A Crafty Affair

Not a food post, this is. Weekend was pretty laid back other than going shopping with Ro which i shall never in my life do again! As it is men's things are so boring, on top of that formal wear and my husband is not an easy pleaser. Did you know there are four freaking types of collars for formal wear? The Windsor collar, the Prince of Wales collar, the Duke of York collar and the Buckingham collar. Is it only here in Britain or everywhere else that they name collars and make the confused, even more perplexed and impatient? (imagine what it would be back in India...a Salman Khan collar, a Mohanlal collar...hahah)

I needed a drink after numerous visits to the changing room and 'this is not right, that is not right' sagas. There was a TGIF nearby and we hopped in there to grab a couple of cocktails and eventually ended up having dinner as well. Their cocktails were massive enough to keep us occupied for the entire 30 minutes we waited at the bar for our beeper to go off.

Came back home at around 11 and I still was in 'high' spirits. Decided to put my crafty side to work. A few weeks back I stumbled upon this blog and was very impressed with the food and craft ideas. One particular craft caught my eye and i had to do it asap. So last week I picked up some cotton yarn from John Lewis and decided to start work on a photo frame inspired by this craft by Paul. I always start something and half way through get impatient and leave it at that. I have half painted vases and glass painting kits that are stored somewhere in a corner, card boards which i bought last Christmas, saying i would personalise my greeting cards and fabric paints that have ruined quite a few of my tees. Ro said i would leave this also half way through and dared me to finish it. I had to prove him wrong and so I started work on the frames. I was all done in a matter of 2 hours and was so so proud of myself. Since the first one worked out well, I made a couple more for my two best friends and I'm gonna send it out to them. I followed Paul's instructions, more or less, but here is what i did:

What you need:

Yarn- 4, in any colour of your choice. I liked Paul's colour combination and so i decided to follow the same. I used four cotton yarns in baby blue, baby pink, pista green and lemon yellow colours.

Strong cardboard- 1 cut in any size you prefer ( I used my greeting card boards- size 26 x 18)

Size 0 paint brush, Glue, Scissors, Utility knife, ruler

Patience :)

How to go about it:

I wanted to put in a 4x6 small print picture and so cut out the centre of the cardboard in that size.

Starting from the top, using the paint brush, spread the glue from one end to the other, horizontally..this would be the the front part.

Starting from one end, carefully stick the yarn (any colour you choose) across the entire length, take it around the back and continue till you get the required number of rows. I divided my frame into about 8 equal parts, so it was easier to figure out the rows required.

Continue gluing and sticking, till you finish the entire board.

I did an easy job of just sticking the photo from the back and then using a thinner cardboard to make a stand. It served the purpose.

The colours are so pastel and very warm, its a perfect bridal shower, baby shower or new born gift. Of course you can change the colour combos and patterns, I'm just illiterate about it. Pro's like Sunitha are so good at crochets and weaving, I am ashamed to say i used up beautiful yarn for crafts...but at least i finished what i started..so here's cheers to myself:)

Thanks a lot Paul, for inspiring me with your crafts.

This now holds a perfect place in our living area:)