How to make painted Kirby bauble Christmas tree decoration

How to make painted Kirby bauble Christmas tree decoration

Hello everyone,
Its that time of year to get your decorations on the tree. I got given a few baubles covered in scrapes and chipped colour which were not neat enough for the tree but not broken so I just didn't want to throw them out. Instead I decided that painting them was the answer to cover all the little scuffs.

This little Kirby bauble came about because I thought this character would be perfect to place near the star on the tree. With his round shape he is perfect for a Christmas bauble and his happy face seems perfect to bring a smile to those who see it.

So with no further ado lets get to this tutorial going :)

What you will need:
Spare bauble
Acrylic paint in pink, black, white dark pink and blue.
String or ribbon to hang your bauble from the tree.
Paint sealant spray (optional)

Step 1:
Get your bauble, if you have managed to get one in light pink skip over to step 2. However if like me you havn't been able to find a pink bauble or have a scuffed one you will need to paint one pink.
Paint it in light pink acrylic paint, you may need to paint one half at a time while resting it in a cup to dry. (I used an egg cup for a small bauble)

Tip: If you are able to remove the piece of the bauble with the hanging loop do so before painting the whole bauble, this will help it stay neat for later but if you cannot remove it be careful when painting around it.
This piece cannot be removed on all baubles so do not force it else you risk breaking it.

Step 2:
Once your light pink paint is fully dry draw on Kirbys features in pencil.

Heres an example of the pose I used. The feet are up around the body like Kirby is sitting so it looks correct around the bauble. Feel free to copy this pose or make your own.

Tip: Don't forget that the bauble will be hanging a certain way up so it is recommended to ensure that the hanger is facing upwards when drawing your pattern. 

Step 3:

Next we need to fill in some of your pattern
Fill in the eyes and mouth with black and the feet with dark pink. Let this dry before the next step

Step 4:

Paint in black acrylic around the arms, you will need a thin paintbrush for this

Put a white dot at the top of each eye then allow the paint to dry

Step 5:

Add a blue dot at the bottom of each eye. Then using the dark pink you used before for the feet add a little oval on each cheek and a tounge at the bottom of the mouth.

Step 6: (optional)

Once all of the paint is dry use the paint sealant spray according to the packet instructions and allow it to dry as recommended by your product. 

This will help prevent the paint on your bauble from chipping if the bauble is dropped but you can get away without doing it if you are careful with your new decoration. 

Finally hang your new Kirby onto your Christmas tree. Add some ribbon or string to the bauble to allow you to do this easily or hide it among the branches. I think a Kirby bauble looks really nice with some gold/yellow star shaped decorations which reminds us of course of Kirby's warp star 

And that's it! how easy is that? I hope everyone has fun upcycling their old Christmas baubles.

Much love and happy crafting
Gemma xx

Christmas Bauble Upcycling

Upcycling worn out Christmas Baubles
Spiderman Halloween decoration
How to make a Bloody handprint Halloween decoration from an old Christmas bauble
How to make a dripping bauble Halloween decoration.
Pokemon Gastly Halloween decoration
How to make a Wrapped sweet Christmas decoration.
How to make a Squirtle Squad decoration
How to make a Jake the dog decoration
How to make a Chain Chomp Christmas bauble

For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here. 

Crafting for charity (Charities based in the UK)

Crafting for charity (UK focused)

Hello everyone,

Do you love crafts? Are your walls full of your makes? Do your friends and family have no more room for your wonderful creations? Do you want to make people smile with your creations? Then this is a small list to help my fellow UK crafting friends to donate your craft work. Some of these charities accept international donations but please be aware of postage costs to UK headquarters.

Love Quilts UK 

Crafts: Cross stitch, quilting

Website: http://www.lovequiltsuk.com/ 

This charity makes quilts for children in hospital or have lifelong illnesses. They aim to make special personalised quilts to brighten their beds. Cross stitchers make up designs based on a childs interests and a amazing team of quilters put them together into an amazing quilt with matching fabric.
This group also has a awesome Facebook group which is so welcoming and supportive of new members (find a link to the page on the website) so new stitchers and quilters can join a lively community of crafters all wanting to make children's lives happier.

The little Yellow Duck project

Crafts: All

Website: https://thelittleyellowduckproject.org/

The Little Yellow Duck project is a really fun cause to support. The idea is to craft a Little yellow duck and leave it somewhere in your community with a label from the webpage. The label encourages the finders to pass along a kindness. They also suggest that a kindness can be donating blood or signing up for organ donation and gives information on how to do so in each country.

