Making a Proud Home in mini

Hey guys,

So I have a love for all things miniature and when the lovely Joanne @aproudhome was admiring my miniature makes on Instagram I knew I wanted to make something for her just for fun and also I like a challenge.

My mini version of Joannes living room

Joannes home is fun, bright and inspirational-if you check out her instagram @aproudhome you will see what I mean-she is also a wonderful DIYer and crafter!

Close up of the little details-Feck wall art by @themessybrunette, you're terrible muriel print copied with permission from @ladygraygraphics

For my mini I wanted to have as much similar items as I could so it includes a mixture of handmade items such as the couch, wall decor and some pieces I bought like the rug and drawers. I also included a basket of knitting as Joanne loves making pompoms and doing punch needling... a mixture of vintage bottles and a gallery wall complete the look.

Rocky by @weetreetribe 

I made a short video showing some of the process too which you can see here and I know Joanne enjoyed her gift.

Thanks for stopping by,

Aideen xo

Macrame UK-United Knots beginners macrame mandala

This post has been sponsored by the wonderful Robyn from Macrame UK-United Knots, I usually get my macrame cord from Robyn so I am delighted to be doing this tutorial-I have also made a video showing the steps to make it easy to DIY.

The supplies you need are:

Macrame UK raw ecru single ply cord HERE
Macrame UK 4 inch metal rings HERE
Scissors
Comb

The knots you use are:

Larks head HERE
Square knot HERE
Double half hitch HERE

This is such a sweet little mandala and a great beginners project-it makes a great wall decor piece but would also look lovely as a candle surround for a centre piece or if you could back it with a mirror that would look amazing.

Tag me on Instagram if you make one @aideenfallon,

Aideen xo

Rico PomPon yarn review and tips

Hey guys I have another mini review today and its on Rico PomPon yarn AVAILABLE HERE (Pssst if you enter AIDEEN FALLON at checkout-referred by a friend? section you will get 15% off your order and so will I).

The little pompons are like squishy marshmallows

I chose Rico pompon in silver and its a beautiful unisex colour perfect for making a baby blanket as a gift. The tricky part for me was the casting on/off but with lots of research online and trying out different methods I found what worked best for me which I share in my video below.

From my Instagram @aideenfallon

Once you get going with knitting in the yarn it is very easy to do and the pom poms just fall into place. I made a blanket and it is the cutest, cosy, snuggly blanket ever!!

Here is the video of what I found that worked best for me:

Thanks for visiting,

Aideen xo

#etsylove Irish owned faves

Hey guys,

I am back to share some more Etsy shops that I have been loving and these ones are all owned by fantastic Irish ladies.

First up is The Golden Stitch HERE and my crafty pal Caoimhe, she makes the most beautiful wall hangings and not only that but she dyes and spins the coolest yarns sharing the process on Instagram-@goldenstitchdesigns so go check her out because she is just fantastic!

I bought this mini skein from Caoimhe which I keep admiring but one day I will add to a weave I promise...

Daisy and Tanya HERE is where you will find stunning hair pieces and tutus for any occasion or colour scheme. I bought a floral crown from Tanya for my daughters communion and it was just perfection-she loved wearing it.

And one of most recent finds and a lovely local lady is Beyond the Pink Door HERE, Andrea who is a talented sewing lady making such beautiful outfits-check her instagram @my.galwayhome but on her Etsy she has such fun cushions...definitely on my wish list.

Fun cushion from Beyond the Pink door HERE

Tell me some of your Etsy or small business faves,

Aideen xo

Wall hoop decoration

Hey guys,

Hoop decorations have been popping up everywhere and of course I had to give it a go myself. It was fun to make and really looks so good-these decorations would be great for any occasion.

So first thing to do is spray the hoop and the wood insert piece-I got mine from the wonderful Craft Shapes Ireland. The spray paint I used was Montana Gold in copperchrome which I also got from Craft Shapes Ireland and it was perfect for the plastic hoop and the wood piece.

Next I added the flowers, I bought two beautiful bunches from Aliexpress HERE (#AF) The stems were wired so I was able to loosely sort out how I wanted the flowers and then I secured them using string.

I used fishing wire to attach the insert to give it a floating look and thats it! Super easy and looks great-the perfect prop for photo backgrounds!

Thanks for visiting,

Aideen xo

Weaving a rainbow...

Hey guys, so I may or may not (read: I definitely do) have lots of bits and pieces of roving in lots of fun colours! I wanted to use up some of the smaller pieces by making some mini roving weavings.

