to work towards. No good finishing up an Easter wreath sometime towards the end of Spring is there? And deadlines don't really suit me very well to be honest.

But I persevered. I pushed on with it, put the hours in. Wreath making takes up a huge number of hours as there are so many components. Producing a length of stripes is only the very beginning.

I am a stickler for Detail and Good Finishing and take a lot of care with these things. For example, it would have been very much quicker to use just one colour yarn for the stitching up of my stripes (especially as the join is on the back and is not seen), but oh no. Can't do that. Need to thread, darn and finish off forty three yarn ends so that each stripe is stitched up in it's own colour.

I was so happy when the stitching up was finished (at the café one Friday morning), but of course there was still much to be done. There were pom poms and flowers and leaves still to make, dozens and dozens of them.

I made the pom poms in the pub one Monday night, so they were accompanied by a haze of companionable chat and laughter. They were fun to do (I really haven't tired of pom poms yet), in fact I ended up making way too many as I couldn't seem to stop (am liking this idea for the left overs).

If you've been following along with me during the past month or so then you will have an idea of the way the wreath flowers came together (here, here and here). But it's always useful to have all the details in one place, as follows ::

Japanese Quince Flowers (pattern here)

Forsythia flowers (adapted from the pattern here)

Daffodils (pattern here)

Teeny tiny flowers (far right, pattern here).

And the polyanthus flowers (far left) were a bit of an experiment so I don't have a pattern for those.

I also bought a few bits from eBay to add a little Eastery flavour :: coloured feathers and little painted wooden eggs.

When I came to pin everything in place, I was surprised by how many flowers I had actually made over the weeks. There were only a few small gaps that needed filling so I made more leaves and a few more teeny flowers and quince flowers.

I began stitching it all in place a couple days ago and my my, it was a laborious task. It kind of made me fidget in my seat and look for distractions every few minutes. I was torn between desperately wanting to finish it and desperately wanting to jack it all in. I was unbelievably relieved when it was all done, and I did have a few issues with the feathers which I only just solved this morning.

I made a small yellow bower bird to nest in the bottom of the wreath. Ah yes, I know what you're going to say now......"when can we have the pattern for that sweet bird?"

I know you've been waiting ages, and I am not deliberately witholding it from you I promise you. I've made the photographic part of the tutorial (although it was mid winter at the time and the lighting wasn't great), but I now need to carve out time to upload it all and write it up. I will make it my mission to do it very soon, while it is still Spring. Promise.

The feathers.....not easy things to stitch are they? After much deliberating I took a very fine sewing needle and some cotton and managed to stitch through the vein of each feather to anchor them securely in place. It was fiddly and a bit tense, but I felt it was entirely necessary for an Easter wreath to have feathers so I stuck with it. I ate rather a large number of chocolate mini eggs while doing it to cope with the tension.

Good Friday, and the deadline was met, yipppeeeeeeeeeeee! I did rather a lot of dancing around with my finished wreath, trying to decide where to hang it.

I changed my mind several times, but eventually decided to hang it above the sofa so that it can talk to my blankets and cushions. I wonder why I didn't think to hang my Christmas Wreath there? I had a thought that if I can face making a Summer wreath and an Autumn wreath, then this place on the wall above my sofa can officially become the All Year Round Seasonal Wreath spot.

Would you like to see it in situ?

It looks pretty cute.

Here, take a peek...........................

There!!!

That's my newly designated Seasonal Wreath place.

Want a closer look?

Oh, ok..........................

Pretty! The feathers were definitely worth the gritted teeth and chocolate overdose.

Want a proper good look?

A close up?

Thought you might.................

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As usual, there isn't a lot of restraint with this creation. It is full and frivolous and maybe a little bit over the top.

But.....it delights me. It provides a dash of handmade craftiness, and a flash of glorious colour. Both things to be embraced in my world.

Ta-dah!!! (yes, I can have two ta-dah's if I choose).

I thought it would be interesting to have a look back at my Christmas Wreath for comparison.

There are many similarities, and the shifts in colour are only very slight. More red and deep green in the Christmas wreath, more yellow and orange in the Easter wreath.

Despite myself, I am already thinking ahead to the summer possibilities. I am thinking of the red, pinks and purples of roses and sweet peas, with a shot of marigold orange and some pretty yellow and white daisies. Butterflies and sea shells.

Isn't creativity and imagination wonderful?

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Prettifying

If ever there was an object that was screaming out to be Prettified, this is it. This grey rectangle of metal is possibly the dullest looking thing I have ever purchased in my life. Do you know what it is? It's rather oddly called "Spontan" and is in fact a Very Useful Object. A magnetic notice board no less.

I knew as soon as I bought this useful bit of metal that I would not in any way shape or form be able to leave it alone. It would most certainly have to be tarted up, that was for sure. This morning, when I was putting the finishing touches to it, the word prettify came into my mind. What a smashing word that is!!! So much cuter than the word upcycle. I looked it up in the online dictionary just to check if it did actually exist (many of the words I use do not exist), and yes, it is indeed a real, bonafide word.......

pret·ti·fy  (prt-f) tr.v. pret·ti·fied, pret·ti·fy·ing, pret·ti·fies

To make pretty or prettier, especially in a superficial or insubstantial way.

