Tuesday 28 February 2012

5 Minute Craft!

I was feeling a little crafty and started playing around with my lovely purple yarn when my bangle fell onto my hand.

*lightbulb moment*

I remembered some things I saw on Pinterest!

So decided to whip something up super quick!

I just tightly wrapped the lovely yarn around the bracelet and tied it off  and then TADAAA

Nosy Puppy!

I love the effect of the wrapped yarn and think I will do this to more bangles and stack them up. It's such a quick, cheap and easy way to change it up a bit!

Give it a go. I bet you won't regret it!

xXx

Folksy Round-up: Mothers Day

Hello again!

Mothers Day is on March 17th this year and while that may seem far away its actually not that long so to give you a kick start on ideas I've had a look through Folsky and listed my faves below!

Biscuit Dunking Print - Here

My mum LOVES tea and all the goodness that surrounds it and a picture like this would look fab in her house!

Shoulder Bag - Here
Mums are girls too which tends to mean they are either handbag or shoe people. If they are handbag people then this bag could be for them and has dividers inside so everything won't get jumbled up (in theory!).

Pink Beaded Earrings - Here
Why not treat her to some cute earrings?

Lavender Bath Melts - Here
If your mum is always running about and doing things these lavender bath melts are a sure fire way to get her to have a well deserved soak in the bath!

Wonder Woman Card - Here

I love this card for Mothers Day. I think its fun whilst still giving a message that you think you mum is Wonder Woman (and who wouldn't want to be her!).

So there you have it! Just a quick round up of things this week!.
If you have any ideas for a Folsky Round-Up or want to be featured here just let me know in the comments!

xXx

Thursday 23 February 2012

Granny Squares

Hi Everyone!

A new craft shop opened in town at the weekend so after work on Monday I went in as they had a 50% discount for the opening week so I decided to buy some crochet stuff and give it a whirl. Clearly I had no idea what I was looking for but after trolling around for ages looking at other pretty things I found the hooks and some cute purple sparkley yarn to get me started:


To get me started I used the crochet lessons in the back of my Make Hey! While The Sun Shines book and learnt the stitches. Now, I get bored easily of just doing things with nothing to show for it in the end so I went on youtube for tutorials on Granny Squares and found this which was so helpful as she explains everything super slow and zooms in when you need to see what shes doing. She also does her tutorials in sections which is so handy if you are just getting used to something.

I tried it out with some other yarn I had, thought I had finished and had in fact just done one side so now I have a granny rectangle to unravel! After then trying it with the new purple yarn they seemed to turn out a lot better but the only problem is because of the sparkley bits it almost looks like mohair and so doesnt show the pattern off too great/at all:

I'm quite enjoying crochet at the moment so I think Ill be buying some plain, normal yarn and keep going and then find out how to put them all together to make something!

Have you got into any new crafts lately or crocheted something super pretty?

xXx

Monday 20 February 2012

Escaping

Hi everyone!

On Friday the boyfriend was told his office was shut on Saturday so he didnt have to work - muchos excitement ensued. What do we do with this time? We thought about going out for the day and then realised we could go and stay overnight on Saturday and make the most of it. After much internet scouting we found a cute thatched hotel in Devon that would let us bring the dogs, booked it up and Saturday morning we were off!

We went to lots of beaches as the puppy hadn't been before, I drank more tea than is normal and overall we had a lush time!

Here are some pictures from our time away:











We had a fab time and the dogs LOVE the seaside!

What did you do this weekend?

xXx

Thursday 16 February 2012

Folksy Round-Up

Hey everyone!

So I did a Folsky Valentine round-up and decided to make it a weekly thing and have a theme each week.

