13 DIY Gift Ideas

Thinking of giving a gift with a difference this Christmas? I've compiled a list of some great DIY gift ideas that will be sure to put a smile on anyone's face. You can thank me later ;)

1.Textured Plant Pots

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2. Crochet Bobble Blanket

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3. Book Clocks

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4. Driftwood Key Rack

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5. Hand Painted iPhone Case

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6. Lace Tile Coasters

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7. Vintage Card Notebooks

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8. Painted Wooden Utensils

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9. Faux Watercolour Cushion Covers

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10. Bejewelled Hair Combs

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11. Stone Herb Markers

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12. Revamped Necklace

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13. Sugar Scrub Cubes

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Happy crafting my friends

Ciara

xoxo

Tutorial: Toilet Paper Decorations

Hi everyone! 

Here I am with the last instalment of the Waste Paper Bin Challenge, the challenge where I show you how to create something beautiful from what is essentially junk!

First of all though, I must apologize for the delay (those of you who have been following these tutorials will know I usually post it every Saturday) I was so SO busy yesterday and I didn't plan very well and basically I forgot.... :( Sorry guys. But hey, we are here now and it's a good one!  Toilet Roll Decorations!

In our house we end up throwing out loads of toilet roll inserts every week because I hadn't come up with any crafty ideas using them, until now! 

So let's get started:

1. Gather as many toilet roll inserts as you can find, I managed to only collect two today (on any other day there would be millions!) 

2. Flatten them down and cut into strips along their width. You can cut one piece to whatever thickness you like and then use that piece as a guide to mark out the rest of the pieces along the tube, so they will uniform, there or thereabouts. However you only need six strips to make this project.

3. Now arrange your 'petals' so that they resemble the shape of a flower and adhere them using hot glue. If you do not have a hot glue gun then any white glue such as PVA will work. I would suggest you pin the petals together with something like a clothes peg or a small crocodile clip while you are waiting for the glue to set as they will pop apart if not.

4. Once you have this basic flower/star shape in place and dry, you are free to decorate it pretty much whatever way you like! You can use paint, ink, decoupage, glitter, embellishments, stamps etc to make it beautiful! As always, let your creativity flow free.

Here are the two I done, so you may get some ideas from them

I painted this decoration with pink acrylic paint and then sprayed it with homemade Perfect Pearls mist. I then added a white button to the centre. 

You could use this as a large card topper or back it with card and put it in a deep frame. You could even add a stem to the flower and create a whole bouquet of card flowers to display in your home.

For this one I used Tim Holtz Distress Stain in Peacock Feathers to colour the petals. I then used stamps and alcohol ink here and there to add texture. And then to add a real bit of glitz and glam I mixed black glitter with Mod Podge and applied it generously to the outside of the petals. I also added some buttons to the centre and a ribbon so that this one can be hung up. 

I think these would be great for Christmas (don't hate me!!) as tree decorations, especially if you add lots of glitter! 

So, that is it for my final instalment of the Waste Paper Bin Challenge. I hope you enjoyed it and all the others. 

Don't worry though, I will be adding many more tutorials on here and from time to time there will be more tutorials for crafts using recycled materials so you don't have to be too sad about the WPBC finishing today :)

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below or email me and I will be sure to get back to you.

I hope you are having a beautiful + creative day

Ciara

xoxo

May You Be: Charitable

Hi everyone!

Do you shop in charity shops? Well, you should! I do and the stuff I find in them is amazing!

I remember when I was a child growing up, charity shops were all that popular. Any clothes I had were either hand-me-downs from older cousins or bought new because, as with any child, I out grew my clothes fast. I don't remember my Mam ever shopping in charity shops (she may correct me) and so I never spared a second thought to them.

Until, it became trendy! When I got into my late teens shopping in charity shops suddenly became trendy, cool, the done thing. It evoked words like, "thrifty", "vintage", "retro", "upcycle", "hipster?" (Ok that last one is kind of a joke but you get the idea).
Now, you can't keep me out of charity shops, I buy a lot of my clothes from them and all of my books. I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a brand, new book from a book shop. I actually prefer to buy my clothes in charity shops because I have quite a quirky style and I like to wear clothes that are different from others. This way, I know I won't see every second person passing me in the street wearing the same thing. Plus, it's charitable! I know that a least some of my money is going to a good cause.

There are some items that pop up regularly in charity shops. You are bound to see these in almost every charity shop you visit regardless whether it is Oxfam, Age UK, Barnardos or a Sue Ryder.

I have put together a few links to tutorials that you can do using these common charity shop finds.

Neck Ties

Kate over at Quilts by Kate has transformed a bag load of neck ties into this beautiful quilt. Although there are a lot of ties used in the project, if you picked up one of two every time you visited a charity shop you would have enough before you know it.

Tea Cups

Most charity shops hold an abundance of vintage style teacups are although they are lovely just as they are, there is only so much space in the average kitchen cabinet. Katie shows how to make this no-sew teacup pin cushion over on punkprojects.com.

Vintage Scarves

This might be my favourite tutorial in this list. Follow the tutorial over on e plus i. It looks like quite an easy tutorial but one that would have beautiful results.

Old Sweaters

This is an interesting one! Using an old sweater Mrs. Nato creates this gorgeous rose pillow. Follow her tutorial on fingerprintsonthefridge

Plastic Toys

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This is a very clever tutorial. Use plastic animals (or indeed any toy might work) to create this unique key hook. Head over to Creative Soul Spectrum where Amy will show you how.

Costume Jewellery 

Wow! This mirror is a true work of art! I can only imagine the time and effort that went into creating this mirror. And good news, you can make one too. Head over to georgiapeachez and follow the tutorial for a great way to use costume jewellery.

There are a million more tutorials out there for a million different charity shop finds but I think that list is enough to be getting on with for now. I will probably do a sequel to this post in the future where I explore more tutorials on this topic.

I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know if you try any of these tutorials or if you have any charity shop tutorials of your own that you would like to share please leave a comment below or email me.

Have a beautiful + creative day

Ciara

xoxo

List of some charities in the U.K. + Rep. of Ireland:

www.oxfam.org

http://www.redcross.org.uk

http://www.irishheart.ie

http://www.bhf.org.uk

www.barnardos.org.uk

www.barnardos.ie

www.cancerresearchuk.org

www.cancer.ie/

stvincentsdepaul.ie

www.svp.org.uk

www.simon.ie

www.simoncommunity.org.uk

http://rnli.org

www.irishlifeboats.com