UK Blog Awards 2015

Exciting news!  Tiddlybobs has been entered for two categories in the UK Blog Awards 2015 - Lifestyle and Arts & Culture.

So I need your help - I need you to vote! You have until the 1st December to vote for Tiddlybobs in both categories. I've included the links below and you can also share that url once you've voted so hopefully other people will vote too. 

Thanking you in advance for your vote and fingers crossed! 

LIFESTYLE CATEGORY

http://www.blogawardsuk.co.uk/candidates/tiddlybobs/

ARTS & CULTURE CATEGORY

http://www.blogawardsuk.co.uk/candidates/tiddlybobs-2/

Also please feel free to share the link to this blogpost or the URLS to the voting pages on your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts. You can add the hashtags #UKBA15 and #BeBold if you fancy it too!

For the wonderful Annabel

My amazing friend Annabel is currently going through a course of chemotherapy treatment which she is being super brave and open about. She is blogging about her experience and you can read about  it here. She has also asked her friends to complete a serious of challenges to keep her uplifted during the course of this treatment which will last until Christmas. It's such a wonderful idea and I hope it really does help her through this difficult time.

This time the challenge was to create a Christmas themed pom pom so I have created this Christmas tree and I decided to blog about it in true Annabel style.

I followed this tutorial from One Sheepish Girl but as I didn't have pom pom makers I used this hand technique for the bark of the tree and then I used a tin can for the Christmas tree, to get a bigger pom pom. I then cut out gold ribbon to make a star and sewed all the bits together.

Annabel you are an incredible woman and I am with you all the way as you go through this difficult time. Huge love! xxxx

Cut from a Different Cloth

It's that time of the year when the long sleeved t-shirts are coming out and the short sleeved t-shirt  is going away until next Summer or if it's seen better days, it's about to be thrown in the bin. But before you chuck it, stop and have a creative think. Maybe there's something else you could do with it?! And so in steps this weeks Tiddlybits with creative inspiration for all your t-shirt related crafty goodness!

The first thing you need to learn, before embarking on any t-shirt craft projects, is how to make yarn from a t-shirt. It's so versatile and easy to do too. This tutorial from Simply Crochet Mag explains how to make it and is super simple to follow. 

You can put your t-shirt yarn straight to work making these super pretty coasters with a vintage feel. The tutorial featured on Mom It Forward and is from Jenn at Endlessly Inspired - which is a blog I urge you to check out if you're looking for ideas for your next project. 

A more advanced project is to make a basket from t-shirt yarn using crochet. This great tutorial from Instructables will get you making tonnes of these in no time and as you get more confident you can upscale the methods to make bigger baskets!

Another great tutorial from these folks is this no-sew t-shirt bag. I'm a bit dubious about how much weight it could hold but definitely a cool idea and worth a try.

And speaking of no sewing, if you are not into all this yarn business how about you try this no sew pillow from Dream Book Design? It is so classy and easy to make - the perfect combination.

I hope that this weeks Tiddlybits has at least planted the seed of a creative idea in your brain but if not head over to my Pinterest board for lots more inspiration. 

Happy Crafting! 

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String....

Hello my name is Amy and I am addicted to gift wrapping. It's true. I'm completely obsessed. See Exhibit A below. I think it makes a present much more special if you put some time and effort into the wrapping of the gift (super extra bonus points if you hand make the gift!) so this weeks Tiddlybits is all about inspiring you to be a bit more creative in your wrapping escapades!

EXHIBIT A
(I was giving my Mam the Great British Sewing Bee book so decided to use that as a theme for the wrapping!)

This list from Buzzfeed is just a wonderful collection of quirky and different ideas. I will definitely be trying the cereal box idea and will post pics to Tiddlybobs when I do. I also really love the use of chalk paint! So clever!

Everyone has random buttons in random drawers all over the house right? Right?! *cradles buttons* Well you should because buttons are awesome and one of the many things they can be used for is gift wrapping! Check out this awesome tutorial from the Craft and Creativity blog.

I'm pretty sure the only people that love gift wrap more than me are children so why not go all out for their wrapping? I love this monster idea from the Housing a Forest site. My nieces are definitely going to get monster wrapped gifts this year!!

This is just the sweetest idea and I demand all of my friends get married right now so that I can use it. However, should my friends not fulfil my demands I might do a twist on it with Fairytale characters for their birthdays instead!

That's a wrap (PUN!!) on this weeks Tiddlybits! Keep coming back for more crafty inspiration!