I made one bright rainbow and one muted tones.

I soumak-plaited wove the pieces of roving on top of each other and packed them tightly together before taking it off my loom and it felt nice and solid.

Rather than adding rya fringing I framed it by sewing a dowel to each end.

This muted rainbow I kept for the moment... and the brights I sent onto @vintageirishkat and when I get a pic of that I will add it here.

Thanks for visiting,

Aideen xo

My favourite #irishdiyers

Hey guys,

Wait until you see these great Irish crafters...you are going to want to follow them and then you are going to want to make all of the things!!!

Did you know on Instagram you can follow hashtags too so if you search a hashtag for example #irishdiyers you can follow the tag and see all the fun posts in your regular feed.

Just hit that follow button and you will be all set!

Katrina is my most recent gem of a find on Instagram and I just love her style and most of all her personality and if you ever get to see a #katrant they are just the best.... if you already follow along you will know what i mean. Kats style is retro and recently she started doing up her daughters room and its so 80s its amazing- just look at it...

Follow her @vintageirishkat

A proud home Joanne is a fun and colourful lady and just makes me want to add splashes of colour and pom poms to everything! I was actually already following Joannes crafty page on Instagram called tinythings1 but like Kat I discovered her interiors page from a house and home article and am so glad I did.

Follow her @aproudhome and @tinythings1

Dainty is my ole pal whos inspiring youtube and instagram will make you want to craft and upcycle and sew... her style is very girlie and shabby chic and just oh so pretty.

Follow her @daintydressdiaries

The two darlings Eimear is brilliant at sharing her DIYs and lots of her makes are the perfect solutions for everyday needs like this cute earring holder. She is currently making a baby gym for her baby and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Follow her @thetwodarlings

Joanne Condon is a super talented furniture upcycle-r  and crafter-you can buy her lovely book furniture crush HERE and it would be a great christmas gift for any crafter... I actually ordered my copy this week!

Follow her @joannecondon

Who are your favourite DIYers,

Aideen xo

Return of the Mac-rame

My last post about Macrame was the Wool and the Gang wall hanging which was such a fun make using t-shirt yarn for the piece, you can check that out HERE

So since then I have made a few other t shirt yarn macrame pieces and also cotton rope ones-I found the best site for lovely macrame supplies which is owned by the talented Robyn Gough HERE

My top was gifted to me from Moss.ie and is currently on sale HERE

This piece is made using Robyns raw ecru single ply cord HERE, and it is such a nice natural string-I really like single ply cord as it unravels easier if you are looking to brush out your tassels.

Mustard single ply HERE

One of my favourite pieces that I have made is this dreamy mustard macrame piece which I hung from copper pipe-I also really enjoyed trying out the berry knot which is the round knot you can see repeated in the centre of the hanging.

Cute storage from Primark, Bulb glass from An Standún, Macrame UK mustard rope.

Make sure to check out Robyns website and also her YouTube channel if you would like to see how macrame is created or if you are looking to learn something new,

Aideen xo 

My craftroom make over part 2...storage ideas

Hey guys so my craftroom makeover is still ongoing... storage being one of the things that is hard to work out when you have quite the stash of crafting supplies!!

One thing that I have found so handy are these heavy weight paper bags-these mini gold ones are perfect for smaller items or I like to use them as a catch all for random bits and bobs on my desk and they look so good. They also come in other colours-gold, black, white and grey are just the colours I like to use and they match my shop aesthetic.

Here is an affiliate link to the bags they are from Aliexpress and are fantastic quality:

http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bfUIQuKk

These larger bags then are probably my favourite as they are lovely to look at but also hold so much-I use them for my chunky wool-the little Wool And The Gang one is from their kit packaging which is great as you can reuse them and I use that for all my wool and crochet accessories. These bags are pretty heavy duty so perfect for storage even for things like teddies and toys or plants-I just love them.

Here is an affiliate link to these bags-I just ordered the one with the black heart on it last night-

they take a few weeks to come but are worth the wait:

http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/nxsX4qM

Photo from my Instagram @aideenfallon

Back in part one of this craftroom makeover series I had just bought this Kallax unit from Ikea and here it is with all my goodies in there-the boxes are called Drona from Ikea which are made to perfectly fit the unit and will fit 12x12 scrapbook products. So the bottom 3 shelves are the boxes of crafty supplies and the top shelves are my cute things displays.

Thanks for visiting,

Aideen 

#goalgetters Chunky knitting queen Lauren Aston Designs Ltd.

