Minnie Burton Craft: March 2010

Easter Vacation!

I am taking an Easter Vacation so no blog updates till the 2nd of April I'm afraid! In the mean time I hope you have a fabulous Easter and I'll be back blogging before you know it.
Keep checking out my projects on Cut Out and Keep and don't be afraid to drop me messages via the blog, email or twitter. All messages and feedback is greatly appreciated and the support I've had so far from family, friends and the online craft community has been ace. Thank-you!

Have a fabulous palm oil free Easter!

Love Minnie!

xxxxxxx

In the mood for some Easter craft projects.

With this being Friday and Easter fast approaching I thought I'd give you a little present for the weekend. Check out the tutorials and websites to make some amazing Easter crafts!
Enjoy!

Egg themed greetings cards from Martha Stewart.

Coffee Filter Flower from Craft Tutorials.

Bowling Pin Easter Bunnies from Beneath the Rowan Tree.

Easter Cake Pops from Bakerella.

And finally marbled chocolate Easter cake from Somerfield.

Palm Oil Free Fair Trade Easter Egg- Lir

I've had a lot of hits on my blog about my post on palm oil and my quest to find a chocolate Easter Egg that contained none of the yucky stuff.
Well I am pleased to say that for those of you in the UK and Ireland I have found you a palm oil free Easter egg! Hallelujah!

I found this in my local Tesco store it was the only one I could be sure was palm oil free as it had no mention of vegetable oil. The best thing is that it's only £4.99 and made by Lir, who are a fairly small independent chocolate and coffee company based in Killarney, Ireland. I've been to Killarney and had a brilliant time so perhaps I'm biased but it feels good to support a smaller company rather than Cadbury or Nestle for a change! The only thing I'm a bit peeved about is that it came from Tesco, so in a way I'm supporting one of the biggest suppliers of palm oil filled products to the UK but hey you can't win every battle I suppose!

Check out Lir, Killarney here.

Egg is £4.99 at Tesco.

How To- Make a Skirt from a Pillowcase Tutorial

I bought this pillowcase ages ago from a charity shop and only just rediscovered it. It has everything I love.. polka dots and flowers! Plus the colours and panelling almost have a nautical theme about it. Anyway I turned it from this.......

To This!

I think it was 50p well spent!

Click 'Read more' to see my tutorial for how to make a pillowcase skirt yourself!

I'd rather be thrifting....

Rather self explanatory!

How to- Make A Circular Tablecloth Into A Full Circle Skirt.

My tutorial on how to turn a tablecloth into a kimono is reaching a high level of popularity on the Cut Out and Keep website. (#13 in the top 20 last time I checked.) I am absolutely over the moon, the response I have had for that creation has just been great. Such nice comments!
It got me thinking about how else can I use a tablecloth in other re-fashion projects? I then discovered this gorgeous full circle table cloth in my local charity shop and its fate was decided right there and then.
It went from this .........

To this..........................

A full circle skirt! The print just automatically decided its fate! It was too vintage to be any other type of skirt I think a 50s style suited it down to a T! If you are interested in how to do this project yourself you can find the how to if you click 'read more'.

Who knows how to crochet?

If anybody can crochet I'd love for someone to make me this...

[it's my birthday in April]

I found it over at the rather cool 'Crochet Living' which is full of nifty vintage crafting patterns. In case you were wondering it is a poodle wine cosy! I don't know why you need a cosy for wine because I thought most should be served chilled, but hey who cares! I want a poodle wine cosy dammit!
I so wish I could crochet. Oh well another thing for the 'To Do' list!

If you are lucky enough to be able to crochet head over to 'Crochet Living' where the patten is available for free! Then get your hooks out and some pink merino and then pop it in the post to me! Thanks!

Book Review: S.E.W. Sew Everything Workshop- Diana Rupp

My newest purchase is:
Diana Rupp's 'S.E.W. Sew Everything Workshop'.

The book is designed for the beginner sewer with all basic techniques covered. It is informative and simple for the novice sewer, but not so much that a more experienced crafter would be put off.
It takes you through step by step almost holding your hand as you progress through techniques to a range of patterns starting from the novice project of sewing a no fastening skirt, to more complex projects, such as making boxer shorts. The book has some homeware patterns too including cushions, curtains (etc) but it is mainly for the dressmaking market.

My only grumble with the book, is that it has too much information on sewing machines! To me it was an unnecessary point of reference as most readers, (I'd imagine) would have already purchased or obtained a sewing machine so her suggestions are a little irrelevant. Not to mention all pricing is done in dollars so left me a little bewildered!

Overall it is a great book, which I recommend. It is also a great buy when you consider you get eight free dressmaking patterns included in the sleeve of the book. I can't wait to try some out!
I give it 8.5/10

You can currently buy it from Amazon priced at £11.03

Porcupine and a Hedgehog.

My cake decorating skills are a bit naff. I tried so hard to make a nice cake for for Ryan, but he had to make do with a thing that resembled a bloated porcupine and a dead hedgehog. That frosting was made from cream cheese though, so it tasted delicious! Oh well my skills may be pants but check out Sue B's!

Total Recall T Shirt.

Total Recall is an awesome film, possibly my favourite Arnie film!

Thinking it would look awesome on a Tee, I set about to make it become reality.

This was the result.

Click below to see the inspiration!

How to- Turn a single little kid's duvet cover into a double big kid's duvet cover tutorial.

I am the biggest kid at heart and love cartoons and anything that remind me of my childhood. I became very aware that there were a lot of very cool, retro single duvet covers in my local charity/thrift shops. Alas they were too small! I am by society’s standard an adult now, so sleep in a big grown up’s bed! So how could I get around the problem of loving the too small duvet covers and having a too big bed? Simple! I refashioned and up cycled. Here follows my tutorial.