A Very Making Things Club Christmas

Lori and Chris must love Christmas at least as much as I do, because in the weeks leading up to the big day we were treated to a two-part Making Things Club Christmas bonanza! Back in November, we met to make cute little snowmen and wrap up the handmade goodies we had crafted at home for our contemporaries in the Manchester Craft Mafia. I had spent the morning making a plush Christmas pudding from felt, beads and, of course, a little bit of glitter. Chris showed me how to make an adorable snowman and I sent him up to Manchester as a present too.

Felt Christmas pudding in progress

The gifts I sent to Manchester - isn't the snowman's little hat adorable?

Because the gifts were to be sent up to Manchester and opened by the Mafia a few weeks after we'd wrapped them up, I've had to keep these photos under wraps (see what I did there?) until now.

From Bristol with love - the presents we sent to the MCM.

A few weeks later and we reconvened for more festive crafting fun. Cafe Kino was awash with Christmas jumpers and jangling songs. I taught a new friend how to finger knit and felt quite some pride at having done so - I've never taught anything at MTC before, only learnt. We scattered around tables and made Christmas decorations that looked good enough to eat.

Of course, we still had the gift swap to look forward to! An exciting box had winged its way to us all the way from Manchester and was full of handmade goodies, all beautifully wrapped.

Chris with the presents from Manchester Craft Mafia

The Craft Mafia had been so generous that those of us who had contributed more than one present to the swap got an extra present in return! There were so many beautiful gifts, some of them quite inspired. A favourite of mine was the pin cushion ring. What a perfect idea!

Presents and a feast!

I received a gorgeous floral brooch and some re-usable chocolate decorations: four cute and festive drawstring pouches to hang on my tree, each containing a Lindt d'Or. They fit perfectly with the mainly red theme of my trimming and I've even managed not to eat them yet!

Re-usable chocolate decorations.

Of course, they say it's about giving - but receiving feels pretty special too!

Merry Christmas, Manchester!

Christmas Wrapping

That time of year is almost upon us - it's practically clambered into our laps already! For once, I had all my gifts bought and wrapped well in advance. If you don't, it's not too late to make them look a treat under the tree. First, you need Christmas music to keep your spirits in the right place...

Another way to make your wrapping go easily is to have the right materials at hand. If you've got bottles, don't work yourself into a state trying to neatly cover them in tissue paper. I've tried it every year for as long as I can remember and this year I finally admitted defeat. Buy a couple of nice bottle bags - not too garish (unless that's what you like) - and have them at the ready. As for the rest of your presents, buy a roll of paper or get inventive: use brown paper or newspaper and use ribbons, garlands and even pompoms to jazz things up.

I bought some Fair Isle printed tissue paper (Next) and used cute washi tape (Paperchase), stickers and Pritt stick in place of Sellotape. If you're using tissue paper, you'll usually need more than one layer. When using patterned tissues, begin with a layer of a block coloured paper first - I used black and white sheets that I had saved from things people had sent me.

I've always struggled to find gift tags that I actually like and usually prefer to keep them very simple, so I played around with cutting out the initial (or entire name, when it was a short one) of the intended recipient from brown paper and glueing it onto the parcel. I also picked up a pack of gorgeous tags (Next) and enjoyed mix-and-matching patterns on my presents for once.

Small gifts such as jewellery deserve their own beautiful packaging as much as larger items. Gift boxes lined with tissue paper serve well for this. I bought a plain one (super cheap at all craft shops) and drew my sister on the lid (the present was for her). I then made a nest of tissue paper, popped in a few sequins and laid the earrings I'd bought her inside.

A tiny bit of time and effort will make sure your gifts entice loved ones down onto their knees beneath the tree, wondering what it is they'll be unwrapping come Tuesday!

Making Things Club: spooky edition

Glitter glue bat

I love hallowe’en so when Making Things Club announced that the October meet would be hallowe’en-themed I got very excited! My best friend Heather planned her first visit to Bristol to tie in with it and we arrived promptly (okay, early – twenty minutes early) to receive spooky goodie bags with those plastic fangs I always insisted on wearing all day as a child, candy bracelets and little plastic bats. Chris was back this month and Lori was sporting skeleton tights.

Upon entry, we were directed towards paper templates and felt and each sewed ourselves a bat bow tie. I added sequins and little eyes to mine and Heather made hers yellow so that she could wear it with a black shirt and channel Batman. I felt a little lost this time in terms of what I wanted to make, once I was done with my bat. I played around a bit more with my felts, did some drawing on a photo from an encyclopaedia, started making another bow tie. Heather started making herself a little felt doll. I added some glitter details to my plastic bat.

Bat bow tie, made from felt.

There was also face-painting and creepy-themed music this month – and an announcement! Making Things Club will be opening a shop in Cabot Circus. Read more about their plans over at their blog. It’s all very exciting!

Lori as an adorable kitten.

The next Making Things Club will be on 11th November at Cafe Kino.

Making Things Club: lucky dip, xerox transfers and Joyce the Librarian

Look what I made!

After a little under a month (although it felt like much longer), Making Things Club at Café Kino rolled round again at the beginning of September, and I bounced along, ready to get my paws on the pile of treasures and see what I could make. Sadly, Chris was absent but Lori was there to rally the crafting troops and bring us together to forge new friendships.

Music this month was a solo set from Martin of the delightful Joyce the Librarian (who have just released their new single, Follow Me I'm Right Behind You), something he's not done before but he pulled it off splendidly. Thanks to Lori for introducing me to another band I'll be keeping an eye on around Bristol, and again, one who are perfect to cut, stitch, thread and stick along to.

