Category: Hand-made

A Christmas list of handmades

It's been all about handmades this Christmas.

It started with crazily crafting for fund raising for the Children's Hunger Fund. Incidentally, I got an email from the people from the organisation, that a total of USD$835.00 was raised from Singapore! About 40% was raised from our sale of handmades, while the rest were from direct donations online. This is not a huge amount, but I consider it an achievement since Children's Hunger Fund had little or no awareness from this side of our world. This amount roughly translates to 16,700 additional meals for the hungry children! Every little effort to help was indeed significant!

My appreciation goes out to all the blogging moms friends (you know who u are smiley) who have helped to create the awareness needed for this fund amongst their friends and contacts. As well as fellow crafting friends, Pauline, Lena and Rachel, who spent so much of their time to painstaking make the handmades needed to raise the funds. Thanks once again for your time and effort, ladies!

Despite not being in a celebratory mood during Christmas, I still rejoiced…knowing that we were able to make a difference to someone else's life this year. And how about repeating this for Christmas next year, ladies? 

As for personal handmade gifts, since Christmas presents have all been opened, it now safe for me to post this without spoiling any fun for anyone.

I spent another 2 weeks, post Children's Hunger Fund-raising crafting…to make these items for family, friends and for myself cheeky

Kokeshi dolls on magnets

 

'Houses' – Needle felted on linen zipper pouch

 

'Greetings' – Needle felted + embroidery on a linen zipper pouch

 

'Matryoshkas' : on a cotton zipper pouch for myself!

I made matryoshkas hairclips for my friends' daughters, and each of my friends got a matryoshka brooch in a different shade.

 

'Snap' – Needle felted on a small linen pouch for myself, the self appointed family photographer

I am really enjoying needle-felting, so I will be making a couple more small zipper pouches for my friends, each with a personalised picture on the pouch. 

I hope to be making more handmades in the coming year, possibly considering to peddle them on my personalised etsy shop…will have to depend on how much time I have on hand, just have see how things pan out.

No Comments by Rachel on December 27, 2011
filed in Hand-made, Occasion

Wake me up when December is over

November was a crazy month for me.

It definitely has to be the crazy crafting behind the fund raising effort that really topped the crazy experience for me. I was almost crafting day and night, only stopping for meals and toilet breaks, and grudgingly going out with hb when he asked indecision

I still will want to do this fund raising next year, but will surely have to plan the crafting schedule way in advance.

So then, what is the 'fruit of my labour'?

Felt Electronic wire holders + keychains (for smart phone users)

 

Felt Double pin badges

Felt pin badges

 

Felt pin brooches

Some of them are available in sets from http://handmadesforcharity.blogspot.com/

Do pop by to view the items for sale before they get sold out.

Amid all the craziness, 2 birthdays were celebrated in November; Nick's and hb's.

As for December, it's more crafting again. All the ladies in my gifting list are all getting handmades from me!! Now it's back to the drawing board for some ideas…

1 Comment by Rachel on December 5, 2011
filed in Family, Hand-made

For the hungry children

On December 3, 2011, I had the priviledge to participate in a joint effort of fund raising for Children's Hunger Fund with 3 talented crafting moms, Pauline of Lil' Handmades who makes beautiful fabric clutches, pouches and wristlets, Lena of Happy Craft Store who creates realistic, drool-worthy felt playfood and Rachel of Scrappin' Love with her lovely paper craft products made with alot of love.

SCAPE park was not the most appropriate place really for an effort like this, when we were the only handmade 'shop' surrounded with stalls selling their used and musky hand clothing, and youths who are still children themselves, who barely gave a thought that their handmade purchase will help some under priviledge children.

Profits that we got that day reached slightly over $100 :(

Despite the lackluster sales, I throughly enjoyed the company of Lena, Rachel and Meredith at the event. Thanks ladies for the great effort!

Previously Pauline and I created this video on myplayschool.net's 'A Mom's World'' channel and featured Lena and Rachel and their creations.

YouTube Preview Image

These two ladies are fabulous moms who truly have a talent for their unique handmades!

