Tag Archives for Bauble

Christmas Eve, Eve!!

Hi there!

It’s so close you can almost touch it! It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, are you well prepared or is today going to be a day of manic proportions? I hope you are having a happy and stress-free lead up to the festivities (Whatever you are celebrating).

I am off to the shop I volunteer at, so nothing much is going to get done today in a creative sense, though you never know – I might end up doing something in the evening!

Yesterday I prepared a quick tutorial on how to make the mini stocking baubles – ideal if you are stuck for a last-minute gift – or if you just fancy making something quick and simple. These are so easy, even if you are not a long-time cross-stitcher you could tackle this with ease! 

To begin, you will need Some threads (the colours are up to you).

Some aida or other cross-stitch fabric (my baubles are quite small because I am using up some scraps I had left from other projects).

Some backing fabric (I am using an off-cut of felt, this green isn’t the same as the other felt I’ve been using but I’m not that bothered – if you want to match your scheme more accurately felt is quite a cheap option to buy generally, but any strong fabric will do)!

Some stuffing for your bauble – this is the only thing not in the picture – (I am using the filling from an old pillow, alternatively tights work quite well! Or you can buy stuffing from a fabric or craft shop)!

Scissors – for cutting threads, and for cutting fabric – you can see my thread scissors in the pic above as I already cut my fabric out a while ago.

And… er… a needle!

If you have seen the two stocking baubles I have made previously, you will see I have continued with my theme of red, green and white. Here I have added some yellow thread.

To begin:

Cut the aida and the backing into the desired shape – it doesn’t matter what really, I’ve chosen stockings.

Stitch a design onto the aida  - you can use a pattern, or this time for example I made it up as I went along!  (should really have used a different piece of card to use as backing for the photo really…)

There can be as much or as little stitching involved as you like really, I have chosen to not do much, the outcome is quite sweet and simple. 

When you have finished stitching the front of your stocking, it’s a simple case of blanket stitching around to attach the backing piece – don’t forget to add your stuffing, and continue to blanket stitch closed, and you should end up with something like this: I haven’t actually added the hanging loops for any of the three I have made so far! I’m simply using some bakers twine (red and white twisty thread) stitched through the top right corner. I may even add some ribbon and I think I have some tiny bells, which I might stitch on if I have time!! Who knows! 

So there you are. A simple tutorial for a simple bauble! 

If you do end up making one – do let me know! Either here or on Facebook (just hit that little “Like” button on the right there).

I hope you have a lovely Friday!

Happy Crafting!

3 Days to Go!

Hi there!

Wow, so it’s Thursday! Have you been busy?

I did the last of the cleaning (hopefully) before Christmas, yesterday and plan to actually relax today!

I do have to briefly go into town later to pick up OH’s contact lenses, I don’t plan on doing much else, town and school holidays don’t mix if you ask me – especially when the school holiday in question is Christmas! I hope it’s not too busy! 

So, last night I found the time to stitch a second stocking bauble, this time in red: Again I still need to add the hanging loop, but I’m just going to do all of them at once (I say ALL, I still am just making them as I go – no deadlines, just stitching for fun) These are really easy by the way – I will do another one with a little tutorial for you later on to post tomorrow! They don’t take very long at all either, I’ve been stitching them whilst OH plays Xbox! 

All is rather quiet here at casa de crafty… I hope things stay this chilled out, though that seems wishful thinking, and I still have a days volunteering tomorrow, which will break up the relaxation a little! Though I don’t expect it to be all that busy! But then there is Christmas, followed by more festivities the next day – and my “bestie” is visiting again for new years!

Right now though, I am going to sit back, relax and maybe watch a film!

I’d love to see what you have been up to – have you been making anything? I understand loads of people have been making gifts, but I do hope you plan on sharing after Christmas – either leave a link in the comments here, or on the Facebook Page!

I hope you have a lovely Thursday!

Happy Crafting!

5 Days to Go!

Hi there!

I hope you’ve had a good start to the week, I had a reasonably productive day (I have a tidy house!) And even managed to get some stitching done yesterday.

The project I’m now working on, is so quick and simple, just something I can do sitting around in the evening with OH whilst he plays on his new XBox! I’m making more cross-stitch baubles now, this was kind of my emergency project, and now that I’m unable to complete the advent calendar I’m working on these instead. I got the first one pretty much done in under 2 hours last night, though I still have to add the hanging loop: I’m not going to say how many I want to make, I’m just going with it at the moment.   I do like it though, simple but complementary to the other baubles I have made in the lead up to Christmas. That and it’s more an excuse for me to stitch something quick and easy! 

