How Too Make A 2013 Hopes & Dreams Jar

So why make a 2013 hopes and dreams jar?

The whole idea is to create your jar filled with wishes for the coming year on the last day of the current year (New Years Eve). Hopefully during the course of the year you will somehow forget what you wished for making it all the more fun when opening your jar on New Year’s Eve (2013) to see what dreams were achieved.

What you will need to make your hopes and dreams jar. (My chosen colour for my jar is red but you can use whatever colour you like.)

An old jam jar
Deco pen (black)
Red glass paint
Paint brush
Elastic band
Red ribbon
Circle of material (red patterned to cover jar lid)
One sided patterned card
Scissors
Red gel pen

How to make….

First ensure your jar is clean then in black deco pen write the coming year (2013) in the middle of the jar and the words hopes and dreams above and below the date.

Now use the red glass paint and your brush to cover the jar in red dots to decorate.

Leave to dry.

Once dry cut your patterned card into stripes. On the plain white side using your red gel pen write one of your hopes or dreams for 2013. Now fold into a small square and drop into your jar.

Repeat the process in till you have all your hopes and dreams inside your jar.

Now take your circle of material (ensuring its big enough to cover your lid) and secure it over your lid with the elastic band.

Cover the elastic band with red ribbon. Tie the ribbon into a pretty bow.

Place some place safe for opening in a year ( New Year’s Eve 2013).

#silentsunday

Savvy Teacher Treats

So, as the end of term was fast approaching, I needed to pull together some teacher gifts on a budget.

Little man is in a independent special school that currently only caters for around 20 or so children. The teacher to pupil ratio is much greater meaning little man is receiving a high level of support when needed. He has great respect and fondness for all the teaching staff and I’ve gotta admit… I can see why! His progress has been amazing, especially considering that educational Psychologist, teachers and other various professionals openly predicted that little man was a child who’ll never be able to fully reintegrate back into a classroom setting. They stated he stood little chance off making friendships or maintaining those he did make.

Well… They were wrong… Totally wrong.

So… With so many teachers in his school the idea of creating teacher gifts on a budget was challenging.

But… Come on we love a challenge and I’m pleased to announce that we passed by coming up with the cutest little gift to thank the staff for all their wonderful work.

Ours was intended for Christmas but this idea can be used at the end of the school year when children move on or just to say thanks every once in a while.

So here’s what we made…

Pretty Cellophane chocolate bags, tired with pretty red ribbon.

Our bags were perfect for Christmas with a red and white theme, but you could make these for Easter and other occasions just by changing the colours to suit the season or occasion.

What we used to make 10 chocolate bags…

10 cellophane clear presentation bags
10 red ribbon ties

Contents….
Large bag of chocolate Christmas mix (or whatever you prefer)
20 homemade chocolate acorns (that we made from acorn moulds)
Large bag of chocolate peanuts

Optional extras…
Vintage gift tags ( one for each bag)

These are really very simple to make. Just line up and open all ten bags.

Share the contents of sweets between the bags (you should have some left as you don’t want to over fill, just fill 1/4 of the way).

To finish tie off each bag with the pretty red ribbon. If using gift tags then add message and attach to ribbon before tying.

The cellophane presentation bags came together with the ribbon in a pack of 20 for just £1 from the wonderful PoundLand… Total bargain.

The acorns were made with one large bar of cadburys diary milk costing £1.

Chocolate peanuts cost £1 per large bag.

Christmas chocolate mix cost £2.49

We didn’t use gift tags but these are easily brought for no more than a £1.

To make 10 bags it cost me £5.49 making each Individual bag cost less than 55p each.

Other ideas…

For Easter fill with mini eggs or chocolate eggs.

Christmas time, use gold coins or chocolate tree decorations.

For the summer use fruit jelly sweets.

For kids parties fill with Haribo or penny mix up.

For weddings fill with sugar almonds.

Bonbons, Liquorice & Jellybeans

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas? Mine was just perfect! The children had a wonderful day and everything went accordingly.

Well, its the early hours of Thursday morning and given I can’t seem to sleep I thought I would pop on and blog a really cute craft project.

I actually made one of these really cute traditional sweet shop jars for an extra something for my mum this Christmas.

Here’s what I used…

A medium size jar with gingham red and white lid
Red ribbon
Vintage style gift tag
Gingham red and white wired ribbon (to great a bow)
Black pen
Cellophane bag

Tools

Long handled mini tongs
Scissors
Glue dots
Thin wire

Contents (sweets)

Jellybeans
Licorice allsorts
Raspberry blue bonbons
Traditional Yorkshire candy mix

Firstly, make sure your chosen jar is washed and fully dried.

Now open all your chosen bags of sweets and use your tongs to layer the sweets into your jar. This ensures no sweets get broken and all are laid out properly.

Once your jar is layered with sweets tighten your lid and get to work on the outside of your jar.

Write the contents of your jar onto the vintage gift tag. Attach to some ribbon and tie the ribbon around the neck of your jar.

Now take some more red ribbon cut to size and with glue dots to secure wrap it around your jar a few inches above the jars middle. Tie the ribbon into a very small knot.

