So the first thing I made were these record placemats for my lovely sister and brother in law. They got married last year too, and had a record-themed occasion (Ant is seriously into his records – what he doesn’t know about dance music isn’t worth knowing!). I originally found this project in issue 41 of Mollie Makes magazine, which came out way back in June, and had them in mind since then.

I wanted to match the middles of mats to the colour scheme that Naomi and Ant had at their wedding, which was teal and purple, but I just couldn’t find the right thing that I had in my head! I found this selection of fabrics in John Lewis – most of them are from the Glow collection by Amy Butler, and they compliment each other really well. 30cm of each one was more than enough to make these and to have a bit left over for my ever-growing fabric stash!

The next project I made was a perpetual ‘paper’ chain for Helen – when I saw them I immediately knew that she would like them. I found it in a wonderful book called ‘Stitch the Halls‘ by What Delilah Did, and then they printed it in Mollie Makes too! But it’s such a lovely book that I’d highly recommend investing in it for next year, and I’m so pleased that I have the other projects to work on as well.

These chains are definitely a labour of love, but are really lovely! I had never used waste canvas before (and actually bought the wrong thing at first – get the right stuff here). The ESTs (Estimated Stitch Times) given in the book are quite accurate, although it did take me ages to stitch the stags, and it took me about 20 minutes to remove the waste canvas.

[vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”6488,6484,6485,6483″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1417803771710{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]Plasticard is a new material to me (I got mine on eBay) but it’s really great for strengthening felt and I’ll definitely be using it in future projects. I got a pack of seconds with a few scratches on and this made it cheaper – no-one will tell when it’s sewn in!

I’m so pleased with how they turned out! I also made a fabric envelope to keep them in. In case you’re wondering how long the chain is, I made 12 links in 6 different colours and they fit nicely above a door frame with a small piece of ribbon at each end. It’s the kind of gift that you could add a couple of links to every year, which would be great!

My final make this year was our Christmas cards – I had the photos for this printed out for so long but it took me ages to get around to making them and we didn’t get them in the post until the 19th December. Oops! Tom took this photo in Keswick last year and we knew it would make a lovely card. I made them size A7 with mini envelopes to match (if you’d like to make some envelopes and cards this size, click here for my tutorial from last year).

What did you make for presents this year? Were you lucky enough to receive a handmade present? I received some wonderful craft books, so look out for more projects in 2015!

The post A handmade Christmas appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

You will need:

Some mini glass baubles

About 125cm baker’s twine (this was the length I needed – alter as appropriate!)

Sharp scissors

Tape measure or ruler

A couple of pins to hang it up

Step 1

Match up the ends of your twine, and then thread one of the baubles through one side so it sits in the middle of the whole piece. Tie a knot so that the bauble stays in position.

Step 2

Thread another bauble along one side of the twine. Using your tape measure, position the second bauble so that it is 10cm/4″ apart from the first. Tie a knot to secure it in position.

Step 3

Repeat step two with your other baubles – I found it easier to do one side and then the other so that I could spread out the colours evenly. Make sure that you leave enough twine at each end to be able to make the loops in the next step.

Step 4

To make the loops to hang your garland, make a small loop at the end of the twine and tie a knot. Cut off any excess twine so that it doesn’t look messy, and then you can hang it up! I used a couple of push pins in our wall which makes minimal mess.

We hung our garland underneath Reggie, who is our lovely reindeer – he also has some of these lovely baubles on his antlers!

What have you been crafting for Christmas?

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To get me started, I was kindly sent some vouchers for Hobbycraft so that I could get some supplies for my wreath. I decided that I wanted to make an indoor wreath so that it can be used again each year and become part of our Christmas traditions, and so felt seemed like a good choice! I already had some lovely wool felt in my stash, and so I used my vouchers to buy everything I would need to try out needle felting. As many of you know, I’m always keen to learn something new, and this seemed like the perfect time to have a go! You can find the links to the supplies I bought in the list below.

You will need:

A polystyrene wreath (mine was 350mm)

About a metre of wool felt in dark green

Some 1cm red pom poms (I cut them off some pom pom trim!)

Mod Podge (or other glue that will work with felt) and a paintbrush

Paper, pencil, marker pen and paper scissors

Sharp fabric scissors

Needle felting tool

Wool roving (I used this Christmas pack)

Needle felting mat (optional – you might find it easier without one)

Some craft wire

Step 1

Draw out a few holly leaf shapes and choose the one that you think is the best shape. Draw around it with a marker pen and then cut it out with your paper scissors.

Step 2

Pin the template on the felt and carefully cut around it. You will need a lot of leaves to cover this size wreath – I cut out 120!

Step 3

When all of your leaves are cut out, add a little texture to them by machine stitching along the leaf. This is really effective, but you could leave it out if you don’t want to. Theres no need to tie the thread at each end – just cut it close to each leaf.

