Christmas Crafting & Sewing . . . . Part One

Greetings lovely friends & readers

 On my bench today, my first pick of Sweetpeas.  Growing these from seeds & getting them to the flowering stage has felt at times, like extracting teeth - it seems to have been a VeRy long process this year.  

I am still dehydrating oranges to fill my last potpourri orders, so I strung a garland of them along the rake in my kitchen as well as refreshing the oranges on my faux tree, that sits at the end of my bench. 

Long time readers may remember back in * this post * when I made these little Country Friends dolls for my friend Claire, to fit in a Pringles tin.  I'd cut out a set for myself at the same time & finally got around to dressing them & making them into a swag.  

I managed to use fabrics & felt scraps already in my stash as they only require very small pieces.

I've shown this guy photographed beside a small teaspoon to show how tiny they actually are.  VeRy fiddly to make. 

I've strung mine across the shelf that holds my red china, in the lounge room as the colours all went well together. 

This pair of doll shoes was in my sewing room - they measure 12 cms along the length of the heel so are either large dolls or small childs shoes.  I wanted to take the shiny-ness off them & googled it - it said to rub them with nail varnish remover, which I tried.  This did not a thing, so I lightly sanded them to dull them a bit.

I love small vintage shoes decorated at Christmas time & have several on my Pinterest boards.  I glued some offcuts of Oasis in the bases & then simply jammed a selection of things in.

A small teddy that came off a keyring, some greenery & pip berries, a couple of Christmas ornaments with the hooks removed & the smallest size bottlebrush tree that I had.  I love how these turned out 🎄💚

This white linen doll was in a wardrobe  ... I remember making her about 10 years ago now.  I wanted to do a small festive display on my bed & thought if I made her some red wings, she could pass as Christmassy.  

I cut into some of my Tilda fabrics as the red shade was perfect - I'm really pleased with how she looks now.

(She is a Rosalie Quinlan Angel - Friendship Angel pattern, very old now but still available I think)

Remember back in October in this post when I made this Pixie/Elf - he is a free pattern from shabby art boutique

This wooden trolley cart was $4 from my local SPCA shop, purchased during the winter months.  I painted it, lightly distressed it, & glued a piece of scrapbooking paper onto the tray part.  Even the red cord was able to be used again.

I found a couple of offcuts of transfers that were festive looking & applied these to 2 sides.  I thought it would make the perfect "vessel" to sit my Christmas Elf in.

I thought long & hard about what else to put in my cart - what would a busy elf need??  Some presents to deliver or help with  ... & perhaps a spare pair of elf boots for when his get worn out ?? I covered tiny boxes in fabric as I couldn't find any wrapping paper in the right colour way & then I made some simple elf boots from scraps of grey felt.  

I'm thrilled with him - he doesn't stay on my deck table, I've just photographed him out there as its dull inside the house today.  I must say he looks very happy sitting in his trolley cart  😊

I give my Grandsons a selection of choccy treats in their stockings each year.  I thought I'd like to make them a simple drawstring bag to contain all their edible treats this year.  This was very much about using-up-what-I-had-on-hand & I didn't want to purchase anything, apart from the treats themselves.  

I was pleased how the bags turned out & I even managed to line them with some other festive fabric I had in my stash.  

I banged into an old acquaintance in the Supermarket carpark last week & she asked me what I'd been up to recently?  I explained that I'd decorated the house & been hosting some folk to look at my festivities including my craft group etc.  She commented did I not think this was all a waste of time & energy when I could be doing other stuff ??

I didn't agree with her - we both agreed to differ ... but I felt it was timely when I came home & saw this verse online & it just kind of put into words how I was feeling.  I hope you enjoy it dear friends.

Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,

I shall be back soon with Part two as this post was more than long enough,

Sending much love & friendship out to you all,