{ Mu'Mu }

Easy Crafting :: Coasters & Placemats

Ta da! Coasters for the sitting room in a matching print to the wallpaper! How lucky am I to find them at JUST the right price??

And the right price would be? Free. And this would be because? I made them myself. Easy crafting that will bring harmony into your home. Or something like that.

YOU WILL NEED :: a coaster set (I have some that my mother collected free with teabags years ago), bits of leftover wallpaper, a cutting mat (or bread board), an exacto knife (ie. something dead dead sharp), a glue stick and a pile of heavy books. A laminator might be handy but not essential.

Pick your killer wallpaper that you have saved from ends of roll and bits too big to throw out but no idea what the hell to do with, and cut a square bigger than the coaster.

With gusto smear the coaster on right-side-up face with glue stick and quickly cover with wallpaper, pressing down dead hard. You might want to go GRRR at this point, just to show how hard you are pressing. Your call. Cover all coasters then pile a load of heavy books of top (like flower pressing) just to make sure.

After a while, once the glue is dry take your sharp blade, place the coaster on the cutting mat and cut around the edge.

You will now have a set of cool coasters and your friends will think you are dead dead clever. And cool. (Until you tell them the truth and tell them it was MY idea then they will think I'M dead clever. And cool.)

I am wondering if this would work better if you laminated the wallpaper pieces first?? It would probably be easy to clean and would avoid getting tea stained. But my laminator died a death so this is a moot point for me.

How much more amazing this would look in Orla Kiely paper?? If anyone makes a set of these let me know!

First Aid

If there is one certainty in my life as a Mother, it is that my children choose the most inopportune times to maim themselves.

Not for my children polite little scratches and bruised knees. Oh no. We are in the big leagues:: split noses come as standard, Arnica is pushed to it's limits, and Steristrips are a basic necessity and bought in bulk.

Fed up with scrabbling at the bottom of a bag when disaster struck, and bothered that I perhaps hadn't got all eventualities covered, I decided to make these basic pouches based on this simple tutorial I gave you all with a little embroidery and applique for some jazz. I lined it with thick cotton and the facing is linen.

Yes, you counted correctly: I made three. THREE. One for the handbag, one for the car and one big one ready to be packed whenever we hit the road. Literally or metaphorically.

Everything in one place in a washable pouch, ready to save the day in the event of split noses, near eye gouging, lacerated heads and bruised ribs ... you know, the basics.