Martin from Joyce the Librarian

My friend Steph and I also agreed to have our tea at Kino, but in my usual scatterbrained fashion I was running a little late so we ended up ordering at the beginning of MTC. I had a Kino burger with sweet potato fries and coleslaw. I've never been able to stand coleslaw - until now! Over the night I also treated myself to a soya decaf latte (I'm one of those) and a banana soya milk. Yummy!

Kino burger

I'd had an idea earlier on in the day, thinking back to when I was planning my birthday party in June and how  my friend Holly and I (whose birthday falls only a day after mine and with whom I was throwing the party) made moodboards of ideas and bounced photos and tutorial links back and forth between eachother. We had a lot of bunting at our party (crocheted, collaged and shop-bought) and had toyed with the idea of banners. I decided that what Making Things Club needed was its own banner, a little thank you to Lori and Chris.

I rifled through the box of paper and found some pastel leaves to cut the letters from, then decorated each letter with felt tips and, finally, strung them all from a piece of thread and hung the banner from the bench along the end of the room. It took a lot longer than anticipated but was worth it! Naturally, I then wanted something to take home as a fruit of my efforts, so I knocked together a quick name banner for myself from old encyclopaedia pages (as can be seen in the photo at the top of this post).

Hard work pays off: my Making Things Club banner.

Aside from a glittering smorgasbord of crafting materials and Martin's sweet and gentle voice, MTC had a couple of other treats in store for us! Firstly, Lori taught us the art of the xerox transfer. My first attempt was rubbish, but I managed to rescue it (just about!). A xerox transfer is a method of - you guessed it - transferring the ink from a photocopied design onto a rigid surface, such as a wooden board. I had a design I wanted to use but was too scared to sneak it into the photocopier at work, so lucky for me, Lori had brought a selection of kitsch images which she'd photocopied at the library.

As if we weren't being spoiled enough, there was also a lucky dip! Upon entry to MTC we drew a slip of paper from a tray and later on in the evening we were invited onto the stage to find our numbered prize. Some absolutely adorable treasures winged their way into our possession, including the sweetest cake bunting set! As for me, I became the proud owner of an adorable little bird figurine to decorate my room a little more. He sits on my shelf with other cute bits and pieces.

Lucky dip!

What'll it be?

My prize: little birdy

All in all, I had another wonderful evening with my new pals and can't wait for the next meet! The next Making Things Club is on 14th October and will be a spooky extravaganza in honour of the halloween month! I for one LOVE halloween so I'm already brewing up some spooky craft ideas. Perhaps I'll see some of you there!

In the time being, why not check out Joyce the Librarian's new video (single out now on Folkwit Records)?

Making Things Club: broderie anglaise and Turkish apple tea

Whilst browsing various blogs and websites last week, I stumbled across the events listings on the Café Kino website. Kino is a non-profit workers' co-op and vegan paradise (I'd guess: I'm not vegan myself but I am lactose intolerant so it's always great to find tasty, dairy-free options when eating/drinking out) in Stokes Croft. A cute banner advertised Making Things Club, a monthly craft meet where, for a measly five pounds, you have access to all the craft materials you could dream of and can make things to your hearts content for a few hours with like-minded folk, and, this month, very lovely live music from the Weary Band.

 Delighted by the idea, I put a fiver to one side and went along to Café Kino for the very first time yesterday evening. The day was hot and sticky and the baking heat showed no signs of abating so I ordered a fresh orange juice, watched it being squeezed, then made my way downstairs to the basement where the club is held. On arrival, a friendship bracelet was knotted around my wrist and I was presented with a goody bag by Lori, one of the founding partners of Making Things Club. I joined a little round table and introduced myself to the women sitting at it, and soon we'd all drifted to the back of the room to rummage through fabrics, sequins, paper and other treasures, deciding on the spot what we were going to make of our finds.

I found a large swathe of broderie anglaise fabric and decided to sew myself a headband from it. I grabbed a heavy, pale blue cotton to line it and a couple of pipe cleaners to give it some structure and allow me to mould it and twist it around my head. Other people had turned up with their knitting, some people began to paint and we all clamoured to have a go on Steve, the badgemaking machine. An encyclopaedia of cats provided lots of cat badges (internet gold) but my favourite source of photos to make into badges was an old beauty magazine from 1979. I also made a broderie anglaise badge to match my headband.

The Weary Band, with Chris making badges in the foreground.

Once we'd all got into the swing of making things, the Weary Band took to the stage and filled the room with dreamy, soft folk music. The atmosphere was wonderful, tucked underground away from the unrelenting heat of the Bristol summer; quiet chatter and excited dashes to the table to find sequins whenever a new idea struck. The band paused for a brief interval and someone put a Field Music record on; I felt very much at home with familiar voices from Tyne and Wear making their way into my ears. I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't finish my headband in the three hours we had at the club- all my sewing things, sadly, had to stay in the Northeast without me- but I managed it! I sipped a Turkish apple tea as the band made their way back onstage. The evening stretched on deliciously and soon there were only a handful of us left, chatting away to Lori and Chris, the founders of the club.

Top: a few of the badges I made; Above: my headband.

Lori runs Tenderfoot, a gift shop and gallery in Brislington (a part of Bristol I have yet to venture to) and Chris is better known as Lazy Crafternoons, providing workshops and craft parties throughout and around Bristol. They make a wonderful team and I for one cannot wait for the next meet, on September 9th!

Perhaps I'll see some of you there!