Crafting for Christmas

Finally! The Christmas presents have all been opened so I can now show you some of the things I had made for my dearest friends and wonderful ladies in my family.

Heart-shaped hanging pockets which I made from cardboard, fabric and lace. They can be filled them with little gifts (as long as it can fit! :-P).

This was a shoe box which I covered with fabric and some lace trims.  I gave it to someone special who desperately needed a handphone station! :)

 

This was a chocolate tin which I covered  with some pretty lace material and small handmade crochet flowers and butterflies.  I gave this to another special lady who is using it to store her jewellery. :)

 

Well, that's all for today. In my next post, I'll show you more stuff I had made for Christmas! :) Happy crafting, dear readers! :D

Pincushions Boom!

Pincushions have taken over my life!  I just love making pincushions!  Shown below are some of the pincushions I have made.

 

This was made from an old soup bowl and saucer (that had lost its teacup).

 

This was made from a small teacup and old CD.

 

This teacup and saucer set was a free gift when I bought 2 packets of (you guessed it - Nescafe white coffee!). Unfortunately,  while the saucer was fine,  the teacup was a little chipped and had a large crack at the the base so I decided to make it into this sweet little pincushion.  

These cute cupcakes pincushions were made from jelly moulds and the baby dresses of my youngest daughter.  Brings back sweet memories when I look at them!

 

Inspired by the wonderful ideas on my "Pincushion & Sewing Kit Ideas" board on Pinterest, I came across some beautiful doll pincushions. After some research, found that they were actually Half-Dolls which we cannot find here at all!  So when my girl was clearing her toys and gave me her old doll, I decided to try my own version!  I think she looks pretty nice though she might be the biggest doll pincushion ever!  Made her dress from fabric, curtain material and lace.  It was fun making her and I shall probably try another one (hopefully on a smaller doll).

 These hats were made quite awhile back but I wanted to show that you can make pincushions from anything! These were made from old CDs, fabric, T-shirt and curtain materials, embellished with ribbons and handmade ribbon flowers.

 

Most recent pincushion projects, just finished yesterday, a little square pillow pincushion for my youngest daughter's sewing box.  The little wooden chair belongs to my eldest daughter and was an old doll-house furniture which she did not want anymore.  Well, after its makeover, she has taken it back again!!

 Last but not least, I want to show you my youngest daughter's new sewing box, made from a chocolate tin (we enjoyed finishing all the chocolates!). It turned out very nice and if it will inspire her to sew, then I am very happy indeed! ;)

Have a wonderful day, dear Readers and don't forget to check out my Pinterest Boards for more ideas! :)

Some Floral Ideas

Recently bought some pretty, artificial flowers and decided to make a few projects with them.

This was an old planter pot (given by a friend oh, so long ago!). Brought back nice memories so I decided to cover it with pretty fabric and some of the new flowers. It turned out very nice indeed! It now functions as a stationery holder.

Remember the brown yarn - well, I wrapped it around a plastic container and finished it off with a pretty handmade flower (made from one of the flowers bought). Turned out nicely and gave it to a sweet friend.

This was a small round biscuit tin which I made into a pretty little keepsake box, topped with a sprig of small roses and given to a sweet little friend (of my youngest daughter).

Yarn Projects

Found some pretty (and inexpensive) blue-gray yarn (or string or whatever you might call it!) and decided that I could do something with it. Getting an idea from my Pinterest Inspiration Board "Pretty Craft Ideas", I came out with the following projects. Must say that I am really very pleased with the results. :)

First project was with an old and small biscuit tin (which had been lying around for ages). Decided to add a handmade flower (made from some leftover curtain material).  (The stuff toys are just borrowed for modelling purposes only! :D)

 

Then came this square container which was actually destined to be thrown away. I think it came out pretty sweet and I especially like the arrangement of the paper flowers.

 

This little triangle container once contained the sticker collection of my eldest girl (when she was very little - she's 19 now). It was cracked, chipped and had lost its cover but I decided to salvage it for her anyway and she loves it! She's using it to keep her treasured trinkets now. I am so glad that I added the little bird because it cheers up the whole piece.

I had lots of fun doing the above projects and still have others waiting in line. Also, yesterday I found some nice BROWN yarn/string and can't wait to try that out too. 

I enjoyed recycling the above containers and showing my girls that sometimes old "stuff" can be "rescued" instead of being thrown away.  I think we have to show our children that it is good to recycle, whenever possible - simply because money does not grow on trees! :)

Treats for Fun! :D

So many sweet ideas come to mind especially when one is relaxing (like when having tea!). Here's some fast and easy crafts you can do to "sweeten" up your life and home! :)

 Here's a lovely "cocktail" of freshly sewn strawberries! They are so easy, fast, fun and addictive to make so I will probably be making more soon.

