October roundup

I can't believe how fast October has gone! Here is my roundup of things I have done this month:

• I completed the #craftblogclub Halloween challenge. This months challenge went so much smoother than my notebook last month. I was really pleased with the result =)
• I started Theme Thursday, which was one of the goals I set myself at the beginning of the month. I've had a good response so far and I'm looking forward to coming up with more ideas!
• I made a DIY ribbon holder/storage unit, with a lot of help from my Grandad. You can read about that here
• I have signed up for loads more craft fairs in the run up to Christmas. That was another one of the goals I set myself.
• I signed up to Crafters Boutique =) More about that in this post

The biggest goal I set myself was to get 1000 page views this month. I got 946... Typical! But that's close enough for me and hopefully I'll get over 1000 next month =) Speaking of which, I'll be setting myself some goals for November shortly!

Until then,
Hayley x   

Theme Thursday! Bee

This weeks theme is particularly suited for expecting mothers who are not finding out the gender of the baby. Then you can call it a "Whats it gonna bee" baby shower! Geddit? ;) Sorry for the pun!

Invitations

I really like these personalized printable invites from Shy Socialites. They are so bold and bright! They are personalized to suit baby showers or birthday parties. Brilliant idea!

  
Decorations

Unsurprisingly the key for this themes decorations is black and yellow! Balloons, banners, bunting, paper chains, you can be as low key or as over the top as you like! I love these paper flowers/pompoms from the Party Frosting Blog. The little bees are so cute!

Food

I stumbled across so many fantastic ideas for themed food, I wasn't sure where to start! Here are some of my favourites.

For general buffet food with a Bee themed twist, check out this fab post from My Ramblings

For the most adorable bee cake pops, check out this amazing tutorial from Little Miss Sweet and Spicy! I don't think I could actually bring myself to eat them, they are so sweet! She also shows you how to make ladybird cake pops... How I wish I had found this when I was writing my Ladybird themed baby shower post!

Last but not least, I almost squealed when I saw these... How perfect for a bee baby shower? They would also make a great table decoration... before they are gobbled up! Donut beehives from Girl Inspired!

Party Favors 

A really simple party favor idea is attaching thank you notes to mini jars of honey for your guests to take home. Such a "sweet" idea! Sorry, I really must stop with the cheesy jokes!

As always, let me know if you decide to have a Bee baby shower or if you have any ideas for future Theme Thursdays!

Hayley x

DIY Ribbon Storage

On Saturday I posted about my lack of space in my bedroom/craftroom... Well I have came up with a solution, with some help from my Grandad =)

I bought a double storage cube from Argos for £20

I got some wooden dowel, screws and offcuts of wood. My Grandad fitted them to the top compartment to make rails. The bottom cube is for paper storage =)

And that is that! =) It took about an hour and the best bit? If you look at the above picture, you can see that the rails are only half full... SHOPPING TIME!

Yippee ;)

Hayley x

Organizationally challenged!

I sometimes wonder if it is possible to be crafty and organised at the same time. It doesn't help that my "craft room" is a corner of my small bedroom, although my craft stuff is taking over the rest of my room too! Yesterday I decided enough is enough! Its time to sort, bin and organize everything. So I wrote a list:

I decided the first thing to do was sort out the boxes under my bed. I knew that in one of the boxes was Birthday cards that I had decided to keep. What I didn't realize was that I had kept EVERY Birthday/Christmas/Good luck/Congratulations/You passed your driving test/etc card since I was 16! I'm now 22...

So the short version of the story is I spent an hour sorting through cards! I've kept a few but most have gone in the bin. I finally emerged from my room covered in dust, clutching a bin liner full of cards, my mams jaw dropped when I showed her. I also managed to clear out the chest of drawers so that's two things I can tick off the list!

Phase two starts today! I don't know if I will manage to complete the list today but I want at least 3/4 of it done =)

Busy day ahead!
Hayley x  

Theme Thursday! Under the sea

This is another theme that can be used no matter what gender the baby will be. This week it is Under the sea!

Invitations

I love these cute "under the sea" invitations from Sojoji. They can be used for girls or boys and how sweet are the little sea creatures?!

Decorations

The decorations for this theme are so simple, just buy or make blue and green streamers or paper chains, like in this photo from The Swell Dish blog

You could also try making blue and green versions of the tissue pom poms below. The look really effective and are easy to make. The tutorial is here

If I may also add a quick shameless plug... My Octopus nappy cake would make a fantastic table decoration ;) More details available on my Facebook page

Food

What more do you need than these awesome cupcakes from The Cupcake Tarts? They look too cute to eat!

