Twelfth day of Christmas

As today is the twelfth day of Christmas I have taken down my Christmas decorations ready to neatly pack them away. So I thought it the perfect day to do a round up of my Vintage Christmas and say goodbye to all things Christmas. Starting tomorrow I will be posting a new series called 101 ways to get pretty organized, showing you some of my highlights from the Spring 2013 press shows I attended and sharing a few recipes of sweet treats I served over Christmas but that can be used all year round.

My glass Christmas tree jar filled with strawberry meringues

My dining room mirror adorned with beaded cream twigs with glass bird decorations and glitter snowflakes

Candy filled stars

Have a sweet day!

Sequin Christmas Tree

I love my sequin eggs I made last Easter using polystyrene eggs, that when I found a polystyrene cone in my Christmas craft supplies I decided to make a sequin Christmas tree. Here's how...

Sequin Christmas Tree
Tools and Materials

• Polystyrene cone
• Brass sequin pins
• Translucent round Sequins
• Printed Round sequins
• Printed Round sequins
• Small pink bucket

Start by pushing the pin through the hole in the top of one printed sequin and one larger translucent sequin, then push pin with sequins into cone. Then continue to pin the sequins in rows till entire cone is covered in sequins. Carefully bend back the handles on the bucket so they are at 90 degrees and attach to base of sequin cone using map pins.




Have a sweet day!

Snow globe inspired table setting

I bought my six glass butter dishes from Dille Kamille in Antwerp, Belgium last year and have used them several times as they perfectly fit individual cupcakes! For Christmas I decided to make them look like snow globes. I started by tracing the dome on to a sheet of card so I had the right size circle to sit in the base. Then using a small piece of double sided sticky tape I adhered a bottle brush tree to the centre of the card. ( I used tape instead of glue so I could re-use the trees) Then using snow paint I covered the circle of card and the base of the tree in the textured paint. Before the paint started to dry I sprinkled it with white glitter and left it to dry. I had some plastic deer cake decorations that were the perfect size but there orange bellies were a little bit bright for me so I scratched off the paint and replaced it with some pearly nail polish, I then painted the antlers on my deer cake decorations with silver glitter nail polish to give them some extra sparkle!







Have a sweet day!

A corner of my Christmas

Sitting Deer from House Doctor, Sequin tree tutorial, Needle felted acorns

Happy New Year sweets!
I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas, I am happy to say I took a week off and had a lovely time with friends and family.

Before I kick off the New Year with lots of lovely Spring Press show finds and ways to get super organised. I wanted to share with you my Christmas decorations, crafts and recipes that I didn't get to show you before. First up is a corner of my open plan lounge/dining room that I showed you briefly before Christmas but have since had a flurry of e-mails asking me where my treasures are from. So...

Large wooden white tree from Cox & Cox 2011. Small wooden white tree from Deck the Halls @ The Spirit of Christmas Show 2012.

Mini glass Pinecone tree ornaments, White tinsel

Handmade Beaded snowflakes tutorial, Christmas tree ornaments, Baubles, Pretty pine cones

Glitter "NOEL" wooden letters tutorial, Patchwork Cushion tutorial, Beaded bird stocking tutorial

Printers tray painted white, Mini glass bottles filled with sequins and beads

Have a sweet day!

Beaded snowflakes

To match my Vintage Christmas theme in a colour palette of snowy white, pale rose, vintage pink, icy mint, faded aqua, mushroom and lots of glamorous gold. I have made a cluster of glamorous, shimmery, sparkly beaded snowflakes.
Here's how...


Beaded snowflakes

Tools and Materials

• Snowflake bead frame
• Jump rings
• Beads
• Ribbon
• Roundnose Pliers

Beaded snowflake, How-to step by step

• Simply thread beads on to the wire frame
• Using a pair of small roundnose pliers, loop the wire end towards the last bead
• Attach a jump loop to one of the wire looped ends

• Thread jump loop with ribbon, knot ends and trim

Have a sweet day!

My Christmas stocking

Last year I made my Christmas stocking using Cath Kidston shooting star fabric. I placed 10mm thick wadding behind the front piece and hand embroidered around the stars using embroidery threads to secure the wadding in place. I piped around the edge, lined it and attached some stripey ribbon to the top to hang it from. This year I have made one for my cute niece!

Have a sweet day!

Felted snowflake table mats

I bought a couple of packs of snowflakes on my first visit to Jo-Ann, with no idea of what I would use them for. But at $1 for two, I just couldn't resist. After playing with them for a while I decided they would make great table mats for Christmas. So I returned to Jo-Ann and bought another 22 packs! So, I now have six table mats and six coasters ready for my Winter Woodland themed Christmas table.

Have a sweet day!

Snowflake garland

Snowflake Garland

What you will need
Medium contemporary snowflake punch
Stiff white paper
Embroidery thread
Needle
PVA glue


Instructions

1. Punch out snowflakes.
2. Make holes through the centre with needle.
3. Thread snowflakes onto embroidery thread.
4. Separate to desired measurement.
5. Add dot of PVA glue at centre of each snowflake to secure snowflake to thread.

A pretty delicate snowflake garland to adorn my packages with.

Have a sweet day!