Craft Archives - I Do Handmade

Posted on November 7, 2020November 15, 2020 by idohandmade — Leave a comment

Handmade Pallet Christmas Trees

Every year these handmade pallet Christmas trees get to come out and say hello!

I had a pretty unrealistic dream one year that I wanted to fill my garden with lots of them and make some sort of magical wonderland! Storage was a little bit of an issue! So I stopped at three.

These are super simple to make, probably one of the easiest pallet upcycling projects out there.

You’ll need an old pallet which you can get anywhere FOR FREE. Never pay for a pallet! All my pallet projects have been upcycled for free, either by searching on gumtree/facebook marketplace or seeing them at the side of building sites.

Once you have your pallet check which side is the most attractive, then also decide which way up it’s going to be – again choosing the most attractive bit to keep as the base!

Then draw a triangle on your pallet, making sure the bar that holds each of the planks of wood, is going vertically through the middle.

Then saw either by hand or with a jigsaw all the down the lines, and that’s pretty much it! Say hello to your new pallet Christmas trees!

We dressed ours with solar powered fairy lights so they twinkle in our porch in the evening.

Here’s all three pallets off to help decorate a Christmas themed wedding one year!

Want to see another one of our pallet upcycling projects? Check out this pallet garden I made here!

Posted on September 6, 2020September 6, 2020 by idohandmade — Leave a comment

Moving House Gift Idea

Here’s a lovely moving house gift idea I made recently for a family who moved to St. Louis in the States, last month.

This gift idea is ideal for people moving somewhere new. It’s a year of day out ideas to help them get to know their new local neighbourhood.

I scoured the internet for fun and quirky things to do for the family, trying not to find things that cost too much. I kept in mind the seasons and the weather it’ll likely be. Finding an unusual ice-cream parlour to go to in January probably wouldn’t be that fun!

I also checked out event sites, to see if there were any one-off festivals or events going on that might not be on the usual ‘things to do in St Louis’ type websites.

When you start googling there really are so many ideas that makes me bet there’s so many unfound gems in my own neighbourhood!

I typed the ideas into text boxes on a word document, giving all the info they’d need to find out more online, and cut out the different cards.

I decorated 12 envelopes adding the month of the year to each one.

Fill the envelopes and tie with string adding a handwritten tag. Hopefully this will give the family a year of fun memories to start making together in their new home town.

I’ve made this gift a few times for a few friends, it works for lots of occasions. A year of date night ideas for the first year of marriage, a year of things to do with a newborn baby.

Do you know someone who would love something handmade like this? Why not give it a go too.

Other handmade gift ideas you might like…

A thoughtful gift for a mama-to-be

A gift for anyone who loves crocheting

A wedding anniversary gift idea

A personalised frame for a friend

Posted on April 3, 2020September 6, 2020 by idohandmade — Leave a comment

How To Make A Vision Board

At the beginning of the year we hosted ‘How To Make A Vision Board’ Workshops helping people get intentional about the year ahead.

Writing this at the beginning of lockdown 2020, the sessions took place just over 10 weeks ago and in that time, the world has dramatically changed. I don’t think any of us imagined the year would go like this.

I knew had to do something to help focus on the things I can control and try and be mindful about letting go of the things I can’t.

So I thought about the concept of vision boards, why can’t the same practice work for seasons as well as years. Surely you can make a positive plan for any season in life. New school years, moving homes, transitioning jobs etc.

So here’s your ‘How To’ guide on how to make a vision board for any season of life.

How to make a vision board

Choose your vision board style

Choose a style that you’ll enjoy making, a list, collage, Pinterest board, illustrations. This one I did in the style of a big doodled brainstorm on an A2 piece of paper.

2. Decide the areas you wanna focus on

On a scrap bit of paper, write down the main areas of your life that you would love to focus on or improve. If you’re struggling to think, we’ve created this handy guide to help you think of potential areas and ideas to go on your board. For me I chose:

Friendships
Marriage
Reuben (my son)
The home
Faith
Community
Education
Health

3. Dream up the best for each one

Go through each area, still on your separate piece of paper, write down ideas that you’d love to try, learn, do, feel. Think of things that might bring you joy.

