Make it: Customise an Old Bag

Looking around at all the cross body Satchel style bags I saw this season, I was reminded of a shoulder bag I had once bought from M&S of all places! I thought it would be perfect for brightening up those January blues, but the shoulder strap just won't work for this look I was going for and so I went about re-working it for my needs, with the help of an old belt.

I took off the original shoulder strap and removed the buckle from the belt and simply knotted it around where I had removed the original strap.  It's now my favourite bag and worked out to be free!  What more could you ask for.

I hope it gives you a little inspiration to think again about some of the things you have in the back of your wardrobe that could be given a new lease of live with a simple up date.

Make it
H

Make it: Felt Camera Case

This year I was trying to make quite a few presents in an effort to be more crafty!

So I thought I would tell you how I made this camera case, I know its a bit late for Christmas but it would make a great gift any time of the year.  It is just like the ones I have seen in the shops this year, so that if anyone you know is a camera buff, you can make one too!  If you do, we would love to see them, so please send us a picture and we can get it up on the blog!

So, to start with, I blanket stitched two strips of felt together (around A4 in length) to make the main part of the case.  I then fabric glued a different colour strip of felt onto the back to make it stiffer, so that it protects the camera.  I cut out the circle and rectangle shapes and chose some buttons and then got to work on sewing around the circles and then stitching the button through to make the lens and stitching around the rectangle to make the window.  Then to sew on the buttons for the top button and flash button.  Nearly there!!

I cut out two strips of the spotty felt, around the length of the camera and cut one end into a curve, so that when I sewed the edges - with the blanket stitch again - I had a curve to follow.  This then leaves a little of the felt to make into a flap to keep everything in the case, so I stitched a piece of velcro onto the flap and it was done!

It looks as good as the shop bought ones and slightly more bespoke due to the colours used that my friend would like. I got a message on Christmas Day that she loved it and it was better than the ones in the shop!  I think its a job well done.

dont forget to let us know if you make one too!

Make it
Heather

Make it: Christmas Baking gifts

Just thought I would share with you some pics of the Christmas baking I have been doing to give as gifts this year. Here is a photo of the Coconut Macaroons I made for my Dad, they were Yummy! I will totally be making them again although he might not see any next time....

 

These are the Gingerbread hearts I made for G'pa. this was the 5th batch I made of these, they mysteriously kept going missing. I used this recipe from BBC Food and it worked really well.

 

I was not the only one with the idea of gifting food, this was the divine home made fudge and chocolate covered marshmallows  given to me by the Gorgeous Kelly as my Christmas present!

Love it! Christmas Baking!!

Sammy xxx

Sunday seashell Make it

 Good evening, thought you might like to see what I made earlier today.

Let me fill you in a little, Last year at my Mum's Girls dinner, they had a dish which came in these little shells, some kind of crab meat puree thing I think, and Mum being Mum thought she could make use of the shells, Honestly my Mum is worse than me for wanting to re-purpose things. 

So last week she bought them in to the shop and we set about coming up with something to do with them in time for her Girls 2011 Christmas gathering. 

we liked with the idea of necklaces and wine glass Id tags, but the winner was place settings. 

I said that she should leave it with me and that night I set to it. The shells were in a pretty raw state, so I started with a coat of Mod Podge to seal them and then painted the inside with a white pearlised acrylic paint and set them to dry. 

Today I knew I had to finish them as her dinner is tomorrow, I got out my fave air drying clay, Apoxi sculpt, Love the stuff, and mixed up six small pebbles, then set them one in to each shell. Then came the fun part, I got out my alphabet stamps and stamped each guests name in to each pebble. Whilst the clay was setting I rummaged around and managed to find, in my old craft supplies some 'mermaid bubbles' that I had bought from ebay a few years back for customising dolls, Perfect.

I drizzled some pva around each of the pebbles and poured on the bead bubbles, just like glitter. Once the clay had set and the glue had dried I tipped off the excess bubbles, took some more pearl paint and covered the pebbles, making sure I was careful not to flood the letter indentations. When that layer was dry I added some black paint to a little of the pearl paint and went back over each of the names to make them stand out. 

I took a quick pic on my phone to show you.

I think you will agree they look fabulous! 

I was so happy with how they turned out, I hope My Mum and her friends will agree.

Love it: Secret Santa

Picture courtesy of Amazon.co.uk

Last night H had a night out with some friends and they had a little Secret Santa too.

I found a very nice restaurant in Farringdon, London and kept it all secret from the girls as to where we were going!  Meeting them in a pub for some pre-dinner drinks and keeping them in the dark, until it was time to go.

We ended up in Little Bay, which is a lovely little restaurant, so I can thoroughly recommend it!  A selection of starters, main courses and puddings later, we were all stuffed and even with a cocktail it was under £20 each! Bargain.

Anyway, onto more important things, we had the great Secret Santa swap and due to all being around the dinner table, it turned into the not so secret Santa swap, but hey, it was nice all the same.

There was a mini anglepoise lamp for Julie, a make-up bag with her initial on for Claire and a bag holder and a knitted Bando (a headband to you and me) for Maria, and for me a book on making vintage gifts!!  They know me so well! I am looking forward to making more than a few gifts from this lovely book!

Are you and your friends doing Secret Santa this year? what gift have you bought?

Love it

H

Make it: Pillowcase Dresses at Drink Shop Do

So tonight, I went to Drink, shop & do to go support a friend of mine for her Pillowcase Dress Challenge. I got there just after 6 and the place was already busy with post work chin-waggers and some early bird decorators.

Alison from Peggy's Pickles and friends had been busy making the dresses over the past few months and now it was time for a little helping hand from the Drink, shop & do crowd to decorate and embellish the dresses, so that they can go to little girls in Africa.

Now it may not be how everyone wants to give to charity, but I think that every little girl wherever they may be, would love to have a dress and something which has been handmade makes it that little bit more special.

Now, unfortunately I forgot to photos of my endeavours, but trust me that in a few hours I had decorated 3 dresses!  A rosette for one, a decorated pocket for another and daisy decorations for the third.  Go have a look at Alison's blog in the next few days and I am sure she will have many a photo up on there, even perhaps with my concentration face on!

Promise to take photos next time!

H