Christmas bunting

I've got my first set of Christmas decorations finished - the Christmas bunting went up today. This is a big moment - it's the first time Christmas decorations have made an appearance in nearly four years of living in our flat. I followed the instructions from Saints and Pinners for the festive mini bunting. Well, I say followed, but after marking it out on a piece of card I realised it was smaller than I wanted. So I doubled it up to 8cm wide, and set about cutting it all up with my rotary cutter and pinking shears.

Three fat quarters has given me enough bunting to go across the main wall of my living room. I could have got even more out, but made a rookie error - my snowman fabric is directional, so doesn't work upside down.

Nevermind - lesson learnt for next time, and having a little less of the red has meant that I've had to be a little more creative when it came to setting it out. I quite like that it's not a regimented red, white and green.

Oh, and I'm so over reindeers. I've nearly finished the antlers in the Mark Darcy jumper, then it's the 'simple' task of finishing the neckline, knitting two sleeves, blocking and making up.

I'm not going to lie - I'm seriously tempted to make this into a tank top. But I'll persevere with it in the hope there's enough time left to bring it all together!

A -Slightly Psychedelic- Pompom Wreath

Only 2 weeks to go...!

Elisalex here, howdy!  With the majority of my presents done and ticked off the list, I'm now turning my attention to decorating...

For some reason, traditional Christmas Wreaths have always felt a little morbid and ominous to me.  Dark, spiky and somewhat reminiscent of funerals.  Beautiful, but depressing.  But then I saw this Pompom Wreath, and this tutorial from JCasa*Handmade, and I knew what I had to do.

For the wreath's structure I used some foam tubing from the hardware store and a coat hanger to create the shape -

Then made a bunch of pompoms in my favourite reds-dusty pinks-off whites colour combination and tied them securely onto the foam tubing.  To finish I wound around some woodland mushroom fairy lights I had (which I think look a little too acid-y when switched on, but perfectly cute -and innocent- left off) and attached a grosgrain ribbon loop so it can be hung. 

But no way is this wreath getting hung outside... I've become very fond of its sweet, not at all morbid or ominous, and very soft self.  I couldn't possibly risk it getting rained on or stolen, and most of all I want it inside where I can appreciate it.

Doily Snowflakes

Hello again lovely crafters! 

Once more tis Becca from Knit Happens.  This week we got our mini faux tree out from under the stairs (always an exciting moment) and got decorating!  I made these cute little papery snowflakes with some doilies.  You can find the tutorial here.  Now back to the knitting!

Artichoke flower decorations

I've been busy with some Christmas stalls, so now they're over I can concentrate on making presents and this is the first thing I've finished today, well, I say finished I may make some more as they're rather addictive!

Artichoke shape flowers, one large in orange, burnt orange and white and the smaller one in orange and black

I found the tutorial to make these here.  They are pretty quick to make and you wouldn't believe the weight difference from start to finish!  I know it's a polystyrene ball which is really light and then cover it with folded squares of fabric held on with metal pins, but still, it's now rather heavy!

They are going to be part of a gift to my boyfriend's mother as she is very particular about colour schemes and things having to match and so thought a handmade decoration for her living room which has shades of orange would be best rather than spending lots of time hunting for something in the right colour schemes.  I can see these being a big hit with everyone else too so may need to find some more polystyrene balls to cover.  Have a go, you'll be addicted too!

Felt decoration fun!

Last year I went on a one day felt decoration workshop.  It was so much fun, it totally sparked an interest in felt and embroidery!  I went a bit nuts at home and made all of these beauties.  Some were inspired by decorations I found images of on the web, others are my own creation.

I could make a million of these things.  These two are my favourites.