I am stitching on cards this month, but it is a long process so these upcycled Christmas cards were stitched on the sewing machine.
Each card has a tailor made envelope using the plain side of 12x 12” patterned paper. The stash for Christmas 2023 is underway!
The peel is dehydrated to become pot pourri and car freshener
The core is simmered with spices and caster sugar to become a syrup for boosting soft drinks (and adding to rum of course)
Half the flesh is cubed and fried in brown sugar. Half of that is eaten hot with yoghurt. The other half is added to cubed left over turkey in a tangy burrito.
The remaining flesh is cubed and simmered in vinegar, spices and sugar to become relish.
Finally the leaves are boiled and the water strained and sweeten to make a (reputedly) healthy tea
I metre long strip by 20cm wide fabric is all it takes.
Once assembled each sachet was repeatedly stabbed with old sewing machine needles so the dried lavender within could do its job.
A giant catering tin of mushrooms was a bargain buy but once opened presented a ‘waste not want not’ challenge. I have paired them so far in:
chestnut stuffing – with breadcrumbs and herbs
Pasta sauce, boosting the usual tomato and onion base and topped with truffle oil
Savoury pancakes with cream and garlic
Chicken and mushroom pie – pastry bottom and lid, broth based gravy
Potato mushroom curry
And the rest is now in the freezer awaiting inspiration. Ideas welcome!
We seem to have accumulated a mountain of butter knives so I prettified the unused ones for gifting.
I don’t have pyrography tips for writing or fine detailing, but I do have the tips for heat setting jewellry crystals so created some simple patterns.
Multi media pillows have been created to use up some of the fabric stash. I combine free motion, appliqué, hand embroidery including lots of French knots, fabric pen drawing and pearl drop embellishments.
Short quotes stitched and framed in recycled photo frames. These take longer to plan than to make to centre the words as each of my available frames is a different size.
What to do with all this rosemary? Ideas to date:
Rosemary and tomato salt, includes dehydrated tomato skins to give pretty red flecks in the final mix
Rosemary oil from cold marinaded olive oil to be gifted in pretty bottles for foodie friends to enjoy
Rosemary facial toner from simmering sprigs in water and then diluting the strained result in apple cider vinegar
I made a stack of these for advent ‘calendar’ bunting. I used squares of 15 cm lightweight paper (and half A4 sheets of magazine papers), scissors and glue. That’s it.
With pretty side face down fold 1 cm in from the right, then 1 cm in from the bottom then bring the left side over to the (folded) right edge and crease, then finally fold down 3 cm from the top.
Unfold and cut along the crease lines. Chamfer (angle off) the edges as shown.
Glue the pretty sides of the two 1cm remaining tabs. this leaves the top flap open until filled when it can be stuck down or tucked in
These pockets are great for little gifts or gift cards and can hung on a tree or sewn into bunting. Halloween versions are fast and an advent series could be hand numbered and pegged on a string.
janecrafts 