Washi tape Christmas tree 45/50 - 50 makes for Christmas

The big day is getting ever closer and its starting to showing in my home.  As usual my inspiration for this is courtesy of Pinterest and all it takes is some washi tape and a suitable surface, I added a few Christmas stickers too.

This is my efforts, yes I did get a bit carried away!

and this is some of my inspiration










This has to be one of the simplest makes I have done in this project of 50 Makes for Christmas.

Have you put your Christmas tree up yet? We brought ours on Friday but I only started decorating it last night but once the Christmas boxes come out its more than the tree that gets trimmed so things are looking a bit chaotic at the moment, peace and harmony will be restored.... at some point!

Brown paper gift bags - 50 makes for Christmas 28/50

I feel I must make a confession before we get any further I brought these brown paper bags after I had started this challenge and so this doesn't fall into my criteria of using up things I already had in.  They were of course something I consider to be a bargain and I brought them from Amazon with a voucher I earned on Swagbucks so no hard cash was parted with!

The trusty blackboard paint has been out again for a few of them leaving them open for either a festive message or a little Christmassy design

Complimented by a home-crafted gift tag

One of the many clay decorations

Finally jazzed up with Washi tape

These were great fun to do as I could just do a couple as and when I got a spare 10 minutes.




If you fancy having a go at making your own gift bags here is a tutorial from Tasha at designertrapped, this might come in useful for anything bigger than these lunchbox sized bags.


Make 28 completed and a mere 22 to go in my 50 makes for Christmas challenge.

Do you have any 10 minute makes that you squeeze in to your busy week?

Washi tape pegs - 50 Makes of Christmas - 8/50

I made some of these last Christmas as part of my Advent Adventure.  Really easy to make provided you have all the bits and pieces to hand

You will need

Nippy pegs - I got mine from the poundshop a couple of years a go

Washi tape or any decorative tape you may have, you could also use duck tape

Magnetic paper (optional)


This is super easy as all you need to do is attach the tape to the peg, not strictly for Christmas use so these can be used all year round.

It can then be used for


Holding Christmas cards on strings,

Holding baubles onto trees,

Gift tags onto gift bags

Book marks

Attach a name tag to a napkin for your Christmas dinner table

Keeping your coupons and vouchers in one place

Fastening the bread bag

If you have the magnetic paper cut out a strip and attach to the back of the peg, I use two layers as my paper is quite thin. these can then be used to hold important or not important  bits of paper on the fridge door.

Depending how these are going to be used they can be further embellished with

buttons,
pom poms
Any shapes you have punched out of card or heavy paper
Anything interesting you have laying around.

I would love to stick a small car on one but It would need a ridiculous amount of magnetic paper on the back! So I need to park that idea for another day.

These make nice gifts and if you don't use Christmas patterns they can be used all year round.

That is make number 8 of my 50 makes for Christmas, almost at the end of single digits

Up-cycled tealights - 50 makes for Christmas 4/50

On the hottest day of the year so far it seems a little bit strange to be posting another Chrismas make, but this one is quick, simple and not exclusively for Christmas,

Christmas T lights

It is as simple as sticking a bit of Washi tape around the metal casing on a T light candle, making sure that the tape does not protrude above the edge so it can not catch fire.

Sticking Washi tape to the case

I am making these to give away as Christmas gifts so I have made some that can be used at any time of the year.

Bunting tape for Summer

I am presenting  them in an old Bonne Maman jam jar that can also be used to burn a T light candle in.

Jam jar to T light holder

Monochrome Washi tape

Ready to give at Christmas

I am storing them in the pantry to keep them cool, I just hope I remember where I have squirreled them away when it gets nearer to Christmas!

Would you be happy to receive these as a gift?

That is make number 4 of my 50 makes for Christmas so just another 46 to go

Easter is on the way

While I plan for Christmas all year round Easter is one of those holidays that always seems to creep up on me and catch me unawares.  I have been percolating a few ideas but not all of them came to fruition as my time seems to be just evaporating at the moment.

 You might recognise the tea cup from this winter whites post, I taped a couple of pipe cleaners on the back for ears, the eyes are  two 0's and the nose is two no1's from some glass tape I brought from Cox and Cox a few years ago.

A repurposed jam jar decorated with washi tape filled with daffs, I will be sorry when the season is over, they are one of my favorite flowers.

I put together a few bits and bobs to create a kind of Easter mood board, I will twiddle with this a bit more as I am not completely satisfied yet.

The crocus bulbs are just hanging in there for a final splash of colour and I swear the daffodils were open in front of the camera as I was taking the pictures.

I used a flyer from Lidl as well as cards, napkins and buttons in spring shades all held down with industrial quantities of washi tape,

I hope you enjoy your Easter break and remember that Easter Egg chocolate has no calories :)

What plans do you have for Easter? will you be making anything?

finding something under the stairs!

In the spirit of trying to complete some of the WIP projects I have around the house I blew the dust off a tin of blackboard paint that has been lurking under the stairs for a couple of years.  My original plan was to use it on a canvas I brought from the poundshop to create a "destination" board, it was for a Christmas gift but as usual I had too many projects and not enough time.

I was inspired to dig it out after I saw a big glass jar/vase with a big swoop of blackboard paint across it saying welcome.  I did a quick experiment on a couple of small jars to see if I needed to make any kind of preparation to the glass surface but they seemed fine.  Two coats were  needed though as one was a little too transparent.  The biggest jar we had is the one I piled the decorative tapes into last week so out they came while I got busy with the paint brush, I felt that the proportions were a little bit too wide so I have edged it with some nice washi tape I picked in Wilko

The canvas has finally got it long awaited coat of paint and I am keeping an eye out on my Charity shop hunts far a suitable frame.

Before you write on a blackboard surface it needs to be "seasoned" otherwise what ever you wrtie or draw on there stays in the background and "ghosts" through.  To season it you need to take a stick of chalk and using the side rather than the point rub across the surface until it is completely covered, you then rub down still using the side of the chalk, finally you  rub off all the chalk and you are ready to use it.  The reason for doing this is that the blackboard surface is very porous and this "fills" the surface.

I will not be seasoning the canvas as it has a textured surface, I have ordered a white chalk pen from Amazon  but it won't be delivered until sometime between the end of February and the middle of March so I have plenty of time to decide what I am going to put on there.

I am very pleased with how easy this was to do and I have plenty of paint left so I am looking round for other things to paint, anyone got any suggestions?