Tag Archives: Craft

Christmas Countdown – Day Seventeen

I can’t believe we’re on Day Seventeen of the Christmas Countdown already, time is just flying by. Things are not progressing very fast here at the moment as we are beset by cold germs. It’s at this point I wish I was SO much more organised and didn’t have such a long ‘Last Minute List’

Ho-hum…maybe I’ll add that to the New Years Resolution List!

But back to Day Seventeen. Last year in the Advent Calendar it was all about mice and you’ll find quite a selection of them featured in this post.

Planet Penny Mini Mice – Etsy Pattern

But I’ve been having a scout round and it’s surprising how many mice you’ll find scampering about in cyberspace. These are Racing Walnut Mice! They sound lots of fun and an easy craft to do with the little ones, just click the image for the link as always…

Walnut Racing Mice Christmas Countdown Day 17

Oh Baby!

Here’s a dear little tree decoration with a jingly nose…

fabric mouse tree ornament - Christmas Countdown Day 17

Pimp Stitch

A couple of years ago I made this little group of needlefelt carol singing mice which I sold and then rather regretted losing them I must make some more just for me!

carol singing mice Christmas Countdown Day 17

Planet Penny

I love the little fabric mouse below from Lucy Kate, don’t you?

Lucy Kate Crafts

And finally, we have the mouse in our house who lives in the skirting board.

PAWS – Paper and Wire Sculptures

All right, I’ll admit it, it’s all pretend. Can you imagine Higgins tolerating that situation? It’s a little sticker from the very clever Sue McLearie which I secreted on to the skirting board. So far only one person has noticed it…

…but he doesn’t seem too bothered!

I hope you like this collection of Christmas Mice..

I’ll be back tomorrow…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Twelve

This time last year there were a lot of robins twittering around on Planet Penny so I thought I’d include them in the Christmas Countdown. I haven’t had time to make any this year, and I really miss them so this is a good excuse to have them on the blog!

Today for the Countdown I found some mini wreaths, just the right size for the Christmas Tree. I made these for our local Christmas Fair last year. Very simple and effective – hooray for the trusty glue gun!

Planet Penny Advent Calendar – Day Twelve

Oh, and here’s a another robin getting in on the act!

Planet Penny

I have a box of rather old and tatty curtain rings tucked away, this next image has given me lots of ideas for recycling them, using an assortment of pretty oddments from the ‘Bits and Bobs’ box.

curtain_ring_wreaths Christmas Countdown

This little crochet wreath is really sweet…

Planet June

This is simple and effective and made with a white rose would be perfect for a wedding…

Sew Made By Me

And here’s an great way to use up tiny scraps of fabric too pretty to throw away…

Crafty Painter

And finally, we’re back to buttons again….

Martha Stewart

I hope I’ve given you some ideas to squirrel away for Christmas crafting now and in the future,

I’ll be back with more tomorrow…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Eleven

Day Eleven of the Christmas Countdown and I’ve been looking at gift bags. Last year I used some precious wrapping paper to make the ones below, there’s more likelihood of it being treasured by someone else when the paper has been used this way and it goes that bit further too.

If you click on the photo it will take you to the link from last year…

Planet Penny Advent Calendar 2012 Day 11

Planet Penny Advent Calendar – Day Eleven

Meanwhile, here are just few other ideas which might give you wrapping inspiration…

Creature Comforts

This is a jolly use for a plain brown paper bag…

…and this would be a lovely way to dress up a present for the ‘Domestic Goddess’ in the family…

Gift bags Christmas Countdown Planet Penny

Celebrate Creativity

There’s a tutorial for this little felt gift bag over on MilkyMug…

MilkyMug

And although I can’t track down exactly where the post is for the photo below on Rosebuds Cottage, it’s still inspiring if you fancy a little bit of Christmas sparkle!

Giftbags -Planet Penny Christmas Countdown

Rosebuds Cottage

I’m looking forward to being back tomorrow for Day Twelve…

See you then…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Nine

By the time you read this I will be on a train, heading to London.

I’m off to my daughter’s graduation ceremony! I’n very proud and excited as you can imagine. She’s graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama at the Royal Festival Hall which all sounds terribly grand. I can’t wait to see her in gown, hood and cap….there will be lots of photos!

So today’s post for the Christmas Countdown is a little present.

