Handmade cards and other crafts, templates & tips

I tried to upload a few cross stitching charts yesterday but for some reason I couldn't :-(

Anyway here they are today, you can use them on your Christmas projects. To download them just follow the links bellow:

Heart, tree, snowman, Christmas bear

Christmas baules

Small Christmas baules (this is the chart I used to embroider the tiny Christmas baules you see on the white cross stitched bag in yesterday's post)

For those of us who really love to make things there's nothing like Christmas to get our creative juices flowing. There are so many things we can make: cards, git tags, ornaments for the Christmas tree or to scatter around the house, gifts for family and friends, etc.

From now on until Christmas I'll be posting templates, charts, tips and suggestions you can use when planning your Christmas. Hope you like them .

So, here's my first project: little handmade bags/sachets. These are very easy to make and you can use them as gifts (fill them in with pot pourri, lavender, etc. to turn them into pretty sachets) or as bags for small gifts. If you make them small enough you can even use them as ornaments for your Christmas tree.

Here's how to make them:

1 - Cut a rectangle of fabric with the length and width you want.

2 - With the righ side of the fabric facing up (and with the fabric in a vertical position) fold in half upwards. Make a fold around the top and iron to crease.

3 - Sew the sides and turn the bag inside out.

4 - Attach the ribbon to the back of the bag and near the top with a few stitches. Your bag is now ready to be filled with goodies.

I made these 2 bags yesterday to show you as an example.

I've decided it was time for another tidy up of my craft supplies. Unfortunately, I don't have a craft room, I use my dining room table to work on and my bits and bobs are stored in boxes underneath the stairs so it's important to go over them once in a while and have a good tidy up so I always know where things are and to make sure they don't spread all over the place .

Although I don't use peel-offs much I have quite a few, bought mainly on sale. I've been thinking how I could organize / store them, one solution would be the plastic boxes available on the market and made specifically for peel-offs but I find these a little expensive and they don't take much anyway. Then, last Thursday I had an idea, why not use an empty ring binder I had and some A4 plastic envelopes to sort out my peel-offs. I divided each A4 plastic envelope into 2 sections by stapling it vertically along the middle that way peel-off sheets are kept place. I also stored them back to back and by themes: Christmas, lettering, words, flowers, insects, etc.

I also bought new storage boxes. The red metal box is one of 2 I bought from B&Q. Each one has 11 plastic containers inside which can be moved if needed. I also bought 2 plastic boxes with 12 compartments each. I've already filled one with sequins.

In the photo above you can also see some of my other purchases. I hadn't planned going into Hobbycraft but as I was in the neighbourhood I couldn't resist going in and I'm glad I did. They have a great offer going on on paper punches. Prices start from 29p and you buy one and get the cheapest free. I got all of these for just over £3, not bad.

Oh, and last week I finally decided to go ahead and get myself a Sizzix BigShot, again taking advantage of the sale prices at Hobbycraft. One of the shop assistants recommended the Cuttlebug because it's more compact in size and it also works with die-cuts from other brands except for the movers and sliders from Sizzix and as these are on my wishlist I bought the BigShot. Unfortunately, I haven't yet had time to play with it to my heart's content but I hope to put it to good use pretty soon, after all Christmas is only 4 months away

On a recent walk to a nearby deer park, we (me and my son) found some little pine cones. We brought some home with us to use for Christmas. I don't know yet what I'm going to make with them but I found some very cool Christmas projects on the Internet and might try one or two.

I also know someone who works for a local catering company which does the catering for many events including weddings. The cute fabric favour bags bellow and the clothes pegs were left behind after a wedding and instead of being thrown away they were given to me and I love them . Sometimes, I also get bits of ribbon, sequins and organza bags among other bits and bobs I keep for use in my crafts. I think it would be a shame not to reuse/recycle these items as they are in perfect condition and most of them are very pretty.