The Making Home Weekly Link Up #2

Welcome to the #MakingHome weekly link up!

Be inspired by posts all about home; moving house, decorating, DIY, family activities, recipes, gardening and more. It’s all here under one roof at Mrs Crafty B’s.

Last week we had some amazing posts linked up; from seed tags to repainted dining furniture, garden make overs to decoupage bookcases and more! One of my favourite posts was by Kelly of Scissors Paper Rock who shared how to make several types of flavoured tipple. Perfect for Christmas preparation obviously!

In our #MakingHome efforts this week I have been focusing on trying to clear out the garage which has been a dumping ground since the move. I feel like de-cluttering is a permanent job that is always on the list but I am hoping that by the end of summer we will be less cluttered and more organized. We have also been thinking more about painting as it seems like this will be on the cards soon. I did a little research into where to start so here's a few tips on 'How To Paint Your House'

Getting Thrifty With Lemons and Limes

Let’s set the scene. You are doing your weekly shop, trying to be careful about your spending and you head to the reduced ailse to see what bargains you can grab. Once you have filtered though all of the stuff you would never eat, you notice a tray of reduced lemons and limes. You may use the odd slice but you will just be paying for the honour of throwing these away at home right? 

The Making Home Weekly Link Up #1

Welcome to the #MakingHome weekly link up!

Be inspired by posts all about home; moving house, decorating, DIY, family activities, recipes, gardening and more. It’s all here under one roof at Mrs Crafty B’s.

This week I am hopping back in time and sharing a post all about how this adventure got underway back in October 2014 when we bought our first house and moved to the Welsh Valleys from the Cambridgeshire countryside.

The First Steps in Making Home

Rose Gold Plated Star Charms Bracelet: Jewellery Maker Kit Review

I love trying all sorts of crafts as you will all know; but jewellery making is something I hadn't yet tried my hand at. It always seemed like you had to have an awful lot of bits and bobs with beads being sold in bulk and wires in metre roles and I never really wanted to commit; especially if it was making something that I wouldn't necessarily wear. Then I was given the opportunity to try out making my own jewellery with a kit by Jewellery Maker.

How to Paint Your Own Mural at Home

Instead of displaying small pieces of your artwork around your home, why not take up an entire wall to show off your creative flair? The word ‘mural’ can be a little daunting, as if you are tasked with painting the Sistine Chapel, but all it means is that you get to use a section of a wall - or the entirety of it - to paint something that shows off your personality, style and creativity.

So, where do you start? Here’s a few tips to making your own mural:

How to Paint Your House

The time has come in our #MakingHome adventure to seriously think about our painting choices. Having bought a new build property, we were advised to wait for 12-18 months before painting and although we've had the odd chat about colours, picked up colour charts etc, 12 months will be approaching in October and I cannot wait to get started! I want to make sure we do a proper job from the get go so I'm starting to get to grips with what I need to think about.

Top Tips For Keeping Your Little Ones Entertained Over the Summer Holiday

The summer holidays have started and I've decided that I need to have back up entertainment plans for when the TV time has been exhausted and the Little Bs are (ahem…I am) bored of playing cars and football aka kicking the ball in random directions. We tend to do quite well in filling our days with random window shopping trips and lunch in Ikea (the boys love the showrooms), trips to the park, garden antics, crafty stuff and 'picwics' but sometimes we need a little inspiration to think outside of the box. Rather than save 1000 links to unachievable ideas or spend lots of money on big day trips, I decided to ask fellow blogger their top tips for keeping little ones entertained over the summer. Then I thought I would share them with you lovely lot! So here goes…

This Summer Mrs Crafty B Will...

The lovely Leanne over at A Slice of My Life Wales has tagged me in a Summer 'to do list' so with routines getting changed up a bit and lots going on, I have decided to have a little think about the things I would love to make sure I do this summer.

Tips For Taking Your Craft Business Beyond Etsy

There are more than 1.4 million sellers on Etsy and growing, with many vendors selling products that are similarly themed or even close in appearance. These similarities and a hungry market can in some ways benefit sellers, particularly those who have just started out on the path of turning their craft hobby into their day job. However, if you’re starting to tire of turning 3.5 per cent of your profits over to the platform in addition to their listing fees, it might be time to think about graduating to your own site and running your own craft business. Here are a few hints and tips to help you on your journey…

Chocolate Oat Crumblies With Sally Akins

Sally Akins is a UK Food and Lifestyle blogger who lives in Shropshire with her husband and their two sons. She blogs at SallyAkins.com and can also be found on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Today she is sharing her super yummy looking chocolate oat crumbles.

