Birthday presents for Mum

I was racking my brain trying to come up with an idea for Mum's birthday present and I turned to the copy of 'Cute and Easy Crochet' on my shelf.  It had a very simple pattern for a circular cushion cover and, as I happened to have a small circular cushion laying around, I decided to give it a go!  The pattern was basically a stripy circle, very easy to do and when I'd got it to the size I wanted, I thought it would be nice to add some embellishment to the front.  So I turned to my very much loved 'Crochet Bouquet' book for some compound leaves and simple flowers.  The leaves were perfect but halfway through making the flowers, I decided the shape was wrong so I improvised a more circular look.  Stitched everything on and crocheted the cushion pad in (it's non removable once it's done) and then thought hmmm...hope Mum's mind doesn't go to the same place that mine does!

They do NOT look like booby flowers, ok!?!

On the reverse...

Hope she likes it!

Myf has been working incredibly hard this weekend on presents for her 'Moogie' as well.  She has a few crafty books all her own and she wanted to knit her a little purse.  Unfortunately, the instructions were a little confusing and I can't knit at all (Myf used to know how but it's been a few years) so instead I crocheted a small strip for her and she stitched it together, added a button and then went to her new jewellery making book that an auntie gave her for her birthday.  She chose to make a bracelet with wire wrapped beads-aside from cutting the wire for her and making the fastening, she made the rest entirely herself.  She then made a silver one for me and a little one for herself that I'm going to take photos of to put up tomorrow as they're wonderful!

Back to another book to look at some card making techniques and she chose one involving stitching with wool-

And we're done!  Still got to finish up another project that despite its small size is taking forever!  My poor sister must be bursting with the suspense...:-( Sorry darling, I promise it'll be finished soon!

Dad's birthday

Lots of posting at the moment-I have some catching up to do!

My Dad's birthday was a few days ago and Myf and I made a couple of special items.  I got hold of a wooden blank keyring to embellish with some pyrography-here's some before and after shots!
(when I have some disposable funds, I'm thinking of upgrading my pyrography pen-it's very basic and I can't do more than thick lines with it)

Myf has been doing a little cross stitching at school and decided she wanted to make her Grumpy a bookmark.  I tried to find some mesh material for her but it was a bit on the pricey side so instead we bought a mesh style baby blanket from a pound shop, cut it down and hemmed it (my hemming skills are a bit pants!) and Myf made up her own design!  She worked really hard on it and it's beautiful.

I was positive I'd taken a close up pic but this is the only one I have :-(  Myf has been making a couple of other bookmarks so next post, I'll be showcasing her crafty-ness!

We also had to do some improvising on the birthday cards as we apparently have no card in the house aside from the recycling so we cut up some cereal boxes, liberally glued some colourful scraps of paper over them and Myf practised some calligraphy-

Dad really liked his presents and hopefully had a great birthday!