Leaving a little gift not knowing who will find it is like giving a blood donation and not knowing who it will help. It is a fun way to share this concept.

There are loads of designs available on the website to use or make your own duck if you like. Im finding it very fun to hide little ducks. I have so far hidden some small duck bookmarks in books in my local library.
I have created some cross stitch designs for use for the little yellow duck project for my cross stitching friends. You can find those here: https://thelittleyellowduckproject.org/patterns/cross-stitch-patterns/

Knit for nowt

Crafts:  Knitting, Crochet, Sewing

Website: https://www.knitfornowt.org/

Knit for Nowt focuses on creating therapy toys for therapists who work with troubled children. These toys are very useful to carry out therapy through play, break the ice and give children new means to express themselves. More information on how the toys are used can be found on the website.

There are loads of patterns on the website to get you started from easier finger puppets to larger worry monsters so there's something for all skill levels.

Making the toys is loads of fun, the worry monsters can be customised in many ways. In fact the brighter and more interesting the monster the more it will appeal to the children so let your imagination run wild.

The Innocent Big Knit

Crafts: Crochet, Knitting

Website: http://www.thebigknit.co.uk/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4835073916 

The Big Knit takes place every two years, crafters create cute little hats made to fit on the top of Innocent smoothie bottles. When those bottles are sold in stores a donation is made by innocent for each hatted smoothie. The donations go to Age UK who aid older members of the community get the help and information they need.

The hats are small and generally quick to make. The Big Knit website has a selection of patterns for all skill levels so even a beginner can join in. Also the Facebook page is a lovely friendly place to get advice on hat making or see other peoples creations. Its always nice to take a scroll through the lovely makes.

Theres also a great community making even more hat designs for you to try with all these resources it'll be hard to run out of new things to try. I have personally been able to use these small projects to practice advanced knitting skills before I use them on larger projects.

For a large collection of these community designed hats check them out here: http://www.thebigknit.devonartist.co.uk/patterns.html


I hope you all enjoy looking though these wonderful charities. I have made items for each of the charities mentioned on this page. So if you like to craft but don't know who to craft for why not give one of these charities a try and use your skills to help others. :)

Much love and happy stitching
Gemma xx


For a few more links to crafty musings and other craft related articles here are some links:

Index of Crafty Musings

Using paint for cross stitch design

Tips on Teaching children to cross stitch

Cross stitch kit review: Camper vans by Fido Stitch Studio

Things to consider when choosing a cross stitch design

Upcycling worn out Christmas baubles

My Stitching New Years Resolutions

Spring cleaning my craft stash - Uncovering craft oddities

Index of Craft book reviews

Fashion Trims: Customize and Create bespoke clothes and accessories

Quick & clever cross stitch: Eight Sampler templates with over 1,000 pick-and-mix motifs

Two Hour Cross stitch - 515 Fabulous designs

Cross Stitch Angels: Over 30 inspirational designs

Manga Cross-Stitch > make your own graphic art needlework

Index of Artist/ Product spotlights

Unboxing and review of Cutiepies' Hair bows

Artist Spotlight: Maz's Boutique

Artist Spotlight: Pins and Needles

Artist spotlight: Geeky Clean - Power-up your bath time with geeky themed soaps

Artist Spotlight: Twinkle Kitty Boutique

Zukiestyle - Beautifully bespoke fashion and pet accessories

Rainbow butterfly cross stitch kit by Climbing Goat Designs - Unboxing and review

For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here

Fun kids crafts tutorial: Making doll clothes from wrapping paper

Fun kids crafts tutorial: Making doll clothes from wrapping paper

Hello everyone, 

Today I have a wrapping paper dolls dress tutorial created by my talented friend Naomi. This quick kids craft is made from ordinary items you can find around your house. I bet theres a stash of wrapping paper in the attic which would be perfect for making colourful fashions for your dolls. 

Renember: Young children should ask an adult for help with cutting out the paper.

Step 1

Collect your materials: You will need a selection of wrapping paper, scissors and ordinary sticky tape

Step 2

First stick some pieces of wrapping paper tightly to the body to make a bodice. You can stick it right on the doll as the tape won't hurt the plastic and it's see-through

Step 3

Now make a cone shape and tape it at the back, fitting the narrow end round the thinnest part of the doll's waist.

