Ok, so I have a spare half hour and I am going to drink my coffee and do a “Monday, Make, Do or Mend” blog.
I have been fairly busy with craft stuff but not as busy as I would have liked. We didn’t see Denise last week so no proper sewing got done. We are going to her house tomorrow evening though, so hopefully next week I will be able to show you my completed bags.
I have done a fair amount more of my cross stitch but I doubt that you will be able to tell what it is yet!
I have made another card. This time it is a Valentine’s card for Simon. I can show it here because he never reads this anymore. (Just as well) So that is all my cards for February done. I shall start on the March ones soon.
One day last week I went with Coralie to the Hobby Craft store. On her recommendation I got something called Mod Podge. It’s a Merikan thing. Like our white PVA glue but you can use it undiluted as a sort of top coat or varnish. I got it because I wanted to use it on my box.
Remember my 2 boxes stuck together from last week? Well it is sort of finished but it is not good so I may start over. First of all I painted it blue. It was the only colour I had and I quite like blue so I thought it would be ok. It is very bright.
Then I cut out some white flower motifs from some craft paper to decorate it with. I used the Mod Podge as glue....They didn’t really stick! Copious amounts of Mod Podge later and they had stuck but were wrinkly. I hoped once they had dried and I could Mod Podge over them that they would be ok. They were better but not good. I’m not happy with it so I think I might start over.
The Modge Podge was ok for putting a label on an old jewellery box to make it into a nice big pin box.
Also good for making a label which is going to be stuck to a big clip for keeping receipts together until I deal with them.
I have also been using it to make beads. I recently “stumbled” across a web site called “Instructables” which is brilliant for crafty stuff. It showed how you can make beads from tin foil sweet wrappers. So......! I had a lot of left over sweets from Christmas so a good supply of wrappers. (No I didn’t eat all the sweets! They were the ones that no one likes so I threw them away. Why do the manufactures insist on putting in those ones that no one likes? ) Where was I?
Oh yes, sweet wrappers. Basically you scrunch them up and roll them around in your hands until they form a ball. Use a sharp thingy to poke a hole through the middle and then Mod Podge them! It is messy. But such fun! It’s like being back at primary school again!
I haven’t actually made anything from them yet. Coralie thought they were ok. My DIL Lisa obviously thought that I had taken leave of my senses (they upped and went years ago!) But Ellie thought they were pretty and when I said I could make her a bracelet with them she beamed from ear to ear. So I’ll see, maybe that is all they are fit for.
Another project from Instructables was turning tin cans into plant pots! So..... wash out your can, paint it bright blue. Drill holes in the bottom for drainage and Mod Podge it to death! It isn’t finished yet. I am going to stick 3 tiny shells on the front and then I have a baby cactus to put in it. I may give it to Saskia.
I have just begun two new sewing things over the weekend. One is turning an old pillow case into a bag. Here it is being cut to size.
Then it was sock monkey time again. The ones from last week are finished and since I still had some more socks from the pack I bought I decided to start on some blue ones.
So, you all want to see last week’s ones don’t you? They were a body and a pile of bits last week. I sewed them together as described and gave them button eyes and embroidered mouths. They are called Roxy and Ronnie. Cute yes?
Sadly they have emigrated! They are currently winging their way across the pond in search of a new home. If you enlarge this photo you may be able to see who they are looking for and take a guess at where they are headed.
So what else have I done? Not a lot. I cooked the normal amount of bread and fairly ordinary meals. I did make a vanilla sponge tray bake cake which Simon took into school. It was obviously good as he said it had all gone before first break! I made a banana loaf cake this morning but that is an old recipe that I do regularly.
Simon cooked something new yesterday. It was from my Good Food magazine and was called “minced lamb wellington”. Simon re-christened it as “Poor man’s wellie”! It was really good, very tasty. He made 2 so I have another one in the freezer ready to go.
Talking of Simon he is also making things. Remember we want to try and make lots of our presents throughout the year. He is working on a birthday present for Steve whose birthday is today and another for Josh whose birthday is in a few weeks. That means I can’t show you them until they have been handed over as there are sticky beaks in my family who read my blog!
I think that’s about it for this week. Just a reminder for Wendy before I go.....321 days left until Christmas!!!!!
Oh I just remembered, I finally got around to getting myself a big magnifying glass when I went to Hobby Craft. It’s one of those ones that you wear around your neck and it rests on your chest! I don’t care, at least I can see now! And I wear my glasses with it too!
JILLY
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