Step 4

A little while later (when you have cut out and stitched all your leaves!) you can start to stick everything on to the wreath. Cut out 2 long strips of felt, about an inch thick, and stick them around the bottom edges of the outside and inside of the wreath – this will make sure that you can’t see white bits around the edges.

Step 5

Brush a little Mod Podge or glue on the back of each leaf and then stick it on to the wreath. I found it easier to work from the outsides up to the top, so stick leaves along the edges first before layering up like this:

Once the edges are covered, your layered leaves will begin to look more wreath-like!

Step 6

When the whole thing is completely covered with leaves, add the pom pom berries. Place them first and then add a little glue on the back and press down firmly.

Step 7

Now to make the robin! As I said, I had never done this before so it was trial and error really. I have a lovely book called Wool Buddies by Jackie Huang which I used for a technique guide, but I made up the design as I went along! I started by taking a ball of white roving, and prodded it a bit to make it into an oval shape. Then I covered this with brown roving, leaving the front white.

Next I attached the red wool, and at this stage the robin needs quite a bit of prodding to make sure it is attached. I’m not sure if that’s the technical term, but hopefully you know what I mean!

Step 8

The eyes and beak are made next using tiny pieces of black roving. Position them first before carefully attaching with the needle felting tool.

As I said, my design kept changing as I went along and at this point I decided that his head and wings could be shaped out of his body. I did some serious prodding to do this – please mind your fingers here!

Ta-dah!

Step 9

The final thing to do is to attach the robin to the wreath, and I wound some craft wire round and round to do this. Poke it into the bottom of the robin (sorry, robin!) and then poke the other end into the wreath. You may wish to glue the wire in to the robin too – I did this just to make sure it is really secure.

Then attach a wire loop at the back of the wreath so that you can hang it up, and you’re finished!

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial – if you have a go at the wreath or the felted robin, then I would love to see them! Feel free to leave a link in the comments box below. If you are looking for more inspiration, you can visit the Direct Blinds inspiration blog for more ideas! What are you crafting for Christmas?

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Every year we go on a lovely walk from Crosspool in Sheffield to Bamford in Derbyshire, which has become known as ‘The Tinsel Tour’. Tom and his friends started it years ago and yesterday was the 11th Tour (we worked out that it was probably my 6th). The main aim of the walk is to get to a lovely pub called The Yorkshire Bridge Inn where we have lunch before moving on to other pubs. Yesterday, however, was the wettest Tinsel Tour on record and we were all absolutely soaked to the bone, so we stayed at the Yorkshire Bridge for most of the afternoon!

We usually wear our Santa hats for the walk, and for the 10th anniversary last year we did it in fancy dress – I went as a present made from a large box, which was ok for walking but not for sitting! This year we all wore Christmas jumpers, which gave me the opportunity to make my own (hooray!). I bought the jumper from good old Marks and Spencer and drew out a template for Rudolph, checking that it was the right size.

I used dark brown felt for his antlers and some beige corduroy for his face to give a different texture. I decided to use googly eyes and a pom-pom for a nose (which took ages to make – thanks to Tom for his help!). I used my sewing machine for this but it did take a while to sew some bits, particularly the antlers. But I’m so pleased with the finished jumper! Will definitely have to wear it on Christmas Day!

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Pastelitos de Boda are also known as ‘Mexican Wedding Cakes’, but we only ever make them at Christmas and never really associate them with any other time of year! This recipe is from Tom’s Mum, Helen, and she’s been making them for years. It took me ages to be able to pronounce the name properly, and for a long time I called them ‘Pasty Tasty biscuits’! But whatever you decide to call them, they’re so yummy!

These biscuits are super easy to make, and we gave a few jars of them as presents this year. I made four jars in one morning, so if you still need to get your presents sorted this could be for you!

Ingredients (makes 1 batch of 21 biscuits)

225g/8oz plain flour
225g/8oz butter
110g/4oz cornflour
60g/2oz golden caster sugar

60g/2oz icing sugar, sifted
1tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180/350/Gas mark 4. Mix the flour and cornflour together in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub together.

2. When almost combined, add the sugar and squash together. The mixture is quite sticky, but keep going until a dough is formed.

3. Grease a couple of baking trays, before rolling the mixture into small balls. Bake in the oven for around 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

4. When the biscuits come out of the oven, give each one a little nudge to make sure they haven’t stuck to the tray. Leave on the tray for 5 minutes before moving onto a cooling rack.

5. Once cooled, dust with the icing sugar and cinnamon (mixed together beforehand). I find it’s easier to sift the sugar and cinnamon into a bowl and then roll the biscuits around in it!

The jars that I used for Christmas gifts were from ikea, and I tied a simple label on the front and some festive ribbon in a bow too. Simple, but really effective I think!

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