Pimped up Plimsolls

Some time ago I bought some lovely plimsolls .....

in fact, lets be honest here, I bought two pairs (they were a bargain that couldn't be missed) .

Whilst looking down at my new shoes (which always makes that fab Paolo Nutini track pop into my head :-) ) whilst walking around the wonderful Cambridge market I stated to ponder ..... I do love to ponder .....

I pondered on how lovely it would be to pimp on my new plimsolls to make them a bit brighter.  This lead me to buy some gorgeously bright and cheerful bias binding from The Little Fabric Stall on the market .  You know how it is, it just fell into my bag as I walked past the stall ;-)

I am rather loving them ..... yep they may be a bit clown like but they make me smile.

Go on, pimp up your plimsolls, you know you want to :-)

1) Measure the length of your current laces and cut the bias binding to this length.  Now snip the edges off each corner of each end.

2) Fold the ends down so when you fold the bias in half it is hidden inside.

3) Fold the bias binding in half and pin in place. You will have to hold the ends down as you sew, be careful of your fingers.

4) Sew along one side and then the other the full length of the laces.

Voila !  Pimped up plimsolls :-)  This would also work with ribbon or maybe lace :-)

PS do feel free to leave a comment, I don't bite honest :-)

Little Skirts and Easter Bonnets

Well I have been really enjoying the Easter holidays and will be really sad when they come to an end :-(  We have been out most afternoons which has really helped keep harmony in our house.

We have also been creating lots of things both in an arty way and in the garden, the weather really has treated us well.

Above is a photo of little Sweetpea's build a bear, I had a spare piece of fabric from creating her a skirt so we thought it would be nice if her bear had a matching skirt :-)

We have also had great fun creating an Easter bonnet.  We got this bonnet, eggs and chicks from Hobbycraft.  

We weren't too happy about the cramped living conditions of the poor chicks so wanted to release them asap!

We added some crochet flowers into the mix and got creating .....

After lots of gluing and sticking ....

And more gluing and sticking......

A rather cute, if not slightly random Easter Bonnet was created :-)

The chicks seem a lot happier in their new home :-)

One did escape and end up and a chocolate nest though !

Easter Hols Fun

It is the Easter holidays here and the children and I have been enjoying some creative fun.  I so look forward to having them all home with me.  Don't get me wrong, I am not super Mum ...... you can find me having melt downs when they all just seem take turns to annoy each other but it is still lovely having a break from the school runs and enjoying their company.

 I find keeping them busy seems to help so most mornings we chill out and then I make sure we have something to do in the afternoons.

Last week was spent meeting family and friends, going to national trust properties and going to Cambridge to watch the punting.

I also managed to squeeze a bit of creative time in ....... I really do need to be creative otherwise I feel like something is missing, I don't feel right ...... hhmmm maybe I am addicted to creativity?

We created our Easter/Spring tree and decorated it with some gorgeous ceramic creations that were made by Angels Unaware , I adore these ceramic eggs and bunting!  We also added our own decorations to the tree too like this needle felted egg, some crochet heart bunting and some felt rabbits.  The children's Fimo rabbits were also popped under the tree.

To keep the children busy one afternoon we decided to create some chocolate eggs of our own.

Hobbycraft kindly sent us some silicon egg moulds and candy melts.  These egg moulds are fab as you can pop them in the microwave, cooker and fridge and it still comes out looking like new .... not like the time I tried to melt some crayons in a silicon mould which was obviously not meant for the oven, queue evacuating children from a toxic filled house, a 'nailed it' project indeed  :-/  Sorry, I digress ........ :-)

We went for the method of melting the chocolate in cups and filling the mould, partly due to the above incident and also as it takes longer and fills more time ..... less time for the children to get bored if they are busy creating.  Sshhhhh don't tell them of my cunning plans, it is our secret.

Apart from the children we also had some other little helpers ........ love the way they all get lined up round the house in random places.  These are rubbers/erasers , how cute are they!

Let the filling commence !  They happily filled the eggs for some time, and we added some stars and edible glitter to some of the eggs to make them a little sparkly :-)

All filled and ready for the fridge.  We couldn't wait to see how they turned out.

We rather love the way the came out .  I think possibly the star ones could have done with a tap before we put them in the fridge to get rid of the air bubbles but apart from that they came out really well.  The chocy doesn't taste bad either, more like American Hershey style chocy than Cadbury. 

Can't wait to do some more creating with the children, I hope you are all having a lovely Easter break.

Fundraising total

Well the charity fundraising event on my facebook page is now over and I am glad to say it was a fantastic success .... phew!

In the end there were over 40 items donated by some fantastic, kind hearted artists.  We raised a massive £1086.59 for the Alzheimers Society.

I really do think it is wonderful how we can come together as a group, creating things we love to raise money for fantastic causes ...... lets hope next years event does as well as this years :-)