Tissue paper pom-poms

For our friends Liz and Dilly's wedding, I made about fifty tissue paper pom-poms.  Some were hung inside the marquee from chandeliers strung with bunting, and the rest were hung in the branches of the tree-lined avenue outside, along with jars of candles.  The instructions for how to make them are best explained on the Martha Stewart website.

 

 

Wreath of tiny fabric scraps

Every time I make a quilt, I hate to throw away all the scraps that are made when I've straightened edges and trimmed blocks. For my colourful pinwheel quilt, the fabric scraps were all such fantastic colours I decided to salvage them and turn them into this wreath! All I used was a wire coat hanger, straightened out and curled into a circle, then the ends taped together with some strong white electrical tape. I spent a happy hour idling on the sofa in front of the fire tying the scraps on while we watched a film, and then finished it by tying a piece of ribbon on to hang it from my studio door.

Printer's tray cotton reel display

I love this old printer's tray drawer from an antiques shop - it's hung pride of place in my studio full of all my cotton reels.

Vintage tin candles

I love vintage tins and have amassed quite a collection - our house is full of them, in the kitchen full of flour and sugar, in my studio full of buttons, as money boxes collecting pennies - and on our mantlepiece as candle holders!

Teacup pin cushion

For our wedding I collected dozens of old teacups from car boot sales and charity shops to make into teacup candles. This one was too small but it's a lovely souvenir cup from the Blacksmith's shop at Gretna Green - I like to think some young couple decades ago bought it after they'd eloped there to get married. I made it into a pin cushion by covering a ball of wadding in some fabric I'd got left over from our wedding bunting.

Patchwork draught excluder

When we bought our house, we discovered there was an inch gap at the bottom of the front door. Nearly two years later and it's still there as we've not been able to afford a new front door! My solution? A patchwork draught excluder.  I used strips left over from when I made our wedding bunting, appliqued them onto two long pieces of calico, sewn together into a tube and filled with old plastic carrier bags.  It's pictured here with my muddy pink wellies after a lovely day out walking Doug the Pug.