Lush buttons and bead pots

A birthday present project I thought of in the shower after finishing off some Lush hair conditioner...

Take some empty and cleaned out Lush pots. Soaking them for while helps you to peel of the labels.

And some buttons (mine are from Broadway Market and eBay)..

And some beads - from all over, including a shop in Brighton and the London Bead Shop in Covent Garden;

Stick the buttons and beads all over the pot. I used a combination of spray glue and UHU in a tube. When the glue is dry, varnish. I used spray matt varnish and did two coats on each.

Don't forget to do the lid too.

Homemade and recycled Christmas tree decorations

Christmas trees and their decorations are one of my favourite parts of the Christmas period. In my family home we added more decorations, often homemade, each year. Now, decorating the tree becomes a reminder of all the Christmases and years past. Each decoration is familiar and friendly, all too easily forgotten until you unwrap it from its newspaper or get it out of its box. And everything looks great on a Christmas tree, whether an intricate and delicate bauble, a fir cone covered in glitter or a santa claus made with cotton wool and red cardboard in playgroup.

I've been very aware of what I post about Christmas after writing this blog post on Christmas, making comparisons and mental health. However, I couldn't help but share my own collection of decorations as it starts to grow. My favourite are these Christmas mice. They are made from the inside of an eggbox (a six pack of eggs can make two mice), sprayed gold or silver and then decorated with glitter, beads and wire. A pipe cleaner tail attached to the back can help hold them on to the tree.

I also really like these butterflies. I made these with craft paper from Cowling and Wilcox from a tutorial in the Guardian family section last year. Cut a circle and a square and fold in half to make an oval and a triangle. Fold the paper like a fan into the central folds of each and then squash together at the centre. Wrap wire or thread around to hold them together. I added beads and ribbons too.

The wire can be used to hold them in the tree.

And of course, your spraypainted and glittery fircone. I made one last year while volunteering at Radio Lollipop for Great Ormond St hospital.In fact, you can spray any twigs, fircones or leaves silver or gold, add some glitter and attach them to the tree!

This holly decoration has lasted three years now - the silver spray must preserve it!

This owl is made from half a strip of cut and folded old book with mince pie cases for eyes.

And here is the tree in all it's homemade glory.

A new outfit for Flower the meercat

This is Flower the meercat. As you can see she is dressed and ready for any social occasion, accessories included.

But she wasn't always so delightfully encased in flowery material. In fact only days ago when she arrived at our house in the company of 4 year old Ivy, Flower was naked and furry.

At Ivy's request, we decided to make her a dress. Instead of choosing one type of material as instructed, Ivy chose five and wanted to use them all. We cut heart shapes from all of them and I sewed them on to a simple dress shape.

Ivy enjoyed laying out the hearts and choosing buttons.

Next morning, you could tell by Flower's expression that she was excited to have a new dress to put on. Ivy seemed pleased too.

And we finished the outfit with ladybird shoes and a belt.

Ivy's mum and dad laughed when they saw Flower's outfit. Can't think why :)

A robot and an accidental blackbird

This was my first attempt at something almost resembling applique (although I still used the straight stitch a few millimetres in from the edge rather than applique stitch). Alex told me he wanted a robot with a crow on his head.  I was pleased with this effort until he told me that the yellow beak meant he was a blackbird. I'm still pleased with it though. Material, buttons, zip and felt came from Our Patterned Hand on Broadway Market.

Making cases with quilting - for iPads and laptops

The first Apple Patch - an ipad cover.  I adding batting and lining to quilt the felt patchwork material, and using binding to neaten the edges.

 I've had a few people asking about these - so if you want to commission one, drop me an email at patchworkpea@gmail.com. At the moment, while I'm still practicing, I'm not charging much :)

A leprechaun's handbag?

With a little internal pocket

Padded laptop case for mum

Learned how to add a zip to quilting.

Customisation & screenprinting

Clothes making and customisation feels a bit hard at the moment, but I tried a couple of small things.

Buttons added to a vest top - told you it was simple stuff!

Screen printing is a bit more complex, but Ben, screen printer extraordinaire showed me how to do it and we made matching tops for me and Alex's niece Ivy (well, she was excited about it!).

Make a template online using a black and white picture, print it out and use a craft knife to cut out the picture. Use acrylics to paint the template onto the screen. For the screen you can use thin synthetic material from a charity shop and an old photo frame, secured with a staple gun and duct tape. When it's dry, the acrylic acts as a waterproof barrier to prevent the printing paint getting through when you use it to print.

Yes, my top is matching one for a three year old...