HA!!!!!!!! That made me laugh out loud! Insubstantial indeed! Well. I am about to show you how I took the drab grey metal and did some superficial and insubstantial things to it.

Mod Podge . I bought this bottle ages ago after seeing it very successfully used in Blogland to cover hard ugly things with pretty fabric. I had thought (and do still think) that Connievan would benefit enormously from some fabric+modpodge treatment, but haven't yet got round to it. So this was a first time experiment for me, and I am happy to tell you it was a resounding success. Easy to use, and with fantastic end results, this stuff is crazy-marvelous! If you're going to try anything like this, I would also highly recommend you purchase a foam brush. I used a 2 inch one and it was just right.

You need to work quite quickly when you first spread the Modpodge onto the object, and this foam thing did the job beautifully.

So easy, did i say that already? First cut your fabric to size (I used a thin floral poly/cotton), leaving about an inch all around which you will trim off afterwards. Spread your hard object all over with a generous but even spread of MP. Lay your fabric on top and smooth it down firmly with your hands, eliminating any creases and air bubbles. It's not as hard as you imagine it to be. I recently covered Little Man's school book with that clear sticky plastic stuff and that was a holy nightmare, so this was childsplay by comparison.

I took some care over the corners and made some impressively neat tucks, adding quite a bit more MP to make sure it was all sticking down firmly with no flappy bits. Once it was all stuck down, I then coated the whole of the fabric with a thin layer of MP to give it a matte glaze finish.

Allow it to dry completely before trimming neatly around the edges with a sharp craft knife or rotary cutter. And that's pretty much it....I'll show you the end result in a bit, I need to talk about magnets now.

I bought this set of 24 magnets from Amazon cos I liked the bright jolly colours. But when they arrived, I had a little light bulb moment and decided that they would also benefit from a little bit of insubstantial prettifying. Buttons, I thought. They need buttoning.

There is no shortage of colourful buttons in the Attic (thank goodness), so I was able to set to work straight away.

I put a little bit of stitching in the centre of each button, totally unnecessary of course, but I like the extra little bit of detail. Then I went down into the cellar, unearthed my ancient hot glue gun, plugged it in and set to work blobbing and sticking.

I love them! They are fun and colourful and go really well with the fabric.

I'm going to use this as a sort of changing inspiration board at the studio, a place to keep pretty paper things. Do you like the lovely bird card? This is the work of textile and paper artist Nancy Nicholson, my latest crush. Her style is bright and jolly with a little bit of folksy fun thrown in. I really love what she does, especially the paper products, which she calls Interactive Stationery.

I treated myself to some of her Topiary Birds, and I love having them in the Attic.....

....they landed on the mantel and look very at home. You must go and have a snoop around Nancy's home....you will love it. It is amazing. Inspiring. Go look, and enjoy.

I'll be taking my newly prettified inspiration board down to the studio tomorrow. Uh-huh. Yesterday we finally finished the decorating, hooray!! It was such bliss to tidy all the messy mess away, sweep the gorgeous floor, bring in the first pieces of furniture and add some fresh flowers. There is still much to be done, but the hard graft is over. Let the Prettifying commence.

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ps I have (of course) been taking photographs of the studio over the past month as we've been working hard to get it ready. I'll be sharing the whole story with you here very soon. It's all so dreamy!

 

Christmas Time 2012

The past two days have passed by in a blur of frantic activity and happy feel good. Yesterday was spent wrapping and delivering presents and cards to friends and neighbours around town, and doing The Food Shop. I went by myself (twice) to the supermarkets, walking down in the rain pulling my trusty shopping trolley behind me. It was surprisingly stress free, and I might even go so far as to say I enjoyed the experience. Kind of.

Since last Wednesday when the tree was finally put up I've been really, really loving the glow of 200 coloured lights in the corner there. The tree is, as usual, completely laden with baubles and decorations (decked out by Little Lady and a very enthusiastic Little B), and looks beautifully bright and cheerful.

It's become something of a tradition for me to have red tulips on the table at Christmas, and this year I've gone for tulips+glitter for an extra bit of festive sparkle. They look so pretty, I really love the whole idea of adding glitter to flowers, well I just love glitter full stop.

I spent a good part of today with an apron on over my pyjamas, tidying and cleaning like a mad thing. I got it into my head yesterday that the house needed to have a very thorough Home Blessing before the Big Day, and I somehow managed to find the energy to spend 3 hours doing it this afternoon. Our downstairs living space had gotten ridiculously untidy (the Shelves of Doom were beginning to make a come back, much to my horror), so it was a lot of work, but I am sooooooooo happy that I made the effort to give it a bit of a sort out. Even the table is now remarkably clear of paper snippets, glitter, sellotape, newspapers, magazines, wrapping paper, pens, envelopes, toys etc.

Part of todays Home Blessing also involved stripping and washing my bed linen as I really do love to go to bed on Christmas Eve with freshly laundered bedding. I kept my own little personal Christmas tradition going this year with new pillowcases and new pyjamas....