I even have plans to actually relax on Christmas Eve!

We have still been watching Christmas movies, and last night watched an old favourite Scrooged! Seriously, I forgot how funny it was! Love it, I think that’s one of my favourite things about this time of year, the chance to dig out all the old festive movies from my collection. We also have the CD in the car, though my chosen Xmas No 1 is the Military Wives’ Wherever You Are – not usually one for making people listen to things, do check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hR6O7VxKaQ

I hope you have a lovely day.

Happy Crafting!

The Countdown Begins!

Hi there! 

Wow so 10 days to go! Are you up to anything special?

Well, last night I began another square, and so the cross-stitching continues for what has now become a project for next year, as opposed to this one! I’m giving serious thought to putting the advent calendar on hold whilst I do the bauble project I had lined up, which in some ways makes more sense, as I would then have simply made 12 baubles this year…

Who knows – I’m just seeing how things go – I’d still like to have the squares finished if nothing else! Maybe then I will put the felt away and actually make the advent calendar next year, using the squares from this year…

One thing I have noticed this year, is that I haven’t seen as much from people as I would expect – I have seen a few cards, tags etc but considering the amount of blogs I read, I would almost expect to see more festive creations.

Aside from that I haven’t been doing much in the last couple of days, I blame the weather, it has been cold, wet and windy all week, and it’s set to get even worse for today and tomorrow! (Think of me walking to and from work in this, still it’s all for a good cause! haha).

I was sort-of stuck for what to write today, if I’m totally honest I have been spending a lot of time thinking about things I want to do next year! There are so many things I’ve seen that I want to stitch (etc) and the way things are going 2012 will be a very crafty year! And there’s lots going on nationwide that I am looking forward to getting creative with (think 2012 Olympics, and more!) I’m almost waiting for time to pass so I can get started! Which isn’t to say I’m not looking forward to Christmas – because I really am! I’m such a big kid at heart, and I can’t wait! Lots to do in the next few days – so “watch this space”!

I hope you have a lovely day – whatever you are doing!

Happy Crafting!

Glitter and Shine

Hi there!

Well, some more decorations are going up tonight, so before that happens I thought I had better actually do as I said and put up the pics of some that are up already! I finally got around to putting the pictures from my camera onto my laptop last night, mostly of course from OH’s work Christmas party. There are some great photos from that night too, and I have been asked to make a photo board for the showroom which is going to be a fun project! As I was the only person who took a camera that night.

The decorations are still a little on the few and far between side, more decorating is planned in the run up to Christmas though so I’m sure it won’t be long before our lounge resembles a small grotto (I don’t think it’ll get that far… would be cool though!) Here’s what we have so far: I could have done a lot more with these, but wanted to keep them reasonably simple, mostly because I didn’t want to attract the cat too much! He has already taken a liking to the decorations, and more ribbons and glitter might just be the icing on the cake! (He has been very good though and not had any off the wall yet!) To make them I threaded the baubles onto a piece of ribbon, and simply tied them with a bow, I then took a second piece of ribbon long enough to hang behind the picture, tied it so there was a loop in one end, and also knotted the other end with some length to spare and added this bow to the first one. On the top picture you can see I also added a third ribbon. Of course you could do these with more ribbon, bigger ribbon, more baubles… and so on! I made a few of these with the leftover baubles I had after decorating the tree. As the room is in the roof, we don’t have very much wall space and these look really cute and are simply hanging on picture hooks by ribbon, and sit against the wall below the pictures. I actually have 4 of these, and all of them are slightly different, and use up some scraps of ribbon from my stash. This picture is just the beginning of my plans for tinsel! I love the glitter and sparkle of christmas, and there will be MUCH more, but so far this is it! This is actually 6 lengths of tinsel in red and gold, wrapped round each other, and tied at the ends, I purposefully used only thin tinsel, as much as it isn’t as full, it is light enough to just be taped to the wall (as we don’t really want to start drilling holes in the wall for hooking it up there)! This photo doesn’t really do it justice, and it looks really good. On the window ledge you might just make out my collection of candles (red parcels and a variety of tea-light and other glass candle holders).

So of course, there are still my homemade decorations to go up, some more tinsel, and I think that’s it – but you  never can tell! Other than that I have of course been cross-stitching away and feel that I am making “ok” progress, though I am still annoyed that it is all very pushed for time (still it’ll be great for next year!) 

I hope you’re having a great week!

Happy Crafting!

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