Festive Face-Off :: Christmas Wreath ::

A while back, Country Baskets asked me to take part in this years bloggers festive face-off. They kindly sent me and a collection of other bloggers a box of crafty goodies, we then put our crafty skills to the test to create a festive decoration with the supplies we were provided with.

I was so thrilled with the contents of the box when it arrived, it all looked so wintery and crisp and I was immediately inspired.

After much deliberation I decided on a wreath for our front door, something reasonably simple and classic. I used the wire to form a ring, using a large mixing bowl to help me get the shape and size right, I then carefully twisted the ends around the ring and finished them off with a little tape, just to keep the ends from poking out rather than to keep it in place as twisting did that just fine.

I then grabbed the biggest crochet hook I could find and using the ribbon and double crochet I worked all the way around the ring. This bit was quite tricky to get going, but once I got the hang of it was a breeze and worked up so quickly. I particularly love how the crochet ribbon not only covers the wire but also provides perfect little pockets for inserting decorations.

Next came the difficult task of deciding what to add to my wreath. In the end I used the mistletoe, the snow like pom poms and a few of the bells from the hanging bell decoration, using the little pockets created by the crochet to put them in place.

I'm so thrilled with my end result. It's proudly hanging on my front door and I love the little tinkle of bells it creates every time I come open the door.

If you fancy having a go at making your own you can find all the supplies I used over on the Country Baskets website.

Festive Crafting :: Hama Bead Baubles ::

On Sunday afternoon, the lovely Bex popped round for some hama bead lessons from the expert on such things in our house, Milo. Well, one thing led to another and all of a sudden I found myself getting slightly over excited about the possibilities of hama bead Christmas decorations!

Inspired by these gorgeous hama bead creations, found on pinterest, of course! I set about making some baubles, Milo made a couple too. I cannot wait to get our Christmas tree at the weekend so we can put them up in pride of place!

I am, oh so tempted by these gold Hama Beads I just found on Amazon! Think of all the possibilities!

Box Pencil Case :: A Crochet Pattern ::

I have a love affair with washi tape and pencils with rubbers on the end. They are very much two of my favourite things. Unfortunately they are also two of my cat's favourite things. He loves nothing more than to bat these treasures of mine around the room, until they get trapped under the abyss of the sofas. Therefore I am forever battling the dust bunnies that reside under said sofas to retrieve them and I'll tell you something else, cat chewed washi tape loses some of it's original beauty.
So I decided what I really needed was a new pencil case, especially for these particular treasures.
Getting the sewing machine out seemed like a bit of a daunting challenge, but I have learnt how to hold a baby and crochet, so a crochet pencil case it was to be.

If you fancy making your own pencil case to prevent cat stationary attacks or maybe as a quick Christmas gift, I've shared my pattern with you below.

Enjoy x

This Week ::

A round up of some of my favourite moments from my Instagram this week ::

Book Review :: The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak ::

The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak was sent to us to review the week that Milo was off school ill and it was the perfect thing to cheer him up.

On receiving the copy I excitedly declared to Milo, 'we've got a new book to read, it's called The Book with No Pictures', his immediate response was clear disappointment. 'What? Are there really no pictures, it'll be boring'.
Of course there really aren't any pictures, none at all, not even one, but that doesn't make this book any less entertaining, in fact it makes it even more so.
Milo was in complete hysterics throughout and couldn't wait for his Dad to get home to 'trick' him into reading it too.
I don't want to give too much away so as to spoil it for you, but here are some of Milo's thoughts ::

I thoroughly recommend this book it will be a great addition to christmas stockings and cause great hilarity on Christmas day getting various grown up family members to read it!

Below is a great video of B. J. Novak himself reading it ::

You can get the book here.

**we were kindly sent this books to review but all thoughts are our own.