D.I.Y Christmas Decor

Hey Guys, its Alex!

I apologise the lateness of this post, been busy helping Santa in his workshop ;)

As you can see by the title this week i will be showing you quick and easy D.I.Y Christmas Decorations!!
As am slightly bankrupt with buying so many presents, the thought of having to buy christmas decorations on top of all the gift buying too was too much, hence the inspiration for this post, improvised christmas decor

Obviously Pinterest helped me along the way :)

Super glittery string baubles!
My inspiration;

Method

- In a bowl, plop out as much PVA glue as you desired, mix well with some water so it is slightly runny and then add glitter, the more glitter the better!!

- Use as much string as you like/ I used about 50cm-1m worth- colour is up to opinion :)

- Now mix the string in the glittery glue to make the string an explosion of glitter

- nows the tricky bit, (using a print out stencil) place your pins in its desired places, (like the above image of the star)

-fill in the entire area of the pin/stencil area and leave to dry, for fast results, dry via the freezer

My end result; a bit more of a rustic feel and the image doesn't show as much sparkle but trust me it is

The next D.I.Y is Cardboard stars!

These are great for name place tags, hang on the tree or even place around the house. This was pretty simple and uses up wasted cardboard from gift packaging or cereal boxes!! 

Once a star template is printed and cut out, place the star on cardboard and trace around. You also need to find the centre point but don't worry I'll show you.

Cut out 2 stars in cardboard and both need the centre marked. The first star you need to cut down the centre of one spike to the censer point and then the other war you need to cut up the centre point form between the middle of two spikes. Like this Image...

Then slot together

It should look like this…

You can then spray paint or decorate to your hearts content! for the girly girls out there, you could coat the whole thing in pva glue and cover entirely in glitter

Lastly~Lid decoration!


Inspiration;


So mine was much more "crafty" looking than above.


The best thing is to paint the Lid- mason jar lids are usually good starters. 

To start, paint the lid on the outside- hiding logos etc, then I covered the lid in glitter glue and confetti stars- very messy! I left it to dry with it resting on baking paper protecting the surface.

I then found a really cute santa sticker and placed it on top- I think it was from 99p store :) Then I used a dynamo embosser- as I didn't paint my lid the logo was appearing through the glitter so I made a label saying merry christmas one and all. So quick and really effective would be a cute xmas gift!

Here is the end Result!!

Please send in your crafty images via our twitter we'd love to see them!!

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year! from all Three of us! 

Have a few drinks on us! you deserve it!

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Ps here's a little Christmas treat to you!

"December-spiration"

Hey Internet, its April

I can't believe that it is actually December!

ITS CHRISTMAS MONTH!

I should really stop getting so overly excited.. its only the 4rd!

Its officially the countdown to Christmas, WAAHHHOO  its the time where everyone turns totally bonkers and slightly scary whilst shopping, (who else saw the black Friday madness?) just an FYI, its not socially acceptable to snatch products out of someones hands.. just wanted to put that out there...I'm speaking from an experience that i don't ever want to re live again...

Besides Christmas itself, advent calendars are one of the bests part of the month, having nibbles of choccy everyday day, THE BEST, this year i've treated myself, i may have purchased the Dan and Phil advent calendar... not gonna lie, I'm totally in love with it! not only do i get my daily Dan and Phil fix with their super cute/disturbing selfies behind each door but the chocolate is on par with Cadburys! I'm not even sorry that i have the calendar rather than a super dedicated 'fan' i also feel a small sense of achievement knowing i beat all the super speedy teens, which justifies the chocolate eating some more.

However we do need to face the fact that over this month, weight will be gained but its ok, a few pounds here and there from all the justified limited edition coffee shop Christmas drinks is worth it, lets all join hands and take full advantage of the gingerbread lattes and yule log bakes, because... lets face it, when the snow hits, we need them extra pounds to keep us functioning when were freezing to death and the whole country has ground to a halt from 3 inches of snow...YAY England!

December is THE lazy month, where its actually socially acceptable to snuggle next to the fire with fleecy thick blankets without judgement or guilt and maybe a bottle of wine or a slice of cake... or both... rather than going out side facing the perral of englands unpredictable winter weather.

