Crafty Fridays

How are all you lovely people on this Friday afternoon? It is quite windy here today, but luckily I'm nice and warm inside my home. Still using the central heating in June!! What are you all up to today?

On a Friday you will usually find me doing one or even all of my fun-things. Painting, crafting and baking. And maybe even having a chat with someone - what with Skype, Google-chat, Facebook and more, there is always a volunteer available, whether near or far. In my case mostly far. Today I'm talking with my friend Cynthia in Cape Town, via Skype. We like to share crafty ideas and inspiration. Cynthia makes THE most gorgeous natural soap! Take a look on her blog, Indulging my muse; or Facebook page yudhika. I tell you they look good enough to eat!!

I've done my baking for the day (cupcakes of course! haha), now it's time for the painting and crafting. I have a lot to do. I'm creating stock for my website. And I'm also working on the finishing touches for the Heart Swap I've joined over at Mary Poppins. I do hope my swap partner, Manda from The Vintage Hobby House will like what's in her parcel! This being my first swap and all......!


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Thanks for stopping by Life on a Cupcake! If you are a first time visitor, welcome! I would be honoured if you would take a moment to leave a comment; subscribe to my blog or "like" my facebook page, Little Canvas. Do keep in touch, I love to hear from new friends! Until next time, keep well!

Notepad and decorated pencil for my kitchen

How are all you lovely people? It's a gorgeous, bright, sunny day here in our part of the UK today, for which we are always greatfull!


I finally got around to making the notepad and decorated pencil that I wanted for my kitchen, and I'd like to share it with you. I used a piece of cardboard as the base and glued white card to both sides to give it a smooth finish. I then covered the front with scrapbook paper (blue gingham pattern that I've used for other projects in my kitchen as well), and stuck it to the back with double sided tape. I made holes (with some odd tools, but it was to thick to fit in my hole punch), added ribbon, and Bob's your uncle! For the notes, I just cut paper in the required size and glued them on top of each other with a glue stick. If you use only a little bit of glue, the pages tear off easily.


The yellow of the pencil worked well, as I do have TINY splashes of yellow in my kitchen. I used wire to attach the handbag brad (representing the fact that it's for my shopping list), prettied it up with some ribbon and a flower, and that was it. I'm quite happy with how this quick and easy craft project turned out, and it looks great in the kitchen! Now when anyone uses the last of something, they write it on the list immediately.


I think it looks cute! What do you think?

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Thanks for stopping by Life on a Cupcake! If you are a first time visitor, welcome! I would be honoured if you would take a moment to leave a comment; subscribe to my blog or "like" my facebook page, Little Canvas. Do keep in touch, I love to hear from old and new friends!
 Until next time, keep well!


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The 36th AVENUE














Give me a button, or two.... or 200!!

I guess the title of this post says it all...... I looooooove buttons. I have no explanation for this "thing" I have for buttons, all I can say is I just love them!! The colours, the shapes, the sizes. Buttons makes me happy. (Yeah, sound a bit off-the-road there I know, but it is what it is!) Will this be a good time to tell you I hardly ever do any sewing? I use my buttons mainly for crafts (as in gluing them to something) and to look pretty in jars in my craftroom! My stash has dwindled a bit, but I'm working on that.....!

Some older buttons I've collected over the years


Buttons I bought from The Works. Their price is usually just right!! 


And buttons I found at Hobbycraft on Saturday. At the bargain price of £1 in their valuecrafts range!
I'm crazy about that BIG red one!


And of course they look pretty in (reuse) glass jars.


Do any of you have a thing for buttons, or maybe something else like ribbon (don't get me started) or stamps?

Thanks for stopping by Life on a Cupcake! If you are a first time visitor, welcome! I would be honoured if you would take a moment to leave a comment; subscribe to my blog or "like" my facebook page, Little Canvas. Do keep in touch, I love to hear from new friends!

                                                        Until next time, keep well!

Make your own: Room Freshener

You know me, I'm all for reuse/ up-cycle/ make your own. So here is how I make my own room freshener.


What you need:
*A glass jar - It can be a pretty decorative jar, mason jar, or even a food jar, properly cleaned. Like the one  I'm using here.
*Bicarbonate of soda  (Baking soda)
*Aroma therapy oil
*Something to cover the jar if you so prefer. You can leave it open if you're going to hide it high on a shelf  where tiny hands can't reach it...... Or you can cover it with a lid or even foil, in which you made a few holes. I bought some doilies a while back at the charity shop and I'm using one of those today.


And here's the absolutely easiest steps ever:
1. Put some bicarbonate of soda in the jar.
2. Add a few drops of your favourite aromatherapy oil.
3. Cover with the lid/foil/doily.
4. Pretty it up and voila! Your own room freshener.


I find it best to give the jar a little shake everyday to release the fragrance again. Add more drops when needed. You can also use this as a carpet freshener.

One last tip:
To get rid of odours in your refrigerator just leave a small, open container with Bicarbonate of Soda in the fridge. It absorbs all the nasty smells. Just replace every few weeks. 



Thanks for stopping by Life on a Cupcake! If you are a first time visitor, welcome! I would be honoured if you would take a moment to leave a comment; subscribe to my blog or "like" my facebook page, Little Canvas. Do keep in touch, I love to hear from new friends!

 Until next time, keep well!

A Wilderness in my backyard

This constant rain is really driving me up the walls! It's half-term and suppose to be summer, but my poor children are locked up in the house and we even have the central heating on. Why? Because it's been raining on and off for days now! Again!

We barely had summer so far this year. Just a few nice days last week. So, less than two weeks ago, our garden looked like this:


No, I'm not showing you these pictures to scare you with the grass where I do believe a lion could've been hiding in....... I wanted to show you the cute Daisies and Buttercups that grows in my garden! Aren't they sweet? I always feel so sorry to cut them, but to get rid of the grass there is no other way! So, last weekend while my husband was mowing the lawn, the boys quickly picked me some Daisies to savour for a few more days:


Needless to say, with all this rain  I'm pretty sure I can hear the grass growing! ha-ha It almost looks the same again! Hope you're having fun, whatever the weather where you are!