"The Craft Group" plus...

 This term at The Craft Group we have been making different little paper projects each week.  I LOVED this project. It combines so many things I love... recycling newspapers, origami, quick & easy, gardening, FREE, gift idea and fun! I found the idea HERE at the blog called "Oh The Things We'll Make!" credit: https://thethingswellmake.com/quick-diy-origami-newspaper-pots/ The pots are easy to make using one page of a newspaper (or half a full spread page).  There are clear instructions plus a video on the blog, so you can't go wrong. You buy some seed raising mix and plant your seeds, watering gently. Then, when they look fairly established, you don't have to traumatize your plants by taking them out of their snug soil bed to replant them, you just sink the whole pot into the soil and it will disintegrate as the roots grow.  I am always looking for little gift ideas and this one is great! You place 5 or 6 collapsed pots inside an open pot, place it in a gift ...

It was my birthday! I had lunch with my childhood family. It was funny driving in the car with my Mother, Father and 2 sisters. We had a nice lunch near the beach. Then I had a lovely dinner  (Thai take-away) at home with my 'now' family. I so enjoyed torturing them with half an hour of watching home videos from the past. I only get to do that on Mothers' Day and on my birthday. This year even my daughter living overseas watched with us on Skype. They complain about home movie nights but I know they secretly love it ;) The next day I went, as usual, to The Craft Group and let me show you the card my gorgeous craft friends gave me!!!  Card? Looks like a box you might be thinking. A very pretty box... With a very pretty ribbon. One ribbon was easily removed on the back as it was stuck with double sided tape. I could remove it one handed like a movie star instead of like a crazy craft lady trying to undo it to keep every inch of ribbon for.....

I struggle with gift wrapping sometimes. I've learnt different ribbon making techniques but this simple one is my favourite. Too easy! And quite pretty, I think. The 2 main white ribbons are cut to size around the gift and simply joined with sticky tape on the top (which will be covered by the ribbon anyway). Then fold the top ribbon so it looks like the above. Put a staple in it to stop it moving. Now cut a small piece of ribbon and strap it over the middle of the bow. Sticky tape it closed. I used double sided tape to then attach it to the parcel/ribbon. (Or you could glue it or roll a piece of tape backwards around itself.) Ta da! (I know it's not rocket science but it's certainly quick and easy!)

Everyone needs cards to give to someone for a special occasion. Not everyone makes cards. YOU make cards. And you give gifts. Why not give a gift of beautiful, handmade blank cards? Why not house those cards in a gorgeous hand made box looking like a mini handbag? A gift that keeps on giving! There are so many things I love about The Craft Group. One of those things is how ladies see a good idea and then share it with each other. Georgina ran a little workshop on making these cute bags. They have no shortage of lovely cards to fill them with. Thanks for sharing Georgina!

Whether you say Serviette or Napkin or whether you go cloth or paper.... be a bit fancy and fold those mouth cleaners nicely to impress! Elly did a Napkin folding workshop at The Craft Group and showed us how to do these... And tomorrow we are learning to make these ... You can bring along your own napkin or use the green fabric ones I will have with me. This might help as a summary of the steps... from Handmania

This term at The Craft Group we are featuring a project a week. This week we made 5 pointed origami stars. So nice to hang or sit in a nice spot in the house this christmas. I would like to say... honestly , that they are easy! But some of the ladies may not agree! It was just a bit hard to do it as a big group and is SO much easier making it along with the video. You can do it step by step and hit the pause button whenever you like. After you have made 2, you will agree with me that they are really easy. You have to start with a pentagon. This website "Home made gifts made easy " gives a free printable pentagon template , but he also explains how to make a pentagon from any size square paper. Give it a go! starting with A4 paper is OK but I used us quite a few sheets of scrapbooking paper that I knew I would never use. I also used an old atlas and some old books. Here is how to make the star... Have fun with it! all photos on this page are from home-...

It is always lovely to be inspired by different card designs. So, here, to inspire you are some cards by Harriet... So, get out those toothpick knitting needles and whip up a few cards! Too cute!

Here are some lovely cards to inspire you by the very clever Georgina. Notice the purple spotty ribbon woven through the die cut white backing card? Nice! I really love this one. Sorry, you have to view this one through the cellophane. This is my favourite. Georgina said she had the black paper in the background and didn't know how to use it. I love the monochrome look. Very classy. Thanks for the ideas Georgina, you have a lovely style.

This Christmas I have been doing some decorating using recycled books , so to continue the theme, here is a great Christmas tree made from an old magazine. You may have seen it before but it's good to have a step by step 'how to' for yourself or the kids! I snapped Bronwyn making one so that we could share with you a full visual tutorial. Find a magazine that has a glued spine (not staples). "Perfect bound" is the proper name for this (because I just asked my magazine publishing husband!) Rip the covers off and fold the first top right hand corner down like this... Fold the diagonal edge to meet up with the spine of the magazine. You have to really score the folded edge well with your fingernail. Now make a straight fold along the pointy bit by folding a line along the bottom of the magazine. Open the page and fold the point under. Like this... Or, you can fold it under before opening the page. W...