Throwback Thursday Week 1

This June, I'm bringing you Throwback Thursday - a chance to look back at some of my projects, hoping to give you some Summertime inspiration.

This week:To see how I created this home and garden accessory, click here

Get Knotted

Another use for old coffee jars ... 

This knotted twine lantern has a nautical feel and is a great upcycle craft.

Craftberry Bush's tutorial is fantastic and I used it as a guide to create my lantern.

I did a trial run with some wool and once I got the hang of the knotting, I got out the twine. 

Rather than use a separate piece of twine around the top of the jar (as in point 1 of the tutorial), I just cut one of my 6 pieces a little longer and looped it around the top of the jar before knotting.

Once my knots had reached the bottom of the jar, I simply tied opposite strands tightly together. As most jar bottoms are concaved, these knots wouldn't impede the lantern should it be standing.

A doubled-up piece of twine tied to the top of the jar gave my lantern its handle.

Looking forward to making more and hanging them around the garden this Summer. Though they're beautiful lit indoors too.

**** Linking up at these sites

Crochet Brulee

Mini Crocheted Votives…
The two individual Creme Brulees we bought didn’t last long with my husband around, so all I was left with was the small bowls they came in.

Using my current favourite wool, I crocheted some small jackets to make these plain bowls into attractive votives.

I simply did a chain to go around the circumference of the bowl and joined with a slip stitch.

Then I did rounds of half double crochets (hdc) until it was nearly big enough to cover the bowl, finishing with a round of single crochets (sc).

Quick and colourful.

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Forever Autumn

The Japanese Maple in our garden is shedding beautiful leaves - creating a colourful blanket on our patio.

I had to do something with these - such a shame to allow them to decay.

A tea light holder ... using the trusty jar

I used PVA glue to paste the leaves around the jar 

Once dry, I simply wrapped and tied some raffia around the neck of the jar

I've been wanting to use this raffia for sometime and the gold and bronze were perfect for this project

A simple autumn decoration; preserving the beauty of season and helping to add warmth to the home on these increasingly cooler evenings

****Linking up at these sites

More jar upcycling (and no twine in sight!)

After the success of my napkin covered pickle jar tea light holder, I decided to use the same idea to recycle what was left from a Christmas candle... the glass jar ... to create a faux stained glass effect.

I simply punched out different sized circles of red and purple tissue paper (sandwiched in between normal paper, so it wouldn't tear when punched). 

Then using a brush, I randomly applied the circles to the glass with PVA, covering all four sides.

It took a couple of hours to dry (I got a little brush-happy with the PVA!), but it was worth the wait.

And not only can it be used as a vase, it also works well as a tealight holder...

****Linking up at these sites

Hello Summer! Finally...

We're used to unpredictable weather here in England, but this summer has taken the mickey just a bit! Last time we had great weather, I blogged about it. That was 20th May 2012! This weekend, summer has finally graced us with His presence (I say 'His' because if summer was a 'She', we would have a wonderful few months every year without fail!)

We spent what seemed an age digging up weeds and pruning the hedges to reveal the view from our garden.

The recent warmth and sunshine has also enticed the roses out and I didn't realise what lovely colours we have in our garden. I am not a 'gardener', so if you know what variety of rose these are, let me know.

I type with a red glow on my body - sitting out crocheting in the sun for a little too long it seems. But I got carried away with the music playing from my ipod and a cheeky drink ;)

As the sun set, out came my crochet tea light holders and the chimnea - come on, you didn't think the warmth would last into the evening, did you??! 

Our chimnea was bought with gift vouchers from our wedding back in November 2010. It's one of the best things we've ever purchased, enabling us to sit outside 'til late, feeling snug and warm. It also gives David the opportunity to be a boy scout again...

Mr Summer, please don't leave it so long to visit again, David and Karen miss you!

Tee(light) Total

With the warmer nights (HOPEFULLY!) making an appearance soon, I wanted to create something for the patio area. I have used LED lights around the tree, but I wanted something for the table to house the citronella candle tealights.

Having found a wonderful tutorial for Crochet Votive Covers on Nature Nut Notes,  I went in search for some tealight holders. They're not cheap!!! So, I wandered down the glassware aisle of my local Dunelm Mill and came across these Whisky Tumblers for 58p each!

Now if you're Teetotal or you've drank all the Christmas Whisky, why not use the redundant tumbler for a tealight holder?

I really enjoyed crocheting these as they are so quick and satisfying!

I couldn't wait for the sun to set to see them in action...

 

Looks like I will have to drink the Whisky from the bottle from now on ;)

*** NEVER LEAVE LIT TEALIGHTS UNATTENDED ***