Button Christmas Wreath Ornament

Button Christmas Wreath Ornament

Christmas is not far away folks! Have you got your Christmas shopping done yet? How’s your Christmas decorating going?

This year I plan on making gifts however I haven't even made a thing yet. In my defence I do know what everyone is getting, so that is a start AND they are all relatively easy and affordable to make. Now that's a bonus on the hip pocket lol.

My Christmas tree has been up for about a week now but it’s still looking a little bare during the day. At night, the lights seem to fill in the spaces but I’m aiming to have a tree FULL of cream, gold and my recent colour addition, brown, over the course of a couple of years.

This is pretty much what last years tree looked like.


So much room for more decorations don’t you agree?

Here is the first ornament for this year which was inspired by Crafty Chix and was repinned onto Christmas: Trimming the Tree.


I used the cardboard from a cereal box for the base so both sides needed to be painted white to prevent the print and boring gray from show through, and guess what, I only had enough spray paint to make 4. That’s one of the problems when you use an almost half empty can of spray paint I guess.

I don’t know why but I like to have 12 of each ornament on my tree, so another 8 to go when I get some more paint.


Thanks for stopping by.

Jenni

Knit one… Drop one… Ooops

Most Sundays I head to the local markets to help Mum with her jewellery booth. Here in Australia we are in the middle of Winter and although it’s not as cold in the CQ area of Queensland (that’s my opinion anyway) it does get a bit nippley. Well last Sunday was no exception with most people rugged up in multiple jumpers and jackets, beanies and scarves and complaining how cold it is. It had also been raining that weekend as well. I must of been one of the crazy ones wearing just jeans and a flannelette shirt.

Anyways I’ve never been a fan of following fashions as I’m more of a fashion dont-sta than a fashion-ista, but I found myself checking out the knitted scarves that many of the ladies were wearing and thought ‘why not’?

Remembering that I had bought 4 balls of wool from the markets just because I liked the colours, I headed off to Spotlight on my way to picking the Codeman up from work, and bought myself a pair of size 8 knitting needles.

I wanted one that was very long and maybe have fringing on the ends like this one

source

and it had to have a soft, loose knit similar to this

source

After spending about a hour looking a YouTube vids on how to ‘cast on’ and ‘knit’, I proceeded to make my first scarf.

The first attempt was too wide and I somehow kept adding extra loops… ooops, so I started over.

Second attempt is being modelled on this display mannequin that I got from the resale area of the dump. I only used the knit stitch which is called a Garter stitch….. I think.




Because I wanted it to be long, I had to forgo the fringing but I still love it!!!
I remember trying to knit when I was a lot younger but for some reason never actually finished it, so I am very proud of this scarf. And what about those colours???? It’s actually got more green in it which isn’t showing in the pics with purple and black.
Hmmm now what can I make next??? Maybe some cushion covers so I can learn how to do the Perl  or cable stitch perhaps?
Maybe even something like this.

source

Oh and I bought something else in addition to the knitting needles but that is for a future post. I’ll give you a hint. It has something to do with the Kitchen Hutch.

Thanks for stopping by

Jenni

Today I am linking up to the following fabulous parties:

Funky Junk Interiors' SNS 141

Cherished Handmade Treasures: Creative Corner Hop #18

Natasha In OZ

30 Boxes in 30 Days: Update 6 Part 2

Here are the rest of the photos as promised in my last post of the stuff that I’ve been storing away in the 3 plastic containers I sorted through yesterday.

 

 

This Macramé hanger won 1st Place at the Bundaberg Regional show

 

These macramé hangers were made when I was in my mid teens many many years ago. I taught myself just from reading how-to books as there was no Internet back then and would knot them from a handle of a wardrobe in my room as I wouldn’t have been allowed to put up a ceiling hook to make it easier.

Hangers 1, 3 and 4 are my favourites and when I finally get the back patio cleaned and decorated I will be swapping these out every once in a while for a new look.

I’m seriously thinking of hanging number 5 out the front when I get those two chairs painted and reupholstered and the table there replace with something more to my liking.

Well that wraps up my 30 Boxes in 30 Days Challenge. There is still so much to sort through, and looking at the car garage and the other side of the garden shed, there are plenty more boxes to sort through to keep me busy for some time.

I bought a new front loader washing machine today so I need to clean the laundry before it arrives tomorrow. Don’t you just hate how those dust bunnies find areas to hide that are difficult for us mere mortals to reach???

Thank you for stopping by

Jenni

30 Boxes in 30 Days - Update 6

My decorating style has change from ‘Country’ in the mid 90’s to ‘New Country’, to my new style which is a work in progress but definitely eclectic. I guess it’s becoming a mix of Shabby Chic and French Provincial, mixed in with Junk Style.

Because of this change, it was time to sort through the 3 containers that I’ve been hiding keep sakes in that I just can’t bear to part with, as well as stuff that I’ve been collecting ever since I first started my decorating journey back in the mid 90’s.

This post is image heavy as I want to show off what I found in these boxes as they may not see the light of day for some time.

The first few collections were from my Mum’s collection. She allowed my sister and I to ‘fight’ it out between ourselves who got what, so we took turns. I picked something and then Sandra would pick something until one of us decided we had enough stuff for our own collection. That was me; however I now regret not continuing until the last item.

