buon anniversario ...

today is our wedding anniversary (if you're new to the blog, you can read about our sweet italian wedding here).  this year, rather than making the usual anniversary card for my lovely husband, i decided instead to create something a little more permanent.  something we can keep up all year round.

so i persuaded Mr B to put up one of the five picture shelves that have been gathering dust in the garage since we picked them up from Ikea last Christmas (!) and set about making some suitably soppy anniversary bits and pieces.

first i designed and printed a sweet black and white heart print.  nothing fancy, just our italian wedding vows picked out in a lovely black script font, cropped into pretty heart shape.  framed in a standard white ribba frame, i love how clean and sharp it looks. . 

then to the shelf, i added a framed print of our favourite wedding snap and a string of my paper lantern (or balloon) lights spelling out 'ti amo' (italian for 'i love you').  (i told you it it was going to be soppy!). the little white card you can see is my anniversary card from Mr B, a sketch of the 'chiesa di santa maria in tempula', the tiny little chapel we were married in.

love it all!!

p.s. if you'd like to make up your own paper lanterns, i've made a printable paper lantern alphabet for you.  just print off the letters you'd need and use my tutorial to get folding.  i've also added a star and a heart design to use as spacers.  (top tip: after cutting out the paper square, enure the letter is facing 3 o'clock and is face down, that way when you fold it up, the letter will show on the right side of the lantern).

paper balloon lights ...

last christmas i bought (and pimped) string after string of twinkly fairy lights.  i tacked them up around windows and draped them over mirrors.  and they looked so pretty that, when christmas was over, i just couldn't bring myself to take them down.  now we're heading into spring, and they're still up and i am still loving them. 

yesterday i decided it was time to de-bling the strings of lights in the little bird's and baby bird's rooms.  so i stripped off the wired beads from christmas (trust me, not as tacky as it sounds ...check out this post), replacing them with super lovely origami paper balloons.

to add a little vintage twist, for the baby bird i used pages from a 1970s rupert the bear annual (thrifted for just £1) and for the little bird I used pages from an 1980s alice in wonderland annual.  i just LOVE how they turned out*. 

the vintage paper gives a lovely soft warm glow and the colours are just perfect.  if you've never made them before, little paper balloons are so easy to make.  i've put together a quick step by step below or you can check out this great youtube tutorial.

1. start with a perfectly square piece of paper.

2. fold corner to corner right top to bottom left, crease along fold, open back up again

3 fold corner to corner top left to bottom right, crease along fold, open back up again

4. fold over and crease along centre line,

5. using the diagonal folds you've made as a guide, gently push in the two sides until you have the shape shown in pic 5&6

6. fold up each of the triangle 'wings' and crease along the folds

9.  once you have a diamond shape, make sure the open ends of the diamond are at the top (see pic 9)

10. carefully fold in the side wings, two on the side facing you, then flip over the diamond and repeat on the back.

11. fold down each of  the flaps which sit above the flaps, first fold down and then fold and crease along the line of the wing,  this will make it easier for you to tuck the little flap inside the pocket of the wing.  repeat this for all four flaps.

12.  take a deep breath and blow into the end of the flattened box which has the hole and your box will 'pop' into shape.

13.  repeat until you have the pile of balloons you need to fill your string.  i promise, once you've made a couple, you won't even need to to check the instructions.  they really are that easy to make.

to add the balloons, once i'd stripped off the wire and beads, i simply pushed one led light into each paper balloon, using the same hole used to inflate it. 

job done.

important: the strings of battery lights i used are simple LED lights which stay cool and are safe to cover. before adding paper latterns to any strings of lights you may have, please do make sure they're safe to cover.

*the pics above of the balloons on the light string were some tests i did before stripping off the wire.  i'll take better shots of the finished strings and post an update soon. oh, and apologies for the grainy photos (again).  still haven't learnt my lesson; iphone for instagram, real camera for blog.  duh.

knitted Easter treats ...

i've been working on my 'knitting in the round' skills recently and have been on the look out for fun little projects which i can whip up on my douple pointed needles*.  so when i stumbled across these super cute bunny hat egg cosies a few weeks ago, i just had to grab a copy of the pattern and give them a go for easter.

designed by Tetyana Korobkova, the hat itself is a very simple rib then decreasing plain knit stitch.  Tetyana's simple, clear pattern steps were easy to follow and the hats were lovely and quick to knit up.  i made up four hats (+ four simple matching egg cup scarfs) in just a few hours.

