21st Un-Birthday Tea Party Extravaganza - Mustache Mugs!

Have you ever wished you could wander around with a magnificent handle bar mustache? Wanted to wake up sporting Guy Fawkes-esque facial furniture? No? Oh. Awkward.

*Cough.*

Anyway, for those of you awesome enough who have wanted those things, then this is the tutorial for you! Mustache Mugs. Cheap mustache mugs!

I encountered a few problems with these babies so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get a set done. I didn't, and now I have to make so many repairs it's ridiculous.

You will need: A set of plain white mugs (I ordered the Smartprice ones from Asda Online,) good quality ceramic paint (I cannot emphasise this enough - I made the mistake of using a ceramic pen and that was the root of my un-doing!)Thick and Fine paintbrushes, A Mustache Style Guide.

1) Draw the outline of your favoured mustache style on to your mug. I used a Promarker (because my ceramic pen was pure let-down) for all of my mugs, but please, please, please make sure you use good quality ceramic paint!

2) Fill in the outline with paint. It will look transparent (this is a project that requires drying time and patience!)

3) Once the first layer has dried, re apply, allowing that layer to dry and repeating until you have achieved the level of opacity that you want!

4) Repeat for the rest of your mugs!

TIPS: Make sure the paint you are using states clearly that it is wash-proof. You don't want to dunk your mugs for all your hard work to literally come off in the wash. Like mine... But that is another story. Learn from my mistakes! I have to pick up some actual ceramic paint and go over my designs again.

The moral of this story is: don't take short-cuts. Sigh.

Have fun making your own set of Mustache Mugs!

♥ Rachel ♥

21st Un-Birthday Tea Party Extravaganza - Playing Card Ceiling Streamers!

Today I am going to share with you a quick tutorial for simple but pretty decorations! I can't claim that this idea was created by me as I took two concepts and smooshed them together, but needless to say I am quite pleased with how these turned out!

You will need: A deck of cards, red and black card/paper, scissors, a hole punch and some thread.

1) Create a template for a heart, diamond, spade and club shape.
2) Using these templates cut out a number of shapes in their correct colours (red hearts, black spades)
3) Punch holes into the top and bottom of each shape, as well as a number of cards (depending on how long you want the streamer to be)
4) Tie each shape together with a length of string. This bit takes some patience. Maybe get some kind person to help!
5) Don't forget to add thread to the very top shape as this is what you will use to hang your streamer.
6) Done!

The streamers in this picture are not quite finished as I am yet to trim the excess thread off, but you get the idea!

My plan is to hang these off the ceiling interspersed with streamers made up of just cards. I hope the effect will be magic!

Coming up next time: Mugs fit for the Mad Hatter!

♥ Rachel ♥

On Turning 21

In less than 10 days I turn 21. Twenty One. Not sure if want...

But, despite showing signs of an Early-Life-Crisis (the desperate need to act young,rather than my usual granny-self) I am determined that I will have a thoroughly 'me' style celebration. This - naturally - will include my all-time-favourite Alice in Wonderland!

So I shall be hosting a Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Mmmmmm. And I shall be Alice. Obviously. Over the next week I will be making decorations, baking and preparing for my Un-Birthday Extravaganza (as it won't be on my actual birthday.) Of course, preparing for all of that would not be an issue if I didn't have to prepare to give a presentation to one of the most frightening tutors I have ever had in my life. But oh well, I'm practically 21 - this means I need to grow a pair I guess.

I gathered all my party inspiration on to Pintrest (the best place on the Internet beside Ravelry...) If you fancy, check out my Party Pin Board and the others here. If you don't fancy, however, then I won't be offended. Much.

In the spirit of things I will have a few D.I.Y party decoration ideas and bakes to post here, so keep an eye out for the fun! Right now, for example, I am cutting out Clubs, Spades, Diamonds and Hearts to make few cute mobiles with. (It's theraputic, as well as good procrastination.)

I'll be back later this week with my first '21st Un-Birthday Tea Party Extravaganza' craft update. Until then!

♥ Rachel ♥

On Defrosting Nutella in the Microwave

It's been rather chilly lately, and what with the recent covering of snow we received the other night, it should not have come as a surprise when today I had to heat my Nutella up to make it remotely spreadable. Yes ladies and gentlemen, it had pretty much frozen in my cupboard. Fortunately I am a resourceful kind of soul, and this little obstacle did not prevent me from my Nutella and toast. Although perhaps it should have made me think twice about it, as I am supposed to be on a bit of a detox...

Anyway, this seems like a nice way of introducing my latest craft creation! Last post I was (pathetically) excited to buy a draught excluder, but to my horror, Leicester does not sell them. Anywhere. The ones I found on Amazon were pretty, but expensive. £12.00 for a draught excluder?! I think not!

So the aforementioned resourcefulness kicked in and I promptly started searching for tutorials. I had a stash of fabric from my splurge in the summer and an ab-fab sewing machine so why the hell not? In the end I chose this tutorial. Super quick and easy and it works a treat on the inch and a half gap at the bottom of my internal door...

In another desperate bid to keep warm I invested in a load of thermals - tops and trousers! I know I know, essentially I'm practically 21 and I just admitted to purchasing long-johns but I've never been my age in my head...

How are you guys keeping warm this winter?

♥ Rachel ♥