Harry Potter Golden Snitch Bookmark & Hedwig + Hogwarts Letter Key Chain & Harry's Trunk Box

This is a Harry Potter gift set that I made for a little Harry Potter fan, my nephew. I used iron beads to create these, which is always a fun craft for me. This set includes a golden snitch bookmark, two key chains, one of Hedwig and the other a Hogwarts letter, and lastly a box made to resemble Harry's school trunk.

Although there are many designs for a golden snitch online, I made this golden snitch by combining a couple of these designs to create a look I liked. Using a square 29x29 peg board, the finished design was ironed pretty well flat on both sides to make it as thin as possible so the finished snitch could be comfortably used as a bookmark, with the finished size being about 13.5 cm tall.

These two key chains were made directly from patterns I found online and seemed to me to be the perfect designs for key chains. The snowy owl and the letter, aka Hedwig and the Hogwarts school letter, are very iconic to Harry Potter and were a must to include in this set. The actual key chain part is also handmade by me using yellow rope, jewellery endings, jump rings and a lobster clasp.

Harry's trunk was a bit trickier to make. After searching online for a Harry Potter themed box of some sort and finding nothing, I finally decided to design one myself and this is the end result. I first looked online for some reference pictures to get an idea of how it should look before I began. Then starting with a blank 29x29 peg board I mapped out the base of the box and worked my way from there.

The process of designing this box was easier then I thought it would be, with the interlocking side pieces being the only real tricky part of the design process. Once I had the box shape I wanted and had determine the lid size, I then added the colours, the orange bands, and designed the extra pieces, those in yellow.

The yellow pieces added to the finished box were the two handles either side of the trunk, the Hogwarts crest design to sit on the lid and the lock to sit on the front of the trunk. I also added a magnet closure which, along with these added yellow pieces, were hot glued to the finished box to create the trunk. The finished trunk size is about 5 cm tall, 12 cm long and 7 cm wide.

I was so pleased with how these turned out and so too was my nephew. I was especially happy with how Harry's trunk turned out having designed the whole thing from scratch. I ran out of so many colours making these but it was a lot of fun and I plan on making more Harry Potter / Fantastic Beasts themed items as soon as I can get more iron beads.

Sailor Moon Crystal Wallpapers set17 - Venus & Kunzite

Long ago the Guardian of Love and Beauty fell in love with the Knight of Purity and Affection. Tragically these lovers were torn apart, only to be reunited in the future as enemies. The most heartbreaking thing about this couple is that unlike her fellow scouts, Sailor Venus remembers her past life and her past love shared with Kunzite. Despite her feelings she still stands against her former love to protect Sailor Moon.

These Sailor Moon Crystal wallpapers feature the couple Minako Aino and Kunzite (as seen in the first two wallpapers) and the alter ego Sailor Venus again with Kunzite (as seen in the last two wallpapers). To download click on the picture of the wallpaper you want and "Save Image As" to save to your computer or alternatively you can select "Set As Desktop Background". Please let me know if your having any problems with these. Hope you enjoy.

Topsy Turvy Doll mini - Doll & Sailor Saturn

This is a smaller version of my topsy turvy dolls, seen here. I am making a few of these smaller dolls as gifts. My other topsy turvy dolls measured about 14 inches from head to head and about 16 inches from head to hem making them an ideal size for young hands to hold, hug, carry and play. These smaller dolls are made as decorative art doll pieces, this one in particular is made for my mum.

These smaller topsy turvy dolls are made following the face templates that originally came with this pattern, that is the traditional happy / sad faces of a flip doll. Unlike my other, original sized, upside down dolls where I copied the faces to match that of the characters I was creating. For these simpler faces I embroidered black for the eyebrows, black and white for the eyes, a pale tan colour for the nose.

Depending on the facial expression, different eyebrow shapes are used to help convey a happy or sad look, as seem in the pictures, as well as different lip colours, either a red for happy lips or pink for sad lips. Also, as with the other original sized topsy turvy dolls, these smaller flip dolls also have the embroidered definition on their hands.

