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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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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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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Emily Peacock Tapestry- The Meeting Place.

I was sorting through some stuff today and came across this tapestry. It was my first attempt at needlework and was a HUGE undertaking for a beginner project. It took the guts of a year on and off and by the time I finished, I was sick of the sight of it! I must get it framed and onto the wall, as its so vibrant. It doesn't look that way in the photo, but we don't seem to be getting any natural light these days. So hard to get decent photos of anything.

The kit was bought from Emily Peacock and she has some fantastic designs available. I have always wanted to make the Hug and Kiss pillows. I think they were featured on that Kirstie Allsop crafting programme.

I love this new design as well.

And this older one too!

 

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Envelope Cushion

During a recent visit to Ikea, I bought a load of fabric. For this cushion, I used the Eivor Leva and an old black pillow case for the back. The cushion insert is 20x20" and is also from Ikea. The insert was only €6 and it's really comfy and chock full of stuffing. I'm making these as part of my mum's Christmas present. One down, three to go!

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Batman's Enemies Cross Stitch.

I got this cross stitch finished during the week. It's a gift for my friend who is a Batman fanatic! I really enjoyed stitching this, especially Poison Ivy. I found the pattern really easy to follow and it took me about a week and a half of doing it in the evenings. The gift was a success anyway. He loved it so much that he asked me to make a Lord of the Rings one for his girlfriend. Sorry about the glare on the photo, but I forgot to take a photo before I framed it.

Just editing to add in the details of the design. I bought a PDF of the design from an Etsy shop called WeeLittleStitches. I highly recommend them and found the owners, Jacqueline and Christopher, great to deal with.

 

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Altered Noticeboard.

I needed a noticeboard for my craft room, so I picked up this cheap one from a discount shop. It was only €4, so if my plans went horribly wrong it wouldn't be too much of a disaster! 

I sprayed the frame with black gloss spray paint first. However, the coverage wasn't great, so I went over the whole thing with black acrylic paint. I used some Alexander Henry fabric to cover the cork board. I attached it with scor-tape and then pushed the edges of the fabric into the frame with a scalpel. To finish, I hot glued some red buttons to the corners. The red and black buttons in the middle are hot glued onto push pins to jazz them up a bit. Looking at the picture, I realise I forgot to reattach the white board marker.

I plan on using the white board to keep track of any challenges I want to enter. I probably won't use the bottom part, because I like the fabric too much to cover it!

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Canvas Button Art

I found this 6x6 canvas in the €2 shop and have been trying to think of something to do with it for a few weeks. There were loads of ideas on Pinterest, but this post on Mod Podge Rocks made me decide on using buttons. I have a BIG surplus of buttons, so it seemed to be a good way of using my stash.

I used a square of PTI Autumn Rose card stock as a base and then layered some white linen card over it. I did a rough circle and then just started sticking down buttons. I used scortape and it holds perfectly. I suppose a glue gun would be good too, although I find I get those stringy glue bits on my projects. The buttons are from PTI mainly, in the shades Autumn Rose, Hibiscus Burst and Simply Chartreuse. I added some bling and pearls to fill up the smaller spaces. And that's it, about a half hour of work and I have something nice to hang on my wall. I think I will get a bigger canvas and maybe do one with felt flowers.

Thanks for looking!

 

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