Usually I’m to be found on the night of the 30 November desperately pulling together our DIY advent calendar. I had a couple of days off work last week – the kids were at school, I had no grand plans, I was just in need of some down time – and so I made us a new advent calendar for this year. I’m not going to write lots of instructions because it’s a really simple make. I cut 15cm (ish) squares out of white tissue paper. I planned out our daily advent activities (based on these from a few years… View Post

A pair of luxury slippers are on my Christmas wish-list, but as the colder weather sets in, I need something to tide me over. Not wanting to splash out on my dream pair, I decided that an easy DIY option was the best the short-term solution. This simple hack was achieved using a pair of basic slippers I’ve had kicking around (boom boom) in the bottom of my wardrobe for months (if not years), and some iron-on fabric patches which I think I must have got in a goody bag from an event somewhere. Above you can see the slippers… View Post

I had grand plans of a post full of brand spanking new crafts for Valentine’s this year, but I’m poorly (turns out having shingles really sucks. Who knew?), so instead I’ve delved into the Growing Spaces archive to pull together six ideas for Valentine’s Day that’ll cost you nothing (pretty much) but love. These are all quick and easy DIYs that don’t require any expensive materials but will show someone that you care. Whether you’re planning to celebrate Valentine’s or Galentines Day on 14 Feb, I think these ideas for gifts work as tokens of love and friendship for whoever’s lucky… View Post

I have no idea how I managed to squeeze in doing these Christmas decoration Ikea hacks this week – work has been properly crazy – but I’d had the ideas in my head for so long, that I couldn’t bear the thought that I wouldn’t have time to actually share them. And so I had some much-needed crafting time-out earlier this week to turn a few bits and bobs I picked up in Ikea into Christmas tree and table decorations. DIY mini table crackers made from a SÄLLSKAP placemat, £1 Take a toilet roll and cut all the way down it… View Post

It’s nearly December and I can’t believe that I actually managed to make my own advent calendar in good time this time (if you haven’t seen my Ikea hack advent calendar do go and check it out). If you like the idea of a homemade advent calendar but haven’t got round to sorting yours yet, or don’t think your craft skills are quite up to the challenge of making one completely from scratch, I’ve pulled together my favourite DIY advent calendars that come complete with free printable and/or templates to help make life a little easier. Some of these are… View Post