Dog Collection

 

Cat Collection

 

Random Animals Collection

Wall Vase Collection

Isn’t that green one horrendous lol. There are three little wood imps, two of which are poking their heads out from behind the vase. One is at the top left and the other is on the side right.

The little girl one used to have a matching vase of a little boy but it got lost…. long story 

Birds… of the two legged as well as the feathered variety lol

The following are from my own collection that were hiding in these 3 boxes.

Cherub Collection

I’ve got two more cherubs hiding in a box somewhere around the house. The ones on the top right I bought from the Rockhampton Swap Meet…. I think.

Handmade By Cody Collection (from his Pre-School and Primary School days)

Gifts From Cody Collection (there are heaps more displayed around the house)

High School Year Books (just a faded memory now)

There’s still a few more items that I found in those 3 boxes but I’ll show them in the next post as I’ve still got more photos to take.

As I finish each room, I will dig through these boxes again to create lovely vignettes to show off and inspire.

After sorting through/emptying/repacking 30 boxes, it doesn’t look like I’ve made a huge difference, with the exception of the floor space in the garden shed. At least I can finally walk in there without having to literally climb over stuff to find what I need

I start back at Uni next week so maybe after 2nd term finishes I might end up doing a ‘30 Boxes in 30 Day: Round 2’.

Total: 31 boxes in 27 days

Thanks for stopping by

Jenni

30 Boxes in 30 Days - Update 5

After my lame excuse of an update last night, I felt the need to redeemed myself. Sooooo after a good feed and washed the dishes afterwards. I sat on my butt…..

loosened my pants, well it was a really good dinner,

and went through my kitchen cabinets…..

If it wasn’t Tupperware or something I use at least once a year i.e. celebrations like Christmas and birthdays then it was cleaned, priced and packed.

I sorted through the Kitchen/Dining buffet cabinet

After clean out

and the kitchen hutch.

After clean out

They will eventually be home to my entertaining crockery and serving bowls as I get them. Ooops I forgot about needing to cover these shelves.

Today I emptied 5 boxes of stuff and priced, wrapped and packed 3 boxes of garage sale stuff and another box destined for the dump that may or may not end up in the resale area.

In addition to that, I went through a pile of paper work just before dinner that was cluttering up the ‘office’/spare room and ended up binning 1 box of rubbish.

Total: 28 boxes in 23 days

Oh my God… only two more boxes to go and I still have 7 days left!!! I’m almost tempted to sort through 2 more but I really need an early night tonight because I’m helping my Mum tomorrow at the Arcade Markets.

This is my reward for a day well done of sorting, pricing and packing and trying not to freak out when an escapee roach climbed up the insides of my jeans.

Jenni

30 Boxes in 30 Days - Update 4

Been extremely slack these last few days but I do have a really good reason. I finally worked up the motivation to work on some long need projects. Two kitchen chairs have now been stripped and the upholstery has been pulled off, and I’ve been working on a venetian blind which is also for the Kitchen/dining room.

This chair is now naked like the one you can just see in the far left in front of the go-cart.

and another view of one of the chairs waiting to get dressed

With the blind up to the staining stage, I am determined to catch up and get some more boxes sorted through. On my last trip to Bunnings Hardware, I picked up some more boxes to fill for an upcoming garage sale, date still to be decided, but it will be on a weekend when the Codeman takes a weekend off work. Now that he’s got a new job starting in a couple of weeks, it probably wont be until the New Year when they’re not as busy.

There are at least 5 boxes of garage sale stuff to sort through and price, so that’s on tomorrows to-do list. At least until I can gather up the funds to buy the stain for the blinds and more paint stripper for the kitchen chairs LOL.

Oh well, pack to it (get it???) Yeah I know, that was crap.

Total: 18 boxes in 22 days

Jenni

30 Boxes in 30 Days – Update 3

How is everyone today?

Since starting this challenge I have found that my mojo for craft and home decorating is coming back. The “dining” room has had a good going over with  a dust cloth and vacuum cleaner, and all junk that was dumped on the table are now properly stored or disposed of. I’ve done some more work on the kitchen chairs and have started cleaning a venetian blind I got from a local recycling business.

I also managed to get some sewing done as well. Just repairs; although I have got a project in mind for the bottom half of Cody’s full length jeans that he cuts off during the Summer months, but more about that project in a later post.

So here is the challenge update

Day 5 - Cleared 1 box that had some old toys that belonged to Cody when he was younger. They just need a bit of a clean up and will be perfect for my nephew Dominic whenever he and his Mum come to visit.

Day 7 - Sorted through a box of painting supplies in preparation for stripping and finishing off the kitchen chairs.

Day 14 - Been very slack these last few days but I have definitely made up for it today. Emptied 7 boxes of random “stuff” and filled 1 plastic storage box which now stores all my gardening gear…. AND I can now actually walk into my garden shed. Still got plenty of stuff to sort through in there but I’m very pleased with myself with todays achievement. Now where is that calamine lotion and Phenergan? I’ve now got a touch of hay fever and I’ve got bites all over me from the dust and the microscopic bities in that shed.

Total boxes to date: 18 boxes in 14 days.

Cheers