DIY Gift wrapping....

 ....creating unique wrapping paper...

Hopefully, like me, you have all your gifts sorted by now...

As much as I would've liked to have made all my friends and family's gifts myself, a big part of this years gifts are in form of gift vouchers (as requested)...

I guess it's a sign of the times we live in....people are struggling for money, and receiving gift vouchers for Christmas, is the only way you can treat yourself to what you really, really want...

But lets face it: An envelope with a gift voucher is not the most exciting thing to give....or to receive..

So in order to make my gifts a little more special, this year I've, in addition to the gift vouchers, got everyone a little something (silly and inexpensive), just so I could gift wrap the presents...

Because a beautifully wrapped present really shows that you care....

So I decided to make an extra effort with my gift-wrap:

I've stamped my own design wrapping paper and tags....and I spent some extra time in making each present a thing of beauty...and saved myself some money in the process...

 

In today's post I want to show you how I did it...

First I made some easy and cheap unique stamps to customise my wrapping paper with..

Buying designer stamps can get quite expensive, so I've come up with a way to make your own ...for just a few pounds....and with bonus left overs...

On a recent trip to Hobby craft, looking for some festive stamps , I came across these pretty wooden decorative shapes, and I realized that they would be perfect for making my own stamps with.

 There are lots of designs to choose from, and for only 50pence to £1.50 for a pack of 6, you'll have some left after making these stamps to decorate your presents with as well....I chose some pretty birds, some stars and some snow flakes for mine, then I simply glued them onto some cardboard coasters.....

When the glue was dry, I used a foam paint roller to roller on some white acrylic paint before stamping my designs onto some brown parcel paper (you can pick up a large roll of this at your local post office for a few pounds)...

I also used some of this genius coloured parcel paper from Tiger...It has a different colour on each side, and is good value for money  for £2 a roll...and printed my designs onto...making several rolls of  my own unique design wrapping paper in a variety of colours...

I made some easy matching gift tags, by printing my designs onto some brown luggage tags that I picked up cheap from the post office...

 

The result is a whole range of unique gift wrap....

With my presents all wrapped up, I dug out my plethora of ribbons, bakers twine and decorative accessories: I used Christmas tree decorations, like bells and baubles,  as well as my left over wooden decorative shapes...  

Some I kept quite plain, with just bakers twine and the matching gift tags and decorative wooden shapes to the wrapping paper....Others, I got a bit more creative with: I used washi tape, greenery, snowflake decorations (From my etsy shop),mushroom baubles and pretty clip-on birdies (both from Tiger)....

I took the care to make each present as individual and beautiful as the person receiving it...

....it no longer matters if they just contain a silly something with a gift voucher...

These presents are sure to wow come Christmas...

The vintage-looking wrapping paper is also from tiger, and see how I made the matching vintage gift tags in this post.

I love how these turned out...

What do you think?

Do you make your presents look amazing??

Please share if you have any great wrapping tips of your own!

Next week I will be back with some easy Christmas decorating ideas, and I will be talking about the history of the Christmas tree...

Thanks for popping by,

xxx

June

DIY Geometric gold-leaf necklace.

Today I want to show you how you can make this easy and quick geometric necklace.

This would make a nice little Christmas present for a girlfriend or a young fashionable family member....

I have been wanting to try my hand at some DIY jewellery making for ages, and have been hoarding bits and pieces to do so for a while, but don't worry, all the basic parts of these are readily available at your local Hobbycraft...

You will need:

Gold chain

Gold jump rings

Gold clasps

Oven-bake polymer clay

Rolling pin

Baking paper

Sharp knife

scalpel

Gold leaf

Craft PVA glue

Masking tape

Pencil

Soft brush

These will only take you a couple of hours to make in total, and will cost you less than £20 for all the materials(including the gold-leaf)....and you will have loads left over for future projects...

This is really simple, but here's how I did it:

Roll out your polymer clay (I've used white, but there is loads of colours available) to about 2-3 ml thick...It will help later if you transfer your rolled out clay onto a piece of baking paper at this stage.

