Thrifty Thursday - DIY Christmas Stocking

Happy Thrifty Thursday everyone! Temperature is currently sitting at 1 degree here in frosty Herts but who needs to worry about the Arctic weather conditions when you've got a Christmas Stocking to make!?

After last week's delightful little wreath (still hanging proudly in the hallway) I decided to creep up the creativity levels. The main issue in making the wreath was literally building the thing, using those little tree branches and tying it all together with twine... I took an extremely long way around the problem.

Not this week though! I got an old PE shirt from school, some white craft glue and a load of pretty, shiny sequin-ny stuff to create my home-made Christmas Stocking, which I can present to you...NOW!



 

 

Bearing in mind it is still a little wet (this thing is going to take a minimum of a week to dry, that much is guaranteed. I should learn to sew!) and I still need to tidy up the edges and add the faux fur trim; I still think it's so pretty! The blue fabric was a bit of a let down, and the fact I had not one tub of paint in the house, but the finished result is my glittery, randomly French version of a stocking.

 

If this thing holds together, I am SO blogging a picture on Christmas Day when it is full of candy and other wonderfully delicious treats!

 

The inspiration for this stocking came when I saw Mooky Chick's Post online. There are so many kooky ideas on there that I couldn't keep my eyes of the page! I wish I had the materials to try the Faux Fur ones! Other than that, the post inspires you to make a stocking of your own using whatever you have in your house! I had an old shirt, she's used bath mats. Whatever you got!

 

Another new favourite blog of mine is Cookin' Cowgirl. Another creative lady getting all festive and fun this season; and her stuff is 150% a lot more polished than my amateur stuff! Check it out, she's funny, too!

 

 

 

Have you made anything this Christmas season yet? Or seen something I should attempt? Tweet me @sheldan2207 or comment below

 

xoxox

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Don't get me wrong, the majority of my Christmas Shopping is done online. I'm a solitary creature most of the time, so avoiding any sort of queue, crowd or rush is sort of my thing.

 

Today, though, I headed out into the big wide world, accompanied by Mother Dearest to do some Christmas preparations.

 

Final gifts were bought for friends of friends, work acquaintances and other people's partners, festive snacks were purchased and turkey crowns were investigated and measured.

 

To our surprise, we returned home happy and full of festive cheer. Yes, there were crowds and yes, there were queues but all was done to a happy soundtrack of Mariah Carey, Spice Girls and Slade. At this time of year the humans become sociable. Mum and I had a delightful conversation with a total stranger about out Christmas Dinner eating habits in the local Aldi. So not us. So not her.

 

"Thanks for waiting", says the happy-to-help sales clerk, "Buy one-get-one-free chocolates?"

 

How did she know I prefer two chocolates instead of one? It's that time of year when the retail industry has a huge employment surge and employs the happiest, dappiest little shop keepers who love a good sales incentive. Lovely!

 

Today, my favourite shop of all was The Works. I thought I'd just pop in to get materials for tomorrow's Thrifty Thursday. The phrase 'to pop in' assumes I was going to be a few moments, popping in, popping out again. The crowd in The Works are a breed all of their own! The craziness that ensues when prices never really exceed £1-£2! They have a wonderful Christmas CD playing, thousands of books, stationery items, toys, decorations and calenders all hanging in organised chaos. It's my sort of shop.

 

Talking of tomorrow's Thrifty Thursday, I've decided to up the ante for tomorrow's DIY project! If I tell you the materials I have, you can guess what the finished product will be:

White Craft Glue

Novelty Embellishments

Thick Fabric

One Sock

Scissors

Glitter Pens

Candy Canes

Christmas Decorations

 

In the words of Rolph Harris; "Can you tell what it is yet?!"

Thrifty Thursday - My DIY Christmas Wreath

Good afternoon Bloggers, I'm full of pride and emotion as I present to you my first creation of what will be a weekly post, 'Thrifty Thursday'.

Popping to town this morning in freezing temperatures, I pondered to myself what to buy for this wreath. I've never done anything like this before and found myself quite bemused at where to start.
Plodding around the pound shop I realised that my wreath could have whatever my little heart desired on it; pink stars, glitter, rainbow tinsel, etc, however I decided to start small.
I really wanted my little wreath to match the standards of those in the other blogs; I wanted to be just like the big kids!

With glitter glue, shiny baubles and gold-sprayed mistletoe in my basket I didn't feel very advanced. But I was happy, so I continued to the supermarket. As soon as I walk into Asda I spot a delightful little bargain in the shape of a 2ft 'Smartprice' Christmas tree! At £1.97, I'd be perfectly happy chopping it up.

Heading home I calculated what I've spent for my wreath. Total was literally £5. A fiver. Happy days, just had to get this thing together...

Laying out my materials in front of me as I sat cross-legged on my living room floor, I felt a little bit lame. I powered through though...
What I used: branches from a 2ft christmas tree (cut off and held together in the shape of a circle with twine I had in my cupboard), gold bead from Asda, bit of cellotape to re-inforce some terrible tying of mine, pretty fake flowers from the pound shop and silver glitter glue. That is all.

