Taking a Holiday

Hey guys,
So as you will have already noticed I haven't been blogging much over the past few weeks. Long story short it seems like I need a break. Running a business and planning a wedding are taking their toll, and when you throw in looking after my animals and self care on top there isn't much room left over for blogging.


Blog updates will return in the future but right now I have more important things to focus on. Look after yourselves and be good to each other.

Crafts- Sequin Baubles

This is a really simple DIY for decorating your own festive tree. It's also a great activity to do with friends if you want to huddle up indoors with some hot chocolate and keep your hands busy as you chat.


Things you will need-

• Polystyrene balls
• Small pins (approx 1.5cm in length)
• Sequins
• Thread
• Glue
• Acrylic paint or Nail polish (optional)

Both polystyrene balls and sequins are available in various different sizes so you can have small delicate decorations that provide an elegant sparkle or you can have massive baubles that scream 'I AM SHINY HEAR ME ROAR!' from the other side of the room.

I am going for a simple black and silver theme to my baubles but you can go crazy with multicoloured, hologram or layering transparent sequins over the top of coloured ones. I recommend the cupped type of sequins rather than flat ones as they curve nicely round the balls.

It doesn't matter where you start if you just want a single coloured bauble. Place a sequin against the side of the ball and push a needle through the sequin hole. Placing sequins against the ball before you pin them will mean you don't get any small gaps between the sequins which can happen if you try placing the sequins onto the pins and them inserting them into the ball. Repeat this process moving out from the first sequin. 

Keep going until your sequin is completely covered. If you don't like the effect that is created by having different coloured pins to your sequins you can dab a small amount of acrylic paint or nail polish on the heads of the pins before you start.  

For my next bauble I want to use both black and silver sequins to create the effect of silver snow sitting on top of the black bauble. I just eyeballed my pattern but if you want you can draw a snow line on your ball to use as a guide before hand. Start at the bottom with black sequins and cover the ball up to just under the halfway point. From here pick a few places to continue the black sequins up past the halfway point until you are left with only the area you want to cover in silver sequins. I recommend a wavy line as that will give the most natural look. Make sure all your black sequins are in place before you start adding silver sequins as you want the silver to be overlapping the black, not black overlapping silver. 

Now all that's left to do is add a small length of knotted thread to the top of your baubles. I find the best way to do this is to wrap it around one of the pins a few times and then add a small dab of glue over the top of that pin to hold the thread in place. Always make sure that the pin you choose has other sequins overlapping its sequin so that the weight of the bauble is shared out among several pins. This spreading out of the weight should stop the thread pin being pulled out of the polystyrene ball when it is hung up. 

That time of year again

Guess the years really do go by faster as you get older. When I wake up tomorrow morning it will be the 1st December and we all know what that means- being freezing cold, living in near constant darkness and having to listen to the same inane songs every time we step outside the house.

All grumpiness aside I normally love the winter season but this year is looking to be an exception. 2016 has been a pretty rotten year and as was evidenced only a few days ago by the passing of Ron Glass it still hasn't finished beating the stuffing out of us. Now I have definitely had worse years during my life, 2008 and 2009 were pretty horrific both in terms of the global recession and the personal consequences it had for me and my friends. I think the key difference here is that the recession didn't shock me. It was obvious that it was going to happen sooner or later because economies were growing at an unsustainable rate and a collapse was the inevitable result. But 2016 did shock me. People are so much more racist, sexist and homophobic than I thought possible in this day and age and it has shocked me to my core. This year we have witnessed society regressing backwards and it has pretty much killed my seasonal goodwill toward others.

As such although I will be doing a number of seasonal themed crafting posts I will not be doing a month long post-a-day Christmas/Mid-Winter special like I did with Halloween. My heart simply would not be in it and I think it would be obvious that I was half-arsing my way through it. That being said if there are any specific crafty things you would like to see a tutorial for please comment below and I will do my best to include them in my schedule.

Wishing you all the best of luck in the cold weather ahead. Be good to each other and look after your elderly.