Step 4

I had some crepe wrapping paper so I crinkled it up in strips and added it as a trim. You could also use fabric. You can also add stick-on gems, buttons or stickers or anything you've got lying around. You can look up clothes on the internet (Medieval ones are good) and you can keep layering and adding stuff. Remember, you can just rip it off if you don't like it. You can do this just as easily with any superhero figures - capes, masks and logos and crazy boots and armour.

Step 5

Cut a strip of paper with a zig-zag edge, make it into a circle and tape at the back. Now your queen can go outside and play among the flowers! Why not give everyone a makeover and have a tea party in the garden?

We hope you have fun making your dresses, with a little imagination a whole variety of lovely dresses can be made. If you don't have any spare wrapping paper why not try making the dresses out of plain paper and draw on your own designs. With a few coloured pencils or crayons you can have a go at being a cool fashion designer, 

For more craft tutorials why not check out these links:

Christmas Bauble Upcycling

Upcycling worn out Christmas Baubles

Spiderman Halloween decoration

How to make a Bloody handprint Halloween decoration from an old Christmas bauble

How to make a dripping bauble Halloween decoration.

Pokemon Gastly Halloween decoration

How to make a Wrapped sweet Christmas decoration.

How to make a Squirtle Squad decoration

How to make a Jake the dog decoration

How to make a Chain Chomp Christmas bauble

Other Upcycling

Upcycled bunting from left over wrapping paper

How to make wool covered letters - Kids craft

Index of Card ideas

How to make a Minion Birthday card

A simple Felt flower mothers day/ Easter card

For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here

Christmas Upcycling idea - gift tags from used Christmas crackers

Christmas Upcycling idea - gift tags from used Christmas crackers

Hello everyone,

Today I have been doing a little upcycling. Instead of throwing away some Christmas crackers I decided to use them as gift tags.

The cardboard that crackers are made from is sturdy enough to be used as tags and colourful enough that they make very jolly tags on their own. I used a little star hole punch to create a hole in the top of each tag, a regular hole punch can be used but I just love how festive the Star looks.

Finally I used my favourite Merry Christmas stamp on the back of the tags while leaving enough room to write the name of the person I'm giving the gift to.

On most types of cracker a small piece of string or ribbon is used as decoration so these are perfect for threading through the holes and using to tie your tags to the presents. I used this on a couple of the gift tags below.

These tags are made from scraps of card from three different crackers. By using patterns which compliment each other even a simple shape like the circles I have used here can look like a stylish addition to the basic gift tag shape.

These four gift tags are all made from the same cracker. The cracker was fully patterned so I cut out the best parts of the picture for each tag and didn't need to add any more embellishments. Not bad for something we would normally throw away after finishing off our Christmas pudding.

To cut out my gift tags by using my Fiskars Shape boss set since I found a really useful gift tag shape template. Don't worry if you don't have such a shape cutter. Why not take a gift tag you have and draw around it on the back of the cracker to give you the shape and size and cut them out.

If you'd like to make your own just save those crackers after your Christmas dinner and you'll have a whole lot of pretty coloured card ready to use. The card will have a little curve in it since crackers are bent into a circle but this will be easy to get out by storing the card flat and perhaps putting a heavy book on top to flatten it out. I used my copy of the Encyclopedia of stitches which is a very hefty tome.

If you would like to see any more upcycling ideas here are some links:

Christmas Bauble Upcycling

Upcycling worn out Christmas Baubles
Spiderman Halloween decoration 
How to make a Bloody handprint Halloween decoration from an old Christmas bauble
How to make a dripping bauble Halloween decoration. 
Pokemon Gastly Halloween decoration
How to make a Wrapped sweet Christmas decoration. 
How to make a Squirtle Squad decoration
How to make a Jake the dog decoration
How to make a Chain Chomp Christmas bauble

Other Upcycling

Upcycled bunting from left over wrapping paper
How to make wool covered letters - Kids craft

For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

How to make an Evil purple Minion Christmas bauble

How to make an Evil purple Minion Christmas bauble

Hello everyone
I'm back with another Minion themed tutorial, theres really not enough Minion items in my house right now! So I just had to come back with a little more Minion crafts

My previous tutorials can be found here:
Minion Birthday card
Basic Yellow Minion Bauble

Remember: Kids will need adult supervision for this make since it requires cutting and sticking.

What you will need:
Purple Christmas baubles
Thin Black ribbon
Felt in Grey, white and black
Purple Tinsel
Craft glue - I used ordinary PVA clue for mine but a stronger glue will make your baubles sturdier for years to come.
Scissors

Here are the baubles I used, this can work with shiny, glittery or other types of baubles, just choose which ones you like or have spare in your decorations box. I used a small piece of scrappy purple tinsel. It was an old piece and looked a little short for the Christmas tree so this was an awesome way to recycle it. 

