Note to self...

This memo board is something I whipped up in a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon when I decided that the second hand frame I'd had lying around for a good five months deserved to be turned into something nice, at long last.

There was a little bit of advanced planning, I'll admit, but for the most part it was all down to an idea I got while looking at other people's craft rooms to come up with some storage solutions for my tiny corner of the bedroom where I do most of my work. I saw some memo hangers and decided, you know what, I could probably make a nice, big one with that old frame I've got knocking about. So I did. And here's how you can make one too!


You Will Need:

• A large wooden picture frame without glass - This one was second hand for £2 in a charity shop and didn't have glass to begin with, just an old painting that I removed, but if you struggle to find one second hand, you can usually remove the glass from newer frames too. (Just be very careful as you do it!)
• Emulsion paint tester pots - £1 each in Wilkinsons
• Multi Mesh - £4 in Wilkinsons
• Wooden clothes pegs - 60p for 36 in Wilkinsons 
• Sandpaper - If you don't already have any you can buy this in Wilkinsons for £1 a pack with 10 sheets included.
• Decorating paint brushes - If you don't already have these, Wilkinsons currently have them in packs of 5 for £2
• Stapler/staple gun, scissors and glue.
• Any additional embellishments you would like to use on the pegs. (Mine won't be decorated until a later date but you can look forward to that post in the future if you're stuck for inspiration!)

The How To:

1. Sand the frame gently all over with a sheet of medium grade sandpaper and paint the entire frame in the first coat of your base colour. I have chosen "Soft Cream", number 177 from the Wilko range. - Don't forget to lay newspaper or an old sheet down first!
2. After allowing the first coat to dry, add another coat in the same colour to get a nice, even covering and then leave it to dry again.
3. Once dry, add a single coat of your second colour paint, this one is "Sweetie", number 401 from the Wilko range. - Try and make the coat even but if there are a few patches, don't worry too much about them as they'll be distressed later. Again, leave the frame to dry.
4. Use the medium grade sandpaper to distress ares of the frame, you can go right down to the wood for a more shabby-chic look if you like, as I have here.
   
5. Turn the frame over and roll the Multi Mesh over the back of it, leaving some overhang. - This makes the next step easier and will be tidied up later.
6. Staple the Multi Mesh down all around the frame, you can do this with a normal stapler opened out, as I have, but this is very hard and tedious work so if you have got a staple gun, you would definitely be much better off using that instead. - I will probably re-do my staples when I can get hold of one, as they will then be much stronger and more secure.
7. Trim the edges of the Multi Mesh so that none shows around the frame, ensuring your staples will remain secure and the mesh won't slip out underneath them.
8. If your frame doesn't have a method of hanging already attached, as with mine, determine your hanging method and attach it to the frame as appropriate.
   
9. Use wooden clothes pegs to clip notes, pictures and odd scraps for inspiration to the board. You can even decorate the pegs to match!

Top Tips:

• If you decide to add embellishments to the frame itself, try not to add too many as it could make the frame look over decorated. - Why not embellish your pegs instead?!
• Choose a smaller grid of mesh to give you more options on where you can peg your items.
• Choose coordinating colours for your paints, remember that you want your base colour to show through your top coat..
• If green mesh doesn't coordinate well with your decor, you can upgrade to wire mesh for £1 extra, still in Wilkinsons. - I got lucky in that my planned colour scheme goes nicely with garden supplies.
• Don't throw away your leftover mesh! (And you're bound to have some extra.) You never know what it could come in handy for and it rolls up nicely for storage. - My remaining mesh is going to become an easy to store guinea pig run!
• Keep spare pegs at the top of the board in case you want to add extra tidbits of inspiration later, that way you'll always be able to find them when you need them!
• You can do this on a smaller scale with a smaller frame if you like, to save space on a mini version just buy some mini pegs, you can find these in a lot of craft stores, but funnily enough Wilkinsons sell them quite cheaply! This jar is one that I have lined up for another project and the jar would make some adorable storage once you've used up all the pegs!

That's all for now but I have loads of projects I'm working on at the moment, most of them I can't yet post but hopefully I'll be able to do some mini projects when waiting for bits to dry on my main works that I'll be able to show you and get this blog a bit more active. I do miss posting regularly.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, like my finished piece and give it a go yourself, I'd love to see your interpretations!

Ta ta for now!

