Friday Favourites, volume 2

It's been so long since I've done Friday Favourites, but it just had to be done this week as I have seen so many most excellent things.  This is likely to be a bit of a sporadic series, all dependent on what wonders I see each week.

So, without further ado, here are some of the things I've loved this week...

Favourite Instagrammer Allison Sadler

© This Little Space of Mine

I am loving Allison Sadler's Instagram feed. I met Allison last year at Blogtacular and her Instagram is a perfect reflection of her personality. It's full of positive, sparkly, bright, happy and beautiful things.   There's always something to make you smile!  One day I'll make it to one of her #makeitsewcial events!

Favourite Handmade Popsicle Bunting

This amazing popsicle (ice-lolly) bunting is by Bees and Apple Trees (a name I thoroughly approve of!) via Allison Sadler's Instagram.  I made some 2D ice-cream and seaside bunting last summer and had dreadful problems with it curling up and refusing to hang nicely, despite blocking. This weightier version looks like it resolves that problem neatly and it looks fantastic to boot!  I've got my yarn, a crochet hook and a pair of sunglasses...hit it!

Favourite Food Arla Skyr

I first had Skyr in America, over five years ago.  I fell in love with the thick, creamy Icelandic yoghurt (which is actually cheese, but when it tastes this good, who cares what it technically is?) and loved that it was naturally fat-free.  Since then I've been trying (and failing) to be in London when the Scandinavian Kitchen had some of this rare beast in stock,  Imagine my surprise when I found a taster stand in my local Sainsbury's last week!  I've been gorging on it ever since; the natural flavour is perfect as a replacement for sour cream in potato salad or on fajitas, and the honey is glorious.  It's very Slimming World friendly, too.

Favourite Geekery The new Doctor Who trailer!!



Coming to our screens on the 19th of September!!  Really looking forward to it, and I'm ever so curious about Arya Stark's character in this.  Could this finally be Susan??

Favourite Tutorial Pretty Handlettering in 3 Steps

© In My Own Style

I came across this tutorial on Pinterest yesterday afternoon--loving their suggested pins--and since then I've been happily doodling away.  My regular handwriting is doctor levels of terrible these days, and I always feel a bit envious when a beautifully penned card pops through the letterbox, so being able to create some beautiful lettering easily is a wonder to me!  It really does work.  I'm quite stunned at how nice my handwriting can look, especially as I'm just using an old biro at the moment. (Must raid Lucas's pencil case!)

All I need now is an upcoming birthday, wedding or baby to show off my handiwork!

~

Have a fabulous Friday and an awesome weekend!

Get Your Knit On!

This week is National Knitting Week (6-12 October), a celebration of snuggly jumpers, woolly hats, and that thing with one too many arms (or legs) that your Grandma once made you.  The official soundtrack is the rhythmic click-clack of knitting needles.

By way of celebration I've dived into the odds and ends of yarn at the bottom of my knitting basket and started knitting little hats for the Innocent Big Knit.  It's really nice to work on a small project that gives almost immediate gratification for once--I'm still beavering away at my quilt bur the quilting design I went for feels absolutely endless.

If you haven't heard of the Innocent Big Knit, then here's a handy video for you:



I love seeing all the little be-hatted bottles on the shelves and it's much more fun than if Innocent were just to donate to AgeUK.  Plus, there are apparently collectors out there, who pay insane prices for the hats on eBay!!

I've been working my way through lots of the fantastic patterns on Jo's Big Knit and stretching my design muscles a little.  The three 'cake hats' in front are my own designs--I might have been craving cake when I came up with the carrot cake!  Thinking of things to turn into hats has been such a lot of fun.  I might try doing a jar of jam next and embroidering the label.  First though, I need to make a cup of tea to go with the cakes!

As I'm particularly pleased with my Viccy Sponge hat, I thought I'd leave my pattern for it, in case anyone else fancies making one (or improving upon it).  French knots aren't my thing, so I'm certain that yours will be better than mine!!

Victoria Sponge knitted hat

Victoria Sponge

light brown DK yarn (a sponge brown)
red DK yarn (suitably jam coloured)
cream DK yarn
4mm knitting needles
3.50mm crochet hook
wool needle

With the brown yarn cast on 28 stitches.
Purl one row.
Knit one row.
Starting with a knit row, stocking stitch (ss) 4 rows.
Join in the red yarn and knit one row.  Cut off the red yarn leaving a tail to work in at the end to secure the stitches.
Join in the cream yarn and purl one row.  Cut off the cream yarn leaving a tail.
Resume working with the brown yarn and ss 4 more rows.

