Hanging Lamp Idea

I love the minimalist and modern idea of this lamp, especially the neon pink rope, and it would be a great project to try if you know about electrics. Find more details here - however there are no instructions so be careful!

NYC Printed Pillow

Use pre-cut lettering to make this smart and cool looking NYC pillow - go here for the tute.

Knitted Fox Ears

These cute little fox ears are a fun starter project for beginner knitters, and they make a handy last-minute fancy dress idea too!

Clever Business Cards

If you'd like to make your business cards a bit more hi-tech (well...sort of..), you can add a QR code to your cards for free so that people can scan them with their smart phone and be taken to a website address of your choosing - how awesome is that?!

Go here for details.

DIY Mini Caravan

If you'd like to make this lovely caravan model - from just foam board and paper - go here for instructions.

Branch & Felt Tree

Yup I'm I bit late for Autumn lol but I think this tree looks fab and I love the colour 'pops' at the ends of the branches. You could always change the colours for each season too - perhaps cherry blossoms for summer or fake snow and blue glitter for winter?!

Find the how-to here.

Knit a Corgi

Find the free pattern for a cute corgi dog (belonging to the Queen don't you know!), here.

Watercolour Resist Cards

Watercolours are definitely my favourite paints, and the colours used for these cards are beautiful. And guess what? Anyone can make them!

Go here for the pretty how-to.

Tropical Floral Lampshade

This bright and cheerful lampshade is covered with lots of paper flowers, which you can learn how to make here.

Recycled Blanket Art

I love these statement wall art pieces made with recycled and sewn together knitted blankets or sweaters. Click here for more details.

Handmade Fossils

Really fun project for adults and kids alike. Imprint whatever shapes you like into sand and cover in plaster to make textured tiles. Find the instructions here.

25 Useful Tips

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Click here for 25 useful hints, including the idea shown above which I would never have thought of - simply turn a cupcake/muffin baking tray over and cook biscuits/cookies over the moulds to create baskets! I love that idea.

Bling Camera Strap

Add some festive sparkle to your camera and take photographs in style with this sparkling tutorial.

Epic Gingerbread

If you like baking and you fancy yourself as a bit of an architect too, why not try to create a realistic gingerbread building, complete with sugar windows?!

Go here for instructions and tips.

P.S. Merry Christmas everybody! Hope you have a good one :-)

Felt Dove Ornaments

Make some cute felt and glitter bird softies with these templates - perfect for the Christmas tree. Don't you think they look a bit like marshmallow?!

Fairy Lights & Mirror Garlands

If you've got a plain wall somewhere, throw up a rod and hang mirror garlands and fairy lights from it for a piece of statement bling!

Go here for details.

Santa's Cookie Plate

I love the idea of having a special plate just for Santa, and I love the doodly style of it too. Plus it will only take you 5 minutes!

Click here for more details.

DIY Tree Skirts

Click here for 21 tree skirt DIYs to inspire you.

Framed Bauble Tree

Very classy wall art for a different take on a Christmas tree - perhaps if you haven't room for a real one, this would be a great alternative. Find the instructions here.

Glittered Toadstools

Toadstools are such a great shape to work with, and although they're not typically Christmassy, add a bit of glitter and then they certainly are!

Go here for the how-to.

Knitted Santa

Knit this adorable roly-poly Santa toy using this free pattern.

Golden Snitch Ornament

You probably know already I'm a HP dork so this is a must-have ornament idea for the festive season - I especially love the wire-framed glitter wings! Go here for the tutorial.

Modern Cone Trees

Easy and inexpensive contemporary trees made by drilling holes into papier mache cones. Go here for the tutorial.

DIY Fawn Softie

I thought this might be an appropriate Christmas softie, with it's white fur collar and red spotty fabric, so here are the templates and instructions. Would make a cute gift too.

Victorian Toy Theatre

If you want to make a brilliant traditional toy theatre, download the instructions and templates from this page (I think only Brits can see the video though, sorry!)

Helvetica Stockings

If you want to swap tradition for modern and contemporary this year, how about these Helvetica type stockings? I think they look very cool, and would be perfect for designers and creative people.

Comic Book Decorations

I love comic book graphic so these are definitely to my taste. This tutorial shows you how to make these explosion shapes, which you could then turn into Xmas tree ornaments, necklace pendants or whatever you like!

DIY Christmas Crackers

I always have crackers on the dinner table at Christmas, and I never realised it wasn't a tradition everywhere - for instance, I didn't know most Americans don't know about them. So I'm going to introduce you to crackers!

You can find the tutorial for making your own here, however traditional crackers all have a snapper inside so that when 2 people (one on either side) pull them apart, they make a little 'snap' noise and usually a little paper hat, a cheesy joke and a little toy or gift fall out.

