Christmas crafting bonanza

As some of you will know, this year I decided to do an entirely handmade selection of Christmas gifts for friends and family. This was partly because I haven't been working for a while and wanted to cut down on spending, but also because I wanted an excuse to try out lots of new crafts! I didn't blog about them at the time of making as I didn't want to spoil it for the recipients, but now that Christmas is over I thought I would show you some of my makes. I'm annoyed that I didn't get round to photographing all of them or getting pictures of them all wrapped up as I put a lot of effort in to the gift wrapping this year with handmade tags, paper and trimmings, but I was in the middle of an international move, so I think I can forgive myself :)

Let the Christmas present showcase commence!

Fabric covered notebook for my niece.

Fimo covered festive spoon and charms.

A joint effort with my boyf: pear vodka and winter spice liqueur for all the men folk.

Cross stitched card for my parents.

Decorated jar of handmade mincemeat for my French friend.

Handmade bracelet with charms for boyf's sister-in-law

Handmade earrings from recycled beads for boyf's sister.

Ribbon hairband for my niece.

Sewing case for my friend.

I really enjoyed doing all the hand sewing. This Russian doll kit was inspired
by  Flossie Teacakes needlecase tutorial.

Personalised cross stitch space invaders purse for another niece. Made from all recycled materials.

My friend Rob pointed me in the direction of this great idea for keeping track of what's in your freezer, which I made for my Mum. I used pictures of food cut out of French and German supermarket special offer brochures, then laminated them and added a self-adhesive magnet to the back. It was a fairly quick and easy make which I would recommend.

There are so many great tutorials and inspiring posts on the internet. Often my own ideas pop into my head, but it's always nice to know there is a range of practical help and projects that you can refer to or adapt whenever you want.

I really enjoyed making all my presents this year and will definitely do it again if I have the time.

Party hair band

If you are looking for a stocking filler for a young girl, or something for your little princess to wear in her hair during the Christmas party season, here is a quick, cheap and easy crafty make for you!

All you need is:

• a plain elasticated hair band
• some pieces of ribbon about 15cm long (if they are recycled then so much the better!)
• a pearl or large bead
• 2 beads with large holes through the center (I used two plastic, glittery star shaped beads)
• a short length of thread
• a small piece of felt
• a pair of scissors
• hot glue gun or strong glue

How to make the party hair band:

1. Take the lengths of ribbon and bunch them together with the pieces lying at different angles, crossing in the centre. 
2. Use one length of ribbon to tie a knot around the middle of your bunch to secure in place. Leave the ends of this ribbon long and use them to then tie the bundle of ribbons to the hair band. Cut the ends or incorporate them into the ribbon bundle if you prefer.
3. Thread the beads with large centre holes onto the ends of a couple of the ribbons and knot above the bead to secure into place.
4. Thread the pearl or large bead onto some thread and tie it around the ribbon bundle and hair band so that it sits in the centre of the ribbon bundle. Knot it securely in place at the back.
5. Cut a small piece of felt into a rectangle, round the ends using scissors and then pinching the ribbon bundle to push the ribbon ends upwards and inwards to surround the pearl, glue the felt in place on the back of the bundle of ribbons. This will cover the thread and knots and secure the decorative part to the hair band (see photos below).

Voilà! A pretty hair decoration for any discerning young lady ;)

I made this as a small gift for my 11 year old niece for Christmas. All the ribbons are from my ribbon store, collected from boxes of chocolates, clothing tags etc. You could make it more festive by using red, green and gold ribbons and adding small bells or choose ribbons that match a party outfit. I would love to see your creations if you decide to have a go!