Step 1:

The first thing you need to do is hop over the my original minion bauble tutorial here Basic Yellow Minion Bauble

Follow the steps for creating the Goggles out of ribbon and felt gluing the items onto your purple baubles (thats steps 1 - 3) and then hop back over to this page. 

Step 2:

Let your goggles dry a while so they don't come out of place while making the next parts

Cut a strip of your Tinsel to Surround the hanging loop of your bauble. 

As shown above apply a layer of glue to the very top of the bauble and wait for it to become tacky. Then apply the tinsel to the glue. I had to hold it tight to the bauble for several minutes to ensure it stayed firm. 

Step 3:

Once the tinsel has dried on its time to make the mouth. 

Simply cut shapes from your black felt to create the mouth and don't forget to use small pieces of white for the teeth. For the evil minions renember they often have their mouths open and their teeth sticking out. 

Here are my examples of the mouths.

This is a part where you can experiment to find your favourite facial expression out of the many the Evil minions pull. You know this will be a great excuse to watch Despicable Me 2 again!

I hope you have fun with this little tutorial, I know its nowhere near Christmas at the moment but these little guys can be displayed at any time of year as well as decorating the Christmas tree.

For more Christmas bauble upcycling ideas here are some links:

Christmas Bauble Upcycling

Upcycling worn out Christmas Baubles
Spiderman Halloween decoration
How to make a Bloody handprint Halloween decoration from an old Christmas bauble
How to make a dripping bauble Halloween decoration.
Pokemon Gastly Halloween decoration
How to make a Wrapped sweet Christmas decoration.
How to make a Squirtle Squad decoration
How to make a Jake the dog decoration
How to make a Chain Chomp Christmas bauble

Other Upcycling

Upcycled bunting from left over wrapping paper
How to make wool covered letters - Kids craft

 For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

Artist Spotlight: Maz's Boutique - a delightful mix of kawii, gothic and colourful clothing and accessories with a sprinkling of geek culture

Artist Spotlight: Mazs Boutique - a delightful mix of kawii, gothic and colourful clothing and accessories with a sprinkling of geek culture

Hello everyone
On my recent trip to Emcon in Nottingham I spotted the delightful stall by Maz's Boutique and fell in love with everything on the stall. Its a good job I had set myself a budget for the Convention or I would have brought quite a few items. I did treat myself to a stunning black choker necklace and a hair clip featuring the tiniest, cutest hat I have ever seen.

I was fortunate enough to be able to take some pictures of the display to show you all so I'll pop those below.
However if you'd like to check out more of this Artists work here are some links:

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Mazslolitasales/
Etsy page: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MazsBoutique

I definitely recommend checking out the Facebook page, it has certainly cheered up my Facebook wall to see such lovely colourful makes pop up. Also I've spotted a few fan pictures of customers wearing their purchases so you can get a good idea what the clothing looks like on real people too.

There was a selection of cute and geeky themed clothing at the stall. The items which stood out most to me was the Pokémon and Star Wars items.

Heres a little sample of all the jewelry items I spotted. There are so many which would fit into a sweet Lolita outfit theme particularly the lovely pastel colours and the sweet themed ones. There were a collection which had little macaroons and a few which I didn't catch in the pictures had cute little sushi charms. Gosh this whole stand is making me want some nice treats now. :) 

A lovely collection of chokers and necklaces. Just check out that glow in the dark Batman symbol - how cool is that! I bet that would look very striking at a party.

 

There was also a collection of lovely rings in the shape of various little cakes and cute characters. You don't need to be dressed totally in Lolita fashions to wear such items though, a little cute accessory is a really subtle way to brighten up an ordinary outfit.

At this point I should stop squeeing over all the cute and give a little note on the quality of the items I brought for myself. The choker is fastened by a little strip of Velcro which is sewn on very firmly. Even when my delightful small nephew took a liking to it and whipped the choker off of my neck it still held strong. This is amazing since a few of my necklaces have not been able to withstand a sharp tug from his little toddler fingers!

That's all for now, I'll be back soon with another spotlight from Em-con soon but now I'm off to Maz's Boutique Facebook page to look at some lovely items!

