A bit of Making

I am starting to get my creative mojo back after a nasty bout of Flu and Vertigo and it feels good.  No it actually feels great.

Inspired by the signs of new shoots and Spring outside my front door I have made new cushion covers for both the sitting room and the conservatory/playroom.

Simple envelope style, in the sitting room from some seconds Laura Ashley picked up last year.

Something a little more funcky in the conservatiry, Pop Garden By Heather Baily.

I have also been making birthday presents for Maxi's friends.  Simple personalised purses filled with wooden beads.

Sugar cubes, inspired by ......  I can not find the post, so if it was you, please tell me.

I am not sure where the sun has gone this morning though, it is very dark and grey.  I am off to the GP for some blood tests (Still feeling not right) and then for a day of play with my boys. 

We are really enjoying our Easter Holidays.            

Giving and Receving

I have said it before and I will say it again. The Internet, the WWW, the blogosphere, it has been wonderful to me. It has kept me sane on the dark nights when sleep has refused to blanket me with it warming cocoon, it has kept me company whilst sitting in bed waiting for healing to start and it has made me giggle in my darkest moments.

With this is mind, I am always more than happy to give when I can to fellow bloggers.

 

First off, a small piece of fabric for the lovely Mary Poppins, Mary is making a curtain and this will be used in it, Mary and I have a thing, we both understand the horrow of a child with a chest condition.

Secondly a bag of selvages for my wonderful friend Abby over at Mutterings from the Moor, Abby made my fantastic birthday present, a super duper bear and she also makes them out of old children's clothes and even wedding dresses for all of you wondering what to do with your dress. If you want to know about her need for selvages see here.

 

And finally, but not least, a number of pin cushions, stuffed with lavender in a heart theme and a mother of heart button heart for LizzyLou. Lizzy is holding a craft stall in aid of The British Heart Foundation. 

 

 

Speaking of giving, Magic Mummy over at The Diary of a Frugal Family, has awarded me with an Inspirational Blog Award and I am more than pleased to receive such a lovely award. Please do visit Magic Mummy, who is doing the best she can to live a frugal lifestyle.

It is now down to me to pass this on to 3 blogs which inspire me too, so I am going to be passing this on to:

Cathy at NurtureStore. She is another mummy, who loves to do lots of crafty things and I just love, love, love her ideas.

Melitsa at Play-activities, again another mummy who inspires me to play everyday with the mini's.

Stephanie at Bah to Cancer!, this lady never fails to inspire me, she is just well one of a kind and more than that when she dances she just gets everyone on the dance floor with her and I for one am so enjoying boogieing round my handbag with her

Learning to Set the Table

Manners, I like manners.  In fact I think that the boys can get away with most things, if they say please, thank you and have table manners.

We are teaching the boys to help around the house, well they have been since they could walk really and lately they have been trying to set the table, but their constant "I cant remember which side the fork goes on mummy" has been driving me crackers, especially as I am in the kitchen preparing the dinner.

So I put my thinking cap on and came up with these.......

My first attempt at free form sewing.  I used some fabric I already had in for the mats, lined with some towel and then cut up a plain tea towel and sewed it on, so the boys now know where everything goes.

 I shouldn't have to ever set the table again or tell them why anything goes.  

I am contemplating more of these and might even sell some to make some pocket money to enable me to buy more fabric.  What do you think?  Would you buy one?  If so how much would you be willing to pay?

Reindeer Food, Hearts and Friends

I am a lucky lady you know.  I have made some wonderful friends over the internet.  I am blessed to have them and wanted to say thank you for all their support during this year.

So, we make reindeer food as part of our annual christmas traditions, therefore, I made a little extra and have packaged it off to them and their little ones as a gesture of my feelings for them.

Reindeer food

I haven't re-invented the wheel here, we basically use oats and glitter or coloured sugar.

It is dead easy to colour sugar, pop it in a plastic bag, add food colour and shake!!  We use this as we live in a rural area, but have used glitter too.

Simply mix with oats and pop in a bag and add printable label.  I had wrote the labels last year, but Amy at The Idea Room has ones you can print here 

Now things might have been quiet on the craft and sewing front on the blog, but that is due to the fact I have been busy in real life.  I have been making red hearts.

And Mother of peal button heart decorations for the big people.

 

 

 

And lots and lots of personalised stockings and zip bags for some wonderful little people!

It feels brilliant to make things myself, they are made full of love and from things in my stash, so I have managed to do this and not break the bank.  So Merry Christmas Friends and thank you for being there for me this year.

Easy Christmas Cards for Children

I think that Christmas cards that the children have made are a lovely thing to give, but often they can be messy, difficult, time consuming and complicated to make.  Not these.

Firstly you need:

Card

Masking tape

Green Paint

Sponges

Glue

Sequins or stars

Glitter

You start by cutting a tree shaped template in a piece of card.  The easiest way to do this is fold it in half.  You can make it as simple or fancy as you like.  I am simple lady myself.

Stick the template on to your card.  I also stick the card down to the table for minimad.

You can either use a sponge or just finger paint in the stencil (sponges are so much easier with small ones)

Watch out it can get messy - Mine wear the art smocks I made from MadDads old work shirts

Allow the cards to dry - MiniMad got a bit bored by this point and MaxiMad finished them off.

Decorate your trees

We used sequins, small stars and glitter

Glitter is always a favorite here

MaxiMad looking proud of his work

The finished articles, we tend to do them all shapes and sizes and do a few each week on the lead up to Christmas.

The deal is, if I have inspired you you do something similar with your chilren, then please add it to the McLinky Below.

Tea Cup Candles

Well I have been busy preparing for Christmas, we like to give homemade and  handcrafted presents and this year at TheMadHouse we are a little strapped for cash due to illness and other issues, so I am trying to make it a Thrifty Christmas.

I have been collecting pretty tea cups, saucers and tea plates from charity shops since the summer to turn them into tea cup candles for Mini and Maxi Mads teachers, teaching assistants and also the lovely ladies that run the toddler group we attend.

So  I thought I would do a quick tutorial and let you know just how easy and child friendly this is to do with the introduction of eco soy wax.

Eco Wax is wonderful, not only is it environmentally friendly made from 100% soy beans, it is clean burning and melts at a lower temperature, making it super easy and perfect for the craft enthusiast or first timer like MaxiMad and me.

What you need:

Tea cups of other containers

Wicks (I used premade voltive ones)

EcoSoy Container Wax

Scented Oils (I used Jasmine)

A microwaveable jug

I got the wax, wicks and fragrance from Debbie at Whicks n Whacks.  She is very reasonably priced especially when you take into account postage etc.

We started by washing the cups in hot water and drying them thoroughly (actually I popped them in the dishwasher),  we then melted a small amount of wax in our hands and popped a tiny amount on the bottom of the pre waxed wick and placed them in the centre of the tea cups.

We then melted some wax in the microwave just until it had all turned liquid and added 10% of the volume of fragrance to it.

Then I poured the wax into the cups and allowed to set.

It was as easy as making a cup of tea.  But the most wonderful art of this is that Eco-Soy wax is washable with soap and water, so you can wash the tea cups out and reuse them.  Any spills you make will also wipe away really easily. 

In fact I had collected so many cups and saucers we care going to have some left over, so if you are intested in buying one, please email me.

All I need to do now is to make some labels for them on luggage tags, with the details of the Eco Wax and reusability of the tea cups.