2020 calls for DOUBLE stockings!

Hanging hopefully on Jessica's wardrobe this evening are a pair of stockings that tell one of the many tales of 2020. This is a story of plans made, excitement built and then everything changing at the eleventh hour. 

Jessica and I were supposed to be in Wales with Dad for Christmas this year and so we had prepared for a double Christmas – one with Grandad and then another with Daddy. Two Christmas mornings surely must mean two stockings, right?!

I had made Jessica’s crocheted stocking for her first Christmas. I’m proud of it and I could never replace it but I do wish I’d chosen my wool to be Christmassy and that I’d actually thought about how I wanted it to look. So, one idle evening (yes, I do occasionally get one) I thought I’d break out the Christmas fabric and make a new patchwork stocking especially for this year at Grandad’s.

Fast forward to Christmas movement being restricted and Wales going back into lockdown and we’re back to a single Christmas at home but we’ve still got two stockings! We were also let loose with pompom makers this evening, so each stocking is now fully accessorised and ready for anything that the Christmas of 2020 can stuff inside!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Painting Bauble Fillers

Yesterday was a painting day. After finally finishing painting the kitchen walls (I started in August!) I got out my finest brushes and turned my sights on painting and touching up bauble fillers from Hobbycraft. 

The small wooden cottage and pine cones took a while to paint but I'm so happy with the results. I created a little scene in this unusual fillable bauble with snow and a tiny log pile. Here is it hanging proudly from our tree...

Jessica had chosen a small resin cat to use in a bauble a few weeks ago. We decided to use cotton wool as a snowy base with a few glittery snowballs scattered around. We then glued some snowflake confetti shapes to the inside of the bauble and painted some snow dots on the bauble along with some snow detail on the top and around the edges of the opening but they are difficult to see on the photo below. The cat benefitted from a little touch up with acrylics and I added some snow on the ear and tail tip just because I could!

We've got several other resin figures in my Christmas supplies but I think I'll save them for next year now. It doesn't do to add too many new decorations each year!

 

All About Crackers!

I've made my own crackers for years and years. It was something Mum and I started together. She would buy some lovely little gifts for us and I would make the crackers to put them in. I'll never forget the year that we put a beautiful silk scarf in Nan's cracker - it was not very well received but her response was priceless! 

Anyway, we used to buy cracker making kits that included everything else you needed - precut templates, snaps, jokes and crowns. In the last few years I've just used snaps bought from Hobbycraft and have used cardboard tubes wrapped to form the cracker but I had a bit more time on my hands this year so I decided to try making them properly. I used a template from Mr Printables, which worked really well. I printed one copy, which I have laminated to keep. I then used this template to make a dozen crackers and will keep it to use for years to come. 

All that remains is to see if they actually snap properly on the day itself! Fingers crossed...

 

Encaustic Baubles

We got adventurous over the weekend and tried a new technique for decorating Hobbycraft's ceramic baubles - hot wax painting (encaustic art). We used our encaustic stylus to melt and apply the wax, which seems to have adhered really well to the ceramic surface. Although time-consuming it was very satisfying and we were both pleased with the results. My photos don't really do them justice but here are our chunky wax painted decorations...

 

A Very Merry Christmas Craft Weekend

We may be out of lockdown but it's December so Jessica and I spent the weekend crafting at home. Some of our crafting was for Christmas gifting so I won't share those bits yet but here's what we've been up to for ourselves...

Our little snowman is made from cork, wire, acrylic paint and embroidery silks. Super simple, aside from the fiddly nose, and so cute - he looks great hanging on the tree.

 

I did some needle felting on Friday evening whilst catching up on "Kirstie's Handmade Christmas". I had a polystyrene base to felt onto but it was quite thin so this was a bit more challenging than usual and I had to be extra careful of my fingers. I also squeezed in a bit of time to make my own little wreath. I opted for a "less is more" approach and kept it simple. I opted to use wire rather than hot glue to attach everything so I can easily make adjustments in future years. 

Finally, Jessica and I have been pottery painitng AGAIN! I can't share her efforts but I was really pleased with my little gnome / nordic santa. I'm now praying to the kiln gods that he comes out how I'd like him to!

Pine Cone Rudolph Decoration

This little fellow is a make from a few years ago that I seem never to have shared although I love him. This under five minute make has felt ears, googly eyes, a ruby red pom-pom nose, twig antlers and the ability to make you smile year after year when he comes out of storage!

