For our youngest nephew, for Christmas, I decided to make a felt garland of his name. I decided to do this as I didn't want to buy any toys or clothes as he already had enough and would get more for Christmas from others anyway. 

I then hand sewed all the embellishments onto the letters and hand sewed the front and back together. I could (and should have) machine sewed them but didn't want to keep changing the threads every time, which would have been easier really.

I filled the letters with some hollow fibre filling which I bought a big bag from Dunelm. 

I decided to use some ribbon to hang the garland up rather than using string as I thought it would be stronger and just attached the felt letters to the ribbon. 

I love to give family and friends photos of the girls and for Christmas I decided to make some handmade photo albums to put some photos in and give as presents. 

To make the photo album I used a 9 1/4 x 5" piece of card and a 6 1/4 x 5" card.

On the large piece, I scored it at 1" and 2" on the 9 1/4" side. Fold over the card at the 2" mark to make the album spine. Adhere the front piece to the back piece on the first inch of the card.

On the front of the albums, I used some patterned papers from My Mind's Eye.  I added a label from Spellbinders Nestabilities Label eight and stamped the word photos on to it. I punched out some flowers and butterflies using some Martha Stewart punches.

To jazz up the butterflies and flowers, I added some pearl gems.

These photo albums were quite easy to make and I think they make a cute little gift if you want to give a selection of photos but don't want to use a whole big album.

What do you think? Do you think they make good gifts? Would you be happy to receive one? Let me know. 

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This is what I added to the box. 

I started by adding a few stationery pieces like scissors, tape, binder clips, a notebook, pen and post it notes. I added some twine, some labels that could be used on presents, envelopes etc and some pretty washi tape. 

I put in some tissue paper in a few colours and also put in some paper bags that I just added some patterned paper to, to jazz them up a bit. 

A long with these items, I decided to make some cards and some gift tags too. I made some female that had bows and butterflies on and then some masculine cards with banners on. I made some gift tags with a punched heart or flower and added some bakers twine to them.

I wanted to add more but didn't get the time and I thought that they could add things to the box they already have or get in the future and then can keep it altogether. 

I think that a gift wrap box is a great gift and the people I gave it to loved it. 

Would you consider making a gift wrap box? Would you like to receive one as a gift? I Would love to know. 

Recently I have been making things using the Kam pliers and I thought I would show you how they are used in case anyone would like to know. 

I bought the Kam pliers from Ebay in a set with the accessories that you need to work the pliers and  pack of snap poppers in 2 sizes in 10 colours. I got them via auction for £8.99. You can find the Kam pliers and poppers separately on Ebay and you can also find lots of different sets. There are some nice sets with everything you need including ribbon. 

These are the tools that you get with the pliers.

I got 4 sizes of the black caps for the front of the snap poppers and 2 sizes of the metal bolt and rubber cap. You need to make sure you are using the correct size black cap with the correct popper and also the correct size metal bolt and rubber cap with the correct size back popper.

 The snap poppers come with a front part and 2 different back parts, You need to use a different back part to snap them together.

I did found it difficult to understand how to use the Kam pliers as they didn't come with instructions, I learnt as I was going along and from on the Internet. In the set is a small screwdriver and you need this for the 2 screws that you need to alter in the picture.

To make the toy strap you need have a length of ribbon, in this case I had a 12 inch piece of ribbon. Fold over the ends approx 1/2 inch and then pierce the top part of the popper in the ribbon and place the back of popper on the back. Use the pliers to squeeze them together. 

Make sure you use enough pressure so that the spike is squashed enough so the other side of the snap popper will snap on it properly. It did take a few goes to realise how much I needed to squeeze it. 

Once you have done this popper you can add one further along the ribbon to make the loop. Make sure you use the opposite back side of the popper and make sure the fronts of the poppers are facing the same way. 

When you have finished the poppers, I added a little bit of glue to the end of the ribbon to stop them fraying but could use a lighter to seal the ends too.

You will need some ribbon that measures 56 cm/ 22 inches in length and turn the ends over 1 cm and add a snap popper. I did make mine slightly longer so that it would hang longer. As long as you keep the outside measurements the same it will work if you would like it longer or shorter. You then need to measure 22 cm/ 8 1/2 inches and add another popper. This is the larger end which you attach to Sophie the Giraffe. From the other end you need to measure 14 cm/ 5 1/2 inches and add another popper. This end is where you tie it to the stroller. Make sure you keep all the poppers facing the same way too. Also you can add a bit of glue like I mentioned in this post to the ends before turning over to stop them fraying. 

This what the strap will look like when it is made. It will have a large loop on one end and a smaller loop on the other.

When it comes to attaching the giraffe to the strap, it is quite simple. 

You place the strap under the giraffes neck.

Then fold the strap over the neck.

Wrap the strap behind and under the legs.

and up over to attach the snap poppers together.

You just simply attach the other end to the stroller and it's secure. 

 I think the straps could be very handy. What do you think?

I'm having great fun with the KAM pliers and still have a few more things to make with them.

See you soon.

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When looking online recently for dummy or pacifier holders, I came across a lot of varieties on Ebay as well as elsewhere. They were all so nice and pretty with characters like Minnie mouse and beads and letter beads to spell the babies name but I just wanted plain simple holders.

You need to decide how long you want the holder to be and add a couple of centimetres to allow you to fold over the ribbon before adding the press snaps, approx 7cms to create loop to attach pacifier and the same if you want the other end to be able to attach to a stroller as well as use the clip.

On one side make sure you add the clip on before add the second press snap as it won't go on afterwards. I made that mistake a few times!

On the other end you need to just add to press snaps to create the loop to hold the dummy.  Also after I had finished making the holder, I added some liquid glue ( I used Ranger Glossy Accents from my craft stash but you could use others) to the end of the ribbons to stop them from fraying. You could do this before you put it together and also could heat set the ends with a lighter too.

These are some of the pacifier clip holder I have made as well. I could make so many with all the coloured ribbon I have!

I have a few more projects to use the Kam pliers for and will post them in the next few weeks.

Have a lovely weekend and see you soon! 

 

I started by cutting out a large scallop circle for the bottom of the candle and cut out a hole for the switch. To secure the scallop circle to the candle I used some foam squares, one on top of another as the candle had tiny feet so needed double height to make it level.

I then cut out a smaller scallop circle for the top of the candle which I then created a hole for the light and folded down the sides of the scallop circle.

Then I cut out a piece to put around the sides and added some ricrac ribbon to make it more decorative.

To decorate the top of the cake, I punched out some little flowers from the Martha Stewart 3 in 1 hydrangea punch and used the smaller flowers and added some stickles to make them sparkle.

My Mum really liked the little candle cake and I am really pleased with how it turned out. 

These little candle cakes are great little gifts and it wasn't too difficult to make either.