Rewind : Handmade Holidays

Despite xmas sneaking up on me like a very sneaky thing, I'm definitely feeling the festive spirit this year. I think a lot of that's to do with having a house, a house that we love. 

Last year around this time we were very much not moving into our house, despite wanting to be in 'before xmas'. (Pro tip - never say those words to a builder, architect or recent renovator, unless you want to trigger some kind of PTSD). I was having regular melt downs over deadlines and contracts and tradies and money. 

We didn't have the dogs with us, or a great kitchen to cook in. We did have suitcases and a storage unit and xmas in a box. But this year the house is finally finished and we've settled in nicely. We have a place to decorate, to entertain in - somewhere to hang the stockings and put the tree. It's pretty ace. 

I know lots of people that are feeling quite a bit bah humbug about it all this year, but just in case you're not here's a round up of xmas craft how tos from the past few years of Good Things* (can you believe I've been blogging for four and a half years now?!!), plus some slightly tongue in cheek tips for stress free entertaining. 

Right now I'm in the midst of making a new pom pom wreath, red and gold are this year's colours. At the rate I'm going I'm pretty sure I'll be done before xmas day. Maybe...

All wrapped up...

I love a good cohesively themed pile of wrapped gifts. I love it so much that not even doing xmas out of a box (or three!) was going to stop me from having one. Luckily I'd decided on this year's theme early on - black wrapping with white, silver and gold highlights. 

Aside from the odd rogue gift tag, all my supplies were from The Wrapping Paper Company. A Twitter friend put me on to them and I'm so glad they did - gorgeous products, timeless designs and made in Melbourne too! I especially love their 'belli-bands', and the calico and linen ribbon (and look at these lovely striped herringbone ribbons!). But be warned, they are mainly aimed at retailers so everything is sold in semi-bulk packs and you need a minimum order of AU $100 (very easy to do, believe me…). 

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with how it all turned out - the black wrap adds a degree of classiness, yes? 

ps. I've already got ideas for next year - I'm thinking super bright pink and aqua with pops of gold, white and black. And polkadots, lots of polkadots!

Oh Xmas Tree!

As the husband put it, this is the first year we've had a relatively 'classy' tree. I had a vision of a tree decorated in blue, silver and white, but the decorating is in the hands of the stepsons. Happily, once they saw the pile of blue, white and silver I'd collected over the months (including some gorgeous vintage additions to the bauble stash), they pretty much came up with the idea themselves - hurrah! The tree is the usual riotous mix of decorations new and old, handmade and mass produced, but this year it has a unifying theme and I love it.

All wrapped up...

My gift wrap this year was inspired by this post on 100 Layer Cake (found via Pinterest, of course!), which was in turn inspired by some sparkly Miu Miu booties. Unfortunately my initial attempts (see below) didn't fill me with happiness, they seemed a bit bland. I struggled to find good, thick velvet ribbon and my silver paper lacked a bit of sparkle. 

So I've been mixing things up a bit and have come up with some fun combinations (the one up the top, with the silver peaking through the blue perforated paper, is my favourite). I do love the original idea, but if I attempted this again I'd spend more time sourcing the right paper and right ribbon because in the end they are what gives the look its punch.

Did you theme your wrapping this year? I'd love to see it if so!

Handmade Holidays : Pom Pom Wreath

Over the past few weeks, whenever I've had a spare moment, I've been making pom poms. Whether it's those minutes at the end of the day, when everything is kind of organised and the dogs and I are hanging for the husband to get home from work; or while I'm waiting for a bunch of photos to upload to Lightroom or Flickr or this blog; or when I just can't face the to do list - it's been pom pom time! And the end result is this wreath, which is now proudly hanging on our front door. 

Here's how you can make one too:

Step One : Make Your Pom Poms! 

Fairly obvious really. If you make them in stolen moments across a few weeks you'll have a pile of pom poms before you know it, and without the pain and cramps that can come from going pom pom crazy. My wreath was about 24 cm in diameter, and I needed 40 pom poms to cover it (a mix of big and small). I used these nifty Clover tools to make mine. They do speed the process up a bit, a wise investment if you've caught the pom pom fever.

