IT'S TIME FOR SOME SNOWMAN SOUP - WITH A FREEBIE!

Brrrrrr........   It's cold out there and the time has come to hurry home, get into the comfy warm sweater and your favourite snuggly slippers and slurp away on a lovely mug of snowman soup - Mmmmmm.......

If you would like to make some for gifts to cheer up a fellow chilly mortal, the ingredients and a freebie printable label are below.

click here to download the front of the label

click here to download the back of the label

Download both files and print on either side of card stock, cut out labels and punch a hole for ribbon to go through

Then get some cello cone bags (I got mine on e-bay from Dummigan123 and they cost £3-75 for 50.  Not bad eh!) or a largish plastic bag. (you can pop everything into the corner of the bag to make a cone shape)
Next I cut about a third off one of the bags and fill the little cone with some instant chocolate/cocoa power.  I measure out enough to make a cup of chocolate and then seal it.  Then I pop it into another cone and add some marshmallows - lots of little ones are nice to float on the top - and some Milky Way Magic Stars.

These are popped on top of the chocolate in the bag and a candy cane is stuck on top to stir with.
Then I tie it all up with ribbon and add the label - free download above - and voila! Snowman soup!

Have a little go.  They are so easy to make and are always welcome on a chilly winters eve  ;)

ALL AT SEA

 

For the past year the Tiddlers have been OBSESSED by sealife. As you will probably have noticed in previous posts their rooms are little underwater havens, populated by a million fluffy sea creatures, and it would appear that their mission in life is to keep me occupied making all manner of amigurumi fishes etc. to add to the collection.

This is my summer's list of achievements, which the Tiddlers till now were very happy with, but having seen a post by disorderly-twinings, they have discovered I have haven't finished the whole set - shock horror!!!
So guess who's been commissioned to make lobsters.  I just hope they don't spot a pattern for a whale!

FREEBIE FLAT OBLONG BOX WITH EDITABLE TEXT

In between sorting out advent calendars to send to Father Christmas for delivery to the Tiddlers on the 1st of December, I have been trying to design a flat box, with editable text, for my friend Michelle.

She has been beavering away making the most beautiful beaded necklaces, earrings and bracelet, and needed a stylish box selling them.

This is what I came up with

The box opens up flat so a necklace can be placed on a wadding insert and then the box can be folded up round it and the tab slotted in under the seal.

The nice thing about it is it's easy to cut out, and only needs scoring and folding and the only glue you need is to stick on the seal, which you can cut out with a 1" round punch.
The text can be edited by highlighting the 'Your Text Here' and replacing it with your own text.  If you don't want the text just leave the space blank.

If you would like the editable pdf file of the box it's available for you to download below. It fits onto an A4 sheet of card - the heaviest you can get through your printer - and measures 7.5 x 2.5 inches when folded.

click here to download freebie file 

I hope you can find a use for it and perhaps you could send me a photo of how you've used it.

Enjoy!

THE CONTINUING TALE OF ROBIN'S ROUND TABLE (WITH FREEBIE CUTTING FILES)

So it was over to me..

First there was the problem of what to use to cover the table.
Seven foot of table takes a lot of covering!  Inspiration struck and a red kingsize flat sheet was purchased.

Then table mats.
I didn't want to be cluttered up with fourteen sets of anything Christmassy for the rest of the year.  So out with the trusty Craft Robo and fourteen snowflake table mats were cut out of photo paper together with matching wine glass decorations. So pretty, just the right size and perfect.

If you would like the files for the tablemats and wine glass decorations they are here for you to download.  They come in .GSD, .studio and .SVG formats, so hopefully there will be something that you can make use of. - enjoy!

Download Snowflake Table Mat Cutting Files 

Download Wine Glass Decorations Cutting Files

Next Christmas table gift boxes.  I had seen a file on the internet here at Extreme Cards, of a snowflake top box which would fit in so well with the theme (There are so many wonderful ideas on this site) So once again it was Craft Robo time and with some red mirror board that problem was quickly solved.

Some time before I had downloaded a file from here at Computer Crafted by Gigi,(another site for great cutting files) for wine glass coasters for a party we had had and I thought I could use the idea to make coasters with our names on, firstly as place cards and then to stop the inevitable problem of whose glass is whose later in the meal, and with cold season upon us it seemed a good idea.  So back to the Craft Robo and these were made.