Lena, Pauline and I have gathered all our fabric handmades and made them available online on this site http://handmadesforcharity.blogspot.com/

As Christmas is just round the corner, this is a good time that u can help those who are less fortunate and also get gifts for your friends, children and loved ones. Come support us in our bid to help the Children's Hunger Fund and help us spread the word!

1 Comment by Rachel on December 5, 2011
filed in Hand-made

Curious monkey

What is that brown little thing in front of Kyle?

Some say he looks kinda familiar

Is it George, Curious George?

Not Curious George…

He is just a curious bespectacled monkey riding a trike.

 

Made this monkey on a tricycle specially for my brother-in-law to be birthday, who owns a t-shirt of a monkey that looks very much like this little guy. This monkey with his tricycle was tough to make, especially when it came to his mouth and his tiny hands. Didn't occur to me that he would end up looking a little like Curious George though… 

6 Comments by Rachel on October 15, 2011
filed in Hand-made
tagged ,

A girl named Cate

her brown soulful eyes searches

for a friend 

that will never leave her side

 

My attempt at Haiku for my newest creation named Cate. She was named after a friend's 3 year old little girl as she looked alot like the latter. Little doll Cate ended being little girl Cate's birthday present.

 

she found a brown dog

who incidentally is

named after her favorite hue

Little doll Cate looked rather lonely, so I made a brown dog named Blu for her.

3 Comments by Rachel on October 10, 2011
filed in Hand-made
tagged

In the Details – Buntings for his ‘Crib’

There's something about buntings that seem to give a cheery boost to any corner of the room.

These days, bunting are not just used in parties or events, but commonly seen in interiors as well. especially for a child's bedroom. I would love to use a fabric bunting for the hall, but hb might start asking, "Are we having a party?"

So I confined my festive inspirations to Kyle's room with a string of mini felt buntings in his room's colour scheme of red, blue, yellow and green, and suspended it below the picture frames. Felt/fabric buntings are very lightweight, so it can be hung on almost anywhere in the house.

It is a really simple handmade to do. All you need is a few sheets of felt in the colours that you like, cut them into triangles of the same size, and tack it to a thicker string. I used mint and white bakers' twine here as normal sewing thread can be too thin and delicate for this.

 

Together with felt (what else?) hot air balloons mobiles hung from the ceiling, this corner of Kyle's room has become my favorite little corner in the house.  

Now how about another fabric bunting on this other corner of his room? Yes, my love of bunting is getting a bit too much…

Here's the tutorial for a fabric bunting if you would like to make a bunting for your kid's room.

2 Comments by Rachel on September 30, 2011
filed in Hand-made, Home
tagged ,

Some inspirations do end up in the trash

One quiet weekend afternoon while the boy is tucked comfortably in bed for his nap, I took a scissors, some coloured paper and did these scandinavian-styled paper cut-outs.

Took about an hour and a half, threaded a fishing line through it and planned to hang it someplace in the house.

Hung it up, took one look at it, decided it was simply too Hari-Raya-ish for the decor.

Maybe it was the colour…would have done better with greys, blue and olive shades. Or maybe it was too art-deco-liked, I have never been a fan of art-deco styles.

Some projects unfortunately do end up in the trash….an example of how an inspired moment becomes misconstrued and then goes obsolete and unappreciated. 

1 Comment by Rachel on September 19, 2011
filed in Hand-made
tagged

Crafty Thursdays – Ornaments are not just for Christmas

I like collecting objects.

Sure I would love to have lots of whimsical porcelain figurines around the house. But being a very practical person, I don't want to have 'white elephants' which will add clutter to the home.

Some people like to display vintage teacups, saucers, plates. But with the lack of choice we have locally, the next best thing is to have other objects that can double up as a display and can be used for the house.

My little collection of vases

The configuration of this table changes a little every other week, depending on whether these vases are needed elsewhere around the house. This collection of vases, with the exception of the white potted plant on the left, are all hand-me-downs from my mom…yes, even the twigs in the jug are from her. With a mom who has amassed a nifty collection of antiques and other useful stuff in her home, it is always pays to hang out at her home whenever she is spring cleaning, or in this case, when she was giving away stuff before moving to her new place.

