Faux pearl bracelet

These bracelets look quite classy and expensive but you can make them for less than £1.

What you'll need:
Round nosed pliers
25cm silver tigertail wire.
6mm pearl beads approximately 20 depending on the size of your wrist
Silver round spacer beads
2 cord ends
2 jumprings
1 lobster clasp.

Step 1: collect the things you need for your bracelet.
Step 2: put a cord end on one end of the wire.
Step 3: thread a pearl bead on.
Step 4: thread a silver spacer bead on.
Step 5: continue alternating pearl beads and spacer beads until the bracelet is nearly the desired length. (the jumprings and clasp take up about 2cm)
Step 6: attach the cord end to the end.
Step 7: open a jumpring and thread it through the cord end. Close the jumpring. 
Step 8: on the other cord end, open another jumpring and  thread it through the cord end and the lobster clasp. Close that jumpring too.
Your bracelet is now finished,use different colours or alternate colours to give a different look to your bracelet

Button flowers

With Mother's Day approaching, quick and simple projects are needed, these are perfect as all you need is some buttons and some glue. You can glue the flowers to magnets or badge backs to make a nice gift.

Step 1: find 5 or 6 pretty buttons that are all the same. Also find a larger button and a flower shaped button if you'd like.

Step 2: arrange them in a flower pattern and then use a hot glue gun to stick them together.

Spotty heart decoration

This is really pretty and is really simple to make. It is also very affordable and can be a good way of using pretty pages in magazines or scrap pieces of patterned paper.

Step 1: draw the shape of a heart onto a piece of card, you can make it as big or as small as you want. If you find it easier you could use a stencil or a template.

Step 2: collect some strips of pretty patterned paper.

Step 3: glue them across your heart shape, it doesn't matter if they overlap each other or the edge of the heart. 

Step 4: continue until the entire heart shape is covered.

Step 5: cut around your heart shape.

Button magnets

These are ever so easy to do but look really neat and gorgeous. You can use any size or shape of button.

Step 1: choose a pretty button and get a small blank magnet.

Step 2: using a hot glue gun, put a spot of glue onto the centre of the blank magnet and put the button  on the glue spot so the side you want showing is facing you.

Step 3: hold it lightly for a few mins so the glue has slightly set.

Step 4: wait about 30 mins for it to dry then use your magnet.

Make your own card jewellery box

These are quick to make and display jewellery or other items really professionally.

Step 1: get two pieces of card, one which measures 19cm by 19cm and the other which measures 20cm by 20cm.

Step 2: take the 20cm piece and fold it in half diagonally and open out.

Step 3: fold it in half diagonally the other way and open out.

Step 4: put the top corner into the middle and then fold the top edge over it so that too meets the middle, then open out.

Step 5: repeat step 4 on all the corners.

Step 6: cut a slit 2 squares along next to the top corner, repeat on the other side.

Step 7: repeat step 6 on the bottom edge.

Step 8: fold the left side up like shown below.

Step 9: fold the right side up.

Step 10: put some glue in the bottom corner section and fold over the flaps.

Step 11: repeat step 10 for the top corner section.

That is the bottom of your box completed. For the lid simply repeat the instructions with the 19cm piece of card. 

Make your own dangly earrings in 5 mins

This is very quick to make and can be easily customised to suit your personal style.

Step 1: choose 6 beads, 2 medium beads (6mm), 4 small beads (4mm)
Step 2: get 2 headpins and thread the beads on in the order small, medium, small. There should be 3 beads on each headpin.
Step 3: using round-nosed pliers bend the top of the headpin into a hook shape.
Step 4: put the earring loop into the hook shape and close the loop on the headpin.
Step 5: repeat for the other earring.

Felt heart

These can look really cute and add a nice little touch to your room. They are very easy and barely take any time.

Step 1: cut some felt into a heart shape. It can be whatever size you choose.

Step 2: cut another heart exactly the same size and place it on top of the other heart.

Step 3: get some contrasting embroidery silk and neatly forward stitch round the entire edge of the hearts.

Rolled magazine pencil pot

This may take some time but the finished result is quirky and unique. You can make the pencil pot suit your office by choosing magazine papers that fit your office colour scheme.

Step 1: select some magazine pages which are colourful/ patterned and don't have too much text. Cut off any uneven edges.

Step 2: roll the page around a pencil, starting from a corner.

Step 3: apply glue using a glue stick to the last 5 cms at the top.

Step 4: slide the pencil out and trim the rolls to the length you wish your pen pot to be approximately 10-12cm

Step 5: make lots of these rolls, approximately 25

Step 6: cut down a Pringles tube to the right length, the length of your rolls

Step 7: glue the rolls onto a clean Pringles tube using PVA glue

Step 8: wait for it to dry then store your pens and pencils in it

Origami heart

Step 1: get a square of paper. I used post it note size but you could make it as bit or as small as you like.

Step 2: fold in half diagonally and open back up

Step 3: fold in half diagonally from the other corners and open back up

Step 4: fold the top corner to the middle crease

Step 5: Fold the bottom corner to the middle of the top line 

Step 6: fold the right side so it touches the place where the bottom corner went to meet the middle top.