Shaping top of cake: 
Purl one row
Knit one row (this creates a handy ridge for you to sew the icing to)
Starting with a knit row ss 2 rows
(K2, K2tog) repeat to end
Purl one row
(K1, K2tog) repeat to end
Purl one row
(K2tog) repeat to end.
Cut the yarn leaving a long tail enough to sew up the hat.  Thread a yarn needle and run the tail through the remaining stitches, pull up tightly and secure.  Sew hat up from the wrong side by oversewing row ends.  Work in the loose ends from creating the filling.  Turn right side out.

Crochet the icing (US crochet terms)
The icing is worked in continuous rounds until the very end, as shown in the pattern.  I use a paperclip as a stitch marker (I keep losing the proper ones!)

NB. If you wanted daintier icing, you could use 4ply yarn with a smaller hook. Thanks for the suggestion, Julia!

With cream yarn make a magic loop:

Round 1: 6 sc into loop. (6 sc)
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around. (12 sc)
Round 3: (2 sc in next st, sc in next st) 6 times. (18 sc)
Round 4: (2 sc in next st, sc in each of next 2 sts) 6 times. (24 sc)
Round 5: (2 sc in next st, sc in each of next 3 sts) 6 times. (30 sc)
Round 6: 3 sc in each st around, sl st in next st to join, fasten off, weave in the short end from the magic loop and leave the long end to sew onto the cake.

Assembly
With red yarn sew a ring of French knots around the top of the icing, as shown in the picture.  Fasten securely.

Sew the decorated icing piece to the top of the cake.  I found it easiest to put the cake onto an empty smoothie bottle, pin the icing on, and then sew from just behind the frill of the icing down into the ridged row at the beginning of the shaping.

Adventures in quilting

I've been bitten by the quilting bug. Hard. When Dave suggested I buy a sewing machine a few months ago, I never thought I'd find myself making quilts. Turning up a few hems maybe, darning holes in Lucas's school trousers...but a quilt? No way!

I finished my first quilt last week, which I will eventually post about once it's been gifted, and almost immediately I found myself back at the fabric shop for supplies for my second. And then I popped into Hobbycraft for a lint brush to clean out my sewing machine--I had no idea that they needed to be cleaned!--and came out with this pretty 'jelly roll' of fabric... I clearly can't be trusted near fabric at the moment.

The world of fabric is a bit bewildering at first. There are a slew of new terms and a dizzying array of fabric types. I always thought cotton was just, well, cotton, but no. There's cotton drill, lawn, poplins and probably more!! There are also pre-cut fabric packs available, like the jelly roll which is made up of 40 x 2.5" coordinating strips and perfect for turning into a quilt.

I found an easy sounding pattern online and cut the entire thing into 6.5" strips and then tried to randomly put them together into blocks of three strips.

This should have resulted in 6.5" square blocks when sewn together and pressed, but either my seams were too wide or the fabric shrank a bit with the steam when I pressed as I now have rectangles. 

My grand adventure is temporarily stalled while I slice the finished blocks down to 5.5" square. This is every bit as tedious as you can imagine!! 

(I'm actually waiting for my car to be fixed at the garage rather than walking home and trimming the blocks!)

So that's what I've been up to of late. Hopefully I'll have a very pretty quilt top to show you in a few days!

Welcome to The Cornershop

After several weeks of tripping over the box in the hallway, I finally unpacked my sewing machine and within hours I was in the grip of a torrid affair with it.  (Lucas brought me a square of chocolate and it sat beside me for a good hour before I noticed.  That's how intense it's been!)  I think I've sewn something every day since.  It is positively addictive, as evidenced by my shiny new loyalty card for the local fabric shop.  (And the lack of posts recently--sorry!)

Given my new stitchy love, I thought today would be a good time to write about The Cornershop art installation in Bethnal Green, London.  We popped in a couple of weekends ago when we were up in the Smoke.

Meet Lucy Sparrow, an urban textile artist.  The Cornershop is her brainchild (and source of RSI).  I have sympathy pains in my wrists from just thinking about all that sewing.

It started with an idea.  Then there was a Kickstarter, followed by arts grants, and now after seven months of sewing we have a wonderfully fuzzy corner shop to explore, complete with 'dodgy geezers' and 'local drunks' for local colour.  It's an amazing achievement!  

