How to make a Pay it Forward Advent Calendar from Craft it Up Christmas ...

We love a chocolate Advent calendar as much as the next person. But we were thinking, wouldn't it be good to give something back in the days leading up to Christmas, instead of taking? The divine Jen at CICO books has made a fabulous You Tube tutorial so you can make one just in time for the 1st of December!

Happy Publication Day Craft It Up Christmas!

Hey Happy Publication Day! Craft It Up Christmas is now officially here. Whoop whoop! 

I know it's a little early for Christmas but over the next few months I'll give you little prods! Because as well as making a beautiful Christmas gift it would make an even more awesome pre-Christmas gift to someone else...or for you and your family! You can get a head start on some lovely Christmas crafting. Or planning craft group Christmas nights. Or Christmas decoration swaps. 

I can see it rolled up in a stocking too. So maybe tip off Santa now? 

Craft It Up Around The World and Craft It Up Christmas Around The World by Abadee and Armstrong are available from all good bookstores, online and also from our publisher.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Craft-it-Up-Around-World-Libby-Abadee/9781782490388

http://www.bookdepository.com/Craft-it-Up-Christmas-Around-World-Libby-Abadee/9781782491569

'An apple for the teacher' note cards.

How often do you need to grab a little note card for an occasion but don't want to shell out big bucks for a greeting card? We've just printed up a pile of these apple cards for next to nothing. They'd be super sweet for your favourite teacher (and we just happen to have THE best teachers in the world!) but they'd work for every other occasion too! 

If you don't have an ink pad, you can use acrylic or poster paint. You might just lose some of the detail with a thicker paint.

'Spring has sprung' felt flower bouquet

Today's project has been influenced by my lovely Mother's Day tulips and by our Netherlands project in the book. But the finishing touches were provided by my 6 year old studio assistant today who was too sick to go to school, but miraculously recovered when I started cutting out the felt. She has designed the flowers and added the genius touches of detail on the leaves. 

These flowers are super easy to make, and because felt never fades, they really are everlasting flowers. If you don't have the book, you can buy it online...

http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Around-World-Traveling-Adventures/dp/1782490388/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399860551&sr=1-1&keywords=craft+it+up

They're really quick to make. We used scraps of felt and a few pipe cleaners. Draw flowers onto paper to use as templates and then cut out the flowers and leaves. A couple of tiny snips in the centre of the shapes, feed the pipe cleaner through and you're done!

Pretty Autumn Pinecone

 

Autumn has well and truly arrived 'Down Under' in Sydney. The leaves on the trees range from hot pink to brightest yellow. We've borrowed some of these colours and used a pinecone to make this sweet 'pretty autumn pinecone'. Now we know the rest of you are enjoying sunny Spring...so watch this space for a gorgeous Spring project!

 

 

Pretty Parisienne pom pom macaron!

Paris is one of the loveliest cities in the world! From the spectacular Eiffel Tower to the banks of the River Seine, we love everything about this wonderful place!

But if we had to stop for a quick treat, we'd choose a delicious macaron 'tous les jours' (everyday!) Parisienne shops have windows filled with stunning displays of pastel coloured pyramids of macarons! We love food that is equally good to look at as it is to taste!

These pom pom macarons are super sweet in a different way. You could make them in several different colours and hang them from a bag, or display them in a bowl.

Shakespeare's 450th birthday craft

This week we were lucky enough to be in Stratford on Avon, Shakepseare's birthplace, on the 450th anniversary of his birth!

To celebrate, we've made a gorgeous Shakespeare craft project inspired by one of his most famous plays, the sad love story 'Romeo and Juliet'.

We reckon that if Romeo had got his hands on some salt dough and bright acrylic paints, he'd have made his sweetheart Juliet a 'Lovestruck Romeo's Beautiful Bracelet' too!

Pronto passport pouch!

If you're anything like us you'll love the thrill of travelling but not the airport bits where you have to produce your documents from the depths of your bags whilst juggling kids, belts, shoes and iPads! If this sounds familiar then this project is going to make things a little easier.

We've used the brightest felt, so you'll always be able to find your passport in your bag...even after a long haul!

You only need a button, thread and felt, so it's super cheap too.

You could even add a ribbon to the top to hang round your neck...or make a larger one to fit the whole family's passports!

Bon voyage!

Rainbow cookies revisited

St Patrick's Day makes us think of rainbows, amongst other things! We made these cute cookies last year but a pretty project is always worth going back to right? In fact we're going to make a batch of these at Craft It Up HQ right now!

 

'Rain rain go away unless you're bringing us a rainbow' wall hanging

This week we're doing a project to cheer up our chilly American friends and our soggy English ones. And what could be more cheerful than rainbow craft. We love rainbows!

We've made this craft coaster size, but you could do it any size you want. An MDF table mat would make a really cool wall hanging and maybe you could increase the number of rainbow strands you use?