Blooming Pom Poms

I've finally got round to trying out the pom pom makers I received for my birthday. I first saw them featured on Kirsty Allsopp's Crafty Christmas programme and instantly wanted my own.

To make my pom pom flowers I chose 2 bulky yarns - lilac and cream.

By using a bulky yarn, the pom poms came together really quickly - though sharp scissors are a must!

The pom poms came out almost perfect - just a few odd strands to trim.

For the stem, I went in to the garden and found some twigs. I put a small amount of super glue on the end of each twig to secure it to the pom pom.

These are great to dress a window or even as a centre piece for your Easter table this weekend.

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Spring around my neck

A crocheted flower necklace...

These vibrant colours from Patons are just the thing for this springtime necklace.

The pattern for the flowers can be found over at Attic24 - a great picture tutorial, ideal for beginners.

I used 3.5mm hook for the outer flowers and a 5mm hook for the centre flower.

I joined the flowers together from behind using a whip stitch.

I then finished the piece by adding a pearl to the centre of each flower and a simple chain stitch - using the same yarn as the centre flower.

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Knot again!?!

I’m a little knot crazy at the moment and this neck tie is perfect for such a fixation!

I came across Boodles yarn at Hobbycraft and bought it without thinking what I could make.

After some time scouring Google and Pinterest, I came across this tutorial.

It comes together quickly and if you haven’t got a clipboard, just weigh the end down with some heavy books!

I lost track of the knots and had to unravel twice – so best to go somewhere quiet! (easier said than done with a 6 month old baby!)

There's no reason why you can't add more strands of yarn and make this a bulkier tie. Or even a use a thinner yarn for a more delicate look - perfect for Spring.

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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.

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Love Birds

Some time ago I saw bird seed wedding favours on Etsy. They looked simple, but very effective. I thought I'd have a go at making some and created this Valentine garland for our feathered friends...

To make :

I added 2/3 cup of boiling water to two sachets of gelatine (9g each). I stirred until the gelatine had dissolved. I then added 2 cups of bird seed and mixed well, coating all of the seeds.

I packed the mixture evenly into my heart cookie cutters, finally placing a cut piece of drinking straw into each mould, to provide a hole for the twine.

After an hour or so in the freezer they had set and were ready to come out of the cookie cutters and thread with twine.

 
Happy Valentines!


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