Christmas Wreath DIY

After sharing my tree decorating yesterday, I wanted to show the other little decorations that I have around the house, and a DIY for a sweet Christmas wreath that I have on my door.

Scroll down for a DIY that I wrote last Christmas. It's a bit of a cheat's one, because the jingle bells came all ready for me in a nice hoop, but it's easy to make your own :-)

These adorable festive reindeer light up and make my window look super pretty :-)

I could definitely have made a garland like this but I picked it up from the supermarket and it looks so fun strung over all of my favourite photos. I like this so much that I think a cute pompom garland for spring might be needed to fill the gap this will leave when I take it down!

 

If you are anything like me, you'll *hate* spending fortunes on expensive decorations, which inevitably get put in the loft two weeks later and retrieved, broken and dusty next year.

I saw this bell wreath in Poundland (presumably, similar to the dollar store for American readers :)) and it came with a tacky silver cardboard adornment in the shape of a holly leaf. I snipped it off and added a fun bow in a Christmassy fabric and hung it on my door. Of course, the same kind of technique could be applied to any cheap 'n' tacky wreath that you can find - snip off all the excess decorations, add a big fabric bow, and hang!

Materials Needed:

Cheap tacky wreath with bells in fact, this wreath would be quite easy to make. It's done with a round piece of wire, and some small pieces of vinyl tubing separating bells attached with thin wire. A tinsel, yarn-wrapped or even cheap fake holly wreath would also work.
Fabric choose a Christmassy, contrasting fabric.
Thread
Needle
Iron (optional)

I followed Elsie's Fabric Bow Tutorial to make my bow. I'm not going to rip off her tute, so you can follow the instructions here. There are loads of fabric bow tutorials online on various crafty blogs.

I've found the bows look best if you bunch the middle bit a little and pull hard on the corners to spread it out. I ironed my bow to flatten it out so that it would hold it's shape.

Thread your needle again and poke it upwards through the middle part of the bow, on the back. Poke it out again. You can use this to tie your bow to a point in the wreath.

Tie a loop and thread it round the wreath near to the bow. Loop it through itself to create a hanging point.

Katie x

Christmas Tree Decorating

Putting up the Christmas tree is one of those things that seems fun on the box, but when you open the box, you realise that you can't find anything you can remember from last year, your favourite bauble is broken and the base to the Christmas tree has disappeared.

Or, maybe that is just me.

I've known the base was missing for a little while. I actually bought the tree two years ago on Christmas Eve when a shop was selling all of their decorations off. And it was white! You have no idea how much I have wanted a white tree, like, all my life. Although at home we used to have a real tree, which I liked, but since I discovered white trees I have had a longing for one. I didn't put it up last year because it was in the back of the car under lots of stuff.

But this year, I knew it was right. Even with the missing base. I've solved that issue with a broken coat hanger, some ribbon and a blob of plasticine.

Me and my small sweet boy decorated it this afternoon...

Most of the decorations came with the display tree. We actually had to walk out of the shop with the entire tree, decorations and lights still on it in our arms.

But we have some decorations that have been around since before the sweet boy, and those are my very favourite.

He kind of just wanted to put all of the shiny baubles on one place on the tree. And I definitely did not quickly rearrange things when he went to bed. Oh no, wait. I did. Is that bad? Please tell me I'm not the first person to ever do that, I feel a little guilty?

I think these are my favourite. Glittery and big and everything that I like about Christmas :-)

Small boy really liked the Christmas tree and he was thrilled that we had a special white one.

I actually didn't get a photo of the whole shebang, which was a little silly. I did post one on Instagram if you are so inclined to follow me on there, @katyclouds.

So now I'm a little more festive. I hope your Christmas preparations are going well. I'm back to radio presenting tomorrow from 10 - 12. You can tune in by searching for Radio Dacorum on the Tune In app on smartphones, or at RadioDacorum.org.uk.

Katie x

Volunteering.

So, I kind of decided it was time to get up off my ass and do something with all this spare time I have since I quit my job. Whilst freelance social media work is still my Big Plan, I physically cannot sit here day after day in front of the computer peddling myself to every director/manager/recruitment consultant in town. I needed to get out the house.