 

Jessica's Christmas Wreath

It's certainly beginning to feel a lot like Christmas this week. I can't remember the last time we saw snow so early in the season and just a short walk around the neighbourhood yielded 65 houses with Christmas lights up last Sunday. Our tree went up on Thursday and out came all of our window ornaments, Christmas pictures and this wreath that Jessica made last year. 

She made candy canes, stars and bells from polymer clay and riffled through my suppliers to find ribbon, skeleton-leaves, ribbon flowers, bells, wire flowers, pine cones and pom-poms. She used a blank rattan wreath from Hobbycraft and carefully designed it before giving me the instructions with the hot glue gun! It would appear to have survived a year in storage and is now hanging in pride of place in the conservatory again for a few weeks. 

The Christmas Craft Cupboard is Open!

That's right - we're beyond October half term, so it must be time to crack on with some Christmas crafting, surely!! As a result of returning to teaching and struggling to adjust to a new work-life balance we didn't do much for Christmas 2019 but I have built up a huge supply of blanks and bits in the sales over the past two years so we've certainly got enough to get us through this lockdown comfortably! 

Today we kicked off with polymer clay modelling. Jessica wanted to do a Christmas tree and snowman (again) but I think we might be ready to try something like a penguin next time! 

These lovely little creations are destined to hang on our tree in fillable baubles looking like little snow globes. We've got a few different options for the shapes and sizes of baubles and for the accompanying filling matter currently in my stores from places like Hobbycraft and Poundland and haven't decided exactly what form they will take yet but here's the general idea...

With the remaining warmed up clay, Jessica decided to also make some little marbled pendants in unusual shapes. I love how simple rolling and folding creates such beautiful effects.

We use Fimo Soft, which is smooth and easy to blend. The colour does bleed onto hands and surfaces so you have to be slightly careful and be prepared to clean your workspace between colours if you need to keep crisp colours and brilliant white. It's a lovely activity for everyone and I'm always surprised how far a little block will go.

Unicorn Baubles

I've turned my attention to my sister's tree now; her style is somewhat different from mine! I have to admit though, these have been my favourite baubles to create this year and I'm really pleased with how they've come out...

These are made from fillable baubles, which means that the glitter is all enclosed! Jessica and I painted the inside of the baubles with clear PVA glue and poured in the glitter. She also helped me make the horns from Fimo Soft. I then painted the eyes with acrylic paint and made the ears from card before using my cool glue gun to put it all together with a few ribbon roses and crystal flower to finish them off. We've made four large and two small unicorns and I can't promise that Sarah will get all six because I think Jessica is going to love them!

More Animal Baubles

The tree is up but that doesn't mean that we've finished making baubles for the year. No, no, there's always room for more. 

There's nothing festive about a fox but I don't care, she's so cute...

I also painted a far more festive robin. They are both created using polystyrene eggs, acrylic paints and the tails and ears are painted card attached with my cool melt glue gun. I love that glue gun so much! 

Snow Globe Baubles

So, this is what we did with our Christmas tree and snowman figures from yesterday. We glued them to the base of fillable baubles and added a scoop of artificial snow and glitter to create fabulous little snow globe baubles.

We also used a miniature gold bottle-brush tree to do the same thing, which will look stunning on our tree but has far less charm and character than our entirely homemade ones above!

Introducing Fimo

My word, Jessica enjoyed crafting with Fimo this afternoon. I had picked up a Fimo Soft Christmas Kit when it was on offer a few weeks ago so we had some good colours to play with and a moulding tray to try out but we quickly went rogue and decided to try making candy-canes. Jessica was so good at making them; I was so impressed! The ones pictured above are all her own work and I love them all! The bigger ones, at least, are definitely destined for my Christmas tree.

It is such a long time since I last dabbled with polymer clay (we're talking a couple of decades here!) and I'd forgotten just how good it is. It's wonderfully simple and very satisfying. As well as the candy-canes and a few little things from the moulding tray we made this snowman and Christmas tree together. I have a feeling we'll be making more before the festive season is through! Just wait until you see what we did with these figures later in the day...

Beaded Snowflake Decorations

This weekend I've been creating incredibly fiddly decorations for my own tree. I love these snowflakes but I am a little concerned that they'll get a bit lost once the whole tree is up. Only time will tell I suppose. There is something incredibly satisfying in the process of working with wire and beads. It takes patience, attention to detail and a steady hand. My crafting pliers are my best friend and my final pieces twinkle and shine!