once i'd knitted up the cute little ears, i wanted to have a go at giving them a little more structure. so i adapted the pattern a little by knitting up a second set of ears, slightly smaller than the first set (and in a contrasting colour). then i stitched the two sets together.  just love how perky they turned out!

fancy making some yourself? check out Tetyana's shop on etsy.  fancy making the extra ears to stitch in? here are the extra pattern steps;

cast on 3 stitches
row 1-3 : knit all
row 4 : k, kfb, k
row 5 : k all
row 6 : kfb, k3, kfb
row 7 : k all
row 8 : kfb, k5, kfb
row 9-11 : k all
row 12 : k2tog, k5, k2tog
row 13 : k
row 14 : k2tog, k3, k2tog
row 15 : k
row 16 : k2tog,k,k2tog
row 17 : k3tog

hope you're having a cosy Easter!

x

*not ready for magic loop just yet!

DIY paper pom poms ...

with three birthdays and mother's day all arriving within a few days of each other, we are knee deep in tissue pom poms and paper bunting this week.  pink and white for mothers day, black and white for grown up birthdays and all the colours of the rainbow for the baby bird (who's turning three).

add all those colours to the gorgeous blasts of sunshine we've enjoying (along with several bizarre snow blizzards) and i'm starting to feel positively spring-like.  finally.

making tissue poms is so easy (and very satisfying).  here's a quick how to, in case you want to whip up a cluster of your own.

1. start with 8 sheets of identical size tissue paper  (for this demo i used 50cmx35cm sheets which made a pom approx 30-33cm diameter).  use all one colour or mix up plains with spots and stripes or rainbow colours.  whatever you do it will look pretty darn great.  i used 7 sheets of plain white with one sheet of yellow and white striped.

2. folding the sheets together (as if you were folding one piece of paper) turn up the bottom edge about 5-6cm and crease with your thumb nail or edge of a ruler. 

3. then using an acordian fold (back and forth) fold all the way to the top of the tissue.

4. you'll now have a long strip of folded tissue (which when you lift up one end should open in a zig zag shape)

5. find the middle of the folded strip of tissue sheets and tie a piece of wire around it.  don't scrunch the paper when you twist the wire - it will make it harder to pull out the petals.  (top tip 1: make sure the twisted wire ends are facing what will be the top of the pom as these will come un useful for tying on ribbon or string for hanging). 

6. i like to snip the ends of my pom strips into pinked points before opening them out as i think they give a prettier frillier edge but rounded, pointed or left as they are, will all work.

7. now for the fun part.  gently start to tease out the paper petals, to create a ball, alternating between fluffing out one from the front then one from the back so you get a nice even shape.

7. frouff away until you're happy with the shape.  then make a ton more.

8. admire your gorgeous handiwork.

♥

little blessings ...

as i knit up pairs of little merino snuggers, i often wonder about the little feet that might wear them.  about who's tiny, wiggly toes they'll keep cosy and warm.

last week a very lovely customer, took the time to send me the sweetest thank you note and the most beautiful snap of her little one wearing a pair of my milky cream snuggers on the day of his blessing ceremony.

how wonderful to see them being worn the celebrate such a special moment (and to see them teamed with such a gorgeous outfit too).

simply adorable.

thank you so much krisgal for sharing (and for letting me share your beautiful picture here on my blog too).

paper hearts ...

as a family of book worms, little towers of books can often be found growing on our bedside tables.  a mix of just started, half-read and nearly finished so bookmarks are a must.

so when i spotted these cute origami heart bookmark corners over on the cheese thief, i couldn't resist whipping up a job lot.

i used pages from vintage annuals and books for the little bird and baby bird (obviously the baby bird isn't on chapter books just yet but he does so hate to miss out on any treasure, so i made him a few to keep in his favourite bedtime reads). i used newspaper for ours.

and they are CRAZY easy to make.  i snapped a step by step folding guide for you to download and follow.  or if you'd prefer, hop on over to the cheese thief and watch the brilliantly straight forward tutorial video.  either way, two run throughs and you'll be folding without instructions.

(note: you can make these any size but after trying out a few different sizes, i think starting with a 4 inch square of paper is about right for most book sizes).

happy folding!

p.s. sorry about the rubbish photos. i was lazy and used the iPhone.  lesson learnt.  back to the proper camera.

est-ce que to m'aimes?

so lovely to see my little sweetheart baby kimono included in this GORGEOUS etsy valentine treasury curated by HoKiou. 

happy happy valentines!

