SHARE A COKE WITH picture

Share a Coke with bottles with your name on them are fun to try to find, but then what do you do?

I don't know if this is a world wide thing, but last year here in the UK we had the shops full of coke bottles with names on them. Like most kids, mine found bottles with their names, drank the pop..... and then we kept them on the side in the kitchen! 

And there they've sat for best part of 8 months! I thought I would think of a brilliant and creative way to use them - humm! In the end I realised it is the label that is the fun bit and also the bit most likely to get damaged just sitting on the side. So I made them into a "Share a Coke with" picture.

I carefully unstuck the labels (they are kind of plastic-y and not paper so they didn't rip), arranged them on a piece of thick white paper, then stuck them down with regular Pritt stick.

I had an old picture frame which I had attempted a white paint respray on a few months back. What can go wrong: If you are not careful and patient when spray painting things they can go a bit bubbly and lumpy, like this:

Not to worry, that can be easily covered up with Washi tape! Since my birthday I now have 8 rolls to choose from - whoop whoop! These are my red/white options.

I stuck the Washi tape over the frame, cutting the corners into a mitre with my craft knife. I just did my best attempt at pattern matching.

It covered the bumpy paint no problem:

Next I laid the glass from the frame over the labels on the paper and drew round it.

I just cut it out, popped it in the frame and I was done.

It now hangs in the kitchen next to our awesome tractor calender (guess who went calender shopping in January this year and found there was a very limited selection?!)
The red and white doesn't really match the lilac walls but I kind of like it anyway. Maybe next time we decorate the kitchen it can be red. Did I mention I like red?!

They'd be a fun thing to put on a bedroom door too, or label a folder for school. Next time we get some I might try laminating them, see how that turns out. They are plastic so it might not work, if I experiment I'll let you know - nothing ventured and all that.

If you made something fab out of your Share a Coke with bottle do tell us about it in the comments below.

You might also be interested in:

Patchwork Gift Box

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Personalised Wedding Picture

Simple Speech Bubble Cards

I'll be linking up this project at all these lovely link parties, pop over for a look at loads of projects from other blogs

Chain & Thread Bracelet

I keep seeing lovely bracelets everywhere made with a chain and coloured threads. They are so pretty and summery (I even saw one in a magazine the other day for £235!) I figured it wouldn't be that hard to fashion a DIY version so when a old bracelet needed a make over I thought I'd have a go.

This cute little charm bracelet was a present from a lovely friend a few years ago.

I do love it but it was starting to get a bit worn in a few places.

See the little jump rings are no longer silver coloured and there are scratches on all the charms.

It was pretty easy just to remove the charms with pliers.

For the thread I used the pink cord from my pink bracelet experiments. I'd also bought some yellow since then for something else. (It was a Father's Day gift so I guess I'll share that in May next year!) 

They are the same make and price (£3.98 from the hardware shop B&Q) but slightly different size and texture. No matter - it turned out fine.

I store them like this, with elastic bands round them to stop them unravelling everywhere.

I experimented with a few different ways of threading & knotting. I knew I wanted both colours together - I think they look dead summery. I discovered the cord only just fitted through the chains so that limited things a bit. If you make one, what you can do will depend on the chain link size and the thickness of your threads.

• First cut a length of each cord a good 3 inches longer than your chain bracelet. My synthetic thread is very unravel-y so I melted the ends carefully (just in the flame of the gas hob), that worked WAY better than the nail varnish I'd used before.
• Tie a knot about 1/2 inch from one end.
• Hold the chain in one hand and lie the threads above it. I held the chain flat so every other link was facing me - these were the links I used - every other one.

Sadly it was impossible to hold the chain, thread the cord and take photos all at the same time, with just my 2 hands and no-on else was home when I was doing this. Instead I have drawn you little step by step diagrams.

• Poke the pink thread up through the first link that's facing you from back to front.

• Take the pink back up to the top of the chain.

• Now take the yellow thread over the pink and then poke it through the next chain link facing you (ie miss one link and thread through the next) again from back to front.

• Bring the yellow thread back up to the top.

• Take the pink again and repeat, so take it over the yellow thread and up through the 2nd link along.

By missing every other link you keep the whole thing straight, I found if I tried to weave in every link the whole thing started to twist. I like the way the threads sit on the top of the chain in a nice straight pattern.

• You just carry on to the end, going over the opposite thread then up through the next link facing you.

When you get to the end just check the whole bracelet is flat and smooth and none of the links are bunched up in any way. If they bunch up the bracelet will be shorter and won't fit you any more!

• When you are happy just tie the ends in another knot, trim off to about 1/2 inch and melt if necessary.

If the knots start to work undone you can just add a tiny dab of super glue to hold them. It depends what kind of thread you use. Mine is quite springy!

It's just what I was hoping for, pretty and summery.

I'll probably wear it with a whole stack of others, more like this:

I'm thinking any type of chain would work in principal, you might just need to weave it a little bit differently. It would work well with a few strands of embroidery thread too I reckon, lots of colours together would look good.

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3 Pink Bracelets

Earrings organised Update

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Crocheted Owl Brooch

I'll be linking up at these great link parties,

Patchwork Gift Box

Here is a fun and easy way to make a gift box using scraps of patterned paper.

One of my lovely nieces is very creative and loves making things. I hoard crafty bits and pieces, and wanted to give her some of my stash, knowing she would be able to put it to good use. 
I needed something to put the bits in so I found a sturdy little cardboard box that a watch had come in.

You can't tell from the photo but it was covered in a shiny paper. I wanted to pretty it up and didn't think anything would stick to the shininess so off it came. Only the lid, the base I left alone.

Then I just Mod Podged (I think any PVA would work though) on a load of those tiny scrappy bits of scrapbook paper that I can never bear to throw away.

Then I added a few punched out shapes, just because, and a layer of Mod Podge to seal it all in.

Then all it needed was to be filled with a load of little crafty goodies.

It was a great way to use up some scrappy little bits and pieces of paper that I hate to just throw away. 

You might also be interested in:

Cardboard Tube Pillow Pouch

Circle card Crazy

Personalised Wedding Picture

Simple Speech Bubble Cards

I'll be linking up this project at all these lovely link parties, pop over for a look at loads of projects from other blogs