Think about your situation right now, how could you use your position or opportunity for the better? For example, as I’m writing in lockdown you might be one of the ones stuck at home, cut off from your normal routine. Are there things you’ve always wanted to do but never had the time? Are there things on your To Do list that just never get ticked off? What could this ‘time out’ offer you? A bigger appreciation for the simple things?

If useful, I’ll give you one of my own examples, under my child ‘Reuben’ I thought of all the things I could do will make the time with my 11 month old more special. Some things on my list:

Make things for him to play with
Create a fun photoshoot with him
Try new recipes for him to eat
Teach him a new word each week
Find an online baby group to stream into
Google sensory toy ideas from household objects
Find alternative educational tv shows

If you’re stuck for inspiration, I’d highly recommend checking out Pinterest and do a search for each area. E.g. ‘home improvement ideas’ or ‘fun activities to do with kids’ or ‘ways to have fun at home’. There really is so many resources out there that could inspire you on things you’d love to do.

Another example of thinking outside the box, you could be in a dead end job you don’t enjoy and are bored stiff. Are there moments of the day where you could explore other industries or roles? Are there people in your job, that you don’t know yet that could help you? Is anyone in job roles that you would love to be one day that you could shadow or learn from. Try and think out the box, and dream up new opportunities, building your roadmap on how to get there.

4. Prettify the vision

Once you’ve created your list, you can either leave it as it is, or turn it in into a beautiful illustration.

If you have magazines or newspapers at home, tear out images/words/colours that represent the things you’ve made on the list. E.g You want to start writing letters to your friends, find pictures of a postbox or envelopes, or a stamp.

If like me during lockdown you have no magazines or newspapers, turn your list into a colourful poster. If you’ve got kids, this could be an activity you could do together as a family. Write the areas of your life out in big, then write your ideas around them in different colours and font styles. You could doodle illustrations that match what you’d like to achieve. For example If you wanna use this time to learn French – you could draw a little French flag.

vision board for lockdown with calligraphy

Et voila!

There you have it, an intentional plan, bringing you purpose and highlighting the things that could bring you more joy.

It’s only been a few days since making mine, but it’s already made a difference to me mentally. Knowing I have a rough plan for the next few months is comforting and if on a day, the only task I manage to complete is ‘defrost the freezer’ I weirdly still feel a sense of accomplishment!

If this has inspired you or encouraged you to make something similar I’d love to know. Drop me an email or a message me in the comments below.

Posted on March 23, 2020May 14, 2020 by idohandmade — Leave a comment

Free bunting for all

To celebrate our 7th birthday we’ve made a beautiful printable for you to make and use at home, either for celebrations, as gifts, or decorations for the home.

All you’ll need: string, a hole punch and some scissors.

Print out this floral bunting by clicking on the link below.

You’ll find the first few pages are the letters ‘happy birthday’. If you would like to create your own personalised message, I’ve designed the whole alphabet, so print out the letters you need for whatever phrase you would like to create.

Print onto paper or thin card, then cut out the flags.

Hole punch or use scissors to make teeny holes in the top corners.

Thread the flags along the string (in the right order) and there you have it.

To add some va va voom, before making holes, you could mount these flags onto different coloured card or paper.

Use the bunting for a wall, along the edge of a table or along a curtain pole. Keep somewhere safe and flat, and reuse again and again!

Credit: I used a stunning photo taken by Georgia de Lotz to create this bunting. Thank you Georgia! 🙂

Your Free Bunting

As well as receiving free printable bunting, you will also receive monthly free DIY tutorials, creative inspiration and ideas to get crafty at home. If you do not want to receive this monthly dose of creative inspiration, click ‘unsubscribe’ at the bottom of the email.

