Free Transfer Printable - Make Your Own Bag or T-Shirt!

After missing last weeks Friday freebie I thought I should make it up to you today with a great one (in fact, keep reading to the end for links to other great free finds).

I recently got my hands on a few meters of lightweight canvas when my incredibly generous mother in law found some going cheap and bought it for me. I was unsure what to do with it at first and knew that, if I put it in my stash, it could sit there for years before it saw the light of day again!

Coincidentally, my daughter started making teenage grumbling noises about needing a bag to take her cooking ingredients to school - carrier bags are 'so not right' according to her. So bags it was!

I went for a simple tote style with a long handle. To be honest, although I can sew, I really have to be in the mood for it and have lots of time and space around me to turn out anything worth talking about. If you are pressed for time or just can't be bothered you can pick up cheap (£1) canvas totes in Hobbycraft.



Hobbycraft Tote for £1

Once I had a few made up I kicked myself for not using applique to decorate them, like I said I'm really up to my eyeballs with a few different projects right now! So I had to come up with something simple, quick and fun to decorate them.

Then it hit me... I had some old t-shirt transfer paper left from an afternoons fun with the kids a few years ago. I've checked and it's still readily available in lots of places but one of the best, and cheapest, I found is at Wilkinsons.



Wilko's transfer paper

I then made some mini donuts and a cup of tea and cranked up the laptop to Photoshop some magic!

I was quite pleased with the results, although I really need to get some better photographs!

Game of Thrones Bag

Geek Chic

I'm sure that all you crafty people are more than capable of designing something perfect for you, but if you fancy one of the above designs then you can get the full size jpegs by clicking on the images below.

 

Of course you might not want to buy a whole pack of paper, or it might be hard to get your hands on a bag so you can always pop along to my Etsy shop and buy them or other designs!

 

And now the observant of you are all hanging on for the other freebie I promised you :) I found this amazingly beautiful word art from artsy-fartsy mama. I think it will look amazing in a fancy little frame and plan on printing one out to hang in my hallway!

 

 

I really recommend you pop over to check out the rest of her blog - it's stunning!

Shabby Chic Stool Restoration

I know I missed last Friday's Freebie but things have just been manic! To make up for it there will be 2 freebies this Friday so remember to check back and see what they are.

To be honest I almost missed todays blog post too but this shabby chic stool was such fun to do I really wanted to tell you about it!

 

In fact I was so excited to get started on the project that I almost forgot to take a 'before' shot, but this one will do as you can barely see where I've started to remove the paint . I found it at an auction covered in a sticky residue and about 20 layers of white gloss paint. It was in a sorry state but fundamentally still a sound piece of furniture.

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After I had washes the worst of the dirt off I set about removing the paint from the seat using a heat gun and scraper. If you are restoring an older piece of furniture make sure that you do this, or any sanding, in a well ventilated area and wear a mask as it is likely that some of the old pain layers contain lead.

 

 

Once you have scraped off the majority of the paint it's time to break out the sander. You've probably realised that my weapon of choice is usually the angle grinder with a sanding disc but please do practise this on scrap wood before you take on a lovely old piece like this stool.

 

 

It was only after some serious sanding that I realised that this stool was actually made from oak and not pine, as I'd first thought! I didn't want it to look too new so I stopped sanding while there were still some marks and dents to show its age.

 

 

Scuff up the legs a little to break up that old gloss look. Then give the seat a few coats of a soft wax. I like Annie Sloan's Soft Wax as it smells slightly nicer then Briwax but it is a bit more expensive. (I will be reviewing both in a future post so watch out for it)



 

 

I love the finished stool and think I might use it in my new 'corner office' when I eventually set it up.

 

We'd love to see your restoration projects and tutorials so why not drop us a line?

Wooden Rustic Signs Tutorial

I'm one of those people who picks up beautiful things when I'm out and says "I bet I could make that".

Earlier on this year I wanted to make some vintage signs for around the place and I happened to take photos as I went, which means I can bring you todays tutorial without having to actually make something from scratch (which is great as I've got 50 wedding invitations to make... read about that in my other blog!)

As so many of my projects do, it started with dismantling a pallet.

Working with pallet wood is not only frugal (usually free), but it gives me the opportunity to break out my favourite tool, DUM DUM DUM (< dramatic intro) my angle grinder!!!


Start by cutting your desired shape from the pallet plank. I went for the traditional 'arrow' shape as it meant I could get 2 signs from one piece of wood.

Once they are cut out you can sand them down - traditional sandpaper, a sander or an angle grinder with a sanding disc! This is not for the feint hearted and you should be confident in handling power tools to attempt it!