Step Two : Attach Ribbon and Centrepiece 

The first thing I did was attach a ribbon, for hanging the wreath. Then I used very, very thin and bendy wire to attach the centrepiece, the star. You might want to use ribbon or wool for your centrepiece if you want it to be a bit more dangly. If you don't do these bits now don't fret, it would be easy to add them in later too...

Step Three : Plan Your Wreath 

Before I started assembling my wreath, I found it helpful to lay everything out - planning out the colour clusters and placement of the extra bits. I used some baubles in mine, I like the contrast of textures and the extra sparkle it gives the wreath.

Step Four : Beverage

Make yourself a beverage. Macchiatto was my drink of choice for this project (can you spot it?), but maybe you prefer a herbal tea? Or a smoothie? Or something a bit more 'medicinal'?

Step Five : Assembly 

Working your way around the wreath, tie each pom pom in place. Slot your baubles in the appropriate spots - I used very, very thin wire to attach my baubles, it holds them firmly in place.

Step Six (Optional) : Make Emergency Pom Poms 

You might find as you start attaching everything that you have a few little gaps. I did, so I had to go back to Step One for a while...

Step Seven : Ta Da! Step back and bask in your lovely pom pom workmanship!

ps. As I type this the youngest step-son is beside me making more pom poms - the virus is spreading! Huzzah! 

ps. Hi again...crass market research question - would you buy something like this? And if so, what's the most you'd be prepared to pay? (Please be honest, I won't be offended!)

Handmade Holidays : Embroidery Hoop Ornaments

Oh my goodness - twitter and instagram is simply AWASH with gorgeous lovely festive photos of people putting up their xmas tree (see here and here for example). I have to wait till the step sons arrive to put up ours because xmas isn't really xmas without the kids, right? 

However, the nice thing this year is that I've bascially had a two month lead up to xmas where I've been at home! No planes, no suitcases, no trips - just hanging out in Seoul with the husband and the hounds! This is pretty unusual and also pretty awesome. It means I've actually sent my xmas cards before xmas this year, I'm almost ready to put all the presents in the post and I've had time for a spot of festive crafting.

The embroidery hoop ornaments above are going to my parents-in-law. I'm rather pleased with how they've turned out. I especially like the cardboard backing with stamp and message. These ones are in little 5" hoops. I've also made one in a 6" hoop, which you can get a sneak peak of if you scroll all the way down (I can't show you the whole thing because it's for someone who reads this blog!). Next I want to make one in a blue/turquoise theme for us (we're having a white, silver and blue xmas), and after that I think I might make some non-festive ones for the shop (I'm thinking rainbow and monochrome). 

Here's a little bit about how I put them together.

I used a stamp as my pattern, and just stamped directly on the fabric. If you've got a decent stamp collection like me, you'll be getting excited about all the stamping/embroidering possibilities. I've found a soft grey ink strikes the right balance between providing enough of an outline and not showing through in the finish (or you can match your ink to the thread like I've done for the blue one). The key is not to have too much ink on your stamp, otherwise the lines will bleed a little and you won't get a nice neat end product. Next - stitch away! I used a simple back stitch. Just make sure you keep your stitches nice and even and your lines fairly straight. I used a small length stitch for these.

Get some sturdy card stock and trace around the inside of your hoop. Cut it out so you have a circle that will fit neatly in the back. Next, centre your embroidery in the hoop and make sure the fabric is stretched nice and tight. This takes much longer than you think it will. Trust me. I used a ruler to double check the star was actually centred.

Cut off the excess fabric, leaving a 1" to 2" overhang. Then start stitching around the edge to gather up the excess and pull it tightly together. You are kind of 'pleating' the fabric. It's at this stage that you should put your circle of card stock in the back of the hoop. It's tricky to slot it in after you've stitched up the back. I know because I've tried. I tried because I'm an idiot.

Once you've stitched around the whole circle, gently pull the thread so that the fabric gathers together in a nice tight circle. Tie a knot. I also like to dribble a tiny little drop of glue on the edge of the cardboard so that it sticks to the wooden hoop at a point of two, to hold the card stock in place. Lastly, add your message to the back and voila! You're done!

