Crafting for Christmas 2010, lets begin again......

whoopidoo

jomio123 wrote: »

Shove up & make room for another one, please? Long time lurker finally takes the plunge!
I've been crafting for more years than I care to remember but arthritis has curtailed some activities unfortunately. Fortunately, there's always another craft to be experimented with & I think I'm slowly working my way through them!

I've been doing HM gifts of some sort for many years & they seem to be well received. If my friend's OH doesn't get his Xmas cake and jars of home made pickles, chutney & assorted home-grown, home-made jams, there's a major sulk <lol>

Machine knitting took care of many gifts over the years, especially for rellies who don't fit the normal shop sizes, but have had to stop doing that nowadays as holding the tools & needle for sewing up is nigh on impossible.
I've never been able to drive a sewing machine nor a crochet hook, apart from extremely basic stuff.

I grow a lot of plants for both home & garden & they usually go down well.

I paint a bit - usually on surfaces picked up from charity shops, car boots etc rather than on paper & canvas.
A nice glass jar can be painted with acrylics is washed with vinegar & coated with a sealer first then a few coats of acrylic varnish to finish it. Makes a different container for HM sweeties etc & can be personaised for the recipient.
Or maybe an unusually shaped bottle? Painted, it can be turned into a lamp or just a holder for dried flowers.
Same goes for terracotta plant pots - a big one makes an unusual waste paper bin or receptacle for bathroom cleaning stuff / soaps etc.

Salt dough - great for the littlies to make their own gifts for granny & Uncle Fred etc. Rolled & cut out with cookie cutters, baked, painted, varnished then a magnet stuck to the back & voila, a unique fridge magnet. If the littlies like playing with plasticine or playdough, they'll love this.
Linda Rogers does some lovely salt dough books for ideas to get you started if needed.

See - I've got loads of ideas, so can I come & play please? Got to go & get the tea on, but will try & come back later.

You really didn't have to make us tea - we would have budged up anyway *gets knife & fork out*

You sound fantastic - hope you've got piccies?

jamtart6 wrote: »

I've gone through and book marked all the links people have put on and will try and upload them all. Would anyone mind if I just thanked the "people of the MSE craft thread" (and credit the person whose tutorial it is) rather than name you one by one? That is what would take me ages, but I don't want to offend anyone who has spent time finding the tutorials.

Wouldn't offend me - you really are an :A aren't you? :T Can't believe you went through and did all that!

Alwaysthebusybee

Jamtart6 - how can I get onto your blog? Pretty new to blogging so still getting used to it.

Thanks Sarah

jomio123

I think I've got some pics in photobucket but don't know if I'm allowed to post them yet. Anybody know which line to c&p to put a pic in here, please?
Ta


*throws in a box of HM scones just out of the oven for the ones who shoved up!* Jam anybody?

jomio123

Bright green pipe cleaner animals - marthastewart dot com slash article slash pipe-cleaner-creatures
Sorry but can't do links yet apparently.

in-the-beach-hut

jamtart6 wrote: »

Does anyone have any ideas what to do with long bright pipe cleaners, they are littering my craft shelf! I bought a pack for flannel reindeers but now have LOADS left!there is an awful lot of lime green ones knocking about....

Martha stewart also has some fabulous festive elves which are made using pinecones and pipecleaners. Here's some that I made for christmas pressies:



Pipecleaners are used for their arms and legs and I'm sure the lime green ones would work fine, especially if your elves are a teeny bit radioactive...... or if they are kermit the frog wannabes.... :rotfl:

Here's the tutorial
http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/easy-holiday-crafts#slide_2

Lucy x

loopychriss

budgeteer wrote: »

Every year I have new focus or two. I have had a 'year of gardening' when I began learning how to grow stuff, a 'year of the garment' when I began to look after my clothes and shoes really well. This year it's the 'year of knitting' alongside an Open University course.

If anyone else does this kind of thing maybe we could make a thread for it? Unless of course you think I'm loopy:rotfl:

No, no,.... you're not loopy.... I am, LOL!!!

Great idea, I could join you in that. I'm currently trying to have a 'year of the garden', 'year of card making', 'year of scrapbooking', 'year of patchwork and quilting', and 'year of decluttering'. I reckon by the end of all that I'll need a year of sleeping!!!

:rotfl::rotfl:

jamtart6

Lucy - just replied to your e-mail didn't realise you were from "over here!"

Carmen - I tried to just pick out the links with tutorials. I haven't managed to upload them all yet. I have put some in the archives
http://handmadeheartfelted.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html
http://handmadeheartfelted.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
so at least they are all in one place.
and will post some through each week along with all the new finds I have to post and I'll try and keep up with posting new suggestions from here over there too

If anyone particularly spots a post on my blog and thinks "hey lady! I spotted that! give me the damn credit!" please feel free to PM me and I'll happily add your name

http://handmadeheartfelted.blogspot.com/ is the blog

and now..I sleeep

rosalie-lavender

jamtart6 wrote: »

I've gone through and book marked all the links people have put on and will try and upload them all. Would anyone mind if I just thanked the "people of the MSE craft thread" (and credit the person whose tutorial it is) rather than name you one by one? That is what would take me ages, but I don't want to offend anyone who has spent time finding the tutorials.

I can't remember which threads I have put links on but if I have put any on here, of course I would not be offended by not being named personally.

I think it is great that you are taking the time to get all the links together for us.

Thank you.

whoopidoo

jamtart6 wrote: »

If anyone particularly spots a post on my blog and thinks "hey lady! I spotted that! give me the damn credit!" please feel free to PM me and I'll happily add your name

:rotfl::rotfl:

Thank you Kate, you are a star!

flourgirl

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