Tag Archive for 'diy'

Feeding Time at the Zoo

With their giraffe-like stance & deep chests, greyhounds really benefit from having their food dishes raised off the floor. But try fitting 4 separate raised feeders (1 for each dog plus 1 for water) in a small kitchen & you can’t move without tripping over one! Sick of stumbling across what seemed like a sea of dog feeding apparatus, Martin & I decided to create a solution of our own.

before..

When we moved into our house at the end of last year there were several pieces of furniture, presumably unwanted by the previous owners, left in the garden shed. Amongst them was a small laminated chipboard bookcase. Now, we didn’t need another bookcase, but we did need a 4 bowl raised feeder for the dogs & it just so happened that when turned on its side this bookcase was perfectly proportioned to accommodate 4 decent size dog bowls and fit nicely along the one free wall in our kitchen!

after

So, we borrowed a jig saw from a friend, picked up 4 stainless steel standard feeding bowls from the pet shop & a tin of melamine paint from the local hardware store & set to work on our conversion.

the feeder holds 4 large (1.5 litre)bowls

24 hours later our project was complete & I think you’ll agree looks pretty stylish as well!

functional & stylish?

We unveiled the ‘feeding station’ to the hungry hounds at dinner time, who, after a little confusion over whose bowl was whose (doesn’t really matter anyway as they are all fed the same) seemed to give it their royal seal of approval!

Dennis, Molly & Sandy christening their new feeder

Folksy Friday: Do Me a Favour!

Back in March, Martin & I began experimenting making our own soap. We were so pleased with the results that we decided handmade soaps would make lovely wee gifts for the guests at our upcoming wedding & set about making some sea-inspired soapy wedding favours…

soap starfish

nautical themed soaps

soap fish

sometimes you just can’t beat some plain old fashioned bars!

We packaged our soaps in brown paper bags, which I lino-printed with the same starfish design we used on our wedding invitations. We added a finishing touch to our favours by using jute thread to attach little ingredient labels to each bag so that everyone knew exactly what was in their soaps!

our wedding favours

Making your own favours is a great way to add a special handmade touch to your wedding, & can work out very cost-efficient too. & if  you don’t fancy the all-out DIY approach (or simply want some gorgeous packaging for your own handmade goods), then Folksy is full of fabulous ideas that will give your guests something to remember your big day by…

clockwise from top left:

  1. ELEGANT PERSONALISED WEDDING FAVOUR TAGS Set of 100 by Ditzy Creations
  2. Parma Violet Fizzy Drops by Be Bubbleicious
  3. Gift Box, Print and Make Bugs Pillow Boxes by Papercake: Print & Make
  4. Pack of 10 Little brown favour bags by Creative and Contemporary
  5. Personalised Bottletop Magnets by Quirky Boots
  6. Old Fashioned Sweet Shop Bags by Practically Perfect in Every Way

Wedding bunting & more…

You may remember earlier this year when I posted about the bunting I made for our wedding out of old shirt fabric… I ended up loving the combination of colours & patterns I was working with so much that I incorporated them into various other aspects of our wedding as well!

a string of bunting & some tin can lanterns on display at our wedding

Well, Martin & I tied the knot back on 25th May, so I can now reveal just how far I stretched out that little bundle of shirts I brought back from the charity shops all those months ago…

Martin & I looking out over the Solway Firth

My wedding dress was handmade by Etsy seller Funnelcake Boutique. The very talented Christine worked the bunting fabrics into the roses & ruffles at the back of the dress, & I was absolutely thrilled with the result – guaranteed I was wearing a truly one-of-a-kind dress on my wedding day!

my dress

On discovering Etsy shop, Sew Smashing, I fell in love with the beautiful origami butterflies seller Alexis makes. She very kindly agreed to make some for us using, you guessed it, some of our bunting fabrics!

origami butterflies

She fashioned 2 of the butterflies into boutonnières, which Martin & his best man wore in their lapels, & 2 of them into clasps, which my bridesmaid & I wore in our hair.

Immediately after the (humanist) ceremony, celebrated with homemade elderflower champagne served in glasses decorated with ribbons of the fabric…

our champagne flutes

…& later on in the day we enjoyed a delicious chocolate wedding cake, made by Martin’s Mum, which was decorated with a string of mini-bunting in the same fabrics!

our wedding cake (DIY cake toppers from Goosegrease Undone)

About a month or so before the wedding we had a surreptitious request for some of our bunting fabrics from Martin’s Mum! Rather mysteriously, she wouldn’t say what it was that she wanted them for, but we posted some off to her nonetheless… All was revealed on our wedding day, when she presented us with a beautiful patchwork quilt, incorporating several of the fabrics into the design.

the  quilt which Margaret made us

So I am certainly pleased that I stumbled across what seemed at the time to be a bit of a mismatched jumble of old shirts in a charity shop all those months ago – without them we wouldn’t have had all these wonderful handmade touches at our wedding.

Martin, the dogs & I

Thank you to all the people – family, friends & professionals – who humoured me by going along with my slightly crazy sounding ideas & helped weave a little bunting magic through all these aspects of  our wedding ;-)

our wedding guests

Folksy Friday: String ‘Em Up!

