How too fresh flower bridal hair clips.

As I mentioned a couple of blog posts ago it's wedding season for me at the moment. This bank holiday weekend just gone I attend the lovely wedding of Amy and Paul. 
Amy asked me if I was able to help create real flower accessories for her wedding hair. I've made a couple of tiara for wedding previously but never with real flowers. 
The plan was to make a tiara but after a little experimentation we decided the flowers were too big and so we decided to attach the flowers to kirby clips. 
Here is a simple how too if you were looking for a simple way to add real flowers to you wedding hair style.

 You will need some real flowers, we used freesias, some fine florist wire and some kirby grips.

I pulled the flower off the stem but made sure a little of the stork was still attached, this will help support the flower as the petals are quite delicate. I then passed the florist wire through the flower and stork so it was third of the way through. 

I then wrapped the smaller length of the wire round the base of the flower so it was secure.

I then lined up the flower so the head was facing the top of the clip and used the rest of the wire to wrap around the top of the clip and the flower. You don't have to worry if it looks a little messy. This will be hidden when you place the clip into the up-do. Make sure all the wire is wrapped around with the end tucked in, you can use a small pair of pliers if it gets fiddly. That's it your done. 

I made 6 but it all depends on what look your going for. 

How too vintage floating shelf

I have been loving all the floating shelves that I've seen around in the interior blog-o-sphere recently but haven't found any that go with the granny chic (aka vintage charm) look I have going on in my living room. So, I thought I would have a go at making something. I started off with an old wooden box I picked up from a car boot sale for £2, bargain! I'm not sure what it was used for previously but I know my brother in law used something similar to store tools in.

I gave it a quick wipe down and I was good to go. I used two medium mirror plates and four screws that were long enough to go into the frame of the box securely, about an inch deep. These are to go on the each end of the box.

I then measured to the middle of the box sides and placed the mirror plates so I could mark where the screws would go. I put the mirror plates aside and then used a bradel to start off the holes to make it easier when screwing in the screws.

Once I made the guide holes I placed the mirror plates back and I was then ready to screw the plates on using a screwdriver.

If you have done this then congratulations you have just made a floating shelf. Now you are then ready to fix your new floating shelf to the wall. You may want a friend to help with this part. As I wanted my shelf to be centred to a picture I already had hanging I measured the centre of the picture and aligned the shelf. I check with a spirt level to see if it was straight and marked a couple of guide holes where I wanted to drill into the wall. You will need two screws and two raw plugs suitable for the screws and make sure you have the right sized masonry drill bit. It makes all the difference! However if you are attaching the shelf to a plasterboard wall make sure you have plasterboard fixings. 

Once I drilled the first hole, I put in the first raw plug and attached the shelf loosely so I could check that the other guide hole was in the right place and the shelf was not at an angle. I drilled the second hole attached the other side of the shelf to the wall and I was done. A very cheap project and a great way to display your treasures. Mine currently holds a little wooden village I used to play with when I was a child.

How too faux cross stitched wedding card

I seem to be in the thick of wedding season again. I'm off to a wedding this weekend so I'm trying to be organised. The outfit is sorted so I started thinking about making a card. I've wanted to have a go at making a faux cross stitch card for a while so thought this would be the perfect opportunity. I grabbed my graph paper pad and had a bit of a doodle for a design and came up with this simple heart design. I designed a few smaller ones as well but though this one was most suitable for the size of the card. I could use the other designs for valentines day. If you fancy having a go feel free to use the pattern bellow.

I used a letter X stamp I had in a small alphabet stamp pack. You can draw out a base grid in a soft pencil if your not confident to help you aline the X's and then rub it out when the the ink's dry. As you might be able to tell I decided to try it freehand. It depends how much of a perfectionist you are. Very simple but quite cute.