Hey guys, so I decided to share some of my favourites crafters to follow and support with you all so you can go check them out-their instagrams are inspirational... they are ultimate girl bosses and they have beautiful shops full of gorgeous goodies.... swoon....

Ok so first up is Lauren Aston, the chunky knitting queen who makes the most fabulous squishy giant knit blankets and soft furnishings, funky Christmas decorations and most recently stunning cardigans and jumpers. Lauren is currently recovering from a bad arm break which is a disaster for a knitter-so wishing her a speedy recovery!

Photo from her Instagram @laurenastondesigns for amazing posts,
fun stories, the cutest doggy and random musings about things like milk

Over on her website Lauren Aston Designs you can shop her ready made items and also her diy and kit items. I bought the pattern for Laurens mini Santa hat tree topper last year and found it so easy to follow and achieve such a cute result.. I have this chunky chenille wool in pink which I am thinking I will make a pink one this year-I like the whole pink/mint/red/silver look for Christmas too.

Photo from my Instagram @aideenfallon

The other thing I have bought of Laurens is her book Super Chunky Knits which has LOADS of patterns for you and your home there are 35 in fact-I really want to try the cable bolster cushion and twisted headband and the chunky knit blankets and.... everything really...

You can get her book HERE (#AF)

Thanks so much for visiting ans watch out for more #goalgetters posts soon,

Aideen xo

Prima DT-Rossibelle projects

I really loved working on all of these Rossibelle pieces and just love sharing my project ideas and any hints and tips that might be helpful to you guys!

 Rossibelle Pocket page layout:

Rossibelle build a page layout:

Rossibelle light up frame decor:

Rossibelle DIY planner goodies:

Prima DT French Riviera pom pom lanties

Hello guys!

How fun are Prima lanties?? I really enjoyed working on this project and coming up with a cute way to embellish them.

Pom Poms are so popular right now and I think they added just the right touch to my lanties... I used a really inexpensive pom pom maker from my local knitting store and it made it so quick and easy to make up these super full pom poms.

Prima Products: French Riviera Lanties 587932, Gypsy cord Esmeralda 588120, Wood Variety-French Riviera 583781, French Riviera flowers: Six-Fours-Le-Plages 586195

The flowers and chip pieces are from the French Riviera collection by Prima and the gypsy cord I used is called Esmeralda-such a fun name! The lanties use LED lights so they do not heat up and it is safe to add goodies into the lights.

These lanties are also from the french riviera collection-they are easy to open as the cork top just pops out of the plastic jar and you can then add whatever you like-I have made mine so everything is easily removable and the lanties can be changed up again...wouldn't they be fun done up for Halloween and Christmas time too...

Here's my video for a closer look:

Aideen xo

Graphic 45s September Challenge-my entry!!

Hey guys...

So things have been hectic the past few months as I have been preparing for baby #3!! She is due next week and I just cannot wait :)

Today.. I want to share with you all my entry for the Graphic 45 September challenge.

This is my piece:

I have a video here to tell you all about what I did to make this book box Halloween display. The Graphic 45 papers I used were scraps from last years projects-the paper lines were an eerie tale and steampunk spells.

If you can-I would love you to pop over to the Graphic 45 Facebook page and give my entry a 'like' HERE voting closes Sept 30th

Thanks for visiting today,

Aideen x

Guidecentral app and summer craft party!

Hey guys just sharing this post from my other blog Emily and Aideen loves HERE... I posted it today but it's perfect for all my crafty friends so I am sharing it here too!


Hello lovelies and welcome to another #ealmondaymakes and today we have a super fun post for all you crafty and even not so crafty peeps!

Have you heard of Guidecentral?? Basically it is a DIY and crafting app which is FREE but also they have an awesome blog and facebook page so check those out HERE, and most definitely download the app hello....did we mention that it is FREE-nothing to lose but loads to gain.

Not only can you browse a wealth of tutorials with tons of fun ideas but you can also be a maker on the app and share your tutorials for others to learn too-there is something for all levels of crafters and DIY-ers. Another perk of becoming a maker-you can get paid to share your knowledge-you have got to check it out if you are into not only craft and DIY but also beauty, food, style, home decor or technology! There are guides for everything...

We were recently contacted by the lovely peeps at Guidecentral and told about a fun event they have coming up in Dublin at the end of this month their summer craft party.

For more information and tickets check out HERE

It looks like such a fun event-I have a ticket to go but with work and this pregnancy I will have to see how I am on the day.... Are you going?? Let us know,

Aideen & Emily xoxo