...well I say pyjamas, but actually I've gone for brushed cotton bottoms and the most gorgeously soft and snuggly pink top thingy. Not sure what you would call it...lounge wear? It's a definite idling-about garment, and I am sooo looking forward to wearing it tomorrow. I love that I can get away with this sort of outfit for Christmas day.

I finally finished adding the seasonal touches to my two fireplaces this morning too. I'm so sorry my photographs today are a bit pants but the persistent rain has made the light rather dull and gloomy. Still, you can get an idea of how it's looking...much the same as last year actually, but no less lovely for being samey.

I had such fun getting out my mini glass baubles again this year and decorating my twigs, oh it made me so happy! Fun and Joy indeed. Little Lady was helping me here and she really enjoyed unpacking the box and setting it all up. Out came the little wooden christmas tree, the wooden train, the quirky little homemade pom pom robins (I love them so), and the wooden nativity. All stuff from previous years, and already a part of her childhood memories.

I had a bit of a faff with this fireplace actually, more specifically trying to hang and display my beloved wreath. I tried (and failed) to hang some paper behind it to make a kind of a background/frame, so it looks a bit weird hanging over the top of the picture. But anyhow, it is there, and I love it very, very much.

I have candle jars along  my mantel again this year, and I had grand plans to turn these into a Christmas Village with the cunning and creative use of paper cutting. I adore paper houses, and Christmassy paper houses just send me into a spin of desire. A few months ago I began saving glass jars, and I even bought some coloured card, craft knives and glitter (got to have glitter on the rooftops). I had something like this in mind, but in colour. If I get some time later this week I may still give it a go.

My frenzy of tidying and cleaning ended around about 3pm this afternoon, and I literally collapsed on the sofa with exhaustion. J took over and lit the fire, handed me a glass of chilled prosecco and proceeded to bake a loaf of bread (yes, he really did! He made Xmas fruity walnut beer bread, and it was divine!). He then went on to cook dinner for us all. I was truly grateful, I don't think I would have had the energy.

Late this afternoon, while J was baking/cooking in the kitchen, I lay on the sofa with my two youngest and we watched  The Polar Express. Wow, what a fabulous movie for Christmas Eve! We have seen it loads of times over the years, but it was the first time watching it with Little B. His excitement for all things Christmassy has been the sweetest thing this year, and I can't wait to see it all unfold in the morning. Just before he went to bed we sprinkled some reindeer dust in the back yard, and put out refreshments for the Big Man and Rudolph too. Stockings are hung and as far as I know (almost 10pm now) all three Little Peeps are tucked up and asleep. It feels wonderful, and my heart is full of gratitude.

I'm going to go and cosy up by the fire now with my lovely hubby, but I'll be away to bed myself soon (oooooooo new rosy pillowcases!).

Wishing you all a warm, cosy and blissfully happy Christmas Time. Fun and Joy to you all!

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The Days Before Christmas

Oh where to begin trying to describe these days? They have been so very, very very FULL. I have been trying to do/be so much it seems, and am quite exhausted.

I have been gently, bit by bit, decorating the place for Christmas, but it has been slow and late coming. And still not quite finished (tomorrow it will be and I will show you). I bought a few new bits this year which I am super-happy about :: glorious honeycomb paper balls at a mere £1 each from Wilkinsons (thank you thank you lovely readers for pointing me to this shop!!) and beautiful little glitter birds to peg on my bauble twigs.

I had Little B with me all last week, the days were long (5am starts) and busy. We went on the train to a nearby town to do some last minute Christmas shopping, and we went to a little toddler Christmas party. We ate lots of chocolate, and we I drank lots of coffee. We went to school to watch the Little Peeps perform in their Christmas play, and we went to church to sing carols. We hung out with friends, we stayed home and wrote cards and wrapped presents. We went on trips to the post office, and on trips to collect greenery. We took deliveries, and we mailed out parcels. We celebrated the absolute joy to be had in learning to use scissors. Snip snip. We he did lots and lots and lots of snipping, combined with glue, glitter and a whole roll of sellotape.

Yesterday, the Little People finished school, and J finished work for the holidays and it felt soooo good. It went hand in hand with Winter Solstice, and so on the shortest day (which felt pretty darn long), I lit candles, put some simple greenery in a jug and we celebrated the start of the holidays and the forthcoming lengthening days. Two very good things to celebrate I'd say.

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Christmas Wreath :: Ta dah!!!

Woooooooooooohoooooooooooooo I am SOosososososososooooooo excited to be sharing this project with you today, I have been leaping about with happiness all morning at the sight of my finished wreath hanging on the door. I finished it last night at 10pm after a marathon of hard core, fiddly stitching. The stitching on of 100+ little bits was a real mare and it was a good job I was so obsessed with getting it done or else I might have given up. But hey, it's done now, and if I say so myself it is rather fabulous.

I was trying to remember when I started this project? Two weeks ago? Three weeks ago maybe? It was towards the end of November when I began working on the stripy cover, you can read about the beginnings of the wreath here.

