How To... Make A Set Of Coasters Using Old CDs and Lace

Today I'm re-sharing one of my most popular posts to date. I came up with this really simple How To after thinking about how I could use unwanted items around the house, such as old CDs and paint tester pots and reinvent them as something new rather than throwing them away. Find out how to make your very own set of coasters here. Check out my recipe for the white chocolate, rosewater and pistachio cakes pictured too! Happy making!

How To... Thrifty Plant Name Labels!

On Sunday I posted this How To for Chalk Painted Terracotta Pots and today I wanted to share the How To to make these really thrifty plant name labels! They are really easy to make by recycling materials you easily have to hand. Here's the How To...

1) You will need

Pretty papers from old magazines, A flat piece of plastic food packaging- I used a lid, PVA glue or Modge Podge, paintbrush, lolly sticks- you can easily buy these in craft or food stores, but it's much more fun and thrifty if you treat yourself to some ice lollies!

2) Cut the plastic food packaging to the size and shape you'd like for your labels. I've free hand cut mine as I'm going for the rustic look, but you could draw a shape onto the plastic with permanent marker first if you wanted to. Hearts or cloud shapes would look pretty- I might make some of those next!

3)Tear the magazine pages into small pieces and collage together on the plastic pieces using the PVA or Modge Podge, overlapping at the edges. I've only covered one side of my labels as the other side won't be visible in my plant pots, but you could collage both sides if you wanted to. Leave to dry

4) Trim the edges

5) There are a couple of options to use for the lettering on your labels. The most thrifty way is to cut letters from the magazines places to then collage onto the labels

Or, if you have an alphabet stamp set, you could use these to stamp your plant names as I've done with mine, stamping the names onto brown paper and then gluing onto the label back

6) Stick the lolly sticks to the back of the labels using the PVA or a strong all purpose glue and leave to dry

That's all there is to it, it's a super simple How To! Display in your herb, plant or flower pots. 

These labels aren't weather proof- I keep my herbs on the windowsill in the kitchen and put them outside on sunny days. I think a coat of varnish or even laminating the labels could be the solution to making them weather proof, if your plants live outside in all weathers. 

I'd love to see your gardens, be they conventional or balcony or window box. Share your green space in the comments!

How To... Make Recycled Fabric Wrapped Bangles With Two Variations

I had some neglected  plastic bangles in my jewellery box that I hadn't worn for ages, so I decided to give them a makeover! This is a really simple How To... but I think you'll agree, the bangles you create are very pretty and it's a very thrifty make too. How about recycling the pretty fabric from an old top to make a matching set of bangles and adding beads from the broken necklace that you love but you know you'll never get fixed? Oooh and they also make great gifts! Here is a tutorial for making the basic recycled fabric wrapped bangles and a couple of variations- happy making!

For a basic fabric wrapped bangle;

1) You will need

PVA glue, paintbrush, plastic or wooden bangles, strips of fabric

Note on fabric: My strips of fabric were aprox half an inch thick and 25/30 cm long. For one small bangle I used aprox two and a half fabric strips. For a larger bangle it may be easier to cut wider strips of fabric, to cover the bangle quicker

 2) 

Add a small amount of PVA glue to the inside of your bangle and add the end of your first fabric strip. It's much easier (and less messy!) to only add glue to the inside of the bangle, rather than gluing the fabric!

3) Start to wrap!

Wrap your fabric strips around the bangle, overlapping it slightly. After each couple of wraps, add some more glue to the inner bangle to secure the sfabric. Wrap until the entire bangle is covered, securing you end with PVA glue on the inside of the bangle. Leave to dry

4) It's finished!

It's as simple as that to transform a boring unused bangle into something pretty. You could leave your bangle plain like this, or read on for further ideas!

Fabric wrapped bangle with chain

1) You will need

The materials listed above for the basic fabric wrapped bangle, old jewellery chain, tube of all purpose strong glue, fabric wrapped bangle

2) Follow the How To... above to make a fabric wrapped bangle

3) Choose your chain!

 I got this necklace in a bundle of old jewellery on ebay and immediately knew that the tangled chain would be great used in a How To..! The chains on this necklace were quite easy to break off by twisting them, but if your chain is made of stronger stuff, you may need to use a small pair of pliers to remove the chain. You can experiment with different weights of chain to give your bangles a different look

4) Add a thin squeeze of your strong all purpose glue to the inside of your bangle and use to stick the end of your chain

5) Wrap your chain!

Wrap the chain around the fabric covered bangle, using the strong glue to secure it in place on the inside of the bangle on every couple of wraps. Leave to dry

6) It's finished!

