the green gal

Ice cold in aqua

  1. omslagspapper2, 2. is this not the cutest sewing machine ever?, 3. aqua lace buttons , 4. doe a deer, 5. sock hop socks, 6. tea set, 7. Tiffany key, 8. Aqua Bird Tea Towel, 9. Matryoshka

Don't forget your pinny

Technically a pinny is more of a sleeveless dress than an apron but it sounds so such more of a homely word than apron, doesn't it? And my mum calls her apron a pinny so it must be right.

So, I've made a pinny! I took a break from making Christmas presents for my nearest and dearest and decided to try making something new. I looked at how the apron I already own was made and copied it. Joining the straps to the main body was a bit tricky as I had seams on top of seams which gets a bit bulky. But otherwise, not as difficult to make as I thought it would be. I recommend you have a go!

The fabric was an remnant from a local shop. Fabric remnant bin diving is rapidly become my favourite pastime. You can find some gorgeous pieces at bargain prices, that's another recommendation from me!

Back to Christmas, I made my first stocking too. Didn't go exactly to plan but you can't tell so I won't point it out. Still, you live and learn and with sewing I'm on a steep learning curve! For the stocking I used fat quarters (fabric measuring a quarter of a metre by a quarter of a metre). There's a fantastic quilting shop near me which sells copious amounts of beautiful fabric, and by buying quarters rather than metres of fabric, it keeps the costs down and means I can have more variety of pattern and weight.

So there, you go, two recommendations and a top tip from me. Not bad for a chilly Sunday afternoon! I'm off to watch It's a Wonderful Life and feel a warm glow inside.

Greening your gift wrap

I know. Seven is an odd (literally) number to use here. Well, I have seven ideas to share, did you want me to leave out a couple to make it a more sensible-sounding five? Just skip two when you get bored.

So, here are seven, count them, ideas for how you can minimise expense and waste when wrapping your presents this Christmas…

1 Wrap your present in a present

There are some staples in life that you can never have enough of, tea towels being one of them. Wrap up a gift in a fetching tea towel so your giftee gets not one but two presents! And there’s no waste leftover.

If you want to steer clear of possible washing-up faux pas, wrap your present in a handkerchief (clean, please), scarf or even an item of clothing. The person who receives this unconventionally wrapped present will love the concept of bonus wrapping.

2 Make a wallpaper gift bag

Look at a gift bag and you’ll see how simply it is made. It’s a bit like you started wrapping up a box but stopped after you sealed one end. Punch holes in the other end (which has become your bag opening) and thread through some ribbon or string to make handles or to close the bag. The great thing about using wallpaper is that it’s super sturdy so won’t collapse under the weight of a hefty gift and will probably be reusable.

(There is a great tutorial on making gift bags as part of the 12 Days workshop)

3 Keep it simple

You can’t go wrong with brown paper tied up with string. If it’s good enough for Julie Andrews, it’s good enough for everyone.

4 Get your pens out

But if you think that’s too plain-looking, after you’ve wrapped your prize, decorate it. You can go old school (ie act like you’re six again) and go crazy with the glitter glue and poster paints. Or, go for a simple motif like spots. One or two colours dotted all over the parcel will look simple but effective. And it’s not because I, er you, can’t draw.

5 Fox them

No, not some elaborate fox fur wrapping, how wrong that would be! No, confuse the lucky gift recipient by wrapping their treasure in a box wholly unrelated to it. For example, put a book or a DVD in a cereal box, stuffed with old newspaper to stop it rattling around. A word of warning though, don’t put your gift in a box that housed something more expensive as you don’t want to see disappointment on your loved one’s face. I’m speaking from experience, in my teenage, more materialistic days, I received a cuddly toy in a Converse Allstars box…

6 Make it Look Good Naked

Not you, the present. I'm not going totally Gok Wan on you but if your present is already a v pretty thing, don't cover it up. Tie a ribbon around it with a gift tag cut from an old Christmas card and give it as it is. Works great on plants, not so great on socks. Unless they're gorgeous-looking socks of course.

7 Not seriously though…

I don’t really advocate this unless you reuse the wrapping, but you could always try kitchen foil. It’s cheap, it requires only tearing not cutting and no sticky tape as you can scrunch the ends. And the idea came from Gavin and Stacey’s Christmas Special last year so I can’t claim the credit! Just reuse the foil on your turkey later, please…

If you have more genius, or just quietly useful, green wrapping ideas please share them here. Happy wrapping…!

Handmade is heartmade…

…is my new mantra, so, fittingly, this…

… was given to me today by my dear friend Kirsty and sums up a lovely afternoon spent learning how to crochet this…

 

…small and imperfectly formed, but crochet none the less, and followed by…

 
…multi-coloured eggs from local chickens for my dinner!

Hope you all had an equally satisfying day.

Perfectly pretty

Some prettiness to brighten your week, enjoy!

  1. DSC_5592, 2. vintage cheer, 3. Barrettes galore!, 4. scalloped fabric garland, 5. A is for . . ., 6. vintage

Handmaking Christmas

This year, where possible, I'm handmaking Christmas (thanks for the phrase, Julie!). As I believe I have mentioned once or twice already, I'm making most of my Christmas presents and the same goes for the cards. Or not because this year I'm making and posting my friends and family Christmas decorations instead of cards.

To find out how I made this little trinket, check out my tutorial over at daisygreenmagazine.co.uk. Enjoy!