Thursday 21 February 2013

Attacking Things From Poundland With A Glue Gun

Ah yes, the weather has been foul so I have been doing things indoors. By doing things, I mainly mean reading trashy fantasy novels and watching YouTube tutorials whilst eating Pringles by the fistful - but eventually, occasionally, I actually get round to making the things I've watched. Yes, crafting. Or in my case, sticking everything in sight together with an overheating glue gun and hoping for the best.

S'cuse the nekkid nails.



Skills.

The first skill in my arsenal is never actually paying full price for materials. This does mean that whenever I go to Hobby Craft I have to save my purchases as yes, I am one of those people - the 'buy the Christmas stock in January' type. On my last trip I noticed that a lot of Christmas red ribbon was identical to the fully priced stock of Valentine's Day, so I snapped plenty of that up too.

Poundland Stuff: where else could you get a meter of ribbon and
six flowers for a quid?
My other favourite place is the Land of Pounds. I always check their cards and craft section (often it's particularly good for card making supplies) - but that's not the only aisle you can glean choice items. You know those tutorials that involve ripping up and re-building silk flowers? Poundland's toy shelf provides 'Easter Bonnet' kits with plenty of petals already neatly separated and ready to glue. And of course, in the hair department - the bands, combs and clips are plain because they cost a quid (a fraction of the price of 'bases' from proper hobby shops). The secret - as with most thrifty shopping - is to go often and think ahead. Most of these items are small enough to go in a cardboard box under the stairs until needed.

Anywhere else where I stock up? Well - Primark of all places! A lot of YouTube tutorials call for a plain pair of shoes or a basic, cheap bag. Again, the Primark Sale is superb for little purses, hair clips and cheap beads/necklaces for attaching and adorning other items.

This screams 'project', no?
So, I've build up this collection of tat, and I have a spare afternoon. What did I do? My first project is an ongoing one. I have this white 'basket' clutch from Primarni - I want to cover it, diagonally down one side, with kitch seaside charms. I had some non-Disney-infringing buttons (the smaller than average half fish woman if you catch my drift) I picked up somewhere and glued these on with some bows. It now looks kinda cute and kawaii, but I want a real build up of tack there so whilst I can use it, I'm still keeping an eye out for seaside tat to add yet more.

More is more... and I will be adding more!
After that I decided to make a floral crown similar to those I've pinned on my Pinterest board (notice the seamless plug there mwahaha). Krista of Peetee's Palace often wears floral bands and I have been hankering for one for a while, if you like bright fashions check her out, she's got fab style. Of course this isn't exactly the season for pastel flowers, but I couldn't resist ripping open those Easter Bonnet kits and the tutorial promised maximum glue gun action with minimal actual skill, so was perfect. The moment the weather gets above ten degrees I am gonna be donning my floral hairband and dancing around.


I used this tutorial, and although the band itself is smaller (and with fewer flowers - should have stretched to a whole THREE pounds on bonnet materials, hahaha) I'm pretty pleased with the result...


Finally, of course, I decided to make something seasonal (if not exactly useful). A Valentine's day hair band for The Ric Rac Club. I wanted an almost pill box effect - three dimensional but without any silly feathery fascinator business. What I discovered was that kids' glittery foam shapes plus solid glue mould surprisingly well. Huzzah! I had finally created something of use.



At about 10pm, in said club, the other side of London from our house, my husband turned to me and said "You forgot your little hairband thing. It's on the hall table." Doh! Still, there's always next year...

11 comments:

  1. Hi there! Well done for all your lovely creativity, the basket clutch looks so much more prettier and your floral headband will look so nice in the Spring! xxx

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  2. Oh you have been a busy little crafting bee! I adore what you are doing with your wicker purse, you have the start of something super cute there honey! Thanks for the mention on the flower headbands I actually got the idea from Desiree, she has her own little shop too. I have made about 20 of them and in the Springtime you will start seeing them again. I adore your heart headband too....keep it up honey and soon you will never leave home without them.
    XXOO

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  3. You are on a roll! I was in Poundland a couple of days ago and was so distracted by the glitter spray I failed to notice the petals, that's definitely on the shopping list for tomorrow, my handmade floral headbands are three years old now and a bit shabby after all the festival action they get, I need more!
    The heart fascinator is gorgeous and I love what you've done to the basket! x

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  4. Are you on pinterest? You'd love it

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  5. Love that heart fascinator and floral headband.... trip to Poundland is on the cards me thinks!

    www.mancunianvintage.com

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  6. Sounds like my kind of crafting - hot glue rocks! My favourite is the heart, still I'm sure you can find another occasion to wear it. I think your basket requires shells.
    x

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  7. I love poundland and the 99p stores for great value DIY stuff. I'm yet to make one of those silk/synthetic flower headdresses. I have made two headdresses but they took ages to make cause all the flowers were handmade and then stitched onto a padded Alice band.
    Love your lovely heart fascinator...xXx

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  8. Yeah, Winter is going to inspire me to get crafty again....I seem to have lost my crafty mojo a bit.......but this post is inspiring too!! Hot glue is HEAVEN! There's not much you can't do with it! I think the best thing will be stocking up on glue sticks, glitetr and fake flowers, amongst other things......XXX

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  9. I do love a night in with a jolly good murder on the box, a pot of tea and brandishing a glue gun. I don't get as many burns as I used to but I usually end up with plenty of glue clumps on my nails ... oh well:). Actually, I've just finished watching The Boys From Brazil and made two daisy headbands - yay! Oh, word of advice, don't watch a subtitled movie while using a glue gun. Same goes for ironing - hehee xoxo

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  10. Oh I made a flower crown recently too with flowers from poundland. I got a wee bit carries away and ended up with something a mix between Carmen Miranda and Lady Gaga but it was fun!

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  11. Lovely projects! Can't wait to see more!

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Let me know what you think!