Here is another how-to, but for crackers which I recognise more as 'traditional.'

Chindi Rug Reindeers

I sooo want these amazing reindeers from Anthropologie! Unfortunately they're from last year, but if you look here, you can see how to use old t-shirts to make your own, yay!

Paper Nativity Scene

A great last minute decoration - just print out and glue - easy! Go here for the downloads.

Mini Present Garland

Click here for a tutorial on making this sweet and colourful garland, and also don't forget to check out my always-updated bunting and garland roundup here!

Amazing Videos

I stumbled upon Wimp.com accidentally, and so many of the videos on there are brilliant, so I thought I'd post a few:

The first shows a FlyBoard which has now soared to the top of my gadget must-have list (a snip at $6000) - my favourite bit of the video is around 50 seconds in, and make sure you listen to the music too!

Second is a story I have now listened to twice (set aside 25 minutes to watch it, I'm sure you won't regret it). Although I was a bit unsure about taking a child away from her family, the story is an amazing one and you will be gripped. Plus the photography is stunning.

Lastly is a Disney medley, sure to put a smile on the face of any Disney fan (e.g. me).

I hope you enjoy them :-)

Snowglobe Gift Wrap

What adorable wrapping paper! These paper Christmas scenes are easy to make yourself, and would be perfect for a special someone's gift. Go here for the how-to.

Painted Wood Stairs

This painted stairs project is right up my street - stenciling your stairs to make them look like old signboards is such an inventive idea. Go here for the details.

Hanging Bird Branches

I think I've posted something similar before, but I can't resist posting another version because I think this is a really lovely decor project :-)

Click here for the tutorial.

Cross Stitch Wall Art

This wall art based on cross stitch patterns is just my favourite thing ever! Brilliant idea, and you can see more details here.

Yarn Wrapped Trees

Make this fresh and colourful display using this simple tutorial.

Plastic Bottle Birdcage

This whimsical bird cage is made by wrapping fabric strapping around parts of a plastic bottle, and I think the result looks so cute. Go here for the how-to.

Colourful DIY Ornaments

These bold and modern decorations would made a funky display on any artistic Christmas tree, and I love the colours used for them. Go here for details.

Hudson Bay Blanket

I've been a bit obssessed with the iconic Hudson Bay blanket recently, so when I saw this tutorial for a knitted version, it went straight to the top of my To Do list!

What English Sounds Like To Foreigners

I love these videos! I'm sure most people recognise Italian, French, German etc when they're spoken, even if they don't understand what's being said, but I had no idea how English would sound to non-English speakers...until now! Watch the bizarre videos above to get a gist of how English sounds. As I'm English, it's very interesting :-)

1st video ; 2nd video

Paper Gems

These striking faceted gems can be made using paper/card and these free templates. Have a geometric christmas by hanging these on the tree, or string them together in a garland.

Vintage Camera Nightlight

What a cool idea, and it certainly makes a change from the usual kid's designs! So for a grown-up nightlight tutorial, go here.

Decorative Pie Edge Techniques

If you like baking, why not have a look at these 6 decorative edging techniques you can use. They all look great and would elevate any pie into something much more impressive looking.

Life In A Day

I don't know whether you've heard of the Life In A Day video project, but the video is amazing so even though it's long, please take a look!

Golf Club Headcover

I've not seen a golf-themed practical craft before, even though there are millions of golfers around, so I'm happy this one has turned up in time for Christmas gift giving!

If you want to learn how to make a custom vinyl golf club cover, click here.

Vintage Butterfly Necklace

These super pretty necklaces are actually made with Shrinky Dink plastic, so it's an accessible project for everyone and it's durable too. Go here for the instructions.

Photoshop Bokeh Effect

I've always loved the bokeh effect on photos - especially when the subject is a summery one - and you can find out on this page how you can create the effect yourself on Photoshop.

Rainbow Thread Wreath

Probably the nicest yet easiest wreath I've seen yet, as all you need is a grapevine wreath and some different coloured threads! Go here for the tutorial.

Retro Sci-Fi Stockings

Such cool stockings! I love the space age style and sci-fi twist, very original, and you can find the templates here.

Advent Box Printable

I think the graphics, typography and colour combinations on this free Advent calendar look so funky! To download these images, click here.

Springy Mobile

Don't tell anyone, but I actually have a collection of springs. Little ones. From pens. And I don't know why. (Don't judge me :-))

These vintage springs are a whole other level though - they're awesome! If you want to make a similar industrial style mobile (which I think would look fab in a garage, shed or garden), click here.

Illustration Ornaments

Perfect for artistic people because you can show off your illustration skills on your own paper mache baubles - and failing that, you could always decoupage pictures, photos, comic book pages etc onto them instead.

Go here for the instructions.