Quick DIY's for Dad

Mini Trophies by andweplay.com // DIY medals by andweplay.com  //  Doughnut cake and topper by ohhappyday.com  //  Kids Wall Art by projectnursery.com         

Gifts For Your Man

DinosaurYEAH Socks  //  Alxndra Ghost T-shirt  //  Frederick Thomas Skull Tie  //  Holdall & Co Briefcase  //  Stolen Form Tin Can Mug  //  Alice Tams Game of Thrones Print  //  By Law London Card Holder  //  Goozeberry Hill iPhone Docking Station  //  The Minty Mountain 'Worlds Okayest Boyfriend' Decoration  //  Mister Peebles I'm Nuts About You Print

Handmade gift guide number two is here and this one is for your Man. 10 amazing items from some of our favourite designer makers. Buying for the boys is notoriously difficult but these designers make it easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

Sammy and H xxx

Check out the rest of this year's guides here:
Gifts for your Little Ones
Gifts for your Pets
Gifts for your Parents
Gifts for your Lady
Gifts for your Best Friend

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Top Ten Handmade Gifts to Buy

Last week we were all about the DIY gifts and I know that as much as we love the thought of being able to make a little something for everyone, it won't always work out that way. However that doesn't mean that you can't do your bit and support other makers out there.  I have rounded up our top ten handmade gifts to buy all from UK based designer makers, all of which your loved ones will be over the moon with come Christmas day.

Crochet Unicorn for your Niece by Kornflake Stew

Beautiful Chocolate Cookies for your Mum from the Whimsical Cake Company

Small Soy Candles for your Mates from East Wick

Dagger Necklace for your Sister from Promises Promises

Egg pot and shovel for your Brother from Lahla Studio

Here, Bear and everywhere calendar for your Dad from Mister Peebles

Ceramic hanging planter for your Nana from Kabin

Monogram Scarf for your Other Half from Warm Pixie Diy

Custard Cream purse for your Best Mate from Nikki McWilliams

Pet Tipi for the Fur Babies from PupTart

So that should be everything done and dusted gift wise, now you can sit back and enjoy the countdown to Christmas. If you have the perfect handmade gift that we haven't included in our list please link it up in the comments below or on post a pic on Instagram and link us @liveit.loveit.makeit in the comments with who you would gift it to!

Sammy xxx


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Top Ten Handmade Gifts to Make

So you know we love a bit of Handmade round these parts, so we thought it was about time we rounded up our favourite gift ideas in a couple of guides to make the festive season a breeze. This week we are beginning with the ones you can make yourself, then next week we will share our top products from our favourite designer makers. Let's get stuck into some D.I.Y.

Unicorn Hobbyhorse for your Niece via Us!

Gem Soaps for your Mum via Fall For DIY

Leather Keyring for your Mates via Lovely Indeed

Vanity Tray for your Sister via Lovely Drawer for Sugar and Cloth

Gamer Hoodie for your Brother via Us

Magnetic Screw Catcher for your Dad via My Altered State

Dainty Dish for your Nana via Oh Everything Handmade

Leather Wallet for your Other Half via The Merry Thought

A Yoga Mat for your Best Mate via Us!

A Pet Bed for the Fur Babies via Claireabellemakes

How amazing are all those DIY's! I may be a little biased towards a few of them in particular, but truly that is your whole Christmas List done and dusted right there! If you don't think you have time to make all these awesome DIY's, head back next week for our guide of handmade gifts to buy - from some of our fave creatives.

Have a lovely weekend
Sammy xxx


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Make it. Gamer Tag Hoodie

I don't know about you but I always struggle to find a really cool Valentines day gift for my Husband. Quite a lot of the Valentines DIY's I find are girlie and my Steve is definitely not girlie! I have also been wanting to do a tutorial with freezer paper for a while now, so I came up with the perfect DIY gift for the gamer guy or girl in your life, a gamer tag Hoodie.

You will need: a Hoodie or sweatshirt, Freezer paper, a pencil, a craft knife or small scissors, a sponge, fabric paint, a paint brush (not shown) and your gamer tag printed on paper.

For this tutorial I have used Dylon Fabric Paint, the colours in this range are quite thin and translucent, so I chose to start with a base of white (which is more opaque) and build up my colours on top. You can choose any colours you like, but bear in mind the colour of the hoodie you are decorating. 

I started off by printing off Steve's gamer tag from the computer, I messed around with size and fonts until I got one that I liked, be mindful that you are going to be making a stencil so if you have any loose middles like O's and D's that you will need to draw stems for them into your design. I laid the design on top of the hoodie to make sure it fitted in the space I wanted it to go and that the hood wouldn't cover it. Then I took a sheet of Freezer paper and placed it wax side down over the print out to trace the design through. Once I had traced the design I cut it out with a craft knife, you could use small scissors if it starts to get fragile.

When you have cut the whole design out you have your stencil. The joy of freezer paper is that it is waxed on one side so you can use an iron to temporarily stick it in place. Be careful to make sure all the small bits of your design are ironed down. Leave it to cool for a moment before you start to apply your paint. As it is waterproof I used another piece of freezer paper underneath where I was going to be painting, just in case any paint seeped through to the other side, and another piece for mixing my paint. It is very versatile stuff. Now you can take your sponge and gently press on your first layer of paint.

As I wanted a flame look to my design I waited for the first layer of paint to dry, then applied a thin layer of white at the top, then a layer of yellow blended into that and let it dry again for about 20 mins. After that I went in and mixed up some orange on that piece of freezer paper and sponged that over the bottom of the yellow. Finally, I went over the very bottom with some pure red paint. It wasn't looking strong enough with the sponge so I dabbed some on with a paint brush for a more intense colour at the base.

You need to let it dry for about two hours before running the iron over the whole design to set the paint so it won't wash out, and to loosen up the freezer paper before the fun part, pealing away the stencil!

I am so chuffed with how this turned out, and as you can see my Steve was pretty chuffed with his early Valentines gift (although I have taken it back to wrap it up for him to open on Valentines)

My favourite thing about using freezer paper as a stencil is the clean crisp lines you get on your designs and the flexibility of designs you can create, the possibilities are endless.

I chose Steve's Gamer tag because that's his thing, but you could easily use this technique to add a personal touch to a football top, hen party t-shirts or a nickname hoodie for yourself. Check out some more Valentines ideas in my post from last year.

What would you put on yours? We would love to see if you have a go at this. Like with all our DIY's if you do, take a photo and share it with us on Twitter or instagram with the hashtag #livelovemake

Sammy xxx

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