Tag: Hobbycraft

Birds and Bees…

Birds and Bees

We haven’t got enough space to put up our Christmas tree this year, so I wanted to try and make the house look a little bit festive with some other decorations. I’ve been coveting these tiny sparkly birds ever since I first spotted them, so I decided that a Christmas wreath was as good an excuse as any to go out and buy a set.

These are the ingredients:

The birds and bees are all on little clips, so it was just a question of positioning them on the wreath and speading them out neatly. Easy peasy, took about ten minutes, and required absolutely no crafty or artistic skills at all!

Once I’d added up all the bits, £21.98 seemed like a lot of money for what looks like a few twigs with some chocolate wrappers chucked at them. But it looks very sweet (no pun intended), and I can put it away safely in a box at the end of the season to be used in future years.

Actually, as it doesn’t really look all that Christmassy, I might just relocate it to the Shed and leave it up all the time. It feels like better value for money if I can look at it every day, rather than just for one twelfth of the year!

Leather earrings

Leather earrings
Pretty little oak leaves, ever so slightly metallic.

Did you know that Ren, she of the incredible Fairysteps, also sells her offcuts of leather? Ever since I bought my amazing gold boots, I’ve been terribly paranoid about scuffing the toes and making a hole in them. Not due to any lack of sturdiness in the boots, I might add – I’m just very clumsy! So when I saw that there was a bag of metallic leather pieces for sale I snapped it up, thinking it would be useful to save a piece for the eventual mending of the boots.

Leather earrings

I think these are my favourite. I might try a pair with the colours the other way round.

And then the parcel got lost in the post, Ren gave me a refund, and I was a little bit sad for a while. No shiny leather for me. Until last week, when the parcel unexpectedly arrived! Hooray!

While the parcel was on its mystery travels, I’d been thinking about what else to make with the little leather bits. The first thing that came to mind was earrings, as leather’s so light.

Leather earrings

I’m not sure about the proportions of these. I think smaller jump rings would be better.

I had some craft punches that Paul’s Mum had given to me, and they turned out to be perfect for cutting out little matching shapes! It was a bit of a faff though, I have to admit. The punches are really designed to be hammered into card, and the thick leather was a little bit of a challenge. The pieces are quite fiddly too – the dragonflies are about an inch across.

The antique gold findings are all from Hobbycraft, made by Beads Unlimited. They say low nickel, so I’m hoping I won’t be allergic to them. I thought they suited the colours of the leather better than a bright gold. Apart from being a little unsure about the proportions of the gold dragonfly pair, which I’ll probably change at some point, I’m really pleased with how these have come out. I don’t think I’ll be making many more – my poor cutting mat can’t stand the hammering – although I do have plenty more ideas for things to make with the leather.

Corsages, doll shoes, perhaps a belt… watch this space!