A Relaxing Crafty Christmas Break

It's been a busy & difficult few months and have haven't had much spare time for my usual craft & DIY. I had a 2 week break from work over Christmas and I managed to catch up with myself.

This craft kit was in my Christmas Stocking.

Everything that I needed to make 3 felt Christmas cupcakes.

I spent a couple of rather enjoyable afternoons, with a large pot of tea, sewing & relaxing.

There was even a cake box to make.

But I decided to turn them into tree decorations.

  .

I spent a few more afternoons, with pots of tea, working on my crochet blanket kit that my friend bought me for my birthday.

I rounded off the Christmas break by revamping the lamps in the living room, with a coat of paint and some new shades that I picked up in the sales.

Shame I had to go back to work........

Frugal Gardening

Friends told me that one of the local garden has a plant sale at the weekends. They sell off plans from 50p that are still OK to plant out but may be past their best to be charged a full price.

I picked up all these for £4. I used them to spruce up my pots & containers.

In the mix was a 50p pepper plant. Re-potted & with a bit of TLC in the greenhouse, it's doing very well.

Same goes for my 50p fuchsia.

I've been collecting pallets for free from work to use in the garden. I painted  a couple with left over paint from the garage.

The pallets made a stand for my collection of plant pots.

My frugal garden feature.

At last - A nice cup of tea & a sit down in the Garden

I've spent so many Sunday mornings this year working in the garden and today I finally got to sit down, relax enjoy the results of all the work.

To start the year I took a couple of months to chop back the trees a bit at a time. They burst into life as soon as spring arrived.

The same for the vines, which now provide shade over the decking.

 Once the weather picked up & the rain went away, I spent a couple of weekends cleaning & sealing the decking. I've planted up the flower tubs & planted vegetables.

Last week end's job was to paint the little shed.

So finally, after an early trip out to get new car tyres, I finally got to spend a Sunday morning, just sitting & chilling in the garden. One of life's simple pleasures. 

Joined by Billy - a master of just chilling.

Breakfast from the Garden

I've just picked the first of the raspberries & strawberries from the garden. Accompanied by low fat yogurt it was the perfect breakfast on a sunny summer morning. 

 I'm hoping for a good crop of raspberries this year. 

I was hoping for lots of strawberries as well but the squirrels have been at them.

Not only eating them but burying them. Another job for my list- construct a squirrel proof cage for the soft fruit !

Make do & Mend weekends

I decided that before I start on any more art & craft projects that I should tackle all the jobs that I've been putting off. So, I've had 2 or 3 make do & mend weekends. I've mended about 5 pairs of trousers, sewing on buttons, mending holes & I've been through lots of old paperwork. 

I've been meaning to recover the dining room chairs since last summer when I decorated the living room.

A 25% off weekend at the Fabric Warehouse was a good excuse to finally update them to a silver grey to match the room. 4 chairs recovered for under £10.  

The job that was really bugging me, was the bare patch of wall where the old boiler used to be. I've been looking at for nearly 2 years.

I painted over it with some left over paint I found in the garage.The pin board that I made at the Fabric Warehouse was always going to help fill the space on the wall. I have a friend who loves to travel and always sends a postcard. I've saved them over the years so that I could do something with them.The postcards help finish the cover up. The corner's tidied up now without having to re-plaster or redecorate the whole room - a very frugal make do & mend.

1st Steps in Quilting - Part 2

A few more Sunday afternoons & I had enough square blocks to make my quilt.

I laid them out on the floor & Bea helped me to decide the final pattern.

        

I sewed the blocks into rows & labeled them, then sewed the rows together.

After a lot of sewing & ironing the quilt top was put together.

.

I taped it right side down to the kitchen floor & sprayed it with 505 temporary spray adhesive.

I sandwiched some wadding between the quilt top & the backing - an old duvet cover that I cut up. It's upside down to most of the advise on the internet but it work for me.

Everything was pinned in place before I removed the tape and lifted it all from the floor. To finish off I quilted the large blocks by sewing over the existing seams and then turned the edge of the backing over to form a border. 

My finished frugal  quilt. It cost me less than £7.50. I only bought the wadding and some thread. Everything else was from my fabric stash.  

Billy - doesn't help with the making but always approves of the finished item.

Pin Boards on Mother's Day

I had the most wonderful Mother's Day this year. I took Mum out for breakfast which was a good start to the day. Later, my daughter & I went on a pin board making course at

The Fabric Warehouse

All the craft sessions at The Fabric Warehouse start with a nice cup of tea.

We were each given a plain pin board.

 There was a wonderful choice of fabrics to use.

The boards were covered with wadding and then with the fabric. 

We covered buttons with a contrasting fabric.

Then it was time for another cup of tea.

Ribbon & buttons attached.

I finished the backing when we got home, whilst watching the Grand Prix & having another cuppa. 

Our 2 finished boards & a perfect Mother's Day.