Oilcloth Pencil Case

This weekend me and my nice friend Eartha have made a pencil case (and some secret bunting which will appear once it's finished!). The outer oilcloth is Cath kidston, as is the inner alphabet print but sadly this is now out of stock. I bought some boy friendly alphabet ribbon and have so far only used it on girl things, but it is pretty lovely!

Fabric Covered Bangle

Just a very quick post to show you a quick fabric covered bangle I made, if anyone wants to see how then please ask, there are lots of tutorials about for these though! I have also been making a few family gifts but I am waiting for them to wing their way to their new owners before showing pictures :)

I also seem to have worked my poor laptop so hard the Ctrl and Shift keys have fallen off! Will be needing to replace these soon!

Felt Rose and Union Jack Pillow

Hello! I have been stuck in bed so I have been passing the time making felt roses (see The Purl Bee for instructions) which I have made into a pillow! I also had a go at making it a friend in the form of a fun Union Jack, it took all of 20 mins, and quite a bit of that was finding the padding I had somehow hidden from myself, see this tutorial if you would like one too!

I tried using the bathroom as a background this time, the colour looks much better - what do you think. Here are the pillows in their new home for comparison, ugly yellowness!

Hooray: Featured on 'One Pretty Thing'

My satchel bag tutorial was featured on One Pretty Thing's 'Daily DIY' section yesterday night (afternoon for the site as it is US based), already I have had a few more visitors and some positive feedback so will certainly be making more tutorials soon! Hello to the new readers!

One Pretty Thing's Daily DIY Feb 19th 2010

Enjoy x

Satchel Bag Tutorial

I saw a satchel bag in Cath Kidston ages ago which was very expensive but very nice, so I had a go at making one similar today. To make your own you need 2 half yards of your chosen fabric and 1 long or 2 shorter belts (I used 1 for the strap and a smaller one for the buckle).

UPDATE: I have attempted to write a tutorial to show you how to make this bag, it's my first try so please let me know if it works and what you think!

Blue Bag for Eartha

My friend helped me pick out some fabric this weekend, so I used some of it to make an impro bag for her! I bought the cotton print fabric ages ago (just a fq) and had meant it to go to her at some point, so it was great to finally use it!

The inside has 2 open pockets for phone and railcards and a zip pocket for other bits and bobs. The other lining fabric is very thick giving the bag a nice structure!

Another Monday 15th post!

Lots of posts today! I have been quite rushed recently but it is now half term (hooray) so I am having a pajama day and sorting out my plants and the blog and drinking a lot of tea! I have been experimenting with ginger beer along with a friend recently, the light one at the front is his attempt, it smells nicer than mine but is not as fizzy (not sure if that makes it better as mine hurts when you drink it!). Not exactly pretty looking but good fun, the problem is me and my lovely partner will not be able to get through all this on our own before it goes vinegary, so may have to invent some ginger beer recipes!

I did originally store mine in these beautiful pop top bottles, but the mess that ensues when you open them means I quicky decided to swap them over for a screw top and put the lemonade from the bottle in these instead (so they still feel useful!)! The bigger problem is now I have to drink the lemonade quickly too!

Bath

I had the absolute best weekend for ages with lots of my favourite people (minus my lovely family who are equally as amazing) and lots of cider and good food. It is the first time I have been back to my beautiful University city since I was a student 2 years ago, it has changed alot in some places but looks so much better as a result, in others it was the same as always.


One amazing improvement is that I have discovered THE BEST fabric shop I have ever been to in a tiny street which I had no idea existed until this weekend. I only took up sewing once I had left Bath so I probably never noticed it but I was in my element! They also do mail order, but thanksfully (for the sake of my bank balance) do not have a website yet! I splashed out a little on the things below, not cheap but not expensive and so so pretty!

More Carboot Fun & * BURLAP *

I forgot to photograph some other bits and pieces I got from the local carboot sale last week, so here they are now! I also have jumped on the bandwagon a little as everyone seems to have it and bought some burlap (jute??? hessian??? no idea what to call it really)! It was not such a random desicion as on carboot day me and my Mum also saw a burlap/jute/hessian pillow with beads in Debenhams for £50!!! It was about 8" by 8", and I feel I must remake said pillow to see how much cheap I can get it, so far I have bought material worth £2, I am aiming for £6 but we shall see, alot of beads were involved!