I did much of my wreath making in the evenings once the Little People were in bed. Sometimes I would sit downstairs at the table, but more often I would take myself upstairs and snuggle up in bed to work on the colourful rows. Crocheting in bed has to be one of the happiest and most comforting things ever-ever. Pure pleasure.

This is how the cover looked when I had finished it. I have been asked a number of times for the pattern, but there is no pattern as such. I simply made a chain that fit comfortably around the polystyrene ring (it was roughly 32 stitches), then worked up straight rows of Double Crochet. I varied the width of the stripes and chose the colours at random. The yarn is quite thick (it's Bamboo Ewe by Stitch Nation) worked on a 5mm hook and as you can see, I wasn't really paying enough attention was I?! Can you see how it narrrows towards the middle? That was due to me missing a couple of stitches at the end of some rows, and it was a while before I realised what was going on. To rectify it, I simply added in a couple of increases in subsequent rows so that it widened out again. Good job I wasn't making a scarf isn't it?! Also note the long tail ends left at the end of each colour change....I left them deliberately as they would be used for stitching up the rows later.

I couldn't resist having a little play at this point, I was already quite giddy about it and couldn't wait to get going with the decorative bit.

This is the back of the wreath after I had finished sewing it up. The seam runs around the middle of the reverse side, and as I mentioned earlier, each stripe was stitched up using the tail end of yarn left in place for this purpose. Even though the back won't be visible when it's hung, I somehow felt I wanted to make it as neat as possible. It's a little messy, but not too bad.

I found a split ring (the sort you use for keys) in the bowl-of-useful-little-objects in the hallway, and managed to thread it through the crochet on the back to use as a hanger.

This is how it looked when the cover was all finished. Much the same as when I made my May Rose wreath, I did really love the stripes as they were :: simple and unadorned. But the Adornment simply had to happen. This was always going to be a fully encrusted concoction of woolly delights!

The decorative making was already well under way by this stage, and in my mind I had a good idea of how I wanted it to look. You may remember me sharing the glorious wreaths made by Maartje of Silly Old Suitcase....well that was my inspiration and I was hugely excited by the business of creating my very own decorative bits and bobs. Over the past few weeks I have been hooking up a decorative storm, and this is what I came up with.........

Triple Layer Flowers (pattern here)

Double Layer flowers (pattern here), with spotty buttons and little ribbon tails.

Little Balls (pattern here)

Teeny Tiny Stars (pattern here), with star button centres.

Jolly Holly (pattern here)

And of course pom poms (read about the making of them here)

I also gathered together some lovely additional bits :: colourful ric rac, sparkly berries, baubles, buttons and bells.

Five days ago I finally began the business of slowly pinning it all into place. Such fun!

I pinned on everything I had made (which was a lot), and was suddenly quite shocked to find that the wreath was only half full! Yikes!! Not enough stuff!! Need to make more!!!

So I spent two whole evenings frantically hooking up extra flowers, jolly holly and little balls, as well as making more pom poms. I had become rather obsessed with this wreath, and so desperately wanted to see it finished.

I have to tell you, it was really hard work stitching everything in place, and was not in the least bit enjoyable. It took a further two whole evenings to complete, and it made me veeeery grumpy. My fingers hurt. I said some bad words. But at 10pm last night, the last bell was stitched into place and it was finished. Finished!! I was so happy!

There is such a lot of happiness, love and excitement in this creation of mine. It is everything I had hoped it would be, and yet it is also so very much more.

Can I show you?

Can I share my colourful-crazy-bonkers Christmas Wreath with you?

Here...

it...

comes...........................................................................

♥

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥  I ♥  L ♥ O ♥ V ♥ E  ♥  I T  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know it's a bit bonkers and very over the top. But I love it so much!

I especially love the Little Bird nestled at the bottom. This is a smaller, fatter version of the Bower Bird that I designed, and it's a great success I think. I know many of you are waiting for this pattern, and I promise you it will be coming very, very soon (hopefully in the next day or two - the photos are already done, I just need to pull it all together and write it all out).

At the moment, the wreath is hung on my kitchen door and my heart jolts every time I clap eyes on it. I had fully intended for it to hang on my front door, but when I mentioned it to friends they were horrified at the thought of it getting wet/dirty or something untoward happening to it. So now I'm thinking it will look lovely hanging above my fireplace where I can gaze adoringly at it day after day.

Christmas Wreath, I Love you!!!!

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Festive Wreath Beginnings

I am, as usual, behind with my Festive Making. It was the exact same scenario last year with the Jolly Festive Bunting being completed sometime after Christmas had been and gone. But I don't mind too much as I am having such fun with this wreath thing and I know it won't matter to anyone if it arrives late to the door.

I bought the polystyrene ring a whole year ago, so the idea of this Festive Wreath has been hanging around in my Creative Mind for a good while now. I'm using a 30cm "half round ring" which has a rounded top and a flat back. You can find them on Ebay for about £4, I got mine here.

