bad :: I am getting drawn back in to some soaps that I had given up
good :: met up with some friends I haven't seen in a few years for some fun and shopping (see photo below)
bad :: diet didn't do so well ... and still isn't doing so well now :/

good :: I have got all my side of the family and friends presents sorted for Christmas ... so am on track!
bad :: dilly-dog hurt her neck, cost me a fortune at the vets (she is worth it!!) and was yelping in pain like I have never heard her do before :(
good :: rest and her medication worked and she is so much better!! :D


good :: our lovely home is really coming on :D
bad :: I bent my toe nail back under the back door ... ooowwweee!!
good :: I am happy :D so happy!

today is my beautiful nieces birthday :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARA!
I made her some pretty crochet bunting for her bedroom ... I hope she likes it!


it was made with one ball of rainbow wool and looks so sweet when hanging up


have a magic monday everyone x

Steve, knowing I love owls, had the brain wave of putting owls on the top of the apex of the cabin roof ... so I drew out a template and he cut me out a couple in ply-wood


I primed them and then using photos as a guide, I drew a rough outline ...


I was originally going to just have an owl silhouette up there with maybe the eyes cut out, but I must have been in the mood to paint and I ended up going really detailed.


I loved doing the feathers, but I am not sure how like the photo it looks!


I wasn't very happy with the legs and feet ... the body needed to be longer and maybe have a scalloped tail ...


I figured I wouldn't be able to do 2 the same so I went for one brown and one grey ...


they had quite different faces and I managed to make the body on the grey one look longer


I painted the sides and the backs too ... although the backs would never be seen, but I wanted to do them anyway!


I then put about 3 layers of exterior satin varnish on them, especially around the sides ... there is a lot of weather up there in the Welsh mountains and I don't want any water getting in!


it took 8 hours to dry between each layer so I would do a layer in the morning and in the evening


do you think they need naming?


last weekend Steve put them up ...


I helped by saying 'left a little, right a little' ... I'm not that great with heights!


the grey one is on the front ...


... and the brown one on the back ...


you can see them from quite a way away :) .... I just hope they survive the weather!

Steve has this picture that he wans to keep, that was given to him by his sister years ago. It was looking pretty tired and dated ...


... it is a metalic picture that I remember from years ago ... do you remember them?


I wasn't quite sure what sort of frame would work with it so took it out of the grotty frame and took it along to The Range ...


I was really pleased to find that it looked great in the first frame I tried! it was a light grey frame and only £3.59!


I love how its looking now and think it will look great in our log-cabin-home :)


I love how just re-framing pictures can totally transform them :)

If you are like me, there are lots of little people (and some big people) in your life that need a little extra gift, or just need a little token present ... this is a very easy idea ...


make a little box using my tutorial ... for these ones I printed out a design onto A3 paper (they were for my brothers, who although are not so little, still love lego!) but you can use wrapping paper or any other paper with a design you like on.


The square I cut was 28.5cm x 28.5cm and this made a box 10cm x 10cm x 5cm (the inside box square was 27cm x 27cm)


I made a few at once ...


... and I filled them with sweets ... if you are doing a few at once you can divide some of the packs of sweets up to fill in the gaps, it also means you can have more choice in each box ...


but there are plenty of other little treasures you can fill them with if you don't want sweets, without breaking the bank ... fun pencil sharpeners, novelty erasers, jewellery, badges, magnets, compact mirror, toy car, make up, stickers, hair clips, marbles and anything else you can fit in!


using some of the same paper, I made a little gift tag and coloured wool to tie it all together.


I know as a child my favourite presents were from my Great Aunt, who would get a box and fill it with treasures ... it was so exciting to open and then I always tried to fit it back in!

I would love to see any you make or if you have any treasure ideas!

its not too early for Christmas is it!??
I have made this fun advent calendar for Steve and I can't wait to have fun finding sweets and chocolates that fit it!


1. you need
24 match boxes, christmas paper, tags, twine, double sided tape, number stamps and ink pad


2. covering
first you need to empty all the boxes!


cut the christmas paper to cover the outside of the boxes ... the size for the matchboxes I used was 5.5cm x 10.5cm


cover the back of the papers with strips of double sided tape


peel the tape off and carefully line up the paper to the outside of the box ...


fold the box flat, and stick to the next side ...


fold the next side round and stick again ...


... keep going on the last side ...


and fold the overlap over too


3. numbering tags
get 24 tags and take off the string



using number stamp and an inkpad, stamp the tags 1 to 24


4. attaching the tags
stick some double sided tape on the back of the tags


attach the twine to the tags, I used about 3ocm per tag


wrap the twine around the box and tie a bow at the front. keep it tied tight and peel off the double sided tape on the back of the tag to keep it in place.


and there you have it ... a set of boxes ready to fill with chocolates or sweets or any other tiny thing you can fill them with!


I have put mine in a basket, but you could line them up, stack them up, tie more twine and attach them to a branch and have them hanging or put them in a box


I would love to see any you make so please leave a link in the comments below!