Blast from the Craft Update

So, in case you didn't know, I also run a little online shop on a brilliant website called Folksy. In my shop, 'Blast from the Craft' I make and sell stationery and home-wares made from unloved and damaged children's books. To be honest, the shops been a bit neglected over the last few months, so I thought it was about time I got my craft supplies out and got to work on some new stock!

In the past I've been super lucky with the bits and pieces I've been able to source for my items. I've always made it my mission to never use a readable book in my projects, cutting up a perfectly healthy book has never really sat right with me. I like the idea of taking something a bit battered and useless and turning it into something new. However trying to find damaged books before they end up in a bin can be tricky and takes a fair amount of rummaging in dark corners of second hand shops! Luckily all the dust and grime has paid off, my favourite find was a pair of 1950's Janet and John books, which despite missing a few pages and being scribbled on in orange crayon, had some really sweet illustrations and can now be found at the shop in bunting and fairy light form.

So, to kick off my quest for new stock, I headed down to Pimlico car boot sale in south east London last week and found these cute playing cards covered in cat illustrations, which I'm hoping to turn into bunting this weekend Or if you have any suggestions for what these cute little cards could be turned into feel free to drop me a line :-)

As well as resuming my search for quirky bits and bobs, I also felt that the shop needed a bit of a face lift. I haven't really done anything to it since i set it up so today i brushed up on my (limited) Photoshop skills and created an actual logo and banner which I'm super excited about! 

So hopefully I'll have some more awesome shop news for you soon, in the mean time, if you wanted to check out the kind of things I make, you can find my shop here. Or alternatively, we also have a Facebook page! 

Time for tea.....(cup candles)

After almost a year, I've finally found the time to get some more craft bits done!I've reopened my Folksy shop and given it a much needed face lift (thank you Photoshop!) and have started planning some cool new projects to share with you lovely people.

That said, I am cheating a tiny bit with this post. This project was actually one I did last Christmas but somehow it managed to escape the blog, however as it's starting to get a little chilly now and the nights are rolling in quicker, i thought it would be a good time to share this little teacup candle tutorial.

I love tea, to be honest i don't really trust anyone who doesn't, tea is amazing, however I've never really understood the point of drinking it out of a tiny little teacup. Tea should be drunk out of a gigantic mug, or possibly a bucket. because of this, I've had the prettiest, daintiest teacup and saucer set sitting in the back of my kitchen cupboard for the best part of two years. It was only when i paid a visit to Greenwich Market and saw a stall of beautiful (but super expensive) teacup candles that I realised a way of putting my tiny teacup set to good use. If you want to make your own teacup candles you can usually find a great range of secondhand teacups and saucers sets in charity shops and at car-boot sales. I think the most I've ever spent on a set is about £2, you can also mix and match sets if you can't find a complete pair.

To make a teacup candle you will need:

Teacup (saucer is optional)
large church candle (make sure the candle has the metal clip at the base of the wick, as you will need to take apart the candle and this makes it easier to remove the wick from the centre)
large saucepan
heatproof bowl
large bread knife
small piece of blue-tack, or a small blob of glue
2 pencils or kebab sticks
string
Jug (preferably one you don't mind covering in wax)

Start by removing the wick from the candle, this can usually be done by pulling the metal clip from the base of the candle. however if the wick isn't loosening, you may need to carefully chop up the candle with a bread knife to expose enough of the wick to pull it out from the candle.

Once removed tie two pieces of string around the top of the wick, and gently secure the metal base to the bottom of the tea cup. once the wick is secure, tie each bit of string to a pencil or kebab stick and rest these on the rim of the teacup so that the the string is holding the wick in place in the centre of the teacup.

Next, if you haven't already, cut the wax into small pieces. place the wax in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. whilst the wax is melting, boil a kettle and pour some hot water in your jug to heat it (this will prevent too much wax solidifying in the jug when you come to pour the wax into the teacup. Once all the wax has melted in the bowl, empty the water from jug and quickly pour most of the wax into the jug, leaving a small amount in the bowl.

