A Message to You Photo Frame! Pin.010

Hello all! Time for another pin post! Clicking on the pin took me to Jill Ruth & Co. This pin (like all the others) is super easy peasy. All you need is:


A fairly large photo frame, the one I used was 15cm x 20cm.
Scrapbook paper
Dry erase marker pen


And that is it!



Take a piece of scrapbook paper and trim as necessary. Plain or lightly patterned paper like this one works best.

Put the scrapbook paper into the frame..

And write your chosen message! You can't get easier than this! Here are some possible uses for the Message Photo Frame:

So there you have it. One Message Photo Frame. Wipe off and change the message as often as you like, use as a reminder, shopping list, message to a loved one etc etc! Also change the background whenever you like, just change the scrapbook paper!

I love it, SO ridiculously easy to do, both cute and practical! What more could you want from a pin?

Origami Paper Stars! Pin.009

Hello all! so I was considering which pin to do this week when I came across this tutorial for origami stars by Minna May. The great thing about this pin is that all you need is a piece of paper! the stars can be used for loads of things... cards, decorations... um.. cards and decorations??

Okay so I'm feeling particularly unimaginative right now but I'm sure you can think of lots of things to use them for... right?

Anyways... They were quite fun to do, quite quick and not too tricky after a bit of practice. I practised with plain white A4 paper then used the pretty patterned paper afterwards.

Got an A4 piece of paper? Then you're ready to rumble!

The tutorial asks for strips of paper 8.5" x 0.5". However, the shorter side of A4 is 8.3" so I used that measurement and it worked fine :)

Make a ribbon shape with the paper, fiddle around with it until it looks like this:

Poke the short tab inside the hole and gently pull through

You then need to flattern the paper a bit and fold over the excess tab:

Then begin folding the long strip of paper over the base of the star:

 And fold it over the back of the star:

And keep going. You will find that the paper sits comfortably in one direction so you don't have to worry too much about folding it in the wrong angle. Eventually you'll get to the end of the strip of paper and have something that looks like this:

You then need to tuck the tab inside the folds so it's hidden. Like this:

And you should have something like this:

The next bit required two hands so I couldn't take a picture, so I have borrowed one from Minna May. Holding the star, push your nail into each side of the star, forcing it into a star shape.

And Ta Da! You are finished!

Like I said before, it takes a bit of patience and practice, but they came out really nice! It's trickier with thicker paper, but I think the trick is to make sure the stars are folded quite tight - though take care not to tear them!

It took a couple of attempts, but I soon got the hang of making these stars. To do it properly it's not super quick but it doesn't take ages either! I think they look best on pretty patterned paper. I have yet to use them for anything but I'm impressed with how well these came out. I am by no means a seasoned origami maker! Please let me know if my instructions need clarifying - it's a hard thing to describe!

Jazzed Up Fairy Lights! Pin.006

Hello and Merry Christmas! Forgive the shortness of this post but hungry husband and I are currently on holiday and have hardly any phone signal/internet!

Anyway onto this short post. Though I decided to do 2 pins this week.. I so far have only been successful in doing one! This is a great way of updating your fairy lights. So here goes:

'Jazzed Up Fairy Lights!'
Another super easy pin. When I clicked on the pin it said 'blog not found'. Boo.

You will need:
Fairy lights (I used 2 sets of battery powered lights from Wilko's and joined them together). You ideally want lights with a clear or white wire, a green or back wire doesn't look so good. Battery powered lights have the benefit of being able to be used anywhere.
Organza Ribbon or 'Tulle' fabric

And that's it!

I tried two different ways of using the lights, I'll put both here and you can decide for yourselves which you like best!

Method 1: Find a nice sized vase and wrap the ribbon around the outside of the vase. You'll find if the ribbon has been stored on a reel it will easily fit into the vase. Secure the ribbon with sellotape and put the lights in, making sure any switches are accessible near the top of the vase.

It will look something like this:

Method 2: Cut roughly small strips of Organza ribbon and tie round the lights at regular intervals. Continue tying ribbon all the way down the lights, the more ties the better. (This was the method I liked best).

Personally I prefer the second way but I think both look nice. 

I like it, it was simple, quick, cheap and effective. The lights I used weren't actually as blue as the picture, they were white lights. Warm white lights and/or cream ribbon may have worked better, but I couldn't find any! It's nothing to write home about but it has a nice effect...

Soon to come....  'Roly Poly Mince Pies!'

Oh Sew Simple Gift Tags! Pin.005

Here's my pin number 5! This is my jazzed up version of the original pin posted below. The original was pretty in a minimalist kind of way but not really me.. You can find the original pin here which will take you to the blog Simple Pretty. The blog then directed me to the etsy site where you can buy 6 of these gift tags for $10. (Or if you prefer you can follow my tutorial below and make your own!)

These were so easy I'm not even sure I can call this a tutorial.. but hey, here's my tutorial for 'Oh Sew Simple Gift Tags'...

You will need:
Card (I used left-over lined note cards from my student days.. )
Thread of various colours
Needle
Left over buttons/sequins
String/twine
Hole puncher

And that's all!

First I cut off the top section of the note card to get rid of the ugly blue line...

On the left side of the card I drew a vertical line. I then chose some pretty thread and a matching button...

And used backstitch to sew down the vertical grey line with the pink thread and did two cross-stitches at the end. If you're lucky enough to have a sewing machine then make use of it, as it will make the job much quicker! However, if like me you haven't got one, you can just do it by hand.

It doesn't matter if the line isn't perfectly straight, it gives that 'home-made' feel to it (well... that's what I told myself!). You can use any stitch you like. I remember backstitch from my school days but if you're not familiar with it, it's really easy:

I then did another line across the top like this:

Put the two coloured threads together and sewed on the button...

Used the holepunch and attached the twine. And hey presto! It's complete!

I will stencil on the names once I decide who to give them to (with ink pen, I am not ready to try paint again after the trouble I had with my last pin... shudder...). I did three different designs, which one do you like best?

As long as you have the hang of running stitch and backstitch you'll find it easy enough, and even easier if you have a sewing machine. I would advise sewing along the lines as it much easier to get a straight(ish) line. It does take a little time, so not so useful as a last minute save!

I really like them... They're really nice to use for a special gift. It's also a good way of using up note cards that would have just been gathering dust. BUT in my opinion it's a fair bit of effort for something that will, in all likelihood, get chucked in the bin. To make them more of a keepsake maybe you could write sayings or phrases on them and then attach magnets to the back to make a fridge magnet? Or you could tie them onto door handles as decoration? Do you have any other ideas? 

Double pin time! Because it's nearly Christmas I will attempt two pins this week. Am I mad? Yes, Yes I am!

'Pretty Christmas Lights'

and... 'Roly-Poly Mince Pies' - these look yum!

For some reason comments have been disabled on here for people not using Gmail, but it now works (hopefully!)