Merry Christmas in advance! :)

I will be back in 38 days. I truly hope you have an amazing Christmas-time! :)

A short announcement

I gots a job!! From the 14th I will be selling soap and candles at the German Market eeeevery single day, all day, until the 22th of December. It's going to be long hard days, but the you're reading the blog of a Director now... I know... respect, eh? I want to say that again. Director. Director. Director!  Yeah, I took it too far. But it's probably the only time in my life I'll be able to call myself that, so Imma take advantage! Director.

How cool is this garlic soap?

My point is, I won't be too active on this blog - I simply won't have time for anything but work. I will have about 12 hours long workdays, and then there's about 1-2 hours travel, and then I have to try to fit in making breakfast, lunches, dinners, having showers, brushing teeth, not oversleep.. But this is a miracle for us. We've been in a real crunch, and this will put a proper bandaid on our debt, not to mention we could be able to get Jian's sister and mom some ok gifts for their coming birthdays. But that's it - for Christmas everyone's getting soap.

I will try my best to fit in some Christmas inspiration and tutorials (I love Christmas), but I can't guarantee anything at all. It's a shame because we had to do Christmas on a major budget last year, and I think I did ok, considering. I'll show you our Christmas tree some other day, in case you happen to have to do this year with an extremely tight wallet, it was quite cool! (Oh my, what a teaser...)


Have you started thinking about Christmas yet? It's all I think about in November!

Sit down, get comfortable - crochet a tie!

Just because you're cold in the winter, doesn't mean you can't be fashionable with something other than scarves, does it? Why not make a tie?

 

 

 It's cute, it's warm, and it's an easy evening-project!

7 great Halloween tutorials

I am doing some personal life maintenance, and I will be back wednesday (if not sooner), with something quite cool for you guys :)

Halloween is coming up, and personally I can't wait to dig into some really bad, old classics. Freddy, IT, Nightmare Before Christmas (NOT to be counted as a bad one, their songs simply make me happy!).

I searched the net for some fun Halloween tutorials. I tried to gather something budget-friendly, and I found some really great ones!

 

 

DIY Mummy Luminary

 

 

I love any excuse for special and fun decor, but unfortunately I can't afford to this year.

Do you transform your house for Halloween? What will you be watching whilst ignoring those pesky little beggars? ;)

 

Paper-bow necklace

 

While working on a crochet-pattern, I took a break and continued the cardboard/magazine necklaces. I also found these cute origami bows, and thought they'd make really cute glittery necklaces. If you want to learn how to make the bow, you can find the tutorial here.

 

 Don't worry, I haven't complicated anything, it's still just hairspray as glue and gloss ;)

 

 

 

 

Glitter moustache!

Planning to tidy makes me very productive! ...with other things. So I didn't tidy the craftroom like I planned, but I made some jewelry, which I haven't done in years. It was fun :) I found this great tutorial of how to make glittery jewelry with stuff you already have in the house (assuming you have mod podge (or simple Elmers glue) and glitter). And it was so easy and fun. I haven't had time to be supercreative with shapes, so I kept it to a moustache for Jian's sister, and a heart (for moi). I like the results, but I'm concerned about how longlasting it is. We'll see.

 

 

I really didn't like the moustache-trend before, but it's really started to grow on me! I always start liking things when it's on its way out of fashion.. typical.

 

Paintings at its very cheapest

Yesterday I found this great piece of art on HowDoesShe, and even though I had none of the supplies needed, I refused to let that stop me. So, with my photoframe-cardboard backing, silver spraypaint as a background and some cheap kids paint from ASDA, I got started. And I'm quite pleased with this free result. I would usually be picky about this, and probably not like it too much, but with my wallet being as tight as it is, I LOVE IT! :)

 

 

Here's the original, gorgeous and quite genius, Circle Tree Modern Art. I can't wait to redo it with proper paint and canvasses.