Tea Parties Aren't Just For Dolls

There's nothing better than indulging yourself in your favourite hobby, surrounded by good company and tasty treats! So that's exactly how I decided to create a huge "thank you" to my mum, to show her how grateful I am for the incredible amount of help and support she gave me when I was moving out and continues to give me every day

My mum is amazing. I know everyone thinks that about their mum but I honestly can't stress how truly inspiring my mother is to me. She raised two daughters (one of them being particularly difficult sometimes, ahem, sorry) alone, with the exception of some babysitting help from her own parents, she works a full time job and she now takes care of my nan these days too. So every now and then, it's just nice to spoil her a bit.

Mum loves crafting but she's always so busy that she hardly ever gets the chance to do any. And who doesn't love a cup of tea?

That's how I ended up throwing a surprise thank you party under the guise of crafting with my sister and a friend. Everyone was expecting just the odd mug of tea and a spread of shop bought biscuits.

But this is my mum. My mum is coming over and I need everything to be special...

Time to do some lone crafting to get ready for the day itself!

I threw together some simple invitations and then I got baking. I baked like I've never baked before in my life. Mainly because I actually haven't. I've never actually baked anything without help before in my life.

I made scones, I made chocolate chip cookies and I made ginger bread biscuits. Then I made all the finger sandwiches for lunch. After that I decorated. I even managed to get a proper tea set and adorable disposable plates, napkins and a cake stand.

Obviously this wasn't all prepared in one day, I did odd bits and pieces after work throughout the week, but still, there was a lot of planning and effort went into this.

I don't think any of my guests could quite believe it when I served the food. I don't like to brag but I'm pretty sure I make a good hostess. Everyone loved the tea party half of the party. Including me.

After the food, we moved on to the craftathon I'd promised everyone. Unfortunately I can only show one of the items I worked on as the other is part of a gift that I can't reveal just yet.

I've taken to making special embroidery hoops though, inspired by the amazing Love & a Sandwich, I've only made one before this but I decided to attempt to create a Hunger Games piece. I definitely need more practice, but hey, it's a start.

All in all, days like this are what crafting is all about for me, it's about making people happy by doing just that little bit extra. Why not try it yourself? You never know, the joy might be contagious, I can't wait for my next craft epidemic.

Hanging Heart Ornament

I know it's been a very long time but since I started my new job back in October I haven't had much time for crafting. I vowed to make an effort this year though and so far I've done more crafting in these first few months than I think I have throughout the whole of last year!

I'm not going to be posting that often but I hope to post more than I have been, mainly when I'm really pleased with particular projects, not just about every single card I've made, I think that probably gets tiresome for some of my readers. I know I don't have that many, but I'd like to keep those that I've got.

So today I want to bring you my favourite project so far this year, I'm already starting to explore a lot of crafts outside working with paper, including learning to crochet (I can only make flowers and little hearts at the moment) and creating items for around my home.

This hanging heart ornament was a simple project to make but it was also a lot of fun and it's totes adorable, wouldn't you agree?

I used very simple and easy steps to make this decoration, and I've laid them out below in pictures for you if you'd like to give it a go yourself.

Basically, my sister gave me a wooden heart she'd picked up in Hobbycraft and said I could do what I wanted with it.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do at first so I started to browse Pinterest and came across this star and that's when I knew what I wanted to do with it.

I picked up some assorted buttons and paper flowers next time I was in Hobbycraft because I didn't actually have a button stash yet (I have a whole jar full of them now...) and I raided the family craft stash for some organza ribbon (gathering the "ingredients" should always be step one).

I started the actual project by painting the whole heart in one pale base colour of minty green (this was step two), so that any gaps left by the buttons wouldn't look out of place and then I started gluing. PVA is perfect for buttons on wood, just dab a bit onto the back of the button and stick it in place, it'll hold fine so you won't need a fancy glue gun or anything like that to make these. I kept sticking buttons on until the whole heart was covered (step three), varying the sizes and colours and gluing some over others to add a bit more dimension.

Then, to add my personal flare and finish it off, I got some paper blooms wet and scrunched them up, left them to dry and then carefully unfolded them so they had a nice, worn texture. I layered them up with PVA glue and added a pearl to the centre of each before gluing them to the heart. I created a loop with the ribbon by folding it in half, threading it through the metal hoop and tying the ends around the loop at the base, then tying the ends into a bow to make it all pretty.

List Of Products:
Assorted Buttons: £1.00 per bag - Hobbycraft

Dovecraft Paper Blooms pack of 30: £1.50 per bag - Hobbycraft

Wooden Heart: £5.00 for 3 - Hobbycraft

Acrylic Paint

PVA Glue

Organza Ribbon