Party Favours

Take small buckets and spades and fill with thank you notes and little treats.

Hope this has been helpful. If you have an under the sea themed baby shower, be sure to let me know how you get on! Also please leave a comment if you have any suggestions for future Theme Thursdays!

Bye for now,

Hayley x

Saturday craft fair

This is going to be a pretty short post. Saturday I was at my local craft fair. My neighboring stall just happened to sell homemade biscuits, toffee and truffles and kept offering me samples... Can't think of a better way to spend my Saturday morning ;)

I apologize for the bad photos, I took them in a hurry! I was selling a mixture of nappy cakes and Christmas giftsets/stocking fillers. I sold a few things and I'm looking forward to going back again in two weeks. November and the beginning of December are going to be very busy for me in terms of craft fairs, I have four fairs in five weeks =)

Hope everyone had a good weekend!
Hayley x   

Funny Friday!

Have a great weekend =)
Hayley x

Theme Thursday! Stars

Hello! Welcome to my second Theme Thursday! I really like this one as its suitable for girls, boys and "surprises" ;). This weeks theme is Stars.

Invitations

There are tons of cute star themed invites out there in pink, blue or neutral. Here are some of my favourites:

For girls available here

For boys available here

Unisex available here

All are personalized and downloaded for you to print off yourself.

Decorations

What about making your own star bunting or banners? Alternatively the glow in the dark stars below are available in a range of colours and can be stuck to walls, placed on tables or given to guests as a party favour!

Food

Star shaped cakes, biscuits and crackers are readily available at most shops and supermarkets. For more star themed food ideas, check out this post from Sugar Aunts. Some photos from their blog below, fab ideas!

Party favours

Simply fill party bags with a thank you note and some treats. As well as the glow in the dark stars, I love the idea of the plantable stars below. Each star has flower seeds inside that you plant when you get home. Available here

Hope this has been helpful. If you have a star themed baby shower, be sure to let me know how you get on! Also please leave a comment if you have any suggestions for future Theme Thursdays!

Bye for now,

Hayley x

Craft Blog Club Halloween challenge: Part 3

Part 1 is here
Part 2 is here

In part 2 I finished my Halloween Jar and decided to expand on the challenge. Here is a reminder of my finished jar:

I decided that because I had enjoyed paper cutting so much, I would try to make a full picture to frame. To do this I took a sheet a black paper and marked a 1cm border all the way around the page. I then drew a scene of children trick or treating, ensuring that the design connected to the border so that it was one intact piece. I didn't take a photo of the drawing, I got carried away and dived in with my scalpel before I remembered to take the pic... Sorry. But anyway, I cut out my design and added it to a black A4 photo frame and here it is...

The whole scene

The trick or treaters: Witch, devil, fairy and vampire. At this point I should probably admit that the fairy also had a sweet bucket... and an arm holding it... My hand slipped so I had to cut her whole arm off to correct my mistake. Oops!

Its a bit clumsy but for a first attempt I'm really pleased with it! What do you think? Comments/constructive criticism welcome =)

Hayley x 

Crafters Boutique

I am pleased to say that I got a lot done this weekend! One problem I have always had is "Where can I sell my nappy cakes?". Yes I sell them on Facebook but I mean an online market place for handmade goods. Folksy don't allow nappy cakes and Etsy is so huge that I know I would never be found on there. Well over the weekend I found the answer. The newly opened online market place, Crafters Boutique!

What is it?

An online market place where you create your own shop. But unlike Etsy, Folksy etc, you don't have to pay listing fees and commission. You simply rent your shop for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, then add as many items as you like! I have rented my shop as a premium seller for 1 month (£8) to try it out and so far I am very impressed. When my month runs out I'm going to change to a longer term, which means that it works out cheaper per month. As a premium seller, my items are showcased on the main page when listed and I have a chance of being in the monthly newsletter. There is a standard seller option as well but personally I think it makes more sense to get a premium membership. Full details and FAQs are on the Craft Boutique website. Whether you are looking to sell or buy, make sure you check it out!

So I spent a productive weekend adding items to my shop, as well as preparing for my craft fair next weekend! Here are some of the items I have added so far:

 For prices, descriptions and to view my other items, check out my shop.