From the outside, The Cornershop looks like any old corner shop.  An unsuspecting shopper could nip in for a pint of milk without realising that they were surrounded by felt shop stock.  And in fact, this has happened!  Lucy said that it was her proudest moment when someone brought a two-pinter of milk up to the counter before doing a double-take!  Some of the felt goodies are very convincing indeed!  Particularly the sweeties at the counter...

The shelves are packed with everything you could possibly want in a corner shop.  There's a fine selection of biscuits--loved the HobNobs--bin bags, toothpaste, soups, and jam.  And beer!  Loads of beer!  In the chiller cabinet there's the usual milk, butter and sandwiches, and the freezer has loads of ice-creams and oven chips.  It's just a shame that you can't eat any of it!

As you can see, they stock all the essentials...

The combination of machine embroidery, hand stitching, and appliqué is incredibly effective.  Everything looks pretty damn real from a distance, and each object only gets more impressive when you bend in and take a really good look.  Even if you're the sort of person who doesn't see the point of this sort of thing, you have to admire the sheer level of skill and creativity on display!

Unsurprisingly, I had to buy something.  After lots of thought, I went for a tub of Cadbury's Hot Chocolate powder.  (I really, really wanted a newspaper, but £150 is a bit too rich for my blood.)  I can't wait for it to wend its fuzzy way to me in September once the installation ends.  I think it should take pride of place in my new sewing corner.

The most amazing till! 

Hurry!  The Cornershop closes its doors on the 31st of August!  

The Cornershop

19 Wellington Row

London

E2 7BB

Online sales at: http://www.thecornershoponline.com/

My spring-summer wreath

I started hanging a Christmas wreath on the front door a few years ago.  At that time, there weren't many other houses sporting wreaths in our neighbourhood but slowly they started to catch on.  When we took the Christmas decorations down on Twelth Night, I had to say goodbye to my lovely wreath for another year.  The front door looked so drab and colourless after it was gone, leaving me feeling quite sad.

So I decided to make a Spring wreath to cheer up the door and it's been so lovely having it there that I've left it up, turning it into a Spring-Summer sort of affair.

Making your own flower wreath is really easy.  As you can see from the close-up, I've used artificial flowers which make it weatherproof and long-lasting.  I think I'll be trotting this wreath out for quite a few years, maybe swapping the bow for a different colour every so often--I desperately wanted a burlap bow, but finding wired burlap ribbon in the UK is like finding hens teeth!!

I followed this tutorial from Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer and honestly, the hardest part of making the wreath was finding all the flowers at a decent price.  I trawled round pound shops, discount shops and ended up in Hobbycraft gritting my teeth as I stood in the check-out queue.  Artificial flowers are not cheap in the UK, whereas they seem to be available at incredibly low prices in Hobby Lobby, Michaels or The Dollar Store in the good ol' US of A!  In hindsight, I should probably have ordered some from eBay, but I had the bit firmly between my teeth and was utterly determined to make the wreath that day...

I've had so many lovely comments on my wreath; the first week that I put it up, the postman rang the doorbell to tell me how pretty it was and someone asked Dave the other day if I sold them!  It makes the house look so welcoming and I always smile as I pass it on the way into the house.

When autumn rolls round I'm planning to make another wreath.  I've already been trawling eBay for artificial berries and ornamental leaves that I can bling up with some glitter and Mod Podge.  It's going to be so much fun!

Top tips for a perfect wreath

♥ Wire cutters are essential. Artificial flowers have sturdy wire running through their stems--you can't get away with kitchen scissors!
♥ If you want to make an asymmetrical (one-sided) wreath, put your flowers on the side opposite to the door handle of the door you intend to hang it from.  This will balance the overall look.
♥ Be aware that it is harder to hang an asymmetrical wreath than a perfectly balanced round one!  It is totally possible, but you may struggle for a few minutes.  I use a large transparent sucker and hook that I bought from Lakeland (unavailable until Sept 2014) a few years ago.
♥ Stab the foliage stems as deep into the wreath as you can so that it's easy to add the flowers on top.
♥ If you have a spidery cobweb of glue gun strands once you're finished, a quick blast with a hot hair-dryer will melt them away much faster than you can pick them off by hand.

Flight of the bumblebees

Look who flew off my crochet hook this week!  Some adorably fuzzy bumblebee friends, who've taken a liking to my crochet flowers.  Sadly there is no yarn nectar or pollen for them.

