I heart Christmas: Decoration How-To

I went on a Christmas decoration making blitz yesterday. They have been selling really well at the stall and I want to make sure I have enough for the next two weekends. Yesterday I was making hearts, today I'll be making trees and mini stockings, I'll try to blog about them later in the week.

I got the lovely fabric hearts last year in the Limerick Quilt Centre, getting them pre-cut saves me a few extra minutes as all I have to do is cut out the back panel. I use felt as it's sturdier than using cotton. I prefer to use the cheap stuff from Silkes as it's thicker than the felt I buy from Lupin. I also cut out a small circle to add to the front with a contrasting coloured button. Hand stitching on all all these bits was nearly the most time consuming part of my day.

 I sort out the hearts into batches of colour, all the ones I want sewed with green, and red and so forth. I use a wide zigzag applique stitch with helps seal in the cotton and also makes a pretty border. Be warned though this stitch eats thread. You get about 5/6 hearts per bobbin of thread.

Don't forget to pop in your loop of ribbon when you are at the top of the heart, there has been many a time when I've let my mind wander and I've forgotten....after which the was much obscene cursing to be heard in the studio.

When I first started making these a few years ago I used to take the heart off the machine to stuff them. But if you are up for a little bit of tricky fiddly stuffing then you don't have to bother. Once you make sure you drop your needle into the heart to make sure it stays in position you can can then stuff them and continue sewing.

It was a long day but I got 28 of them made in total. I won't be listing them in my Etsy shop as it's too near to Christmas, but you can get them at my stall at the Milk Market for €5 each. I also add little tags to them saying I heart Christmas with a to and from section so you can give them as a small token gift.

Handmade Felt Christmas Tree Lights

Yesterday I was working on some more felt Christmas decorations. I finished my Christmas trees, and I made some mittens which I'll show you next week. I also tried my hand at making a tree garland. I had seen felt light decorations before but it made far more sense to put them on a ribbon, just like a string of lights.

There are 10 rainbow 'lights' on a string, each piece is hand stitched. I then used white felt and machine stitched black thread on the tops of all of them to make the bit that the bulbs screw into. I've priced them at €25, which ain't bad at €2.50 per light! They also come in this box, which means they will stay safe and dust free in the attic while you are not using them.

I'm not sure how many of these sets I'll make,I've made 5,well not totally finished,but I've got the back broken in them. If there is a demand for them I'll made more. My time is really limited at this point in the year and I don't want to waste it making things that won't sell.

Felt Christmas Tree Decorations

After my tumble off a bike on Thursday I decided to go to A&E yesterday, at least now I can say with confidence that it's not broken (rather than blindly hoping). It was a 5 hour wait in the hospital, but at least I can put my mind at rest. I thought it was weird that I was the only person with a book, surely it's the ideal way to pass the time?

Thankfully I can move the lower part of my arm and I have full movement in my fingers. I had thought that I would be able to do no work for about a week or two but I've figured out a way to sew. If I do the stitches with my left hand and move the piece of work with my right that means I don't have to flex my arm.I'm doing exercises to loosen up my shoulder, but at the moment this method of working will have to do.

Last night I made these little Christmas tree decorations, I think they would be super cute hanging from a tree, or a door knob. I have lots more prepped to do,so I'm gonna sit down on the sofa and so some more today.I am still an injured patient after all, so I don't feel bad about watching films during the day!
I'm still deciding on what to charge for them, €5 seems too little to pay me for my time, but I know they won't sell as well if I charge €6. Any advice?

Cute as a Pudding

Just a quick post today to show you my new Christmas Pudding decorations. They are not quite a quick any easy to make as I had thought, but if I must say so myself I think they are darned cute! I must go away now back up to my sweat shop (or should I say rather chilly shop) to make some more.

Tis the Season to be Busy

It's getting near that time of year again when my busyness level steps up a few gears in preparation for Christmas. This year half of my December is already booked up for Christmas fairs and I'm really excited to see how the Milk Market is during the busy festive season. There will be additional craft fair days in the early part of December, on top of my 3 day weekly markets there.

