Teapot Candle Holder

Easy idea....

Take one old teapot (mine was a present from my brother, the spout had an accident, but I can't dare to throw it out). Decorate the with pretty wire (if you wish). Add a tea-light candle to the inside. Sprinkle with a touch of fine glitter. 

I'm a bit in love with the glow. The awesome part is you can move this candle holder around with ease. Perfect for when the power goes off!

Ever feel like you have an 'evil' twin. Well not evil, but an alter-ego. Here's my other side:

http://riotousmerriment.blogspot.com.au/

This blog is a celebration of all things wacky and colourful. Hope to see you there. :) A

An Autumn Skirt

The sun may be shining, but it is still getting colder here!

Old skirt - a few years old, and a little boring! I wanted to create something with a bit more autumn spirit. Messy, colourful, spontaneous... something that suits my love of creating and slight dislike of sewing. 

So with a cheapie bit of patchwork fabric, I cut out circles and pinned them in place. Now - I'm guessing if you were a pro at applique,you'd fuse them down with iron-on interfacing??? Oh well, that's not for me. It did make it a bit hard to sew at times, as the circles were cotton and the skirt was jersey. 

 

So I stitched the circles on in a cross. Straight on. They slightly frayed as I went, but as I said, I was looking for a messy sort of look.  I don't mind the puffy end result.  But then again, I've never been one for perfection with my crafting. Probably because I don't have enough time!

End result:

I'm thinking red shoes? Orange stockings and grey boots?  

Jars & Doilies

Quick little idea

One jar.

One doily.

One piece of ribbon.

One clip-on earring. 

Combine all three to create cute jar ideal for flowers or storing pens, scissors, knitting needles - or in my case, chop-sticks. Instant cuteness. 

Vintage, Mixed Bag Wedding

I am taking a bit of time out. A quiet breather amidst all the wonderful chaos. Two days until my wedding. Here's a little sneak peak.

We've used op-shop tea cups as candle holders. Floating candles are inside. We've scattered gold pebbles on the saucer, and inside the tea cup. Wire love hearts have been made and threaded onto the handles. Looks cute sitting on an old doiley, and then on a gorgeous red table runner that was made by my mother!

Don't like folding serviettes? Another genius Mum idea - she's made super little serviette rings using left over invite card paper. She also found these cool little fancy, swirly stickers to pop on them... just for a bit of vintage glam.The place cards will have little bonbonniere underneath... cars for the guys, and something sweet for the girls.

It is interesting to see how ideas develop. Our seating and table arrangements I invisioned on an old frame. Instead my sister came up with this idea. We've got some old raspberry canes decorated with wire. Then we've got names on envelopes suspended from the wire. The picture doesn't really do it much justice.

More to come :)

Banana Coconut Muffins

I found this absolutely scrummy recipe here:
http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Banana-Coconut-Muffins-L4194.html

As someone with gluten and dairy intolerance, I just made one alteration to make this a little more tummy friendly! Replace the flour with gluten free flour and you have a nice gluten/dairy free muffin! I've even tried blending gluten free flour with spelt (one cup spelt to 2 and half teaspoons of gluten free baking powder).

Recycled paper is oh so handy!

Love recycled paper - would love to make my own, one day! I must admit I bought the sheets of paper used in this pic... but they make such a cute card! And, because precision is not my thing, the wonky torn edges fit the look - no scissors required!

Another Easy Head Band

Stuck inside resting this week... cold and little voice :(  I've caught up on the school marking and then it came to me:

Another easy peasy head band!

All you need is:

• one pair of old leggings
• one buckle
• a button
• scissors, needle and thread

 

All you need to do is cut a long strip of legging, wide enough to sit nicely in your buckle. Then cut the strip into three long pieces and thread the buckle onto the legging strips.

Next, to form the back of your head band, cross the left-over strips and stitch into place.  I used a button to secure the stitching a little more.

Very simple to make, but it can be styled in different ways. The buckle can go to the centre, or sides. It can be worn under the hair, or over the top 70s style. I quite like wearing it with the end tassle pieces resting on my shoulder.

T-shirt to Necklace - Happy Birthday to a Lovely Friend

Happy Birthday for tomorrow, to a lovely friend of mine! Today's project was using a shirt that the Birthday Girl doesn't wear anymore. It was a few years old, but the delicate, ohsopretty beading was still really intact.  So, my friend came to me with the idea, that the beading would make a great necklace.... and I just so had to get to work on this one!

What I've done is cut the neck piece out - leaving plenty of fabric to hem in behind, just to keep things tidy, and those gorgeous beads safe. I've stitched in faux pearls, and then the dilemma was: how do I get this to fasten around the neck? A pearl necklace! Glued and stitched behind on the underside, so that the two pieces become one.

I've then sealed all the stitching by placing felt underneath - held by glue and a few more stitches.

The Valentines Necklace

Long time - no write. I've been participating in the most awesome course ever! Introduction to Alternative Jewellery Design with the most awesome tutor Natalie Holtsbaum. We made some totally crazy creations, which I may share later.... but the idea was to create with materials we wouldn't usually use. One thing I've become hooked on is Sculpey (a bit like Fimo) but softer and more pliable.

Inspired from this course, I created this little pendant/choker...

You will need:

• Sculpey or Fimo or similar
• Jump rings (big ones)
• Leather
• Leather crimps & a clasp
• Sculpey tools (mine were a kebab stick and a glue stick)

No expensive Sculpey tools needed here :D

So to begin, slice off bits of Sculpey and roll it flat, then cut and mould two heart shapes (or more). The Sculpey can be a bit frail so it does need to be a little thick, but not so thick you'll have trouble threading a jump-ring through.  Pierce your hearts with the kebab stick, making sure the holes are even the whole way through (the holes tend to collapse in a bit on the backside, making a big hole on the front and a small hole at the back - this could cause problems).

Next pop your hearts in the oven to bake, as per the directions on the packet. 

Big jump ring through the middle here works best!

When they are baked, let them cool and then pop the jump-rings through! I toyed with the idea of using a bow through the middle in ribbon when I though the jump-rings wouldn't fit...

Thread the leather or string through and secure with crimps and clasps.

And voila!

My valentine (who so totally doesn't do fashion) gave me compliments about this project "that looks good and it suits you" (and he is totally chuckling at me writing this).  

Re-purposing Beads

Oh, I should have made this a tute... but the spontaneity of creating took over. These awesome beads were given to me by a friend, they were part of a necklace that was a little too small for my neck. So I cut the wire and decided to re-thread them. I took a piece of yellow hemp thread and then thread the beads onto them. Then I left a bit of length on either side and plaited some extra yellow thread in. The seed beads on the necklace are two bracelets that I have wrapped around and around the hemp thread (hides the knots from the plaiting too!). I finished them off by adding some findings and voila! A happy summer necklace!

Trouser Leg Bag

Happy New Year!

Today we have:
An old project of mine I uncovered when I was cleaning the other day! Yay, for much delayed Spring cleaning!

This bag was made from the leg of some old trousers (the knees had gone on both sides). So, when the trousers were lopped off into shorts, I had the left over leg pieces to play with. Basically I used the already stitched hem as the opening of the bag. The cut / torn knee side I sewed together to make the bottom of the bag. You may want to stitch this twice for extra strength.

Then finally, I attached some cord lying about the place for a satchel style strap. As an extra, I added some buttons and flowers for added pretties!

It's a really handy bag to use when going for a walk, nicely fits house keys and a mobile phone!