KNITTED CUPCAKES!! Aren’t they so cute! They’re great because you can make them in any colours you want to match your party’s theme. Mine is going with the popular pink and white theme hence why I made the case white and the icing pink. I’m going to make six in totally and keep them after the tea party in a basket on the sideboard in the entrance hall. They’re a great decoration :)

All in all it took me about 15 minutes to make so they are super quick and easy. This means they are handy for last minute decoration the night before or morning of if you find you don’t have enough. I used this free pattern from Patchwork Chickens which I found via google and printed off. I will keep it forever as I know it will always be handy to have. A friend of mine said they would make great cat toys, I wouldn’t even have thought of this!

You can get involved in the bunting making events and donate to charity at the same time. This looks really fun and I am going to try my best to attend.

On Sunday 18th May 2013 they are also holding a Clothes Swap event. I have always wanted to join a clothes swap but have never found one near me. It doesn’t cost a penny and you gain new clothes to wear whilst also clearing out your closet quickly. Always a win in the ladies eyes! Theres just a few rules which are:

This was difficult to photograph because you need the light but it goes straight through this material, don’t judge the teeny tiny gift bags on these pictures. They are so easy to and quick to make and are the perfect size for a creme egg or a handful of mini eggs. Great for the kids to take to school for their friends or a nice surprise for your work colleagues (which is what I plan to do with them).

All you need is some net type material (I got mine from my Nan, it was the packaging for something she had ordered and I thought it too precious to throw away) and some ribbon. All you do is cut two squares the size you want your bag to be, so you could even make a big gift bag for those hugeeee easter eggs in Thortons! Fold down the two top edges inwards and sew along in a small straight stitch, leaving the short edges open. Then sew the squares right sides facing along the other three sides, leaving the top edges open. Then turn the bag inside out and thread the ribbon through the short open edges. Simples!!

You could jazz these up even more by adding diamantes, lace, sequins, name tags etc. The possibilities are endless, give them a go.

That’s right! I made teeny weeny candles and they look super cute. They would be great as presents and the best thing about them is they cost next to nothing to make!! All you need is:

And they did. Such a simple recipe and all you need to make them is:

This was taken in our hotel resort. Some trees were growing green plantain but we couldn’t work out was these berries were…

This little beach was the smallest one I have ever seen. Barely enough room for two towels but so private. It was on the edge of Devils Bridge which we walked to from our hotel in Willikies. Devils Bridge has this name as this is the rock formation where people would come to jump off instead of having to endure the life of a slave. A bit morbid I know but I think history is very interesting.

This photo is of Half Moon bay. This is beach to me summed up paradise. It is so picturesque and beautiful.

Then I saw the crafty side of Antigua, they are very creative people. This little stall was a creative sweet shop in the airport terminal. I love the design and think it is just so cute!

This set up was at Shirley Heights, one of the most famous landmarks on Antigua. We sat here for lunch looking over the English Harbour wondering how different it would have been years ago with pirates invading! Inside was a small craft fair selling homemade cake, jams, sauces etc.

This was outside on the balcony area of Shirley Heights. Local people were making jewellery such as necklaces, braclets, earrings etc. They seem to be very happy on the cliff edge in Antigua making jewellery, lets face it, I would be too.

Keep an eye out for my next post including the full recipe for baking Lemon Meringue Cupcakes!

The ‘holiday’ maxi skirt was so easy and cheap to make. All it took was the material and a small amount of elastic. I already had these to hand so I was able to whip it up within 15 minutes! Sounds crazy but its true.

To make it you need to measure around your waist, this will be the width of your material. Then measure your leg length and this will be the length of your material. Simple. The length of the elastic should be your waist size minus 5 inches. You simply sew the elastic into a hem a sew that to the top of the skirt. Then sew it together along the length which will be the back of the skirt. Then just hem up the bottom. You could even use wonder web on this instead if you were really rushed for time.

The elasticated waist makes it really comfy for traveling too. As the hem around the bottom of the skirt is the same width of your waist it doesn’t allow for a lot of walking in big steps but that is why it is the ‘holiday’ maxi skirt. No walking or running, just lounging on a sun bed around the pool or beach. If this didn’t sound good enough to you or you wanted to use it for other purposes then simply cut a split up the back, gives it a bit more style too.

As you can see these snaps were taken on my holiday in Antigua so it a little sneak preview for you of my next post coming soon. Keep checking back!

He follows me around the house helping me with ideas for my blog… Or so he thinks he is. Most of the time his tail appears in the middle of a photo shoot or he knocks my knitting out of my hands loosing stitches but when I was working on my Knitted Socks post he was in a very happy and helpful mood, even posing for this photo. It’s one of my favourites :) he’s super cute.

I think this is probably my favourite thing I have ever made. I found it very useful on the flight over here (8 hours from London Gatwick) and even now on the beach! I love making things I know I’m going to use forever.

They are also a great idea for presents. You make them in so many different ways by using different material, adding a zip, embroidering your name etc.

I made it by cutting out the shape I wanted my cushion to be on some blue and white spotted material by Cath Kidston. I then used this as a template to cut out the same shape on some wadding material. I know I probably shouldn’t since wadding is supposed to be used for quilting up it is super strong and I wanted my pillow to have a patterned side and a soft, comfortable side. This way I can you the cotton side for on the beach as it is more cool in the hot weather and the cosy, fluffy side for sleeping on the flight. Once I had my two pieces of material I laid them together with right sides facing. I wanted a small loop to hang it up when we’re in our villa or at home in the cupboard waiting for my next holiday so I cut a piece of ribbon about double the length I wanted it to hang, which I had from the packaging of a Christmas present I received in December. I placed this ribbon in between the two pieces of material with the ends poking out the top and the loop inwards. I them simply sewed a small straight stitch around the whole outside of the pillow leaving about an inch gap in the neck area. I then stuffed my pillow with simple cushion stuffing which you can get in almost every craft shop, or even on ebay! You can stuff it as much or as little as you like. I wanted my pillow to be fairly sturdy and to hold it’s shape so I stuffed it rather well. Then I simply hand sewed the gap on the inside of the neck area. I left the gap here as the hand sewn gap is then less visible afterwards. Et voila! My new Travel Neck Pillow :) what do you think?

I’m always cold at home so can never have bare feet, these will definitely come in handy for this reason. I love thick and fluffy socks so knitted ones are just perfect. These are the first pair I have ever made and I found them pretty simple. I can now work on making a complex pair… I’ll let you know how that goes.

I also had the idea of making all my Christmas presents this year for my New Years Resolution so I think these would be a great gift idea. You can whip them up in a day and even the simplest patterns can be made to look complicated by using different patterned wool. I you can see I used a brown wool with teal and cream flecks running through it. I think its great way to use up the last of your wool as they only take one ball.

I got my pattern from my monthly knitting magazine called Simply Knitting however you can pick up some great free sock patterns right here on the world wide web. Give it a try!