Decorations

My name is Emma and i am a Pintrest Addict!!!!!

I can't help it i love going on there and it gives me so many ideas.

A few years ago i bought these Candy jars from a garage sale for 50p each.

 They have been in the back of the cupboard ever since!

 I added some Candy canes, marshmallows and Snowman Chocolates and tied some ribbon around them and ta-dah! looks great in my newly decorated dining room.

 Next on the agenda, Paper chains and giant tissue pom poms!

I love these, i think i will be making them for all occasions from now on!

The kids had to decorate jars and fill them with sweets for a tombola at the School Christmas Fair, we had great fun with it.

And finally the tree is up a real tree, the lights are on and i am more excited than the kids!

I like my tree to be full of colorful lights and different decorations collected and made over the years.

Bye xxx

Advent calendars

After my manic nesting faze (and a bit in between!) i started on the exciting task of decorating the house for Christmas. Each year i seem to have more and more ideas about things i want to do. This year i started a few weeks ago gathering together supplies for the different projects.

My First project this year was to make Advent calenders for the kids. Last year i brought the kids Christmas Playmobile calendars, but for the price of them i was a bit disappointed with the tiny fiddly little bits and pieces that were in it. I also had one i had brought that hangs on the wall, but all you an fit into it is a small chocolate or sweet. So i came up with the idea to make my own this year. I decided that instead for just using sweets and chocolates i would like a small present for each day so i started weeks ago buying little bits every time i went shopping. Most items cost under 50p each, its amazing what you can find in all the bargain shops for little money. I had to make sure though that i got the same pr a good equivalent for each child other wise it would cause arguments, and i decided that Fred was to little for most of the things so this year he will just have a normal chocie one.

I managed to get 24 each in total, well lets face it they won't be interested on Christmas day! I managed to get the little Star Wars figures  and Moshi Monsters, and Lallaloopsie figures that are normally £1.99 each for 39-49 p each, i got some books for 49p each and packets of chocolate coins for 59-69p each, dip daps 19p and lots of little things ranging from 8p to 59p the most i spent was 99p on a mini hot water bottle for warming there hands.

Once i had everything i had to decide the best way to put them in a calender. If i did a wall hanging type one with slots they would be far to big and take up too much room so i decided to wrap each present and put them in a bag.

So i started the mammoth task of deciding which pressie for which day and wrapping them up. I tried to rope my husband in with this and he said he would after his tea. However it took him over an hour to eat! I could see him watching my progress, clearly trying to push things out so he didn't have to wrap, by the time he finished he only did two pressies. I can't complain though he usually helps with anything i need.

So Wrap and number each pressie with marker pen.

Till i was left with two large piles. I had brought two felt Santa Sacks for £1.49, so they were idea for storing the pressies in and also as they will be empty on Christmas eve they can put them out for Father Christmas.

Bye x

Elf on the Shelf

Last Year I discovered Elf on the Shelf. It was mentioned in a post on a Christmas forum. For those not in the know, its a little toy elf that arrives the beginning of December and fly's to the north pole every night to Santa to tell him if the children of the house have been good or bad. Each morning the Elf will arrive back in the house but will land in a different place or sometimes be doing something such as playing with toys plastering the house with toilet roll or snowball fighting with marsh mellows!  You just have to use your imagination. The only rule is that the children are not allowed to touch the Elf otherwise, it will lose its magic and won;t be able to fly hoe and report to Santa. If this happens then you need tp sprinkle it with Cinnamon.
It sounded fun so we purchased one that came with a book and also brought a DVD about him and his friends for the kids to watch. It was a hit they kids would run down the stairs each morning and look for Elfy Guy ( which is what they named him). Sometimes he would bring them presents, such as chocolate or Panto tickets or Magic Pjs but mainly he made them laugh when he was caught doing something funny or naughty. They wrote letters to him and Santa an told him what they wanted for Christmas so he could pass the message to Santa. He was well worth the £28 he cost.