Download your free bunting here

Posted on February 26, 2020May 4, 2020 by idohandmade — Leave a comment

A Handmade Cuppa Tea Gift Idea

The best gifts are handmade and this one’s an easy one for anyone to make.

You’ll need a plain mug which you can pick up from most homeware shops, a few coloured sharpie pens and a packet of alphabet stickers, both can be purchased from Hobbycraft or a general Craft Store.

If you’re gifting this for someone, you could personalise this by using the first letter of their name. Choose your letter or letters and stick them on the mug. Then with your sharpie pens, draw hundreds of tiny dots around the letter. For added effect, use a few colours and gradually fade and make the dots more spaced out the further you get away from the sticker.

Once you’re happy, peel off the sticker from the mug and you’re left with an outline of the letter.

There you have it, fill it with treats, their favourite teabags or a packet of biscuits and you’ve got a beautiful hand personalised gift.

A quick note, these dots won’t survive in the dishwasher, so handwash them only 🙂

Posted on August 1, 2016May 5, 2020 by idohandmade

Bootyful Baby Shower Decoration Ideas

Wanting a little inspiration for some baby shower decoration ideas? Or wondering what to do to bring a little fun to an upcoming baby themed party?

We had the pleasure of providing decor for a yummy mummy’s baby shower. We created a few handmade, decorative bits and bobs full of colour. Including a nappy wreath, lace bunting, pink tissue blossom tree and nail varnish favours.

It was a beautiful afternoon full of laughter, cake and baby clothes galore! If you have an upcoming party you’d like some creative decor ideas for we’d love to hear from you! Get in touch here.

Baby shower decoration ideas pink nappy wreath — A nappy wreath made of nappies, pink tissue paper, baby footprint ribbon and a pair of pumps to finish it off!

lace bunting Baby shower decoration ideas — Lace bunting watched all the guests enjoy all the cake

Baby shower bunting Baby shower decoration ideas — White lanterns are great for decorating and add a wow factor to any space

pink pom poms Baby shower decoration ideas — Pink tissue paper pom poms are easy to make and add a little colour to the room

drinks dispenser lemonade stand Baby shower decoration ideas — Our lemonade stand with matching pink straws, yummy cakes and our lace and pink bunting

pink blossom tree Baby shower decoration ideas — We made a display using branches and tissue paper to create the blossom effect

dont say baby game Baby shower decoration ideas — Don’t say baby game, give everyone 3 pegs to begin with, if you say the word baby, the first person to notice gets to take a peg. The person with the most pegs at the end of the event gets a prize.

guess the size of mummys tummy game Baby shower decoration ideas — A classic but a goodie!

flower arrangement in a jar of lemons Baby shower decoration ideas — We created a display of a vase within a vase, using lemons and matching yellow flowers

pink hangers Baby shower decoration ideas — These pink hangers we bought from ebay to hang up the clothes all the guests bought for the bubba

nail varnish favours Baby shower decoration ideas — We made little favours for all the guests, nail varnishes all different shades of pink

Need some help thinking of baby shower decoration ideas, we love helping people get creative with their events. We’ve got a baby themed board on pinterest for other ideas too. Get in touch or check out our catalogue of decor available to hire for your next event.

create it yourself kits craft kits to make at home

Posted on December 4, 2014May 6, 2020 by idohandmade

Looking for a handmade gift idea? What about this?

If you’re looking for a handmade gift idea, here’s one for a friend or loved one.

Do you like receiving happy mail? Me too, I’ve been given a few packs of beautiful postcards and notelets which I can now send to some of my friends when I want to say hello, or thank you in the post.

I wondered if I could make my own notelet kit for my friend who LOVES sending little cards and notes. So I made this little kit filled with lots of love and decorated paper to use to send to people.

You’ll need:

2 sheets of A4 card
Alphabet stickers
String
Pretty paper
Double sided tape

All of these can be bought from most craft shops like Hobbycraft. Take one piece of A4 card and cover it in your decorated paper, I used this pink stripy paper shown in the photo below. Use double sided tape to stick it to the card (I find you get less air bubbles/glue bumps). This will become your cover of your writing kit.