As you can see the whole table looked SPLENDID!

Only one problem (there's always one isn't there?) Just a small one.  The only people who could actually reach things in the center of the table, were the six footers amongst us.  Thankfully we have a lot of those in the family, but they were busy during lunch ;0)

IT ALL STARTED WITH THE TABLE ......

Last Christmas there were fourteen coming for Christmas Lunch. PANIC!!

Our new round table, which I had bought and restored earlier in the year would only seat eight at the most, so what to do?

DIY Husband to the rescue - Dan-Da-Da-Dah....!

First there was the measuring to be done. How much space would each person need? Much measuring of seats, elbow room calculation etc.  Circular or square table? How high?  Oh! decisions, decisions.

Then out with the calculator and ruler and he disappeared into the garage, not to be seen again for some considerable time. But when he did re-appear it was with Robin's Round Table.
 

Seven feet in diameter, It was HUGE!

but it would seat all of us very comfortably and we would all be able to chat to one another without craning round the person next to us. King Arthur eat your heart out!

PERFECT!!

Now it was my turn .........

LANTERN'S GLOW CARD AND GIFT LABEL - DOWNLOADABLE AND PRINTABLE WITH EDITABLE GREETINGS

I made these cards a couple of years ago and by golly weren't they a success!
They are so different from most Christmas cards and because they are 3d will stand very happily on their own and, I found, take pride of place on mantlepieces!

 

I have made the file so you can edit all the text, personalising it for each recipient by just highlighting the 'your text here' and replacing it with your own greeting.

They really are so simple to make, and only require scissors, a craft knife (not essential, but useful) and a bit of double sided tape or glue.

They fit into a C6 envelope and in the UK can be sent by standard 2nd class mail

I've also added an editable gift tag to go with the card to make it an all round package.

I hope you'll have a go at these.  They really are worth the effort and believe me yours will be the Christmas cards that will be noticed and remembered.
Mine were :0)

This file is available from my Etsy store for £1-50p  Instant download .pdf

ANOTHER COUPLE OF LITTLE FREEBIES FOR YOU!

I've been doing some cards lately for a friend and needed a 'Happy Birthday' greeting to pop in them. So I came up with this which I hope might be useful for some of you out there.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD RED HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLIP

They are.png files so have transparent backgrounds which can be popped anywhere in your document without causing any 'white box' issues.

 CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD BLUE HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLIP

I hope you find them as useful as I did.

Enjoy!

p.s.   As usual these are for personal use only and please don't pass them off as your own, or sell them on in any way.  Thanks - hug!

SANTA'S CHRISTMAS LANTERN ADVENT CALENDAR BOXES, WITH EDITABLE AND PRINTABLE LETTER FROM SANTA AND 'TASK' INSERTS

  A couple of years ago I made these cute little lanterns as Advent calendars for the Tiddlers and they were so admired by everyone that I decided to put them into a downloadable and editable PDF file.  

 The idea originally had been to hang them up using little pegs, but after the problems of the year before when the calendar was mysteriously empty by the 8th of December, it was decided that the Santa would send his Christmas Elf to deliver them daily instead. So on the 1st of December a letter arrived from Santa introducing Elfred the Christmas Elf.

Inside the lanterns, there was a joke, a gift (usually a sweet) and a task to be performed that day, which if carried out would ensure Elfred would look kindly on them and deliver a lantern overnight for the next day.

   
Now, our Elfred has a wicked sense of humour and hid the lanterns in different places every day, so as you can imagine great fun was had running around in the morning trying to find them!


The lanterns themselves were very quick and easy to make - just as well as I had to make 72, owing to a little cousin getting in on the act!

