Photo Frame Pin Cushion Tutorial

I have made photo frame pincushions before but larger ones! I bought some cute small photo frames recently and just knew I wanted to make a couple of pin cushion projects out of them! The one in the photograph was made as part of a wedding gift package that I posted about recently. wedding-day-gift-package

I thought I would make a quick tutorial on how I made this.

Requirements:

• Photograph Frame
• Fabric
• Needle and Thread
• Wadding (stuffing)
• Hot Glue

Instructions

Step 1: Cut out a piece of fabric about twice the size of the frame. This frame was round so I used a large cup to draw a circle about twice the size.  If a rectangle shape then maybe one and ahalf to twice the size.
Step 2: Sew a gathering stitch all around the outside of the circle or rectangle.
Step 3: Gather the thread and then insert some stuffing.
Step 4: Place the stuffed fabric into the frame (after glass has been removed) and make sure it has a neat fit.
Step 5: Secure the fabric to the frame by using hot glue.
Step 6: Cover the opening of the fabric with some more fabric if needed by glue or sewing.
Step 7: Place the frame back to the frame, mine had been glued on so I had to re-attach by glue but most frames have sliding out backs.
Step 8: Decorate your frame if needed, I hot glued a couple of small decorations onto this one.


I bought this frame as a set so also did the same with the other 2 doing slightly different decorations, shown below. The one immediately below I have kept at home and have used it to display my daughter's Sea Glass Necklaces. She is currently doing a giveaway on her page if you want to pop by. http://www.slhcrafts.com/2015/06/sea-glass-necklace-giveaway.html

The photograph below is a frame I made as a gift for a friend.

Cute Fabric Cushion

My 8 year old has been busy at her Brownies Club (A popular girls club in the UK). They often make or do interesting things, something different every week. She especially likes it when they do crafty projects!  Her latest crafty project was a cute fabric cushion.

Obviously I wasn't there when she did this but she explained to me how it was done which is very simple.  Decide on a picture or a them that you want on the cushion.  Have a lot of scrap bits of fabric at hand and some fabric glue and scissors.  Cut out the pieces you want and put together a picture you think will look good on the cushion.  My daughter chose an owl which turned out really good.  Once the design was made simply start gluing the pieces of cut out fabric and attach to the cushion.  Once the cushion has been finished allow to dry and insert a basic pillow or stuffing.

Wedding Day Gift Package

Both me and my young daughter worked together recently to make a small wedding day gift package for a friend. My daughter made some lovely Sea Glass jewellery and I made a small pincushion from a photoframe. I also designed a wedding poster design in a lovely frame for the wedding couple too.

 We then presented this with a nice matching red plate and gift wrapped it in cellophane.

My daughter is only 13 and also has her own craft blog, if you haven't already heard of it - here is the link: http://www.slhcrafts.com/

Easy Pipe Cleaner Crafts

The other day my youngest wanted to do some crafts. I didn't want the house in a mess as we had visitors coming over so tried to think of something that didn't involve much mess and was quite quick too. What better than pipe cleaners. Not much mess, easy and kids can let their imagine go wild.

The photographs show the designs my 8 year old daughter came up with. This kept her busy for an hour and most importantly, kept her happy!

Painted Rock Bumble Bee Tutorial

My girls have recently been planting some lovely flowers outside and we decided to make the plot prettier by adding some painted rock bumble bees into the flower beds.  You can use any kind of rocks, preferably ones in an oval shape more like the shape of a bumble bee.

Requirements:

Rocks
Acrylic paint / Paintbrushes
Varnish (optional)

Step 1: Clean the rocks and allow to dry before painting them.
Step 2: Paint the whole rock yellow (may need a few coats)

Step 3: Paint Black stripes on the rock (I painted 3)
Step 4: Using white paint paint on some wings and the whites of the eyes.
Step 5: Add extra colours for eyes or just add a black pupil to eyes.
Step 6: Add varnish if you wish them to be more weatherproof for outside.

I hope you like these bumble bees, my 8 year old daughter helped me painting them, not very difficult at all and a nice little project for young ones to do.

Maggie's Tea Room Review

If you follow my Facebook page you will have noticed that I have often mentioned our family visits to the lovely Maggie's Tea Room in Washington, Tyne and Wear.  We happened across this lovely place not long after it had opened and we love going there for lunch.  I thought I would write a post about this great place as the staff are so friendly and welcoming and the food is delicious and the prices are great too!

They have seating outdoors if the weather is nice and seating indoors too with a lovely shabby chic design that me and the girls all love!

They have a great choice of food, but I normally stick to a scrumptious jacket potato and my youngest loves having a kid's sized High Tea which comes with a miniature porcelain tea set too!

Below is a photo I took a while ago of one of the lovely coffee's they serve.

My girls absolutely love the milkshakes that they make, many choices to choose from. This is another photo I took a while ago showing their delicious milkshakes.

As I have mentioned before all the staff are so lovely and polite and will try and cater to all your needs. They also do parties for both adults and children. Here are some photos from their Facebook page showing the tables set out for parties.

I would highly recommend this place if you are in the area. I found this place as it is right next to a large craft shop well known in the area 'Dainty Supplies' so if you are a crafter like me and you visit the craft shop then this treasure is just nearby!  Here is a link to Maggie's Tea Room Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggies-Tea-Room/340383406139531

Maggies Tea Room
29 Phoenix Road
Washington Tyne and Wear
NE38 0AD

DIY Rubber Stamp Tutorial

I have always wanted to have a go at making my own rubber stamp and decided to buy the equipment and have a go at making a stamp for my daughter's website name SLH Crafts. http://www.slhcrafts.com/ It was actually much easier than I expected and I will probably be having a go at making some more with the spare lino.

Requirements:

• Crafters lino for carving (various options available to buy)
• Lino cutters or scalpels
• Pencil/Pen and paper if using patterns.
• Glue
• Afterwards - Ink for stamping

Instructions:

Step 1: Print off the text or picture you wish to copy.
Step 2: Outline the pattern with a pen/pencil.
Step 3: Turn the paper over so pattern is backwards esp if using letters, place onto lino and rub over the opposite side of the paper leaving a tracing mark onto the lino.
Step 4: If needed, go over the traced mark to make it more noticeable for cutting.
Step 5: Start carving out the design making sure not to carve the design itself.
Step 6: Once you have carved the design then cut the design from the lino and attach/glue to a wooden block or something similar to help with stamping.
Step 7: Practice using the stamp with some ink and if you need to make any adjustments then carve out any extra. (I noticed I had forgot to cut out the hole in the letter 'A' so had to carve extra until I got my desired design.