This week I thought with the sun trying to poke out and it not being -100000000 outside I would go for garden stuff:

Toast Bird Feeder - Here

Now, our garden leads onto the woods which is amazing considering my previous houses have just backed onto other houses. We get so many different animals in our back garden and without sounding like the crazy bird lady in Mary Poppins I love feeding the birds (I sounded like her anyway didn't I?) however we also have squirrels. Lovely squirrels, but very crafty. Anything I leave out there they don't just take the food. Oh no, they take the whole thing, feeder and all! I thought this was a good idea for anyone else with sneaky creatures in their back garden and you would just put this on a hook and their stealing days are toast (yup I did make that "joke")

Painted Tin Bucket - Here
There is a florist near me who has these buckets displaying her flowers. It looks lush. Thats all I need to say.
Painted Trowel - Here
 And a matching trowel because its cute and normal trowels are boring.

Fairy Door - Here
I just want this on my fence and fairy lights everywhere!

So there you go, just a little round-up today. I'm also on Pinterest where I have a garden board with lots and lots of cute things: http://pinterest.com/picklesb/garden/

Hope you've been having a great week!

xXx

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Valentines Teapot

Hello!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Even though I do have a lovely boyfriend I know lots of people are not as fond of Valentines Day but I think that it shouldn't just be a day to share with a boyfriend or girlfriend. Its about celebrating love so why not share that with your friends, family or even a stranger if you are that way inclined!

Anyway, we weren't meant to do presents this year but the boyfriend said he saw the teapot and knew it was for me!
How cute is it!! It's also along a Valentines theme as it has super cute hearts on it!
He said they also did little teacups so I might have to pop and get some of them too!

I hope you all had/have a fantastic Valentines Day / Tuesday!

xXx

Sunday 12 February 2012

Trying New Things

So last  night I went round my mums house. Now lets get something out there, Mum is not creative. At all. The most she can manage is a stick man at best and even then the legs are uneven and  they have tiny heads.
Aaaaanyway, I was telling her about different crafts I wanted to have a go at and showed her the book I bought with all the techniques in the back when she tells me she can teach me these things and out of nowhere moves the sofa to reveal bags upon bags of yarn and knitting needles!! Safe to say I was very shocked!

We decided to start with knitting and its safe to say I was not so good. We started with 40 loops or whatever they are called and after doing 2 lines I had made 52 loops, something my Mum had no idea how I managed it (apparently not a compliment). I had also made some holes in my own work which made no sense as I thought I was paying attention (I was also watching Take Me Out but lets call it 70 -30 in favour of knitting). By the time I went home I had started to get the hang of it but I'll have to continue under my Mums apparent expert knowledge!
*side note I also found a good guide here but I strongly advise going to my Mum first!*

Yesterday was a day of revelations as I also told Mum about how I wanted lots of blankets so she pops upstairs and comes down with this:
A super cute crochet blanket that her Grandma made! Its a big granny square made by a granny! Its not very big but has taken pride of place on the back of one of our living room chairs and makes me smile when I look at it.

Main lesson learned this weekend: Do not underestimate my mum.

Hope you had a fab weekend!
xXx

Saturday 11 February 2012

Happy Saturday!

Its finally the weekend!! I feel like this week has gone soooo slowly. Not for any reason I think I've just been waiting for the weekend since Monday morning!

Anyway, I went into town yesterday and whilst wandering around the shops saw the prettiest book and it had to be mine!
Make Hey! While The Sun Shines
I mean just look at the cover! I want everything on those shelves!! The pictures inside are just as pretty and theres even a little pocket on the inside with patterns you need to make some of the crafts in the book and recipe cards for ginger beer and things!

My favourite part is in the back there are pages and pages of tutorials on how to do certain things like knitting, different sewing techniques and .... crochet! Im far too easily swayed on things and after seeing a girl with the cutest crochet bag yesterday I think Im going to have to give it a try!

I dont think theres much planned for this weekend so I think I will make something from the new book!

I guess this isnt a very informative post but I was just excited by my new pretty book (and it was on sale shhhh)

xXx

Thursday 9 February 2012

Current Obsession

Blankets.
Yup, blankets are my current obession. I want lots of them in a basket in my living room so that people can always be cosy.

I don't mind what they are made of, I'd take tartan wool ones, soft furry ones and of course gorgeous crochet ones! I have this image in my head of sitting in front of a log fire all cosy in Pjs and under a nice warm blanket. Now we can't have a log fire but I CAN have blankets!

