35th project announcement

Hello, Sunday evening again! I have tomorrow off as it's a Bank Holiday here in the UK so I am really looking forward to spending some time with the family and not working. In the meantime I had better show you what I am going to use for this week's project!

An old pillow, I treated myself to some new 'Memory Foam' pillows to see if they would help my neck and his shoulders. I'm not sure but they are very comfortable. The only trouble is being left with the old pillows which are not really any good for anything but the bin so I thought I would have a go with one of them and see what I could come up with. So here goes - check back on Saturday to see what I made.

34th Project Completed - A shiny embroidered gift box

Hi!


Well I guess it's that time again, so here is this weeks completed project. A Little gift box made with the sweetie wrappers from last week, as I love chocolate so much I just had to top it off with an interlocking heart closure!

Materials

• Foil sweetie wrappers 
• Heavy sew in interfacing
• Freezer paper
• Inkjet printer
• Bondaweb
• Sewing machine and multi-coloured thread
• Hand sewing needle
• Small scrap of a man-made chiffon scarf (the kind you might find in a charity shop) 
• Baking Parchment paper
• Iron

Instructions

1. Iron an A4 sized piece of freezer paper to your Interfacing and trim fabric back to A4 size. Now print out the box onto the interfacing with an Inkjet printer.

2. Once fully dried, remove the freezer paper and turn over (You should still be able to see the design through the fabric). Iron on a piece of Bondaweb just large enough to cover the design and remove the paper backing. Now add small cut and ripped pieces of sweetie wrapper all over the design area.

3. Once complete, cover with another piece of Bondaweb, a scrap of chiffon scarf large enough to cover the design area, and a piece of baking parchment to protect your iron and press. Once cooled, carefully remove the parchment paper 

Front                                            Reverse

4. With the sewing machine set to straight stitch and your feed dogs lowered or covered, work small interlocking circles all over design area as above. You do not need to be precise and don't worry if you go over the edge. It helps to have the machine running quickly.

5. Once you have covered the entire area, cut out the box shape and carefully fold and stitch the box together.

6. Hey Presto, a fun little embroidered gift box! You will notice that the inside is just as interesting as the outside.

34th Project Announcement

Good evening all!

Well another busy weekend has been and gone so it must be time to announce this week's project.

I must admit to having a few too many choccies this week but all in a good cause - it enables me to use the wrappers for a project!

So wish me luck and join me on Saturday evening to see the results. I have no idea what I will come up with but I think it should be a good one.

33rd project completed - A fizzy drinks can oil burner!

Hi, well this one has been great fun so simple and very effective not to mention useful!

An essential oil burner made from two Diet Coke cans! I think these would make great little gifts with some practice or prove very useful used with Citronella essence for those late summer outdoor parties to keep the bugs at bay!


Materials

• 2 fizzy drinks cans
• Scissors
• Hole Punch
• Car spray paint
• Tea-light

Instructions

1. Cut the top off of one can with a can opener (I used a can opener that goes on the top rather than the side).

2. Cut a semi-circular area out at the bottom of the can to to insert the candle, and make some holes with a hole punch or a screwdriver. Please take care as the edges can become sharp when cut.

3. Cut the bottom off another can and place it on the top to act as a bowl to place your essence in.

4. To decorate: Spray all parts with the spray paint to hide the advertising on the can and glue on some beads or stones.

5. Place a tea-light in the bottom and add some essence to the bowl, light the tea-light and there you are a home made essence burner! I might take this one a little further and add a handle to the next one and maybe try some shaped punches for the holes.

33rd project announcement

Hello and welcome to this evening's project announcement. My daughter has very kindly had a couple of cans of Diet Coke this week and has left the cans on the side in the kitchen instead of disposing of them so I have decided to have a go at creating something with them.

See you next week for the results!

32nd project completed - A beautiful garden light

The weather has been so warm here for the last few weeks we have been eating a few meals outside. What we don't have are any night lights to light up the garden. So I thought I would try making some. This one was based on a Tiffany style lampshade that I own, covered in dragonflies it is colourful and so on trend at the moment and is designed to hang outside.


Here it is....

A dragonfly night light


Materials needed

• An old jam jar
• tissue paper in assorted colours
• PVA glue
• Varnish
• Beading wire
• A few beads
• China-graph pencil / permanent pen 
• Black permanent marker pen

Instructions

1. Remove the label from the jam jar and clean thoroughly. 

2. Draw out your dragonflies around the base of the jar using the china-graph pencil / permanent pen

2. Paint a layer of PVA glue all over the jar and start laying down layers of torn tissue paper to make a background leaving the areas where you have marked out the dragonflies.

3. Once completely covered, allow to dry then fill in the dragonflies. Allow to dry

4. Add details such as wing markings with a black permanent marker.

5. Add a couple of coats of varnish to weather-proof your creation.

6. Twist a couple of pieces of wire together and incorporate some beads to make a hanging handle.

7. Twist a length of wire around the jar and hook the handle to it. Place a tea-light inside, light and hang up. Please take care when handling the jar whilst and after the tea-light has been lit the glass of the jar will become hot when in use.

32nd project announcement

Well, yet another very busy weekend is over. I have been playing with Dad's Clayton wagon all day up at Hollycombe which was fun. I took a lovely picture of it that I thought I would share with you all as you are probably wondering what on earth I am talking about when I refer to the engines!


Here she is.....

Anyway I should really get round to announcing this week's project. I always recycle my glass jars but I thought I would see what I could make with one of them instead so this week I will be using an old mayonnaise jar.

See you all Saturday for the result!

31st project completed - A plastic bottle necklet

Happy evening! 



I say 'Happy' as we are all supposed to be statistically the happiest this year between the hours of 6pm and 7pm this evening. Were you? I'm not entirely convinced about all that but I am certainly happy to show you this week's project!

A neck-let made from recycled plastic bottles!


Materials needed

• A few plastic bottles
• Permanent markers or glass paint
• Thick wire
• Multi purpose glue
• Jewellery clasp
• Long nosed pliers
• Heat tool

Instructions

1. Cut a section from one of your bottles and using the heat gun, gently heat it. You will find it bends, buckles and twists into a shape of it's own. Trim into a pleasing shape as you go. I made one large and one small shape

2. Once cooled, you can colour them with the permanent markers or glass paint.

3. Make a hole at the top of the larger shape with a sharp, heated needle. Glue the smaller shape to the larger one where it fits best.

4. To make the beads, colour a 1cm wide strip of the plastic with the paint or markers. Then holding one end with the long nosed pliers, wrap the strip tightly around the pliers. Move the pliers so you have one of the noses through the bead and hold the rest in place by clamping together. Now heat gently with the heat gun until the layers have melted slightly and stuck together.

5. Thread the beads and the pendant onto a length of thick beading wire making a twist at the top of the pendant to hold it in place. Attach the clasp and jump ring to finish.