This year i decided to send my sister and her children who live in Australia one. I went to buy one but the price had almost doubled and i couldn't justify spending £50! on it. So i decided to make my very own Elf.
I found a pattern on Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shelf-elf-2 and i used this however i was unhappy with they way it turned out so i used the pattern but modified the head and some other bits till i was happy with it.

I also brought another copy of the film to send to them for a bargain £3.60.
I am really pleased with how it has turned out and for a fraction of what i paid for mine, to be honest i wish i had thought of this before i got mine.
Its been posted now and my niece and nephew are awaiting there Elf.

As for Elfy Guy he turned up on the 1st December, he was hiding behind the Candy jars.

We will have to wait and see what he does next......

Bye x

Nesting!

The last two weeks have been so busy with quite a few things. Like my last three pregnancy's i often get the need to redecorate rooms in my manic nesting faze which is always round the same time about 28ish weeks. This time however it has considered with my usual pre Christmas clean. So in the last two weeks ( well 7 days out of the last two weeks I have repainted the hall and stairs and kitchen and bathroom and papered a wall, been through all cupboards and ridded myself of the years accumulated clutter and rug doctored everything i can. It feels amazing to be finally finished and ready to relax for Christmas.

On top of all this i have been so lucky to receive far more orders for my hats than i had expected so while days have been filled with nesting, evenings, some days and quite a few nights (blame pregnancy insomnia) crocheting orders. Its been lovely to see hats appearing at random when i am out shopping and i am really enjoying doing it, i have so many idea for other things i would like to make and requests from people so hopefully after Christmas i can make a start on those.

One of the requests i have had is for Furby Hats. Furbys seem to be most requested toy this Christmas, but i scoured the internet for patterns or ideas and only can=me up with one hat and that wasn't what was needed, so i set about making my own pattern my very first pattern! and i was so pleased with the result, i decided to put the pattern on my blog for free, so watch this space in the next week. But in the meantime here is the Furby Boom

And a Hello Kitty Hat, i have made quite a few of these over the last year but its only recently i have been photo graphing everything

It has turned really cold here over the last two weeks and i am starting to look out over the most picturesque frosty field

So i had to make so mittens for the kiddy winks

Now i have finished all the painting its time to start all the pintrest crafty things i have been spotting and storing in the back of my mind. I have started some and you should see the results over the coming weeks.
Here is a really simple one.

It started out as a plain clear glass vase that was very boring and had been in my cupboard for ever.
I mixed Green glitter paint and PVA glue together and painted it all over the outside really thickly. I left it over night and in the morning when it was dry, it looked like the glitter was in the glass and the glass was tinted green as the glue had dried clear. This is something i am going to be doing a lot of as i have lots of jars saved and they make really nice tea light holders.

Off do do more Christmas decorating.
Bye x

T-Shirt Rug Ta-dah!

Finally its finished! It wasn't a very long project to do, but i kept working on other things so something which should have taken a weekend has taken about a month.

I had seen T-Shirt and rag rugs on pintrest and have been desperate to make one for myself for a while especially since i am not all that fond of generic rugs that they sell just about everywhere and my lounge is a display room for a lot of the things i have made so i knew one of these rugs would be a great addition.

I had a massive clear out at the end of summer and found a pile of old tops that would do the trick- well i say old some still had tags in them, but doesn't everyone go overboard at Primark with tops in every color for a couple of quid each, i had to wonder what possessed me to buy an luminous green stripey top, it was not the most flattering thing i have ever brought!

This is what i ended up with a big pile of tops. I then had a quick look at you tube and found out roughly what i needed to do. Like everything i do a started to wing it!

Cutting the tops into strips and balling them up is possibly one of the most boring crafty things i have done, so i decided to cut a few up then start, and i would alternate cutting and crocheting the rug.

This bit i enjoyed, i loved the bright colours as i was starting to look rather gloomy outside.

I enjoyed watching it grow and develop.

Then finally 24 T-shirts later, i had no more tops and it was finished!

TA-DAH!!!!

To be honest its not really finished, just on hold, till i can get hold of some more t-shirts. I love the way it looks in my lounge but its far to small. I do wonder how many more it will take considering this took 24. Who knows? there is only one way to find out? .... more hooking!!!!