So, you are right now reading the blog of Radio Dacorum's newest presenter/volunteer (one of).

I super love working on the radio. I love talking, I love getting to pick out my favourite music, and I really love telling people that they can listen to me here. Yes, where ever you are in the world, you can listen to Radio Dacorum online at the website. Click here to go right there now.

There is a webcam of the studio, and you can interact with the show via twitter (@radiodacorum). I will be taking requests, and talking about mummy-related stuff :-) The show will be on 10-12 weekdays, and I'll let you know on twitter this week what days I will be covering. I'm back on the air waves tomorrow at 10!

I used to work at hospital radio, and it was a different set up, and a very long time ago. So this all feels kind of new and exciting and whilst it is a very small community radio station that hasn't been going very long at all, I'm really excited to get more involved. Here are some photos from my first day.

I really hope you'll tune in :-)

Katy x

Love

Hi there!

I just wanted to pop by and share some things that I love this week ♥

It's a beautiful crisp cold day today look at this lovely sky!

I haven't used a filter on this - just beautiful :-)

This lovely post by one of my favourite bloggers about creating memories and traditions for little ones at Christmas. I want Ramsey to have lovely Christmases to look back on, which basically means that I must immediately pull my finger out and start getting festive. And stop eating all the Christmas biscuits.

 

Cocktails made with Malibu are my favourite, and a cheeky Friday afternoon drink (or two) always goes down nicely. It's nice having time to myself now my little one is with his dad every other weekend. I miss him, but I know we are doing the best that we can for that sweet little guy.

 

 

I actually think I won't be able to carry on with my life if I don't get my hands on these unicorn shoes. I would literally wear them everywhere. Including in the bath. Because they are the most amazing shoes ever and I need them. And they are on sale on Modcloth too. You hear that Santa?!

 

 

Have a lovely weekend x



Living Room Photo Wall & Prints

Now that I'm on my own, I decided that I would start putting some effort into my home, It was OK, but there were looks of little areas that I never got round to making look nice. I've tried to display some of my favourite photos around the room, as the white walls were getting to me a little.

My next plan is to paint a few of the smaller sections of wall in a warm grey. And then get a grey, cosy corner sofa with bright pink and mustard cushions. It's a serious goal of mine.

Over my dining table, which I was gifted by a friend who had bought a new one, along with 4 beautiful beech chairs, I have a clip frame with a big black and white photo of my little cherub. I always like to have a candle lit, it makes for a more cosy home.

 

My photo wall. I've been picking up frames whenever I find them at Poundland. I actually put off doing this for ages because I thought I didn't have enough photos, even after getting some new ones printed. I think it's quite of sad that photos now spend their lives on corrupted hard drives rather than being printed out and displayed. I also lost a lot of photos in the Great Coffee Spillage so I definitely want it to be a goal of mine that I get more hard copies. I filled the gaps I still had with scrapbook paper ready for when I get a good photo. I also used fabric to matt the photos that didn't fit the frames dimensions. I think it looks cute, and I can't wait to add more memories.

Tiny-things-displayed-on-photo frames is one of my favourite hipster looks. I found this little 'R' for Ramsey at a jumble sale and it looks sweet propped up on the frame of a painting that my grandmother gave me. (tip: I secure anything balanced on frames with bluetack to the wall, just in case I brush past and knock them!)

 

My absolute favourite thing in the room, an A0 (2ft x 3ft) print of a photo from Staples, printed like a blueprint. It was a total bargain at £1.99. You can get these at any Staples or printing shop that does Architectural Planning Prints. I emailed the photos first and then went down and picked them up. The print quality is surprisingly good, although you can probably see there are some more strongly coloured lines across his forehead and under his chin. I kind of love the lo-fi look. I've hung this over my television so that my sweet boys smile catches my eye whenever I watch TV. It's surrounded by one of my favourite bargains, a strong of lights in the shape of bunnies. Bought from a woman whose designed them, but had then got a new job somewhere fancy and wanted to get rid of them quick so gave them to his mum to sell at a bootsale. They came in a crazy kawaii box and collect the dust like nothing else in my house.

