Category Archives: Advent Calendar

Advent Calendar – Day Seven

Hello, I’m back, having found a tiny little gap where the unrelenting gloom lifted enough to take the photos for today’s Advent Calendar. I’m not flying completely by the seat of my pants each day, I do have things up my sleeve, but there’s always something I need to do at the last minute. T’was ever thus!

I’m going to digress a little first however, because I went into Norwich yesterday and apart from the much needed haircut, I did a little shopping. I really, really hate going shopping at this time of year. It’s not just the crowds, and the too hot shops etc. It’s the unrelenting forced fake Christmassiness (is that a word?)in the big stores which devalues the whole event and is calculated to panic us all into buying things we don’t need. If it’s not sprinkled with glitter, it’s covered with sugar, or possibly chocolate and we’d be letting the family down if we don’t stock up with lots of it, whatever it is…

I’m trying as much as possible to buy from independant shops and small craft businesses, and because of living out of the city this tends to be online. So I made a point of going to a little shop I’ve been meaning to visit for ages and had intended to write a blog post about. Imaging my dismay when I arrived there and found it’s to close before Christmas! It’s a gorgeous shop, and I’m sure if I was still in the city on a daily basis I would have practically kept it viable singlehandedly(well I’d have had a jolly good try!) But I’m going to tell you about it anyway, because if you near enough to visit I urge you to go there for your present shopping before the doors close for ever.

These two posters give you a really good idea of the feel of the place…

It really is just one lovely thing after another, beautiful handmade things, and vintage bits and pieces. I can’t show you most of what I bought alas, as it might spoil some surprises but I did treat myself to a little something which seemed appropriate…

…and I bought these which have come in handy for todays Advent Calendar make…

You’ll find Follies in Bridewell Alley in Norwich, and on Facebook too where you can keep up to date with the online plans. It’s very sad that vibrant and original shops like this can’t get the support they need to survive.

So because I’m not going to support Mr Tesco by buying my wrapping paper and labels from him I’ve been making some tags of my own, and have also sourced some online ones to print which I thought I’d share with you.

I already had some brown parcel tags which I customised in this post, but yesterday I found some dinky little ones in the stationers which I couldn’t resist.

If you’ve got time and some hefty sharp scissors and a hole punch it would be more economical still to cut your own. It’s time I never seem to have! Anyway having spent a happy half an hour with the box of ribbons and cord, buttons and bells, stamps and ink and of course the trusty glue gun I came up with these..

The other tags are available to download and print if you have access to a printer…

(apologies for quality of the photos)

The links are on the Botanical Paperworks Blog the SassandPeril website and there are a vast variety of tags on Examiner.com

Have fun, I hope this is useful! I’ll be back tomorrow although the blog post will be a challenge as Tim’s coming home and is making threatening noises about going back to Norwich for my Christmas present! You never know, we might bump into each other in Follies!

Advent Calendar – Day Six

It’s Day Six on the Advent Calendar all ready, time is rushing by scarily fast. So far I’m finding the most challenging part of posting every day is not the ideas, or writing the post, it’s finding a slot in the day with the right light for photography.

Today’s make is quick and simple and useful at any time of the year. Do you have a pin board? This is a great way of personalising it, and if you are making one as a present a little pot of these will complete the gift.

It’s map pins, or thumb tacks, like the ones I used in this post when I made a pin board of my own.

All you need are drawing pins, plain metal ones not the plastic covered type, some metal self-cover buttons…

…scraps of pretty fabric a tube of Super Glue and some small pliers. When you take the buttons off the cards you’ll see they are in two pieces, with the front piece having a metal loop so they can be sewn on to a garment.

This is superfluous to requirements so before going any further use the pliers to remove the loop, taking care not to damage the main part of the button.

Follow the instructions on the card for covering the buttons with the fabric and clipping the back on firmly. Once you have made up the buttons, use the Super Glue to stick the drawing pins to the button tops (again, read the instructions on the glue, Health Safety and all that!) It takes about an hour for the glue to cure and then they are ready to use.