Jewellery Showcase- Butterfly Pendant

Now available in my Etsy shop- Lost in the Day

Crafts- Earring Holder

This holder can be used to display your favourite earrings.

Things you will need-

• Wooden ice cream sticks (9)
• Glue
• Acrylic paint
• Paintbrush
• Varnish (optional)
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Craft knife

This is another super easy project, you can either buy some new ice cream sticks (available from craft stores) or save up and wash sticks from ice creams you eat. 

Lay out your ice cream sticks in the same pattern as in the photo below. You want two vertical sticks at the back with five horizontal sticks laid down over the top of them. Once you are happy with the configuration glue the sticks in place.

Using your ruler and pencil measure out and mark the midpoint of one of the remaining sticks. Carefully cut the stick in half using a craft knife. If you don't feel comfortable using a craft knife for this a very strong pair of scissors should also work.

Place the remaining two sticks in the same pattern as the photo below and glue them in place. This forms the back support piece. 

Once the front and back pieces are dry you can then paint them. I watered down my acrylic paint so that I would be staining the wood rather than coating it completely and covering up the wood texture. When the paint is fully dry you can then glue the back and front pieces together at a roughly 70-80 degree angle depending on which position you prefer. To hold the structure in place while the glue is drying you can use objects such as glass jars or tea mugs to prop it up in place. 

Once the glue is fully dry you can then varnish your earring holder if you want. I haven't bothered doing this with mine as it isn't going to take much abuse being a stationary display object. You could also use this holder to hang bracelets over the top or if you vary the design and remove the top horizontal ice cream stick you can stack rings on the vertical sticks on either side of the top of the holder.

All of the above earrings are available in my Etsy shop- LostintheDay

Crafts- Dragon Eyes

These glass eyes can be used to make your own jewellery or for customising trinket boxes, photo frames or anything else you want to add a unique element to.

Things you will need-

• Glass beads
• Acrylic paint (or nail polish)
• Thin paintbrush 

As with all glass projects first make sure that your glass beads are clean and grease free otherwise the paint won't stick to them properly. Start by painting on the pupil using black paint on the back of the glass bead. 

The pupil can be any size or shape you want. Circular pupils will make the eyes look more friendly whereas slit pupils will give a more intimidating appearance. 

Once the pupil is dry you can then paint in the iris. You can use different techniques to get different appearances. Remember that when painting these eyes the first layers you put down will remain visible from the front of the eye. 

Eye 1

This effect is achieved by using a single colour of paint. I used a metallic paint to gain a shimmery effect when the light hits the eye.

Eye 2

First dab on a thin layer of darker paint, make sure that this layer is thin enough to be transparent in places so that the second layer of paint can show through. Once the first paint layer is dry you can then coat the glass bead with a paler or contrasting colour. 

Eye 3

Apply a very thin transparent layer of of metallic paint to the whole eye. This will result in a subtle shimmer effect when it is hit by the light. Once that layer is dry spot on dots of brown paint and allow to dry. Then dab on some strokes of yellow paint and again allow to dry fully before coating the whole eye with a layer of red paint. 

Eye 4 

Start painting at the pupil with pale or bright colours and work outwards to darker colours around the rim of the iris. For this eye I used bright green, yellow and dark green. 

If at any point you make a mistake or don't like how your eye looks you can wipe the paint off while it's still wet of scratch it off with a pin or your fingernail when it is dry. 

Lifestyle- Pocket Dragons

These adorable little creatures were a gift from my Nanny well over ten years ago. They currently live in my craft room window where they get to enjoy views of the magnolia tree out of the window and views of my 'concentration face' as I work across the desk.

I absolutely love dragons and these were the first that I got given. Now I have collections of dragons of all shapes, sizes, colours and temperaments in almost every room of the house. 

Sadly I'm not sure that Real Musgrave is creating new Pocket Dragons these days as whenever I search for them they just seem to be second hand ones on ebay. And there's nothing wrong with getting these cute little critters second hand but it is a shame that there don't appear to be any new designs available.