Sammy's Fabric Storage Makeover With Plastic Box Shop

I am eternally on the look out for effective storage solutions for my craft room. The one thing that always stumps me is my fabrics and dress patterns. No matter how much I de-stash and donate bits of my collection I can never seem to find the right fit for all my fabric.

Let's Meet: Junk & Glitter

Hello and welcome back to Let's Meet.  We are freshly back from our holidays and of course we had a bumper pack of features for last month's Makers Month and so it feels good to get back to the routine.  Although of course we are busy planning our presentation for the Mollie makes awards for the Handmade Champion category!  eek. 

Seven Days of Holiday Flatlay Roundup

If you missed our post before we went on holiday we set ourselves a little photo challenge. We had seven days away and we love flatlays so #7daysofflatlay was born.  Here is a quick round up of how we got on!

We Are Mollie Makes Handmade Awards Finalists!!

You may have seen on social media but we wanted to share the good news here too, as the title suggests we have been shortlisted in the Mollie Makes Handmade Awards. We are up for Handmade Champion which, as you know, is so our bag!

Whats on our desks

Sammy - As you are reading this H and I are actually away on holiday, so what's on my desk right now is a virgin mojito, a book and some factor 30! However before we jetted off to sunny Spain my desk was filled with planning for whilst I am away from work and all the things I need to do when I get back so I can leave my business and enjoy my holiday properly.

Sew Crafty Wishlist

I am not one for shameless self promotion but sometimes when you are proud of what you have created you just can't help but shout about it from every rooftop you can find. Today's wishlist is just that. I have spent the last six months working hard to create the new batch of journals for my business Sew Crafty.

7 Days of Holiday Flatlay

While we are away we are planning to give ourselves a little holiday photo challenge, We thought we would tell you about it so that if you fancy doing it too, you can join in! We love photo challenges on Instagram but a month always seems a little tricky to keep up with, we also love flatlays (who doesn't) So from today until next Wednesday we will be doing 7 days of holiday flatlays!

The best thing about our challenge is that you can join in whenever you like! You can do it along with us or wait until your holiday and join in then. All you have to do is tag your pics with #7daysofflatlay and #livelovemake.

We have come up with some prompts but you can use your own ideas or swap them around to suit your trip if you like.

1. Travel essentials
2. OOTD
3. Good read
4. Fab food
5. Pool Side
6. Botanical
7. Sweet treats

Feel free to join in even if you are having a staycation or just bumming around at home too! Head over to our Insatgram @liveit.loveit.makeit for a daily reminder this week and see the rest of our holiday spam. 

Sammy and H xxx

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Live it: Birmingham day trip

As the title suggests we went for a day trip at the weekend!  We took in the sights of Birmingham, well more like a whistle-stop tour of 3 places, but we did well as it was only a day.

DIY's I want to Try June

Pom Pom Balloons by Freutcake  //  PomPom Picnic Blanket by Studio DIY

  PomPom Wall Hanging by Sugar and Cloth  //  DIY Bohemian lamp shade by Love Maegan

If you thought Pompoms were over, you could not be more wrong! They keep popping up in new and exciting ways all the time. We are off on holiday next week so I wanted some fast fun diy's for the weekend and some of my fave blogs hit it out of the park with pompom ideas!

I am completely in love with this pompom lampshade from Love Megan, and the colourful wall hanging from Sugar and Cloth. I don't have any picnics planned but I am thinking my beach towel could do with a little pompom fringe fun!

Not sure how to make your own pompoms? Check out our PomPoms 3 ways post for some added inspiration!

Which DIY's will you be trying this weekend? Check out and follow our Pinterest boards for more inspiration. Have a great one!
Sammy xxx



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Make it: Avocado Jewellery dish

I am sure you have noticed I have a little obsession with Avocado's, as has most of the UK at the moment.  Avocado on toast, avocado in salad, avocado mousse, you name it the Avocado is involved.  So I thought I would make a DIY with the thing of the moment and make this Jewellery dish for all your little trinkets.  Be warned though, if you are like me you will think that it is leftover avocado!  I found myself nearly putting it away in the fridge a few times!  Long week!

First up, you will need to make the dish itself and leave it to dry for a few days, so for this you will need:  Air dry clay (I used Das), cling film, rolling pin, mould (I used the container that my avocado comes in, as it makes the perfect shape) and cutting tools.

Step 1: Cut out one of your moulds and then put cling film all over it.
Step 2: Cut off a chunk of clay from the packet.  Make sure you wrap the packet back up with cling film and put it in a bag to keep it from going dry for the next time you want to use it.
Step 3: Roll out the clay to your desired thickness, I went for about 3/4mm as I wanted it to dry quicker and didn't want it to be too thick on the edges.
Step 4: Once it is rolled out, smooth over any cracks with a little water on your fingers.  Do not dampen it too much or it will get sticky and unmanageable.
Step 5: Place your clay over the mould.
Step 6: Using the edge of your palm, smooth down the clay around the mould.
Step 7: Cut out the Avocado shape around the mould.
Step 8: Make sure your edges are loose from the table at this point if you didn't use cling film, otherwise it will stick.
Step 9: Smooth over the edges with wet fingers, so that there will not be sharp edges when you want to use your dish.
Step 10:  Leave to dry for a good few days.  The clay will dry out and may shrink a little.

