The 12 Crafts of Christmas - No.5: The Stocking

Today, for the fifth of my 12 Crafts of Christmas, I'm sharing this super easy sewing project with you! Rudi who works in the fabric department at Annie Sloan HQ made these adorable Christmas stockings to hang along the fireplace.

Using fabrics from the Annie Sloan Fabric Collection and a simple template (see below, and please note the 1cm seam allowance), Rudi cut out 2 pieces of fabric that would make the front and back of the Stocking and sewed along the top straight edge to create a neat hemmed edge. She then laid both pieces on top of one another –so that the right sides were facing – and pinned them together.

Earlier in the day, we had dyed some cotton web tape, using my paint Chalk Paint® as a dye (take a look at my earlier blog post to find out how to dye fabric with Chalk Paint®). Rudi cut the tape to 12cm lengths and pinned these in to the top inside seam, to create a loop. She then wizzed the sewing machine along the side and bottom edges, leaving the top open and turned the fabric inside out, so the right-sides faced out – and there you have it!

You can also add a sweet detail by adding a heel in an alternative fabric. Rudi dyed Pure Linen with the same Chalk Paint® dye that she had used on the cotton tape and added this to some of the Stockings that were made from some of the simpler patterned fabrics (such as Pinstripe Mattress Ticking or Gentleman). See the templates above for this.

I hope you're playing along with my #12CraftsOfChristmas and having fun! Don't forgot to share pictures of your projects with me!

Yours, Annie

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The 12 Crafts of Christmas - No.4: The tree decorations

Earlier this week I wrote about the beautiful linen table runner and napkins I created using my paint and my Stencils at Kirstie Allsop's Handmade Christmas Fair and this week I’m going to share another project I worked on at the Fair – Christmas decorations!

The kind team at Art Cuts (a wonderful family-run UK business who make a great range of craft shapes from wood) supplied their beautiful Turtle Dove cut-outs for me to use, and I transformed them using my paint, Chalk Paint®. This is something that it is lovely to do with children if you have crafty kids in your life – although the attention to detail on your design may need to be modified slightly! In fact, this is a really nice thing for the whole family to do together – including all those naysayers who insist that ‘they can’t draw’. All you need is the shapes, Chalk Paint®, a few matchsticks and cotton wool buds!

The technique I use to create the pattern is called 'sgraffito'. The word means ‘to scratch’ in Italian, and that’s exactly how it works – the pattern is ‘scratched’ into wet paint. It’s a technique which is often thought of in relation to ceramics (I’ve written before about how much I love the way in which Grayson Perry uses it), but I’ve been playing around with it for a long time – since I used it to create my logo! – and I love using it with Chalk Paint®.

For the decorations, I started by applying an all-over base colour of Old White, using a wet rag which creates a stain. I chose this technique as I only had 1 hour to complete the whole project, so I needed to make sure the paint would dry quickly! Once dry, I painted the doves in Emperor's Silk – do one of these at a time, rather than thinking of doing each stage by turn, as the paint needs to be wet for the effect to work. Using a matchstick, firmly ‘scratch’ in designs to reveal the white stain underneath (or, of course, whatever colour you have chosen for this). I then used a cotton bud to dot Old White over the surface for a bit of contrast and that folk/boho effect which I was after, but you can make any pattern that works well with your home. Simple often works really well, but please don’t let me stop you creating something as intricate as you like!

For another really cool decoration idea, here's something else I tried out at the Fair!

I invited visitors to my stand to paint a piece of dolls' house furniture which was then hanged on our gorgeous birch Christmas tree. A tremendous way to inject a whole range of colours into Christmas, and isn’t it effective?

Please keep uploading your pictures on Facebook and Instagram – I just love seeing them and follow #12CraftsofChristmas for more Craft ideas in my 12 Crafts of Christmas series.

Yours, Annie

The 12 Crafts of Christmas – No. 3: Origami Star Decorations

For the third of my 12 Crafts of Christmas, I'm sharing this fantastic origami star project with you. I learned this craft when visiting my Stockist Masashi Ogawa at Decoraeight in Japan earlier this year! I found the whole thing so fascinating that I invited Mr Masashi to run a workshop at the Open Day I held for my Stockists in Oxford in the Summer.

I love how Stockists from all over the world have taken this skill home with them, to share, develop and continue making the shapes and painting them in beautiful and interesting ways – I've seen so many different takes on the project! The image above is from Carte Blanche Upcycled Furniture – Stockists in New Brunswick, Canada. They used Chalk Paint® to create beautiful colour and textures, and once waxed they look just like they've been made from tin – it's really quite incredible!

My Stockists have provided a few ways of displaying and using the stars around the home. Try hanging them from the ceiling (like Cherrybeans), or hang them in the window (like Auberge des Rêves , maybe pop one star on the top of your Christmas tree (like 't Bakhuus, binnen- en buitendecoaratie) or you could even plant a succulent in to the centre, and use the star as a planter (see Farbe Verzaubert's project).

   

Thinking about trying this project at home? Remember to share your pictures with me!

