Make Your Own Scrabble Art

I'm always trying to find unique ways to make the house look pretty and these scrabble art pictures are the perfect way to create wonderful pieces to hang in your home.

You can usually find old scrabble sets for a few pounds either at the charity shop or car boots, so do keep an eye out if you fancy a go at this.  For the background on this picture I used some sample pieces of wallpaper I'd picked up when we had been in the DIY store, you could use wrapping paper, a map, photo or any other type of paper or even fabric.

You'll also need some glue and a box frame, you can have a search around the charity shops for a frame or you can buy a new one, they are usually quite reasonably priced from places like Wilkos, B&M, Home Bargains or even one of the supermarkets.

First of all take the back from your frame and lay on the backside of your paper or fabric, draw around the edge and then carefully cut out the background, it is worth trying out your scrabble pieces on the paper or fabric to make sure it is easy to see, on busy backgrounds they might not be so obvious. Once you are happy then stick the paper or fabric to the back piece of the frame, I used Dovecraft glue from Wilkos, it is really strong and only about £1.

Once you have glued the paper/fabric to the back of the frame then you need to lay out your words, have a play with a few words you like and you'll eventually find something you love, obviously the words need to be able to connect, have as many or as few as you like. Names, special words or places are great to add. 

Once you are happy with the words you have chosen and the layout then carefully stick them down onto your chosen background, if you are using a large frame it might be worth using a ruler or spirit level to make sure the lines are straight.

Once you have finished, careful place the back into the frame and there you have it, a simple but effective picture, perfect to give as a gift or just for yourself. Now all you have to do is decide where you'd like to hang it and how many more you can make with the left over pieces.

The great thing about this project is, if you get bored of the background or fancy a change you can just take off the tiles and start again.

What would you put on yours?

Christmas Cake Decorating with Sweet Success

For the last few years, I have baked my own Christmas cake, but for one reason for another they haven't turned out great. So, when I was approached by Sweet Success to try one of their Christmas cake bundles, I jumped at the chance.

Arriving with everything you need to create the perfect Christmas cake, the bundle includes, a 4" rich fruit cake, cake board with box, marzipan and sugarpaste to cover your cake and some decorations and ribbons for you to add to your finished masterpiece

It comes with thorough step by step instructions, so even if you are a cake decorating novice you are able to go through the steps with ease. Other than the jam, everything you need is in the bundle and you really don't need anything other than a rolling pin and pastry brush.

I absolutely loved putting together this cake, I didn't have to worry about baking the fruit cake which really isn't my forte and instead could concentrate on the icing task at hand.

The decorations are super cute and have a vintage feel to them, I love how the cake turned out and will be back to buy another one before the big day, as I feel this one may have all gone in no time.

Although not a huge cake it is the perfect size to have as a centre piece on Christmas day.

I think this bundle is the perfect way for those short on time to make a Christmas cake, a little piece of homemade for just £10 (available in store only). Sweet Success are a lovely little bakery and cake supplies shop in Nottingham, they have a great selection of pre baked cakes that can be delivered to your door.

So why not have a look over on their website, they are also on Twitter and Facebook too.

NB: I was sent the bundle to create my own cake, all words, opinions and pictures are my own.

Make Your Own Baby Birth Stats Wall Art

This week whilst I am on holiday I am passing over the blog to a few lovely bloggers, first up is Emma from Handbags To Change Bags, her blog is beautiful and a great insight into her life and her beautiful family. Anyway enough babble from me, over to Emma.

Hi I'm Emma from Handbags To Change Bags and I'm guest posting for the lovely Ellie today while she is away on holiday. Today's post is a DIY, hope you enjoy it!

I'm always on the lookout for cute ideas for my kids bedrooms and the home in general, I recently saw a lovely personalised piece of wall art with your baby's birth stats on it and thought it would be perfect for Summer's bedroom.

However when I noticed the price was £28 without a frame and when you add in the frame it was £68 I just couldn't justify paying that amount.

So I decided I'd take on a little DIY project and have a go at making one myself and I'm really pleased with how it came out!

All I did was use PicMonkey to add different texts in different colours and fonts to a white background and printed it out. I chose to design mine a little different to the one I'd seen but you can design it anyway you want.

I got the frame from Ikea and the whole thing cost me the grand total of £4!

I think it looks lovely in Summer's bedroom and goes perfectly with her room decor, I'm going to make another one for Riley's bedroom and I'm also making one for my nephew as part of his birthday present.

Thank you so much Ellie for allowing me to guest post and if you enjoyed my post then please pop over to my blog and say Hi!

XXX