Springtime and flowers

Spring time.   

Everything is new and fresh. Sunshine, flowers, young animals, spring cleaning. What is there not to love about spring time?  Flowers are my favourite.

Well if the kids are outside playing (under the watchful eye of your partner) in the garden looking at all the flowers, maybe you can sneak toward that sewing machine and sew together something to represent all that is great about spring. Flowers! There is an amazing selection found here at Little Tee Tee –Laces, trims and more. 

If the kids are running havoc around yourself then maybe you could buy these lovely collections already beautifully hand made for you.

  

Hope this has inspired you to enjoy the flowers whether they be hand made or in the garden.

Handmade With Love 4 kids - dress

Little Village Handmade - house cushion

Pink Coco - Ladies hat

Poppy and Rose - Tutu skirt

Hearts Off to Handmade Designers!

I love Little Tee Tee Showcase

It started with a heart.  Its results are astounding. The brief was – create something special from a heart.

It is amazing how inventive some people are. They are just blessed with the creativity gene.  I have been so inspired by the beauty of some of these creations. Here are my personal favourites.

A large silver lace children's crown by Arabella's Wardrobe




Hand stamped lace heart buttoned hairclips//elastics by Minky Minx Design Studo - Vintage Ispired Creations
 

Girls Playsuit by Sweet Delilah

Heart Delight by KIDS ROOMS

These amazing designers have put their wares on this showcase for your purchase (I would buy everything if I could!). It commences tomorrow at 8.30pm (Friday the 17th August 2012) and ends the same time on Monday the 20th August 2012.

If this has left you feeling inspired or got your creative mind buzzing you can find all your heart desires and needs HERE.



DIY Tutorial - 4 hair clips in 4 mins!

Yes, you CAN make gorgeous hair clips with not much fuss & no sewing skills whatsoever!

What you need:

• Hot glue gun (you can pick these up at the local hardware store or even $2 shops)
• Fabric flowers - I used a vintage pink peony available HERE; a hot pink, felt-backed tulle flower with bling center available HERE; a light pink chiffon/tulle flower with diamontie centre available HERE & a gold ribbon flower available HERE.
• 1 x pink pearl & clear diamond mini button available HERE
  
• 3 x brooch tray/alligator clips available HERE
• 1 x grosgrain-covered alligator clip available HERE

 Clip 1:

• Plug your glue gun in to warm up
• Take one metal brooch/alligator clip & the pink chiffon flower
• Squeeze lots of glue into the brooch tray & quickly place the felt part of the flower onto the glue
• Hold for 3 seconds then you're done!
• Cost: $1.85 (plus glue)

 Clip 2:

• Take one metal brooch/alligator clip & the hot pink tulle flower
• Squeeze lots of glue into the brooch tray & quickly place the felt part of the flower onto the glue
• Hold for 3 seconds then you're done!
• Cost: $1.80 (plus glue)

 
 Clip 3:

• Take one metal brooch/alligator clip, the mini pearl button & vintage pink chiffon flower.
  
• Cut off the excess mesh from the back of the flower
• Squeeze lots of glue into the brooch tray & quickly place the flower onto the glue & hold for 3 seconds.
• Place a dab of glue in the centre of the flower & hold the flat-backed button in place for 3 seconds - then you're done!
• Cost: $2.95 (plus glue)

 

 

 Clip 4:

• Take one ribbon-covered clip & the small gold flower.
  
• Squeeze a fair amount of glue onto the back of the flower then press it in place onto the clip.
• Hold for 3 seconds - then you're done!
• Cost: $1.10 (plus glue)

 And there you have 4 pretty new hair clips to match so many different outfits ... and all for under $8.00!

Happy Creating

x

Doilies

Doilies.... When I think of these, I think of my grandma.  She used to crochet doilies in bed. We have a few of her creations in our house. It’s strange how what I consider an old artform is getting a revamp of sorts. Gone are the days of just planting them on the dinner table or as a coaster for your cuppa. Now they can be made into anything.

Here are just a few that I loved.

Doily Lampshade by Shannon South

Doily bib necklace by owlandsparrowvintage 

 

Sweet girls dress by taraKdesigns

 

Crochet bag by BangDollVintage ...

Sweet cushion by Koochie Koo

if these pictures inspire, you can create something amazingly unique with your own doilies - if you don't have any your grandmother made, you can always buy a few from Little Tee Tee Laces, trims and more  Here

How to dye crocheted lace/doilies. Tutorial.

Dying fabric can be quite a daunting idea if you haven't given it a whirl before.  I decided to bite the bullet & dye some doilies for my daughters birthday party.  It was actually a very simple, pain-free experience so I'd encourage you to give it a go too!

Purple was the colour of choice so I purchased a box of Rit from the local fabric store.  I was decorating milk bottles so cut the crocheted lace a little bit longer than what was need to go around them (ie allowed for a little shrinkage).

There are really good instructions in the box - sumarised here. First I soaked by lace in hot water to make them more receptive to the dye.

I half-filled an ice-cream container with hot water & added some powder dye. I didn't want  a really vibrant or dark colour so we only added a little bit of colour.

 Stir the dye until it dissolves (just like you do with jelly!)

 Add your lace / doilies to the dye ...

 And stir.  I stirred them for about 5mins.  You can leave them but I wanted to try for an even colouring & I wanted to make sure they didn't take on too much colour & become too dark.  Check the colour by lifting out of the water.  The colour will darken once dried.

 Rinse under warm water, slowly cooling to cold water, until the water runs clear.

Next I stuck them in the dryer for a quick dry - because I'm impatient!  You could line dry to avoid shrinkage though.

We LOVE how the colour turned out ...

Need doilies to dye?  Little Tee Tee stocks a large selection of pretty doilies to play with HERE.