Use a sharp kitchen knife and cut out some geometric shapes...I just free-handed mine, but you can of course plan ahead as to what shapes you will need...Then use a pencil or similar to make little holes in your shapes for hanging onto the chain later...Make sure the holes are as close to the edges as possible, and if this distorts the shape or lifts up at all, amend as you see fit....

Place them, nice and flat on a baking tray (this is where it helps having some baking paper underneath)

Cook in your kitchen oven at 150 degrees centigrade for about 5-8 minutes...Keep an eye on them, as you don't want to overcook the pieces...

 

When you take them out, cover with another piece of baking parchment and place a heavy book on top, to ensure the clay sets as flat as possible...

Leave to cool.

 

 When your clay pieces has cooled down, stick a piece of masking tape down on your work surface, place the clay piece on top and trace around the shape with a pencil...

Now you can draw your design onto the masking tape, before cutting out the bits you want to gold leaf with a scalpel...Then stick your cut masking tape onto the clay piece, and paint on a thin layer of PVA glue...when you remove the masking tape you should have your design marked out in glue on the shape...

Now you are ready to add some bling, in form of some gold leaf:

 

Gently place a sheet of gold-leaf on top of the glue...tap down using a soft brush and leave for about 30 minutes...Then use one of the separating paper sheets in your gold leaf book(or some baking paper)....place it on top of your gold leaf and using your fingers, gently rub in the gold leaf...Leave for a couple of hours to fully set before brushing away any excess gold leaf using a soft brush to reveal your gilded design...

I did lots of different shapes and designs....while I was at it like...

 

Then I got out my chains and other little jewellery bits and played around with the possibilities...

Then I cut the chain to size..(a good way to measure the length needed is to use another necklace as a guide)

I settled for this combination (above).

You can clearly see in these pictures how the chain and clasp is going to get attached...

 

Before I could attach the jump rings and chain, I sanded the edges and corners of my now gilded clay pieces down, so that they were more rounded...(I didn't want anybody wearing the jewellery to hurt themselves on the sharp edges..)

Then I used a pair of jewellery pliers to attach the jump rings, chain and clasps..

It helps to have 2 pairs for this as it can be quite fiddly...

If you don't have any special jewellery pliers, normal pointed pliers would work just fine as well. 

And there you have it...a funky geometric gold leafed clay necklace...

(And yes...that is one dodgy selfie, I agree)

Here's another one I did, with a "matching" pair of ear-rings...

This is such an easy make....have fun with it and get creative with the shapes and design...the possibilities are endless...

I have really enjoyed making these, and I hope the girl I am giving this to for Christmas will love it!!

I will be back with another post tomorrow, as it is Saint Lucia Day, to show you how it is celebrated in Norway....All going well here in the Nostalgiecat kitchen, I will also post a recipe on the traditional saffron fragranced buns to celebrate the day with...

xxx

June

Christmas gift ideas for her....

                  ....on Etsy!                        

 

 

So, looking around on Etsy for Christmas gift ideas has been such a joy!! If you have not yet discovered Etsy, I would highly recommend that you check it out!!

It is just filled with beautiful and unusual handmade and vintage things....everything from gorgeous jewellery to unique home accessories (there is even furniture....to die for) via funky one-of-a-kind clothes...

 

Today's treasury is very self-indulgent, as this is actually my own wish list for Christmas...

But I am unapologetic about this indulgence, as it features so many lust-have items that I think any girl would find something she liked here...

 

'live like an angel, party like a star...'                                                         

Christmas gift ideas for a rebellious woman...

Large Chevron Toiletry Bag, ... frankieandcoco... $45	Arrow Bangle Bracelet- Simpl... LayeredWithLov... $16	Lotus Flower. Ceramic candle... DeepSilence $35	The Raven poem on the scarf ... LiteratiClub $35.98
KCLOTH Feather Printed with ... KCloth $18.99	Small Partial Zag Dish upintheairsome... $28	Wall Stencil Birch Forest - ... CuttingEdgeSte... $64.95	Hammered Gold Stacking Rings... LexLuxe $48
Moth origami lampshade white nellianna $59	Gold Zag Tray upintheairsome... $98	20% Xmas SALE Geometrical Il... CORIUMI $45	Black Knee Length Dress / M... PizkaFashion $109.65
Instant Download Crochet Pat... pixiebell $5	Gold Star Necklace - daint... zara1009 $24	Carpe Diem 925 Sterling Silv... carpediemjewel... $120	Maya pillow cover hand print... ChaneeVijayTex... $80

Sponsored by send bulk email from excel.