Before I get stuck into the decorative bit of the wreath making, I'm making a woolly, stripy cover. I'm working random stripes of double crochet in an aran weight yarn, just a long length with no shaping. I know from the making of my May Rose Wreath that it'll work out, even though it never quite seems like it will do at this stage. Unlike my rose wreath, I'm planning on completely smothering this one with a huge collection of pom poms, flowers, leaves, berries, stars, baubles, buttons, ribbons and bells. So the stripes might only be very slightly visible, but this seemed the easiest way of dealing with the white polystyrene which I don't much care for.

Over the past few weeks I've begun assembling some suitable wreath making materials. The Knit and Stitch show in Harrogate a few weeks ago was a great hunting ground for festive bits n bobs, and I had a lot of fun searching and gathering there. I came home with a small but beautiful haul of buttons, beads and bells, and an excited, fluttery heart.

Oh, and ric rac..........

....oooooooooooooooooooooooo, yummy!

I could not resist this ric rac in such gorgeous colours and at only 40p a metre I thought it was well worth a little splurge.

I also bought some very cheap n cheerful bits of glittery-shiny to add a true Christmas flavour to my woolly wreath. 

The glittery holly berries are wired, so I thought I could cut them up and dismantle them a bit, then simply poke them straight into the polystyrene amongst the crochet. And the baubles...well I just LOVE baubles and these little colourful plastic ones will look cute amongst the pom poms and other bits I'm sure. Well I hope so anyways. My Creative Mind tells me it'll all work out, but the reality maybe somewhat different....we shall see!

I've also been making some little crochet stars during the past few weeks.

These stars are great fun to do, very quick and easy to make and very satisfyingly cute.

I've been churning out piles of them in my favourite colours, and can't wait to use them in my Festive decorating. Many of them will be included on the wreath, but I'm also going to use them as a sweet finishing touch to my gift wrapping this year (with a button sewn on, and some colourful ric rac tails). They would also be great made into a garland, or strung vertically with invisible thread to dingle and dangle in front of a window....oh endless possibilities!

If crochet is your thing, maybe you might like to make a few Teeny Tiny Stars for Christmas? Or maybe you might like to make a whole heap load?! I've already written up a tutorial, which you can find here.

Right....off to crochet some more stripes, I'm really hoping to get that finished today so I can start on the business of attaching The Decorative Stuff. Sooooooooooooo excited!!!

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Jolly Festive Bunting :: Ta-dah!

Hello and welcome to a slightly Behind-the-Times Festive Ta-dah! It seems a little bit strange writing about this now that Christmas is over and all packed away, but I'm still really excited to share it with you. This has been such a fun project, I've had a wonderful time working on it across the days and weeks surrounding Christmas.

If you ever fancy creating a bit of wordy decorative bunting, I can definitely recommend this pennant shape. Originally I had squares in mind, but as I was making the first one I suddenly felt it absolutely needed to go pointy. It was all a happy accident really, and I love how it turned out. Now I did contemplate writing a tutorial for making these pennants, but really it's a super-easy pattern and I don't think a tutorial is needed. I'm simply going to write the pattern out at the end of this post, so I hope this will be OK even for any newbie hookers out there who want to give it a go.

If you remember, I was hooking these pennants at the same time as the Jolly Holly and they seemed as if they were meant to go together. I used Anchor soft embroidery thread in various shades of green to make the holly (on a 3mm hook), and Rico Creative Cotton to make the bunting (on a 4.5mm hook).

The Rico cotton is a super yarn to use for this sort of thing. The colours are soooooooo vivid and jolly and happy. I used this yarn a year or so ago to make Christmas Decorations, and somehow although they're not traditional Christmas colours, they've sort of become my own personal creative Christmas colours.

Ok. Lets get down to some nitty gritty technical stuff shall we? I've often been asked about how I made the numbers on my Advent Garland, so I thought now would be a good time to talk about the business of putting fabric text on top of crochet things. I have to warn you that my method is a bit cak-handed and low tech as I don't have a printer and I don't have the required know-how to make text flip itself over. But I can explain the basic principles.

First you need to choose a suitable font, preferably one that's not too skinny. For my Festive Bunting I chose "Cooper Black" which is nice and fat when written in capital letters. Use a word processor or desk top publishing thingy to get your letters onto your computer screen in actual real size. Ideally you would then print these off, but as I am printerless I simply hold a piece of paper up to my laptop screen and very lightly trace the letters off with a pencil.

You now need to make the letters flip over and appear backwards. This is my low-tech method :: turn the paper over, hold it up against a window to allow the light to shine through and trace out the outline of the letters in black pen. See, I get there in the end.

Now I employ the magical powers of Bondaweb (a double-sided iron-on adhesive used for bonding fabrics together). Oh boy, do I LOVE this stuff, it really is a marvel. In the olden days when I was a professional textile person, I used oodles of Bondaweb to create my intricate appliqué pieces.

Anyways, what you need to do is to place the bondaweb over your backward drawn letters (paper side uppermost) and trace them off. Cut roughly round a letter and place it onto the felt with the paper side uppermost. Iron (under a cloth) to make it stick. Now cut around the letter.