I crocheted these fuzzy little bees for my friend Gill, who wanted to take them as a little gift to a Sewing Bee meeting on Friday.  She's going to pop a pin on the back so that they can be worn as brooches; I think they'll look really cute!

Anyway, while I was curled up with my yarn basket, I started thinking about bees in general, and their plight.  Despite loads of campaigns over the last couple of years, the British bee population is still declining.  Unfortunately they haven't flown off to their home planet (see Doctor Who, The Stolen Earth), but they are being killed off by losing their habitats, pesticides, and insecticides.  Bees are essential for pollinating our crops and life without bees would be quite grim.

There are loads of things that we can do to help our lovely bees--did you know there are 25 native species of bees? I thought it was just the honey bee and the bumblebee--a biggie is giving them food to eat, by planting some of their favourite plants...

I think it's probably too late to sow some of their favourite flowers, but next year I'll definitely get a packet of wildflower seeds and chuck them in our window boxes (I am such an expert gardener!).  I can, and will, buy a bee house and hang it in the garden to give any hiveless bees a house over the winter.  It's a very little gesture, but all these small things do add up.

Crochet Bumblebee

From 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet by Lesley Stanfield

Yarn DK Wool in black (A), yellow (B), and white (C)
3.00mm crochet hook

NB This pattern is written using UK crochet terms.  Pay close attention to the colour changes!!

Body
Using A, make a magic ring.
1st round (RS) ch3, 7tr into ring, pull end to close ring. With B, ss into top of ch3. Continue with B
2nd round 2ch [2dc in next tr, 1dc in next tr] 3 times, 2dc in next tr, with A ss to top chain of 2ch. 12sts. Continue with A
3rd round 2ch, 1dc in each of next 11dc, with B ss to the top ch of the 2ch.
4th round As third round, working ss with A. Continue with A.
5th round 1ch [dtr dec in next 2dc, 1dc in next dc] 3 times. dtr dec in next 2 dc, ss to 1ch. 8sts. Fasten off.
Wings Using C [make 6ch, miss 5ch, 2-st trtr  cluster in next ch, 5ch, ss in the same ch as cluster] twice. Fasten off and weave in ends.
Making up Use yarn to fill body. With colour joins underneath flatten the body a little and with A join the two sides of the opening for the head.  Attach the wings with A.

Do you do anything special to help the bees?

Craft inspiration

Oooh!  Look at this exciting parcel that's just arrived for me!

It's the bundle of craft books that I won in a giveaway from Mathilde heart Manech, a couple of weeks ago.  How very exciting!  Let's unwrap it...

They all look wonderful, but I'm particularly drawn to Just Sew Stories--can't resist a good pun--and Make It and Mend It.  I think I'll spend the afternoon curled up on the sofa, flicking through all these lovely books and sipping coffee.  I'm going to have so much crafty fun with these for inspiration!

Thanks so much, Lisa! xx

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April 2014 in pictures

April was a bit of a lazy month blog-wise, but we managed to cram lots of lovely offline things into the month.  I will get around to blogging about them--promise!

We had a lovely (and thoroughly gluttonous) Easter with all of the family and had several jaunts to National Trust properties.  There was baking galore, and plenty of crafting, and a surprising amount of sunshine.  Naturally this was followed by a week of rain, but for once I wasn't bothered as we had new turf laid and all the rain saved me from having to remember to water it!

In May, I'm going a bit crazy and blogging every day.  I've succumbed to peer pressure and am joining Louisa and Michelle in Rosalilium's Blog Every Day in May challenge.  Given how patchy my blogging has been over the last month, this will be a massive kick up the bum for me, and should also help me drag all those unfinished posts in my drafts folder, blinking, into the light of day.  I'm looking forward to it!

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Catching up (13, 14, 15/52)

15/52

Time sure does fly when you're having fun!  That's the only explanation I can come up with for being two weeks behind with my 52 Portraits of Lucas...

15/52: I finally got around to putting a fringe on the kid-sized version of the Fourth Doctor scarf that I knitted for Lucas.  Here he is, doing his very best Tom Baker, at the front door.  Would you like a jelly baby?

14/52

14/52: Since watching the Winter Soldier, Lucas has taken to carrying his Captain American shield everywhere.  He and Dave have turned trips to the supermarket into a series of clandestine missions.  My solo shopping trips will seem positively boring by comparison...

