Two of my favourite things in the world are teacups and candles. So when I saw a teacup candle in a Laura Ashley store I had to have one, but without the £18 pricetag. So I found a teacup and saucer set for 40p at a carboot, and one for £1.50 at a local second hand shop, and then headed to ebay where there were teacup candle kits for under a fiver with everything you need in them (wax, wick, wich holder, dye chips).
To start with you need to measure how much wax you need by weighing the teacup and then filling the teacup with water and weighing it again. Then you subtract the weight of the teacup from the weight of it with water in, and that is how much wax you need.
Melt the wax in a double boiler- where you have a bowl over a pan of hot water (or according to your wax's instructions). Now this took ages for me, seriously AGES, and I was constantly scared that it was going to explode, but eventually it all melted. I then added the pink dye chips.
Meanwhile I prepared the two teacups. The wicks have to be dipped into the wax and held in place.
The kit I bought only had one wick holder thingy so I used a peg and bit of card instead.
The wax then has to be carefully poured into the teacups. Some of the wax has to be kept to one side to be used later.
When the wax starts to cool you can see the texture of the surface changing. The colour eventually becomes much lighter too.
Now, once the wax has cooled for hours and hours you then have to top it up with the wax you set to one side because the wax dips down aroung the wick. However, I was too impatient and didn't wait long enough for it to cool completely so I ended up topping it up a few times.
Its as simple as that- two teacup candles made for under a fiver (and you should have enough wax left over to do quite a few more too).
I made this flower by wrapping a long strip of felt around itself in a circle, twisting it over occasionally, and sewing it secure.
I also made a simple felt bow hair clip.
The purse turned out rather well but I still need to practice using zips. Luckily I can get them for 10p each from the local carboot so I have lots to practice with.
I removed the old shade and was left with this.
I then got some plain thick paper and some designer wallpaper of skyscrapers. I wrapped the plain paper around the lamp first and cut it out bit by bit to get the right shape, and then I used it as a template to cut out the wallpaper.
I put the plain paper on the lamp first and then the wallpaper over the top, to make it a bit thicker, and simply used cellotape to secure it.
I think it looks so much better and the wallpaper matches the room well. It was free too because the wallpaper was a sample.
The masterpiece was this chocolate delight I made using various nuts, biscuits and marshmallows that set in the fridge. I like to think its similar to the Hotel Chocolat slabs you can buy.
Finally, the disasterpiece below is a piece of puff pastry topped with tomato puree, tomato, pepperoni and cheese. Even though I pricked the pastry in the middle in order to prevent it from rising it still decided to create a massive pocket of air that rose up and caused all the topping to slide to the edges, leaving one lonely piece of pepperoni in the centre. When it cooled the air bubble disappeared and I had to shuffle the topping around to make it more even, but it tasted amazing. I'm definitely going to make more of these and experiment with different toppings, and hopefully sort out the air bubble problemo.
Meanwhile I prepared the two teacups. The wicks have to be dipped into the wax and held in place.
The kit I bought only had one wick holder thingy so I used a peg and bit of card instead.
The wax then has to be carefully poured into the teacups. Some of the wax has to be kept to one side to be used later.
When the wax starts to cool you can see the texture of the surface changing. The colour eventually becomes much lighter too.
Its as simple as that- two teacup candles made for under a fiver (and you should have enough wax left over to do quite a few more too).
Then I begin to add foliage, such as eucalyptus leaves and pine tree sprigs, by threading their stems through the circle of wood.
I keep adding different greens until it is a decent size.
Red berries were then added to the wreath to give it more colour. You could also add ribbon, bows or little beads and baubles to the wreath to make it more interesting.
Last christmas I had a go at making a christmas stocking, insired by Kirstie Allsopp's Homemade Christmas TV show, and I followed her tutorial. However, as usual, I didn't measure things as accurately as I should have, so I ended up with a rather skinny stocking, which is merely ornamental as its too narrow to fit anything in it, apart from perhaps a chocolate coin or two.
I also had a go at making mince pies.
Finally, here is a pretty photo of some red berries. Merry Christmas!