I’ve been using my original ones for two or three years and they are still going strong even though I used the plastic covered type which tend to show more than the metal ones. These work well for pinning up Christmas cards on boards if you’ve used a Christmassy fabric. I’ve had this pretty little piece I bought on Ebay from somewhere in Central Europe for ages, it’s about time it had an airing!

These could also be made as fridge magnets when you could use the larger buttons and scraps of fabric left over from any kitchen accessories you made yourself. The ultimate in co-ordination!

Have fun with this, and I’ll be back tomorrow!

Advent Calendar – Day Five

We’ve just taken down the display for the Angels and Light Festival so I’m revisiting something I made for the last church Festival three years ago for today’s Advent Calendar make. This where blogging comes into it’s own, being able to look back on previous occasions! Our Knit and Stitch Group had the font to decorate on that occasion too.

The theme on that occasion was a Crib and Wreath Festival and so we decided to encircle the Font as the wreath element with the crib, beautifully knitted by one of the group, sitting on the top. It was rather a challenge, but the design I came up with was for something to which we could all contribute various elements, and could then be split up to be sold in aid of church funds.

You can find the tutorial on this blog post if you’d like to try it yourself…

Oh for more time! I’d like to try it with wire threaded through to bend it into a wreath which could be spectacular, or just with multicoloured scraps which would have a lovely homespun look.

What would you do?

Back tomorrow…!

P.S. If you’d like to join in with the Prize Draw, check out the post for Day Two to find out about the prize, and how to enter!

Advent Calendar – Day Four

Here we are on Day Four of the Advent Calendar and I’ve been ferreting around in the button box! Well, the Mother-of-Pearl button box to be precise…

to reprise a little decoration I made a few Christmases ago. I spotted the idea in an upmarket catalogue and decided it would be silly to buy it when I had so many buttons, had a go at making it and was very happy with the result, and very smug because it hadn’t cost me anything!

The box is rather full, but I’m gradually working my through the small buttons…

I shall have to be inventive for the big ones!

It’s a very simple little button heart…

and apart from the buttons all you need is gold or silver wire and some jewellery pliers.

Select your buttons and lay them out in your desired order. Cut two lengths of wire, about 18″ in length, you just snip off the excess. Twist the wires together a couple of inches from one end then thread the first button on to one of the wires then twist the two wires together for a few turns before threading the next button on a single wire again.

Continue like this until you have used all the buttons, then bend into the desired shape, bringing the two ends together at the top of the heart. Then you can use the excess wire to twist a hanging loop, and snip off the ends.

Finish with a length of pretty ribbon or cord…

hang, stand back and admire!

Of course you can use any buttons you happen to have in your workbox, coloured ones look pretty too…

Have fun, I’ll be back tomorrow….x

Advent Calendar – Day Three

For the Planet Penny Advent Calendar today I’ve gone to a Christmas favourite of mine, Origami Stars. I first tried Origami when I was about 11. My mother found a book in the library, and thought it was a great idea as it didn’t require any cutting up of bits of paper. (She says I spent my entire childhood creating scraps of paper which were too small to pick up, and too big to be vacuumed. Nothing’s changed there then!)

The stars didn’t make an appearance then, but my lovely daughter-in-law, Celia, discovered them a few Christmases ago, and decorated the mantelpiece in their old house in Rouen, and they now remind me of the last Christmas we spent there together before she, my son and grandsons move back to the UK. Happy memories, and I’ve been making them every Christmas since…

What I love about them is that they are so simple to make, and yet can be made to fit in any colour scheme, from the wild and colourful to sophisticated and plain. You will be very surprised by my particular choice, given my love of colour but I really like them plain and white and simple…

The possibilities are endless when it comes to decorating ideas. They look good just in a glass jar, dish or vase…

…so pretty scattered over a red Christmas tablecloth…

In the past I’ve strung them together to make garlands, added individual strings to each little star to hang them in the Christmas tree branches and attached them to mirrors and windows with double sided tape. Made in gold and silver and glued on to a simple wreath they would look stunning and in bright colours stuck to the ceiling to a child’s bedroom they would look pretty any time of the year…

Tempted? Well, there’s a great tutorial here which will get you started, and before too long you’ll be churning them out in every spare moment!

