Making Good Use

V-E-R-Y Late to This Particular Party

 
Now Christmas is well and truly behind us, what do I find myself really wanting to make - a little fabric Christmas tree!!  I've seen these little trees all over the blogosphere in the last few years (I think they may have started on the now-defunct Little Birds Handmade blog) and always thought they'd be something nice and easy to make.  Just before Christmas I saw one somewhere on a blog, and I've no idea where it was now, that had been decorated with little 1950s-style embroidered stars which looked absolutely gorgeous.

I had a good idea that the small bits of cream wool blanket I had left (after making four cat blankets, a Christmas stocking and a large draught excluder from it) would be just the thing for the body of the tree.  It was really quick and simple to sew (although working out the size of the circle needed for the base REALLY stretched my maths skills, and necessitated buying a pair of compasses from WH Smith's in the end.)  I'm very pleased with the result and I've left it on the shelf so I can sit and admire it for a little while longer (before it ends up in the Christmas decorations box) and am now thinking of making another one, but this time using some really glittery gold thread I thrifted years ago for the star embroidery.  It would also look nice with green or red or silver stars - trouble is there's not enough blanket left to make them all.

I've linked this post to Apron Thrift Girl's Make Share.

Now, There's a Thing

 
I was somewhat astonished (and a bit sceptical) to come across a pack of FOUR organic eggs* in the Co-op this morning.  Was it some sneaky Euro way of doing away with our traditional half-a-dozen carton of eggs, was it some tricky way of charging more for the same eggs, or was it just a silly gimmick?  Well, turns out it was 5p per egg cheaper to buy the pack of four than to buy the usual half-a-dozen carton because these eggs, although still organic, were of mixed sizes.  No problem for me, I'd rather have a range of sizes to choose from depending on how I'm using the eggs, and anything that makes buying organic a teensy bit cheaper also has my vote.  Still can't understand why they couldn't sell them in a pack of six though.

*For some reason this reminds me of the old Two Ronnies 'Four Candles / Fork Handles' joke

Uping the Ante

I tend to be a bit timid when it comes to spending money with the aim of  re-selling an item.  I'm always wary that items might only sell for the 99p starting bid on ebay - or, indeed, not sell at all.  I think the most I'd spent before now was £5.00 on a vintage picnic set and I still haven't got round to listing that for sale on ebay - I'll hang on for a few more months now.  Yesterday though I saw some stunning curtains for sale in the local charity shop

 
They are floor-length, cotton and linen mix fabric with this wonderful pattern of roses all over them.  Before I'd even realised they were by Laura Ashley, I knew they were lovely quality.  The fact that they were £7.50 for the pair did put me off for a nano-second and then I thought of the old adage 'you've got to speculate to accumulate.'  Having checked some of the sold prices for Laura Ashley curtains on ebay I think I'll make a profit on them but if they fail to attract enough bids to cover the purchase price I'll keep them as they would nicely fit the windows in our dining room.

 
So I think that's going to be a re-selling resolution for me in 2011 - stop being such a sissy and take a few risks.  Plus, I'm going to keep a record of what I buy, where I buy it, how much it costs, and how much it sells for.  I realised at the end of last year that I had no idea whatsoever of how much I made via re-selling over the past 12 months (nowhere near enough to pay income tax, that's for sure) and I'd like to be able to look back at the end of this year and work out what sold well, what I paid for it and how much it fetched.  At the moment I'm jotting things down in an old notebook but I'll keep my eye out for a heavily reduced in price 2011 diary in the next few weeks and will use that as a more permanent record.

 

Scottie Dogs Bookmark

The loveliest present I received this Christmas was from my sister.  She's never done cross-stitching before but made me this amazing Scottie Dog bookmark ('cause she knows how much I love Scottie Dogs).

 
It is so beautifully stitched and is so fine and intricate I don't know how she did it.  I certainly couldn't manage to sew anything so small so neatly.  Not only that, but she also made my Mum a gorgeous cross-stitch poppy bookmark too.

I'm in serious awe, and some envy, at being able to make such lovely items with no previous stitching experience.  S, they are a-may-zing, and thank you very very much.

Maneki Neko Embroidery

My sister has a small collection of waving Chinese cats (which I've just discovered are called Maneki Neko) so when I came across this free embroidery pattern I knew it would be just the ticket for her for Christmas.

 
Silly me forgot to take a photo of it when it was totally completed - fabric trimmed and glued to the back of edge of the embroidery hoop - but this is one I took once I'd finished all the stitching. 

Everything used to make it was thrifted or recycled - the hoop, the embroidery thread, the fabric -except the fabric glue which I had to buy new.  The trickiest part was trying to trace the pattern onto the fairly thick piece of vintage linen (the other part of the tablecloth that I made these gift bags from.)  I'm sure if you've got some sort of lightbox this would have been fairly easy but I was going for the taping the pattern and fabric to a window method.  The whole lot slid to the floor on numerous occasions, causing me to swear copiously at the time!!  It all worked out rather well in the end though and my sister was very pleased with it - as was I.  It looked particularly nice wrapped in tissue paper and presented in this gift bag (also made using totally thrifted / recycled materials.)

 

I've linked this post over at Apron Thrift Girl's Make Share post.

Now That's a Cheerful Sight to Welcome In the New Year

 
A teeny tiny little snowdrop spotted this morning in Mum's garden.  Makes me feel that spring may be just around the corner (I wish!!)