Wombling for a good cause

This week I'm channelling my inner womble and finally using up some of the stash of card, tissue paper, ribbons, cords and other bits and pieces from packaging and gifts that we've always known would come in useful one day. For the last few years the lovely folk at Transition Loughborough have taken part in the local church's Christmas Tree Festival to spread the message about low-impact living and offer practical hints and tips to folk who go along to enjoy the festivities. This year they are going for a giveaway of seeds as part of their display which means I can actually do something practical to help from here by making up some packages using our own saved seeds. So, dear reader I give you the cost-me-nothing and almost-completely-home-compostable seedy cracker!

1. Using quartered loo roll inners and tubes made from the card sheets that you get new clothes and similar stuff, I made little tubes.






2. A twist of newspaper is
filled with seed and short growing instructions written on a pretty label.

3. And then  popped inside the tube.

4. A wrap of paper soon becomes a cracker tied with cord, ribbon or oddments of embroidery thread.

4. A simple pretty little giveaway that, with the exception of some of the re-used ties and the little bit of sellotape is waste free but fun.



Obviously you can decorate them with all sorts and I did pop a button on one to make it pretty but then realised that the recipient would have to dispose of anything that couldn't be composted so went back to plain and simple.

Re-making, re-purposing - necklace update

choker pendant as bought

Remember the choker pendant I wrote about a few weeks ago? Well, I've been playing around with it today to make a necklace that I can wear.

Three separate useful parts

At the weekend J used his hot air gun to separate the clasp and the cords which enabled me to remove the pendant. I'm planning on offering the clasp to the Hospice craft team to see if they can use it in any jewellery making sessions they have - I can't wear this kind of metal unfortunately. I'm still pondering on what to do with the cords but have a few ideas.

Ribbon threaded... 

... and knotted

I used some of the olive ribbon I bought on Friday and threaded the pendant onto it. To keep it centred and stop it sliding about I've threaded it over twice and knotted it on. Then I've knotted the top of the ribbon so there are no scratchy components to worry about.

So now I have a new necklace ready to wear and ermm maybe a few other projects for another day....

New to me..

and for another day....

Friday pottering...

Pottering continues to be the name of the game at the moment. This morning with the help of J and the trundle trolley I managed to walk up to the little fabric shop that is a short way along our road. It's not far but seems a long way when you haven't been out and about much for a few weeks! But I had a goal in mind and needed the exercise so off we set.

Freedom on 3 wheels - the trundle trolley

It's a proper little specialist shop - a mix of dressmaking, upholstery, curtaining and quilting fabrics, a whole host of ribbons, threads and beautiful buttons and other sundries with expert staff to boot. Now as much as I admire these things I'm no stitcher (as previous posts will have shown) but I did want some cord or ribbon for my necklace project. Unfortunately but not surprisingly the cords were for upholstery so had fabric edging for stitching on to seating covers but the choice of ribbons meant this didn't matter a jot!

Just the right shade

So I'm now the proud owner of some lovely olive ribbon ready for remaking the necklace next week, oh and some purple and a bit of burgundy and maybe some navy too plus a pack of needles with bigger eyes in than my current supply and something called a snagging needle which caught both of our eyes and will hopefully help repair a few knitted jumpers in our collection that have got caught on brambles, thorns, rosebushes, or the myriad of tools that J carries around on his belt and in his pockets! There may also have been a few very beautiful buttons that I admired but I did resist - the idea was to buy things that would help me make better use of what I already have not start a whole new stash of things! So all set for playing next week.

Bundles of prettiness

New tool

Gently doing

Slowly getting back into a routine here and feeling well enough to start looking around for projects and pastimes for when Mum heads back home next week. The day I fell ill again the Hospice had a little pop up shop and so I couldn't resist a couple of new shawly scarves - lighter weight for the changing seasons and oh so pretty - a quick wash (thanks Mum) and they were ready to go. But that wasn't all...

