Ready...Steady...Get Your Christmas Craft On

It's getting chilly outside, the nights are drawing in and the skies are full of honking geese flying south, that can only mean one thing, summer is gone and winter is looming.

With winter comes Christmas!! Now I know it's only mid October so there is still loads of time, but I don't know if its the weather making me want to get cosy but I'm starting to feel a bit of a glow and excitement for Christmas.

This year I want to make more of an effort, with decorations, cooking and creating all those little things that make a house feel more like a homely Christmas. I am officially declaring 2013 as my homemade Christmas and I'm so excited about it.

So where better to start than the humble Christmas tree decoration, even better as they are relatively quick and help get you in the spirit of Christmas....not that I think I need it.

Getting your tree and decorating your house is one of the most exciting parts in the run up to Christmas, who else feels depressed at how empty their house looks and feels come the 5th of January?! 

Thanks to a bit of surfing on Pinterest and Ravelry I found my first make. A cute little toadstool crochet pattern. I'm not quite sure how relevant toadstools are to Christmas but it is super cute. 

I was lucky enough to get the pattern free from Ravelry - www.ravelry.com from Drops Design, Garn Studio. 

http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/pattern.php?id=4876&lang=us

Those of you who read my blog know I'm no crochet queen but I am getting better. I admit my first toadstool looks rather questionable but I'm pretty happy with the second one! 

See for yourself....

                Top of Toadstool #1

           Toadstool #1 - a bit of a fatty

Toadstool # 2 - looking more promising

             Toadstool #2 - finished

Toadstool #2 - now that's more like it! 

                     Double trouble! 

But this is just the beginning!! My brain is bursting with lots of Christmas make projects. Keep tuned to find out what else I have up my tinsel covered sleeves! Speak soon :) 

Day 27 - Putting My Stamp On Everyday Items

A few months ago you may remember I showed you all the stamp mirror I had made for my living room. I've not written a post specifically about it so thought this was the perfect opportunity. 

It all started with a bunch of stamps, some glue and a plain photo frame. A friend of mine, Jennifer came over one Saturday to make some stuff and I suggested covering things in stamps as I'd been wanting to try it for a while. 

The photo frame, took me ages!

The photo frame in detail

Jennifer and her photo frame

The box, not quite finished

The mirror begins.....

The mirror finished

The mirror in detail 

I have to say its a really effective technique. I'm thinking I might create a marine/sea themed stamp covered mirror for the bathroom...cue the PVA glue....

Day 16 - Pom Pom Galore

Today's blog post is just a quick one. I've been looking at Pom Poms on Pinterest to find some new project ideas. 

I've not made Pom poms in a while but a few years back I took part in some yarn bombing. Here are some I've made before. 

Pom Pom in the park

Pom Pom in a tree

Pom Pom heart

Pom poms are quite quick to make and is a great way of using up old scraps of wool. I'm loving some of these Pom Pom ideas I've found on Pinterest and may even need to try a few!

Pom Pom lamp http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/3-quirky-lamps-to-try-at-home-96597

Paper Pom poms

http://theeclecticlife.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/a-walk-through-the-party/

Pom Pom garland 

http://juneberry-lane.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/fantastique-colorful-poms.html?m=1

Pom Pom wreath

So it's time to dig out the cardboard, get cutting and make some pom poms!! Very simple yet very effective!! 

Day 13 - SOS Pinterest Newbie

I'm quite new to Pinterest, I've only had an account for a month or two max and I first stumbled upon it last year when doing social media research for my dissertation. 

I'm starting to catch the bug, I firstly started to create public boards that were just a collection of other pins people had pinned or re-pinned. I collected ideas for new craft projects, for my garden and for the re-decorating of my bathroom, clothes and whatever else I saw, loved and needed to pin somewhere. 

Some of my boards on Pinterest 

Then I read the tip to pin images from your blog and insert your blog address to  direct traffic to your blog. Just as well I always try to ensure my photos are visually appealing, love a bit of instagramming!! So I've created a new board of blog photos and we will see what happens. 

Blog photos board

There are some lovely photos on Pinterest making it so hard to stop pinning once you start! It's a great place for gathering inspiration. But that is about as far as my Pinterest knowledge goes.

Do you have any Pinterest top tips for me??? 

http://m.pinterest.com/CamillaErika/