That's all there is to it- pretty effective and very simple

Fabric wrapped bangle with beads

1) You will need

The materials listed for the basic fabric wrapped bangle, beads removed from an old necklace (I have used glass pearls from the tangled chain necklace), needle and thread, fabric wrapped bangle

2)  Follow the How To... above to make a fabric wrapped bangle

3) Remove the beads from the necklace

How you remove the beads depends on the necklace you have- I was able to remove the glass pearls from my necklace using a small pair of pliers, but it may be as simple as snipping a cord. You can use as many or as few beads as you wish, depending on how heavily you'd like the bangle to be embellished

4) Stitch your beads onto the bangle

Stitch the beads to the bangle in any pattern you wish, catching the thread between the wraps of fabric. This is easy to do as the fabric is only glued to the inside of the bangle

5) Ta-dah! 

That's all there is to it, so simple but so effective

Enjoy wearing your lovely updated bangles!

Adventures with Fair Isle part 2

My adventures in learning Fair Isle have continued today, in a beautifully sunny studio (seeing the sun makes everything that much better!). 

Following on from my last post, I'm at the starting point of developing a new collection. I'm not sure what direction this project is going to take me in at the moment- all I know is that my ultimate goal is to produce a new jewellery collection. Also, although I'd like Fair Isle to be the main focus, I would like it to be a little different. So today I've been experimenting and recycling! I've cut fabric strips from an old lace skirt, jersey fabric from an old tunic top and strips of blue mock silk scarves that a friend kindly donated to my cause and used these to knit in Fair Isle patterns. Here are the results!

Ok, so the first attempt at the seed stitch using the lace and the scarf fabric wasn't a great success, but I love the way the lace has knitted up

This is a seed stitch pattern that alternates two coloured strands across the rows- really liking this effect. I need to try this with more contrasting colours and fabrics so the effect stands out much more

A three coloured pattern- I will experiment with using different fabrics in this way to highlight the pattern more clearly

How to... Make a D.I.Y Fabric Pin Board

One of my goals for the blog this year is to start featuring regular tutorials, so welcome to the very first in my "How to..." series... How to make a D.I.Y Fabric Pinboard! 

This is a great way to jazz up that boring cork pin board you may have in your study/studio/kitchen and is also a good way to use up any odd bits of fabric and wadding you may have. You could even use the fabric from an old dress or jumper, so it's a handy recycling project and you get something useful (and pretty) at the end!

1). You will need...

You will need a cork notice board, scissors, a staple gun and staples, wadding in your chosen thickness (I used 4oz) and a piece of fabric large enough to cover your board

 2). Cut wadding to size

Cut your wadding to size, allowing aprox. 3 inches extra all the way around your board. If you'd like a thicker padded board you could use a double thick layer of wadding

3). Staple your wadding to the board 

Staple your wadding to the board, taking care to only staple onto the wooden frame. Carefully pull the wadding taught to avoid a saggy finish

4). Cut your corners

You may need to trim some excess wadding away from your corners to avoid a bulky finish

5). Cut away excess wadding

Trim away any excess wadding

 6). Attach your fabric

Now your pin board starts to take shape! Cut your fabric to fit around your board and allow aprox. 3 inches extra all the way around your board. Staple into place over the top of the wadding, still taking care to only staple into the wooden frame

7). Neaten your corners

Trim the excess corners of your fabric in the same way as you did your wadding and fold into a neat shape. Staple a couple of time to keep secure

8). The final trim!

Trim away any excess fabric to neaten the back

9). Yay, it's finished!

Use your board to hold shopping lists and notes, or images and drawings, photos, magazine clippings, jewellery, or anything else you like! I'm using this one as part of my jewellery display and I've found map pins really useful for holding pieces in place.

Decorate your board with strips of ribbon, lace, mini bunting, the possibilities are endless! You could also attach ribbon or a hook to hang the board, or sit it on canvas display stands, as I will do with this board.

I'd love to see photos of your pin boards if you give it a go and I'd love to know what you're using them to display!

Happy 2014!

For my last blog post of 2013 I want to say thank you to all of you who have supported me throughout the year, I love being able to meet so many lovely people doing this. Hearing your comments and feedback is very helpful to me and it's much appreciated.

Harris Tweed Brooch from the 2013 collection

To give you an insight into what's to come, there'll be some new products and themes to my work in 2014. I'm currently just starting work on a new collection, the first experiments for which I hope to share with you very soon! I don't believe that you ever stop learning in craft, as in life, and I'd like 2014 to be a year of learning, and challenge- the theme of the new collection certainly offers both, I'll keep you posted!

I am also aiming to develop my Etsy shop in 2014- I'd like this to be a major focus, to get Louise Dawson Design out there and introduce handmade craft into peoples lives!

A big goal is to develop the Make Do and Mend/recycling themes within the work I'm making and to reflect this ethos much more strongly through my blog. Working as a Designer/Maker, by the very nature of my work I'm always creating new objects, but I don't want this to be at the expense of the planet! I'm currently sourcing more pieces to up-cycle and re-purpose into my work.

Another aim of 2014 is to get you more involved- I'm excited about the idea of developing tutorials for the blog based on the Make Do and Mend/recycled textile theme- watch this space! If there's anything you'd like to see, do let me know!

So there we have it, I've put it into writing now so I had better get cracking!

Wishing you all a very happy and creative 2014!