Hearts and flowers

I loved the inspiration of this photo and the words 'small steps to happiness' as I started my next project - floral heart favours.  Hobbycraft had a sale so I snapped up as many as I could of these heart shaped little boxes.  Paper mache again - so having found how absorbent it is, I decided to paint them first with ordinary undercoat paint.  It was rather thick and streaked a bit - so I had to go over it with white acrylic to try and smooth the strokes out a bit.

My daughter suggested filling the boxes with flowers so I raided my flower stock and experimented....

So far so good - daughter approved (always a good thing)


I decided the lids would look great covered with some lovely lacy hessian that I got in Texas last year (my favourite place to visit - home of my oldest and best friend)    ......



Next - adding a hessian twine loop to hang the favours....
I used my Dad's bradawl to poke a hole in the top of the box, then, using a large darning needle, I threaded a length of twine through and knotted it on the inside, trimming off the ends....



A bit of twine round the box to add a rustic feel ....



(Top tip - use PVC glue to stick the twine to the box, let it dry - and then the bow is sooo much easier to tie and fix without the whole lot slipping off...)

I decided to go with faux silk pink rose buds glued into the base of the box.  I needed something to hold the little plastic stems - gluing them to the paper mache wouldn't work.  Enter upcycled pizza packaging - thin polystyrene foam, ideal for what I needed.  Six roses fitted beautifully - the centres looked a bit plasticky, so I added a single white pearl bead to each rose.

The idea is for the box to be presented closed - the recipient opens it and gets a lovely surprise ....

The lid can then be pushed onto the back of the box so the hanging favour has two lovely sides to show as it turns in the breeze....






Ta da!

Old but beautiful

About 10 years ago, my mother who was a feisty, independent old lady, became bed bound and we had to clear her flat in South Africa; rather than sell precious things, I shipped many over to the UK. One was her sewing machine that my father had maintained in perfect condition for over 50 years. As far as I know it still works as well as it ever did!  It has its own cabinet which has survived three international moves without mishap; over the years it has been sanded down and revarnished by Dad to smarten it up and it still looks great, if venerable!

Mum taught me to sew on this machine, I used it to make my first, (truly awful), blouse, and my wedding dress, with many dresses, blouses, curtains and other projects in between.  Mum continued to sew well into her late 80s.  I have my own Brother machine, bought as part of my trousseau when I was 22, and I still use it 40 years on - although it is in dire need of my dear old dad's ministrations.

Neither Karen (who has her own sewing machine) nor I can keep this old machine any longer and I will try to sell it.  I have an image of it standing in a large sewing room, with a swatch of gorgeous fabric under the pressure foot, looking like the sewing machine version of the dowager countess from Downton Abbey!