Handmade Gifts

I made quite a few of these caravan tree decorations, even one for myself.

The sections of these pot holders/coasters were hand stitched. I made them up on the machine with a backing and thermal wadding.

Handmade Gifts Received

I also altered a girls school shirt into a vet outfit for my Granddaughter to match the vet kit my daughter has bought for her. I used tea-shirt transfers.

 

Tree Decorations

I did some little paintings with baubles in mind

I recycled a wooden curtain ring for the bauble. I applied a circle of card [for stability] either side of the curtain ring then painted the edges with a metallic paint. I printed my little pictures, cut out and applied either side of the ring on top of the card. I used string just because it was handy. I quite like the brown one above but not so much the one below but I do think the baubles are a little bit too small.

Tree Decorations - Houses

More tree decorations, this time houses, but once again I have used 'found' bits and pieces.

The patterned fabric [vintage fabrics with a layer of printed ? on top] was originally going to be part of an art piece for the 'Layers' exhibition but it didn't go quite to plan. [click here to see the art piece that I did finish] I did keep the other unused fabric because there were things I did like about it. The roofs and doors etc were also from another project but I can't remember which one. The houses are double sided and stitched.

Tree Decorations Tutorial

To make the tree decorations you will need some metal bangles and some small square scraps of fabric - a piece to go each side of the bangle. Pin it all round, then stitch it all round, some I have stitched both sides of the bangle. You can put the hanging tag around before you stitch or after as I have on most of them. Trim around when the stitching is finished, being careful not to trim the hanging thread if you did put it on before stitching.

The bangle below is made using a 'see thru fabric', this one has a sparkly sheen to it [organza] Before stitching I put some gold snowflakes, stars and a red star between the fabrics. I also stitched across the circle several times as I didn't want all the sequins to go to the bottom.

This one has bits of organza in different colours and some metallic scraps and was stitched across randomly. The organza looks good next to the window where you can see through them. you could try other things in the centre.

This one is just a textured metallic silver fabric

For this one [each side is different] I did the embroidery first [actually they were recycled scraps from another projects]

The blue one is from some old embroidered clothing 

Gingham for the country kitchen look - background is large checks & the stitched scraps are smaller squares.

They could be made really neatly if you have the inclination & time.

The snowman was also made from a bangle. Bend it to shape, then cover it with tissue & pva glue. Let it dry, then paint white. Stick on beads for eyes etc. The hat & buttons were made from faux leather scraps, you could use felt instead. Before sticking the hat, put a small hole thru the top of the head and thread thru a hanging wire. Finish off with a bit of ribbon for a scarf.

Hand Made Bead Tree Decorations

I had a bag of junk, sorry I mean treasure from a friend who had had a clearout [I'm the junk magnet!(well you never know when some of it will come in handy)] and amongst the items were lots of those thin metal bangles and strings of beads. So I've combined the two to make some decorations. Just wrap the string of beads round and round the bangle until the ends meet, then twist the end bead round the other end bead to keep it in place. The red one is a thicker plastic bangle and the string of beads were not as long as the others, so they are kept in place with ribbon. The gold ones were longer, so a hanging loop was made with the extra length. The others can be hung from a tree as they are or you could attach a hanging loop with ribbon or thread.