The handiest of Chest of Drawers

I was given two sets of small chest of drawers. They looked fine, but were quite wobbly, and well, didn't fit in anywhere properly. So, I turned them into several things...

Paper Chains, the tutorial

I said I'd post a few tutorials, and since this is a Christmas one, I better get it in before Christmas.

Paper chains were, pretty much the decorations of choice when we were growing up. It was officially Xmas when the ma came home with crepe paper, and we started the relentless folding. I thought these were just bog standard DIY decorations, but surprisingly, my post about paper chains, in 2010, has become my all-time most read blog post, and I've had people email me about how to make them. Well, finally, here's a little tutorial. (Only took me 2 years to get this together!).

How to draw a Tiki Head!

As I said in a previous post, I got my son to help me design the tiki stuff I made for the last Retro Romp. So here's is the method I worked out, so he could help me. He picked the features and I drew them out. Its an incredibly easy system, and a great one to do with the kids and for just general doodling. The diagrams I've drawn are a bit rough, but what the hey, you'll get my drift. This is tribal stuff, the rougher the better.

And don't be fussing about the lines! Kids are constantly told in school to stay within the lines, and unfortunately this can stay with us as adults. When one neighbours kid got upset because he coloured outside the line, I just gave him the big black marker and said, change the line. He was chuffed...

Washing Handspun Yarn

Lady spinning at Museum of Folk Life, Co. Mayo

I spent ages searching for my hand spinning book, and couldn't find it. I am so nervous of washing my hand-spun yarn, that I always need reassurance I am doing it right. Thankfully I blogged about washing my first hand-spun yarn last year, but it was rather a long-winded affair.