I also got some very 70s teatowels, random lacey fabric and red ribbony stuff for £2 at the carboot, might be cool for kiddy presents if nothing else, it was nice and bright and I was cold so it felt a good idea to buy at the time !

Valentines Gifts

I am so glad Valentines is over, I do love the idea but most blogs seem to become filled with pink and hearts and cupcakes and I feel inspiration withdrawl! I did make my lovely partner a Valentines gift or 2, the edible ones disappeared before photography could take place but luckily I also made him an Eel's arty picture to go above his PC, hooray for boy art! I am actually quite proud, it looks half ok!


Little did I know that he was going to really push the boat out this year (no irony intended, this is an amazing present) and hunted down some Almdudler in London (I am amazed!!!!) and got me 2 cans! Almdudler is one of those holiday things I have not had for ages and ages, it comes from Austria and even there is tough to get hold of sometimes, I am saving mine for a special treat.

Fish Tank, Seedlings and a new Basket

This post has been a long time in the making, but finally our new fish tank looks presentable enough to be displayed - so here it is! It's hard to tell the size from the photo but it's 180 litres, (2.5 foot across) and is bowed at the front! My partner is the fishkeeper and he really wanted a well planted tank, it will take a while to look amazing but it will be great when it does!

Conveniantly the top of the fishtank is a balmy 21 degrees 100% of the time, a perfect underheater for our windowsill greenhouses. My Dad advised us on how best to plant out the seeds today and now they are getting nice and toasty, hopefully this will help them germinate nice and slow and strong, or that's the idea anyway! As the fishtank, is, well, wet, we had to devise a washproof labelling system!

Oh forgot to mention I also got this ace basket from the car boot earlier, £4! My Mum was very persausive and made me buy it, not sure I like it at first, but now I am very taken with it, so sorry Mum it will not be turning up filled with Mother's day goodies as suggested this year!

Pillowcase Bag and More Cakes

Today my Parents came to visit and to take my brother home, we went to the local car boot sale, great fun and amazingly it starts at the civilised hour of 11am! I got lots of things (will share in next post) but for now here is a bag I made out of a 20p pillowcase! I went for the Monsoon style slight use of sequins as it looked a little too old 70s bedspread for my liking! Not sure I like it still, but nevermind!

Did you spot the ribbon tag? It looks better in real life I think! My brother also helped me make yet more cakes, these are 'Queen Cakes' which are basically very egg heavy cupcakes with raisins and nutmeg, they have stayed so sticky they are great! My bro is a little more handy with a camera than I, I love the arty kettle shot!

Charity Shop Bargins

Had a bit of a browse of the local charity shops today, almosts got undercharged in 1 but I spoke up, must have been good karma as I found some very fun stuff! I found some pillowcase fronts (I have only done 1 so far) for 45p, handmade by some lovely person, so I backed this one with a teatowel from ASDA, that makes a total of 95p per pillow, not bad huh!

They also had some really cool individual pie dishes, there may be lots of pie photos to come over the next few weeks!

Hooray for Pies!

Coffee Cakes

My brother has come to stay and we have done so much in a tiny time, including making these ace coffee cakes (we have eaten most of them, only 1 made it to the iced-photography stage).

Recipe: 220g self rasing flour, 220g butter, 220 light brown sugar, 4 small or 3 medium eggs and 4 tsps instant coffee dissolved in 4 tbsps hot water and left to cool. Cream butter sugar, slowly add eggs, stir in flour, then cooled coffee and mostly fill cake cases, cook for 25 mins at 180 degrees! Butter ice and eat!

Pinboard Present & Pancakes

Twas my lovely friend Eartha's Birthday last weekend and she requested a pinboard to brighten up her house has part of her gift. I had some random primark top fabric that was ideal for this, I had to go and buy a staple gun (something I had wanted for ages) and decided to buy the el-cheapo brand to try out, to my amazement it's really good, I am very glad I did not splash out on a shiny one! I sewed (although you could glue) buttons to the 4 outer crosses for a bit of decoration, the middle I left open for larger items - something I did not do on my own pinboard and now regret a bit! She seemed to like it muchly!

I also tried my hand at making scotch pancakes, they were really tasty and very simple. You need 1 egg, 30g sugar, 1/4 pint of milk and 120g self raising flour. Whizz it with a whisk/processor and ladel onto an oiled pan, medium high heat, flip when the underside becomes golden at the edge and bubbles appear on the top (40 secs - 1 min). I like mine with blackcurrents and icecream!