Saturday, January 21, 2012

Make a Patchwork ball for the baby in your life!

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I made this ball yesterday. It was my first attempt at patchwork anything. I got the template out of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Seams-Me-Reasons-Love-Sewing/dp/0470259264

Anna Maria has done a great job with this book: it is full of easy to complete projects that I hadn't seen in other books and many of them immediately jumped out as perfect gifts for different friends and family. Best of all, this took a short afternoon to complete. Did I mention it was my first burl at patchwork?

More projects can be found in AnnaMaria's blog: http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/

Thursday, January 19, 2012

What's on your walls?

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Anyone who has taken charge of decorating a spec knows what a difference the "stuff" on your walls can make. Recently, I took a beautiful print from home into my work office, leaving a corner bare.

To spruce up the space, at least just for a while, I have grabbed some of our old racing bibs, old sports photos and some tickets to sports events that we went to while living in the US.

I like it because it is one space that reflects both of us (not just my tastes - whoops!). Also, it is made of tangible items that mean something to both of us: our tickets that we held when we went to our first NBA game (on Christmas day: our first Xmas without our families around), the passes to the local baseball match just before we moved home (and the all you can drink tickets that went with them!), and the race bibs I wore in my first road race and first half marathon. Best of all, I already had the stuff lying round in boxes, so it was free!

There are heaps of ways to personalize a little corner of your home. I really like this idea to reclaim some crappy art and make it your own: http://simplemom.net/what-to-do-with-bad-paintings/?doing_wp_cron=1327006086

Also, printed canvases with your own photos are all the rage now but can be a bit pricey. Instead try this idea: http://www.curbly.com/m/13293-diy-biggie-size-photos-for-under-20

Monday, January 16, 2012

I made a glass necklace charm- Sweden!

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I've been testing out some ideas for glass pendants for necklaces. Similar to the "oh so popular" scrabble tile pendants, these involve sticking your paper to the back of a polished glass tile and then waterproofing the whole thing.

I got this kit from KristenKrafts on Etsy.com and used a bit of an old map. This one was a present for my brothers girlfriend. Yes, she's Swedish! My lucky brother :)

What do you think? Have you tried one?

Would also love to learn how to make the full resin ones. Any tips?