Bye xxx

Craft Selling!

What a busy week we have had. Two Weeks ago i decided to start selling my hats, something which i have been planning to do since this time last year, but i always manage to find a reason to put it off. After a bit of a push i have set up a Facebook account to show what i can do and got some new business cards and labels to go in the hats and have spent the last two weeks frantically making stock for my first ever stall. 

Finally the day came and i was really pleased with how it all came together unfortunately i forgot to take pictures but here are some of the things i made.

If you would like to look my Facebook Address is https://www.facebook.com/makingsfromthemadhouse

I have had my first few orders and i am really happy with that.

Last week was also Bonfire night, however this wasn't such a success. I was tired the kids were tired and it was cold and rainy all day so we were stood on a hill watching a firework display that had been organised by the council. It was really good but none of us was really in the mood. I took some sparklers and that was all the kids were interested in.. well until they were lit then they suddenly became scared of them and they definitely were not last year. Never mind, just let it be noted that next year we will do it my way and stay home and have some friends and family over for some nice food and watch the display put on by the local football club which can be seen from our garden.

As i have been busy with the hats, the only project i have managed to finish is Freds aran Jumper (pictures to follow), but after all those hats i was ready to start something new. I have decided to start a new blanket, it will be a bit smaller than the ones i have done before as i want it ti be part of a Christmas hamper i am making as a pressie for my mum and dad. Its a snowflake pattern and i am planning on 36 squares.

 I started on the 5th November and am doing one a day so that should give me enough time to put it together.

The next project i have started is another little warm jumper for Fred as he has worn the other non stop. I love the lime green wool that i have chosen.

Finally i still have the t-shirt rug to finish which i really want to complete this week, here is a sneaky peek of the start

Well i am off now to enjoy the lovely warm pancakes that i just had to have!!!!

Bye xxx

Trick and a lot of Treats!!

Halloween has finally arrived and the kids were super excitable all day, so as the weather was dry i sent them outside to play, with the other children that live on the street. However in the excitable mood they were in they were in and out all day which was very irritating considering that i had lots of calls to make so at 3pm i called them in to carve the pumpkin that we had brought and sent home there friend , promising him i would come and collect him at 6pm to go trick or treating, I don't think he got the message though and continued to knock on the door every 15 minutes each time i answered the door and repeated that i would collect him at 6pm. One of the downfalls to working at home especially during school holidays is trying to work with kids and there friends buzzing about.

Finally though we made a start on the pumpkin

They loved getting messy and pulling all the seeds out , little Fred just thought it was a ball and wanted to play with it!

Ewan drew the face on it and i cut it out and finally we had a ta-dah moment. as soon as it was dark we lit it and placed it on the step out side the front door.

I think Fred was a liitle concerned by the fact his "ball" now had a glowing face!

One hour to go and they kids were desperate to get ready, Ewan picked his outfit and dashed off outside to show his friends so i never managed to get a picture but molly loved putting on her new witches costume that i made last week and was more than happy to pose for photos

 6pm arrived and we were ready to leave, we opened the front door and whoosh .. the heavens opened and it was torrential rain, the children were not happy to be kept waiting but 15 mins later we were off.

An hour later we were back, wet and cold but with two buckets over flowing with sweets...

This picture was taken this morning at 11am!  (i forgot last night) The kids got up at 6am, had breakfast and were eating the sweets at 6.30am! I know that is extremely bad parenting but i decided to take the easy road. Last year i let the kids have a few sweets each evening after tea and homework, but they went on and on about the sweets every other moment of the day for two weeks "mum can i have have one.. Please Please" you get the idea, so this time i thought i would get it over with quickly and in one day, so despite my better judgement i said have whatever you want. By 2 pm the kids were so sugar high i went to the local soft play center for the rest of the afternoon to burn off the energy. This was followed by two very ratty children on a sugar low when we got home so a quick bath ( we had tea out) and straight to bed at  6pm. There is still some sweets left but i think they can just have a few after tea tomorrow and i will put up with the whinging. Unless i help them eat it all....mmmm.....

Bye x