Deck the Halls...

I bought these vintage sundae dishes, not that long ago, with the view to turning them into hand-poured candles. A project I've fancied doing for a while.

Until I get around to that (hmmm sounds like a lot of my projects!), I thought I would use them as part of my Christmas decorations and put tea lights in them.

They looked really sweet, so I decided to use all four on the mantelpiece and fireplace.

I don’t have much room for many decorations and my Christmas tree is less than two feet tall! But I do like to dress the mantelpiece and fireplace as my main attraction.

I've used a mixture of fake and real greenery, as well as fir cones, large baubles and the sundae dishes. I’m really pleased with the effect and it looks lovely and cosy when the fairy lights are on and the candles are lit.

I’m very much looking forward to Christmas, having some time of work to spend with family and friends.

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas too, and I wish you the very best for a happy New Year.

Till next time…

Knit One, Purl One Dishcloths

One of my goals for next year is to combine my love of crafts with my love of vintage collectables, and have a stall at a local homemade and vintage fair.

I have lots of crafty ideas to get me started. One of which is knitting dishcloths, like they did in the olden ‘vintage’ days!

You can still get the dishcloth cotton fairly easily, so there must be more people knitting dishcloths than just me out there!

Part of the fun is being able to make up your own design. I like to knit a heart shape, using moss stitch, in mine.

I’ve knitted these before and had glowing reports on how much nicer they look and more durable they are, compared to bought ones. One friend, told me recently, that her’s is on its last legs now, so a new one would be lovely…

I think I’d better put one in her Christmas stocking!

Till next time...

Postcard Post - Swanage

As you may know, I have a thing for old postcards!

I also like to send old postcards to friends and family. This one of Swanage, is destined for my Aunty Jean.

My Brother and I used to stay with Aunty Jean and Uncle Cliff for a week during our summer school holidays – many moons ago now! They would take us to all sorts of places in and around Dorset, where they lived. Swanage was one such place where we went to see a huge stone globe on the coastal parkland nearby.

When I’m sending an old postcard, I usually just tuck it in a letter or pop it in an envelope. Then I had the idea to come up with a folding card design which can temporarily mount the postcard on the outside, and have space to write your own message on the inside. This is what I came up with…

By cutting a couple of shaped slots in opposite corners, the postcard can sit quite happily in place, ready to be posted and enjoyed all over again.

 Till next time…