Making handmade gifts for friends and family at Christmas is a lovely thing to do, but how do you go about it without driving yourself insane? One option is to start early. I know people who like to start on Christmas at the end of the summer, whether they are making gifts or buying them. The problem with doing this is that it is hard to feel Christmassy when we're enjoying early autumn and it's still sunny and warm. It's also difficult to ... Read the Post...
How to Make a Dried Fruit Wreath
One of my favourite Christmas tasks is unpacking all the decorations. I have memories of doing this as a little girl, when my dad would bring the box down from the loft. The tree (always a real one) would be in the front room and we would remove the tinsel and wrap it round ourselves like scarves while my dad put the lights on the tree. The lights had to go on first. That was The Rule. Then the tinsel, then everything else. Glass baubles ... Read the Post...
How To Recover a Lampshade (and Rewire a Lamp!)
The other week I decided that I needed a new lamp. Specifically it was a lamp for the playroom. So I got myself on Ebay and I found some beautiful blue and white lamps with china bases.. I totally fell in love with them! I They were obviously old lamps and the seller was very open about the state they were in. There was a tear in one shade and the other was discoloured, and I could also see in the photograph that the lamps had no plugs. But ... Read the Post...
Learn How to Crochet Part 1: Chain Stitch
Over the next few weeks I'll be publishing a series of posts aimed at absolute crochet beginners. I post crochet projects quite often but it occurred to me that there might be people who would like to know how to crochet a treble before being told crochet a treble round a stitch post. I also thought it would be fun to try out some video tutorials! So you can watch the video first or go straight to the written instructions. How to Crochet ... Read the Post...
