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Upcycle your old candles by melting them gently over a tea light food warmer ,add a wax crayon shaving for colouring (less is more) and some aromatherapy oils ,dried rose buds or lavender seeds.I used short wicks with a metal base from the internet .Set in Shells you have collected from the beach .They make lovely presents .Always be aware of leaving a naked flame around .Or come to one of my Workshops in Westport .Contact me for details .

So much fun rippin' and shtickin' we are going to do it all again soon but think we may have a new addition joining us.We did keep it as chilled as poss!!!.

Take a wet weekend,1 old fabric sample book, 2 bottles of PVA, sharp scissors, a husband happy Dj'ing with some Jack Daniels and a tape measure and a bottle of Melbec for me -took a bit longer than the weekend but then doesn't it always.

:/http/www.howardsphoto.com/blog/easter-details

I was recently honoured to be asked to create Carlie (bestest friends daughter's) and Craig's Easter Wedding Decorations. Craig is a maverick and a bit of a plane spotter, Carlie being so laid back gave the perfect direction to me -yes ,fun, happy, colourful, whatever. I have never been so excited.Howard the photographer has snapped a few of the details but if you are looking for some ideas here is a list of a few things I did.

There were 3 main rooms -the meet and greet area

We had a fun night decoupaging polystyrene eggs with polka dot paper napkins and pretty ribbon ready to make an Easter tree table plan and Carlie cut out cardboard planes for the table names .It was a  show stopper piece made from a 4 foot budding plum blossom branch given by a friend that we sat by the radiator for 3 days to coax it out.!I love using real twigs and it was the ideal time of year when the white thorn leaves were just peeping lime irridescent green so I cheated and stuck a few silk flowers over them and that was propped over the huge wooden fireplaces . Kilner jars wrapped with hessian and simple single Easter flowers and twigs went on the sunny windowsills in between old photographs of their loved ones.

The Chapel  represented the next chapter evolving . This time the budding white thorn branch (with cheating silk blossom stuck on ) had blue tits and butterflies aswell and framed the fireplace infront of the bride and groom.Simple Toile net bows tied around the leading aisle chairs with lavender (Shropshire fields)and rosemary twigs ( gathered from friends gardens) creating a welcoming scent and ofcourse when the bridal ontarage arrived the vibrant Easter colours were introduced.

The reception room .This is where the fun and madness began .Teapots filled with a cocophone of coloured flowers and scents is pretty normal ,so we balanced  false nests filled with chocolate eggs and a sitting blue tit on top of their Grandmothers favourite cup and saucers entwined with eucaplyptus leaves.Carlie invited friends to write a message on a piece of jenga to play later which entertained the guests.

The dining room .So I mentioned earlier that the Groom was into aeroplanes. I got a bag of plastic aeroplanes from the internet (all of £3) -they were about 3 cm long -sprayed them raspberry red (bridesmaids colour) and glue gunned them onto some spiral twigs to mix amongst the flowers .From a distance they looked like some sort of exotic japanese blossom -great fun watching people realise what they were.The room was light and airy with tall ceilings so needed scale.We bought 12 tall glass vases and created loose high posies with pussy willow,wild roses,scented jonquils,ranunclus,hyacynth,daffodills,parrot edged tulips and verbenas. Sprigs of rosemary and lavender were gathered with a hessian bow around the table napkins and Carlie filled named eggcups with speckled chocolate eggs as place settings. The evening before I had shot around the local hedgerows and clipped a few twigs of flowering sloe blossom which provided a delicate foil for more of the decoupaged eggs which we scatttered in tall bottles around the window ledges bringing the glorious sping day outside -in.

The bridal bouquets were loosely structured bunches of the flowers used throughout the day contrasting raspberry with burnt orange ,violets and blues ,creams and yellows. The gents corsages were Orange gerbera with lavender and rosemary ,The ladies wild roses with lavender and rosemary.

All the loose flower heads that gathered during the making of the floral arrangements were put into a small wicker basket for the flower girl to tear up and petal scatter.She was 3 and looked adorable taking her reponsibility extrememly seriously -needless to say not one flower was "broken" on her watch.

Wonderful day ---joyous work -- happy times with special people.

It may be Winter outside but in my heart it's Spring.

Abandon the shmultzy Red Heart, champers,chocolates ,food of love and make him something .

2 hours -square piece of MDF/Plywood .Paint with vinyl matt emulsion ,draw around a paper heart stencil, hammer in tacks around the edge of the board and heart (don't worry about being equidistant -mine were about 1 cm apart ) Weave ribbon,wire,string ,wool back and forth .You could choose to cover the positive space and fill in the heart .Have fun .Very therapeutic and great for all ages .Try different shapes .possibilites endless.