All wrapped up...

The past few days I have been locked in my office surrounded by piles of presents, paper and ribbon, with the occasional trip out to stand in long queues at the post office.  Ah yes, the life of an expat at Christmas time!  

Two blog happenings you might like to know about...

There's a few fun bloggy things going on at the moment that I thought you dear reader might be interested in (and which I've been lucky enough to be a part of).  

First up, Jess is currently hosting the Simple Pleasures Week on the Epheriell Designs blog.  Featuring a whole bunch of guest posts on life's simple pleasures - crafting, reading, bubble blowing and more.  As this is all about celebrating the little things that make our days good, I kind of had to take part...you can read my post about the joy of going for a stroll here.  And if you want to share your own simple pleasure on your own blog, please do!  

Then there's the month long bloganza hosted by the always awesome Creative Collective team.  The bloganza is not just a fun word, it's also a month of guest posts on all kinds of festive fun!  There's all kinds of recipes and tutorials and tips for managing stress.  Today's post on using fabric scraps to create gift tags is one of my favourites so far.  For this, I have contributed my first how-to (argh!), and I'll let you know when it's up (it may have something to do with paper!).  In the meantime, head over to the Creative Collective blog and soak up some holiday inspiration!

[The photo at the top has nothing to do with anything, really.  But I like it.  So there.]

Put a pom pom on it!

Is it just me or can one not click a link these days without tripping over a pom pom?  They seem to be everywhere, yes?  Or perhaps it's just another example of the frequency illusion as I'm a bit pom pom crazy of late...

Anyhoo, pom poms - I've been making them.  I started off using some fancy contraption, but then I realised it was much easier just to wrap the wool around my hands like this.  

I was thinking I'd just use them as they are, as ornaments for our tree, but after seeing this wreath from Big Box Detox (which incorporates fairy lights) I'm tempted to make a bunch more and do a wreath.  I guess I'll wait and see at what point the hand cramping sets in.

Dark blue, yellow and grey - this is the colour scheme I am currently obsessed with.  So our xmas is going to be blue, yellow and grey. (Well, at least my contribution to our xmas will be, I'm pretty sure the step-sons don't follow a colour scheme.  Actually, I'm pretty sure they'd think me slightly mad for following a colour scheme.) 

Pom poms are great - they are such fun to say and oh so easy to make, especially if you make them while there's something fun on the radio in the background.  You also don't really need to have any particular skill to make a pom pom (my favourite kind of craft!).  Also, late at night, when you tweet about pom poms you may for a second see your tweet and think you've tweeted about making 'porn porns' and have a mild heart attack and then realise you didn't tweet that at all and have a little chuckle to yourself about how similar 'pom' and 'porn' look when your eyes are old and blurry.

Oh, and if you're interested in another festive craft project that doesn't involve too much actual sewing or knitting or crocheting, I quite like this twisted felt garland from the Purl Bee.

Hope your all having a happy weekend.  I'm in Hong Kong - hooray!

Festive cheer: our tree!

I know there will come a day when I will get to have a christmas tree decorated with a single knitted scarf.  Or one decorated in nothing but white and silver.  Or one covered in vintage glass ornaments from the 70s (like these happy fellows).  And when that day comes it will be a little bit good but it will also be a little bit sad, because it will mean that the step-sons have lost their enthusiasm for xmas decorating.  And so much of the fun of xmas is having little people running about the house with wild excitement, isn't it?

This year the boys have done a stellar job on our tree.  It is a joyous mish-mash of, well, everything.  We have ornaments made of lego, more origami than you'd think a tree could hold, some pieces from Etsy, and a few treasured pieces I've picked up over the years - a santa hat wearing bilby which my Mum sent me for our first xmas abroad, a plump white owl which I received in a swap, a beaded angel I picked up on my first trip overseas.  And some chinese lantern lights from our last xmas in Hong Kong.  Oh, and then some blobs of plasticine.  All crowned by a glorious spiky red star.