autumn leaf bunting diy

I thought I'd show you guys my most recent make, that is hanging proudly in my window, my little autumn leaf bunting. Having been a fan of Attic-24 and her kind of bunting for a while now, I wanted to do something similar that was more me. I'd had this nutscene twine hanging about for a bit and thought I would make some little autumn-leaf bunting. It's a fairly similar pattern, so I'm just linking to the ones that I used, but thought you might like to know how I did it..

YOU'LL NEED:

- 3 small rolls of Nutscene twine, I used a brown, an orange and a yellow)

- crochet hook, suitable for the size of yarn or twine you're using

- a method of hanging, I like those 3M hooks.

- needle

1. I'm not going to repost the crochet instructions here, partly because I'm crap at crochet, and there are so many out there to choose from. I used this pattern for the large leaf and the medium fat bottom leaf from this page, for the small ones.

2. I will say that if you're using the twine, it's pretty hard on the hands to crochet with,and I found it really tough to just crochet in general, so you may need to be wary of that.

3. Leave enough string to hang them from. I found that I could easily get 1 large leaf and 2 small ones from each small roll of twine, with a length to spare - but then ended up with a giant knot in one of them and had to use the leftover length...

4. When you've crocheted all your leaves, use an iron to gently steam them flat as they have a tendency to curl in on themselves.

5. Sew in any ends, and thread through with a needle onto your length of yarn and hang in your window.

So there you go, it's pretty simple but it looks really cute, and it'll be staying up well into the new year, I think. I might even try making a Christmas-themed garland, though I might try a knitted one next time, because I'm really not very good at crochet (I had to have my mum help me with these because I get super confused between the US/UK crochet terms haha). Let me know if you try this out, I'd love to see photos! 

diy coconut + sea salt foot scrub

I pretty much live in boots for ten months of the year, and then panic when it gets too hot to wear them - I'm not big into other kinds of shoes. So when I recently purchased some shiny new Birkenstock sandals earlier in the summer, and have been wearing them religiously, I knew I needed to do something about my feet. After wearing them for about a month solid, complete with trips to the lake, long walks around the local nature reserve and getting bit to pieces at the allotment - it has led to some, well, less than pretty feet. I got through the end of my Soap & Glory scrub (which I do not recommend, really) and thought I would try and make one, as scrubs are pretty easy to mix together (this took less than five minutes, pretty much).

YOU'LL NEED:
- Sea-salt (or sugar, if you want a gentler scrub that can be used all over the body).
- Coconut oil (liquid).
- Vitamin E oil.
- Tangerine essential oil (this mostly for scent, so pick whatever you like, or you can leave out if you are sensitive to essential oils).
- Jar or container to put it in, I used a little Kilner jar I had lying around.

STEPS:
1. Fill the container one third full with the coconut oil.
2. Add in about a tablespoon of Vitamin E oil and a few drops of the tangerine essential oil.
3. Mix in sea-salt gradually until the jar is about two thirds full.
4. If necessary, add a bit more coconut oil to the mixture. You want to saturate the salt with the oil. You can also add more essential oil at this step, if you think it needs it.

As you can see, it's like the least complicated thing to make, ever. It's basically just stick everything in a jar, and mix it. You can adjust the ingredients to whatever you like, personally. You can switch out the coconut oil if you don't like it, and use something else instead - similarly you can use whatever oils you want that you personally like. I had some leftover tangerine essential oil from something else, so I added that in, but if you really love rose or lavender, put that in.

I really love using this in the bath, because it sinks into the skin really well, and you're left with lovely, soft skin afterwards.

Let me know if you try this out! I'd love to hear if you make your own foot or body scrubs, as I'm getting to the end of this jar, and I want to try out something new... 

do-it-yourself gifts - part two

image from transientexpression.com, tutsplus.com and julieblanner.com 

This year, I want to try and make as many presents as possible, because I want to give nice things to my friends and family even if I am a bit poor this year, because they still deserve nice things. Over the next three weekends I am going to show you some of my favourite items you can do for friends - that will cute and thoughtful, and won't break the bank!
This week we have things that we have enough time to get making, and can be churned out, so to speak, if you have a lot of friends and relatives. 