Last year I was pleased to have a limited amount of Planet Penny Cotton in white, Snowdrop. I made it up into little kits…

…with a patten for the Crochet Christmas Bunting, a snowflake garland and little hearts.

They proved very popular, and I know lots of people were keen to add the White to their collection of Planet Penny colours because it works so well with the Rainbow shades as a background.

But then I was unable to repeat the order with a white as bright as the original one. I tried, but it just wasn’t right, (You can find out more in this post complete with very silly photo of Higgins if you’ve been missing him!) and I’ve had to wait till now to be able to order the right white.

It’s too late, alas, to repeat the Christmas Kits this year but now the patterns are available to download so you can use it with your own white yarn. Just match your hook with whatever is recommended for your yarn, rather than the pattern. Just click on the link below…

Planet Penny Crochet Collection

Let me know if you are interested in the Snowdrop yarn. I will have it available in the Etsy shop as soon as possible.

I hope you are enjoying the Christmas Countdown so far. I’ll be back tomorrow…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Four

It’s Day Four of the Christmas Countdown and we’re in the button box! You’ve probably noticed I love buttons and use them frequently as embellishments for crochet bits and pieces.

I’ve got a particularly precious box of mother-of-pearl buttons and these I like to use to make the sort of decorations which will come out of the box year after year as family heirlooms. They just seem too fragile to stitch on to clothing which then gets hurled into the washing machine at regular intervals.

This was the heart I made last year. It’s very simple, you can find out more by following the link below…

Planet Penny Advent Calendar – Day Four

Next, a simple and effective way of making a unique card, and also inspiration for making a wired tree decoration as above, worked into a different shape. The buttons here are quite standard, but look really pretty mixed together. (It’s always worth checking your local charity shop for button tins, and sometimes the most unprepossessing old garments have gorgeous buttons worth salvaging)

button heart card Christmas Countdown Day 4

folksy.com

I think these are tree decorations, but wouldn’t they make fabulous earrings?

notonthehighstreet.com

This is spectacular, isn’t it? You would need a seriously large button box to make something as gorgeous as this!

Pinterest.com

And back to the mother-of-pearl buttons again. I think this is made in much the same way that I made the crochet string of balls and beads in this post, but there’s lots of scope for the imagination to make garlands for the tree. You can space things out along the thread for a delicate look…

…or knot them closely together like this…

The Crafted Sparrow

I think I would be tempted to pop that last one in my jewellery box after Christmas!

So with that I’m off to find more seasonal inspiration, and I’ll be back tomorrow.

See you then …x

Norfolk November Skies and a Rosy Glow…

Hello! I can’t believe it’s taken so long to get back here for a catch up. I must say the new look for the blog is really growing on me now, and it seems to sit much better on a phone or tablet.

Last weekend Two Rivers Trail Christmas Fair was AMAZING! We couldn’t believe how many people came, there were cars parked all over the village, with people having to walk for half a mile to get to us! The Planet Penny Stall looked like this…

..although I don’t think many people managed to stand back to have a look at anything! If you would like to see more, all the photos I took of the day are over on the Two Rivers Trail website where you can see some of the beautiful things from other members of the Trail.

I actually thought I would have a quiet week catching up with things, but it’s been anything but, and so busy I’ve struggled to find time to even get out for a walk with poor little Higgins…

He’s not impressed!

So in the spirit of a breath of fresh air, here’s yesterday’s walk which took place when the sun came out after a miserable gloomy start, and the wonderful Norfolk November skies came into their own.

You don’t get long after lunch for walk at this time of the year, do you? It does mean being treated to a wonderful view of the sunset as we head back home. Note the mud! Glorious isn’t it?

Ending just after we arrived back in a wonderful rosy glow.

And talking of a ‘Rosy Glow’ I’m going into boastful mother mode again, Last night elder son Thomas won a second award for one of his children’s books, The Pets you Get at the Brilliant Book Awards! Proud? You bet I am!

Adrian Reynolds, the illustrator, you may well have met before with the Harry and the Dinosaurs stories, which have been made into a popular TV series.

Since I often turn up here with a book review I have no compunction at all in recommending ‘The Pets you Get’ as an excellent buy for Christmas!

And now, I have a ‘cunning plan’ for December on the blog so I’m off to see if I can make it work! And it’s December tomorrow so I better get going…

see you then…x