Recycled Baby Jars - Tutorial

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last blog, glad you loved seeing my crafting space at home :-)  One day ... yes one day I will have a lovely garden studio in my garden or a proper area in my home for me.  Thinking about it though I do love sharing my crafts with my kiddies so the dining table is great for us at the moment.

As many of you may know I am a bit of an eco warrior at home.  I recycle as much as I can, I don't like to throw things away (my poor mates are always getting stuff from my house just in case they find it handy :-)) and if I do think of throwing something I first ponder on what I can use if for.

This brings me to baby jars.  A long time ago I found a tutorial on Craft Pudding on how to turn a baby jar into a pin cushion with the bonus of being able to store ribbon/buttons/beads in it.  I wanted to make one but little Sweetpea didn't really ever have baby food from jars so I updated my status on Facebook asking for baby jars (yes my mates know I am bonkers so weren't surprised by my random request :-)).  A lovely lady called Kathryn came to my rescue delivering me some baby jars - thank you Kathryn !

So I got to work.  First I picked a pretty fabric and cut it to 5 inches diameter.

I then did running stitch around the circle.

When I had sewn all the way round I added stuffing (you have to use stuffing and not cotton wool as I first tried as the fibres are too thick and it won't let pins be stuck into you pin cushion :-() and started to pull the thread tight.

When it is fully tightened make sure you knot it to secure into place.  Tilt head to see next couple of photos - blogger playing up again - ggrrr why does blogger do that :-(

Use a glue gun or super glue to stick this to the jar lid.

Pick some co-ordinating ribbon.  Glue around the rim of the jar and then add your ribbon.

Ta da - some fantastic little things that look lovely and are also useful.  Plus you get the feel good factor of using up old jars.  I use my little jar all the time - it is fantastic!

Giveaway 

Just a reminder that my giveaway entries finish on 30 October so get your name on this blog post (click on link) for the chance to win lots of lovely goodies :-)

Off the Beaten Track - Positive Affirmations ......

 

Wow, thanks for all your entries to the giveaway and lovely comments, they always make me smile :-)   If you haven't entered already then pop over to this post for info and to see what you could win.  Scented Sweetpea's Giveaway

Well this blog post is a little off the beaten track but what with most people feeling like time is flying past (there seem to be a lot of posts in blog land mentioning that at the moment) and with stressful things like Christmas (eekk I said the word!) coming up I thought this might help some of you.

When I was expecting little sweetpea we were due to go on holiday.  I have for some time found getting ready for holidays quite stressful, especially the driving to the airport and waiting to get on the plane.  Not sure why that is but as soon as I am on the plane I am fine but the whole getting there etc gets me all tied up in knots.  Also being pregnant seems to exasperate this I think because I am more tired than usual.

As I was pregnant I knew there wasn't much I could take to chill me out.  I usually take Valerian which is sold in Boots, this tastes quite yukky but does the trick, I couldn't take it being pregnant.  I looked at Bach Rescue Remedy too but the pharmacist said not to use it when I was pregnant - not sure if this is good or not so as I have never tried it.   This lead me to look into other ways of relaxing and I came across positive affirmations.

Positive affirmations have worked really well for me, it is so simple that it has really taken me by surprise at how well it works.

What are positive affirmations?

Well basically you install in your brain some lovely calming moments and when you get stressed you can recall these.  This brings back the feelings of that moment and so you bring back your relaxed state.

How do I make them?

When you find yourself in a particularly lovely state of mind and are enjoying a moment of calm hold your forefinger and thumb together tightly.  Close your eyes and soak up the sounds, feelings, warmth of the moment and hold your forefinger and thumb together tightly again.  Repeat this several times.  

How do I recall this feeling?

When you feel stressed hold your forefinger and thumb together and those images, feelings etc will come flooding back.

When I do this I have the images below flood back, the children giggling, the water running or waves lapping and the warmth of the sun on my back.  Hhhmmmm water seems to be a recurring theme in my relaxiation, maybe we need a big pond in our garden :-)

I also find listening to upbeat music works wonders too, there is nothing like a good singalong to cheer you up :-)

I hope you can use this for yourself, it really works well for me and is so simple.  What techniques do you use to relax ?