Christmas Tree Decoration

I've had this polystyrene cone hanging around in my craft room for, oh about three years now. I also have a metric ton of buttons and brads. So, in an effort to somehow combine the two, I made this little tree decoration for the mantle.

I painted the cone red first (it's a little bit rough looking for my liking) and then started adding buttons and brads all over it. It's actually way nicer from afar lol, but I'm happy enough with it for a 15 minute project.

I started with a ring of buttons around the base, but then I got impatient and just added the others in a haphazard way!

Thanks for looking!

 

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Craft Show Planning.

I have my first craft show coming up in November and I'm so excited for it. I have been brainstorming ideas for my display and I came across this stand on google. I thought something like this would be perfect for my makeup bags.

 

I was planning on making one for myself, but I found something similar for sale on the local adverts. It's an old sweet stand and with a bit of work, it will work great. I am going to paint it using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Florence. I'll post updated photos as soon as I'm finished!

 

 

 

 

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Birthday Card and Present

I finished off the last of my friend's birthday present today. First off is the card. I used PTI's Lovely Layers for the background and a birthday sentiment from a set that I can't remember the name of!

As an extra little gift, I made a cosmetic bag using this brilliant Halloween pin up fabric from Alexander Henry. She will love it!!

This bag is quite a bit bigger than my usual ones, but the print is so big that it really needs that larger size. It's nice and roomy, so I think I might start offering this size in the shop.

Thanks for visiting!

 

 

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Framed Cross Stitch

I know I blogged about this cross stitch way back at the beginning of the year, but I'm only getting around to framing and gifting it now. For shame! It was intended as a Christmas present for a friend, but by the time I got round to seeing her, I totally forgot about it. As her 30th birthday is this week, I thought I'd include it as part of her present.

 

I got the 7x9" frame from a local discount store and added some pretty pin up ladies. I bought these laser woodcuts for making brooches for the shop. These ones are a bit to narrow to work with though, so I kept them for scrapbooking and projects such as this! My friend is a big pin up fan, so I hope she likes it!

Please excuse the shine off the glass!

 

 

Close up detail of the ladies.

 

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Ikat Birthday Wishes

 

I made this fun and colourful birthday card, using one small stamp from PTI's Ikat stamp set. I seem to keep going back to pink and green as a combo. It just makes me smile!

I had every intention of getting some serious sewing done today, but my craft room was so untidy, I just had to clean it. My fabric stash is quickly outgrowing it's current storage space, so I had a scout around for some ideas. I saw a lot of talk about using comic book boards. You can see an example in the photo below. I think it would be the best use of my space, if teamed with a Billy bookcase from Ikea.

Aren't they pretty all lined up!

Photo credit: Smashed Peas and Carrots

If any other fabric fanatics have some suggestions for storage, please share!

 

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Plastic Bottle Flowers & A Card

There was a festival in my home village of Killala a fortnight ago and I just had to share these photos from it. There was an incredible plastic bottle flower garden exhibit beside the old round tower. I would love to make a ton of these for my own garden! The colours are so striking. Hard to believe that they are made from old rubbish!

 

They even made a big tree.

 

 

This is a quick wedding card I made for my cousin. The paper scraps and stickers are all from the "For The Record" paper pack by Echo Park.

 

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Furniture Upcycle Using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

We've just recently moved house, and there were a few bits of furniture that came with it that weren't really to my taste. Structurally they were completely sound, just not too pretty. I am on a bright colours kick at the moment, so I decided to use some colour to bring these old fashioned pieces back to life.

After visiting The Gaiety Antique and Vintage Store in Westport, Mayo (they have another shop in Galway), I discovered they sold Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. You can use it on practically every surface and the best part is there is no prep work or priming necessary. The shades that this range has are just gorgeous. I bought the three colours below and I just adore them!

Antibes Green

 

Florence

 

English Yellow

This was the before picture. It was a looker I'm sure you'll agree!

And after 2 coats of Antibes Green, a coat of wax, and some new fabric!

So pleased with how it turned out!

Stand by for more posts of me painting random things around the house!

 

 

If you're ever in the Westport/Galway area, try and call in to the Gaiety. They're lovely ladies and have some real treasures for sale!

 

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