I’ve been doing a bit of housekeeping here on the blog- moving things around, needing to add more links, etc. Today I spent 3 hours (in a state of utter frustration and near-alopecia as a result of same) trying to make a blog button, and ta-dah!!! (as all the with-it bloggers say these days):

Here, is a blog button. Feel my blood, sweat and tears as you look at it… (I think I need a stint on the stage) and feel free to “take” it for your blog; (html at the end of this post: you paste this into your widget section (or at least thats what I do in WordPress)to create the button on your blog)

for this Advent I am hosting a

“Craft♥Advent” linky-party!

The idea is that as many as possible bloggers will add their tuppenny piece: a Christmas craft idea, recipe or tutorial and link it back here (there will be a page on the right with all the links) I will be posting a craft tutorial each day of Advent to bring us up to Christmas day: lots and lots of ideas for festive homemaking and making gifts for you and loved ones, and giveaways too!

(I have actually started compiling posts so I am ultra-organised; really, there must be a blue moon out!!)

So! Will you join me?

Lets make this a great party!!

html code for button:

<a href=”http://blog.thenest.ie/craft♥advent-linky-page-3/”><img src=http://blog.thenest.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/blog-button.jpg>

(I got the how-to from this wonderful woman called Tammy last year, thank you Tammy! XXX)

This makes a very fast, easy gift, you could easily make it in an hour or two, and once it is cut, any child able to make a secure knot can be employed to help put it together!

(Apologies for the quality of the photo! But needs must etc etc)

The No-Sew Blanket

Materials: fleece material (I use two different patterns, or one plain and one pattern to make it easier to see when putting it together), sissors, pins, measuring tape (and the obligatory cup of tea)

The How-To:

You cut 2 pieces of fleece the same size. Pin one side, approximately 5 inches in

Make sure you have a child in a boat made from a vegetable box, sail over and try to steal your pins, and after that, cut into the fabric, 5 inches in, 1 inch apart, the whole length of the fabric, then repeat for each side.

For the corners, cut them out like this: (i.e. cut a 5″ x 5″ square from each corner)

Once you have all the cuts made, start to knot (yes, just a knot!) around the sides. I tend to knot the middle of each side and corners first to hold it all together, 

then continue to knot, until all the strips are knotted together. Go back over each knot to secure, and and make sure the knot is tight (it is incredibly difficult to pull the knots out once they are tightly knotted)

This also makes a really great present for an older person, as a lap blanket, or for a small child as a buggy blanket. 

Make sure to buy enough fleece, because as soon as you have made one, due to the addictive, relaxing rhythm of the knotting, you are sure to want to make another!!

(I’m also linking up to the Christmas Craft Collective here!)

~A year later, I am also adding this to Craft♥Advent 2011~

That was, until our smallest did a grab-and-run with the camera while I was teetering on top of a wobbly chair in from of an open fire… (having a solid chair and fire-guard would compromise on the spirit of adventure)… 

and dropped it

And now it is no longer with us. There isn’t as much as a flicker (apart from a disturbing consumptive-cough sound)

So, here is part 1 of the tutorial. When I sort out my camera issues, I’ll photograph the advent calendar in situ, but for now, I have the How-To, without the final pictures, but you will get the idea.

The How-To: Part 1:

What you need:

24 squares of decorative paper (you could cut out 24 squares from wrapping paper)

24 squares of old vintage book sheets(or music sheets- and if they aren’t yellowed with age, you could dip them in a strong tea solution and dry them out before using)

Pva (I diluted mine 50/50 with water in a jar)

Glue gun (not essential, but I recently purchased mine and it has been super for this project- instant glueing!)

Buttons (or old lace or beads or other nice bits)

I squared these decorative sheets and so they (almost) matched the book sheets (it needs to be almost the size, but there is room for manoeuvre)

With the PVA solution, I glued the sheets together, making sure that at least one corner is exactly glued together (even if the other sides aren’t quite perfectly aligned)

Then, when they were dry (once I had glued all 24 sheets, the first ones were dry and ready to go onto the next bit) I rolled them into a cone,

(You may have to experiment to get the cone looking right, with the matching corner pieces sticking uppermost)

I used my (wonderful, brilliant, time saving) glue gun to glue down the “seam” of the cones,

and glued on the button(s)

(You could sew them together with a simple running stitch, or use a strong glue and hold in place for a couple of minutes until they are dry- or! have some clothes pegs at the ready, glue, then peg them and move onto the next one, and the peg should hold them in place until glued firmly)

Then! Put in a very lovely little suitcase lined with some vintage, linen, monogrammed cloth and wait for your child to break your camera, halt the tutorial until you can take more photographs for the next part.

The Next Part: Part 2: Coming Up!

I wrote out the numbers 1-24, then, with some old pegs, pegged each cone onto a piece of string and strung above the mantlepiece. Not rocket science, but very pretty, as you WILL see!!

(I’m also linking to The Christmas Craft Collective, check it out here!)

we had our sale over the weekend and are just finishing the packing and labeling for deliveries. We had a really successful weekend (thank you!) and have cleared much of our toy stock. 

Two weeks ago we came to the very difficult decision that we were going to “wrap up” the toy end of things- I simply didn’t have the time, and I didn’t really want to have a “shop” (bricks and mortar) anymore (Our shop was housed in the little log cabin we had built as an art studio a couple of years ago) I wanted and needed a creative space back!! And I want to concentrate on the “handmade” side, the one-offs, the unique and different.

Maybe it’s Autumn, with all its contraction… or maybe I’m mentally winding down as we head into winter… or both…

But as soon as we had made the decision I felt a lovely sense of peace. It felt right.  We are so excited about all the possibilities, and having the space to organise our studio into a working studio again,

(note the shelves groaning with the weight of sketchbooks, paintings, art books…

…soon to be organised beautifully on all the empty shelves!!!)

work on our Sketchbook Project (Fergal and I are both taking part- he’s waaaaay ahead of me!!) and concentrate on printing,

 dollmaking,

crafting,

painting…

(I did tell you we are having a massive sale next weekend -25th and 26th September?? Didn’t I??)  

And in the middle of all that I’m trying to organise what direction we are going in after the sale… Here are some photos of some gorgeous handmade things that will soon be on the shelves…

Crochet baby blankets, Hanging hearts, wool duck, lavender sachets, handmade cushions (using vintage and unique screenprinted fabrics)…

And a few Irish handmade baskets are hopefully coming our way….

More cushions, lavender sachets and crochet blankets

Aren’t these blankets works of art? (check out Ginger for more extraordinary crochet)

The tags are wrapped with hearts on a string-(hanging at the top of the photo)

These lavender hearts are just so lovely- love the fabrics used here!

These hanging hearts are made from recycled heart shaped paper, and come in a hand painted jar

Fully adjustable aprons- the design of these are ingenious!

… and each come in a beautiful handstitched presentation bag.

New directions- exciting things are on the way!