Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

JennArtDesigns

LittleRedUmbrella

10antimeridiem

BarbaraSzepesiSzucs

ThevySherbarium

JahnaVashti

HazelAndAgnes

NaomiStays

TheSpottedSparrow

Monday Moodboard - Christmas Time!

1. Misty Aurora

2. CraftsAndPhotography

3. PetalGirly

4. TenderBlue

Monday Mooodboard is a game played by the members of the European Etsy Team every Monday. The moodboard is a selection of items from the team that reflect your mood on that particular day. Anyone in the team can join in. Just link your very own moodboard to the host of the game Star Of The East.

Bow Hair Clips

This was by far my favourite fabric this season: pretty, red and white striped, soft to the touch, natural cotton.

(I also made my Absolute Beginner Scarf Tutorial with it.)

While it reminds me of Christmas candy cane this close to the holidays, red and white  is one of those classic combinations for throughout the year.

 I sure loved making these little bow hair clips with this cotton.

Bows are one of those things that have been on my -very long- to-do list....

I've been dreaming of some in other pretty, girlie fabrics but also in tulle.

Now all I have to do is find the precious time to make some more....

                                 
                                         Linked to:
               Annemarie's Crochet Blog, Petite Hermine, Tatertots and Jello, Six Sisters Stuff, Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Overflowing, Polkadot Pretties, Or So She Says, Today's Creative Blog

Vintage Christmas

I couldn't resist sharing some wonderful  vintage images from Christmases long gone by...

All found on pinterest.

Jantzen Sweaters 1958

1940s illustrated soda ad

McLellan's Christmas Carols and Giftguide 1958

Mica Snowflakes

Salesman Sample Christmas Advertising Postcard from late 60's or early 70's

1960s Hallmark Christmas Greetings card

Hallmark vintage Christmas card

Vintage Christmas Greetings

Detail from the book "It's a Wonderful Christmas" by Susan Waggoner

Christmas angel

Monday Moodboard - Spicy Mustard

1.  Edangra

2. TupperRugs

3. TeaWithAView

4. Eljuks

For those of you who would like a  quick history of mustard, complete with fascinating facts, click  Wikipedia - Mustard .

Monday Mooodboard is a game played by the members of the European Etsy Team every Monday. The moodboard is a selection of items from the team that reflect your mood on that particular day. Anyone in the team can join in. Just link your very own moodboard to the host of the game StarOfTheEast.

Christmas Ornament Inspiration - Felt

If you haven't seen the wonderful Christmas inspiration floating around Pinterest, then you sure are missing out!
Here are some of my favourite  felt ornaments from my Pinterest Christmas board.

Click on any picture to go to the pin -and the link.

The BIG CHRISTMAS Choose Your Own Accessory GIVEAWAY

-THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED-
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Winner No.1: Gloria Grahame
Winner No.2: Breanna Bigby-Sackrey
The two winners have been contacted via email. If I do not hear from them over the next couple of days, I will redraw a name/names on Wednesday.
Thank you all for participating!!
I'll be holding another big giveaway for the New Year which will also be two year anniversary of this blog!! Hope to see you again then.
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It's just about that time of year. 
The most wonderful time of the year as far as we're concerned around here.
So it must be just about time for a big Christmas giveaway.

Two lucky winners will get their choice of accessory from one of these two shops:

One winner will choose a handmade fabric  accessory from OnePerfectDay.

The other winner can choose any organza flower accessory listed in Fairytale Flower.


This giveaway is international and ends on December 7 at 5pm PST.
There is only one mandatory entry -a comment on this blog- and many more easy options to earn more entries if you wish. Just follow the rafflecopter prompts.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


This giveaway is linked to Giveaway Day at SewMamaSew where hunreds of giveaways with free handmade goods and supplies are linked for the whole week.
Why don't you head on over and try your luck?

Monday moodboard - It's Oh So Quiet....

1.Dreamzzzz

2. StephmelArt

3.GreenGrass2

4. JohanessFranciscus

Monday Mooodboard is a game played by the members of the European Etsy Team every Monday. The moodboard is a selection of items from the team that reflect your mood on that particular day. Anyone in the team can join in. Just link your very own moodboard to the host of the game StarOfTheEast.

The Rik Rak Happy Holiday MEGA Giveaway

I'm afraid I've been somewhat remiss in sharing the latest rik rak mega give-away for the holidays.

There are 5 fabulous prize packs to be won by 5 fabulously lucky winners! Each prize pack is valued at over $100.

Prize pack B has a wonderful set of freshwater coin pearl jewelry by sparrow grey, an eco felt stocking of your choice from rikrak, as well as a white shantung silk ruffle cuff from my very own One Perfect Day.

The winners will be chosen on December 4, so you'd better hurry up if you want to be in the running for this one.

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There will be another giveaway on this blog very soon. I'll be joining the SewMamaSew Giveaway Day on December 3, along with hundreds of others. 

Giveaway Day is actually a week long and you don't want to miss it! 

How To Make A Simple Scarf - a DIY for Absolute Beginners

This step by step instructions tutorial on how to make a simple scarf is for absolute beginners. 
While the scarf in the photos is a small square scarf, the steps are the same for any shape and size you would like to make.

1. Decide on your fabric and shape.
(This tutorial is basically for fabrics that fray, like cotton, linen, etc when you want to have a neat, stitched finish.) 
If you want a perfectly square scarf, and you don't want to get out your tape measure, just  fold your fabric over until you make a perfect triangle. 
Cut. 
Open it up, it's a perfect square.

 2.If you're pretty new at this and are not confident of your sewing skills, or if you just want everything super neat and tidy, it helps if you use an iron to flatten out all your seams before you stitch them.
This is how you do it.
Fold over a thin strip of fabric making sure that it's the same width all the way down. Press this down with your iron untill flat. 

 Once you've done this, fold it over again, in the same way, and press it flat with the iron again.
Do this for each side.

3. Stitch over all sides paying attention to the corners.

 Use pins to keep the fabric in place and help you make them align perfectly.

Tip: When stitching something that will see a lot of wear, backstitch a little so that you don't have unravelled stitches later.

4.Congratulations!
You have just made your very own scarf!
Now you can go ahead and make some more for your friends and family! 
 They make for cute Christmas gifts.

Linked to:

Threading My Way, Annemarie's Crochet Blog, My Creative Space

Monday Moodboard - Flamingo Pink

1.  BarbaraSzepesisucs

2. MyTailorIsFun

3. Dreamzzzz

4. MoonGardenArt

Monday Mooodboard is a game played by the members of the European Etsy Team every Monday. The moodboard is a selection of items from the team that reflect your mood on that particular day. Anyone in the team can join in. Just link your very own moodboard to the host of the game StarOfTheEast.

Candy Cane Inspired Organza Flower

The approach of Christmas always make me think of red and white and candy cane stripes.

Red and white is a combination I'm particularly fond of, so I  just had to try  my hand at it.

This is what I came up with:

Bridal white organza  petals and layers of delicate white tulle.

Bright red, large and luscious-looking  glass beads in the centre.

The leaves are also tulle with one of my favourite appropriately bright and festive red threads.

These can be worn as a hair clip or corsage.

And not just for Christmas. 

 I will definately be making a headband - wrist corsage out of this particular flower as well.

What do you think?

It's already listed in the shop.

Linked to:

I Heart Naptime, The Gunny Sack, Craft-O-Maniac, Sew Many Ways, The Dedicated House, Homemaker On A Dime, Debbiedoo's