Step 7: repeat with the other side.

Step 8: fold the pointy corners on the left and right behind the heart.

Step 9: Fold the top pointy corners behind the heart.

Your origami heart is now complete :)

Collage heart

Collage is fun to do  and can be quite therapeutic. I shaped mine into a heart but you could easily do a flower, star, football, initial etc.

Step 1: find some magazines with attractive colours and patterns

Step 2: rip sections of paper

Step 3: draw a heart shape onto a plain white piece of card, you can use a stencil if you want it to be really neat but I found I was fine freehand.

Step 4: using PVA glue, glue your ripped paper inside the heart, making them overlap each other.

Step 5: wait for it to dry then cut a white border around the edge of the heart.

Make button earrings in less than 5 mins

These are really cute and quirky. You can buy buttons in a huge variety if shapes, patterns and sizes so look around for what suits your style best. Blank earring backs aren't too expensive and can be purchased from ebay or a craft supply shop.

Step 1: choose two pretty patterned buttons, they don't want to be too big.

Step 2: heat a hot glue gun up and put a small blob of glue onto the button.

Step 3: quickly put the blank earring back into the glue blob

Step 4: hold it until the glue is mostly set then leave it to dry until it is completely set.

Candy stripe friendship bracelet

If you are new to frienship bracelets this is a good one to start on. It shouldn't take too long to master and it's much quicker once you know what you're doing.

Step 1: Measure 2 arm lengths of embroidery silk and cut it.
Step 2: Choose another two colours which compliment your original colour and cut them to the same size.
Step 3: Fold the threads in half and tie a knot so there is just a small loop.
Step 4: Order the threads into an order which looks the most attractive.
Step 5: Take the thread on the far left and make two forward knots over the string next to it.
Step 6: Continue with the same thread and tie two forward knots onto each thread.

Step 7: Take the next thread on the left and tie two forward knots onto the one next to and carry on till you've finished the row.

Step 8: Repeat until the bracelet is the desired length.

Step 9: Tie a knot then plait the remaining thread and tie the plait off too.

Step 10: Cut off any excess 

Fabric heart decorations

These are quite quick but look lovely. They also make a nice gift for friends or family

Step 1: find some attractive patterned fabric such as gingham

Step 2: cut a heart shape out of a piece of paper

Step 3: lay the paper heart on top of the fabric and cut out 2 identical heart shapes

Step 4: using a sewing machine sew most of the way round the heart leaving just a few centimeters

Step 5: stuff your heart with wadding 

Step 5: hand stich the edge of the heart shut

Step 6: hand stich a small ribbon loop to the top to enable you to hang it

Painted wooden heart room decoration

This is ever so quick and simple to do and adds a nice finishing touch to your bedroom.

Step 1: purchase a wooden heart, I got mine from hobby craft for £1

  

Step 2: sand down the edges so it looks neater and paints easier

Step 3: choose a background colour and mix it from acrylic paints I used a mixture of blue, teal and white for mine.

Step 4: paint your background paint on neatly and wait for it to dry-about 30 mins. I used a paintbrush fed through the loop on the top propped up on my bin to allow me to paint both sides without getting paint everywhere!

Step 5: using a cotton wool bud dot white spots in a regular pattern covering the heart.

Step 6: wait for it to completely dry and then display it in your room

Lots of knots friendship bracelet

These bracelets are really quick to make and make great presents for friends! 

1. Measure 2 arm lengths of wool and cut it 

2. Use the piece of wool to cut another two pieces of wool in different colours.

3. Put all the pieces of wool together fold them all in half and tie a knot so there is just a small loop at the top.

         

4. Attach a safety pin through the loop and pint he safety pin to your trousers, duvet or similar. You could also use a clipboard.

5. Do a forwards knot with the string on the left (make the shape of a 4 over the other strings and pull it through.)

6. Pull the knot right to the top and repeat 9 more times.

7. Take the next colour to the left and do 10 forward knots

8. Switch to the last colour and do 10 forward knots.

9. Repeat until the bracelet is the desired length and then tie a knot right at the end of your knots and cut off the excess, leaving about 5cm to tie the bracelet around your wrist.

Patchwork square cushions

This cushion cover is relatively easy to make. You could get friends or family to decorate squares to make it more special and memorable.

Here's how you make it

Take some pretty fabric, patterns such as gingham, spots and floral work well for this project.  

Cut 4 equal squares of approximately 15cm.

You can then decorate it if you wish, fabric paints, sequins and buttons work really well. 

Then pin two of the squares together, decorated sides facing each other. 

Use a sewing machine to stich one side do this with the other two squares also. 

Then put the two rectangles (squares sewn together) with the decorated sides facing each other and stich along one of the long sides.

Sew your patch work square onto a cushion cover using appliqué stich or plain straight stich

Fill it with a cushion and there you have a beautiful cushion

Button heart canvas

This is so simple and quick to make.
You simply find a blank canvas and some attractive buttons, place them in the shape of a heart and glue on one by one.












If you wish you could also paint the background to make it look more interesting. I just used a black acrylic paint to paint some different sized dots. Stripes can also look very effective.