Peel off the bondaweb paper. Place your felt letter onto your crochet (shiny glue side facing down), cover with a cloth and iron to stick. Tis like magic I tell you.

Now if your letters are bonded securely in place there isn't really any need to sew them as well. But I do enjoy some stitchy stuff on occasion, and I love the look of a neat white running stitch.

So. We have colourful crochet pennants. And we have colourful stitchy felt letters. But this is Festive Bunting and it therefore needs a little more embellishment. I choose buttons and bells. I adore these teeny tiny little coloured metal bells, I bought them from a local craft shop a few years ago but I think they are easy enough to find on the internet. Just google "small coloured bells".

Ahhhhhh that's better! Looking good!!!

I made thirteen pennants in total.

Thirteen colourful concoctions of yarn, felt, thread, buttons and bells. Now I come to think about it, this was quite a labour intensive project. But as I worked it over a good many weeks, a little bit here, a little bit there, it never felt tedious. I simply loved the whole process. And I knew that as this was likely to be something that would grace our christmas mantel for many, many years to come, the effort was worth it.

When I thought about this bunting in my mind, I imagined I would put holly leaves in between each pennant. But when I came to lay it all out it looked too busy and overloaded with so much holly. So I simplified the idea and added holly leaves to the blank pennants that start and end the words.

I did three rows of double crochet (sc for those in the US) to make the band that joins the pennants together. I worked each row in back loops only, from right to left (no turning, right side always facing). A little nod to traditional festive colouring :: green, red, green.

I didn't end up making any chain spaces between the pennants either as they seemed to sit nicely without. So the first joining row of dc simply goes straight from one pennant to the next.

Ahhhh now we come to the words.

What debate we had over them! I was offered a great many opinions and suggestions by all and sundry, and I changed my mind a gazillion times over. Just when I thought I had settled on the right thing, something or someone would force me to rethink. In the end I listened to friends who suggested I go with Little Man's choice, and yes, it's spot on. It was worth it to see the sweet look of pride on his face as he watched me draw, cut and stitch his words.

So we have JOY.

What else?

What other word did he choose?

LOVE?

PEACE?

PRESENTS?

CHESTNUTS?

CANDY?

He chose FUN.

FUN AND JOY.

Very sweet and very childishly, beautifully appropriate for our house.

It was a really Good Moment when I laid the finished article out on the floor and stood over it to take a look. I even had the right socks on for the job.

But it was when the bunting was finally hung in place on the mantel that my heart really jumped.

Want to see??

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't it fun? Joyful? Full of festive spirit?

Yes, all of those things, and more besides.

I'm so happy with how the Jolly Festive Bunting turned out. I love it. I know this string of colourful words is going to bring me oodles of happiness and sweet memories year after year after year. Fun and Joy. Absolutely.

Ahhhhh happy sigh. I do love a good, satisfying ta-dah moment.

Right then...what I'm going to do now is write out the pattern for the pennants. It's pretty straight forward.

To begin, chain 17, and beginning in 2nd stitch from hook work a row of double crochet (sc for those of you in US). You should have 16 stitches in your row. Chain 1 and turn.

Work 11 more identical rows of dc, back and forth, making 12 rows in total.

Now begin your decreasing....You'll be making a "dc decrease" at the beginning and end of each subsequent row. In words, this is how you do  a dc decrease ::

Hook in stitch, yarn over, pull hook back through (2 stitches on hook). Insert hook through next stitch, yarn over, pull hook back through (3 stitches on hook). Now yarn over and pull through ALL THREE STITCHES. This effectively turns two stitches into one, ie a decrease.

So for example, in row 13, you work dc decrease, 12 dc, dc decrease. This will leave you with 14 stitches.

Row 14 will be dc decrease, 10 dc, dc decrease (12 stitches).

Do this decreasing at beginning and end of each row until you have just 2 stitches left, then dc decrease those remaining 2 stitches into 1 stitch before fastening off.

For the little contrasting dc border that runs around the edge, begin at the right hand side of the top  flat edge. This is the foundation chain remember, so you'll be working into the single loops that make up that chain. Draw a loop through, chain 1, then dc into each of the loops along. When you get to the first corner, work 2dc into that last loop. Now work evenly spaced dc's down the side edge, working out of the spaces between the rows. Work 2dc as you turn the corner, then continue working evenly spaced dc's down towards the pointy end. Right in the end work 3dc, then carry on making dc's up the other side. Remember to work 2dc at the point where you bend round the corner. Lastly make 1dc back in the very first stitch and sl st to join.

If you're using a natural yarn, it's a good idea to give your pennant a light steam press when it's done (under a cloth on wrong side), just to flatten it out and improve the shape. The Rico cotton responds beautifully to this treatment, it makes a huge difference and gives a very similar result to blocking.

I think that's it. Brain is a little fuzzy today so I hope what I've written makes sense.

Thank you as ever for being here to indulge me in my little creative Happy Dance, I really appreciate your company. Right I'm off to drink tea and eat cake now, I think I deserve it!