Once sanded your sign will look less like firewood and more like something you'd want to own!

 

 

I like to leave some marks and damage showing as it all adds to the rustic look of the signs. 

 

 

Now it's time to break out the paint. As I do a lot of this sort of thing I have Annie Sloan Chalk Paint about the place. For things like this the paint isn't very important but, in general, Annie Sloan is great for covering in one coat.

 

 

 



Once your paint has dried give it a bit of a sand back to show the wood around the edges. I'm also lucky enough to own some plastic stencils that I bought from eBay but you could print letters off and cut them out. Or you might be one of those lucky people with really lovely handwriting.

Space your letters and start stencilling (or writing) your message.

If you don't have a stencil brush, don't worry, just wrap an elastic band around the bristles of a 1" brush to make it stiff enough to use.

Once you're finished with your lettering, drill a couple of holes, string it and put it on display for the world to admire! Oh, if it's to hang outside then you might want to give it a coat or two of varnish.

These are for two separate locations lol!

Blog Content Planner

While trying to think of a great and useful Friday Freebie to offer you today I came across lots of interesting and pretty bits and bobs. As I can loose a whole day on Pinterest I thought that maybe I should look through my very helpful blog content planner to see what suggestions I'd scribbled down to help me organise my time.

That's when it dawned on me... most people who read blogs are actually bloggers themselves so maybe they could also use a content planner? I don't know, maybe you are all years ahead of me and do everything on your ipad, or whatever, but I do like the action of scribbling notes down on paper and keeping them in a real live folder. I find it quite relaxing.

I was quite willing to share my very basic planner with you all - and you are most welcome to it - but there are so many out there that lovely people are offering for free that I thought I would just link you up to a few...



Very detailed planner from Organizing Homelife

This first one ticks those two important boxes, it's pretty and functional! Probably aimed more at 'professional' bloggers as there's quite a lot of details in it and filling it out on a daily/weekly basis could be a mammoth task in itself!



Simple planner from Three Little Monkeys Studio

 Something like this Weekly Blog Planner from Three Little Monkeys Studio is great to use as an overall 'To Do' list for the week(s) ahead of you. It's handy to keep things flowing and to help when you sit down in front of that blank screen and flashing curser!



Comprehensive Planer from Living Well Spending Less

I love and adore this huge planner! It has spaces for things all bloggers should be thinking about as well as plans for features, finances, networking and much, much more!  I copied the image and opened it up Photoshop. From there I took each 'page', made it about A5 size and printed out what I needed for each page - so I had more of the weekly sheets than the monthly and just one of the yearly (d'oh).

Oh I guess I should give you a copy of mine too, though it looks a little feeble compared the above greatness!

Keeping it simple!

So, I hope someone out there finds something useful amongst all that? If not then there's loads more out there to find - check out Pinterest for some really pretty ones that don't necessarily show up on search engines ;)

Thanks for reading,

Nikki x

Soap Sock Tutorial

A Soap Sock!

This soap sock is a neat way to make your soap stretch a little further while gently exfoliating your skin. You can knit them up in half an hour and use whatever yarn you have to hand. I'm told that felting wool is great because it actually shrinks with the soap as you use it, but my particular favourite is using string! Not the horrid nylon stuff but the old fashioned 100% cotton twine. It's a little strange, at first, knitting with something that has no 'give' whatsoever but it's a simple project so doesn't cause too many headaches!

First of you will need...

Use what you have to finish up your yarn

A ball of your chosen yarn (or string)
A pair of knitting needles - I use 8mm but play around to find what works best with your yarn.
A bar of soap - whatever you like best!
A pair of scissors and a cup of tea (all the best projects involve tea or wine and since I'm detoxing it's tea for me!)

Start by casting on in your preferred style. I've always gone for the 'Thumb' method myself! You'll need to cast on enough stitches to cover 3 sides of your soap - I have cast on 12 with this chunky string and 8mm needles. Just remember to cast on an even number of stitches.

Now this next stage could sound daunting if you've never tried double knitting but it's unbelievably simple and so quick to do you will be a pro in no time.

Knit your first stitch. Then slip your next stitch as if to purl - this means put your needle as if you are going to purl the stitch and then just slip it over. Carry on with knit one, slip one  until you reach the end of the row. You will always finish on a slipped stitch.

Once you have worked a few rows like this you will be able to feel 2 sides to your knitting and actually be able to separate them a little!

There is a great video explaining the method:

 Turn your work around and repeat until your 'sock' is long enough to hold your bar of soap. Always start on a knit stitch and finish on a slip!

