January's Wreath

What is it about January that zaps away energy? I'd promised you (and myself) a wreath for every month of this year, and so today was a scramble to put together something, anything, wreath-like. There's nothing like the last day of a month to force out the creativity!

When I set myself this wreath-of-the-month challenge, I had millions of ideas -- mostly involving wire, hot glue and beautiful home-grown greenery. But now, where on Earth is that spool of wire? What on Earth should I glue to what? And why on Earth does all my basil keep dying?

Clearly, a new direction was needed. And it just so happened that all the freezer-paper and paints from the last project were still out on the kitchen table (the one up side to Justin being away!)

As if to punish me for putting off the wreath for so long, Tilly had one of those days. She was happy to play by herself for precisely ten seconds -- precisely enough time for me to do... well, absolutely nothing. So, channeling all these new Mummy muscles, I hiked Tilly up under one arm, and painted with the other. (Please note: I did the cutting while she napped. Let's not get carried away with multi-tasking!)

So, with exactly three hours to spare until February starts, may I present...

January's wreath!

Tin Is In

After a wander around the Navasota thrift shops yesterday, and many a horrified glance at the price tags, it's become apparent that battered old cans and rusty old tins -- especially tea tins -- are worth their weight in gold. Lucky for us, loose-leaf tea still often comes in tins, so your local supermarket might trump the antiques shops when it comes to bargains.

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I love these ideas for bringing tea tins to the kitchen -- the perfect height to grow herbs in, and you can find them in colours to compliment any bouquet.

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With a little more work, tins can be reincarnated as candles (I wonder if they smell like the teas when lit?), or with a lot more work, they can be wired up as retro lamps.

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Can't find any tins of tea in the supermarket? These Japanese beauties (below) are available from TeaNote online... and the tea doesn't look bad, either!

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Well, off to gulp down another cup of apricot tea -- only 3/4 of a tin left to go!

The Stenciled Menagerie

We recently had an evening of making our own stencils, using the genius of freezer paper. Suddenly, a whole new world of designs opened up -- forget simple hearts, birds and flowers, you can really go to town with images when it's this easy!

There are plenty of tutorials out there on how to make stencils from freezer paper (such as Soulemama's here, and The Artful Parent's here), but the secret to it all is that when you iron freezer paper, it sticks to the fabric, making it very easy to paint the image.

And you can use any image at all! Draw your own, trace someone's silhouette from a photograph, draw around something, or -- as we did -- print out favourite images from online (searching for a keyword, such as 'pig', plus the word 'silhouette' usually brings up images that translate to stenciling very well).

Give it a try... I'm sure you'll be hooked! And, as always, please come back and show us your results!

My Creative Space

Feeling Stitchy

Though you might be thinking that RedRed has fallen silent, I just wanted to assure you that there's plenty of noise around here... just less of the words, and more of the rat-a-tat-tat of Grendel, the mean green sewing machine. Stripes, scraps, and insulated batting galore.

Back soon with some very exciting news...

Linen Calendars

Okay, I admit, I didn't quite give you the whole story when I said that Justin's Grandma gave me a box of quilt scraps. The truth is, she really gave me about six boxes, each loaded with new and exciting things. I thought showing you all of them at once might be a bit of vintage-treasure overload, so instead you'll get them one at a time, just like I did. 

In box number two, rolled up neatly like so many scrolls of ancient wisdom, was half-a-century's worth of linen calendars. The oldest, I think, is from 1960, and though a few years were missing, most are here, still beautifully colourful, on gorgeous heavy linen.

My favourite of them all is this folky mustard-coloured calendar below, from 1980. The figures seem like they could have popped right out of a Hans Christian Anderson story!

Now, I can't promise that these calendars will be reincarnated quite as quickly as the patchwork scraps, but they are here, waiting for inspiration to strike, ready to cast off their old dates and take on the new year!

A Year of Wreaths

Over advent, our tea wreath became one of my new favourite Christmas traditions. It also encouraged me to see wreaths in a new way -- they can go beyond run-on-the-mill winter greenery, and be fun, useful and unique. So, this year, I've set myself a challenge: to create a new wreath every month in 2011.

 1. Edible Wreath, 2. Marshmallow Wreath, 

3. Cinnamon Wreath, 4. Garlic Wreath

There are lots of inspired people around the world creating wreaths, like those above. I love the idea of a ring of herbs, ready to be used by the cook, a marshmallow wreath for the snowy months, cinnamon sticks to add a little fragrance to your entryway, and a garlic wreath to keep away any vampires!

5. Road Sign Wreath, 6. Thread Spool Wreath,

7. Wool Wreath, 8. Crayon Wreath

Others have made use of their extra wool, thread spools, and crayons, and have even recycled an old road sign!

Perhaps you like this idea and would like to join in? Each month, I'll have a spot for you to share a link to your own wreaths, so that we can inspire each other. For me, January's wreath will be started once we return from England, and shared with you as soon as possible... stay tuned!