Happy New Year everyone! Better late than never, I wanted to finally share my #CraftBlogClub Secret Santa with you! If you’ve not heard me bang on about this before, the CBC Secret Santa is a brilliant initiative by Fiona and Katie who run the weekly #CraftBlogClub Twitter chat every Tuesday at 8pm.
Each year, anyone with a passion for craft can take part to make and receive a handmade present from the #CraftBlogClub community. Though I haven’t managed to join the chats much lately, my experience of this community is that they’re one of the warmest, most encouraging bunch of people you could ever wish to e-meet. It’s always a pleasure, so do join in if you can!
Somehow this was my third year taking part (where does the time go?!). In Year 1 you might remember that I made a DIY felt cupcake needle-book and cupcake pin-cushion ring for ZoFlo, and last year I made DIY homemade goats milk and honey soaps for Laura, which turned out quite well.
This year, my Secret ‘Santee’ was Naomi Jade. After a little stalk of her blog and social channels, I saw that she was a lover of all things cosy and also quite girly, so I decided to make her a DIY miniature wall hanging. I used a weaving kit that I got for free with a Mollie Makes magazine earlier this year.
This was only my second attempt at making a wall hanging; a few years ago my sister and I took part in a beginner’s weaving workshop with Peas and Needles at the BUST Summer Craftacular in London, and I loved it instantly. I wish I had learnt to weave as a child – if I had, I might actually be good at it by now!
Overall, I found the making process quite therapeutic – hours passed without me realising, when all I was doing was weaving back and forth, or cutting and tying bits of wool on to make tassels. I followed the tutorial on Mollie Makes’ website here, but changed some colours. I did find that a few of the stages were missing, but with the help of other sites and a bit of trial and error I got there, or close enough!
One thing that I think I can definitely do better for next time is to be more careful that I’m not pulling the lines too tight, as the shape did distort slightly, meaning that it didn’t hang completely straight. As I’m a bit of a perfectionist, I did worry about giving this to Naomi as a present, but then I remembered the spirit of #CraftBlogClub, and hoped she wouldn’t mind me gifting her my best attempt.
I received a parcel from Christine from Craftyism. I managed to restrain myself from opening my present as soon as it arrived, but caved in before Christmas day!! Christine had made me some adorable crochet grey slipper socks with blue pom poms! They’re absolutely awesome – I adore them.
Thank you so much Christine, and to Katie & Fiona for hosting the #CBC Secret Santa once again! If you made any Christmas presents this year, feel free to post a link in the comments box below!
Shelley Makes 