Nigella Lawson's Custard Creams

These look far better than they taste. I used Nigella Lawson's Custard Cream recipe from her book Feast. They were lovely. But not up to placing them in my cannon of regular baking go to recipes, as they didn't have enough crunch. I won't post her recipe here but when I get it or another amended to a great custard cream I'll post that.

Natalie

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly

I was eco-conscious this year and decorated with real holly leaves and berries as opposed to the usual array of plastic decorations I buy and discard. A massive bunch from the flower sellers on Camden Street for only a fiver. Win.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our readers!

With love and light for 2012,

Natalie and Brid

xxx

Homemade Christmas Cards

I made a set of these cards for Christmas this year. So easy, it only took me a few mins. I got the image from a website called The Graphics Fairy. In my opinion the BEST source of non copyright vintage material on the net. I have done so many crafty things with spoils from this site. Make sure and check it out - and bookmark it too!

Natalie.

Vintage Teacup

Love this snap from the Flea! Thank you to Ross McSherry for it! More to come soon. You can check out more of his work here.

Happy out.

Nat
x

Crafty Students is Pleased to Announce...

Our handmade bunting is now being stocked by Shotsy Vintage of Temple Lane South, Temple Bar! Check out the images below of one of the fabrics from our Christmas range.

The bunting will retail at about €10. Pop in and get a strand - the perfect quick fix Christmas gift. Supporting Irish craft and business will give you a warm fuzzy feeling, we promise!

You can contact Katie of Shotsy (and have a browse of their fab vintage finds) at

http://www.facebook.com/ShotsyVintage#!/ShotsyVintage?sk=wall

or

http://shotsyvintage.tumblr.com/

xxxx

Natalie

The Dublin Flea Sunday 27th November Stall Preview

Hi!

We're very excited for the fun times to start rolling tomorrow check out some of the things we'll have for sale! :-)

Bunting Tutorial

I'll have some different types of bunting for sale this Sunday (27th Nov) at the flea. Below you can catch a preview of some of the material I've used. Here's a guide to how I've made the bunting. Try it yourself and see how easy it is!

1. Start by making yourself a template. Draw a triangle (or whatever shape takes your fancy) on an A4 sheet and cut it out.
   

2. Next place this template on the fabric you want to use. Draw around it with chalk. You can brush the chalk off later. Cut out the shapes. I've used a pinking sheers, this stops the fabric fraying, means you don't have to bother with a hem and creates a lovely decorative edging.

3. Take a long piece of ribbon and pin it to the top of your fabric shape.


4. Sew the Ribbon to the fabric. Keep adding as many pieces of fabric to your ribbon for as long as you like - the more you use the longer your bunting will be. Remember to leave some spare ribbon at the start and end so you can tie your bunting up.


5. Enjoy!

XX Nat

The Art of Decoupage: A Crafty Students Easy Guide

Hi All!

I've been working on some hand crafts for the upcoming stall.

I'm nearly finished two chairs which my brother and I have 'made new' by decoupaging them. One is covered in old Beano comics and the other in American and Canadian 1930s period stamps.

They're looking brilliant and in the spirit of this crafty blog I've decided to share my technique with you all!

Below are some photos of my work in progress with the stamp design chair and my finished Beano chair. Enjoy!

• Start with your item - whatever it may be and make sure it is clean and dry. You could apply this technique to literally anything - boxes, furniture, frames ect ect.

• Choose the paper you want to design with. Think of things that are image heavy such as maps, magazine cuttings, stamps, sheet music or whatever else takes your fancy. Cut these up into little squares.

• Get an old jam jar that has a lid and put three parts PVA glue and one part water into it and give it a good shake.

• Paste an area of the surface you want to Decoupage with this mixture using a paint brush. Apply your squares of paper, leaving no gaps, and then paste another layer of your mixture over the paper. So your images are sandwiched between a layer of the PVA mixture ontop and below. Make sure you don't have too much mixture on your brush at anyone time as this will result in a soggy mess. You want to work thinly and evenly.

• Allow this to dry and then get a clear gloss varnish and apply this evenly all over your item. This seals the paper. You may need to do a couple of coats of this to get a nice even finish.

The stamp chair is obviously a work in progress, we'll be posting photos on completion so keep an eye out!

Feel free to comment below if you need any help or advice with this technique - I'll get back to you as soon as I can. And if you end up with some proud results let us know and we'll post them.

Both chairs above will be available for purchase at The Dubline Flea this Sunday 27th and you can check out some other items and get info about the stall here.

Happy Crafting!

Nat

xx

The Dublin Flea Sunday 27th November

Hi All!

Crafty Students are delighted to announce that we have a stall at the next Dublin Flea Market.

Come on down!! Your incentive is free cupcakes! As featured here.

We'll have lots of vintage and retro bits and pieces such as:

Vintage luggage of all shapes and sizes
Handbags for the ladies (Some great vintage brands such as Mappin and Webb!)
Man bags
Old Radio
Mantelpiece Clock (30s)
Typewriters
Tea sets (various designs, periods and colours)
Frosted lemonade set
Leather ties - 60s and 70s
Briefcases
Smoking cases
Crockery
Champagne bowls
Records
Cake plates
Tea cloths and other table linen
Cricket Jumpers

Ect, ect, ect!

There will also be some handmade www.craftystudents.blogspot.com goodies like decoupage chairs, Christmas cards, bunting, and lots more!

We hope you can make it!

We'll be posting this week with some previews of the stock and crafty projects we've been working on.

Love,

Nat
xxx

Make Up Bag!

This is a little something I rustled up for a friend's birthday. It's a sweet little make up bag. It was quick and easy to make. I decorated it with little ribbon roses that are cheap and easy to find in any craft shop!

It was a simple process of knitting a rectangle, lining it, sewing in a zip and then sewing the whole thing up! A nice afternoon's work.

Photos by Gary Sundt once again!

Happy Monday and enjoy the rest of the week!

Bríd x

I Made A Bag!

A little while ago, I was lamenting the fact that I had no handbag and no money whatsoever to buy one... So I decided I would make one! An impoverished lady's gotta do what an impoverished lady's gotta do.

Here's how I did it: I didn't use a pattern, it was free-styled knitting. I essentially just knitted a large rectangle. I made some little hearts out of wool scraps I had lying around and sewed them on with a little bit of stuffing in each one and glued on some whacky googley eyes. I needed something to line it with so I just cut up an old top of mine that had fallen victim to the damages a dryer can do. I sewed in the lining, sewed in a zip, stitched the whole thing up and sewed on a handle I had knitted!

It cost me about $6 to make, $5 for the wool and $1 for the zip! A pretty good bargain if you ask me. I can't complain. Plus, I have lots of wool leftover and am currently working on another project with it... Watch this space!

I'm pretty pleased with it all in all. It tends to made people laugh a little when they see it. I suppose it is a little odd and creepy but that's part of the charm. It certainly is an individual design and I doubt there's anything like out there in retail-land. A proper Bríd Doherty original!

Photos are once again taken by my friend Gary Sundt whose awesome blogs you must check out here and here.

Have a wonderful week!

Bríd x