Yours, Annie

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The 12 Crafts of Christmas – No. 2: The table linen

For the second of my 12 Crafts of Christmas, I'm sharing a super simple and effective way of creating festive linen for your Christmas table! To make a runner like the one above, all you need is some masking tape, Blu-tak, and of course, some of my paint, Chalk Paint® and fabric. I used my Pure Linen fabric and chose a palette of Burgundy, Scandinavian Pink and Old White – a colour combination inspired by Carl Larsson's very traditional Swedish paintings. 

I made another table runner with Kirstie Allsopp at the Handmade Christmas Fair in Manchester, UK, a couple of weeks ago. We used Olive-dyed Pure Linen (see this post to find out how to dye fabric with Chalk Paint) and my Antheia stencil (applied using my new Sponge Rollers). This is a no-sew table runner, so really couldn't be simpler. I let the fabric edges of the runner fray a little – I love the rustic effect!

Another really fun and simple project that you could try is painting a napkin for your Christmas table.
For this you can use one of my stencils to create patterns and images on the linen. I particularly like the way that sections of my Bell Flowers stencil can be used and overlapped to create a poinsettia-like image. Experiment with different designs in my range – I think Petrushka or Tallulah could be very festive, too. I edged my napkins using fabric tape which I stencilled in the obligatory red and green (or Olive and Emperor’s Silk!) using my Circles and Bell Flowers stencils. Simply fold the tape over the napkin edge and a basic running stitch using embroidery thread, or even wool will secure it in place. Of course, you could use any pretty fabric scraps you may have to hand for your own finishing touch.

If you already follow me on social media you may know I was in Poland last week. Such a beautiful place, and I just adore the way they use colour. I have to include this example of stencilling on Pure Linen from a workshop I did with Polish bloggers. No, it’s not a traditional Christmas design but wouldn’t it make a lovely present?

Thinking of trying this project out at home? Remember to share your projects with me!

Yours, Annie

The 12 Crafts of Christmas – No 1: The tree

After my recent weekend at Kirstie Allsopp's Handmade Christmas Fair in Manchester, I am well and truly in the festive spirit! My gift to you comes a little early this year – over the next few weeks I'll be sharing 12 Christmas crafts to inspire you to pick up a paint brush and get crafting over the holidays. When I say 'crafting', I mean 'making' – generally speaking I like crafts to be gutsy and bold!

Today, I'm sharing the first of my 12 crafts of Christmas, and where better to start than the tree?

This tree is really very simple to make and is a perfect option if you don't have much space in your house. You can decorate this tree in just the same way that you would decorate a traditional Christmas tree too – adorn it with fairy lights – like I have, hang decorations from the branches, or wrap the branches in garlands!

And all you need to make one like this is a bunch of dry branches or twigs, rope and your favourite colours from the Chalk Paint® palette!

I began by laying my branches out on the floor to create the shape that I was looking for, once this was decided I cut the branches and rope to size. (When cutting the rope remember to leave an allowance for the knots.)

Using Florence that had been watered down in to a wash I painted the rope and left it to dry by a heater. And then I started to paint the branches using my two colour distress technique, painting each branch in a different base colour; Provence, Versailles, Greek Blue, Old Violet, Duck Egg Blue, Emile and Olive.  Then, once this coat was completely dry, I painted over each branch with Old White.

After an hour or two, once the branches were dry, I applied a coat of my Clear Soft Wax and distressed the paint using a fine grit sandpaper, this reveals area of colour and highlights the gorgeous texture and pattern from the bark of the branches. This worked particularly well for me as I has used branches from a birch tree, which have a beautiful texture.

Using a double figure of 8 knot, I created a loop in the middle of the rope and hung this from a nail in the wall. Working down the rope, I used a clove hitch to secure each branch in place, leaving an even space between the branches. On the last branch I added a form of stopper knot and loosened the strands to create a tassel – where I has applied the paint to the surface of the rope with a brush, the remainder of the rope was left un-dyed, which created a pretty candy-stripe effect.

What do you think of my painted tree?

Yours, Annie

Jelena Pticek's English Yellow Sideboard

For Jelena Pticek's third Painters in Residence project, she decided to brighten up a rather heavy looking sideboard using my paint, Chalk Paint™.

Jelena chose to work with a simple technique and one main colour – English Yellow – to really emphasise the transformation that can be made from painting an old, pre-loved piece. English Yellow is a brilliant bright yellow from the Chalk Paint™ palette and is a great fifties, vintage colour. As well as brightening the piece up, Jelena wanted to emphasise the wonderful ornate detailing which was previously almost unnoticeable. To do this, she lightly rubbed sandpaper over the details to reveal areas of the original wood.

Inside the cupboard, Jelena used Scandinavian Pink, a colour that works beautifully for the interior of cupboards and drawers, and created a gorgeous contrast. Jelena then finished the piece with my Clear Soft Wax.

How have you used the wonderfully colourful English Yellow on your projects?

 

Yours, Annie

Follow Jelena on Instagram, Facebook, and their website:http://www.poppyseedcreativeliving.com/

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