Getting crafty in Paris!

Getting crafty in Paris

To beat the January blues and to celebrate mine and my hubbies wedding anniversary we managed to bag a bargain deal to Paris and Disneyland Paris (I’m a huge Disney sucker)!

As well as sightseeing and shopping I managed to get a few ideas for some new craft projects that I wanted to share with you!

Leaving London

Ok, so this isn’t actually a new craft project but I had to share this place with you! We grabbed breakfast in a little café at St Pancras station called Peyton and Byrne. It’s such a cute little café and is really good value for being in central London. They had a deal for a coffee and muffin (which was HUGE) for £2.95!

So if you’re in London I’d recommend a visit. They have a few other locations too! Yummy!

BHV Department store, Paris

This place is amazing! It’s a massive department store selling everything. They have a huge crafting section which I could have wandered around all day! They also have stations with people demonstrating all the crafts. Why can’t we have this in the UK!

Look at the miles of ribbons and trimmings!

One thing that grabbed my eye was a product called Decopatch. I haven’t seen this before but I’ve always wanted to try decoupage. There were a variety of different shapes to decorate along with packs of paper and glue.

With the Euro/Pound exchange rate being pretty pants the packs were quite pricey. After a quick Google they do sell the stuff in the UK but it’s still quite pricey for what it is so I’m gonna try and do the same thing with magazines and PVA glue!

Chocoholic

This isn’t a craft project but check this out!

This was actually a real tub of nuttella (also at BHV)! It was so heavy! It was only €34.99 which I didn’t think was too bad for that much chocolate. It was a bit heavy to carry back though!

Stained glass

I’ve always wanted to try making a proper stained glass window. These windows are from the Disneyland Paris castle and the colours are just beautiful. I think I might have a little look for stained glass courses so I can give it a go.

Cinderella picture

I found this vintage 70’s Cinderella book on a book stall by our Paris hotel (for a bargain €1.50). We’ve got a Cinderella poster in the bedroom so I wanted to get this book to make another picture using the pictures and text inside. Not sure how I’m going to do it yet but I’ll obviously post the result when I’m done!

10 minute make - Felt bows

These great little bows are really quick and easy to make and they can be used for all sorts of different things!

All you need is:

• Felt
• Needle
• Thread
• Scissors
• Measuring tape

Step 1

Measure two strips of felt.

The first 15cm x2cm (this makes the bow loops), the second 10cmx2cm (this is the base of the bow). You can obviously make bigger or smaller depending on how you’ll be using your bow!

Step 2

Cut two little triangles out of the shorter bit of felt to finish the base.

Step 3

Fold the longer bit into a loop and stitch together.

Step 4

Place the loop onto the base of the bow and press down.

Step 5

Now you need to stitch the top to the bottom and make the bow shape.

Turn the bow over then you only need to stitch the edges. So stitch one side, then straight over to the other side. Don’t stitch the middle.

The whole reason you only stitch the sides is that once you’ve done the first stitch on one side you can pull the thread tight and stitch to the other side.

This is what gives the “pinched” bow shape. Stitch the pinched fold a few times to secure then knot!

Step 6

Use for whatever you like!

Maybe a hair grip, magnet, or to decorate gifts!

I used mine on a card for my cousin who has just had a baby girl!

The finished cake

I know Christmas is a distant memory but as I blogged about the first two stages of my first ever Christmas cake I thought I’d better show you all the finished result!

If you’ve seen my other Christmas makes it’s quite clear that my Christmas colour scheme is red and white.

Thought I’d go a bit crazy with the cake though and go for white and blue! Wow, wild I know!

I made snowflakes out of Squires Sugar Flower Paste. This icing dries much firmer than fondant icing and is the same stuff used to make sugar craft flowers. One pack is about £4.99 but it goes a long way!

I dyed some of the sugar paste blue then rolled out and cut out my snowflakes. I’m a little addicted to edible glitter so decided to go all out with sparkly snowflakes. I also cut out a few stars!

I marzipaned and iced the cake using royal icing. I love the way it goes hard when it dries but is still a bit gooey underneath. My mum had a clear out the other day and gave me her icing turntable! How retro is this! And only 56p!

Then went snowflake crazy! And here it is!

I was so worried about trying the cake as I was a little concerned that I burnt it but it tasted lovely! Definitely helped by the 6 or 7 feeds of brandy I’m sure!