Heart Shaped Pompom tutorial - for Valentines Day, with LOVE!

Say it with a pompom this Valentines Day - easy and quick to make, a heart shaped pompom lasts longer than a card, and is more slimming than chocolate :-)
What will you need?

Well you will undoubtedly need a heart shaped pompom maker, available from our Gilliangladrag website here...

... and some sharp scissors and some yarn - any yarn will do really. But a cheap acrylic yarn in a bright red or pink is ideal. I used Stylecraft Special DK here Matador, Fiesta and Claret. (Make sure it's quite strong and sturdy yarn, as you'll be tying it around the middle later!)

With the pompom maker assembled, open one arm and start to wind the wool tightly from the top to the bottom on the first side. Secure the end and cut.

Now do the same around the other side. Secure and cut. 

Cut a length of yarn and double wrap around the middle of the pompom maker, finishing at the top. Tie ONCE only, as you'll come back to this later so don't make a knot!!!

Tie the loose end each side around the little hooks to hold it in place temporarily. Like I said - you'll come back to this!

Now for the fun bit!

snip away in the hollows on BOTH sides!

snip snip snip...

what a lovely sight! :-)

  

Now trim the inner circle closer on both sides.

And finally unhook your ends from earlier...

... and start to pull REALLY REALLY TIGHTLY!...

... until the little pompom heart starts coming together, and the pompom maker loosens a bit...

 ...keep pulling and tightening, (as this bits really important!) Tie the top again, so you have a secure knot!

Pull the pompom maker away, and your heart shaped pompom is BORN!

And then the best bit of all (in my opinion):

"The heart shaped pompom haircut!"

Trim away with some very sharp scissors, making your pompom a perfect heart shape.

And that's all there is to it! With LOVE on Valentines Day everyone :-) xxxx

Free BRUSSEL SPROUT Felt Bunting Tutorial x

Let's face it - there's always the need for some bunting - whatever the occasion. And Christmas is no exception! So, - on with this easy brussel sprout bunting to help decorate your house in a fluffy Christmas way :-)

 

All you'll need are some simple bits and pieces: a large rectangle of red felt, a 38g felting needle and foam to work onto, some green ric-rac trimming, and some wool tops in mid olive, dark olive, and peppermint.

You can use some red ready made felt, (or you can make your own felt with our red merino wool tops and a mini bamboo mat felting kit) and of course you can use any colour you fancy  - not just red! A large rectangle will make you about 1 metre of small bunting, or use more felt and more ric-rac for a longer length.

Start by cutting the felt rectangle in half lengthways, and then cutting the long triangles as above. Doing it this way makes sure there's no wastage and you get as many pennants as possible...

Now for the needle felted brussels! Start by taking a small amount of mid olive wool tops and needle it gently into a circle about the size of a 2p piece in the top part of each pennant.

Next, needle a small stem to each brussel sprout, using the peppermint wool tops. You'll only need tiny amounts!



And finally add some tiny lines of dark olive wool tops, to make each brussel sprout look more realistic.

 

Once you've finished needle felting all your brussels, pin each pennant to the green ric rac and then sew - either by hand or on a machine if you have one, using some matching green thread.

 And that's all there is to it! Enjoy! 

If you liked this tutorial and you'd like to buy a felt bunting kit as a pressie - take a look at our great value "Scandi Bunting" COMPLETE felting kit (as seen on Channel 4 last week), which includes everything you need including a mat and net inside the packet :-)and costs just £15.95!

Happy Christmas Fluff-a-tiers! xxx

20% off : Colour in your own Christmas Sack (it's remarkably relaxing for grown ups too I promise!!) :-)

Colouring in is the ideal thing to take your mind off cooking and wrapping - not just for kids :-) but great to keep little hands (and minds and bodies) busy in the run up to Christmas...

...these fab 'Colour Me In' Christmas Sacks measure a whopping 23 x 30 inches - so there's plenty of room inside for a pressie or three once they're finished. And I thoroughly enjoyed 'letting go' and colouring mine in!

They come in two different designs - Santa or Christmas Tree - and there is 20% off the sacks for the next 48 hours with code: SACK20
so instead of £14.95 they are now just £11.96! YIPPEEEE xxx


Then fabric pens come in two options, neon or regular:

Colours can be air-dried for 24 hrs or fixed immediately by ironing. Once fixed colours are permanent and machine washable! And of course you can use them on t-shirts and other fabrics too! The fabric pens are just £6.95

And if you fancy colouring in some other stuff too AFTER Christmas - take a look at these lovely Colour Me In Tote Bags!

They make great gifts and stocking fillers and are just £6.95 too!
Enjoy x

*Please note discount is ONLY on the santa sacks and is ONLY on NEW WEBSITE ORDERS. Please apply the code at time of ordering - it cannot be applied after you have ordered. Thank you! x

I have officially just invented the most fluffy furry WOOLTOP Pompom EVER!

 

Stop what you are doing everyone! I have a very important announcement to make!
Today I figured out that if you use carded Wooltops to make a pompom, it's extremely fast, extremely soft and furry and extremely amazing! Read on to find out how...

 

Start with just ONE tiny metre of merino wooltops (usually used for felting or spinning.) And a pompom maker! That's all! ANY wool tops will do - but here I used our house blend "Phantasmagorical" (£4.80 for 100g will make about 4 pompoms!) 
Remember - You can get 15% off spends of £20+ till midnight on Tuesday 2nd December with code : FLUFFY15

Split the merino wooltop length in half lengthways and wrap half around the left side of the pompom maker and half around the right side, tucking in the ends. It's so fluffy and bulky - that's all you'll need :-)

Secure the pompom maker and then start to snip! All the way around. As you do - the pompom will magically come to life!

Next, secure the new furry wooltop pompom with some strong string and tie it REALLY REALLY tightly. I used our candy twist twine here:

Carefully release your new fabulous pompom...

It's the furriest, quickest, most fabulous pompom ever! Ever so soft and really LUSH!

The last thing to do is give it a trim (my favourite bit) - and then it's ready to hang! Imagine a Christmas tree full of these :-)

(Or adorn your favourite hat! Here I used our Red Merino with Pink Tussah Silk Blend)The possibilities are endless...

 

Let's all get wooltop pompom making immediately! :-))))))

Remember - You can get 15% off spends of £20+ till midnight on Tuesday 2nd December with code : FLUFFY15

*Valid on new orders only and only at time of ordering xxx