Make

I ordered a few new items for my little box of treasures and received these beautiful resin roses in the post the other day. I had previously purchased a lovely silver Tibetan daisy chain and decided to vamp this up a little by adding a mix of red, white and royal blue roses. Part of the chain has rope detail which has added to the nautical feel to this cute necklace that I now can't stop wearing. I'm hoping to order some more of the daisy chain to make some more necklaces that I can sell in my online shop.... I will keep you posted. x

Sew

A colleague at work had purchased some beautifully printed fabric and wanted cushions for her son's bedroom. Luckily for me she asked if I could possibly make the cushions from a few metres of fabric. I made two square cushions and one rectangular. I ensured that the cushions displayed the pattern repeat at least once and set to cutting out the required sizes. I used a zip fastening at the bottom edge of each cushion. Square cushions are simple enough to do and I find that using a zip fastening gives a great end result and not too tricky. The tip is to make sure you pin and then tack the zip in place before sewing. I handed over the three cushions and then had an order for two more. I loved this fabric so I ended up purchasing a few metres to and plan to sew up a nice patchwork throw for our lounge.

Create

I received a very exciting parcel in the post last week that was full of lovely resin flowers in a rainbow of colours. I have roses and chrysanthemums which I have since used to adorn rings, hair slides, and earrings. I had a lovely wedding order via Folksy for the chrysanthemum earrings in five different colours,each bridesmaid is wearing a different coloured dress and so I was asked to make colours to go with the outfits. A simply lovely idea. The lovely Bride is also planning to wear a turquoise chrysanthemum ring from my collection. I was so happy to receive the order...I just hope my customer is happy with the items. x

Make

Elderflower cordial is simply delicious and something that is so simple to make that everyone should have a go. Elderflower is everywhere, once you start looking for it. Just make sure you know exactly what it looks like before you pick as I had a few mishaps with picking hawthorn flowers instead :). Once you have found your elderflower try this simple recipe for yummy summer cordial.

• Pick 10 large elderflower heads
• 900ml boiling water
• 700g sugar ( I mixed caster and unrefined light muscovado)
• 4 lemons (grate zest, juice and slice)

Put the elderflower in a pan or tub and pour the boiling water. Add sugar, lemon juice, zest and slices and stir.
Leave in a cool dark place for 24-48 hours
Strain through muslin or sieve and pour into bottles (sterilised).

The cordial is lovely, to make it last keep in the fridge and for a truly indulgent treat add a dash of cordial to sparkling white wine...simply divine!!

Make

While browsing through a local craft shop I cam across these lovely wooden hearts. At the time they were plain, I wasn't sure what to do with them but  I liked them so I decided to buy them and knew I would be inspired eventually. I found them in the house a few weeks later and thought I would hang them in the bedroom. Its nearly our wedding anniversary which inspired me to personalise them. I bought some letter transfers and simply rubbed the transfer off onto the wood. I them found some pretty rose ribbon amongst my box of treasures and tied little bows and a loop to I could hang them up. They are hanging on the door handles in the bedroom. My hubby commented on how sweet they were so they get to stay!  The hearts can be purchased from Pandoro in sets of 3. I brought mine from Hobbycraft. I thinks its a lovely way to personalise decorations and I may just remember this for a friends wedding gift.

Make

With my ever growing collection of driftwood I decorated a simple round mirror that I had. I placed the wood out in order of size and laid the pieces around the mirror trying to make a sun like shape. I then used my trusted glue gun to sick the woods to the mirror. I used small pieces of wood to cover up any small gaps I had. I'm really happy with the outcome and now all I need to do is to decide where to hang it up.

Make

Every time we visit the coast I find myself collecting pieces of driftwood from the shoreline. I now have quite a collection so I thought I should set to making a few pieces for the home. I laid out all the pieces I had and out them in order of size. I then came across a small pieces of wood that reminded me of a sail/mast and here is how my idea started. I decided I would try and make a boat sculpture from the woods I had. With my glue gun and wood I started sticking pieces together. Glue guns are perfect for this work and really kept everything intact. To finish it off I used some used string from the garden to add detail to the sail/mast. It now sits in the living room and reminds us of our lovely holidays by the sea.

Make

After browsing the high street shops I decided I wanted a lovely vintage looking mirror for our bedroom. They were all so nice but also pricey. I decided to start hunting the local car boots and fairs to see if i could come across an old unwanted mirror that i could spruce up. After some hunting I cam across this little treasure. It was just the shape I wanted and had lovely simple decoration to it. Now all I needed to do was take it from its old gold days to a new off white with a vintage look. I set to sanding down the old paint and then painted a few layers of white primer paint.To add the finishing and vintage look I simply used brown boot polish with an old rag and rubbed the frame to give it that old look. I simply love it and it is now hanging pride of place in our bedroom.