To hide the knot and add some wow factor take your gingham red and white wired ribbon and make into a bow. Fasten the middle with some craft wire and then attach to the red ribbon over the knot.

Now just place jar in the pretty cellophane bag to cover.

It really is that simple.

Mum loved the jar and apparently the rasberry blue bonbons are devine!

Christmas Ornament Exchange

Merry Christmas everyone

Just a quick one…

A while back we shared some of our Christmas decorations as part of the Christmas ornament exchange project that was shared on the lovely Redredarts blog along with some other fabulous bloggers who hosted a Linky showcasing some beautiful homemade ornaments.

The whole idea was to make a homemade tree decoration, snap a pic and along with a quick “How Too” post it to your blog before finally sharing the link on exchange Linky.

Once everyone was done sharing us bloggers were randomly drawn and paired up together for the exchange.

The rest was simple. Just contact the blogger you were paired with, grab their address and send them your homemade creation in the post. Once you have received yours, snap yet another picture and share your received decoration on your blog.

I was paired with the lovely Katie from…Randomness.
Sadly my decorations only got to her on Christmas eve as the first time I’d sent them I’d actually written my own address on the package and sent them back to myself…. Stupid, I know. I can only blame this on my overloaded Christmas brain.

So first here’s what Katie sent me…

I love how Katie upcycled children’s toys to create fab little decorations! One of the decorations she sent me was that of a child’s miniature toy donkey which she glittered and then fitted with a hanging loop. Another was a marble that really sparkled when it was hanging by a fairy light.

Katie also used broken crockery, filing down rough sharp edges before finally gluing hooks on to the back of them.

These are all excellent ways to create inexpensive decorations while recycling things you already have within the home.

So here’s what I sent Katie…

My little bag of decorations contained 2 paper mâché stars, wooden glittered heart, and one shabby chic lace and acrylic heart.

A big thanks to those blogs who organised the exchange especially Redtedart who was one of the projects organisers.

It was great fun and a fantastic way of gaining creative ideas.

Lastly thanks to Katie for the decorations.

Why not get involved next year and who knows maybe we’ll be paired to exchange. 🙂

Merry Christmas

Mummy of Many Talents

Our homemade Christmas

A bit late I know but I finally finished the families Christmas wreath that I decorated with natural woodland finds, glittery baubles, miniature bells and snow. This year my bauble choice was that of silver & white with the added addition of bright pink.

I was meant to have this completed a few weeks back but what with the children and all the Christmas shopping this kind of ended up on the back burner.

Despite having only completed my wreath it was actually really simple to make.

I used…

Large Polystyrene Wreath
PVA Glue
Fine Silver Glitter
Silver Paint
String
Silver Glitter Twigs
Pine Cones
Large Dried Flower
Small White Baubles
Large Silver Glitter Baubles
Medium Pink Baubles (glitter & plain)
Silver Spray Paint
White Spray Paint
Pins
Craft Wire
Artificial Holly & Berries
Snow Spray

Tools needed…

Scissors
Thick Brush (for glue)
Thick Paint Brush
Thin Paint Brush

Heres some pictures showing how this came together…

Leave to dry over night

Painting…

Cover entire wreath, allow to dry and add second coat if desired. You should now have something like this

Spray painting…

Decorating

I filled gaps with more silver twigs that I’d cut to size.

Cover your wreath in snow spray adding more to some areas than others

This creates a fantastic finish

My Latest Art – Wondering

#silentsunday

Kitty Christmas

Anybody who reads the blog or follows me on twitter knows I love a good competition. Lately I’ve become a little hooked… But hay, that’s for another time, another blog post.

Recently I heard about a fabulous competition by G.J.W. Titmuss, that overs those entering the possibly to win a £200 Christmas wish list for their pet.

Well, this was a competition I couldn’t afford to miss and here’s why.

I’m a cat owner and lover… However, we currently house more cats than I’d ever bargained for.

I’m not no irresponsible cat owner but I am one i’m who not so long ago found herself with a house full of kittens which was a tad Bizarre given at the time I actually owned only one TOM cat.

Bella, mother to a litter of 4 kittens was a stray cat who I used to feed in my garden. I remember when I first saw her sat out on the garden fence. Then she was very young, I’m guessing no more than three or four months. Over time she began trusting me, letting me pet her and so fourth. Admittedly I grew quite close to her in this time.

Then back at the beginning of last year she disappeared. I didn’t see her for at least a few months. I actually thought, god forbid, that she may have been hit by a car given we live on a main road.

Then one day I came downstairs to discover she had returned, let herself in though the back door and from the looks of it, she wasn’t intending on leaving anytime soon. Bella looked a lot fuller so I guessed she was being feed someplace else. It was only once I found her in my bedroom panting and pacing did I then realise we were about to be presented with kittens…. 4 in fact (two black and 2 tabby).

I already had the one cat, Bella had moved herself in and was now presenting me with a bundle of 4 more. I love cats but as a mum of three children, one registered disabled how on earth would I cope with 6.