Requirements for making the Calendar

1. The PDF download - which includes the 24 lantern boxes, a fully editable letter from Santa and 24 editable  'task for today' inserts for the boxes - available below

2. 12 sheets of A4 size good quality photo paper, 240gsm preferably or the heaviest card that will go through your printer for the boxes

3. 2 sheets of A4 card for the inserts

4. 1 sheets of A4 card for the Santa Letter

5. A pair of scissors

6. Double sided sticky tape,

7. And maybe, if you're bold enough, some little pegs to hang them up with.

The 'tasks' inserts can be edited by highlighting and replacing the 'your text here' with the task of the day, and the letter from Santa can be fully edited with all the text being replaced in the same manner or if you prefer just the names where indicated

The pdf file has two boxes per page and instructions for putting them together.  The boxes themselves measure 3.5inches high (excluding the hanger) by 1.75 inches at the widest point and as you can see a individual size Haribo packet of sweets fits inside very nicely.

I hope you have as much fun making them as I did and your Tiddlers aren't outsmarted by your Christmas Elf.

Lantern's Glow Advent Calendar Boxes
Price - £4-00p

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY BOXES - ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S A FREEBIE!

It's so nice to be able to put that special little gift into a personalised box, one that is specially just for you.  Gift boxes to buy are now such an horrendous price that it does make you just go running for a bit of wrapping paper.

The label on this box can be edited by highlighting 'text here' and typing in your own wording and the box itself is easily cut out and made with the use of just a small amount of glue or double sided sticky tape.  I use as thick a card as I can get through the printer or heavy photo paper, making sure that all the folds are scored and sharply folded.

So download the PDF file below and get printing and sticking

Download PDF file - click here 

I hope you can find a use for it and that it makes the recipients day.

TO ALL MY FABULOUS FOLLOWERS . . .

I have a request for all of you.

It's so difficult to decide what to put on the blog.  What you find of interest, what you would like to know how to do, what freebies you would like.

So if you could all leave me a quick comment giving me a hint, I'll be able to tailor the blog to suit you all - hopefully :0)

I know many of you have Cricut machines and I have been trying to find a way of converting my silhouette , gsd files to something you can use.  If anyone can help me with this I would be grateful and then I can add a few freebies to the blog that will be suitable for you.

Many thanks for your continuing support, you have no idea how much it means to me.

AND - WE'RE BACK!

After the most hectic summer imaginable - owing to all the fabulous weather we've had - I've just realised that I haven't posted anything for months. Where did the time go?
Two of the main time pinchers were the Tiddlers and then there was Chloe.

 

 
Chloe is our much adored, very special and cherished classic caravan.  She's just over 40 years old and is a Cheltenham Springbok.  We've had her for about 25 years and in that time she's been a two berth, a four berth and now back to being a two berth again.  She's the last of five Cheltenhams we've had over the years, which we have restored and reluctantly sold on.  They all have had names, Genevieve, Araminta, Daisy (A van used by Cooper Cars as a hospitality van at race meets) and Lottie. 

Although her general appearance is very traditional, we couldn't live without our comforts - we're knocking on now and like a little luxury - so we've got hot and cold water, double glazing, a shower, the cassette loo and a microwave, and quite frankly we can't find another caravan to outclass our Chloe.

The design is amazing and we can't for the life of us figure out why it has never been copied by the newer companies. It is so stable to tow and the interior layouts mean that you can happily have 8 or 9 people in for drinkies without crowding and the size of the kitchen surfaces is huge.

Inside it's like a little country cottage with oak lined walls.  I suppose it's not everyone's cup of tea, but we have never been on a site where someone hasn't come up and admired it.

The other time pinchers, The Tiddlers, have also been caravanning with us with Mum and Dad in their Cheltenham Springbok - they tend to get in the blood - and so we've all been galavanting around the countryside enjoying the best of Britain

and it's been glorious!

STUNNING!

Number 1 Tiddler decided to make a cake for Little Brother and this was the result

Bearing in mind that Number 1 Tiddler is only just 7, I was just blown away by her creation.
She bought herself some angel cakes, some pre-made moulding icing and some merengues and set to to make an Occy, a Nemo, a Cuttlefish in a cave and a 'pearl' 5 in an oyster shell.

Looks like we older members of the family crafty clan are going to have to up our game. We have serious competition!!

PHEW- IT'S BEEN A BUSY SUMMER SO FAR!

Life has been really hectic in the last couple of weeks. 

Because, in England, we have had unseasonably hot weather, I've been tearing around trying to get all the outside jobs finished before the inevitable rain begins to fall again, working on the theory if it's fine I'll stay outside because it might be my last chance.