Have a great day!
Hayley x

Funny Friday =)

Have a great weekend!
Hayley x

Theme Thursday! Ladybird

Hello and welcome to my first Theme Thursday! Planning a baby shower can be very overwhelming, so every Thursday I am going to take a theme and suggest ways to use implement the theme in decorations, food, invitations etc. This weeks theme is suitable for boys and girls, so it is perfect if you don't know what gender the baby will be! The theme is Ladybirds =)

Invitations

Invitations for this theme can be made easily and cheaply using a computer and printer. A red background with black spots is perfect! If you would rather buy ready made invites check out these cuties from Tweet Prints pictured below. These invites are personalized and downloaded for you to print off yourself. What a cute design!

Decorations

For really easy decorations, take a pack of red balloons and draw or stick on black spots. You could also make bunting or paper-chains using black and red paper. Or how about these hanging ladybird decorations for only £1.19?

Food

A buffet or finger foods work best. If you want the food to tie in with the ladybird theme, check out these fab ideas. They all look too cute to eat! 

Ladybird themed nibbles from Yellow Bliss Road

Adorable cheese ladybirds! Instructions here

Strawberry ladybirds recipe here

Games

How about a ladybird version of pin the tail on the donkey? Below are some photos of the game I made, it only took me 10 minutes! The antenna has a sticky pad on the back, the person who gets it closest to the top of the ladybirds head wins!

 Spot on!

Not quite...

Party Favours

How sweet are these ladybird bags?! Made by the aptly named Everything-Ladybug. Perfect to fill with thank you notes and small treats!

Hope this has been helpful. If you have a ladybird themed baby shower, be sure to let me know how you get on! Also please leave a comment if you have any suggestions for future Theme Thursdays!

Bye for now,

Hayley x

Craft Blog Club Halloween challenge: Part 2

If you haven't read part 1 of the challenge it is here

In part 1, I chose to do paper cutting and had a go at making a spooky Halloween scene, set in a graveyard naturally ;) Here is a reminder:

I decided to stick my paper cutting onto a jam jar, so that I could put a candle inside to light it up. I painted the jar with some fab metallic purple paint I found in The Works. I then attached my cutting with double sided tape. For safety I used a LED tea light rather than a candle, I really like the effect.

My tree looks extra spooky with the light shining through!

The witch and pumpkin

 The graveyard scene

You might have noticed that my ghost/pacman monster is missing. He was quite big and I ran out of room. But if you look on the above photo, you can see what I substituted him for... A bat! I'm keeping the ghost for now though, as I'm not done with the challenge yet! I've decided that one jar isn't very impressive and its only 8 days into October, so I'm going to do some more paper cutting. I haven't decided yet whether to make more jars or try something different... I'll keep you posted =)

Bye for now,

Hayley x 

Craft Blog Club Halloween challenge: Part 1

I am a member of the twitter based #craftblogclub. Craft Blog Club is for anyone who is interested in crafting or runs a craft blog. Ran by the lovely Emma at Life is Peachy it takes place every Tuesday from 7-8pm. Just use #craftblogclub to join in! =)

The Craft Blog Club challenge for October is to make a Halloween decoration using a craft you haven't used before! I was very excited about this one... So much that I had to get started straight away! I have always wanted to try paper cutting, the art of creating silhouettes or pictures using a piece of paper and a scalpel. So I bought a scalpel from The Works for £1.99 and a pack of black paper (also £1.99 if anyones interested) and started experimenting!

I wanted to create a Halloween scene, which I am going to use to decorate something later in the week. I am keeping my cards close to my chest at the moment lol. So on the back of my black paper, which luckily is white, I drew an outline of a graveyard, complete with crow and creepy tree and started to cut it out.

 I have placed it on a sheet of white paper so that you can see it clearly. The witch and ghost were cut out separately so that I can move them around before I stick them down.

Here's a close up of the "ground scene". Its one continuous piece. I'm proud of my spooky tree, I didn't think I would be able to draw a convincing tree but I managed =)

Here is my witch. I copied the outline from a picture and I'm pleased with how she turned out. Below is my ghost... I drew him freehand and can't help but think that he looks like one of the little monsters that chase Pacman haha! Oh well, never mind.

  

I'm going to continue with this project later in the week. I've really enjoyed paper cutting, although I have had to do it in short bursts. Firstly because it makes my shoulders ache like mad. Secondly because as you may already know, I am very clumsy so using a sharp scalpel for long periods of time isn't recommended... I would like to end October with all of my fingers attached! 

Here's hoping ;)

Hayley x

Funny Friday!

I bet a lot of parents can identify with this!

Have a great weekend! =)
Hayley x