Strands and swirls of green 

My eye was also caught by this pretty choker type pendant - it has a metal lobster claw clasp and cords and in it's present form I can't wear it - the metal will bring my skin out in a rash and the cords are too short and will catch on various scars. So I can hear the question - why on earth buy it then? Well, it has the loveliest disc pendant with peridot green coloured stones - one about 1cm diameter and the other really tiny, a couple of olive coloured patches, a tiny emerald coloured stone and a little patch of diamantés in a really pretty abstract "celestial" design. All for only £1.50.

Pretty, shiny and in my favourite shades of green

My current plan is to remove the cords and clasp and either find a longer, thicker cord that I can string the pendant onto but it will need to be fairly soft cord so it doesn't rub or use a ribbon instead so it becomes a lovely wearable piece. And as for the rest of it - well if I can find a way to remove the clasp without damaging it I'll see if the hospice can add it to their craft supplies and then there are several possible options kicking around my mind for the cords - plaited key ring cords, plant ties or maybe a twisted cord bracelet - but we'll see how far my skills match my imagination later on.

Playtime part 3

Looks like i should have read a bit wider before starting the glass works. Apparently there are several different types of paint - it seems I bought the bakeable liner but the no-need-to-bake-but-don't-put-in-the-dishwasher paints. Based on the materials I have it should have gone - use liner, wait 24 hours, bake then fill with colours and leave to dry but don't try to wash them in the dishwasher! If I want the work to be more weather or washer proof then I should have bought different paints. Ah well, live and learn! I will, of course, try again with a new batch but some of these are keepers even if they may weather somewhat quicker outside than I hoped. We have some shepherd's crook hangers in the garden so J is going to wrap some wire around the necks of the jars and then we're going to try hanging some of the jars in the garden.

Hare now has a fire in it's belly!

Burning heart - simplest seems to be the most effective when lit

Amber trees glow quite well but lack definition.

That's all for now off to find some simpler designs methinks, or play with swirling colours, or make stain glass shapes or...... bug-bitten me?

Playtime part 2

My first attempt at painting on glass is complete with several lessons learned - not least that glass paint is very smelly and if at all possible should be used in a room with a window open and it helps to put the lid straight back on the bottle once you have loaded the brush! Also that the liners exist for a reason - painting on curved glass without using a liner is messy and leaves runs; and it's better to use several thin layers of paint rather than one thick one but you need to leave each layer to dry for an hour or so or you risk messing things up.  All fairly obvious now but not when I sat down to play. Fortunately the paint can be wiped, scraped or washed off if the mistakes are ones you can't live with and they are spotted before baking. There will be several clean-off-and-try-agains from this round I think but overall I'm quite happy with what I achieved given my minimal skills. 

These are destined to be tea-light holders for the garden here as I think it will be some time (if ever) before my skills are sufficient to create any decent gifts.

Beginner's kit of glass paints plus a few liners - I spent just under £30 in total on these

tracing round shrunken drawings that are blu-tacked to the inside of the glass, with out-liner tube

Works in progress - old nut butter jars will hopefully make decent tealight holders

Freehand autumn trees (honest) - hopefully will look better with a candle inside.

Dragonfly - quite pleased with this one even if it is a bit splodgy

Hare - I think this looked better before I added the scenery - ah well better luck next time!

What happens when you don't use a liner before applying the paint - a bleeding heart!

Slight improvement but room for so much more!

Baking the keepers tomorrow and then we'll see how they look with a candle in them.

Play-time

Wednesday was a nice gentle day at the hospice giving me the chance to peruse some of the many art source-books they have. I was looking for simple ideas that I can play with to decorate some old jars I have and I hit a lucky streak in a mosaic source-book - bad librarian that I am I failed to note down the book's details so will have to remedy that when I'm next there. Anyway here are just a few of the ideas that I'm toying with to create some tealight holders and mini-vases to use in the garden when it warms up. The hare in particular is calling to me as hares always seem to - no guarantee how they'll turn out but I need to try.

Kestrel

Hare

Dragonfly

Next, I want to track down some simple suns, moons and stars too but these critters will definitely give me a starting point. Watch this space!