Now lightly score 2 parallel lines where the cover of your book will fold. I made mine to have a spine of about 1 inch thick which is just enough to hold several letters and envelopes.

handmade gift idea writing kit in the making

Next take the second sheet of card, hold it landscape, and cut a vertical line down the middle of the card so you end up with 2 equal sizes of A5 card.

Score 4 parallel lines along each sheet of A5 card of where you want the folds for the pocket to be. See the photo below for help on how I folded mine. These 4 fold lines will create a ‘tab’ that will be the actual bit that sticks to the inside cover of your book.

Before you stick it down, cover in your decorative paper, maybe use a different one to the one on the main cover. No need to cover the whole of the tabs as these won’t be seen. I then used double sided tape on the tabs of the pockets, and stuck them down.

Once stuck down, I stuck a little bit of string on the inside of each pocket at the bottom which ensures nothing falls out. I used Sellotape for this. You shouldn’t be able to see the string on the outside of the kit.

Next the fun bit… Decorating the letter paper and envelopes! I used my alphabetical stamps, washi tape and some embellishments I had in my craft box. See some ideas you could create…

handmade gift idea writing kit in the making notelet ideas

Then, cut a piece of string to go all the way around your book plus extra to tie a bow. Tie it into position, tying your book firmly shut. Then cut out a rectangle of decorative paper and stick this on top of the string on the front cover, holding the string in position. I then decorated this rectangle personalising it for my friend using lettered stickers and ribbon.

Fill up your writing kit and your sorted! You could add a loop of material to hold a pen if you’re keen. Add stamps to the envelopes and you’re good to go! A lovely little handmade gift idea for any budding writer!

Posted on September 1, 2014May 6, 2020 by idohandmade

One Stunning Vintage Barn Wedding

A barn wedding is always such a privilege to decorate. Most of the time, the barns are so magnificent, it doesn’t need a lot to impress your guests! I love the look of the brown wood against the lace and white fabrics of the table cloths.

We recently helped the lovely Nicky & Oliver with their beautiful barn wedding. The venue looked stunning, we loved all of their great ideas they chose – my favourite was their table numbers.

Our hessian chair tie backs all behaved themselves adding a touch of vintage to the room. Take a look through some of the photos we shot.

If you’d like help decorating your venue, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

sacks vintage barn wedding — Mr & Mrs sacks – £3.00 each

Vintage barn wedding Vintage suitcases - £10.00 for two — Vintage suitcases – £10.00 for two

Vintage barn wedding This was their table numbers - a big 3D number with a set of old vintage keys — My favourite – this was the table numbers they organised – big 3D number with a set of old rustic keys on one of our logs

Posted on June 21, 2014May 6, 2020 by idohandmade

Bunting – Campervan style!

We’ve been busy designing new styles of bunting including this campervan bunting.

With the current VW campervan craze going on at the moment, why not combine two vintage classics – bunting and campervans!

So we came up with this…..!

If you’re looking for bespoke bunting with a specific design like this, get in touch to get your paws on yours!

Posted on April 26, 2014May 6, 2020 by idohandmade

Nappy Cake Designs Ideas and Inspiration

Nappy cake designs! Here they are, we’ve made a fair few, so I thought I’d save some of our favourite designs all in one place. I’ve also included a tutorial of how I made my first ever one.

If you’re looking to try making a creative gift for the next baby shower you attend, this handmade gift will be pretty unique and incredibly useful! It will also remove the chances of you turning up with the same gift as someone else!

My first ever nappy cake:

You’ll need:

about 60-70 nappies (I’d recommend buying size 3, they’re a good width and if the mama has a big baby they’ll fit!)
string
rubber bands
wrapping paper
decorative ribbon

All of these except the nappies can be purchased from a craft store e.g. Hobbycraft.

