Seasonal Wall Art

Seasonal decorating is a thing on social media. Not wanting to fall by the wayside whilst also not wanting to follow every trend going, I have decided that I will do it if I feel like it and I do put pressure on myself to home make everything so that does slow me down a bit. It does go without saying that Christmas is seasonal. I mean, you are not going to miss the Christmas bling even if you are feeling a bit grinch in the extended run up to the the big day. So, back to the seasonal decorating theme, that’s winter sorted.

Autumn has also had a valiant effort with a autumnal wreath. I had a million projects on the go and didn’t really have the time to make it but decided that it just had to be done so just stopped planning and prevaricating and got on with it. I was really pleased with it in the end so we ended up with one for the holiday cottage and one for home. They could both do with some further embellishment but that I can do nearer the time this year (or, true to form, just before they are going back up).

Halloween also had a little bit of homemade fun. I had big plans but not much time so just did some ghostly buns for the cottage guests with a little bit of second hand halloween themed decorating to at least give the ghostly cakes a reason to be there.

Ghostly buns

I have always wanted to do a floral wall hanging and when gifted with a workshop for my birthday last year I found a local quilters guild workshop that exactly fit the bill. It was quite a wait for the workshop (from a birthday present perspective) but it was so worth it. I could probably have worked out something myself but developing a pattern takes time and it is quite inspiring working in a group of like minded people and to just get on with it. Of course it wasn’t finished in the day but I cracked on and finished at home. I now have a lovely spring wall hanging giving some springtime cheer in the holiday cottage. I really need to do one for us now, but maybe a bit bigger as the wall in the dining area is huge. It’s on the ‘to do’ list!

Now, for a summer theme. At the moment I’m drawing a mental blank but will do some research (ie googling) to give me some inspiration.

Crochet Octopus for babies

I wanted to make a gift for a new baby and happened upon an article about crocheted soft toy octpuses (octupi?) for premature babies. Apparently the babies take comfort from the spiral tentacles as a replacement for the umbilical cord. Fortunately, the baby in question was born safely and on time, although clearly I could have been a lot better prepared! The octopus only took an evening (and a bit) to make so we wrapped it up and delivered it to the new parents straight away. Baby's big brother (aged 2) really liked the new octopus so we went straight round to the wool shop to buy a different colour and after another evening wielding a crochet hook we have a brother octopus to 'Holly' octopus. We will drop him round later today. I really need to get better at facial features on these amigurumi toys because the expressions on the faces makes such a difference to the finished toy, so whilst I was not completely happy with the eyes and mouths on the octopuses, time was of the essence. Also I'm in the middle of 2 cushion covers, one tea light jar cover and a hexagon quilt so I have to become quicker at finishing things.

The octopuses are made with 100% cotton yarn and washable filling so will be perfectly safe for babies and are washable. I used Wendy Supreme luxury cotton DK and a 3.5mm hook. These are such a good gift for a new baby, but clearly a great gift to a premature baby so I'm going to find out if our local neonatal units have a similar scheme.