 

Sorry for the rubbish pictures, I'm without SD card slot (who knew laptops existed without them?) so relying on my phone at the moment. Normal service will resume shortly. I would love to hear how you display photos in your home, or see similar prints if you have tried the blueprint idea yourself :-)

Unblocking Bloggers Block

 

 

Writers block is a real thing. And it sucks. You might blog, and not think of yourself as a writer. Well, then you are pretty silly because blogging is a kind of independent journalism that gives you the freedom and platform to deliver to the world your most private thoughts. Or your latest nail tutorial. Whatever takes your fancy, there is someone out there who wants to read about it.

 

So, now that we have established that you are, in fact, A Writer, I would hazard a guess that at some point or other, you haven't known what the hell to write about in your blog.

 

I've been blogging since...*deep breathe* 2001. All of my mid to late teens and most of my twenties. Reading back over the entries (oh god I hope no one ever, ever reads this stuff. I am desperate to recover my old password because this should not be on the Internet) it's clear that I didn't quite understand the concept of not revealing everything to the entire world. Better judgement comes with age. Apparently.

 

I've written about relationships, work, feelings, craft tutorials, beauty regimes, my wardrobe, my problems, things I want to buy on the Internet and other blogs that I like. I've ranted for months about crappy exes. I've posted pictures of myself in bed, drinking, smoking, misbehaving, wearing clothes, not wearing very many clothes, my shoes, my house, my craft stuff, my child. I've never really struggled with what to write about or what to take pictures of apart from now.

 

I have struggled over the last few weeks. 

 

How To Get Over Writers Block

 

Write a list of potential blog post ideas. Fill a whole page with ideas. They might be silly "Tuesday Breakfast", "What I would buy if I had a £500 Modcloth voucher", "Why spiders are bad", "Great places to buy sellotape". Or they might be serious. "Why I can't write a sodding blog post" (current potential title for this post), "Why I let my ex boyfriend treat me like crap for 7 years".

 

So I complied this list that I would like to share with you today of things that I could blog about when I am stuck. Feel free to use one if you are ever as blocked up as me.

 

What I Wore (to an event, the dentist, where ever)

Things I Want To Buy For My Home/Office/Child/Car/Garden/Hair

Found On Pinterest This Week

November (or whatever month) Round Up (Only really works at the end of the month)

Someone who inspires you. Preferably on the Internet and not your nursery teacher.

Favourite/Family Recipe

Instagram Round Up

Favourite Other Bloggers

Music Of The Moment

Old Holiday Photos

Old Pictures Of You

Something funny that happened to you last week

A piece of creative writing you have on your computer that you've never showed anyone

A video of your beauty regime

A collection that you have

How to...do something that you can do and maybe other people cannot.

 

These are really generic ideas, This list took me about 5 minutes. Make your own list exactly like it and once you start writing things down, you'll find that more and more ideas pop into your head. At the very least, you will have made some progress.

 

Then all you have to do is close your eyes and stab your finger at the page. Open them and start writing a blog post about whatever it says. I hope this works for you. It's worked for me :-) I've got a long list of blog posts titles ready to go, with titles as diverse as 'The Cardigan I Have Worn Everyday For Two Months' to 'Classic French Manicure Without Nail Stickers'. So I hope you'll stay tuned for those, and forgive my recent sporadic posting.

 

Katie

Recent SEO & Blogging Articles - A Catch Up

You may have noticed I went on an unexplained hiatus. Two major life events happened at the same time. The second, spilling coffee onto the open and turned on keyboard of my brand new ultrabook laptop, was a pretty damning reason not to be able to be able to blog.

I have been distraught. So much so that a lovely friend has lent me her laptop. And I love her even though she has set up her cursor in the shape of a ballpoint pen and has about 97 toolbars installed.

Regardless of these minor issues, I would like to resume writing here. So I thought a good way to start myself off would be with a sum up of recent posts on SEO and blogging matters. As always, I welcome you comments and constructive critisism, and you can talk to me on twitter, instagram (@katyclouds) or via email. You can also follow my boards on Pinterest.