Once your sock is long enough you've reached the scary part! Leave a long tail - about 1.5 meters - and slip your work off your  needle. Yes, I said slip it right off without casting off.

Just be brave and pull the needle out!

Now gently prize your work open (like opening a bag of crisps!) and carefully thread your long tail through each of your stitches, starting with the last knitted stitch.

Gently prize work apart

 Be careful not to drop any stitches as you thread your tail through them!



This is the hardest part!

Once you have caught every stitch on your tail you can turn it inside out, pop your bar of soap inside and pull the tail to tighten around the top of the bar.


Now the reason for the extra long tail...  We're going to make a handle to hang your soap from so it can dry out and not go all squishy between uses!

Make a slip knot in the yarn, as close to the sock as you can get it. Form a loop and tuck it into the noose. Make another loop and tuck it into the previous loop. Keep repeating. When the chain is long enough, lock it by passing the end through the final loop. See here for animated instructions.
 
Tie the loop to form a handle and you're done!

Please let us know what you think, and feel free to ask questions or show us your finished soap socks!

Can't find the time to make it but really want to own one? Visit my Etsy shop to buy one today!



Nikki x

The First Friday Freebie!

Every week we will scour the internet, magazines and even real high street locations (!) for the best freebies we can find. This first one is a real beauty from Skip To My Lou to help welcome in the new year!

So pretty and functional or a wonderful gift and 100% free - just sign into facebook and 'like'  Skip to My Lou's facebook page  - and there's so much on there to like!

Check in again next Friday for another great freebie.

Nik x

Our first review... Mollie Makes Magazine

I don't often buy craft magazines. What's the point when there's so much great stuff out there on the internet and it's all (mostly) free? Daily blog updates from a few of my favourites help to keep me up to date with this seasons trends and 'hot' artists/products. If I haven't heard it already on Twitter or read it on a blog then I can usually find what I want with a quick Google (other search engines are available).

That said, every once in a while I have a craving for the feel of paper in my hand and that wonderful smell of fresh ink as I read. I can read an article while enjoying a hot bath - something I'd never risk with my laptop - or while I'm cooking dinner. I'm a traditional girl at heart and I do love the printed media.



Mollie Makes

So yesterday I snuck (is that a real word?), not one but, two magazines in to my trolly as I did the weekly dash around the supermarket. Molly Makes for the eclectic crafter in me and Lets Knit because it had some lovely chunky needles and a cute little pattern book 'free' this month.

Today's review is about Mollie Makes as it's a magazine that made an impressive leap into the market a couple of years ago and I pick it up for a flick through almost every month. Almost every month I leave it on the shelf because it doesn't quite 'grab' me, but this month there was a nice article on vintage cameras, and a really pretty crochet collar that caught my eye.

As with most mags these days the price tag is more like that of a 'proper' book at £4.99 and roughly 25% of the pages are direct advertising - by that I mean an obvious advert as opposed to a 'feature' advert.

The 'free' gift, when you battle your way through the glue and the toughest envelope I've encountered,  is a rather cheap feeling crochet hook, 10m of yarn and a plastic button. Not particularly impressive but enough to make the pretty 80's style collar that caught me eye. I'll give it a go when I get a spare hour and let you see the results if it's not completely embarrassing!




Screenshot from Mollie Make web site

Part of what I love about this mag is that it looks, reads and acts like a blog. The photo's are stunning but relaxed, the fonts are funky, the narrative is informal, almost touching on slang at points. It's a chilled out, easy read with lots of links to look up and new web places to check out.

I love reading articles about other designer makers and have to admit to the odd daydream that one day maybe it will be me - of course it would have to be shot on location somewhere because my house will NEVER be tidy enough for that! I also enjoy some of the 'makes' - the template to embroider a camera will make the perfect gift for someone I know, the big knitted bow is something I can use to teach my step-daughter to knit, and the crochet collar might just be the cutest thing I've ever seen!

However, many of the reasons I love this magazine are the exact same reasons I often regret buying it! It's just like a blog but the adverts are in your face and you pay a fiver for the privilege of taking it into the bath with you. It's so much like a blog that you feel the need to comment and connect but, of course, you can't do that with a magazine.

Although I appreciate a simple 'make' some of the projects are a little too basic for a sophisticated magazine. This month there's a jewelled crown that better suits a pre-school group than the average 'mummy blog reader', and the knitted bow (that I'm going to show my step daughter) is more likely to appeal to eight year olds - which is great as they could make it!

All in all it's a magazine I love to pick up and flick through, but I don't think that I would regularly buy it.

Is it one you read? What's your opinion? Let us know.

Nikki x