Lovely heart patchwork blanket - Here

I keep trying to think up new reasons why we should have more blankets. My current reason is because I have decided they are multifuntional - they look pretty, they can cover the sofa/chairs, you can sit on them if you go for a picnic, the list is endless! Oh and they can keep you warm too.

There are always blankets for sale in normal shops but having one thats unique and handmade just makes it that much nicer. It would be nicer again if I made one myself but as I've previously said I have a habit of starting big projects and just not finishing them and I don't want to be here this time next year blogging about a half made blanket from a year ago!

Do you have any current obsessions?

xXx

Motivation.

Folksy

I have recently joined Folksy (for those not in the UK Folksy is like Etsy) and whilst getting an idea of whether anything I make is actually good enough to be sold I saw some lovely ideas for Valentines day.
I'm all about supporting handmade products and buying things from one-man-bands rather than a large chain or corporation so with that in mind here are some cute things I found:

I love you Scrabble letters set - here




Robot Card - here


Star Wars Cufflinks - Here
Comic Wallet - Here

Hear Brooch - Here

Love Script Cushion - Here
So go on, treat your loved one (or yourself!) to something unique this Valentines Day.

xXx

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Making Changes...

Ever had a moment when you realise things have to change?
Not in a few weeks or months but right now.

I had one of those moments today. I knew the day wasnt going to be the best as my bus to work just didnt turn up at all. Then things at work that had been bubbling under the surface all boiled over and thats when I realised I had had enough.
Why should I have to stay in a job and feel unappreciated?
Why should anyone have to?
Yes there's problems in the economy but thats not an excuse not to get out there and look. Not many things annoy me more than people who whinge about something that can be easily sorted. I'm not saying people should quit their jobs until they find something they want but I also don't see why people can't make positive steps to getting out of that job and into something new.

No-one made a change by sitting down and doing nothing.

Rant over.

In summary things are going to be changing at the Sequins & Glitter house!

What are you or have you changed?

xXx

Sunday 5 February 2012

Little Platypus

80 minutes.
Thats how long I need a project to take me.
With the 6 nations on at the moment the boyfriend is glued to the TV so I need crafts to take the same amount of time as a rugby game so I dont get too bored.
This is where the internet comes in very handy. Didn't take me too long until I found the next thing I wanted to make. A Platypus.

I used this tutorial for the basic pattern but decided to use felt instead of fleece and only made a small one instead of a cuddly one for a child. I must say I think he turned out quite well:


The tutorial is so simple and I loved that you sew their legs inside and then fold them out so everything is hidden.
I really think I need to get some little black beads to use as eyes as I haven't quite mastered embroidering them on yet. Any tips on how to do it better?

Hope you've had a nice relaxing Sunday!
xXx

Saturday 4 February 2012

Snow!!

Its been snowing here in the UK (finally!).

Everything looks so pretty so we took the pups out so mini pup could experience snow for the first time! It safe to say he loves it. Snuffling his nose through it and diving around - it was so cute!

I also love snow because it is my dogs most favourite thing. Hes very fluffy so doesnt do well in summer but in winter when its freezing and snowing he comes into his own! Bouncing around and just generally looking more suited to the weather than the other dogs.



Snow also means staying in the warm some more so I'll be making something new very soon!

Hope you're having a great weekend!
xXx

Thursday 2 February 2012

Puppy Chew Toy

So in my last post I questioned how to make a toy for the new puppy and my 3year old dog.

I had a little scout on the internet and found this:
DIY Dog Toy


It looked pretty easy and seeing as the pup seems to love to chew everything I thought this would be perfect. Instead of using some cuts of fleece from a store I went to my local charity shop and spent 90p on a fleece scarf that I am reasonable sure wouldnt have been sold otherwise:

I cut into 3 strips as the tutorial stated and followed the instructions. 
Heres how it looked:

I think it turned out really well and the dogs love it so much that I made 2 more from the same scarf. They havent been able to rip it up or anything yet so it seems pretty sturdy.
90p well spent if you ask me!

Have you tried making any toys for your dogs?

xXx