H is for Haberdashery

I can spend hours looking through the ribbons, buttons, fabric, felt and beads in haberdashery shops. The quirky, independent ones are the best… the ones where tasteful pearl buttons and hessian rub shoulders with tangerine marabou trim and cross-stitch teddy bears.

I hope you’ll find today’s selection of pins falls on the tasteful side!

H is for Haberdashery (with a festive twist)

{I Heart Nap Time via Pinterest}

{Country Living via Pinterest}

{Whipperberry via Pinterest}

{Better Homes & Gardens via Pinterest}

{Fiona and Twig via Pinterest}

{The Clever Life via Pinterest}

{Polka Dot Skies via Pinterest}

It’s nearly here! It’s nearly here! Happy Christmas lovelies!

G is for Garlands

Traditional festive garlands made from foliage and berries are lovely, especially with a few scented cinnamon sticks and dried oranges added in. But this year I’ve been pinning all sorts of innovative contemporary garlands onto my Christmas board…

{Rosaliga via Pinterest}

{House to Home via Pinterest}

{Bookity via Pinterest}

{Cake via Pinterest}

{Palimpsestic via Pinterest}

Don’t forget, you’ll find loads more Christmas decorating and crafting ideas by following Decorator’s Notebook on Pinterest. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Made by me, for your tree!

So, I had a go at making the lovely Sania Pell’s clay Christmas decorations last weekend. I can’t believe how easy they were and how well they turned out!

You’ll need this book for the proper instructions but I made up my own based on the photos on Sania’s blog.

Here’s what I used:

1x 500g pack white DAS air-hardening clay (this amount made 18 decorations)

1x set of Martha Stewart snowflake stamps

1x chopstick

1x foot file* (I did warn you this was the unofficial version!)

1x spool baker’s twine**

* unused, promise

**TIP: this is much cheaper if you buy it wholesale from a revolting-looking butcher’s suppliers like this

And here’s how I did it:

1} Carefully remove the clay from its packaging. I was prepared with a rolling pin but found that the clay block was exactly the right dimensions for the finished tags as it was, so I simply cut thin (2mm) slices from the block using a sharp kitchen knife. Reserve a little clay to make the mini tags to layer on top of the larger slices.

2} Pat the tops and edges of your clay slices to tidy them up a bit then use the chopstick to make a hole at the top. Then press the rubber stamps firmly into the clay, turn over and repeat on the other side.

3} Take the reserved clay and make miniature versions of the above using the same method. Lay all the decorations on a clean J cloth and leave to dry. Mine took 3 days to dry completely.

4} Gently smooth the edges using the foot file if necessary (an emery board or a little bit of sandpaper would work too). String together the larger decorations and the mini tags with baker’s twine and knot to make a hanging loop.

{all Decorator’s Notebook}

I’ll be popping a few decorations in with my Christmas cards this year so my lovely friends and family have a little extra present before the big day. Have you got any Christmas craft projects in the pipeline? I’d love to see what you’re up to so leave a link / pin in the comments!