Wishing you and your families
a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Rachel xxx

My Little Snow Baby

He's so funny in the snow!

He's finding it very difficult to find a place to 'go'

When he comes back indoors it takes ages to dry him off as he's covered in tiny balls of Snow which have stuck to his fur!!

The snow is about 12'' deep here so we shall be indoors today!

Keep cosy and warm!

Rachel x

And the winner is....

TABIBOO! Well done to you!

I shall pop your giveaway parcel in the post as soon as I have your address.

Just to let you know, the giveaway is the only nice bit of my day today! I have been working outdoors on my little stall and I was rained on sleeted on and as the snow blew right into my stall some of my stock got wet too! Normally I am a cheerful sort of a gal but today I was not a happy bunny!

However I did treat myself to this cheery tea cosy in Robert Dyas for only £2.99.

I bought a matching cake tin too for my Christmas baking !I packed up early and I'm warming up at home with a mug of coffee with a dash of Baileys in it!

Lovely!

Surely tomorrow has got to be better!

Love this banner by Jan Constantine!

Rachel x

More Homemade Gifts

Still busy beavering away, although I'm running out of time!

I have a niece who loves all things Cath kidston and vintage style so I made her a felt rose brooch, in fact I made a stack of felt brooches!!

I already had these felts and the brooch backs so I didn't have to buy anything! I love it when a little project comes together quickly and easily! Especially at this time of year!I'm just making some little gift boxes to pop them in.

Nibbling on a banana muffin too, very naughty!

Have a sweet day!

Before I go, don't forget to join in the giveaway in the last post!

Rachel x

A Little Christmas Giveaway

I meant to do this a little sooner, but as usual, time ran away with me!

I thought I'd have a little giveaway to celebrate finishing my 'Challenge' and because it's Christmas.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to say you'd like to join in.

The names will be drawn from a hat on Thursday evening

Followers will receive 2 chances to win as I'll pop your name in twice!

All are welcome to join in, UK and across the pond, I like to include everone!

The gifts in the giveaway parcel will be,

a little Christmas stocking decoration to pop on your tree. Handmade by me from vintage blanket...

a Union Jack purse (not made by me but so cute)..

and a pink fluffy pom-pom garland! I had great fun making these yesterday!

Have a sweet day, I'm off to make banana muffins with Andy Williams crooning in my ear!

Gotta love Andy at Christmas!

Rachel x

Tutorial For Pom-pom Garland

Hello everyone,

just getting into the swing of Christmas and I've been making a few homemade pressies and I thought I'd share this one with you! Ages ago I bought this yarn from a car boot and was at a little bit of a loss of what to make with it!

But today I have made 3 garlands, so easy peasy and quick to make.

Thought I'd do a quick tutorial for you.

1.Select your yarn. Mine looks a bit like candyfloss.

2.Wrap the yarn around your fingers, I wrapped mine 40 times around 3 fingers3.Carefully slip the yarn off your fingers and tie a piece of yarn around the middle of your bundle.

4.Snip though the ends of one side of the pom pom , and then the other.

5. Fluff out the pom pom with your fingers. At this point it may look a little bit miss-shapen but don't worry. You just need to trim around the ball of yarn with your scissors!

That's it! It's as simple as that!I made 10 pom-poms for my garland.

6.I then threaded my pom-poms onto crochet cotton leaving a 15cm gap between each pom-pom bauble.I also allowed 20cm at each end for tying.

Just the kind of quick project you need at this time of year.I'm going to make some tiny ones for my tree next!

Rachel x

P.S I shall be back tomorrow with a little giveaway!

Brrrrrrrrr!!Snow , Wilson and a Vintage Tea Cosy

Oh yes we have a little smattering of snow here in Oxfordshire! I am feeling sorry for the folk up north though as it's quite bad!Wilson is loving it and keeps haring around outside!

He likes to snuffle it! Look at the snow all stuck to his fur!I don't think I'd be able to see him if it was deeper!

I prefer to stay warm and cosy indoors!

This is a box I painted recently, it was stained in a dark wood before. I shall keep some choccies in it at Christmas I think.

