Granny in the Guardian

How exciting to open the paper today and see this.

Truly a proud family moment to read this in print.

For more on her story please read here.

Happy Weekending everyone!

Beano Bunting

I do have a bit of a love affair with bunting going on.  

After reading how my friend creatively set up a nursery for her small boy I looked around the oldpolicehouse and realised there was bunting in almost every part of the house. Different designs and medium but without doubt quite a lot.  Seeing those happy little triangles, hearts or even rectangles hanging make me smile lots and I obviously got lucky with a man who never complains about it.

Boys bunting however is much harder to get right, especially as they start to grow and my teen boys room is a definite bunting free zone.

The slightly smaller boys room has just had the usual holiday sort out and de clutter.  Thomas the Tank engine has been firmly replaced by football and the duplo has been donated to a younger sister as it has been deemed too young.  How quickly time passes and it makes me slightly sad to see the Thomas train carrier that used to accompany us everywhere banished.

Smallest boy is amazing at reading and is loving all the Beano annuals we discovered in our sort. A few have not fared well over the years and I had a little play with some discarded pages and came up with this. 

Unfortunately the smallest boy got very upset as he saw me cutting because he hadn't read that page, oops!

I cut the pages into triangle, using a template made from an old cereal pack. This is because the pirate bunting hanging opposite to this, which I made in literally ten minutes before a birthday party, I didn't and every time I look at it and see the different shaped triangles I feel annoyed I didn't take more care!

I then used a piece of bias binding and folded it across the flag.  I started to pin it but actually found it much easier to just hold it and feed it through by hand.

Here's how to make Beano bunting a few simple steps:

1. Cut up an old annual (best to use a template)

2. Use folded bias binding (or ribbon folded)

3. Fold over the flags (easier to do it one at  a time as it is actually going through the machine)

4. Sew together

Using the sewing machine I simply sewed it all together, the paper was easy to work with at it is quite thick and hangs well.  It was so easy to do and looks very effective  although remember to change the sewing needle after as it will be very blunt after this project.

Hang it somewhere and enjoy.

Are you a fellow bunting lover? 

Where do you hang it?

Summer holiday crafting

This is the time of year I am totally thankful to be married to a teacher: A summer without the pressure of  everyday life is the perfect antidote to our hectic term life. Almost two weeks into the break and we are all enjoying the slower pace and adapting to a calmer rhythm to our day, time to play and create is precious. 

Pyjama crafting has to be the best and whilst the small people were playing after breakfast, inspiration struck.

To dismiss any illusions of perfection just look at that floor!

I have a slightly sad love for my laminator (well I am a primary school teacher) and have gone through stages of laminating pretty much everything in the house. Apart from scan pictures as I was put off by all those scary signs in the scan room telling you it causes them to fade, very glad I read those! Unearthing the laminator to protect year six disco pictures for my almost starting secondary school girl I had an idea.

Fabric!

Quickly typing out a bit of proverbs truth and grabbing a fabric sample I happily fed it through our machine.

 A new inspirational verse to hang in the kitchen.

It worked so well and has sparked off lots of new project ideas. This method would work really well as a small business card or invite, without text it could be a hanging decoration or mobile particularly if I was to cut out a flower fabric.

My creative mind is buzzing with possibilities.


Have you ever used your laminator in a creative way?