Have an awesome Monday :)

Handy Heart knock-off

While ripping up an old magazine for paint-protection, I saw the cutest heart memoboard. And while I would like to have £23 to use for that, I simply don't. But I refuse to yearn for things when I have cereal boxes! I swear, if I had an engine, I could build a car with cereal boxes. Hell, if I could be bothered, I'm sure I could make the engine!
 

 

Get ready for winter in an evening!

...with this quick and cute Pavement Infinity Scarf. And I promise there's no cheating necessary, as the pattern is really easy. Simple and gorgeous. Enough selling? Just look at the pictures then ;)

 

 

 

Autumn is the perfect time to make a nice cup of hot chocolate, and sit down with a hook and some yarn ♥

 

Fall (in love)

Today was a gorgeous day. The leaves were a beautiful green/red/yellow combination, and the sun was glowing warm.

 

Jewelry Coathanger

I have been wanting to do this project for ages now, and I started it two weeks ago, but it proved to be

more than a 10-min project so it went to the bottom of my priorities. But today seemed like a great day to complete an old project.

 

Another one for my to do-list

I just found this, and I thought it was so beautiful that I had to put it straight on here. This is definitely one I will try (once that damn lottery announces me as a winner), and while it looks complex and gorgeous, I think it's something even I can accomplish :)

 

 

Bird's Nest Mess Wire Wrapped Marble

 

 

Additional tip from the maker of this pendant: "If you are going to fracture (fry) marbles per the instructions I provided, you'll need to find marbles that are made up of transparent glass (whether clear or tinted). That way you can see the facets. If they are opaque (where light doesn't go through them), they don't work. Good luck with your project. "

 

 



Happy Birthday Jian!!

26! You're an OLD OLD man!! Soon you'll be saying things like "damn kids, get off my lawn! I will beat you with my walking stick!" (Violence-jokes aren't funny.) :)

 <3 you

 

 

So this again, will just be a quicky. I will take proper pictures of Jian modelling it later, but for now I know you're all dying to see what I made him for his birthday. Right?

 

In the mood for a quicky?

Just a quick little post today, as I am crazy busy finishing birthday-gifts, and whatnot, today, tomorrow and what seems to be forever and always. This is not a tutorial, it's more of a creative kick in the butt, but it's a really good one.

 

I found it at my favorite site Cut Out + Keep. If you haven't been then you should check it out, as it has just about everything you need to occupy you for the rest of your life. Once in a while you'll just go "how did you think of that?", and this idea is one of those, as it is genius, and it looks gorgeous :)

 

Refashioned Jacket

 

Birdcage lamp

Despite not actually doing much on this, I am so proud of it, probably because I actually opened some wires and managed to successfully put them back together again (and I didn't steal the idea from someone else ;) I really like the look of it on my shelf as well, with the bare lightbulbs and white flowers inside. The birdcage was a gift from Jian  on Valentines Day (because he rocks, and listens when I rant about what I want in shops), and it looked awesome on its own. But we needed a lamp, and I had spare wires, so I present the result.

 

Skeleton Leaf Fairylights!

 

 

This is one of the longest projects! Because it was a long project, this will be a bit of a long post as well.

In honor of...

 

...horrible cramps!

I finally came up with an idea for what to do for Jian's birthday, and I am just so relieved! You know, when you're broke and you kind of just give in and say "I'll just have to give him something great next year", but you're still so sad that your special someone has to have a birthday without a gift. He's male as well, so it's not like I can just make something cute to hang jewelry on, add some flowers and wrap it pretty! So I've been working on that all day. It's small, but very timeconsuming, especially since I want it to be something he'll actually use, so it has to look professional (no pressure for my mediocre hands). Am I the only one who finds it extra hard to come up with ideas for a homemade gift for men?

 

Back to the cramps; I can't show you what it is until the 3rd of October, so I thought I'd share with you a project I can't wait to do tomorrow morning. Making my own heating pads. I think this will be in a lot of people's gifts from now on. ;) ..don't think I'll make mine red though.

 

Anyhooo - there's a full tutorial, but this is not really something you can fail with. And how cozy do they look? Quick and easy, but with a great feeling of accomplishment (the best way to craft)!