How about those ornaments hanging on the twigs?

For this handmade, the use of felt birds and leaves inject life to dull brown twigs and it is a great way to introduce colour into an area. I have suspended the felt bird ornaments with a thin fishing line that looks almost invisible against a white wall. So with a light breeze stirring the felt birds, they will look almost surreal, fluttering in the wind. 

This handmade is easy to do, just need to print out this pattern and follow the simple instructions. I promise that there will be very minimal hand-sewing to do ;) This is fun and easy especially if this is your first time crafting with felt. Felt can be easily purchase from Daiso or Spotlight and similar looking twigs can be found at Far East Flora @ Upper Thomson Road for about $6.50 per bunch.

Just some tips for this craft:

1. Use normal cotton sewing thread (not cross stitch thread) in the same shades as the felt that you choose. 

2. Cut out the paper pattern and paste it on the felt with sticky tape, it will be much easier to cut out the pattern from the felt.

3. Do try to use the most 3 shades of the birds,to match the colour story that you have in the area where this is displayed. More than 3 shades will look too busy.

 

Here are some ideas how you can use these felt cutouts in different ways :

- You can combine a few of these ornaments on a string and hang it at your window, attach a bell and you have a whimsical wind chime

- A baby mobile can be made with these using fishing lines and twigs, just make sure that the cut outs and twigs are secured safely!

Would really love to see the unique ways that these felt birdie ornaments are used in your home decor. Have fun making this craft!

7 Comments by Rachel on September 8, 2011
filed in Hand-made, Home
tagged , ,

Tea on Thursdays

Iced green tea. Violet red baby Carnations and Carums

 

It's been terribly hot the last couple of days, or is it just me? Nothing beats having a refreshing iced green tea on a hot, hot day.

I am into the 3rd week in this new abode and this is the 3rd bunch of flowers that I have bought for the home thus far. And I have to conclude that this florist that I have been buying from has a limited range of flowers, I guess having $10-14 budget a week will not give me much variety to start with. I guess I am just a cheap fresh flowers lover and will go with colour stories, rather than variety of flowers. Wish flowers were more affordable locally though…

I am sure some of you prefer to go with fake flowers for the home, as fresh flowers can't survive for long. However, if you want to start buying fresh flowers for your home on a weekly basis, do try these tips which have helped my fresh flowers survive at least for 7-8 days; 

1. Cut all the stems of the flowers in a 45 degree sharp cut, that makes them soak up water much better.

2. Remove the leaves that will be under water in the arrangement, but do not remove thorns from roses as it tends to shorten their life.

3. Use plain, lukewarm water for most cut flowers, Change water in the vase every 2 days.

4. Keep cut flowers away from fruit, which releases a gas that causes flowers to age faster.

Usually 7-8 days is good enough for me, as I prefer to refresh the fresh flowers in the living area on a weekly basis. Here are 8 more ways to help your flowers last longer. I have yet to to try these methods, so do share your experience if you have tried any of these methods that has worked for you.

Felt Citrus Coasters

 

Just completed this hand-made for the home; Citrus Coasters. Love this for a home with a neutral palette, as it will certainly brighten up the dining/coffee table. I was rather conflicted when I completed this handmade, could not decide if I should keep it for myself or give it to a friend for her house-warming. I finally gave in and decided that my home needed them more then hers at this point ;P

You can get the pattern and the instructions to make this coasters here.

We are finally into the September school holidays starting today! Need to start planning what to do to keep the little man busy for the coming week.

8 Comments by Rachel on September 1, 2011
filed in Hand-made, Home
tagged , ,

Teachers’ Day handmade

Last year we made an 'avant garde' paper floral arrangement for the teachers, this year I decided to spare Kyle's teachers the torture by presenting them with something simplier.

Felt 'Bird cage' key holders

A simple craft that took only about 3 hours and looks presentable enough for a handmade gift. Drop me a note here or in FB if you want the pattern for this.

2 Comments by Rachel on August 28, 2011
filed in Hand-made, Kyle's World
tagged

  • Closeups

  • All it takes is USD 5

  • All about Home-learning

  • My other blogs

  • Categories

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Tags