Halloween DIY Printed Candles

Steampunk Inspired Tutorial

As well as my usual stitching, I'm also busy preparing for George's Halloween birthday party.  I kept my eyes open throughout the Summer car boot sale season for anything fitting our Victorian Gothic / Steampunk theme and now have lots of lovely upcycling projects to share over the next few weeks!

Firstly we want the house to be candlelit for the dinner but I was taken aback by the price of pillar candles in the shops, so they were a definite on my 'booting hit-list', (provided they cost 20p or less!)  Luckily I found plenty but, having been purchased secondhand, they were all different sizes and varying shades of white and cream. Some of them were also warped, presumably having being displayed on sunny windowsills, and all were rather grubby.   They were therefore in desperate need of a revamp and here are the results;

Steampunk Inspired Candles

I had already designed the party invitations and the artwork I used was also perfect for this project.  Having the same strong images running throughout creates unity, and a gives far more stylish and glamorous feel than you would expect from a thrifted event!

Easy DIY Printed Candle Tutorial

The candles were super easy to produce and cost mere pennies using materials you probably already have;

Supplies

Candles

Inkjet printer or ink-pad and stamps 

Tissue paper

Printer paper

Glue stick

Hairdryer

Scissors

An uninspiring grubby start!

The first step is to transfer your chosen images to the tissue paper.  If you have suitable Halloween stamps simply use these, otherwise a quick search of the internet will throw up hundreds of possibilities!

I was using printed images, so cut down a sheet of tissue paper to the same size as a regular sheet of copier paper.  My tissue was upcycled from gift packaging so I also gave it a quick press with my iron before securing it to the copier paper with a tiny dab of glue in each corner.  Both sheets were then feed thorough the printer in the usual manner.

Here they come!

Now cut out the printed images, trimming closely to the outlines.  Depending on the sharpness of your scissors it might be easier to achieve this whilst the tissue is still backed with the thicker printer paper.

The final stage is to fix the trimmed images to the candle fronts using the heat from your hairdryer.  Another quick dab of glue stick prevents an image from fluttering off in the warm air before it's fully fused!

As the hairdryer heats up the candle, the edges of the tissue paper magically disappear, sinking gently into the molten wax. In the above photo you can just make out the tissue edge around the skeleton's right hand and leg but in another second or two they'll be gone!

All finished

Halloween Gothic Candles 

I've made over thirty of them but here are just two making their debut in this year's 'Glamorous Gothic' mantel display.  

Happy Halloween!

Appliqued Hot Water Bottle Cover

 Upcycled Wool Sweater

September's Cuddly Buddly Design Team Challenge is entitled 'Teenage Christmas' and it proved to be just the nudge I needed to start my festive stitching.  I decided to make an appliqued hot water bottle cover using a Benetton vintage cashmere sweater, which cost me just 20p 'ready felted' (shrunk!) from my local car boot sale;  

I then downloaded and resized this 'Santa Sitting' digi stamp so that his face filled the front of my cover and got stitching. 

Pure wool felt is bliss to sew with as it doesn't fray and feels super expensive.  It's also ridiculously easy to make - Simply throw a 'hand wash only' woollen jumper into your machine on a hot wash.  Heck, I've even sometimes created it by mistake!

For a complete cuteness overload, gently rouge dear old Father Christmas's cheeks with a red colouring pencil.

 The back of the case features a simple overlapping envelope closure, in the style of a pillow case.  

This was such an easy project to make but it looks looks and feels so much more expensive than the usual polyester 'knitted' covers that the shops are full of at Christmas.  I have written a simple step-by-step tutorial over at the Cuddly Buddly Blog and don't forget that 'Pound Stores' sell hot water bottles nice and cheaply should you want to make your own.

Digital stamps are perfect for applique and you could even make a matching card for a real 'Wow Factor'.  Just have a look at this stunning example;

It was made by the very talented Wendy over at Crazy4FlowersCards, her whole blog is full of fantastic creations and well worth a visit.

Happy Christmas!

Caravan Heart Applique

Cuddly Buddly Design Team

It's almost time for September's Design Team Challenge over at Cuddly Buddly and I suddenly realised that I hadn't even blogged August's!  Summer always seems to push blogging into the background as I would much rather be outside in the fresh air than sat inside in front of a computer screen.

Anyway, the theme was 'Thank you' and I stitched up a little appliqued 'Thanks for the Memories' hanging linen heart.  The weather has now taken a turn for the worst and it feels almost autumnal, so I would happily indulge myself with dreaming of British summers spent in a cute little caravan!  I based the applique on this digital stamp which costs just 99p from the Cuddly Buddly store.

