Fabric covered birthday card book

This is a handy little project for making a diary to keep a record of important people's birthdays, combined with a storage place for bithday cards, to help avoid that last minute dash to Paperchase when you realise you've missed your granny's birthday . . .

I came up with the idea when I noticed my mum's diary was bulging with an excessive amount of pre-bought birthday cards, slotted in between the pages of the month it was destined to be sent (you can tell where I get my uber-organisational skills from). However, not only was this entirely impractical for when she needed to take her diary out and about (along came a huge stash of cellophane-wrapped greetings cards) there was also a fairly regular disastrous occurence when the diary and it's entire contents scattered all over the floor after being knocked off the table.

For the birthday card book
You will need:

• A blank notepad, no smaller than A5 (I used an A5 sketchpad which is great due to its thicker than average paper, but slightly on the small side http://direct.hobbycraft.co.uk/products-Daler-Rowney-Spiral-Bound-A5-White-Paper-Sketch-Book_105240.htm) - whereas something like this is fine http://direct.hobbycraft.co.uk/products-Derwent-A4-Landscape-Sketchpad_333716.htm
• Scissors
• PVA glue
• Fabric scraps
• Needle and thread
• Ribbons
• Pen, pencil and ruler
• Paperclips or pegs

1.  Begin by sewing strips of fabric into two horizontal patchworks about an inch longer than the width and length of the book, to cover the front and back covers. Alternatively, if you are short of time, just measure and cut two pieces of fabric so they are slightly larger than the front and back covers. Set these aside.
2. As the book will be divided up by month, work out how many pages you'd like to use for the monthly calendar (I used one side of one page) and then add on two extra for each month - these will make the actual holder for the cards - "card" pages. It's OK to rip out excess pages as having the cards in the book will take up lots of space anyway.
3. Use a pencil/pen and ruler to mark on a daily calendar for each month (remembering to leave two blank pages between each month).

4. Using a ruler, pencil and scissors, cut half of each first blank "card" page for each month diagonally from about two inches from the botton right corner to halfway up the left side. Discard the top of each of these.

5. Cut 12 strips of ribbon (one for each month) the same length as the width of the book's pages, and glue them to fasten the bottom of the diagonal "half" page and the full "card" page for each month together. Add a little bit on the bottom right hand side as well if you like. Use your paperclips or pegs to hold the ribbon in place until it sets.


6. When everything is dry you should have quite a sturdy little book. Take your fabric - plain or patchwork - and glue each bit to the front and back covers, making sure there is a little overlap glued down on the inside top and bottom.

7. Trim any excess material down the sides of the covers and to give it a more finished look take a final piece of ribbon and glue it to the edge (inside and out of the cover) to hide the edge of the material. Peg everything in place until dry.

 Here is the one I made my mum for her last birthday, in full use!

Buttons and beads

I had a major reshuffle of my sewing box the other day as it was basically overflowing with all sorts of pins, beads, ribbons, thread, buttons and random bits of material . . . and as organised as I like to keep things, this did not please me.

Luckily, Jim's mum recently gave me a lovely old school Moet & Chandon tin, which was the perfect new home for my increasing ribbon collection. And then a visit to my Granny's this weekend just past was even more fruitful in the tin arena, in the form of these little tea leaf tins, which I happily filled with all my buttons and beads. Colourised of course. A great stress-relieving job!

Vintage cake stands

I absolutely love scouring old antique shops and charity shops for crockery gems. You can often pick up a selection of beautiful cups, plates and saucers at less than £1 a piece. Although it's not Jim's cup of tea, he doesn't mind eating the cakes and tasty treats off them once they've been transformed into handy little cake stands - ideal for parties and picnics.

 

To make a cakestand

You will need:

• Old crockery - tea cups, small bowls, saucers and plates ov varying sizes
• Super glue or a glue gun

 

1. Play around with the colours, shapes and sizes of the selection of crockery you've acquired until you come up with a design you like. 

 

2. Place the largest plate at the bottom, glue one cup/small bowl upside down to the centre of the plate and place a heavy item on the book until the glue sets.

3. Next, glue a smaller plate the right way up to the base of the cup and wait again until it sets.

4. Keep going until you have 2, 3, or even 4 layers...

And finally...

...Tada!

The finished article in use at a summer picnic!

Homely heart garland

 

This is a perfect way to use up offcuts and scraps of fabric to make a simple yet effective decoration that can be used to brighten up a corner of a room or hang across the top of a cupboard or window.

You can use any fabric and a template for any shape to make a seasonal decoration, such as Christmas trees, flowers, stars etc etc. I love hearts as they fit in the whole year round!

To make a heart garland

You will need:

• fabric
• heart template (easy to find online, or use a heart-shaped biscuit cutter)
• pinking scissors (ordinary scissors are fine, but the pinking scissors gives the hearts a good zigzag look)
• wadding (easily and cheaply picked up from a haberdashery/fabric shop, or you could use the stuffing from a cheap cushion)
• thread
• needle
• ribbon

1. Begin by cutting out two heart shapes out of each piece of fabric to make one heart - cut about 1cm around the template to allow for the stuffing that reduces the size. Pin the heart shapes inside to inside to keep them together.
2. Sew each pair of heart shapes together by machine or hand about 3/4 of the way round, making sure to leave a 1cm border round the outside. Fill them with wadding to the size you like the look of, then finish off sewing up each heart.
3. When you have about 8-10 filled hearts (or as many as you like depending on how long you want the garland!) lay them out in the order you want them to hang. Cut up pieces of ribbon about 8-10cm long and sew them between each heart attaching it to the top/bottom or each side to hang them in order.

4. Finish off by attaching a loop of ribbon to the top of the first heart (or each side of the outer hearts depending on which way you want the garland to hang) so it's easy to hang up. 

 Hang your hearts lengthways to brighten up the top of a cupboard or doorway...

 ...or downwards to add some colour to a plain corner!

Let's start at the very beginning...

...I've heard it's a very good place to start.

As this is my very first post, it's going to be more of an introduction - nothing worldly-wise or earth-shattering in content, but a just small

hello.

Over the past few years I have been busy creating homely things out of other things found, usually, around the home and now I'd like to share them.

From cushion covers, to pots and storage boxes, from Christmas decorations to lampshades, the small London flat I share with my boyfriend Jim (who also has a special project he did, aged 4, to share at some point) has taken on a whole new "shabby chic" feel, which I'm not sure, but I hope, he likes, and that you will like too.