Archive for the ‘to DIY for’ Category

with so many simple crafty ideas on this site, theres all kinds of ideas to keep you busy through the holiday period! here’s a round up of some favorites of mine…

 

remember lori marie’s fabulous guest post about painted jar luminaries? imagine a host of these flickering on your dinner table!

dress up your holiday shoes or make a simple cute gift out of these felt flower shoe clips

flick the ghosts and ghouls and turn this halloween paper lantern into a christmas lantern!

embrace the old skool trend of making your christmas cards into a cute crochet edged box!

keep little fingers busy at the dinner table with  this color-in angel printable.

give the practical gift of a personal organizer… and add a personalized pen case!

and lastly, tell father christmas’ elves to get busy on this chewbacca cuddly toy!!

 

today would have been my dad’s 62nd birthday. so, happy birthday dad, wherever you are. i’ll have a whiskey and be personally offended by broad social trends on your behalf.

as a kid my mum would put together the BEST advent calendars for me – counting down to christmas was almost more fun than christmas day itself! when i was really small she bought fabulous cardboard calendars from europe – the ones with tiny doors you open, and there’s a little picture inside. these made a big impression on me; i was only about 2 or 3 but i can still remember some of the illustrations. each year i’d have a different kind of calendar: one year each day was a tiny book telling part of the sort of the nutcracker (to hang on the christmas tree). some years i’d get a little chocolate each day, and so on…

when i turned 7 mama stepped up her game – she made me a fabric advent calendar, with little pockets. each day of december she would tuck a little tiny present in there, or a slip of paper with an activity written on it. she did this for me every year until i turned 18 and moved to england. even then, she’d email me funny or cute things every day of december. so when i had my son i was thrilled to have the chance to pass on this tradition that had brought me SO much happiness through the years. its really only been a couple of christmases so far, but he totally gets it. we say the advent fairies come and leave little surprises for him and he rushes out every morning to see what’s arrived. i’ve been using the old fabric calendar my mum made, but this year i felt like something new and so, inspired by those fabulous vintage european matchbox labels, i created a printable kit of matchboxes to countdown to christmas with!

how to make them

you will need to download my matchbox kit. the kit is AUD$3.50 because, as i’m sure you can appreciate, a lot of work went in to this printable!

the kit contains:

• 24 individually designed matchbox labels by draw! pilgrim, all vintage style with an aged color tint, fake ‘off register’ color overlaps and a variety of european christmas greetings
• 24 templates to fold up the matchbox bases/drawers
• a template for slips of paper to write notes for treats or activities etc

 

what you will need

aside from the kit mentioned above, you’ll need to print the templates on heavy-ish paper: regular printer paper is quite flimsy – it’d be ok for using JUST this year, but if you want to use these matchboxes again i recommend something a little heavier, around 300gsm (i believe thats equivalent to 200lbs weight). printing at home is convenient but for paper advice you might want to splurge and take this project to the print shop where you can see what range of papers they have and decide what will fold best for your needs.

you will also need:

• glue or double sided tape,
• scissors and/or a guillotine paper cutter (it makes cutting down the sheets of labels a bit faster and neater)
• a bone folder or scoring tool will really give you great crisp edges when folding.

 

what to fill the boxes with?

 

you know your own people best, but some ideas are:

• tiny candies: jellybeans, m&ms etc
• individual chocolates
• hair accessories
• teensy toys

                                                      

 

or put in slips of paper hinting at where to find treats that are just a bit too big for the matchbox, e.g.: “look behind the dictionary!” and there will be hidden a new matchbox car or a little bottle of nail polish.

 

or write a list of treat experiences: “let’s put up the christmas tree!” “let’s go out for egg nog!” “gingerbread decorating day!” etc

how to display your calendar?

 

• thread them on a string and hang them as a garland across a mantlepiece or door frame
• add a strip of magnetic tape and put them up on your fridge
• leave one each day on their bedside table
• put one in their lunchbox
• hang them all vertically on a length of string
• …or just stick them all to a plain colored poster sheet!

 

so go ahead! its so much fun and a project that the whole family can get involved in.

did you have christmas countdown traditions too?