 

 

 

 



 

As you can probably tell, I am having a thing about monochrome/grey and gold at the moment...and high on my wish list is the Arrow bangle bracelet from Layered With Love...That with the black knee length dress from Pizka Fashion, would make me feel like a rock star at this years New years eve party!! And then there is the gorgeous gold zag tray from UpInTheAirSomewhere and the maya pillow cover from ChaneeVijayTextiles....certain to bring some new years bling into my home décor...

One of my new years resolutions this year is to finally tackle some of the big decorating projects around the house, and I would love the  Birch forest stencil from Cutting edge stencils for updating our hallway, together with the Moth origami lampshade from Nelliana.

So, if anybody feels like getting a hard working blogger something for Christmas this year....(joke-of course)

 

 

I hope you all are starting to get your Christmas shopping under control now, as it is so important to try to enjoy this magical time counting up to Christmas....

 

Tomorrow I have a beautiful DIY gift for her to share with you all, so please pop back again!

 

 

xxx

June

 

 

 

 

 

 

                        

Christmas gift ideas for him...

  .....on Etsy

 

Ever since I opened my etsy shop, Yesteryear Decor, I have been both inspired and amazed at the talent and wonderful ideas of my fellow etsy-shop owners...So I have created a few Treasuries, designed as gift guides for Christmas, featuring some of my favourites..

I thought I'd kick start this week with some beautiful gift ideas for the notoriously difficult to by for....HIM!!

 

GREY WINTER SKIES....

...gift ideas for him

 

Chunky soft wool baby blanke... PeanutTreeDesi... $35	Corgi Superior Toy Ambulance Mrjoebanglesre... $6	Hero Dad Pillow Christmas Gi... CariJoyDesigns $27	GAME OVER Retro Gift Cufflin... MadisonEliseSt... $14.99
Vintage Pocket Watch "M... GeorgiVintage $45	Greetings Card - 'The On... sliceofpiedesi... $2.5	Gray Alpaca Scarf, Handwoven... aclhandweaver $185	Octopus Ceramic Travel Mug S... sewZinski $30
Christmas gift for him. Star... LatteDesign $15	Key chain heart shaped pebbl... RiversideFinds $4.5	Christmas Gift For Him / Her... LucianaFrigeri... $25	Knit Gray Men Gloves / Finge... LedaDesign $25
Speckled oatmeal slouchy bea... SewAndPray $20	Vintage Mountain Water Bottl... TuttoRetro $27	Mens House shoes Men slipper... MoJosCozyToes $38	Dad's Keychain - Persona... missmoodykids $25

Sponsored by send bulk email from excel.

 

 

 

 

I made this treasury with my Mr. in mind, in muted colours of grey...There are gift ideas to suit every budget with an emphasis on keeping warm and cosy, like the beautiful grey hand-woven scarf from aclhandweaver and the fun moustache slippers from MoJosCosyToes ......and feeling loved through the winter months, like the Hero Dad pillow from CariJoyDesigns and my personal favourite: The Darth Vader poster from Latte Design...

Each of the images are clickable, and will take you straight to the right Etsy shop for that item...

 

 

Having spent Sunday at a ram-packed shopping centre with a tired Little Miss Moo and a stressed out Mr. ("suffering from open-wallet surgery"...in his own words), I know that it would do my soul and spirit of Christmas a world of good to finish our Christmas shopping online, and I cant think of anywhere better to get my gifts from than Etsy...

 

There are so many beautiful and unique things available, and in my experience there is a sense of pride amongst Etsy shop owners to provide honest and beautifully presented handmade items...

 

There will be more of these gift-guides here on Nostalgiecat throughout this week, as well as a DIY gift idea for her, and a post about gift wrapping...so please keep popping by!

 

I wish you all a relaxing Christmas shopping experience!!

 

xxx

June