I’ve been in love with bunting for a while now. To me, nothing says summer celebration quite like a string of colourful bunting,  & if it’s handmade then so much the better ;-) Perhaps it’s ‘Royal Wedding fever’, but us Brits can’t see to get enough of the stuff at the moment! Don’t feel you have to be restricted to stringing it up in your garden though – here are just a handful of the creative ways in which Folksy sellers are incorporating this trend into their work:

Blue glass bunting by Red Brick Glass, Bunting 8×8″ print by Cassia Beck Photography,  Pink heart mosaic bunting by Good Afternoon Agatha, Birdie bunting by Hannah Madden, Cotton bunting tote bag by Bubs Bears, Oh happy day necklace by Stripey Monkey

In preparation for our own wedding, I’ve been trying my hand at making some bunting too. A while back, while rummaging through the clothes rails in some local charity shops, I unearthed some old shirts made from patterned fabrics that appealed  to me.

Using a cardboard template & a fabric marker, I sectioned each piece of fabric into triangles, which I then cut out with pinking shears.

Next I ironed a crease in a length of white bias binding, & inserted the fabric triangles in at intervals along this, pinning to secure.

I’m afraid my sewing skills do not amount to much, but even I managed to figure out how to use the mini sewing machine which a friend had kindly given me to stitch the whole thing together with relative ease – which just goes to show how easy it is to make your own bunting!

As it turns out, I didn’t need to use all the fabric I had acquired to make the amount of bunting needed (& I made lots!), but by this time I’d gotten quite attached to the strangely mismatched yet complimentary assortment of patterns I was working with. So, I have had parts of the same material incorporated into my wedding dress, as well as working it into several other handmade accessories we plan to use at our wedding! But you’ll have to wait until after the Big Day to see photographs of these ;-)

Folksy Friday: Lather Up

This week Martin & Is’ first batch of cold process soap, which has been curing in a cupboard for the past month or so, was finally ready to use. I’m relieved to say`that neither of us have suffered any caustic burns, or so much as broken out in a rash (though I did make Martin try it first!!).  In fact I’m rather pleased with the creamy, fragrance free bars we’ve produced – rather good for a first attempt!

We made our soap using a blend of olive oil, coconut & avocado oils, & cut it into rather plain looking rectangular bars. But handmade soap can be much more creative than this, as demonstrated by the Folksy sellers who have made the beautiful, & no doubt wonderfully fragranced, soaps below:

Sheep soap by Bits N Bobs, Yummy Chocolate soap by Miju Beauty, Ice Lolly soap by Sophie’s Soap,  Honey Buns soap by  Oakwood Soaperie, Natural Forest soap by Karramandi, Tea Tree & Fresh Mint soap by Original Soap Co

Encouraged by the results of our first batch & inspired by all the gorgeous handmade soaps above, I now feel ready to graduate to more fancy scented & moulded soaps for our next batch, which we plan to distribute as favours at our wedding later this year. Will keep you posted with the results… ;-)

Two Hounds Brewing Co

Last summer I suggested to Martin that we try making our own elderflower champagne, with a view to serving it at our upcoming wedding this May. So out  we went & picked wild elderflower heads &, using an adaptation of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipe, together we brewed up 15 litres or so of the stuff.

The bottles now lie stored in crates in a dark cupboard, & we sample one every few months or so to make sure it is conditioning well. (So far the results are impressive & we’re very much looking forward to serving them at our wedding!) However, little did I know that Martin would enjoy this little brewing experience so much that a whole new hobby would be born…

the label we designed for our wedding champagne

With the help of his friends Chris & Buzz, Martin has now brewed half a dozen or so different batches of beers in our kitchen, from pale ales to porters, & all under the label ‘Two Hounds Brewing Co’. (Can you guess which pair of hounds might have inspired the label?! ) My contribution: I help pick the names, design & stick on the labels, &, well, allow it all to happen in our kitchen!!

a selection Martin’s beers: Requiem Raspberry, Cincinatti Pale Ale, Grinch Robust Coffee Porter, Fidra Bavarian Weissbier, Sunnyside Pale Ale

Of course the beer is all either for personal consumption or has been gifted to friends & colleagues. Although I’m not a beer drinker myself,  it always seems to be well received & a batch never lasts very long!

Cheers! Martin enjoys one of his beers in the custom made glass his brother gave him for Christmas

I have created a printing screen based upon the label design & used it to hand print some cotton bags. Filled with a few beers each, these made great little Christmas presents for our friends & family. & I have even had a few requests for some T-shirts printed with the same design!

combining our brewing & screenprinting skills to make Christmas presents!

Meanwhile, Martin’s brewing habit shows no signs of letting up & I believe the next scheduled brewing is to take place in our kitchen this Sunday… ;-)

Folksy Friday: Elderflower Champagne

BuySellGoFolksy is a UK based place to buy handmade things &  for makers to sell their work and find supplies. I’m pleased to announce that Max and Molly Designs now has a Folksy shop – that’s good news for UK shoppers who no longer need to convert prices from US dollars ;-)

‘Folksy Friday’ is is a great way of showcasing the wonderful variety of items made by talented Folksy sellers & (hopefully) spreading the word about the wide array of quality handmade items that can be found on Folksy. My first Folksy Friday is inspired by the elderflower champagne that Martin & I are currently making & hope to be able to enjoy at our wedding next year!

Featured are (clockwise from top left):

Elderflower Champagne Soap by Hea’ram-Skearam Soap Company

Blue Gin Bottle by Fired Art

Mustard Flower Hoop Earrings by  Lazy Giraffe

Bridal Champagne and Ivory Bubbles Bracelet by AMI Designs

Wine Lovers Corkboard by I Used 2B

Wine Glass Tea Towel by Charlotte Macey Textiles

Please take time to visit each of these makers’ shops, which are packed full of unusual & unique handmade goodies!

As for Martin & I, the elderflower champagne is the first of many DIY projects we’ll be working on in preparation for our wedding next year – look out for future blog posts about what else is in the pipeline for our handmade wedding ;-)