 

Cookie and Snack containers with pretty floral lids!

 

And last but not least, a teacup filled with lovely (fake) pink blossoms!

Note:  

There are so many craft and sewing tutorials to be found online. I do not want to bore my dear readers so I try to keep my posts short and simple. However, if you should need any assistance, please leave a message in the comment box below. And I will try to help you if I can. 

Have a great day and Happy Crafting!! :)

Wicker Basket Love!

I just love wicker baskets and trays - specially like to alter them to make them look pretty and functional too. Here are some of the wicker projects I have completed.

I had these 2 small wicker trays for awhile and wanted to give them a makeover. So gave them a new paint-job and added 2 sweet ballerina girls which I have been hoarding forever and lastly glued on some handmade ribbon flowers and cute little butterflies.

 

Bought this plain looking big oval-shaped wicked basket.  I wanted to make a nice sewing basket for my mother so I used some pretty floral fabric and lace material (from an old curtain),  added handmade ribbon flowers and bows. 

 This was a very old basket and I thought I would do something different - so I painted and decoupaged it.

I also did the same to this old basket (used to hold toys for my girl) but now, it's my new sewing  basket!

The weave on these toilet roll holders reminded me of wicker baskets - so couldn't resist buying them and doing a makeover! Glue teddy bears, fruits and flowers and Ta-Dah! We have sweet little bear toilet roll holders! :) 

(Note: To use this kind of holder, you must remove the cardboard centre (from the toilet paper roll) and pull the paper out from the centre.)

Project Flower Pens!

Awhile back, my eldest daughter needed to make something for her "fund-raising" project and after much thought, decided to make flower pens as they are pretty and easy to do. 

 

 This was the first batch we made and sold all very fast.

 

This was the second batch we made and sold off too.

 These are for her own personal use - she wanted to try a Corpse Bride theme! :)

Class Decoration Contest

My youngest daughter is having a class decoration contest. Her class deco theme is Winter Wonderland - quite strange really for us here in hot and sunny Singapore!  Her teacher volunteered her to do the class flag and wreath.  

 

She wanted a pennant style flag - using disposable chopsticks, fabric, lace, old shoelaces and ribbon.  She chose penguins as her class mascots since her favourite cartoon is The Penguins of Madagascar. We put ribbons stars instead of snowflakes!

 

Bought the silver tinsels since didn't have any around.  All the rest are old Christmas decorations.  The wreath shape is made from a beer carton.  Made 2 wreaths.  We had lots of fun and bonding time doing these projects.

Recycled Empty Tissue Boxes

Empty tissue boxes! Such a waste to throw into the garbage bin so here are some ways to recycle them.

 

Made a basket for my little girl and a box to hold her hair clips.

 

Made a pretty box to store colour pencils.

 

Made a tray - a small gift to a friend.

These are made from the plastic liners found in biscuits and dumplings packages.

Stationery Holder Ideas

Here are some ideas for making stationery holders.

 

These are made from plastic bottles (just cut out the the top part of the bottles) and decorate with ribbons, handmade ribbon flowers and beads.

 

 These are made from carton and milk drink packets (just cut out the top part of the pack) and wrap with fabric or felt, then decorate with handmade ribbon flowers or felt cut-out motifs.  To convert to gift package (for sweets or small gifts), make 2 holes on opposite sides and use pipe-cleaners as handles.

 This is so easy to make - get an ugly mug, add a colourful handmade corsage and a little sweet bear!

 

These are made from remnant plastic pipes and an ugly plastic cup. Wrap with fabric and paste onto old CDs or cardboard square and decorate with flower and ribbons.

Decoupage Old Containers And Making Some Fabric Flowers

Had some old stuff - glass containers, bottles, a mug, a flower pot and a shallow wooden bowl - lying around, just waiting to be spruced up!  Fastest way to get all done up is - Decoupage! :)

Here are the glass bottles and containers.

Here are the plate, mug and flower pot.

 

Needed some fabric flowers for a project - so made these using old clothes - a football jersey, T-shirt and blouse.

 

Pretty Purses

Here are some of the plain purses that I have re-made for my daughters.

We didn't like the original plain triangle purse so made them square and covered them with pretty fabrics and little handmade ribbon blossoms.

My girls didn't like the original grey pattern so I covered it with a piece of pretty fabric and a handmade ribbon flower.

This purse was a handy size for a pencil-case and it only needed a little bouquet made from small silk flowers and a bit of ribbon and lace.

Tea-time Projects

Had too much cardboard lying around - so decided to make some pretty cakes!

Had an old set of teacups and saucers - decided to make them into pretty little containers!