1. Choose a hairclip with the right size

2. Cut an oval shape that’s big enough to cover the clip out of some interfacing

3. Use a glue gun to glue the back of the clip to the interfacing

4. Press the two together without burning yourself

5.Get some scrap felt and cut out a pretty little shape

6. Glue the shape to the inside of the clip and interfacing to keep them together

7. Take an old (clean) feather duster and pluck out the pretty feathers.

8. Use a glue gun to glue the spine of the feather and attach it to the top of the interfacing. This works best when you keep the bottom tip of the feather hanging over the edge.

9. Glue the feathers on until you can no longer see the interfacing.

10. Cut off the ends of your feathers.

11. Take out some jewels and glue them to the bottom for some sparkle.

12. Don’t be scared to use buttons, ribbons and different coloured feathers to make your headpiece cute, pretty and unique.

Happy Hair days!

I found them!

These are some ideas for easy gifts that are guaranteed to brighten up your day.

Green Rose Hairpins by Bunny Logic

A fantastic tutorial for headbands by maya*made

The cutest crochet flower hair clip by AZ Sunshine

I really hope these cute gift ideas inspire you to buy some gorgeous hairpins, clips and bands for all those pretty girls close to you.

Ciao*

Organic gardening is very easy with the right tips and tools for the job. I’ve found a few need-to-know things that will help you grow delicious, succulent and sweet tomatoes. One of the best things about growing tomatoes is that it can be done anywhere. You don’t even need a garden, a sunny porch or balcony will do.

These are 3 easy tips on growing organic tomatoes in your own garden:

1. Choosing the right variety

Growing successful organic tomatoes requires careful planning. Choose a variety of tomatoes that will suit the garden or container you are going to plant them in. If your plants are going to be growing in a pot, choose a variety that adapts well to containers. This will usually be a bushy compact plant that is a indeterminate variety which produces yummy tomatoes throughout the growing season.

2.  Watering your tomatoes correctly

Your plants will thrive when their roots are deep in soil that is evenly moist. Dry soil causes the skins to harden and crack, whilst too much water leads to root rot and diseased tomatoes. A regular irrigation timetable helps keep soil evenly moist and healthy. Soak the soil at least six to eight inches twice a week to keep the moisture levels in the soil even.

3. Care for your tomatoes

Tomatoes are heavy feeders which means that every time you water them, you are washing nutrients out of the soil. To keep them healthy, you’ll need to fertilize with either fish emulsion or seaweed extract. Apply fertilizer at half-strength every other week and you’ll have sweet juicy tomatoes in no time!

Start growing your very own tomatoes and I’ll post my amazing pasta sauce recipe soon!

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar (you can use caster sugar for a finer product)

1 vanilla pod

Method:

Place sugar in a pretty airtight container.

Slice the vanilla bean open and scrape all the little seeds into the sugar, then pop the rest of the pod in.

Seal the container and shake to mix the ingredients.

Leave the container for a week or two and VOILA! There you have some gorgeous vanilla sugar.

I also enjoy making cardamom, cinnamon or lavender sugar. Substitute the vanilla pod with another ingredient and make your own delicious infused sugar.

Hope you enjoy the sweet treat!

5 Things that transformed my ideas into gorgeous articles:

1. Keep a creative journal. Write down all of your ideas and categorize them into lists. I find it keeps my projects in the right order and prevents losing any of those magnificent thoughts.

2. Organize, organize, organize! Your “craft stash” should always (or at least most of the time) be stored in a manageable way. Items that go together should be stored together. This is a really crucial one! My creative bubble often starts deflating when I can’t find the tools or material to create my fabulous things.

3. Take pictures of things that inspire you! I often get inspired by odd objects or pretty colours. Capturing something that inspires you on print really get those creative juices flowing.

4. Keep a “basic stash”. I’ve found that it helps to keep a couple of different ribbons, buttons and types of material when you don’t have a specific project in mind. When the creativity comes, you’ll have the basic things that are needed to at least start doing something without losing your inspiration.

5. Create an inspiration board and put it somewhere visible in your craft area. I really love adding new things to mine! It does not only act as a constant source of inspiration, but it makes quite a beautiful decorative item as well.

I hope these tips help you to take your ideas and transform them into beautiful crafts and gifts!

 I’m off to find something to blog about…