Sock Mice

In my last blog post I expressed my excitement for the craft fair that I was attending in Trafford Park. Well, I'm sorry to report that my expectations were set a little too high! 


I had a really lovely morning out with my mum, but didn't find anything that I'd hoped to find. It seemed to be overloaded with card making stalls (which isn't one of my chosen crafts) and I later found out that there were workshops that I could have attended but didn't. I did come away with a few items, although none of them were craft related!


Bean (age 4) has just been off for half term and I was expecting to be doing lots of craft projects with her as I was anticipating long periods of boredom. Fortunately this wasn't the case and we were kept really busy (and entertained) throughout the whole week. 


At the weekend we did manage to make a little sock mouse to accompany the ones that we had made a few month ago, and now spend most of their time in a little basket next to Bean's bed. 


I'm aware that my last post was a project for a child and this one is too, so I promise to make something 'grown up' for my next post!

Here are Bean's original Sock Mice...

Dotty, Locket and Poppy!

How to make a sock mouse:

Choose a child's sock

Cut the top off the sock

Stuff the sock with cotton wool

Tie the open end tightly with a piece of wool 

Stick two googly eyes on to the front of the sock (or alternatively use buttons)

Cut out two circles of felt or fabric for the ears, a smaller circle for the nose and three strands of wool for the whiskers 

Pinch the ears at the bottom and add glue

Stick them to either side of the sock

Glue on the whiskers and the nose

And there you have it: your very own sock mouse!

I loved getting feedback from the last post and seeing your bottle top bugs, so please let me know if you make a sock mouse and how you get on with it ( and what your child has named it!) 

Happy Making! xxx

Something (small) for the weekend!

A few months ago I took my children to an Art gallery where they were doing some great craft projects. One of the simplest, yet favourite thing my daughter (Bean age 4) made was a milk bottle top bug.
Since then we have been collecting milk bottle tops so that we can make it some friends!


Yesterday Bean asked if we could make some more, so I thought that this could be a nice, easy project to share with you for over the weekend. 

Here is Bean's original bug.

To start with you will need a milk bottle top, 

and something to cover it with. 

Bean choose this envelope, 

and this wrapping paper.

Place some double-sided tape on the top and bottom of the bottle top.

Cut some of the paper to size and wrap it around the bottle top.

Bean used some pipe cleaners for her first bug's legs but as we don't have pipe cleaners we decided to use straws instead.

Cut the straws down to size, using the bend in the straw as the joint in the bug's leg.

Attach 3 straws to either side of the under-side of the bug with tape.

Turn it over and attach googly eyes. 

(If you don't have any of these then cut out eyes drawn onto a sticky label.)

Add some double-sided tape to the bug's back.

Using some scrap fabric or paper, cut out a strip and twist in the middle.

Attach these to the back of the bug as wings.

And then make more!

Bean's original bug with it's new friends!

Please let me know if you try to make these over the weekend as I'd love to know how it goes!

I'm off to a huge craft event at Event City in Trafford Park tomorrow. I'm hoping to pick up some great crafting tips and bargains. I'll let you know how I get on.

Until then, 

Happy Making! xxx

I Love Handmade

I'm a lover of a lot of things, but there's one thing that I'm quite passionate about and that is the beauty of something handmade. There's something special about knowing that the thing you own is one on it's own. Yes, there may be another one like it, but there will definitely be differences. 

I absolutely love a handmade gift and I was blessed enough to be on the receiving end of a number of handmade gifts this Christmas (The majority being edible, but I'm not complaining!) It was a good job that my friends had caught the 'handmade fever' as I too gave out handmade gifts. 

Handmade chocolates, cookies and beetroot & orange chutney, yum!

Knowing that my husband loves Christmas cake (and the snowman), my mother-in-law even made him his very own cake (I think this turned out to be his favourite christmas present to date!) 

My handmade gifts that I gave included this floor cushion that I made for my daughter. 

The fabric is Designers Guild that I bought from a fabric seconds shop called Standfast and Barracks in Lancaster and cost £5 per meter. I'd also found a huge bag of beans for £7 at Hazel Dress in Didsbury which are usually around £16 in other haberdashery shops. I used half the bag of beans along with the beans from an old beanbag I owned, so it ended up being a really lovely gift for around £10!

For friends and family I made these simple fabric bread baskets which I am planning on showing an easy step by step guide of how to make in another blog. 

We have a plum tree in our garden so I'd made a huge batch of plum chutney for the first time last Autumn. I was a little unsure how it would turn out as it needed until Christmas to mature, but thankfully it tasted delicious!

I put the jar of chutney along with some crackers and cheese in the bread basket and wrapped it in clear wrap. A good eco friendly tip for packaging is to use popped corn. I got this idea from Lush after receiving some of their gorgeous bath bombs last year!

These were really well received and were a fraction of the price of a shop bought one!

So I've almost come to the end of this blog, and my handmade Christmas. The only thing left 

is a small amount of chutney, which I'm sure will be eaten by the end of february!

Thank you for taking the time to read my first Blog. I hope you have enjoyed it and I hope you have been inspired in some way to try your hand at Handmade. I am really looking forward to sharing future projects with you and hope you will find it helpful and easy to follow.

Until next time, Happy Making! xxx