On the fourth day of Christmas ..... a table decoration

Yep, more crafting has been happening here at Jumbleberries HQ....

This time the Princess made this cute little pin-art table decoration:

I have to be honest and tell you that it took ages to do and we used a lot of pins and sequins, but I think it looks really effective and will be something that is brought out every year, so I think it was worth it.

How are you decorating your Christmas table this year?

Jumbleberries. xx

On the third day of Christmas ....... homemade Advent Chocolates

Years ago (before children) Mr A and I bought an advent calendar for each other, which, within it's little drawers, contained a beautiful hand-crafted chocolate for each day of advent.

It has been our tradition since then to carefully pack the calendars away until the following December and then re-fill the drawers using shop bought chocolates.

This year, however, I thought it might be fun to have a go at making our own chocolates.

I know we are already a week into advent, but to be honest I haven't really had an opportunity until now, so this is what is on my work-desk this morning:

For added deliciousness I plan to make a variety of flavours so I am making a mixture of white, milk and dark chocolates. 

I've got a selection of ingredients from my baking supplies and am enjoying working out some different flavour combinations.

So far my favourites are; dark chocolate and sour cherries, white chocolate with raspberries and mini marshmallows, milk chocolate with honeycomb and dark chocolate with mixed peel.

I am thoroughly enjoying myself, but I can foresee a problem - how do I only limit myself to one a day?

What's on your work-desk this morning?

Jumbleberries. xx

On the second day of Christmas ... the children made decorations

I am very pleased to tell you that it is not just me that likes crafting here at Jumbleberries HQ - both my Superhero and Princess like to 'make stuff' too.

When they were little I ran a messy-play group with my mum for a number of years, so they really started getting involved with arts and crafts at a young age. I'm really pleased though that their love of being creative has continued even as they have got older (my Superhero will be 11 in February - eek).

The benefits of encouraging pre-school children to be involved in messy-play are well known I think, but I'm not sure older children continue to be encouraged in the some way, the focus moving to more academic subjects.

Obviously encouraging your kids to get involved in craft projects helps build creativity and imagination and gives them experience of thinking 'out-side the box'. Painting, cutting, drawing, sewing and so on, all help with muscle development and dexterity, which in turn aids handwriting skills.

Arts and crafts also helps to build confidence. How many of us crafters have embarked upon a project only to discover that it wasn't really what we saw in our minds eye? So, back to the drawing board we go and perhaps, on occasion, the whole idea is scraped altogether. We learn though that it's not the end of the world - sometime stuff turns out as you expected and sometimes it doesn't - but thats ok.

So when we all needed a bit of quiet time on Saturday afternoon, after a morning of football matches and dance-show rehearsals, I was more than happy when the kids got the hama beads out rather than putting the tele on or playing on the computer.

And this is what they came up with:

Superhero made the Christmas Pudding:

and Princess made the Tree:

I think they are really good considering neither used a template or an example to copy.

What do you think?

Jumbleberries. xx

On the first day of Christmas .....

Things are starting to get very Christmassy here at Jumbleberries HQ. Although we haven't officially put our tree up yet, we are slowly starting to decorate the house. One of the first items to appear was this festive cushion with an appliqued felt poinsettia on the front, that I made over the weekend - what do you think?

I followed this tutorial and other than having to cut out all the petals, it came together really quickly.

I cheated a little by buying a ready made cushion cover. Then I just un-stitched three sides (leaving the zipped edge).

I cut the leaves from different coloured red felt, as I thought it would add depth to the finished flower.

Stitching through the layers of felt was a little difficult, in fact the last two petals I decided to stitch into place by hand, but it was good fun to assemble. I then added some gold coloured sequins to the middle of the flower and then stitched up the 3 edges of the cushion cover.

And I was finished - one festive cushion.

What Christmas themed home decor items have you been making?

Jumbleberries. xx

WOYWW: Autumn Colour

Well, it turns out I am quite obsessed with Autumn leaves at the moment....

The kids and I went for a walk the other day to see what different, interesting leaves we could find and came home with a big bag of them.

It seemed a shame to just throw them away, so I have decided to use them in an Autumn picture.

So this is what is on my work-desk this beautiful Autumn Wednesday:

Lots of gluey fun! I'll let you know how it turns out.

What is on your work-desk today?

Jumbleberries. xx

En Pointe

I have to admit I actually started this project this time last year as a gift for my niece for Xmas. Then, for whatever reason, I didn't get around to finishing it and it got put away, never to see the light of day.

I stumbled across it again however when I was looking through my felt stash for my Autumn Leaves Wreath. I realised that actually there wasn't that much left to do on it, so I thought it was time to get is finished.

Job done really - I got my creative fix for the evening, plus I now have a home-made present all ready for the festive season.

What do you think?

Jumbleberries xx

Turning over a new (Autumn) leaf

So here's the thing - life is hectic.

There is always a club or a dance class or a footie match to go to. A packed lunch to be made, reading to be listened to, homework to be checked......

It's not a complaint as I wouldn't have it any other way, but sometimes, somethings (such as crafting) have to be put on hold for a while.

Of late however, I've been getting a bit twitchy. A bit restless. In need of doing something creative.

Perhaps it's the time of year (how beautiful are those Autumn colours?) thoughts of Halloween and beyond to Christmas - there is lot of inspiration to be had.

So I want to start creating again in whatever form that maybe. No big projects, no long lists, no promises of filling an on-line shop, no craft fairs. Just straight forward crafty fun.

Perhaps I'll only get the chance to do 10 minutes a day. Perhaps projects will take a life time to finish. We'll see. Time will tell.

So I started. Yesterday. Whilst watching Strictly. I cut out some Autumn style leaves from my mountainous stash of felt. And today I stuck them onto a wreath that I had covered in red wool about 3 years ago. It was great, I loved the process. I'm quite pleased with the finished result too.

So this is me, turning over a new leaf. What do you think?

What are you creating at the moment?

Jumbleberries x