Once you have your dish all dried out you will be able to paint it.  For this you will need:  Acrylic paints, brushes, water pot, paint palette and your dish.

Step 11: Firstly get some varying colours of the green and brown on your palette, I find it much easier when I have all the colours in front of me, to help mix them.
Step 12: I painted the back first, making it a dark green, giving it two coats.
Step 13:  Then I painted the inside with a mixture of green, yellow and white, going over the colours a few times to blend all the colours together to give a more authentic look.
Step 14:  Then with the darker colour from the bottom, I painted a line around the edge to act as the husk of the Avocado.
Step 15:  I went over the colours on the inside again, blending the darker outside line and the area which would have the nut in it.
Step 16:  Then I was ready to add the brown nut of the avocado, again this was a combination of a few brown colours to make a more authentic look.

Then you are finished!  Your own little Avocado bowl to use for jewellery or whatever you like really, it could be a spoon rest in your kitchen too.

Hope you like this tutorial, make sure to #livelovemake on social media if you make this project or any of our other projects.  Would love to see what you get up to.

H, xxx

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Food for the sun

Dare I say it but it appears we may be starting to get a little sun around the UK now, it's about time!  So I thought that some lovely treats for all the summer parties and BBQ's would be good to share and they are making my mouth water as I type!

First up is this fun Avocado bar idea from good old Martha Stewart, what would we do without her!  It's just a fun take on the taco bar idea and good for you to boot!  I am loving Avocado at the moment and so this looks like a fun idea for the next party!

Next is a family favourite from my childhood and one that has recently been showcased to my nieces from my brother.  These dough twists are so good for the BBQ or campfire and you can dip them in jam, chocolate or anything really.  Fun for the kids and adults, I might have to make a BBQ just to have them.

Then of course you have to have some kind of meat on a BBQ, even just for the men, as we all know they love to make fire and charcoal meat!  These chicken skewers look great from a Lulu Lemon and Lace, who just happens to be a friend of a friend and so I know they will be amazing too!

and if those don't take your fancy, its always great to have a good treat to take with you to someone's house.  I really want to try this cinnamon banana bread from Hemsley + Hemsley, anyone else loving their TV programme at the moment?

I think that is enough to keep us going for the meantime, I am finding it hard to concentrate on all these treats I am talking about!  Time for lunch I think!

What are your failsafe recipes for taking to parties or for the BBQ?  Let us know in the comments or send us to a site to check out.

H, xxx

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Life Update May

We were so jam packed with Makers last month that we had no space to fit in a cheeky life update. But we are back with it this month, so let's catch up with what went on behind the scenes with us whilst our makers take over was gong on. 

Make it: Polaroid Pin Frame

I don't know about you, but I have been LOVING the latest enamel pin badge trend. I used to collect them when I was little and now that the trend has returned I am all over it! I was collecting my pins on my fave denim jacket but it was getting a little out of hand so I decided I wanted a place to store my extra pins, so I can swap out the ones I have on my jacket when I fancy a change. 

The obvious answer was something as retro as the pin trend itself, a Polaroid pin frame! Here is how you can make your very own. 

You will need: A4 of Foam core or thick cardboard, white sticky back plastic, A5 plastic canvas, craft knife, strong glue and a ruler.

Step 1. Start by cutting the foam core into two pieces approximately 18cm by 14cm, then cut out a 10cm square at the top of both pieces. 

Step 2. Gently remove the centres of the frames and keep a hold of one of the pieces to use later.  

Step 3. Take the plastic canvas and cut it to fit the frame.

Step 4. Move the canvas to one side and stick the sticky back plastic over the front of the first frame piece.

Step 5. Trim the inside of the frame and fold the edges over to the inside, trim the corners from the plastic on the outside, but leave them unstuck for the moment.  

Step 6. Spread glue all the way around the edge of the frame.

Step 7. Pop the plastic canvas down over the glue and gently press it in place, whilst waiting for it to dry a little, cover the second frame in the sticky back plastic in the same way as the front, but fold all of the edges over to the back this time.

Step 8. Lay down another layer of glue over the edges of the plastic canvas and place the back of the frame down to sandwich the plastic canvas between the two layers. 

Step 9. Now you can fold over the edges of the sticky back plastic from the front all the way over both layers of the frame to keep it all together. 

Step 10. Take the centre piece of the frame you put to one side and cut it in half diagonally to create the stands. 

Step 11. Glue one edge of each of the stands and stick them to the back of the frame.

Step 12. Wait for the glue to dry fully then you can stand up your frame and add your pins.

 The best thing is you can write on them with a sharpie, just like old school instant photos too!!

I love how this looks on my dressing table and it means I can have all my fave pins on display.

Worried you can't fit all your pins in one, why not make a few and have them grouped together with different phrases on. You can always remove the sharpie with a little nail polish remover if you want to change it up. Or if you don't have a big collection of pins you can also use it for earrings!

We would love to see if you have a go at this DIY, Let us know in the comments or tag us on social with our #livelovemake

Sammy xxx

Pins featured are from: Anita Vancenko, Oh No Rachio, Lucky Dip Club, Puptart, Finest Imaginary, Hello Harriet, Claireabellemakes, Nutmeg and Arlo, Punky Pins, Rock Cakes, Holly Illustrates and my own from Sew Crafty


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