• Knit or crochet headbands; my girlfriends have loved these as presents in the past, and I think I'll be utilising them again because they're really quick to make and, in my opinion, much much nicer than the ones you get in Primark that are probably made somewhere horrible and will fall apart in five minutes. I would love to receive one, I know that! There are lots of variations on this theme, like the braided one above, and this Antropologie inspired version, progressing to something to something a little more complicated like this one called Saving Grace, or a real cute seed-stitch bow-headband. Failing that, get a free account with Ravelry and browse their archives, there are loads!
• Handmade cases; this is a sort of catch-all image, but there are all kinds of patterns out there, knitted, crocheted, sewn - hundreds. Search on Pinterest for Kindles/iPad/iPhone case, and there are loads of really good ideas. I love this step-by-step tutorial from tutsplus.com in a self-striping yarn that is really cute, and in the right kind of wool it would be good for guys as well. Here are some great ideas for crocheted iPad cases, or handmade Kindle cases. Find a cute fabric and basically sew an envelope - maybe with some foam in -  for a good protective case.
• Homemade beauty products; obviously, everyone loves something for a good soak and everyone loves getting bath stuff for Christmas (or I do, at least). Giving a home-remedy bath scrub or cleansing balm gives it a great little twist, particularly if you find a cute little vintage jar or Kilner jar to tie a bow around. I would be sure to write a little list of ingredients just incase the recipient is allergic or sensitive to anything. OF course, there are thousands of recipes for all sorts of bath and beauty products out there, I've been making a cleansing balm of Coconut oil and Vitamin E oil of late, and I am really loving that. However, I have rounded up some of my favourites: Gemma has a very similar balm cleanser and Meg has both a cleansing clay mask, lavender bath soakk and a suitably Christmassy vanilla chai body scrub. Bow Tied Beauty also has a wealth of information about making your own products, which may come in useful and I love this mint milk bath from Julie Blanner, but she has a lot of other amazing sounding things which I suggest browsing if interested. 

gifts - part one

Have you started thinking about presents? I know that now I've been paid I'll have to gather my bits and bobs - I think that hopefully I have got all my immediately family sorted, now just a few friends to think about! Attempting to be a bit more organised this year - how about you?

do-it-yourself gifts - part one

image from wit and whistle, rowan

Christmas is coming, as I'm sure you're sick of already! I don't know if you're like me, but my cash isn't stretching as far this year, unfortunately. I've seen a lot of posts already about gifts for him/her, even a stocking fillers under £50 (I don't have that kind of money?! I wish I did!)..  This year, I want to try and make as many presents as possible, because I want to give nice things to my friends and family even if I am a bit poor this year, because they still deserve nice things. Over the next four weekends I am going to show you some of my favourite items you can do for friends - that will cute and thoughtful, and won't break the bank!

• Handmade candles; now this might not sound so cheap, because you do need to buy a few things for it- the wax (I recommend the soy container wax, that melts in the microwave) the wick tabs (get the premade wicks!) and some glue dots to stick the wick down. Whilst this might sound like a lot, you can make a lot of candles from one bag of wax - making it very cost effective. Then you have to scour charity shops for some cute little cups and jars (or you might have some around your house) that you can use. There lots of variations on how to make them, but these are the two simplest methods to follow: here and here. Perfect for: girlfriends, mothers, grandmothers.
• Hand-decorated sharpie ceramics; this is something that all over Pinterest at the moment, drawing on plain ceramic with black sharpies, that you then bake in the oven and it 'sets' it onto the mug! There are two ways to gift this cute little gift. You could draw it on first and do a cute design, or give it to the person with instructions. Get some cheap mugs from Tesco and go crazy. This blog tells you exactly how to make them, or search Pinterest for ideas (search; sharpie mug). Perfect for: couples (do his and hers mugs), teenagers or adults who like giving-things-a-go and are creative.
• Hand-knit hats; now if you can't knit already, I probably suggest missing this one out, but if you have some skills in the department, brush up on them and find some easy knit hats on Ravelry (there are hundreds!). Everyone loves knitwear at Christmas, and you've probably got yarn that you haven't touched that is suitable in your stash! The hat pictured is from a Rowan Easy Winter Knits catalogue, but there are lots of free ones: beginner hat and scarf and ridged pom-pom hat are two of my favourites. Perfect for: anyone really! Plain beanies for men in blue, green or grey go down well, or in bright neon colours for fashion-conscious friends.