Start by rolling up each nappy, into a toilet roll shape, and secure with a small rubber band. Then when you have enough to make the base layer of the ‘cake’, stand them all up and make a circular shape. When you’re happy take a piece of string and tie it around really tight to ensure all the nappies are behaving! Then repeat this and make the remaining two other layers of the cake.

I then measured the height of each layer and cut a long piece of wrapping paper to wrap around the edge of each tier (like where you would ice the cake) I wrapped it round and stuck down with a piece of sticky tape. Then tied a pretty ribbon on top of the wrapping paper, around the middle of each layer. I added a chocolate lollypop at the top which had the ‘happy birthday’ message on, something that my niece could actually enjoy! Et voila 🙂

Here’s some of our other nappy cake designs that we’ve created more recently:

Posted on April 23, 2014May 7, 2020 by idohandmade

Things to do with kids -Homemade hopscotch – for inside

Looking for things to do with the kids?

This ‘no sew‘ creative project will keep the children entertained for an hour at least! Plus if they’re old enough to help make it, even better!

Homemade hopscotch! Do you remember playing that game in the playground?! Well I recreated an inside version for my niece’s birthday – British weather is far too unreliable to play this game outside! Plus with lockdown, this makes the perfect indoor game.

I was inspired by the Tip Junkie Blog, which is full of too many amazing projects I also can’t wait to try out!)

This hopscotch mat is super easy to make as its a ‘no sew’ project.

All you need:

an old bed sheet or large piece of fabric
felt
scissors
glue gun or tube of fabric glue

All of these things can be purchased from a general craft store like Hobbycraft. I purchased some plain coloured canvas material to use as the main sheet. I then bought different coloured felt fabric and a few tubes of material glue. It’s pretty simple, just cut out the rectangles for the blocks and then the numbers.

Glue it all down et voila! If you’ve got any scraps of felt left over, why not make a border around the edge 🙂

If you have any other ideas on things to do with kids that are creative I’d love to hear about them. Send them over to me!

Posted on April 4, 2014August 10, 2019 by idohandmade

Capturing your travel memories

If you love travelling this one’s for you – a crafty way to capture all the holidays you’ve treated yourself to in a glance!

I bought a cheapy canvas and covered it in a shabby wallpaper to give it the effect of a wooden fence post.

I then sourced a cork map of the world, (all purchases via eBay!) it comes with one side covered in adhesive so I literally just stuck it onto the wallpaper. I thought the red and white parcel string would work well for this project and tied a tight knot around each aeroplane pin then pinned them into all the destinations we’d been to.

Next print out your fav picture from each holiday, something that represents all the shenanigans you got up to! Then use my trusty lil friend (who never ceases to amaze me – super glue) and stick everything in place (string and photos).

I’ve been wanting to make this project for a while now, and I’m very proud it’s finally complete and hanging in our lounge (husband probably not so much!)

This idea could be used though for other projects, there could be a country you just keep going back for more to, or a road trip around America. You needn’t buy the whole world map just the country/continent that you prefer 🙂

Happy crafting!

Posted on March 12, 2014May 6, 2020 by idohandmade

A Beautiful Navy Wedding Adventure

If you love a navy wedding theme this one’s for you!

We had the opportunity to let our creative juices go to town by providing some handmade bespoke props for a beautiful wedding held in West London which had a navy wedding theme.

We both had a great time cutting, sticking and sewing, getting all the different props ready for Saturday morning. Then when everything was in place, we stopped, we looked around and I’m sure my hearty did a backflip with excitement – it looked beautiful.

We had our homemade picket fences standing proud at the front of the venue with a personalised chalk board – these always help add that bespoke feel to any event.

We designed the seating plan in line with their navy theme, adding a touch of romance with roses intertwined around the frame.

Posted on October 28, 2013August 10, 2019 by idohandmade — Leave a comment

Christmas Vintage bunting for all

We’ve been cutting and sewing galore over the last few weeks getting a few new festive bespoke props ready to add to our vintage catalogue.

The first one I’d like to welcome is our Vintage Christmas bunting! Wooooo!