 

i seem to have a lot of renovating projects presenting themselves lately. do you think you can help me? don’t worry none of it will involve you coming over to help prep a room for painting, or sanding some huge thing. i just want your advice. so let’s start with this fab table my father in law picked up for me.. and i say picked up quite literally. he’s a garbage man so i’m guessing this baby was sitting out on there kerb just waiting for a loving new home.

eeeeek! see that blistered top? yeah. that. what should i do? its very cool but i’m not sure that it can be restored (by me. for little to no money). so do i sand it? should i find some luscious wallpaper to paste on top? hit me with your ideas…
next we have this cute twill jacket. it’s prefect for season change times: its casual, 3/4 length, it’s completely adorable and its been packed away for awhile because it has a dodgey sleeve. and by dodgey i mean it was never properly sewn in. whoever made the jacket only tacked it in place and then i guess they donated it to the thrift or whatever because here it is with its arm falling off. i know how to fix it, i was just hoping that maybe if i include it in this round up that i’ll be motivated to fix it. it really is a cute lil piece. please tell me off for not fixing it immediately when i bought it 6 years ago. for shame!
this bag isn’t vintage, unless you count 2007 as a great year for bags. its groovy fabric though and i carried it for aaaages (which is really saying something considering i’m handbag attention deficient) until the handle’s seam/join split. fixing it with gaff tape crossed my mind, but is there something less cheap and cheesy i could do?

so i turn it over to you, brains trust. help me fix my stuff! (please)

 

 

 

 

 

listen up friends! i’m running some classes at little sparrow and i’m pretty certain you should join in.

i can teach you to crochet, the basics of making a rag doll (or a chewbacca toy!) in time for christmas, or how to make one of those super striking felt flower brooches.

 

these classes are for everyone! well, everyone over 10 years old who has opposable thumbs and wants to learn. guys are welcome, ladies are welcome, old, young, cool, uncool, and people who like cake are extra welcome. why not bring a friend or two and make this a fun social opportunity? have a chat, have some tea or coffee, and learn a new skill in a relaxed and supportive environment.

 

here, take a printable flyer of class information.

 

classes run for at least two x 2 hour sessions and are $80AUD and include materials (excluding the crochet course – i don’t want to make assumptions on what sort of yarn you’d like!) little sparrow has a fabulous array of supplies in store so i encourage you to buy your hooks, felt or yarn before class: students receive 10% off!

 

does this sound like your kind of thing? because if it does, hurry – classes are starting next week in the first week of november and places are filling up! short notice, i know, but christmas is sneaking up on us and i’m sure you’d love a new skill to show off in time for the festive season.

to book your place visit my online store or call little sparrow (03) 90410103

or maybe you want to learn to quilt with cinti?

did you know i had my very own superhero living with me? turns out the mild mannered (ha!) son of mine has a secret crime fighting identity: SUPER DARING D! well, he did for one day last week… so naturally he needed a super costume. and naturally i couldn’t help myself and had to make something.

time and budget were tight so we talked about what we could make with the things we already had: glittery sticky backed plastic, holographic tape and uh.. double sided tape, bits of elastic etc. martha stewart provided a starting point and we ran with it. every hero needs: an initial emblazoned on their chest (thanks american apparel!) - we skipped the cape because they were going to craft some capes at the party.

and they need a mask to hide their true identity! i measured my son’s face, the width of his nose etc and just roughed the shape. the mask is made from cardboard, rad glittery sticky backed plastic from japan (next time i visit i’m coming back with a suitcase of the stuff, isn’t it THE BEST THING EVER?) and some elastic i appear to have inherited. the mask needed extra lightning bolt power though so i added some bolts in contrasting glitter!

nothing adds a certain je ne sais quoi like super-cuffs! with more lightning! initially we considered wings, to infer the power of flight, but really one should never doubt the addition of lightning bolts. its power, its electricity, its referencing bowie and glam and you just need them, ok?

next up was a utility belt. we recently watched the old batman movie and Super D was pretty taken with the endless supply of ridiculous tools so we talked about what powers he’d like to have on hand to fight with. Super D chose:

alpha power! number power! space power! and rainbow power!

we made the belt by measuring D’s waist, then covering a correct length strip of card with holographic tape, adding a velcro dot and sticking the power squares on with double side tape. each power’s shape is just cut from black gaff tape.

Super Daring D was really pleased with his costume and i was really pleased with how cheap, easy and fun it was to make!

those of you who follow me on twitter might have seen this chewbacca cuddly toy i made for a gift. you were all so desperate to get your hands on one that i felt obliged to share the pattern i made up.

so go forth and sew! please let me know of any issues with the pattern – its my first try so be gentle.

this chewie is about 50cm tall and made of durable pinwale corduroy, guaranteed to last for at least twelve parsecs. Wait a minute … a parsec is a unit of distance, not time! you lied to me, lucas! lied to me!

 

 

to celebrate just how ace thursday & her blog my girl thursday are i made some filofax printables to help get your blogging organized! or blorganized. or blogifiled… clickety-click-sticks to get yours now! you know i won’t rest until you aaaaaall have filofaxes.

 

inspired by vintage pyrex patterns and colors, you’ll find a downloadable page to keep your blog on track for every possible occasion: my regular features, blog notes, blog to-do and a blogging plan. now get printing and organizing!