Pour the wax into the centre of the cup, being careful not to splash any up the sides, and leave to cool for a hour or so. You may find that as the candle cools, a well will develop around the wick, this is why it's important to save a small amount of wax, remelt the left over wax and use to top up the candle and leave to set for a further 2 hours.

And your done! Ta da! Now, go put your feet up and make a cuppa, you deserve it!

a reason to drink more wine...(responsibly of course)

I like to try and keep my crafts easy to copy, however this one does take a bit of hoarding. I work in a wine bar so have easy access to A LOT of corks and wanted to find a way of using them. This cork board is far prettier than a shop bought board and you can make it any size you like. If you work in a bar this craft is great, if not it may take a little longer to collect enough for this project. As an alternative you could pop down to your local friendly pub or wine bar and ask for some, or as with pretty much anything, you can also find used corks on Ebay for under a tenner.

To make this cork board you will need-

- a box photo frame, or a frame deep enough to fit the corks inside.

-wine corks, any size is fine

-strong glue.

Remove the glass from the photo frame and glue the backing of the frame in place to stop it wobbling around.
Once dry arrange the corks to make sure they all fit in. its good to have one or two spare corks that you can cut up to fill in any gaps. I wanted an abstract look, but you can arrange them in rows or patterns if you want, just cut the corks to size to fit them in.
Then, just glue the corks into place and you're done! no more lost shopping lists or post it notes all over your kitchen!

easy peasy cake stands

cake stands make a great gift, or to keep for yourself to jazz up your dining table. Even if your baking skills aren't up to much, (I'll let you in to a secret, I didn't make the biscuits in the photo, shhh!) your supermarket bought treats would still look lovely on this super easy to make cake stand.

What you will need-

- Pretty saucers or small plates. the best place to find these are car boot sales or charity or junk shops, they can be matching or mismatched, its completely up to you! I found mine as a set of 4 in a charity shop for less that £3 bargain!

- candle stick holders, egg cups or shot glasses. Basically anything long and narrow that you can stack the plates on. just make sure they have a large enough surface to apply the glue.

- strong glue, suitable for your chosen materials. If you're using ceramics or china you can use superglue, however if you're using glass make sure the glue is suitable as a lot of quick drying glues aren't.

To make the stand just arrange the plates into a tier formation. when you're happy with the shape mark the centre of the plates to ensure the columns holding the tiers are in the middle ( I used a light coloured felt pen, to make sure it wouldn't be visible after I assembled the stand.

I used UHU glue to join the stand together. this glue takes a while to dry. If you wanted to be speedy you can use superglue (if using ceramics or china)

and there we are! and the best thing? now you have a reason to always have cake in the house (although I always have cake)

Crafty Christmas

I love Christmas, pretty lights everywhere, Shakin' Stevens on repeat (Merry Christmas Everyone = best Christmas song ever) and drinking mulled wine at every possible opportunity. The only thing guaranteed to ruin my Christmas cheer is the idea of having to go Christmas shopping. If your loved ones have been kind enough to give you a Christmas list, you end up manically trawling through every single shop trying to find something, anything from said list. If you don't have a list and have to freestyle, you end up having a panic attack trying to find something they might like and grabbing a toiletries gift set from BHS five minutes before the shops close. A gift set they'll probably shove in the back of cupboard and only use seven months later when they've discovered they've run out of shower gel.
To avoid the crowds and any possible Christmas shopping disasters I decided this year to make a lot of my Christmas gifts. Homemade gifts can have a bit of a bad rep, but steer clear of the poster paint and cotton wool balls and you can create something really lovely and unique for your loved ones.
All the crafts I blog about are pretty simple and can be made pretty last minute. I try and and use things that are easily available from craft shops and car boot sales, as long as you have a good supply of glue you're ready to go!