When the kittens were ready to leave their mother, I managed to rehome two of them (both tabbies) however clover (the all black female) was discovered to be a cat suffering Epilepsy which I until then had no idea affected cats. I later also discovered that the all black male kitten was mostly blind, his sight was extremely poor. With this nobody wanted to give them a home.

Everything was a struggle! When Bella had let herself into our home she had brought with her a huge number of jumping butting little beasts… The cat flea, and Oh My God how much work and money I put into getting them nasty pest out from our home. Seriously it was absolute craziness.

After a long chat with the RSPCC we agreed to let all three cats remain with us and the RSPCC arranged for them all to be nurtured and injected for free.

Our Tom cat is slowly getting used to having them roam around the place… He is a beautiful loving cat who we have had for two years… He was born on Christmas Day 2010 so if anything this doubles as a Christmas and birthday wish list on his part.

Anyway… Here’s the wish list for our four kitties… Bella, beau, & kittens clover and billy

Ancol mouse box Toy £1 x 2, Cosmic catnip mouse £3.99, Cosmic catnip sack £3.99, Cosmic dispensing high top 5.99 x 2, Ancol dispensing dice £5.99, Ancol dotty pink collar £2.69, Ancol dotty blue collar £2.69, Ancol glitter pink collar £2.99, Ancol blue softweave collar £2.49,

Ferplast 5 tunnel cat flap £24.99, Cancac cat cradle wide £14.99, Bedhead Shampoo £9.99, Johnson litter tray disinfectant £3.39, Rebellion litter mate mat brown £9.99, Van Ness large cat liners £3.49 x 2, Van Ness extra large enclosed littler tray £24.99, Steetley sophistical cat litter £10.99

Felix canned cat food 12 pack £5.99 x 3, Canac cat cradle standard £14.99, Ferplast deluxe cat carrier £24.99

Total wish list amount… £197.08

All of the above would be a fantastic help for us and a fabulous treat for our furry felines.

For you to find all the products on the wish-list I’ve linked up to each section, these are listed in on the G.J.W. Titmuss online store Just click any of the below…

Collars & Accessories
Cat Toys
Cat Beds
Litter products
Cat Carriers
Cat Grooming
Cat Flaps

This is my entry into the G.J.W Titmuss pet wish-list competition

Easy Handmade Christmas Cards

Its lovely to make your own cards as it shows those you intend on giving them to, that you put effort and thought into it. In my opinion homemade cards are so much nicer than shop brought and I know which one’s I’d rather receive.

For my tartan Christmas card you will need…

Silver shimmery card
Tartan paper
Holographic dots for boarder
Green ribbon
Tiny plain white gift tag
Glue dots
Green glitter pen
Luxury White paper (for the inside of your card)

Firstly you need to fold your silver card in half then cut a square from your tartan paper measuring 10 by 10cms.

Now use a glue dot in each corner to stick your paper to the middle of you’re silver card.

Use your silver holographic dazzle dots to boarder your tartan square

Now take your green holographic dazzle dots and without separating them into individual dots, cut 2 strips (one measuring the length of you’re tartan square and the other measuring the width). Now stick one piece of the boarder down the middle of the tartan square and the other across the middle of your square (they should meet and cross in the centre as to create the effect of a ribbon tied around a gift).

Now, you will need to cut some green ribbon and tie this into a bow. Then cut a smaller piece of the same ribbon, enough to wrap around the centre of your bow. Secure this piece of ribbon with a glue dot. This will make your bow look more neat and tidy.

Now with a glue dot secure the bow to the centre of the tartan square where the holographic boarder meets and crosses.

Once done, place your card to one side and bring forward your very small gift tag. Write a message in the centre of the tag with a black marker (I wrote the words “Just for You”). Now, decorate the tag a little around the edges using your green glitter glue before finally leaving it to dry.

Right, So thats your cards design almost complete. Now, you will need to take your white paper (you know the type you get on the inner section of an expensive Christmas card)? Make sure your paper is that bit smaller than your card as you will need this to sit nicely within your card, it shouldn’t be visible before the card is opened.

Fold the paper and add four glue dots to the four corners of the back of your folded paper and stick it to your card where you would usually write your festive message. Be sure to fit the paper so it opens up in the same direction as your card.

Now lovingly hand write your message to that special someone.

So, Now all that’s left to do is fit the tiny decorated tag to your tartan gift design. For this you will need to take a piece of thin ribbon that is the same colour as your bow (I had to cut my ribbon down to achieve this)! The piece of ribbon should only be a few centimetres in length. Now… thread the ribbon through the tag and join the two ends together to form a loop. Secure the loop with a small blob of tacky glue just under one side of your bow. You can either leave your tag to dangle from the card or secure it with a little embellishment sticky tab like I did.

And that’s it… Your card is now fully complete and ready to be packaged and sealed for that special receiver.

Don’t forget that given you have created the card yourself there is the possibility that a standard envelop won’t be compatible with the size of your card or that of its design.

A great tip is to create your very own handmade envelops with the use of vintage paper or wallpaper. I actually really like using vintage material for mine.

Here’s some other cards I have made… The Christmas tree card is made from sequins and different glittery card pieces. I’ve used other pieces of glittery card scraps for the other two cards too.