Mini Maker Activities with Science Made Simple

I am always on the lookout for fun activities to keep Baby B entertained on different levels as he becomes more inquisitive about the world. We are a massive fans of fun learning activities and encouraging a genuine desire for wanting to find out new things and there is great value in doing science experiments with your #MiniMakers…aside from the fact they are SUPER fun and sometimes a bit messy!

How to Sew a Frozen Art Carry Case - Free Tutorial

I have teamed up with Plush Addict to show you how to make this art carry case for your #MiniMakers

50 Things That Make Mrs Crafty B Happy

A while ago I was tagged by Leanne over at 'A Slice of My Life Wales' in a challenge to list 50 things that make me happy.

It's simple. Link to the person who tagged you, devise your list and tag some more people to take the challenge.

How to Make Personalised Map Tile Coasters

This weekend I hopped over to The Diary Of A Jewellery Lover to share a crafty tutorial.

Head on over to see how you can make your very own personalised tile coasters just like these ones!

National Upcycling Day 24th June 2015 #UpcycleRevolution Upcycled WallArt

Today is National Upcycling Day as campaigned for by Gumtree along with a group of the UK's top upcycling and lifestyle bloggers. As you know, I am a big fan of upcyling so I thought I would contribute and point you all in the direction of the #UpcycleRevolution

Scrapstores are amazing places to find material for crafting and upcyling projects. With a bit of creativity and barely a dent in your money tin, you can create something individual to you; like this wall art!

Top Ten Things That Mrs Crafty B is Buzzin' About in June

I have been keeping note of some of the fabulous things that I've seen, heard or experienced so that can share them with you Crafty Bs. Here are the top ten things that I am loving this month...

Crafting With Hillarys: How to Make A Handmade Lampshade and Washable Fabric Coaster Covers

Made-to-measure window dressing company Hillarys, invited myself along with some other bloggers to take part in a challenge; to see what we could craft with 1m² of one of their beautiful fabrics.
With the launch of #MakingHome I jumped at the chance to get involved. I didn't just think along the lines of 'craft' but what I could make that was usable in my mission to create a beautiful home as well as easily replicable for you Crafty Bs.

Happily one of the choices of fabric, Rayna Apple, beautifully complimented our intended colour scheme for the front room (green and grey). As of yet, we have nothing decorative in the front room including (shock horror) a lamp or light shade! I have seen plenty of lampshade making kits and workshops so I thought I would give it a go. Knowing I would have lots of fabric left over

Pirate Party Food Treasure Chest

Last year, we had a pirate party for Baby B's 3rd birthday. I hunted all over for good decoration and food ideas and this treasure chest for party snacks is one that cropped up many a time. At first I thought it was a waste of a loaf of bread but I decided to go for it and the kids loved it! Plus, we used the left over bread to feed the ducks later that week in the local park. Win win.

So here is how to make your very own pirate party centre piece!

Desserts Through the Decades

As you all know, I'm a big fan of cake. Most cake. In fact desserts in general. I will rarely say no to something sweet and I love whipping up batches of cupcakes and the odd cheesecake or banoffee pie. 

When I spotted this infographic, created by BookaTable.co.uk, I thought it would be a fab opportunity to get nattering with you on the blog about your favourite desserts. It gives a run down of popular desserts through the decades from the 1910's to the 2010's!

Wedding Cakes and An Overwhelmed Worker B

To say that I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed recently would perhaps be an understatement. With the start of my freelance virtual PA work, making framed Lego letters on a commission basis, working behind the scenes on the blog and of course Mummy duties, there has been little time for just me. Every hour (except the sleeping ones) has been spent working or ticking another thing off of my own list which is ever growing.

This however is not a whiny post! I love it.

I don't often have time to myself but I embrace the feeling of being overwhelmed. I can manage that emotion because although I'm doing a lot, I enjoy doing it. I'm ultimately a happier person. I hate being bored.

Here's a little look of what we have been up to this week.

A sneaky peek of my guest post project!

Re-Create Upcycled Plant Pots with Scraps of Fabric

Continuing with a bit of upcycling, here's a cute way to jazz up some simple plastic pots.