13/52

13/52: Lucas wearing the biscuit moustache that he piped while making my Mother's Day dinner.  I still have no idea why moustaches are suddenly in but Lucas looked pretty good with one!  It doubled up as an awesome dunker for the white chocolate mousse in the jar.

Joining in with Jodie's 52 Project!

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Friday Favourites #23

Friday has sneaked up on me this week.  (As have the Easter holidays--I am absolutely stuck for things to do. All suggestions welcome!!)  I vaguely remember Monday but the rest is a blur.  I'm going to assume that's the sign of a good week!

Here are some of my favourite things from this week...

Favourite print: Bristol Screen Print

I've been browsing Etsy this week and this print of Bristol caught my eye.  Not only is it a gorgeous Bristol Blue in colour, it's got hot air balloons soaring over Brunel's Suspension Bridge (one of my favouritest sights ever), Cabot's Tower, one of the cathedrals (is that the one on College Green?), the SS Great Britain and an assortment of animals from the zoo.  Penguins!!

If you're a Bristolian (or just wish you lived in Bristol, and who wouldn't) then this is the print for you!  Alternatively, pop your city/area into the Etsy search and you'll probably find a jolly nice print to adorn your walls!  You could even make a feature wall of prints from places you've lived...

Favourite geeky find: Amazing Baby & Me



OMG!  I know this is a commercial for Evian (and a not-so-subtle plug for the next Spider-Man film) but I love this short so much!!

Favourite craft: DIY flower fairy lights

Lily's fabulous flower adorned fairy lights are gorgeous!  I wish I could persuade Dave that fairy lights are cool all year round, not just for Christmas... You could take them in so many different directions...maybe use pastels in spring, bright colours in summer, and so forth.  Love 'em!

Favourite travel post: Danni's day in Amsterdam

In 2000, I lived in Amsterdam.  Back then, it was probably the worst possible place for a non-smoker, anti-drug type such as myself to live, but I loved wandering around the canals and through the Vondelpark admiring all the beautiful architecture and scenery.  Plus, awesome cakes were to be found everywhere!  If you haven't been, you should totally go!  (We're taking Lucas just as soon as we're sure that he won't fling himself into a canal.)

All images copyright their respective owners.

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Life lately...

Found on Pinterest

Life is good right now.  Busy, but bloody good all the same!

I spent half of today at school doing PTA stuff, admiring the children's projects and watching the Easter bonnet parade.  Tomorrow I'm baking a birthday cake for a friend and in the evening there's this month's WI meeting.  Apologies if anyone sees me out and about in a weird lycra-based outfit...we're doing street dance this month and there's a prize for the best outfit!  I'm going to channel Beyonce and Rhianna.  Actually, just cover your eyes until Friday to be on the safe side!

Thanks to Lucas and Dave I had an amazing Mother's Day on Sunday.  They thoroughly spoiled me.  Not only did I get some Baileys fudge and a lens adaptor to let me use my old Canon nifty fifty on my new camera, they spent the whole day in the kitchen making me dinner!

They were so sweet about the whole thing.  For the last week they've both been bursting with excitement and loving keeping the menu a secret.  It was totally worthwhile!  They did seared scallops on local black pudding, with minted pea puree followed by Lamb Kleftiko which was amazingly delicious if perhaps not the most photogenic dish ever and finished off with white chocolate mousse and homemade langues de chat.  All utterly delicious.  They're justifiably very proud of themselves!!

Over the last week or so I've found myself in the midst of an epic craft spree.  First I played with hot glue (and made a tiny mess, but that's all cleared up now so we shall say no more) and made a spring wreath for the front door.  I'm rather thrilled with how it's turned out (and the postman said nice things about it to me this morning).  I also crocheted a bird and a few flowers to adorn Lucas's Easter hat for the Easter Bonnet parade at school.  He didn't win (boo hiss etc) but he loves the bird so much that I might make adapt the pattern to turn it into an Angry Bird.

And then there was the crochet lining for my yarn basket... No more snagged yarn!

I want to finish it off with some ribbon around the outside edge (to hide the stitches) and a crocheted rose.  This calls for more hot glue!

I have just booked my hotel room (well, cell really as it's a windowless room at the EasyHotel), bought my train ticket and printed out my ticket for Blogtacular!  It's getting closer and closer; I'm super-excited and a bundle of nerves at the same time which is fun.  Lucy from London Loafing and I have hatched a cunning plan to form a cluster of nervous people who don't know anyone else IRL and fret together as a bonding exercise.  Really looking forward to all the workshops, particularly the photo styling one!!