And if you’d like a little colour fix, I found these on Pinterest. Aren’t they gorgeous? (no source I’m afraid)

If you missed yesterdays’s post don’t forget to join in with the Prize Draw, see this post for all the details of the prize. Just follow Planet Penny in some way, whether it’s by email sign up, or on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. Don’t think I expect you to do everything, and if you are already following, well thank you very much! All I need is for you to tell me somewhere in a comment during the Advent Calendar posts because that where I will be compiling my list of entrants from. Hope that make sense…

In the meantime, Have fun, and I’ll be back tomorrow!

Day Two of the ‘Virtual’ Advent Calendar!

I’ve had lots of encouraging comments about my Christmas blogging marathon, a post a day for the virtual Advent Calendar until Christmas Eve, thank you all very much! (And if you’ve just discovered what I’m up to, scroll down to end of this post and find Day One’s crafty wrapping ideas…)

Today is all about my celebratory Giveaway for my 5 years living on Planet Penny, and I’ve deliberated long and hard to think of something everyone can enjoy, whether you are a maker, or someone who just appreciates what is made. So the prize is ready made, and part of it is the Advent Calendar make for today.

Having spent so much time with my Rainbow collection of yarn I thought it would be good to celebrate that with colourful tree decorations, so I have made some mini balls of yarn complete with tiny knitting needles.

These look lovely on the Christmas tree…

…but are far too pretty and colourful to hide away for the rest of the year. Can you imagine them strung on a line adorning someone’s crafting corner, or hanging round the edge of a lampshade perhaps?

They are simple to make if you want to do your own. I used a small polystyrene ball as a base and glued the yarn on to start with. Then you just wind round carefully until the base is hidden and the ball is the size you want. Glue the tail back on itself to form the hanger. The needles are made from cocktail sticks with beads on the end and pushed through the ball…simples!

But you can win your own if you enter the Give-away Prize Draw!

The next part of the prize has to be needlefelt don’t you think? It’s been so much of what I do. So this too could be yours…

..a little Christmas Mousie…

And finally, I’d like to include a book, and this time there’s a choice. It could be a copy of ‘Knitting on the Road’…

…if you are a knitter. There are some beautiful and unusual patterns from around the world…

Or if sewing’s more your thing, there’s ‘Zakka Style’…

This has some stylish and unusual designs which are very appealing…

…or if you or someone in your family would prefer to snuggle up with a good read you could choose this…

…which will be signed by the author, Thomas Taylor, just for you. I know him quite well! (You can find out more about Thomas, the book and how we know each other from this post)

So to recap, the prize is –

14 hanging ornaments – mini rainbow balls of yarn with knitting needles
a Christmas needlefelt mouse with hat and bell
And a choice of one of three books

And what do you have to do to have a chance of winning? I didn’t want to make things complicated so all you have to do is follow me in some way. You can subscribe by Email in the little box at the top of the left hand column. If you do that already there’s also the choice of Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. And then just leave a comment on this post or any other of the Advent posts to let me know so I can add you to the list. You only have to do one thing, but if you sign up for more than that you get more chances!

If you sign up to follow me on any of the other sites, please let me know via a blog comment so I don’t miss you off the list!

This will run until after Christmas to give every one as much of a chance as possible to take part and I will make the draw via a Random Number Generator in the week between Christmas and New Year. In the meantime, do call back and find out what happens next on the Crafty Christmas Countdown Calendar!

See you soon…!

P.S. Don’t forget to call over to Handmade Monday to see what else is going on in the crafty world!