Christmas crafts

We had a quiet night in on Saturday night, after a busy weekend visiting two Christmas markets (Cheddar and Bristol) and having Pete's brother, sister-in-law and lovely niece staying with us.  As well as watching Christmas music and generally feeling festive, I decided to do a few little Christmas crafts.  Here's all my goodies laid out on the kitchen table...

After the Christmas craft night, my latest purchase has been a glue gun.  A major time saver for things like brooches, I really think it's been such a worthwhile investment!

I now have a little gang of snowmen - using the cheapest rice in ASDA (40p a bag), some cheap sports socks, and my hand new glue gun, I created these little bods...

Snowmen

Somehow this rather exciting snow effect got added to this picture, so here's a very authentic looking snowman in the snow!

I also recently learnt how to make little roses out of felt, and this was such a simple little brooch to make. Two pieces of felt, a length of thread, a glue gun and a brooch back, and here we are with a cute little rosebud brooch. I think this will be a lovely little stocking filler Christmas present.

I'll post a little tutorial on how to make these brooches soon - they're so simple and effective.  Watch this space...!

Christmas Crafts with Crafty Parties

Welcome to December!  Christmas is coming...!

On Friday evening I went to a fantastic craft party, run by the lovely Juliette of Crafty Parties. Juliette is a great teacher and makes 'making' so much fun.  It was this time last year that I went to her Christmas craft party and got my first taste of crafting! As well as running parties and classes for kids and adults, she also makes beautiful brooches, bags, and just about everything else.

Juliette talked us through making gorgeous Christmas lanterns, tree decorations, brooches, and even Christmas snowmen. As you can see, the table was laden with crafting goodies - and once Juliette had finished we dived right in! She was always on hand to help with any questions - and just giving lovely little ideas too.

So this is my adorable little snowman!  He (or maybe she) is made of 2 socks, and filled with rice. So simple, and yet so effective.  I have a feeling there is going to be an entire snow family in our house to help us celebrate Christmas...!

If you're looking for a someone to run a craft party for you - or your children - Juliette is definitely someone you should call!