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 Edit to add :: thank you so much for all your lovely comments! I had meant to say that this bunting is very versatile, and I had already planned to make some Birthday bunting (we have January, Febuary, April, August and October Birthday months here at number 24). I also thought it would be cute to make one that said WELCOME with ❀'s instead of buttons/bells to hang in the hallway. Oh, and SWEET DREAMS to hang above the bed, with little ♥ buttons. And yes, names for childrens bedrooms or baby gifts would be ace too. Soooo many possibilities! xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Cheer

I am slowly, gently, secretly breathing my customary post-christmas Sigh of Relief. Whhhooooooaaaaaoooh. Exhale. It's all over for another year, and I am full of gratitude, relief, and waaaay too much food. Thank goodness for days spent loafing around wearing pyjamas with an elasticated waist.

Our Christmas was wonderful and everything I hoped it would be. It was relaxing, fun and joyful, with just the right sprinkling of excitement and chaos. I was predictably sleep deprived following many false early starts to the morning... No no NO, it's 3am and you may NOT go downstairs yet, Get Back To Bed until a 5 appears on your clock. Variations of this same sentence were repeated at least 4 more times. I wish I was kidding about that, but that's how it really was.

The Little People are thrilled with their gifts, it's been really terrific watching them work their way through the possibilities of so many new things. This is especially true of Little B who is having a complete ball with his new toys. Who knew a pop-up toaster could generate such laughter and amusement time after time after time?

The older the Little Peeps get, the more unsure I become about the whole present business. I found I was holding my breath through much of the present unwrapping, secretly keeping fingers crossed that the gifts would be gratefully received. It's quite easy to get it rather wrong, to spend precious time and money buying the Wrong Kind of Thing, and they sure let you know it (Shower gel??? What a boring present!!!). But like I say, on the whole, pretty much every gift was received with big smiles, and on occasion even a spontaneous and excited whoop.

J is reluctantly back at work today, it's been so lovely having him home for the past eleven days. It still seems a long time until Normal Routine will resume here though as the Little People don't return to school until the 9th January. I'm kind of glad we've still got eleven lazy mornings left but also kind of wishing for some sort of calm and order to return. The house is in complete chaos and all the sweet new routines that I carefully built up during the Autumn have evaporated in a fug of festive laziness. The laundry basket is overflowing. Stuff has piled up everywhere, on every surface in every room. But this is the remarkable and lovely thing :: yesterday I realised that for the first time EVER I am actually missing doing the housework. I am actually looking forward to doing it!!! Wow. Wonders will never cease.

In amongst all the full-on chaos of the holiday season, I've been finding a few quiet moments to create. My festive bunting is progressing nicely, and although I didn't manage to get it made in time for Christmas, I'm aiming for a New Year ta-dah. I am also itching to get back to some rippling, it's been weeks and weeks since I worked on my blanket.

Mostly this Christmas has been about giving in to laziness. Allowing oneself to Slob Out and do very little. It takes a wee while to unwind and slow down the pace doesn't it? After such a lot of rush and activity in the run up to Christmas, I've had to almost force myself to just hang out at home with no plans to do anything much or go anywhere at all.

The fire has been at the focus of our stay-home days, and as a family we've spent countless hours sat around it, enjoying it's cosy light and warmth. Watching films, playing games, toasting marshmallows, listening to music, cuddling, snuggling, hanging out. The pleasure it gives us is huge, and each Winter I always give thanks for it, most especially during the Christmas period.

Bedtimes too, oh how I give thanks for Bedtime!!! HaHAHA!! It can be remarkably tiring sitting around eating and drinking and slobbing out all day you know!!!!

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Christmas Time :: 2011

Hello!! Thought I'd pop in whilst all is quiet and peaceful to give you a peek at our Decorative Endeavours this Christmas, sorry it's a little late.  Do you like my new little tree decorations? Aren't they aDORable?? Last weekend I hopped on the train and went off shopping in The City, and rather miraculously I managed a whole seven hour day all-to-myself. It was absolute bliss after such a long time being confined to home whilst Little Man was poorly, oh I did have fun! I was primarily shopping for gifts, but a few sweet goodies did become mine including these lovely decorations.

Awwwwwwwww, how impossibly cute, I was powerless to resist his charms and good looks.

I was looking back through my archives earlier today for a reminder of how our decorations looked last year. As is often the case, I was struck by how little really changes year after year. I find this repetitiveness very reassuring somehow.

I hung real peppermint candy canes for the first time this year, they've been a huge hit with the Little People. And of course my new Christmas birds are there in the branches, but everything else is the same as last year. The Little People did a wonderful job with the decorating, I set the tree up with the lights and the sequin garland, then stepped back and left everything else to them. Amazingly, Little B showed very little interest. He's been carrying out a little bit of rearranging on the lower branches, but on the whole his approach has been very cool.

I love having the tree lit at night time, the glow of the coloured fairy lights is so nostalgic and heart warming.

My fireplace is also very similar to last year. I bought some new red tin candle lanterns this year to replace the jam jars of previous years, but essentially it's the same set up.

