These gingerbread house inspired gift tags are a cute way to add a special touch to your presents this year. They are a little time consuming but and worth the effort.
They are really easy to do and if your not very creative yourself then just follow my tag designs and you'll be really pleased with the result.


You'll need...

1. Cut the kraft paper into small rectangles approx 6 x 8cm
2. Cut the tops of the rectangles diagonally to form a pointed top.
3. Take your marker pen and doodle a gingerbread house, start with the outside and work inwards. The more detail the better. Feel free to follow my tag designs as a guide.
4. Let it dry and then taking the needle and string, pierce the top and thread through some string.
5. Cut at desired length and attach to your pressies.

• Patterned papers, I've used my own signature patterns from my new card collection of course. But you could use vintage wallpaper, thick gift wrap or any patterned paper (the thicker the better)
• Scissors
• A pencil
• Swallow template
• A camera
• PVA glue or wallpaper paste
• Medium sized paint brush
• An old tea towel

Now I have a confession... As you all know I design wallaper, but I've never actually wallpapered a wall before! Crazy I know. I decided to have a go at it myself and for my first attempt I am quite pleased with the results. Although I did have a disaster and I ran out of paper on the last strip, so I had to do some tricky horizontal joining which could have been avoided if I'd just ordered enough rolls! So my top advice would be measure your wall very carefully before you start and order a generous amount of wallpaper, as the last thing you need when your covered in wallpaper paste and the house looks like a bomb has hit it, is to run out of paper! Anyway if I can do it, anyone can. Here's my beginners guide to wallpapering.

You'll need...
Wallpaper rolls, Calculate how many you'll need here
A tape measure
A ladder, plumb line & pencil
A bucket or container
A jug of clean water & a clean sponge
A sharp Stanley or craft knife
A wallpaper brush & paste (My paper is paste the wall, and needs a certain paste so check the back to see if it covers this type of paper before you buy it.)



How to...
Firstly measure your wall from ceiling to floor in the centre of the wall where you are hanging your paper. Add about 10cm to this measurement and cut your first piece of wallpaper to this size.

Next measure and mark the centre of the wall.
Then get up your ladder and hold the plumb line 26cm to the left of the central point of the wall.
Using your pencil draw marks down the wall about 20cm apart
Take your time with this as this is your guide to make your wallpaper straight.
Your first piece will hang centrally as this tends to look better generally.

Repeat this dashed line 26cm to the right of the central point of the wall

Then mix your paste according to the packet instructions, mine was 4 pints of water to one packet.
paint on the paste roughly between the two lines on the wall (overlap the lines slightly by about 10cm)



Take your wallpaper strip and climb up the ladder carefully.
line up the paper with your pencil lines and rub the paper on from the centre to the edges.
I found rubbing with an old tea towel helped to make the paper flat and remove the air bubbles.

Once you've rubbed it all the way down, repeat these steps with the next strip. But use the paper as a guide for a straight line rather than marking the wall again.
Measure the wall, cut the piece, paint the paste on, line up the paper and rub a dub dub!


Once your finished, carefully cut the edges top and bottom
and wipe down any areas where the glue has gone onto the paper.

Take your time! With a lot of Patience and gentle rubbing all over you will get a great result.

A fantastic way to decorate your dining room or kitchen is with your very own plate wall. This is a really easy way to make an impact on your home with very little money really.  I've started with a small collection of plates and I am aiming to add more to my plate wall as I go along. Start collecting some interesting plates. I'm a bit of a hoarder so I have had this collection of plates for a while now, a nice mix of vintage and brand new is a unique way of doing it.

You'll need...
About eight plates of various sizes
Disc plate hangers in various sizes
Masking tape
A hammer
Some small pin tacks/nails

How to...
Once you've collected your plates, attach a disc hanger to each one by wetting the back of each hanger with water and leave to dry for 24 hours.

Firstly lay your plates out on a table or a floor, play around with the composition until you are happy. Keep the spacing consistent between each plate. Take a photo of your arrangement for reference later.

Lay a sheet of newspaper under each plate, one by one, draw around each plate and cut out a template.

Following the layout you worked out on the floor and your photograph from earlier, tape each circle of newspaper to the wall in the position you want using masking tape.

Once your happy with the layout grab a pen and mark the center of each circle.
Grab your hammer and a tack and position the pin tack approx 5cm up from the central point of each circle. Hammer into the wall leaving half of the tack out of the wall to hold the plate. Follow this step for each newspaper template.

Once the nails are in position, remove the newspaper and hang each plate to the correct nail, hey presto!

If you are a little bit crafty and a cat lover like me, you are going to love this project from Boat People!  This cat tipi is a simple DIY project for your kitty cat.  All you’ll need one yard of fabric and 5 sticks of wood!  I made one for my cat Rex and he love’s it!

You'll need:

• 1 yard fabric
• 5 sticks of 2″ 1/2 each
• Leather cord
• one safety pin
• a cushion

 For the full video tutorial click here

Happy new year everyone! I've started 2014 with a little bit of DIY to brighten up my stairs. It was really easy to do and adds personality to your home. Here's how to do it yourself....

You will need:

• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Thick card for template
• A craft knife and board
• Vintage wallpapers
• PVA glue and brush
• Clear satin varnish

Measure one of the risers in the middle of the staircase and use the dimensions to create a card template using a craft knife and board. Check that this fits on all the steps – the first and last often vary slightly.
On the back of your wallpaper, draw around the template, then cut out the pieces. Measure and cut out any risers that vary from the template.
Make sure the stairs are free of dust, then paint one riser at a time with a thin layer of PVA glue and smooth the paper in place. Push out any air bubbles or creases towards the edge of the stairs. Pay particular attention to the edges, ensuring that they are glued in place.
Wait until the glue is totally dry, about 24 hours, then cover the surface of each riser with a light coat of clear satin varnish to protect the paper.

Here's the finished stairs