Happy new year...

to everyone. Hope you are still making the most of your Christmas holidays, we're still working our way through a mountain of food we stocked up on!!

We're off to our traditional New Years Eve Indian meal, down the road, then all round to Nathan and Clare's new house (which they just moved into a week before christmas in the snow, but luckily it was just across the road, so Nathan and I now live on the same side of the road!) to see in the new year.

We have to show a picture of the tree - the 7ft tree! When we unwrapped it, it filled the whole of the front room! Here it is even after chopping half of it off! I don't think we'll be sending Chloe to pick out another one again, I feel sorry for Chloe's boyfriend who managed to bring it home on his back whilst dad was walking behind watching! Plus the unlucky one who gets that end of the sofa can't see anything : )



Here's Maisie with a few of her new presents - she got so many she even started to get bored unwrapping them all so we saved some for boxing day and here she is with her new favourite hobby, painting...... she's doing so many we're thinking of selling them......

Recycled Mini-beasts.......

Here some of you are making your lovely little creations......



with just a little sprinkle of help.....



and here are some of your colourful creations brightening up the tree.....



They looked fantastic!!
Not many ended up on the tree so I think they're hanging proudly at home in your bedrooms!

Recycled Plastic Mini-beasts workshop.......

....after a bad cold and several wisdom teeth lighter i'm finally going to show you how to make the recycled plastic mini-beasts that I did as a workshop at the William Morris gallery on Sunday 5th December. It was a great day by the way and all the finished butterflies, beetles and worms looked great hanging on the tree outside along with the origami pieces.

So first step:
You will need a selection of plastic bags, I for some reason always have a cupboard full, no idea why but it meant I had a great collection just for this purpose. The more colourful the better but even the tesco and asda ones are good to use as they all have colourful text.......



Take one of the bags and cut in two.....


Take one of the sides, fold in half and cut....



Keep these pieces together, fold in half and cut along the fold.......


Carry on with folding in half and cutting along the fold until you have small strips of plastic.....



About 10 plastic bags later you'll have a little selection to make one sheet's worth of recycled plastic.....



Lay a piece of baking paper either on your ironing board or on top of a towel on a work surface and begin to spread some of the plastic bag strips down. This first layer will be seen on one of your sides so make it as colourful as you wish......



Then fill the middle section. I tend to use the boring plastic bags for this bit such as white supermarket bags as it won't get seen and is just being used to thicken up your plastic sheet....



Then layer the top with the colourful ones again, this christmas M&S one looked great with lots of red and green. Just be aware here that the more layers you use the thicker your final piece of plastic will be but the thinner it is the easier it is for little fingers to cut out......


Then put another sheet of baking paper on top and set the iron on full heat.....



Iron all over starting from one end working to the other and watch it shrink!! It's great to watch as it shrinks so kids will love that bit. When you've done one side all over turn over and do the other side too.....


When you think you're done peel back the paper to see your handiwork. You might get a few patches with holes....


Not to worry just put some more plastic bag strips over the top to cover and iron once more with the paper over it.....



And voila, perfect......



You'll then have made your first piece of recycled plastic....


I love some of the great textures you get when the plastic melts. If you're feeling really arty and have time to spare then play with the different textures. Whoever thought plastic bags could be so artistically beautiful!
I was making mini-beasts so I created some templates, here is a wing I designed for the butterfly which I overlaid onto the plastic and cut out. If you're not that brave just draw round your template and cut out. If you're feeling a bit stuck for a template you can get some from the internet to print off to get your creativity going......



And here's my butterfly. I hole punched some holes and got the children to pin together with some good old pipe cleaners and decorated with gems.


Tomorrow i'll upload some pictures from the tree and the workshop to show you the amazing creations that the children made. This is a really cheap and easy technique that could keep children entertained for ages, they can even make some Christmas tree decorations for their rooms.

Pics from the E17 Deisgners Christmas Event......

here's the pictures I promised from the E17 Designers event....

here was our stall......



and some pics of the night, after a glass of mulled wine and live music in the background I had a great night soaking up the relaxed festive atmosphere

Winter Wonderland.....

Last week end we went to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. It was absolutely freezing but an amazing feast for the eyes with an extra dose of festive spirit. Everything you cast your eyes on was Christmas themed so at night time it was lovely.

Here's a few pics which don't really do it any justice, especially as I haven't quite mastered the night settings on my camera, so you should go and check it out for yourself.





I love all the old fashioned fair ground rides they have.....

Thanks to everyone....

who came along to the E17 Designers Christmas markets at the week end, especially on Friday night to the one we were at. It was absolutely freezing outside so thanks for venturing away from your cosy homes to support us. We had a great night, with help from some mulled wine and live music, and sold lots of items. Now we have to get busy replacing everything we sold!
I'll upload some pics soon.

In the meantime I've just seen UK Handmade's Winter edition.
So make sure to have a flick through as they have some great handmade items, bound to give you heaps of inspiration.