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Enfield Little Library

Enfield, in County Meath is where some friends of mine are living. While visiting them, we went for a walk and had some hot chocolate in the cafe. On the way back, we paused at the cutest little art installation – named the “littlest library”.

Enfield little free library

Basically it’s two cabinets up on posts which look like giant bird houses. You open the glass fronted cabinet and inside are books for children and adults (depending on which cabinet). They’re free to “borrow” and return and it’s based on the honesty principle.

Hanukkah 2015 with the Warners

It’s is located across from Dixons on Main Street, and they have a website at:

https://www.facebook.com/LFLEnfield/

and it’s open 7 days a week from dawn till dusk! We open at around 9AM and close at 19:00 PM.

If you’re in town – it’s worth checking out and trading some books. Also – what a great idea for other small communities out there!

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Red & Black Scarf and Hat Crochet Set

Completed 2/2014 - Red and Black Basket Weave Crochet Hat and Scarf Set. #crochet #hat #scarf #handmade #handicraft #winter #craft

After my post on Facebook about the gorgeous bottle green crochet set, my aunt asked me to make a set for her in red and black. It took me a few days to get everything in my brain and think about how to mix the colors, and this is what I came up with – a red and black basket weave crochet set – with a little flower on the beanie.

red & black basket weave crochet set

red & black basket weave crochet set

I like how the color play almost makes the stripes look like little dots and dashes – it makes it very eye catching and reminds me somehow of a ladybug.

red & black basket weave crochet set

Add the girly flower to the hat and well… I think it turned out quite lovely. Hope my Aunt likes it!

red & black basket weave crochet set

Want one yourself? Ask for a custom order from my Etsy store!

red & black basket weave crochet set

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Doodle Magnets – How to & advice

At the dollar store, they had art kits for 1.49. It came with 1 inch square tiles, paint, a brush, and magnets. Rather than use the paints, I colored /doodled on them with sharpie marker and baked at 400F for 20 minutes...add a magnet... instant customise

Sometimes, being a Jill of all Trades (or crafts in my case) makes for a bit of fun when shopping. I was at the Euro store near where I live recently buying the standard toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, batteries and the like when I happened to head down the crafts aisle. Generally speaking, the crafts in the row are geared toward children, and sometimes you’ll get yarn or a bit of something that is for card making or can be used for something else. It’s usually inexpensive, and an almost never-ending supply of inspiration for me. Near Christmas, I saw a set of do it yourself magnets in a packet which got my wheels turning.

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The craft set contained 5 unfinished ceramic tiles, a few acrylic pots of paint, self adhesive magnets, and a paintbrush – for 1.50 Euro. I went a bit mad and bought several packages, because I thought that I wouldn’t paint them – I would do permanent marker doodle crafts instead.

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What are permanent marker doodle crafts you ask? Well, basically, you get sharpie brand markers (or other permanent markers) that you can draw with. You’ll need some ceramics (eg. A Mug, Tiles, ceramic box, etc.) and you doodle on them with the markers.

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Then, you bake them in the oven at 350 F for 15-30 minutes to set the marker so it can’t be washed off. I’d seen some interesting ideas for this on Pintrest, and had been keeping my eyes peeled for something suitable to try this on. For me, I thought the magnetic tiles were going to be perfect as they were inexpensive and small enough I could try all the different colors / designs I had in mind.

Once I got home, I started out with my off brand permanent markers (again 1.50 Euro at the Euro store) and set to work. A few of my designs:

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I really liked how bright and colorful they were, and was rather encouraged as I put them in the oven. I checked them at 15 minutes, and they weren’t even warm yet, so I put them on for 15 minutes more. Mistake.

You see, once the ceramic starts getting hot, the marker sets very quickly. And little did I know – the colors also change with the addition of heat. The black stays the same, but the Red turns pink or brown; the Bright Green turned yellow, the Violet went pale blue, and yellow? Well it turned orange. And they weren’t bright anymore. So, while I liked how they turned out – I ended up going back and re-coloring where I could and re-heating them a second time.

I realize now two things that would have made it easier –

a) You have to watch the heating process very closely – once they start to discolor they need to come out of the oven – immediately.
b) Rather than worrying about watching like a hawk – it may be best to use only black and the plain ceramic color to make the designs. I liked the addition of color in mine – but in the end, they would have been just as striking had they only been black / white.

After heating and befpre a bit of recolor/second baking you can really see the discoloration on the middle two:

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What did they look like when they were done? Not bad – just not what I expected. And they still made great Christmas gifts for my homemade holidays. 2 per person – so out of 4 yellow packages; I got 10 unique Christmas gifts. It ended up being 0.75 Euro per gift – including the cost of the markers (which I still have plenty of use out of). Handmade AND inexpensive. Who can argue with that ?!?


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