Christmas Table Centre Piece using what you have at home

Christmas Table Centre Piece - A little bit of nature indoors

Hurrah! I have officially finished work for 2014! Work has been crazy busy for me the last few weeks, so now that I have finished I am left with this surreal end of term feeling. I have got a little bit of time to get Christmassy and get some home-made finishing touches underway. Having a fake tree, I always feel I am missing out on honouring the season and bringing a little bit of nature indoors. So every year I have a stab at creating an indoor arrangement, claiming I am going for the naturalistic look, to hide my obvious lack of flower arranging skills.

 

This year as well as my random flower arrangement, I have made a Christmas table centre piece (design courtesy of Kirsty Allsop). I'm not lucky enough to have any holly in the garden, mind you in my experience the pain of working with it, it isn't worth it anyway. So instead I used some of my Skimmia japonica, a wonderful sturdy shrub with waxy leaves and a generous crop of red berries. It also has a spicy scent and, probably by association, always reminds me of Christmas. I don't feel bad raiding this shrub because there are always loads of berries that don't seem to be touched, so I'm not depriving the local bird population of a meal. Even so I always feel I have to thank the plant. I don't know why but there are some plants, my bay tree being another, that I feel I have to thank when taking material, it must be my inner hippy!  So after making my pleases and thank-yous, I look for something additional to make the framework. Ivy is the perfect plant, with long flexible strands that can be easily woven together and I don't feel the urge to be that grateful and thank it, as it pulls half the rendering off my back wall during collection.

 

After gathering some additional bits and bobs from the craft box and rummaging for unused Christmas decorations, its time to get started.











1. Make a simple hoop shape by weaving the strands of Ivy

2. Weave in the skimma or plants of your choice to give a fuller shape and some colour. I have used some gold coloured florists wire but you could use common or garden green garden wire.

3. Space some clip on candle holders, I always think odd numbers look better. Then, because I like a little bit of extra bling, using acrylic gold paint, highlight the edges of some of the leaves, or use to pick out the veins in the Holly leaves. I decided against the raffia, as it is possibly a bit dodgy with naked flames but opted for a red Christmassy ribbon. I save any ribbons and decorations from chocolates and gift sets of smellies, that I might have been lucky enough to be given, for these sort of things.

4. When you are happy with the arrangement, add candles and a Christmas dinner!

Double Dove Sensitive Beauty Bars Fulfils Its Promises and more......

When I got the chance to try the Dove sensitive beauty bar I was thrilled. I have used the original beauty bar over the years and have always found it a great product, so was delighted to have the opportunity to try another Dove product free with Buzz Agent.

It's always very exciting to get samples to try, practically pouncing on the post man as he nervously hands over the parcels as I snatch them out of his hand. This ritual has been observed closely by my seven year old daughter who now shares my excitement, generally claiming what ever booty there is as half hers. So thankfully there were two bars of Dove in my package. So we have both extensively tested the Dove sensitive bar and it does live up to its promises.

We both have sensitive skin, my daughter more so perhaps. Dove cleans and even softens without leaving the tight dry feel of regular soap. I would imagine if you have exceptionally sensitive skin or suffer from eczema this product should still only be used with caution but for mildly sensitive skin it is definitely better than most regular soaps, so worth a try. But one of the other benefits is that it is a bar, it lasts a very long time, you don't get the wastage associated with shower gel escaping down the plug hole and you really only use what you need to use. I have got to say it has rekindled my love for soap in a bar which I haven't really used for years. So apart from being a very gentle cleanser it is also very good value.

Rag Rug Hand Hooked Turtle Cushion

My daughter is seven so only really gets the minimum of homework at the moment, I'm sure this will all change soon enough. So at the moment homework projects still have the allure of novelty and are generally quite fun.

So I wasn't too phased when she announced, 'I have got to make a turtle for Monday'. So after a little thought we thought that she could make a little rag rug turtle. With great excitement she set about working on her design, and looking for old clothes for materials. The turtle consisted of some old curtains of my mums, an old threadbare tea-towel and a pair of my daughters old PE trousers, which incidentally I had managed to shrink. She set to hooking with gusto for all of about ten minutes before deciding that perhaps, she didn't want to part with her turtle and actually perhaps Mum might be better off finishing it! So there began a new project for me instead and an emergency replacement homework turtle made from felt and a big beach pebble (which again she decided she couldn't part with but after a few tears and some gentle persuading she did actually hand in to the teacher).

After finishing my daughter's simple design, I was at a bit of a loss to what to do with it, it wasn't quite wall hanging material and not really any good as a rug, so I mounted it (Just with hot melt glue) on a pre-bought cushion.

There are loads of tutorials on YouTube on rag rugging. It is a really simple craft, which gives you satisfyingly quick results. As crafts go it is also cheap, just using strips of scrap material and some hessian. The rug hooks are also quite cheap at about £12ish.

The little photo montage below shows you how the design grows from a quick sketch to the finished cushion.