I do have a new handmade Angel look, isn't she gorgeous? I felt that it was essential to buy her to accompany the first Angel which I bought from my talented friend last year. Actually, the truth of the matter is that the a-symmetry of having just one angel hanging on one side has bothered me more than I care to admit. It really, really niggled at me last year. All balanced out this year, and I'm happy.

Over to the other fire place at the dining room end of the room, and I've gone to town here for the first time. I really pulled out all the stops. Feel like I should be shouting out a Ta-dah here you know! Oh what the heck, I'm going to do it....................

Christmas Mantel 2011, Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you like it?? I LOVE love LoVE it.

Some new purchases here....a half price wooden nativity set and an impossibly cute and adorable hand made mouse (the Talented Friend doesn't just make Angels). The other bits and pieces are from previous years and are usually on the table, but for obvious Little-B reasons they needed to be up out of reach this year.

My twigs+baubles are a resounding, heart-skipping success, I just love it all soooooo much. Almost all of the 100 weeny glass baubles made it onto the twigs, and with the mirror behind, the effect is stunning I think. I'm going to be hard pushed to take these down in January. Might leave them up until Valentines day in February when I can ceremoniously pack them away and put the hearts back up.

I've got some stunning red Festive Tulips on the table, more same-same as previous years.

You know I mentioned earlier about my trip to the city? The Sweet Goodies? That's them above, very lovely Lucy-treats. I took inspiration from Jane and treated our bed oh ok, I treated Myself to new pillowcases for Christmas. I put them on the bed this afternoon and I'm ridiculously excited about going to bed tonight cos I know they're there. And the spotty candles, oh I've wanted them forever.

New cosy brush cotton jammies for Christmas too, I am so looking forward to wearing them tomorrow! I'm planning on wearing them All Day Long.

Little Lady and I ran some errands in town this morning. We went to collect our birds from the butcher (chicken and pheasant), have coffee/juice in the cafe together, purchase a sprig of misteltoe from the market, and choose/purchase this year's festive Nail Polish. Last year we did silver. Year before we went for scarlet. This year it's hot pink with a bit of sparkle. I really enjoy this little Christmas Eve ritual, it's always a very lovely part of my late afternoon.

Ahhhhhhhh I really do love Christmas Eve, love the peace and calm once all is done. No more shopping, no more rushing, no more wrapping.

Twinkle, twinkle, all is calm, all is bright. Sigh. Sooooo happy.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas time full of love, peace and joy.

And lots of twinkle too.

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Winter has Landed

We were in no way expecting to be greeted with the white stuff when we opened our front door this morning, it was a real surprise. The LP were beside themselves with such sweet, visible, unchecked excitement! They jumped and danced and yelped, it was a fabulously joyful start to our morning. What with snow outside and chocolate from their advent calendars, plus the appearance of the Singing Snowman toy who's on annual release from the attic eaves, well, you never did see such hyper children.

As soon as it got light, I ran (literally) up two flights of stairs to go and sit peacefully in the attic window seat for a few minutes, taking in the wintry scene. Above picture was taken just before 8 o'clock....

....and fifteen minutes later it became apparent that the school run was going to be Rather Snowy Indeed. Fresh falling snow combined with a strong wind meant that we stumbled slowly to school in near blizzard conditions. Snowball fights the whoooooooole way. Winter has certainly landed with a bump here.

Our town lit up it's Christmas lights a few weeks ago, I love love love that they are white. As much as I adore coloured lights, there's something incredibly beautiful about white lights in abundance.

I took these photos just over a week ago, it was Sunday teatime and Little Man and I were running an Important Errand together. After a family discussion it had been decided that we would have a spontaneous fish and chip supper, so off Little Man and I toddled to our local chippy. We could have walked along the canal, but instead we took the roundabout route to go down through the High Street, specifically to take in the lights.

Trees that grow all year round out of the pavements and cobbles have had their branches entwined with lights, it's looks sooooo sparkly and pretty!

These are the very same decorations that have appeared at Christmastime ever since we moved here four years ago, but I am still wowed by them.

Wow. WOW! Love love loveeeee LOVE these round ones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Inside and we are ever so gently tiptoeing towards Christmas. I caved in and brought down the Christmas House Tin about a fortnight ago, after much nagging from two of my L'il Peeps. The third Little Peep is too young to remember this sweet tin from Christmases past, but he is totally enjoying the idea of daily chocolate to the sound of music.

I still can't find my holly. It's definitely Missing in Action. But I have started to make some more, and just need to find some kid-free daylight time to photograph the tutorial for you. I'm really enjoying making them, I'm using a slim 3mm hook and some non-stranded embroidery thread and they're turning out beautifully. As well as using them to trim up my bunting (the felt wording is still in hot debate by the way), I'd love to make enough to add to a hooky wreath creation I've got frantically whizzing around in my mind at the moment. I'm thinking a yarn wrapped wreath covered in crochet holly, pom poms, stars, beads, buttons, baubles, bells and birds. Sort of a cross between this, this and this. I've already purchased the polystyrene ring thingy in anticipation, and I am mega excited about the whole creative wreathy thing.

Gosh, festive bunting and wreaths, the stuff of my creative Winter Dreams. Sooooosososoosoooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!

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