It was a quick project to stitch up and I used the same basic pattern as I created for this owl hanging heart which you can read about here.

I'm also intending to stitch up some Christmas versions, as I love to see decorations created in classic linen hanging from the tree!

In the meantime there's a full  tutorial over at Cuddly Buddly, with easy step-by-step photos, so you can get stitching one of your own.

Enjoy!

Halloween Gothic Bell Jar Tutorial

Upcycled Plastic Bottle Display Cloche

The children only went back to school last week, but my thoughts have already been turning to Halloween.  We're holding George's Birthday Party on 31 October and the theme is 'Victorian Gothic'.  I have been busy crafting all manner of props including apothecary bottles, museum-style specimen jars and these 'Gothic Bell Jars'.

They came about as a result of this apple gift box, which I crafted from two upcycled plastic pop bottles.

I made quite a few and had the top bottle halves going spare, luckily a friend asked if she could have them to use as cloches on her allotment. I handed them over and she reported back that they were perfect for preventing pesky little bugs from devouring her crops!  This got me wondering if they would also make suitable display cloches.  So I went down to my local food store, armed with my half bottle, in search of something to use as a cheap base.  I trawled through the aisles trying every possible jar lid until I found the perfect fit.  I then needed a cloche handle, I bought some wooden cabinet handles from the local car boot sale and sprayed them black, but I wasn't really happy with the result.  Mr Larkin then reminded me about these cloches which he and the children kindly gave me for Mothering Sunday;

   

He pointed that they had clear glass handles and suggested that I use a large clear marble - Genius!  (He also noted that they cost £12 each and I was now making 'free' ones....)

I was delighted with the finished item so thought I should write a tutorial, as who wouldn't love to make their own gorgeous display cloche!

Gothic Bell Jar Tutorial

Materials

Empty two litre plastic soda pop bottle

Lid from ‘Hunger Breaks ~ Hot Pots’ microwave meal

Black card

Large clear marble

Equipment

Dremel tool or hacksaw

Strong multipurpose glue

WD40

Scissors or craft knife

Step One

Carefully remove the thread from empty plastic bottle, as in the picture below, using your Dremel or hacksaw.

Step Two

Using strong multipurpose glue, such as ‘E600’, stick the clear marble into the exposed bottle neck.

Step Three

Wipe off the expiry date on the bottle using nail polish remover or acetone.  Then remove the label, should any glue remain on the bottle simply rub with WD40.

Step Four

Carefully cut the bottle in half, using scissors or a craft knife, and discard the bottom piece (or make an apple gift box!).

Step Five

Cut a circle of black card to cover steam holes in the Hot Pot lid and stick into place.

Step Six

Now place your cloche cover on the black base, a two litre bottle fits the raised lip of the Hot Pot lid perfectly. However, if you can't find a 'Hot Pot' lid simply experiment with upturned saucers, dishes or other suitable items.  They even look fantastic just placed directly over your treasures!

I filled mine with various car boot and thrift shop finds - A quick spray of black and silver paint makes naff ornaments and cheap plastic animals look most gruesomely gothic!

Happy Halloween!

Reloved Magazine Feature September 2014

Hot on the heels of being featured in 'Sewing World' magazine, I also have an article published in the September edition of 'Reloved Magazine', which is available in shops now.

 Can you spot my piece from the contents page below?  

Yes, they asked to use my Apple Gift Box as a 'Back to School' special.  I was more than happy to oblige, especially as the whole magazine is devoted to upcyling, a cause very close to my heart!

I have a number of other projects in the pipeline which are going to print over the coming months, so keep checking back for more details.

Happy Crafting!

SewforSoul ~ Sewing World Magazine

Appliqued Linen Pencil Case

The children went back to school this week so, after many weeks of wilful neglect, I am finally back to blogging with some very exciting news - I'm on the front cover of Sewing World Magazine!

Yep, that's my pencil case as the lead feature!  Julie, the editor, had seen this personalised version, which I blogged about last year, and asked me to create one for the magazine as a 'back to school' September project.

I was delighted to be asked and then to make the main feature, with my first project for her, was extremely flattering!

The article has been beautifully presented and is a lovely three page spread, including a little SewforSoul 'bio box'!

Sewing World Magazine is widely available in many independent newsagents or any branch of WHSmith's.  So if you fancy making your own 'Write On' pencil case go and bag a copy now!