Spring Home and Wedding Deco... BeachBlues $19.00	Valentines Day Card, Je Taim... ThePaperCub $5.00	Dark Pink Ballerina Brooch LaurasJeweller... $6.00	Important note:please be in ... MikiBeFashion $35.00
You are My Pink Heart Sweate... sugardollshop $17.00	Pink Felted bowl - ballerina... theYarnKitchen $32.00	Metallic Valentine Tassel Ga... StudioMucci $33.00	Winter home decor. Vintage. ... verylilly $25.00
Valentine's Everlasting ... FrancesandFran... $24.00	3 Vintage French cards - Wom... 5LittleCups $11.00	Valentine necklace with a li... acornisborn $24.00	Love Bird Wedding Cake Toppe... iislands $40.00
cute baby valentine gift, or... byebyebirdieen... $23.50	Nail Art PDF Tutorial DIY Ki... saburkitty $5.70	Toadstool Cake Topper for yo... FairyfolkWeddi... $15.00	Black Pink Short Heart Knit ... EmofoFashion $22.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

iLove ..

it's no secret that i've never been a huge fan of mobile phones.  the 'always being contactable' aspect has never really appealed.  but after 6 months without a phone, i decided enough was enough and high time i reconnected.

and my oh my, do i love my new toy?!  a pretty little iPhone 4* which i've already started loading up with all sorts of apple-y goodness. 

including instagram (of course).

so, if you feel the need to have even more grainy, blurred photos of feet and cups of tea in your life, then click the icon on my sidebar and check out my very new stream**.  or hop on over to my sparkly new 'instagram' page, any time you fancy catching up with the latest studio happenings.

(btw ... my feed's looking a bit empty at the moment, so if you've got any suggestions for gorgeous instagrammers that i should be following, i'd love to hear about them).

 

*a very generous gift from some very very lovely people.  who i won't name, as they might get all embarrassed and uncomfortable (and possibly inundated with friends also wanting a little iLove in their lives).

**only kidding no feet or (edit: yup. did feet, just couldn't resist how my shoes looked against tiled floor. sorry) tea yet.  but they will come.  it's kind of inevitable don't you think?

win a crafty fox box ...

some weeks ago the very very lovely emily quinton (photographer, blogger, mother to three beautiful little children and start-up wife) got in touch to ask whether i'd like to contribute to an exciting new venture.

the crafty fox box.  a brand spanking new craft subscription service created and curated by the wonderfully crafty emily. 

each month subscribers will receive a cute little brown fox box full of crafting inspiration, materials, patterns, ideas and plenty of crafting love from a different designer/maker each month.

and the first month's designer/maker?  why, it's me!  all the january boxes have already been snapped up and sent out.  but emily has craftily tucked one away just for one of you lovely byebyebirdie blog readers.

simply drop a comment below with your email or twitter address and i'll pull a winner at random (via random.org) on valentine's day (feb 14th)*.

good luck and happy crafting!

sweet valentines printables ...

so here they are.  lovely valentines printables.  made just for you.  there are box templates, perfect for filling with sweet little valentine treats. labels (big and small), just right for swing tags and stick on badges. and bunting.  of course there's bunting.  there's ALWAYS bunting.

so.  starting at the top, there are two printable boxes.  sweet little milk carton shapes, one small, one large.  both featuring the new version of my little sweetheart print.  these boxes are so simple to fold.  but to make it even easier, i've put together a step by step instruction sheet.  seriously.  they are so so simple.

second up, is a sheet of printable valentine badges.  snip these out and add them to your boxes as labels or tags, add them to presents as tags or slip them onto the end of your bunting as an extra touch of sweetness (circle cutting top tips: don;t try to cut the circle direct from the sheet of paper, instead cut out a larger square from the sheet and trim down.  always keep scissors steady and move the paper in a smooth curve, rather than moving the scissors).

third is a set of little sweetheart paper bunting. a full alphabet plus handy grey heart spacers.  rather than the usual pdf, this time i've uploaded a powerpoint deck.  that way you can control how big or small you want the bunting flags to be.  all you need to do is select the pages you want to print (for l,o,v,e + 2 heart spacers, i sent pages 5, 12, 15, 22, 27, 27 to print) and then choose your print layout.  four slides to a page = perfect mini bunting.

enjoy.