Much love and happy Stitching
Gemma

For some more links to artist/product spotlights:

A preview of Simbrix - Interconnecting bricks for creative sculptures
Fun things to make with Simbrix
Unboxing and review of Cutiepies' Hair bows

 For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here. 

Cute Kickstarter project 365 Reasons by Nikita Carson

Cute Kickstarter project 365 Reasons by Nikita Carson

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/555581428/365-reasons

Hello everyone
I just had to tell you all about this really cute Kickstarter Project which is currently live check it out at the above link.

It is called 365 Reasons by Nikita Carson and in a nutshell is a beautiful gift idea consisting of a jar decorated with currently one of three phrases:

365 reasons I love you
365 reasons I love Mum
365 reasons I love Dad

Also the option of having some pre-written reasons to add into the jar or a kit to write your own reasons on a selection of coloured papers.

I think this is a really lovely idea because this is something which could bring a smile to your loved ones face all year round. Personally I'm going for the kit that contains a taster of 100 reasons for £10 so I still have lots of space to write my own lovely reasons. I am quite excited about this. I made a jar of lovely things for my partner for Christmas this year and its been nice that hes had something to remind him that I care every day but this cute little jar just looks so much more professional than the jam jar I scraped up for it this year. Not only that but I bet it could be reused year after year if you take the time to write new messages.

The target for this Kickstarter project is £300 which seems wholly reasonable (especially when you see some projects with very lofty goals) So I do hope it makes it to the final goal particularly as the upcoming ideas look really fun. Is it just me or would a jar of 365 reasons to eat chocolate be perfect for most of my lady friends?

Not a long post today just wanted to shout out about this cute Kickstarter project
Heres the link again:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/555581428/365-reasons

Much love and happy crafting everyone :)

 For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.

Spring cleaning my craft stash - Uncovering craft oddities

Spring cleaning my craft stash -  Uncovering craft oddities

Hello everyone,

I'm taking a little break in cross stitch design to Spring Clean my craft stash. After being knee deep in fabric I realized just how cluttered the average stash can be. Inspired by the Junk I found there heres a list of things to maybe keep an eye out for in your own stash! How many do you have? 

• Dried glue
• Scissors too stiff to move
• That cross stitch kit you brought a few years ago and probably will never get round to.
• The thimble that is way too small for any of your fingers
• That old chair you were going to refurbish but never did
• Craft book on Mongolian wax weaving (or other obscure craft) would you can't remember why you picked up
• Paint which has long since dried up
• A craft stamp in the shape of an angry gorilla. It only really looked good on one card anyway!
• Those pins where all the balls fell off the end
• Clothing in your repair pile which is gone out of fashion before you'd finished sewing on buttons or fixing up that seam. 
• That really pretty little jar which is too small for actually storing anything in.
• Those massive by piles of scraps would you swear you'll do something with one day, but it's been a few years now
• Felt tip pens without Lids and Lids without the pens
• Those hundreds of cute little boxes. Yes they look lovely but they are simply everywhere. 
• Extra pincushions! I know they were fabulous gifts but after placing one on every work surface and tying one to every chair, you might have to admit you have enough. 
• That craft set designed for a three-year-old your friend bought you for Christmas several years ago because you're into crafts. 
• An ink pad which is dried to dust. 
• More knitting needles then you'll probably have projects to use with them
• A pair of scissors which have been 'Borrowed' by a friend or family member and is now too blunt for fabric.
• That's stationary set which is so pretty you can't bear to use it.
• A stamp with a very specific message. It was the perfect thing when you got it but you don't think anyone will have a graduation, a birthday and pass their driving test on the same day again! 
• That craft set you bought the kids but they've never touched, much preferring the art program on their smart phone anyway. 
• Those hundreds of emergency sewing kits people keep giving you and a few from Christmas crackers with cheap thread and blunt needles.
• That birth sampler you are sewing, it would be great if you could finish it considering that the child is 18 years old now. 
• That thing you were crocheting ... You can't remember what it's supposed to be but it's been in storage so long it's just one giant knot. 

Phew! I'm off to try and de-tangle my entire ribbon box! I swear I sorted all those but they seem to have all woven around each other in such an intricate pattern this may take a while. 

Bye for now and Happy crafting :)

For a few more crafty musings here are some links:
Using paint for cross stitch design
Tips on Teaching children to cross stitch
Cross stitch kit review: Camper vans by Fido Stitch Studio
Things to consider when choosing a cross stitch design
Upcycling worn out Christmas baubles
My Stitching New Years Resolutions

 For the Buzy Bobbins Index page Click here.