In addition to the mental Christmas present shopping, now is the time to raid Primark for their amazing Christmas jumpers. Funny story; my sister bought a flashing penguin jumper 2 years ago, my mum washed it not knowing that it flashed, and since then its never bloody stopped flashing, at least we know the batteries are good in it!

I hope you have enjoyed this post, next week I'm bring some super exciting food DIY Christmas decorations! so stay tuned for that! in the meantime feel sorry for me, i currently have a little job in a restaurant dealing with customers that suck all the Christmas joy out of life!

Toodlepip xx

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D.I.Y~ Halloween mini Pumkin Candles

Hello Internet, April here,

This week I'm going to be showing you how to jazz up your Halloween displays with super cute, munchkin pumpkin candles!
(mouth full)

After pottering about many, many, supermarkets in my local area, hunting high and low for the perfect pumpkin, i finally found these babies,

Munchkin Pumpkins!  Look how adorable!

These little cuties were bought from Waitrose £1 each!

So, after my last candle escapade -Here- i had loads of wax bars left, begging to be used!
and after finding an awesome pin on Pinterest, which for the life of me, i cannot re find, to link,-sorry, i felt totally inspired to create something similar. This is a really unique and simple yet effective decoration for all your halloweeny needs!

This DIY has a make time of half an hour; 

-In depth instructions for candle making can be found here-

• Melt wax via a double boiler,
• Whilst the wax is melting, hollow out your pumpkins,
• Use some sort of Vaseline or petroleum jelly to layer the entire inside of the pumpkin. This aids in keeping the pumpkin fresher for longer,
• Dunk the metal end of the wick in to the melted wax pan then press till set in the bottom of the pumpkin,
• Using a jug, pore in the melted wax till full,
• As wax starts to set, tape the wick in place,
• Place pumpkin in fridge till fully set

And that's munchkin pumpkin candles sorted!

I hope you love this DIY as much as i do, and i cannot even describe the beautiful mixture of vanilla wax with a hint of pumpkin, its delicious!

Toodlepip xx

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Festival Tips & Tricks

Hey guys, April here!

I'm chatting about festival fun this week!

Looking at the bare essentials for your festival weekend!

(Just want to point out the images are NOT my own) 

The festival I went to was amazing in every way except the fact that my camera died on the first day so I have no photo evidence of my incredible time.

This post is inspired by the Vlog Zoella did on YouTube looking at festival hair, makeup and clothing

Click HERE for the video and more inspiration!

Lets get cracking!

The best advice i can give for a newcomer to festivals is go in a big group! not only is it safety in numbers but it makes the whole experience more enjoyable, also people who have already been to festivals and know what to expect are also handy, they know the best places to pitch the tents etc... yes location of your tent matters!

~ Have a good tent! 

people go down the route of getting a cheap tent and abandoning it at the end of the weekend, like me.... worst thing i have ever done! seriously have a good tent with you!

I went for aesthetics over durability/reliability....big mistake! i chose a £15 teepee from eBay, it was easy to put up and looked cute, little did i know about the hell i was entering my self in to. first of all it was unable to contain heat during the night, leaked every time it rained, and would instantly collapse the second a drunk person tripped up our tents guidelines. Not fun re-assembling the tent at 5 am!
Get a tent that is colourful, something that will instantly grab your attention, so you're not hunting for your tent in the dark in a dirty field 

( take a small flashlight with you and keep it with you all the time to help guide you back to your tent too) 

Have fun looking for your tent!

This is an ideal tent.. no guidelines and very colourful

~ Shoes!

Now I'm not saying everyone right now go buy £80 hunter wellies, because that's a lot of money...for wellies especially.
I'm saying choose something that's both warm and waterproof, and that's comfy to walk around in for 13+ hours a day

 ( festival shenanigans don't just end at the last performance, its when the party tents open up and the funfair is in full force!)

Just want to point out, everyone wears hunter boots to festivals.. don't follow the crowd be creative and start your own trend!

~ Don't be afraid of the rollers!

Don't be alarmed at the sheer amount of women walking round a field in their rollers!