Fingerprint Tree Ornaments

Jessica and I had a load of air drying clay left lying around, slowly drying out without use so I thought I'd try out something new. We rolled it out reasonably thin and used a cookie cutter to cut out trees. The hole was punched using a straw and then they were left to dry for a few days. Unfortunately they seem to have a tendency to curl up slightly and whilst this adds to the charm it does also make them more vulnerable to breaking when decorating. 

Once completely dry, we tried a couple of different ideas for decorating them but this one is my favourite, Jessica used ink pads to decorate the tree with her fingerprints. It's vibrant and beautiful and I'm excited to hang it up when Christmas finally arrives.

Curtain Hooks and Snowflake Charms

I love these quirky little decorations. Wrap a curtain hook in your choice of wool then add a Christmas charm. That's it. Super simple but I think they'd look fabulous on any Christmas tree. I got these snowflake charms from Poundland in a pack of six - what a bargain!

Beaded Wreath Ornament

Half term is over, which means that the Christmas crafting season is well and truly upon us. Jessica and I have topped up our Christmas supplies from Hobbycraft so it's full steam ahead. This evening's project was a wreath ornament made from wire, hundreds of seed beads and three jingly bells. This was fiddly and time consuming but definitely worth it. 

Ceramic Reindeer Egg Decoration

Inspired by an Easter post on Kids Craft Room, which I had filed away for future use, I created this hand-painted Christmas decoration made from a ceramic egg yesterday. I managed to pick up a couple of sets of ceramic eggs from Hobbycraft in the sales after Easter and set them aside to use for Christmas. As you may have already noticed, I really like using egg shapes to make tree decorations. I suppose this is because they are easier than spheres to craft into animals and we are partial to cute animals in this house. 

I used acrylic paints throughout but I could definitely do with investing in some better acrylics at some point. The white and gold are a bit thin so coverage was poor and there was no way I was going to get a smooth finish. I decided that reindeers are pretty shaggy so I tried to embrace the texture! The ears, antlers and tail are painted card which have then been glued to the decoration using a cool glue gun and I painted over the join to conceal the glue. 

This little reindeer may well end up being the star attraction on my Christmas tree this year. I just love it!

Needle Felted Penguin Decoration

I just had to do a penguin, I couldn't help myself! Look how cute this creature is...

I thought I'd also give you a quick idea of how I create a piece like this...

1. Start with a polystyrene shape, in this case an egg. 

2. Thread a loop of cotton or similar from bottom to top. This is easier to do before you start needle felting and it means that the thread is further secured by the wool roving that is felted over the top. 

3. Mark out your design on the polystyrene in pen.

4. Start felting - loosen up pieces of wool before felting them into place using a barbed needle being very careful not to catch your fingers on the barbs! The more you stab, the denser the wool will become. 

5. Cover the whole shape in base colours before adding details such as eyes and beaks,

6. Add the features. You may have to do some shaping on a polystyrene or sponge block before felting them to your design.

7. Use scissors to trim away any excess fluff that you don't want on your finished decoration.

Go on, have a go, you know you want to!

Needle Felted Cat Decoration

I usually wait until half term to start my Christmas crafting. However, with Jessica starting school, I have more time on my hands this year and have been itching to get going. My first new tree decoration of the year is not the slightest bit festive but will make a quirky, characterful addition to our tree I think. This fat cat was created by needle felting onto a polystyrene egg, which is, by far, my favourite way of needle felting. Meow! 

Preschool Christmas Cake Decorating

They're a bit lumpy and bumpy but who really wants to chop the top off their fruit cake so that they get the perfect finish?! Here are our Christmas cakes for this year. There's one for us and one for my Dad and sister to share. Jessica enjoyed painting the cakes with apricot glaze a couple of days ago and then had a whale of a time with the icing today. She did a lot of the rolling and cutting as well as a large amount of eating and playing! I use edible glue to secure the stars, which can be quite fiddly and then we used edible ink pens for the writing. These were brilliant on the white icing today as I had covered them yesterday ensuring that the icing was pretty firm. I wasn't up for anything too elaborate this year and it was nice to share the experience with Jess on this occasion. 

Right, that's the end of my Christmas posts for this year. Merry Christmas everyone!