45 minutes later my Thrifty Thursday creation is complete! I have superglue all over my fingers and glitter in my hair:



It's not exactly the steadiest looking thing in the world, nor does it look like an adult has put it together but the main thing is... I like it. And so does my Mum. So it shall hang loud and proud in my hallway!

What do you think? Do I deserve a pat on the back or should I start over? Considering equivalent styles can be bought for up to £20 a piece, is it worth the saving?

Comment below or tweet me @sheldan2207

xx

DIY Decorations & One Of A Kind Gifts!

One of the best things about christmas is the fact that you can clutter your house full of flashing Santas, glittery tinsel and brightly coloured hanging things, and no-one can tell you otherwise! Of course, every year we spend absolutely thousands on new decorations, trees, candles, etc, etc, etc. What if we decided more food, less decoration this year? What with most families having to reign in their spending at the moment I thought I'd test the waters with some DIY Christmas decorations, starting with a wreath. I'll come back to that later!

Unfortunately, the holidays are somewhat tinted with stress, with the giving and the cooking and the preparing. With everything going on it's hard to keep up with what everyone actually wants for christmas. Instead of being the one that always gets exactly what's on the family's wish list, I've always been the one to pull a random on them all and get something they didn't even know they wanted themselves! I don't know about you but I still like to have a few surprises on Christmas Day! Today I've put together a small collection of niche music boxes, a fabulous gift for those close to you who love music and quite the conversation piece to have at home too. Click on the links below for an array of beatiful musical gifts.

Lastly, today I woke up to a magical dusting of snow. Although not as much as the kids were hoping for, just enough to melt quicker than the rate it fell at, which is good news for anyone else! All this means, though, is that more is almost definitely on the way and what better way to prepare than to get yourselves a handy pair of Snow Boots! No excuses for the morning commute now!

DIY Christmas Wreaths

Christmas wreaths are never something I've invested in over the holidays, and I've always pondered over the high prices of some of them, which is why I'm going to attempt to make my own this year! I've found really helpful blogs online that I'm going to use to help me! Tomorrow, I'll be getting all the bits and bobs I need for my wreath and will post a step-by-step commentary on how it went on Thursday! It will be a Your Desirables version of Art Attack! In the meantime, if you want to join in the festive fun, check out MidoriSourPatch, Caroline Inge's post on Home Depot, Jewels For All, Amalia Misc and (my personal favourite) Clouds Of Colour for some Wreath-spiration! Check-in on Thursday to see my efforts! Make sure to show me yours on Twitter @sheldan2207!









 

 

Music Boxes

Something I stumbled upon Monday evening when researching my Vintage Bird Cage pick of the day! I never thought of something so perfect until I saw the Gold Plated Singing Bird Cage at Magical Music Boxes. Granted, the price tag is more for the wealthy among us, however, a couple months saving up for this thing and I guarantee it won't be a waste of time! Garden parties, lunches in the conservatory, afternoon tea in the lounge, this beautiful home accessory is not only a stunning addition to any house, but also quite the conversation piece. When I'm a millionaire, this WILL be in my house. I love it! I'm also very aware that I am not a millionaire, just like the majority of you! So, I set about looking for a much more affordable music box for my own humble abode. The Music Box Shop has music boxes that are also... wait for it.... jewellery boxes! From pink teddies for the kids and wooden for the mature, from red roses for the girly and floral for the trendy, there are patterns to suit all and prices start from a slight £12.50! American company Mr Christmas has tree symphonies, musical wreath eggs, musical pumpkins and seasonal clocks! All prices are in US$ dollars though. If that's a problem head to Music Box World where fun musical stocking fillers start from £5.99!

 

Snow Boots

Sure, snow is pretty. It's magical and it gets people talking and together and gets everyone feeling very festive! That's the first day. After the light dusting, it snows again and again until the British people become fed up and at a standstill. Planes, trains and automobiles are told not to move. Getting to work is one long slog up a very sludgy hill. How many times have you fallen over in front of a total stranger? NO MORE! The style and market gurus have finally taken note of our struggles, teamed up and snow boots are now finally a winter fashion must have! Even Aldi have a pair of £15 snow boots up for grabs! Other bargain outlets for snow boots this year include Sports Direct, Wynsors & Amazon! Click the links for their ranges. If you want to step out in style check some hot faves of mine: ASOS (for Juicy Couture, Kurt Geiger and See by Chloe), Selfridges (for UGG) and John Lewis (for Hunter, North Face and Helly Hansen).

 

That's all for today, I hope I've inspired a few of you on such a cold evening! As always get in touch on Twitter @sheldan2207, it's always a laugh over there! If not comment below, I love to hear feedback.

 

Check-in on Thursday for my step-by-step guide to my DIY wreath and what my next festive DIY accessory is going to be. Share yours and I'll post those too! Any seasonal DIY ideas? Let me know!

 

 

xx