Home sweet home cross stitch...

I love getting free gifts... I just don't like them if it means I can't complete the project myself!

This happened about six months ago when I came across an envelope which was quite obviously a free gift from one of my many crafty magazines. It was a cross stitch of some bird houses... And the pattern was nowhere to be found!

So, it was quickly shelved in a cupboard - out of sight, out of mind!

A couple of days ago it saw that my husband was stitching ... And it was something small that I didn't recognise and asked him what he was doing... It was the free cross stitch and he was using the picture on the front of packaging to do the pattern...

Thankfully, him being a seasoned cross stitch whizz meant that he could at least guess where the middle of the aida was and could just about match up the colour blocks.

The finished item is a little bigger than the coasters that he did yet too small to put in a frame... Any ideas?

Loving mices to pieces...

As it has been a busy time at school I find it increasingly difficult to concentrate on bigger projects to do in my evenings so instead turn to little but satisfying ones while watching tv of an evening...

As ever, I still quest for the perfect craft magazine so was surprised that many weekly women's magazines are jumping on the bandwagon.

The latest in these is prima who have released a 'special' which is dedicated to all kinds of crafts.

On the front of the magazine is a kit to make a pin cushion mouse - perfect for an evenings worth of sewing!

The pattern was clear and easy to find... However, the instructions left quite a lot open to interpretation and could have benefitted from photos for each of the stages as both me and my husband had to re read a couple of the stages for sense!

Otherwise it made quite a pleasing pin cushion - though at the moment it is sat on the bookcase waiting to find a home!

Covering the drawers...

There is always a project or two that you simply MUST do. And this was one of them...

I had recently discovered the delight of filling up my evenings with art and crafty kind of stuff and when I wasn't doing that I was reading about art and crafty type stuff (when I do something it always has to be at 100%!)

Simply homemade had this quirky little project to help use the bundle of free papers that came with the magazine that month. All I needed was the drawers in question, a length of red ribbon and some red paint.

I have tried to find the drawers since but have failed. I have put a link to some similar ones on the bottom of the post...

The knobs of the drawers were carefully removed (by saw) and the drawers were measured out on the paper. The paper was then stuck using a high quality glue.

The sides were also then measured in the same way and paper stuck down.

The ribbon was then measured across the drawers, cut to length and then stuck down.

The knobs were painted with red acrylic paint and stuck on the ribbon. It was left to dry for 24 hours.

It now sits in my daughters nursery which holds little bits and pieces... Very effective indeed!

Getting cosy...

First of all I need to make a quick confession. This week has been a school production week so I have not been able to write on the blog... This upsets me quite a lot but, as the next production is not for a fortnight so it means I can get back to writing and crafting!

 So, I needed a quick project to get my fingers busy once again so chose another free gift to get things going. This gift was from Mollie Makes and was a mug cosy.

 The instructions were clear and easy and templates were simple but effective. The mug I wished to cosy was wrapped in the neon pink felt and trimmed down to size.

The diamonds were cut out of the grey and white felt and then laid on the pink felt. The instructions said you needed to stick the diamonds onto the felt but I couldn't find my fabric glue so skipped that step.

 A thick silver thread then sewed the diamonds to the felt.

 The Velcro was then sewn onto the felt and a button was used for decorative purposes.

Done in a few pips...

As I have said before I love freebies! Especially on the front of magazines.

 This little one was from the magazine Craftseller and was a quick little project that kept my fingers busy while on a train journey from York to Portsmouth.

 The main body of the strawberry was cut out of felt and stuffed with a thin layer of sponge.

The black thread was used for the pips and the ribbon was sewn in between the felt pieces.

 The green stork was cut out and the button was sewn on top. A five minute project and very effective...

I have made a couple of these into broaches for birthday presents and my friends have loved them...

Free as a bird...

As I have said before I am a bit obsessive about craft magazines. I have a few favourites...

Sew magazine
Simply homemade
Mollie makes

They all have their merits. Sew magazine has amazing patterns for the avid sewer. Simply homemade has ideas for every craft under the sun and Mollie makes has interesting crafting articles as well as tutorials. Mollie makes also has very good free gifts every month.

A couple of months back (maybe even six months or more) they had a kit to make a bird keying.

The instructions were easy to follow and the kit had enough of each of the materials that were needed.

The kit took half an hour at the most - a nice thing to do while catching up on the latest episode of my favourite murder mystery!

It now hangs on my shed keys - where I keep the bird food ... Not bad for a free gift!