We’ve sewn three different flags to red (or green) tape – cream floral, red gingham and green polka dot. They’re all double sided, so ideal to hang across the room and can be admired from all directions!

Stay tuned for more ways to spruce up Christmas in your home 🙂

Posted on September 6, 2013August 10, 2019 by idohandmade — 1 Comment

Love heart garland

Hearty’s doing somersaults right now! Loving our new Love Heart Garland 🙂

We bought a variety of material, cut out heart shapes, sewed around the edge, leaving a 2cm gap at the top and filled with stuffing. Embroidered the gap closed and used parcel string to sew them to thicker parcel string to hang them up. Super simple!

It’s very happy right now in front of the fire place making itself very comfy in its new home! We’ll be making these available to hire, they’re a great equivalent to bunting!

Posted on September 2, 2013August 10, 2019 by idohandmade — Leave a comment

Shabby chic dresser makeover

I’m not sure how I inherited such a ghastly and boring piece of furniture but I know a lil’ bitta’ love and care usually leads to miracles 🙂 So I researched around on google for the type of shabby look I wanted and then it happened… I turned my garden into a painters nightmare… Paint pots, lids, brushes, and sandpaper scattered about with paint footprints following me everywhere where I went?!

To start I sanded down the areas I wanted to cover and painted my lil’ hearty out. Rather impatiently I applied two more coats and left to dry 🙂

I then saw on eBay 6 beauties! Cute little drawer knobs all waiting to come tumbling through my letterbox one by one 🙂

Et voila!

Posted on August 31, 2013August 10, 2019 by idohandmade — Leave a comment

Postman scores again!

I haven’t been this happy to be woken up early on a Saturday morning by the door bell… I raced downstairs and slightly overwhelmed the postman with the sight which greeted him… Bed hair, no make up and rather excitable in nature! There was no way I would miss him! He handed over the goods and off he toddled.

Eeeeek a bundle of material we bought for a future project has arrived safely and is currently sprawled out over the table. The weekend has begun!

Stay tuned peeps! 🙂

Posted on August 27, 2013August 10, 2019 by idohandmade — Leave a comment

Chairs wrapped in love

The latest vintage order we’re hard at work at, is our hessian bow chair tie backs. I’m totally in love with these!

They’re part of a vintage wedding, set in a rustic barn – they’ll blend in perfectly! I love how each chair will look like a present wrapped up in delicious hessian and every guest attending will technically be like a gift to the beautiful bride and groom!

Posted on August 4, 2013August 10, 2019 by idohandmade — Leave a comment

Sweets for all

We’ve been working on our latest job this weekend getting lots of bespoke vintage props ready for a wedding vow renewal party. One of the things on the list is a personalised chalk board advertising a vintage sweet table.

I love creating all the individual vintage pieces and then put everything in place at the event… My heart does somersaults when I see the puzzle complete!

Posted on July 31, 2013May 5, 2020 by idohandmade — 1 Comment

52 reasons why I love you – Gift Idea

This handmade gift idea is such a lovely thing to make for any friend, partner or family member.

I made this gift for my husband. I thought of 52 reasons why I love him and listed each one in this handmade gift. To be honest I think I probably appreciated this gift more than he did! (He’s not a handmade gift kinda guy shall we say!)

You’ll need:

Personalised deck of playing cards
Thick card
Decorative paper
Alphabet stickers
Coloured string
Hole puncher
Sharpie marker

I ordered a pack of playing cards which I had personalised with a photo of the two of us. (You can type into google “personalised playing cards” and there are many online retailers to choose from)

Once the pack arrived, I designed two playing card sized covers, one for the front and back. I used thicker card for this.

I decorated the front with alphabet stickers – that said “52 reasons why I love you”.

I then hole punched everything and thread coloured string through each playing car to create a mini book.

Then with a marker pen I wrote a reason on each card. I gotta admit some of the reasons did stretch my imagination! But call it a test to your relationship! Can you name 52 reasons for your loved one?

This would be a great gift for any loved one, I personally think it’s adorable!