Crafty Bits and an Update.

Today I had a really good day, mum drove me and my wife around all the charity furniture shops trying to find a dressing table for the new flat.. (the move is on Saturday, so excited!) I managed to find one in a last minute dash to the last one in town, lucky! 

At the moment it's brown, so I'm going to sand it down and spray it white when it gets delivered tomorrow. I also found a really cute little stool which is also being delivered. The table and stool (with delivery) cost me £40 which has saved me a fortune compared to the other ones I was looking at!

I also wanted to update an old lampshade I had, so bought a few beads and jump rings so I could make a start on it today. The ceilings in my new flat are really high, and the light fitting is just infront of the bay window so I wanted something a bit longer, and that looked nice as you can see it from the outside.

Idnore the black beads, I didn't end up using them.

 

I still think it needs a bit more volume to it, but It'll do for now, it's much nicer than it was anyway!

In other news... here is a little sneak preview of my new hair, I'm waiting for my extensions to arrive before I show you the final product..

I hope you're all having a good start to the year!

DIY Candle Display.

You will need:

1. A pretty glass, I used a Martini glass but you could use a chaphane flute, wine glass, anything you like!

2. Some gems/beads. I got my 'wedding confetti diamonds' from this seller here. A broken necklace would be perfect.

3. A tealight. A floating candle would be nicer though.

4. Water.

5. OPTIONAL: Some scented oil.

I don't even need to tell you how it's done do I? It's THAT simple, and I'm not even sure I can class it as a DIY!

NB: It lives on a table in the living room, not on my sink.
 

PS. I am having a sort out at the moment, and am putting some thing on my eBay. I have some up already, and will be adding more tomorrow. Check it out! It's going to the 'We need a bigger flat, pronto' fund.

DIY Christmas Hamper.

I Love love love Christmas, but hate shopping in late December, so I like to get all my shopping done now. I already have all of the most important people sorted, apart from Mum. I am getting her 2 tickets to see her favorite artist, Elvis Costello (And also secretly wishing that she will bring me along as her guest..) so i needed something that she can open on Christmas day. I looked on the internet for chocolate hampers, (she is a major chocoholic!) but they were all pretty expensive considering that actual chocolate you got, plus, there was always something she doesn't like in there. So I decided I would go in to town today, on a mission to make my own, for under £25.

Here are the bits I got.

It all came to around £24, but the tissue paper is a bit unnecessary and I didn't use the bow. 

Pop the tinsel-y bits in the basket (yes, it's actually a bin..)

Then I popped the fake mistletoe in the back.

I then added all of the goodies, trying to make it look pretty!

Next scattered some of the tinsel-y stuff around and over the chocs.

I then  made an easy bow using ribbon.

I made a small gift-tag type book to go on the finished hamper. I basically printed out some coloured rectangle shapes on some card, punched a hole on the corner and threaded them all together. Inside I wrote down some funny quotes about chocolate, and some facts about the health benefits of chocolate.. to make her feel less guilty when she digs in!

Then I wrapped the Basket in Cellophane, added the bow and then stuck on my little gift-tag-come-booklet. Ta Daaah!

I thought it turned out really nicely, and I know Mum will love it because it's something I have made. I took advantage of buy one get one free offers, and got the all of the stuff from Tesco, Wilkos and a Florist (for the cellophane.) I am making my step-dad a cheese and wine themed one. Its a great gift idea as its really versitile. Some other ideas are:

• A 'DVD Night' theme. Some blockbuster voucers or a DVD with some wine, popcorn, sweets and chocolates? Maybe even a Snuggie!
• A 'Pamper Hamper' Full of smellies like shower gels, bubble bath, bath bombs, scented candles etc.
• Maybe a 'Coffee Lovers' gift set. With a cheap cafetiere, some nice coffee beans, some ameretti biscuits and a nice mug.

The possibilities are endless! Have you ever done a hamper before? How did it go down?

DIY Studded Shoes.

My new shoes!

Gold Drawing Pins.

Ta-Daaah!

DIY Glitter Shoes.

Tonight I decided I would try and re-vamp an old pair of shoes. I got out all of my crafty bits and bobs and tried to decide what to do.

Old, Marked and Scratched.

Ignore everything but the glue and the glitter... I was going to go with another Idea, but the glitter and lace combo didn't go.

Add Glue to heel, cover the heel with use of sponge.

Shake on the glitter.

In hindsight, I like this much more than the finished product. But they are heavily scuffed and marked so..

I went majorly OTT with the glitter!

BEWARE: cover your area well. The glitter gets EVERYWHERE! Even in my red wine.