I have been knitting whilst watching TV in the evenings, I'm working on a vintage pattern tea cosy from a lovely book I've had since I was a little girl! In real life the blue is a pretty pale shade but brighter than it looks in this picture!

Whoops what happened there! Ha! Proof of ownership!

This is the picture of the cosy.I might knit another one in red and cream! I always wanted to knit this little chap too!Another one to add to my endless'would love to make' lists!

Hope you all keep cosy and warm!

Rachel x

I've completed' The Challenge'

I'm so pleased I took part in 'The Challenge of The Utmost Kind@ which Dottie angel started.

I started my challenge on 22nd November 2009 and I'm really glad I joined in.

Was it difficult? It was sometimes,especially as the seasons changed and I couldn't buy a new top or anything!Also I love magazines and that was a bit hard, especially at Christmas, when I usually like to treat myself to a Christmas issue or two! Thank goodness the lovely Floss organized a magazine swap!I made more use of the local library too!

I recycled and revamped lots of things, went to more boots too and found lots of bargains

I also used Freecycle and gained a gorgeous pine dressing table( in the dining room at the mo waiting for a revamp!) and a bag of printer ink cartridges!That is Wilson's bum in the photo too!

What did I buy secondhand? Some clothes, especially skirts in the Summer. I also bought fabric and wool from Charity shops and the boot! In fact I got 3 balls of Rowan Tweed for 60p from the charity shop!

What did I make?Loads of stuff! In fact I found I became much more creative and used things I'd forgotten I had.Less time shopping= more time creating

Made from a linen dress found at the boot

Made from a skirt and a dress!

Did I Cheat? Errmm.. I did treat myself to a pair of sporty trousers in October for a holiday that we booked at short notice, well I couldn't run around a theme park in a skirt!They were only £5 too!

What did I miss? Perfume, I do love lovely scent, it really cheers me up!I had to stop using my Kenzo Flowers because I knew it would run out, had to use my body creams instead for scent. In fact I am down to my last drop of Kenzo!

I've nearly run out of eyeliner too!

What did I gain? Creativity and self reliance!I became more resourceful and I adapted things! I really wanted floral oilcloth for my hall table but then I made my own patchwork which I was really pleased with!

I will continue with buying second hand and handmade but not in such a strict way!

Thanks Tif, for the brilliant idea of 'The Challenge'

I shall be back soon with new makes and a giveaway to celebrate the end of my challenge

TTFN

Rachel x

Cutie Patootie!

Yes he really is a cutie patootie!

He was a bit miffed with me because I was painting and he wanted some attention!

I found him 10 minutes later and he wouldnt look at me!

Not now he'd found My Jelly Baby to snuggle with!

Have a great day and a wonderful weekend!

Rachel x

Remembering...

Patchwork Bag 2

Patchwork Bag 2
Originally uploaded by RubyRed06

More of my hexagon patchwork made into little Girly bags!

Oh Dear,

I think my little blog is developing abandonment issues! I can't believe my last post was at the end of September!

Life has been very busy! We had a wonderful holiday in Spain in half term, spent lots of time at a very exciting theme park, time at the beach and in amazing Barcelona!

We've also been trying to finish the hall and stairs!Five door frames to rub down and paint!

Also had orders from new shops for handmade pretties! I shall tell you more about that soon! Really I just popped in to say hi and catch up with you all!

Wow 162 followers! I really appreciate it and all your lovely comments!

Thank you so much!!

In fact I shall be having a little giveaway soon to celebrate the end of my' challenge!'

Toodle Pip!

Rachel x

Hexie Patchwork

First of all thank you for sharing your fave colours with me , I can see a lot of you are likeminded and think that Red is Best and some of you like Aqua Teal and Turquoise . I have to agree I do love Aqua accenting Red myself.And of course for some of you the favourite is Pink!

Yesterday I decided to make up some of my Hexie patches that I started on ages ago, you know one of those projects you put to one side for a little while and then totally forget about! I 've got lots of those!

I think this patchwork piece is destined to become a small cushion. In fact I am making it to fit the IKEA Irma cushion pad as its only 35cm x 35cm!

Have a sweet day

Rachel x