creating and inspiring in my little corner of the world
We made these hanging thingamajigs a few years ago, and they are still so lovely! They are all made out of recycled materials, old sweatshirts and clothing and old barrel rings.
What better way to capture the summer breeze than with some old lace? And perhaps add a little bit of sparkle, in case you happen to have old crystals from a broken lamp hanging around.
Happy Midsummer to you all!
I’m busy with all sorts of stuff, but I managed to paint some sticks that we’re decorating with. They’re just ordinary sticks I found in the woods that I’ve painted with acrylic paint. Such a fun thing to do and looks great as a decoration!
I hope you’re having a wonderful summertime!
Sometimes when I set the table I lack a good pot for my springtime flowers and branches. I solved that problem by making some giant Easter Eggs – the perfect vessel for a bunch of mini-daffodils!
First I created the eggs by blowing up a balloon, sticking it to a base (a heavy glass) with some tape and then gluing layer upon layer of paper strips to it. I used plain newspaper and plain wallpaper glue. When the eggs were thick enough I popped the balloons and trimmed the edges so they look like eggs that have cracked.
I painted the eggs pink or yellow and went to town with lots of colors and splatters. I finished them with a couple layers of furniture varnish.
Makes for an artistic and fun addition to any Easter table!
Here’s what I do when I want to craft something last minute, but still have all the fun of creating something from scratch – I decorate match boxes!
They’re the perfect size for a last minute Christmas gift, don’t take up much space and are the perfect utilitarian gift this time of year. I did these together with my daughter, who had lots of fun cutting scraps of paper and gluing sequins.
If you want to be really fancy you can gift these along with wax dipped pine cones as fire starters. It’s also super easy to do – just melt old candles in a jar in boiling water, or on low heat and dip the pine cones in the wax! You can dip them several times if you like, just for the look of it, but once is enough for fire starting.
I haven’t always been able to have traditional Christmas scents at our home because of allergies, but you can add some magic through sound as well! There is something magical about the sound of tinkling bells at Christmastime. When I was little I used to pretend a tomtenisse had walked by when a bell jingled, and some of that feeling still exists somewhere for me. Here are some easy DIY:s using jinglebells:
Acorn bells are the perfect mix of whimsy and magic. Go pick some acorn caps, dry them and glue jingle bells to the inside.
If you have a lot of bells you can add them to a sturdy piece of metal wire, turn them into a wreath and hang them on a door. Makes for a lovely jingle whenever someone walks through the door.
You can also add your bells to the decorations you make. Make decorations out of self-hardening clay with a cut out for a jingle bell.
This is one of my favorite Christmas DIY:s! Instead of packaging gifts in paper that gets tossed out, I sewed us a bunch of pretty bags that we can reuse for years to come.
I got to repurpose a lot of preloved materials, which also made my heart a bit extra warm! Old Christmas curtains, napkins and runners are now a staple beneath our Christmas tree, and get to be as admired as they ought to.
The bags are super easy to sew – simply cut a rectangle of a material (a runner is perfect for this). Fold it in two, add a ribbon to one side (make sure the longer part of the ribbon is on the straight side of the fabric) and sew together. I’ve used up a lot of pretty ribbons that I haven’t had the heart to use up, including lovely ribbons from funeral adresses.
It’s the perfect way to reuse old fabric material that you still love, but don’t have a use for. We get to take out the bag filled with bags, and fill them with our gifts, saving both the environment and time, and making us smile in the process!
I love creating things together with nature, and pine cones are the perfect medium! The trees have already gotten their use out of them, and now they get to become pretty decorations for Christmas.
Pine cone stars are easy to make, and so pretty!
You just glue together five pine cones (first dry them, if they’re freshly picked), and then decorate them plus add a string.
If you like a more natural look, you can simply glue yet another pretty pine cone at the center of the star.
Big pine cones make for big stars, perfect for decorating outdoors!
There are some things I miss now that I have problems with my eye sight, and beside knitting, sewing beads is at the top of my list. It is just so calming to sit and sew, to see your creating grow beneath your hands, and also to know that you can produce these small art works from other people’s cast away jewelry!
I had planned on introducing the necklaces one by one, but now I’m just going to toss them all out here in one big post. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do!
This butterfly necklace was once a bunch of bracelets and odd bits and pieces:
This brown one is my favorite, and the only one that I’ve worn more than once – I don’t get out much! I’m considering selling my pieces, but haven’t gotten far – I have no idea how to prize them.
But this brown one feels so personal, so it will not go for sale.
It’s, among other things, made out of old glass beads that I inherited from my great grandmother, and a bee broach that I particularly love.
This one was just a fun thing I tried out – what if I drew a heart shape with wings?
I love how pink and red and happy it is!
Ooh, I forgot my B-necklace!
This is also one I’ve worn on several occasions, inspired by Anne Boleyn’s B-necklace:
And then the snakes! I’ve made two snake necklaces, and they both took some engineering to get to fit around the neck. And a lot of fiddling to sew. I loved every second of it!
The green in this snake is just such a venomous green! I love it!
My pretty blue butterfly! You were supposed to have so many friends to fly away with, but so far you’ve only got the one green one. But you were so fun to create!
So there you go! That’s a small peak into the assorted jewelry I’ve created during the years.
Making your own jewelry out of other people’s cast offs is such a fun hobby! You can create whatever you like and are only limited by if you can sew or not. And if it doesn’t turn out great, well, no worries – you haven’t spent a whole lot of money, and you’ve probably learned a lot in the process! Plus I find it is so relaxing. It’s one of the best feelings in the world, to have made something out of nothing. To be part of creating.
This year we’re ditching all the Christmas wrapping papers and are ”wrapping” our gifts in these – our new mini-Santa’s bags!
I bought some cheap red cloth, and old table cloths and runners and sewed them into bags. It was a real fun project, easy to sew and so satisfying to use up all the lovely red ribbons I’ve collected through the years! Some of the ribbons, or strings, are from ”condolence cards” (I don’t know the translation, when someone dies, you buy a large card and the proceedings go to a charity). A very nice way to make something new and meaningful out of something pretty and already meaningful.
Most of the gifts are already waiting beneath the tree. And it looks so pretty with all those red parcels underneath!
Next year I’m going to make reusable tags too. (But first I’ll have to get my eye sight back on par – I made these bags in early 2020 fortunately! )