How's life with you?

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Friday Favourites #22

Happy Friday everyone!  I'm really looking forward to this weekend; we're off to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier on Saturday and on Sunday, Dave and Lucas are cooking me dinner for Mothering Sunday.  The menu is a secret, and Lucas is bursting with excitement about the whole thing.  Can't wait!

Hello to any visitors from Sunny Sweet Pea (who has just posted an interview with me today)--it's lovely to have you!

Favourite Recipe: Triple Layer Mango & Passionfruit Curd Pavlova

© Not Quite Nigella

I've known Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella for years and with this sublime and decadent pavlova, I think she's surpassed Nigella herself!  It serves 18 people, so I'm going to need to engineer a large family gathering to give me an excuse to make this beauty.  Is a Pavlova Party a thing?  I could totally make it a thing...

Favourite Crochet: Ombre Crochet Throw

I'm on a real crochet and crafting kick at the moment.  Last night at our WI In Stitches group I saw a gorgeous crochet ripple blanket and fell in love.  While hunting around for patterns last night, I came across this beautiful ombre blanket.  Isn't it amazing?  I've never seen crocodile stitch before but I can't wait to give it a go!

Favourite Advice: 8 Tricks to help you get back into an exercise routine

I'll be the first to admit that the gym and I aren't friends at the moment.  I don't know why...I always love it when I'm there, it's just the getting there that's the problem.  I don't mean transport-wise...I mean motivation.

There are some fab tips in this article and I'm definitely going to give some of them a go.  If only they included some ninja tips for sneaking back into the gym without anyone commenting on my absence...

Also seen on the web this week:

♥ I loved Michelle's post about Pete and Betty, her furry friends.  Lots of gorgeous pictures of the puppies!
♥ Five things I wish I knew when I started out in Photography.  Great advice!
♥ April Fools Pranks to play on your kids!  (Although, this may be a slippery slope to go down with Lucas.  It might escalate quite quickly!!)

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Bringing Spring indoors--my yarn-wrapped wreath

Brightening up our kitchen door

Did I mention that I joined the Women's Institute recently?  It's something that I've wanted to do for years, so when I spotted a mention of it on Twitter and realised that it was just a few streets away, I went for it!  The launch event ended up in the papers as over three hundred women turned up!  Crazy stuff!  We're now the biggest WI in the country, which is a bit mind-boggling.

Our WI is pretty amazing; not only is it record-breakingly large and full of friendly women, but there are loads of fantastic sub-groups and craft workshops springing up as well as the main meetings.  I spent Sunday afternoon at our very first choir practice--we sounded fantastic after just three and a half hours of tuition, we'll be in the Royal Albert Hall before we know it--and a couple of weeks ago I popped around to Vicky's house with some other ladies for a spring wreath workshop.  I can't resist the opportunity to mess around with yarn!

It turns out that wrapping yarn around a wreath form is surprisingly relaxing and addictive!  I have somehow managed to resist the urge to wrap the entire house in pretty pastel yarns, but with Easter coming up there's a very good chance that I'll get creative!

Making pretty felt roses and trying to choose buttons

All you need to do is wrap yarn round a wreath form--we used polystyrene ones--making sure that none of the base shows through.  Change colours if you want, keeping any knots to the back of your work.  Once you've wrapped your wreath, add some flowers, buttons, yarn-wrapped polystyrene eggs, whatever you fancy.  We used hot glue, which is amazing stuff.  Why has no one let me play with a hot glue gun before??  Add a loop of ribbon, and you're done.

If you want a more detailed tutorial, check this one out.

Love the pearls on the roses!

Everyone's wreaths came out differently; some of the girls went for bold colour combinations with pink and purple yarns, while others made gorgeous wreaths using muted shades of greens with buttercup yellow flowers.  They were all lush and I think we were all justifiably proud of our creations!

Vicky's wreath--love the blue ribbon wrapped round it!

If you're feeling inspired and fancy making a wreath of you own, check out my Pinterest board.  So many beautiful wreaths--I want to make them all!

Follow Angela Williams's board Wreaths on Pinterest.

And if you're curious about the Women's Institute--it's not all "jam and Jerusalem", and you don't need to strip off for a calendar, either--then click here to find your nearest WI branch!
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