29/04/2015

How to make a bird feeder

A simple tutorial to make a cheep, ahem, cheap bird feeder in less than 10 minutes, using a few recycled materials. 
In case you hadn't guessed from the big feather wreath above, I love birds and now that we have our own garden I'd like to encourage a few more to visit. So, recently the boyfriend and I made a couple of bird feeders to hang in our garden and here's the how to: 
You will need:
Empty water bottle (with lid)
Wooden spoon
Bird seed
String
Scissors and a screw

Method:
1. Cut two holes at the bottom of the bottle, each on opposite sides, your spoon will need to slide through both holes. Cut the holes wide enough so that even with the spoon through, there will be room for seeds to be pecked out.
2. Poke holes in a couple of places further up the bottle, so there's plenty of options for the birds to get to the seeds.
3. Make two holes in the bottle lid (we found a screw a good tool to do this). Poke string through the holes, but don't tie until ready to hang up. 
4.Fill bottle with bird seed (using a funnel will avoid too much mess) and hang in your tree!
I'm pleased to say they work, although I've not been quick enough to get a picture of them in use - blue tits are just too fast for me! It would be a great activity to do with children too. 



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21/04/2015

Inspired by | the daffodil

Cheerful and bold, the sight of swathes of daffodils appearing just as the weather starts to warm is one I look forward to every year. Their sunshine yellow colour, unique shape and ability to brighten up the greyest of days is clearly irresistible to makers and photographers (here's one I snapped this spring), so cheer up your week with these daffodil inspired treasures. 




Crochet daffodil pattern | Messyla

Daffodil throw pillow | Prints of heart | Etsy




Daffodil iphone case | Indira Albert

Daffodil bed linen | Seasalt Cornwall

Which is your favourite? 



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18/04/2015

Finished project | A crochet giraffe

Hooray, a finished project! This cute crochet giraffe, named Jolly Tall* was made using this free pattern and was a surprisingly easy make. The pattern uses USA crochet terms (so I made sure to translate into UK before starting) and creates a fun stripy giraffe. I wanted a slightly more realistic crochet giraffe so went for a pale yellow and then added a few brown giraffe-like spots. 




It's the first time I've tried amigurumi crochet and although it was a bit daunting, it took some googling and a few youtube videos to get going, I was surprised how quickly I got the hang of it. As someone who had only made two granny square cushions and a crochet heart previously, if I can do it, anyone can! I collected all of the most helpful tips and tutorials into this top tips for amigurimi crochet beginners post.


Jolly is a present for a friends new baby, my friend actually requested a handmade giraffe after seeing the knitted dinosaur I made for another friend last year, so I really hope both her and her new baby boy like him. I’m tempted to make another for myself! 

*Anyone else remember Jolly Tall the giraffe from the Little Bear books? They were such a favourite of mine growing up. 



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15/04/2015

A new look for floral and feather


As you may have noticed floral and feather has had a redesign! 


Hopefully, like me, you'll think it's a huge improvement. The new navigation bar and floral tiles should make it easier for you to find what you're looking for, be it crafts, life, home or food inspiration, while the new design, colours and fonts are things I'd only been dreaming about before. 

This new look is all thanks to the wonderful Jenny of Magic Feather Designs, who took my brief and turned it into a finished look and working site. She was great to work with and I was lucky enough to win the redesign in her recent instagram competition. Take a look at some of her other work here.

It should also explain why things have been a bit quiet recently as I've been rather busy behind the scenes. But coming up this week see the results of my latest crochet project - a crochet giraffe and April's inspired by featuring daffodils, just in time for all this sunshine!  




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08/04/2015

Recently I’ve been

Making a little patchwork hexagon flower for my Mum's birthday card using the kit from a recent Mollie Makes. It's the first time I've tried patchwork and am now tempted to do some more, I've always thought I lack the patience to make a big quilt but now I can see why people get hooked!


Working on plans for a redesign of floral and feather with the wonderful Magic Feather Designs - watch this space!

Loving these new lampshades from Wilko, it was the copper that convinced me and I brought two, one for our hallway and one for the landing. The star shape casts great shadows when lit in the evening - super cozy.


Photographing the sunshine yellow blossom in our garden. It's our first spring in the new house and I know nothing about plants/gardening so the blossom was a brilliant surprise. My mum reliably informs me that it is a forsythia and I've committed this to memory by naming our one Bruce because I'm terrible at plant remembering proper plant names.


What have you been up to?





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