fabric bowl covers

Can you believe I'm starting on a little Christmas gift stash already !

I've been whipping up some fabric bowl covers so we can use less plastic wrap.

I have seen people use shower caps as bowl covers

but they are still plastic and they look ugly !

These pretty fabric ones won't really keep your food fresh

but they will keep the flys off your food at parties . 

They'd be great if you were having a themed party

as you could make these to match.

There are some covers around that require you to zig zag over elastic

and stretch and juggle as you go but that seemed a bit hard for me .

This is how I did mine ~

Cut a circle of fabric about 2" larger than your chosen bowl.

Bind all around the raw edge. Make your own or buy binding

but it needs to be wide enough to thread your elastic through .

On the underside of your bound cover in the binding make a small slit.

Use a small safety pin or bodkin and hat elastic and

 thread the elastic through .

Check that it fits your bowl before tieing the elastic ends together.

Tuck the elastic knot inside the binding .

That's it , so easy !

These can be made for any size bowl and I think they're gorgeous!

Much nicer than shower caps , don't you think ?

If you make some please let me know , I'd love to see .

tick tock

I love clocks !

I have a few in every room , I can always fit another clock somewhere.

Although they don't really help because I never have enough time

and I am never on time either .

This ugly glass one was one I picked up from a garage sale .

It's a clock of course I brought it home with me .

Anyway no matter how much I like clocks this one was really blah !

So I took the clock pieces and hands off and

 brushed on a lot of Mod Podge and lay

it down on some pretty fabric .

Then I trimmed around it with a scalpel

and brushed more Mod Podge over the top .

I cleverly used clips to show me where to use my marks

(I still didn't put them on straight but I know what time it means )

and then I just used a hot glue gun to glue buttons on.

Much nicer now , don't you think ?

I even have a board on pinterest just for clocks , a bit obsessed maybe ..

You could make your own clock the same way by covering a mdf placemat

from craft stores and drilling a hole for the clock workings .

Whatever you do with your time have a great weekend !

craft fail

I'm trying to do a bit more "just because I feel like it" craft .

Not for anyone else , not for work , just because I feel like it .

I saw this brilliant melted beads project on pinterest and wanted to try it.

So I organised some beads and cooked those little blighters .

The multi coloured beads were a bit too small .

The bluey coloured beads turned out pretty .

The little ones in the patty pan just burnt and stank the house out .

I cooked them at 200c for about 15 mins .

It may or may not have been longer as I think I may have passed out from the fumes.

Note to self ~ next time open more windows.

It was fun . It was different .

I am going to do more just because craft .

What about you , are you trying new things ?

stamping memories

I came across some of my dads stamps the other day.

One of my nicest memories is seeing him over the

 kitchen sink soaking the paper off the back of the

stamps he had collected.

He would then place them carefully onto a teatowel to dry.

I don't really know what he planned to do with them all.

These stamps meant so much to him that I thought it was

such a shame to have them sitting in a cupboard

never to be seen by anyone.

I've had such a lovely time using Mod Podge to stick them all to canvasses .

Now I will have them on the wall at home

and I will smile everytime I see them .

almost there

Yes a new softie pattern coming very soon .

In the meantime I'm spending time with my family

and chilling out with them .

The early morning trips into the bus stop are very cold !

I never , ever get tired of my view .

How are things with you ?

finally some craft

You thought you'd never see any craft again here didn't you !

Along with normal family life

my little shop has become quite busy and has

 been keeping me out of trouble .

I think it's getting too cold to be out much so

crafty people have been staying in and , you know, crafting .

I've been keeping warm crocheting my beautiful new blanket .

I cannot follow a pattern to save my life but I eventually worked

out how to do a bit of a ripple stitch .

What do you do for Winter craft ?

Does it change from what you do in Summer ?

Nice to see you , thanks for popping in .

I'm off to start a new blanket .

chocolate cake

This isn't what I usually do here , recipes that is .

It's just that I often share cake or slice recipes on facebook

and the girls there seem to like them .

To be honest I am a pretty terrible cook so I can only manage

quick and easy and that is probably why people like them .

At our house this cake is called The Filthy Cake

and that just shows how classy we are at my place.

It is very , very rich but not really cheap to make .

1 packet chocolate cake mix (about 350g) no frills is fine.

2 packets chocolate instant pudding (85g each ) 

4 eggs , 1 cup hot water , 1/2 oil ,1 cup of choc bits

Use an electric mixer to mix the first 5 ingredients for 1 minute only.

Mix the choc bits in with a wooden spoon.

Throw it all into a greased ring tin .

If you don't have a ring tin you can use a small, clean, empty can covered

in baking paper in the centre of a 20cm tin .

Bake at 170c for about 50 minutes.

Let cool completely before turning out.

So rich , this cake doesn't need icing .

If you would like the occasional recipe here

 please just let me know in the comments.

Next time I'll show you some craftiness !

pattern sale

Hello there just a quickie post to tell you that

for 1 1/2 hours only tonight

you may purchase 1 of my patterns at RRP and receive

another for 50% off !!!!

Please just enter the code WINTER at checkout .

All patterns + post .

Bargain !

Where ? In my bigcartel shop .

When ? Tonight (Saturday June 2nd ) only from 7.30pm to 9.00pm . AEST

Seeya there , thanks !