 

 

I think I'll make one specifically for shoulders as well. That'll be nice for the coming winter.

 What are you making for the coming winter? Is anyone else starting to mini-panic about christmas gifts?

 

Applique tablecloths

Today has been a very productive day. No housework, but I've crossed out two very tedious tasks from my list; making the skeleton leaves, and finishing the set of my applique tablecloths.

 

 

 

Internet down!

My internet is acting up, but I will be back with more goodies as soon as possible!

 

Awaiting:

Birdcage lamp

Ikea paperlamp updo

Jewelry coathanger storage

What will I do with my newly salvaged drawers?

 

 

 

I bet you're all trembling with anticipation ;)

Craftroom organizing

Today I have continued my...I don't know what to call it really. Not too long ago we rescued a shelf, a baby changing table, a shoe rack and an old wardrobe from being taken to the dump. They all fit our house perfectly, with only small flaws on each one. Now, the wardrobe fell down and broke in pieces, but I managed to save 4 of the boards, with no idea what to do with it. But surprise! With some of these things, I turned our old laundry room into a craft-room/office. It won't be an office until we get a better desk, as Jian is quite tall, and the wardrobe-boards that I flipped upside down and used as a desk, is a bit too low for his comfort. For me it works ok as a temporary solution. It's better than sewing and whatnot in the livingroom, as my crafting had a tendency to spread all over the place.

As always, I digress. Now, the last board from the wardrobe, I turned into this.

 

Vanity Mirror on a budget!

Despite me being sick, and not having a job, I still can't fully rest as there are lots of birthdays coming up! Now, my boyfriends family is pretty silly - they all have birthdays from August to December, and quite frankly it just pisses me off! I mean, space it out for a poor, broke couple! And Christmas is right afterwards, by which time we are more than broke, but I still want to have a Christmas-dinner I can't afford. Now, they don't celebrate Christmas, but I just love it, so it's all up to me.

 

Anyways, I digress. Last month Jian's sister (that's my boyfriend) had her birthday, and we made her this homemade vanity mirror for her room that was missing both a mirror and light. Did anyone say perfect? We were quite pleased with the results, but unfortunately the picture isn't very good.

 

Sickday already

I've been pretty ill lately, so I want to make something, but I can't gather my head enough to actually do it. SO, I thought I'd put up some links to projects I really want to try, but facing the truth; I probably wont.

 

My partner's grandmother gave me her old sewing-machine recently, and I just love it. But despite my nagging her through my teens, my mom never actually taught me how to sew, so I'm really bad at it. I still try though, and here's some of the projects I want to try next:

Jumper skirt out of a t-shirt

You can find her tutorial here:

 How to make a jumper skirt out of a t-shirt

 

Oh my days

As my 'about me' says; I don't want to be a blogger really. And the last time I was classified as 'good with computers' was when it was still pretty new and people were learning to turn it off and on. So, I'm feeling pretty ancient here, as everyone seems to know how to make a good blog now, and I really have no idea why it needs a 'Schedule', 'Label', and whattheheck is a 'permalink'?

Either way, I thought I should fill it up a bit, as it's looking quite empty, so I'm just going to put in some pictures of what I've done previously (whatever I have at hand really), and then, hopefully, I'll be linking you up to a couple of good tutorials in no time :)

...Do I just put my pictures straight in here, or..?


Oh, wow. The pictures I have at hand is sooo far from good and blog-fancy that it's almost.. actually, I'm making a new type of retro here, and I'm posting it. No old wooden fences, no clothes hanging from a tree, just blurry photos of hands holding up clothes. Retro. To be honest, these pictures are YEARS old, from the time when I still took pictures of my work. Everything was a first back then, so I took pictures and bragged to my mom a lot ;)

My first tablecloth. Never again.

First skirt and babydress.

 

And here's something you can do with leftover yarn.

 

My happy male model --->

 I sure hope this isn't a preview of my blog to be.. Well, clicking publish now!