Now since this was my first festival i had no idea what to do with my hair in regards to keeping it looking fresh... i just went down the lines of dry hair shampoo and hoping for the best. 
This obviously wasn't the best/ ideal plan of action, because it was tied up by the Sunday. 
I did however noticed how the women with longer hair were turning up to the festival with their rollers in, and i mean A LOT of women that had turned up on the Friday with massive rollers in and plastic bags over their heads to keep dry, i obviously missed a trick! 

TRY-- leaving the rollers in all day Friday then on Saturday have a good spray of dry shampoo/ hair spray and your hair would be good till Sunday!

~ Food

I lived off super noodles for the weekend, enough said really....it was light and didn't take up much room in my rucksack. My priority was the alcohol
There are food vans open more or less constantly so food is available.. but at a price. I paid £ 7.50 for a burger when i got fed up with the noodles...

~ Wipes!

God help you, if you forget the baby wipes! i took 2 packets, one for the loos and one for the face/ body, they are absolutely essential

~  Clothing

Now finally the best bit, deciding what to wear and take with you! its totally down to you, whether you wanna 'look good' or 'be warm' now obviously there is a nice middle ground between these sections but you do see girls in bikini tops in the freezing rain.. it looks silly and they are deffo gonna get ill. the best tip is to remember you are in England so the chances of rain is high, so remember some sort of hoodie or coat that you can pair with some cute shorts/long socks and wellies... wellies are essential for the inevitable rain/ mud situation here is a mood board of clothing ideas :)

There you go, some fun tips to survive your first festival! have an amazing time and don't get up to much mischief :)

Toodlepip xx

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D.I.Y. Textile Owl

Hello Internet! 

April here, to show you how to create your very own decorative owl!

Here I have created an easy step by step tutorial for you guys to follow

Tutorial! 

Estimated making time: 1.5 hours 

 ( this was me taking my time, simultaneously watching the dan and phil show on radio one, so I was slightly distracted ;D)

(lighting in my room is awful, sorry)

What You Will Need;

(btw, all these products can be found in your local haberdashery store and/or hobby craft)

2x black buttons

2x white thick felt ‘eyes’

1x cream thick felt ‘face’

1x brown triangle

2x grey thick ‘bodies’

2x fabric ‘wings’

2x thick felt ‘wings

1x fabric tummy

1x felt heart

1x handful of stuffing

not forgetting the thread

Obviously you can change the colours of any of the materials needed to create your owl, (its down to personal taste) I just used what fabric I had left in my scrap fabric box. You may also need a hot glue gun/ pritt stick, although I have created the whole project through hand stitching.

Step One- The Body

You will need to blanket stitch the sides of the owl together leaving a hole to pop in the stuffing, alternatively you could stuff with potpourri if you want a beautiful smelling owl. 

You then obviously finish stitching up.

Step Two- The Wings and Eyes

To make the wings, put you fabric wing and felt wing shapes together, and blanket stitch around them. Follow this step again for the other wing too.

For the eyes, sew the button on to the white felt circle to make the eye, and then make stitches, like spokes of a wheel from the button around the edge of the white felt circle. This I feel makes the eyes more owl like. Follow this step again for the second eye

This is a front and back view of what your little owl should look like now J

Step 3 –Putting The Face Together

For this step you will need to either hot glue gun the eyes to the face shape or sew it, like I have. Then hand stitch the triangle shape to the face as shown creating its mouth.

Step 4- Putting It All Together

 For this part you can stick together your owl with either a pritt stick or hot glue gun, however you can also hand stitch, which I did once I discovered my glue had

Dried out.

I used a basic stitch to put together the tummy and the body of the owl

(If you know you are going to be hand stitching the whole project stitch the tummy on the felt body before you stitch together the front and back shapes creating the body)

 So, once you have finished gluing/tacking/stitching your owl together he should look like this! 

I also added a tie, so I can hang him from my wardrobe handle.

This is the finished project! Hopefully you have an amazingly cute little fellow that you can use to decorate your room with!

Personally I have used my owl to hang off my ( very dull looking ) 

wardrobe handle 

(just to spice things up!)

You however, could use him as a decorative potpourri holder to pop in your sock drawer, decorate your room with or simply give as a beautiful handmade gift.

Toodlepip xx

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