As this red headed doll was made for my mum, I gave her a hair colour that matched my mums. Her hair was stitched on in the same ways I stitched the hair onto the original sized topsy turvy dolls. Starting first with a layer of yarn to cover the head so that if there are gaps in the second layer no bald head will show through. The second layer of yarn to be stitched on is done so to create the hair length and loops.

This black haired topsy turvy doll has her stitched in the exact same way, with both being finished with a fringe as both my mum and Sailor Saturn have fringes. As just mentioned, this black haired doll is based on Sailor Saturn as she is the sailor soldier who coincides with my mums birthday. However this is more of a simplified representation of Sailor Saturn using only her black hair colour and purple fuku colour.

These smaller topsy turvy dolls are an ideal size for display as an art doll measuring about 8.5 inches from head to head and about 9.5 inches from head to hem as the skirt hangs a little lower to fully cover the doll under it. As with all my sewn projects, this was completely hand-sew, including the hair and dress. I am so very pleased with how beautiful this smaller flip doll turned out.

Sailor Moon Crystal Wallpapers set16 - Jupiter & Nephrite

In his past life, the Knight of Intelligence and Comfort found love with the Sailor Soldier of Protection and Bravery. However, now in the present these two warriors no longer remember their love for each other. Reincarnated as a Shitennou for the evil Queen Beryl and the Dark Kingdom and as the Sailor Scout Sailor Jupiter fighting alongside Sailor Moon, these two find themselves on opposing sides, and will never again have their chance at love.

These Sailor Moon Crystal wallpapers feature the couple Makoto Kino and Nephrite (as seen in the first two wallpapers) and the alter ego Sailor Jupiter again with Nephrite (as seen in the last two wallpapers). To download click on the picture of the wallpaper you want and "Save Image As" to save to your computer or alternatively you can select "Set As Desktop Background". Please let me know if your having any problems with these. Hope you enjoy.

Random Necklace Design #2

I have recently been playing around with iron beads and have made another random necklace. This was made from a design I found online with a simple google search. The ironed pendant is about 14 1/2 cm wide and 6 1/2 cm high which makes it larger then my previous iron bead necklace and also a lot more colourful.

As with my previous iron bead necklace, this was created on a square peg board before being ironed together. For these projects any type of iron beads can be used including perler, hama and pyssla. The finished ironed piece is attached to a chain using jump rings and the necklace is finished with a lobster clasp.

Sailor Moon Crystal Wallpapers set15 - Mars & Jadeite

Here we see the Sailor Guardian of Fire and Passion alongside the former Knight of Patience and Harmony. Long ago in a past life these two were lovers, fighting to protect the Moon Princess and her love the Earth Prince. Now reborn in the present these two fight on opposing sides, with the power of flame Sailor Mars fights for the heroine Sailor Moon and with the power of ice Jadeite fight for the evil Dark Kingdom.

These Sailor Moon Crystal wallpapers feature the couple Rei Hino and Jadeite (as seen in the first three wallpapers) and the alter ego Sailor Mars again with Jadeite (as seen in the last two wallpapers). To download click on the picture of the wallpaper you want and "Save Image As" to save to your computer or alternatively you can select "Set As Desktop Background". Please let me know if your having any problems with these. Hope you enjoy.

Dress Pillows #2

This is yet another Dress Pillow that I made for my niece, I actually made a few that I bundled together with a cute ribbon as a birthday gift. These dress pillows are literally just that, pillows made from the dresses that were worn by my niece as a baby. These were some of my sisters favourite dresses that her little girl wore and she didn't want to part with them, nor did she want to just stick them in a box somewhere, so this is what I came up with.

To make these keepsake Dress Pillows I simply sewed all the openings shut and then stuffed, and stuffed, and stuffed. I hand stitched the bottom edge, two sleeves and kept the neck for last to insert the stuffing. These are such unique decorative pillows or, as my niece prefers to use then, playmates for a fun tea party. I have to apologise here for the quality of the pictures, I had only minutes to take photos before these were given away.