I found these plastic pots in abundance in a Scrapstore along with

Re-Create Upcycled Stamps

It's no secret that I love a bit of upcycling. Sometimes I'm on the hunt for materials for a specific purpose and sometimes I just grab stuff or save 'bits and bobs' because one day, they might be useful. I decided that my die cutting machine could be used for more than cutting shapes from card and I wanted to make some stamps from the lovely dies that I had. 

My local scrapstore had plenty to inspire but I grabbed some black foam stuff that looked like old packing material for something and some flooring material.

Dunelm Vacuum Pack Storage Bags

Here's the low down on a bit of a storage solution. It's not genius. It's not good looking. It's not innovative. In fact its really common and you see adverts for these all the time. I am just here to stick my hand in the air and say "yup, me, I have used them. They are great".

Oh you have no idea what I'm jabbering on about yet do you?!

Lego Letter Frames

This post is all about what I have been up to with Lego; especially for you and your friends & family!

I recently decided that in keeping with the Lego craze in my house right now, I would create something personal for the Little B's room and for my desk space.

WD40 to The Rescue

You know all those posts and pins about the 100,000 uses for WD40? Well I'm going to be specific because I just had a lightbulb moment.

Upcycled Filing Tray with Ikea Magazine Files

Spring has finally sprung and I've got the cleaning bug; along with a desire to ensure that I really am organised! My new freelance business (Hello My PA) has a highlighted a necessity for a well organised workspace.

My desk is multifunctional with it being used not only for VA work but for crafts, blogging and a place to keep my household 'affairs' in order. I decided that the thing I needed most urgently was some filing trays; something in which to organise incoming work and mail before it is actioned and filed away.

I did find some lovely options for filing trays but the ones I fancied weren't quite in keeping with my 'thrifty living' ways at the moment. This led me to hunt around in my hoard to figure out what I already had that I could use. My search led me to a stash of FLYT Magazine Files by Ikea that I purchased a while ago.

Photo from Ikea.com

How to REALLY Use Laundry Tablets

This will be one of those posts where I share something I have recently learned and then I get bombarded with comments such as "how did you NOT know this?" "Don't you read instructions?" or "everyone knows this." Well, until a few weeks ago I did not know this, and no I don't have 'time' to read instructions!

I Need moremags.com!

During my browsing time at the ICHF craft shows, I was drawn to a stand which had magazines laid out with crafty kits as a bonus. I got chatting with the lovely folks from Practical Publishing and I am now familiar with moremags.com (which you should check out). Not only were they selling copies of lovely magazines, there were lots of crafts kits up for grabs from past issues of various publications.

Although I do a lot of online browsing (obviously), I am a big fan of books and magazines. There's nothing like a good sit down with a cuppa and a mag and being able to pop an actual marker in for your next project! Fully armed with reading material for the train on the way home from the show, I started browsing and decided that I would tell you a bit about the publications I have now discovered; just in case you hadn't heard of them yet! It is worth noting here that it you still do prefer doing everything online, there are a lot of digital subscriptions via moremags.com 

The publications offered are essentials for crafters, covering things from knitting to paper craft, sewing and stitching. I'm going to kick of with a new sewing magazine…

Top Notch Sleep With Premier Inn NEC

Whenever my family and I travel, we stay at a Premier Inn. We have always received good customer service, a delivery on the promise of a good nights sleep where other guests aren't so considerate and they are always situated in good, convenient locations.

This was also true of the Premier Inn, NEC. When I decided I would go to the ICHF Crafts Shows over three days, there was no debating where I would stay. Although it was a walk to the shows due to sheer size of the venue, the Premier Inn is pretty much on site. There were also shuttle buses if you didn't fancy the walk. Although I had travelled by Crosscountry trains, I did note that the hotel was off of a main road. This is always true of Premier Inns which is why they are so convenient and it never fails to amaze me that I never hear any traffic. EVER!

Getting to The ICHF Craft Shows at the NEC with Crosscountry Trains

I haven't travelled on the train for quite a few years! Having become a driver towards the end of university, no longer having lots of long journeys to do and having children, I've never really had the need.

When I decided that I would be going to the ICHF shows at the NEC, I thought that maybe driving would be a bit much; the traffic, navigating, parking etc, so I logged into my old Crosscountry account to find out whether I could get there by train.