Easy 3-step lace painted bottle

This is actually bit of a sneak-peak into our next issue! I wanted to do these as a prop for an upcoming photo shoot for our first issue for 2017. The weather has been super hot here, but today it was a little cooler, so my young PA (my little miss!) and I got outside this afternoon and had fun making a bunch of these! In fact, she made more of them than I did! We loved being able to be outside doing something crafty together.

 In just 3 simple steps, you can have these decorating your room, window, even trees!

1 Hang an empty, clean bottle outside - we hung ours from the swing set! (we just used a glass soft drink bottle)

2 Tape a strip of lace around the bottle. The bigger the holes in the lace, the more paint will end up on your bottle.

3 Spray paint over the lace - not too close, and thin layers at a time so you don't end up with thick paint that wants to drip. We just used a plain white gloss spray paint.

When the paint is dry (which on a day like today, didn't take long!), carefully remove the lace.

If you need to pack them up for storage at all, wrap them up in white tissue paper or an old cloth, as the paint can scratch off.

When you get your next issue, you'll be able to play 'I spy' and see if you can find where we used them!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 10 - Pomander of Spice

Do you have a house full of lanterns glowing their Christmas lights?! Hope you had fun making them. Did you decorate them with pencils or textas?

Today, I have something that I used to make with my mother to hang in the cupboard to keep the moths away and help the clothes to smell nice. They make a great little present, too! You could make them tag-team style – sometimes little fingers get sore!

Here’s how simple it is: tie ribbon around the orange and make a loop for it to hang from. Pin it in place. Poke the cloves into the skin of the orange – all over! You might find you need to pierce the skin with a skewer first.

Some people preserve these with more spices and orris root powder, but as a kid, we never did. Although it won't last for years, it will still be nice and fragrant for a couple of months! I wonder how long Mary kept the presents that the wise men gave Jesus?

These could make a quick and lovely gift, or place them in a bowl on the table to fill the room with its sweet scent! A bit like you, with all the Christmas joy you are bringing to your little corner of the world, sweetening with a beautiful aroma!

12 Days of Christmas Starts Soon!

Planning on joining us for our 12 Days of Christmas? We get started TOMORROW! Simply keep an eye out for a post here on our blog and facebook page. To make sure you don’t miss out, you can subscribe to our blog to have each post emailed to you!

To get ready for tomorrow, you might want to collect some plain cardboard, washi tape (Christmas style if you have some) or ribbon, button, scissors, hot glue and a hole punch.

Set aside some time so you’re not too distracted by other things, keep some table space clear and set up all that you’ll need ahead of time.

It's going to be great, Christmassy fun with the special girl in your life!