On the list of things to make

Sets of Christmas cards:

Last year I had sets of 10 lino printed xmas cards, I still have the carvings so all I have to do is print and package them. Easier said than done though. I ordered 500 blank cards a few days ago and I hope to get them the all printed in one week. I'm not sure if that's do-able but I'll certainly try. Also I'm not sure if 50 sets of cards will be enough considering the amount of fairs that I'm doing but I don't want to waste time making loads of stock that I get stuck with.

Felt Christmas Decorations:

Last year these sets sold very well, I either sold them individually for 6 euro each or a set of 3 for 15 euro. Lots of work went into them so maybe this year I'll try to figure out how to pare this down while still keeping them cute.

Handmade Brooches:

These are always a good seller as I do a special offer on the of buy 2 get 1 free, perfect for gift time when everyone is a little strapped for cash. I did have a bunch of these made already for xmas but a friend recently took them to a fair and they sold really well and all my back up stock is now gone...a good complaint to be making I know! I just gotta order more felt, pre-cut them at home and bring them to the market to keep me occupied when it's quiet.

This year I'd like to introduce a line of Shrinky Dink xmas decorations, and also some festive bunting. I know that the iphone cases should sell well too as lots of people have been looking at them lately saying how perfect they would be as a gift. I'm sure a few more things will pop up along the way too, but for now that's the main things I've to focus on.

...So all I need to do is invent an 8th,9th and 10th day in the week and I should get all that made in time for the coming Season.

What crafty plans do you have for Christmas, and have you started making them yet?

New Camera....and Xmas Tree Pics

John let me have my new camera a few days early!! We went shopping today and picked it out, I chose a canon IXUS 95 IS, it's a handy point and click, with a pretty good macro for it's price range. We figured we would get by on this one until we can afford a better one later next year. I'm delighted to have a camera again, it's been so long since the last ones were robbed.

In the run up to Christmas I've been selling every day this week at the Bedford Row market, it has a lovely atmosphere there, and everyone seems really positive and cheery. On the other hand it is some of the coldest weather we have had in years. Today I thought my fingers were going to fall off with the cold. But I did come home to the lovely treat of a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the front room. While I had been out in the bitter cold John got and decorated our tree. ...isn't it so lovely!!! ( The close up shots are of some decorations I made)

Christmas Decorations

Today I've been making more Christmas decorations in the run up to the hopeful Seasonal rush. They are the little hampers that I mentioned in a previous post. But I just realised I actually have some pics I can show you for once. These are Christmas Wedding favours that I made. They are the same as the decorations I'm making except these are all in purple and white, and what I'm working on are red, greem, yellow, and blue etc.

Thanks to the groom Richard for taking these pics.

Christmas Ball Rolling

Ok it's official I've been really crap at blogging lately, but life seems to be running at high speed at the moment, with one week rolling into the next. How is Christmas upon us yet, I think a part of me is still waiting for that non existant Irish Summer to happen. I think I caught a tiny bit of sunshine in Doolin one weekend and that's it it's time to whip up the Christmas tree again. I went into work yesterday( I do 2 days a week in a local restaurant-Luigi Malones if you are wondering) and they have all the Christmas decorations up. I know it's just me in a panic wondering how I'm gonna get all my stock sorted by Christmas, and also where the miracle will appear from to have money for presents. Whatever happened to the days that you would wake up with a bag of toys at the end of your bed and all you had to worry about was if you got everything on the list....ah well.

So far I've got a good bit done:

-About 15-20 mini hampers of handmade Christmas decorations. In them there is 3 felt baubles with lots of cute ribbon and buttons, in a pot wrapped in plastic, a premade gift. I figure they would be handy gifts for those people who have everything or when you get a co-worker as a kris-kindle and you have no idea what to get them. 15 euro

-25 sets of 10 hand printed lino cut Christmas cards. Yes you did the maths right thats 250 prints, and yes that did hurt my little arms. 12 euro

-500 new mirrors. Yey I'm so chuffed these arrived, I love the new designs with the 1950s pinups. I also got large buttons with the same designs. Mirrors 5 euro or buy 2 get one free

Very sadly I still have no camera (damned burglers!!), so I can't take any pictures to show all you nice folk. You are just going to have to take my word for it that they are lovely.HA!