Fabric tape fun

So I was "busy" Pinning on pintrest last night .....it may or may not have turned into one of those marathon sessions where you completly lose track of time and before you know it its midnight! like I said may or may not have been....anyway I digress

I came across this cool PIN and thought to myself that I could actually do this using our fabric tape

so here is my first tutorial please keep in mind its not my original idea or concept..

You will need :

•  An old pair of Jeans or shorts
• Fabric tape I used our Pure Set and a Pink lace tape
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Iron

I started with the pink lace tape.. I wanted to hide the orange stitching that was already on the shorts so I placed the tape on this line and used it as my guide. I went right around the hem on both legs... I really couldnt believe how easy this was because the tape is already adhesive I didnt need PINS!! 

 So once that was done I place the "pure" tape on top. Carefully keeping it straight and overlapping the pink lace tape just a little .. As the "pure" tape is quite wide it hung off the bottom of the shorts nicely...

 Once I had stuck the tape on ..(again super easy no pins..) i went carefully around the bottom of the hem folding the "pure" tape into the inside of the leg... a similar effect to Bias Binding.

 They were looking pretty cool but because they were going to be worn and in turn would need to be washed I need to sew the tape onto the shorts. I sewed around the top edge of the "pure" (Being careful to make sure that I was catching the tape on the underside too) The bottom edge of the lace was under the pure that I was sewing. I then sewed across the top of the Lace.

(excuse the staged shot of the iron)

I then ironed the whole thing 

and.....

WALAA!

A super cute pair of shorts for my Miss Marita to rock out in summer!! 

From start to finish this took me all of 15mis it was really quick and super easy! The tape was so easy to work with. I am thinking all my girls jeans and shorts may just get a "makeover"

I may just go Fabric tape CRAZY.

pop over and se our range that we have in our store here We will be adding to this range over the coming weeks.

Make sure you post a picture if you try this out!! 

Much  Love

Lex xx

Christmas!!!!!

This blog is all about Christmas. "Christmas!" I hear you hear you splutter, we are only half way through the year! I have at least 4 more months before I have to think about that!

I suppose I am considered one of those "Christmasy" people - I love Christmas and all things (tastefully) related. I didn't really stand a chance to be honest as I have come from a Christmas obsessed?? family. From the time I was a young teenager our house was entirely decorated on the bottom floor (living room, lounge, conservatory, entrance way, hallway, and yes, even the kitchen), and open to the public to come and see. Many weekends my brother and I would get up late on Saturday morning and go down to breakfast only to be greeted by numerous strangers roaming about our house. Toasters, butter, spreads and cutlery then had to be stealthily smuggled upstairs and breakfast would be "enjoyed" on the floor of our parents room. Despite all this we actually all love it and enjoy opening our home up for others to come and see.

Its a family effort and everyone pitches in. We have our different set jobs each year. I am the chief Christmas tree decorator - which is no mean feat as we have 5 themed trees that need decorating - the tallest being 10foot! Even our kids have become involved and they thoroughly love crawling into the attic space and getting all the decorations out and running them up and down the 2 flights of stairs for us.  

I was talking to my Nana the other day and she said that she was making all her Christmas cards. I was surprised, but she said that she makes them every year in the winter when its all cold and crafting in front of the fire is the best thing you can do. I had to agree - all this cold weather and being cosy inside definitely makes me want to do crafty things to while away the evenings. So I thought I would have a look at all our Christmasy products and share them with everyone in case there are other like-minded crafters out here who are already on the Christmas train.  

These little stamp sets are super cute. Great for card making or scrapbooking. They come in a set of 8.

This is our new "Red Ribbon"  range of fabric fat quarters and fabric tape. They are the perfect Christmas colour combo and will make stunning decorations and crafts.

This mini Christmas bunting is made using our red gingham fabric tape. It sits perfectly along the top and just sticks together. You could even get away with no-sewing bunting if you wanted!

And of course you can't go past red and white twine for EVERYTHING Christmas. I have used so much of this on decorations, wrapping, tying, hanging... just about anything I can.
(Just so I don't scare you too much, I will wait until slightly closer to Christmas to show you how to make a stunning wee decoration using this twine.)


Until then, happy mid winter Christmas and happy crafting!
Leanne xoxo

Celebrations!!

It has been a week packed full of fun and laughter in my world as my family has been in celebration mode! The baby of my family had her 21st Birthday party(more like a banquet than a party really) last night which meant my lovely family spent the week crafting and cooking up a storm!I volunteered to do the dessert which for 26 people is no small feat! ( I realized this once I got started).

As I am sure you know if you follow us on facebook I love all things vintage which of course meant I had to add a bit of vintage flair to the dessert table. I decided some DIY bunting for the cake and cute wee flags for the cupcakes would be a perfect match for her enchanted forest theme! They are so so easy to make and make things that much more fab! All you need to do them is a masking sticker set,(I used pastel because it went with her theme) some tooth picks,2 sqewers and some twine. To make the flags just take a strip of masking sticker, these are pre-cut already which is handy. Fold it over the top of a toothpick pressing both the adhesive sides together. You can either leave it like that or cut a small triangle in the end to make it look more like a flag.

To make the bunting cut the twine length you would like, fold a strip of masking sticker over your twine,press both the adhesive sides together, then alternate between cutting a triangle in the strip and cutting the strip into a triangle. Wrap the twine around a skewer and you are done! So easy and super cute.

The night was a wonderful celebration of my little sister who I am so proud of and I'm pleased to report the dessert was a success.

My older sister (right) and I (left) in our enchanted forest masks

Aroha Nui Jess