Also, both the Tiddlers have had birthdays, so it's been cake and candles all round for a couple of weeks. 

Sealife has become the 'thing' at the moment, so they both have had their bedrooms papered with sealife murals - not easily done I might add when working in thirty degrees and the glue drying before the paper hits the wall - however it was managed eventually and the result was stunning.

The dolphins are HUGE but with their smiley faces they seem very friendly.  It really is like being under sea. A wonderful effect.  Particularly at night with the low lighting, it's just magical!

WHAT WAS I MAKING WITH THIS???

I'm a bit of a butterfly when it comes to making things.  I start them and then get sidetracked and the project gets popped into a carrier bag and forgotten, until sometime in the future I remember it and fish it out only to find that I haven't a clue what it was eventually meant to be.

My other problem is that I tend to get very inventive and use bits of maybe two or three patterns when making say, a sweater or cardigan.  Now at the time this seems a really good idea, but when I pick it up again - doh! - I haven't a clue what I had in mind when I stashed it away a couple of months ago.

So.....
I designed these labels to stick on or in the bag with the (for the moment boring) project giving all the details of what it was all about and all the bright ideas I had for it - and it works!

 Phew... sanity saved.

So if your sanity also could do with a bit of saving the file is here for you to download and print off.  There are eight labels on an A4 piece of card, so they are quite economical as well. ;0)

                                     Click here to download Project Labels

Please, as usual, be kind.  It's for personal use only so don't sell them or pass it off as your own work in any way.

FREEBIE EDITABLE AND PRINTABLE GIFT AND CARE INSTRUCTION LABELS FOR CRAFTS, CROCHET AND KNITTING

 

It's so nice, after you have lovingly laboured over your hand crafted gift, to be able to present it with smart printed labels, one for the recipient and one giving care instructions for your gift.

I've been looking for something suitable for ages and as I can't find just what I need I knuckled down and made my own.

                                       Click here to download label file

These labels are in pdf format and can be easily edited, by highlighting and typing in, to show the names and care instructions for your gift.

Feel free to download the file for your personal use, but you may not sell on the file or pass it off as your own in any way.

PEAPOD & SWEETPEA, THE DOOR DRAGONS - NEW FREEBIES

Peapod The Door Dragon has turned out to be very popular with the Tiddlers but I've been asked if there is any way to add a name to the hanger to make it a bit more personal and therefore a bit more comforting.

So here are two new door hangers for you to download and print. Peapod and his little sister Sweetpea.  Both are editable so you can add the name you require and then print off.

                           CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PEAPOD FILE

                        CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SWEETPEA FILE

The files are PDFs but most computers have Adobe Reader installed so it should be easy enough to open them.
When it is opened, to add the name you want, just highlight the 'Name Here' and type in the name and then print it either on both sides of a bit of A5 card or on two pieces and cut round them and stick them together.  I usually then laminate them for extra strength.

THEY ARE BOTH BRAVE LITTLE DRAGONS, AND ARE ALWAYS READY TO SEE OFF ANY SCARY THINGS, SO THE GROWN-UPS CAN LEAVE IT TO THEM!
- contented sigh ;0)

'THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING SCARY UNDER THE BED'

The number of times I've heard that at 8 o'clock at night. A Tiddler who has been reading Grimms Fairy Tales with delight at 5 o'clock, is now faced with the big dark bedroom and suddenly those stories seem a bit too real.
So I came up with an idea.  I welcolmed Peapod into our family.  Now - Peapod is only little, but he can be very fierce if he sees something scary, and will easily chase it away.  So if you hang him on your bedroom door or somewhere where he can see you and the whole room, he can look after you all night so you can snuggle down and get some well earned rest, all ready for another bout of Grimms Fairy Tales tomorrow.

If you want to make a Door Dragon, download and print the file below.  I've made it so it makes two (you can either print it double sided or print two and stick them back to back and then cut them out.  I've found that either laminating them or covering them with sticky back book cover plastic helps them stand the strain of room guarding a little better)

I hope this works with your Tiddlers as well as it did with mine and you get a few evenings peace and quiet. :0) 

If you do download Peapod, can you leave a comment and let me know if he is keeping guard in your house. I like to keep an eye on him and make sure he's doing his job properly.

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