Skull framed mirrors

Close up on the larger skull decorated mirror

One of the goodies I picked up during the Hallowe’en sales in fall 2023 was a pretty photo frame with skulls framing the glass. Only a few days later I was at my favourite dollar store and picked up a picture frame, and a bag of small plastic skulls with the plan of making my own!

I had a mirror already that would fit well, but then at another dollar store (my mum wanted to check out a different one – she was on a search for tiny terra cotta pots!) I found a second frame and a mirrored candle coaster that was nearly the perfect size as well.

DIY Holidays: Nearly last-minute gift ideas

Miniature doll furniture made for my friend for Christmas 2020

The holidays are well under way, and I’m not sharing what I’m giving away THIS year, but I thought I’d share a post about what I’ve gifted in the past to see if it inspires any ideas for you and your nearly-last-minute gift-giving.. especially if you’re aiming for a handmade holiday.

Why Go Homemade?

There are many reasons to give homemade gifts. For one, they are a personal touch that shows you put thought and effort into your gift. Additionally, homemade gifts can be much cheaper than store-bought gifts if you already have the supplies in your stash.  Avoiding the malls this time of year is another bonus!

Machine Embroidered Band Patches – Apocalyptica

Work in progress Apocalyptica patch

Next up in my band-patch making project is the logo for Finnish symphonic / cello metal band, Apocalyptica.

The design was a bit more detailed, which didn’t translate in this scale quite as nicely as I would have liked I’m afraid.

That’s one of the trial-and-error elements of using this software and this embroidery machine… not everything works as well on the screen as it does in thread.

It’s a learning process!

Machine Embroidered Band Patches – Insomnium/Gatherum

In my machine embroidery adventures, I decided to make some patches for my backpack as well.  I wanted to include some of my favourite bands, however each time I’ve gone to a concert – either the merch table didn’t have patches, or the patches were not visually appealing to me, or aligned with my colour scheme. (Yes.. even my backpack needs a colour scheme…)

So, as pure fan-art, I decided to draw out each of the band logos for four of my favourite bands (that I don’t already have patches for) in Adobe Illustrator, and then took the files into the Maker Space’s software, and made the files into embroidery files for the Space’s embroidery machine.

Machine embroidered band patch – Omnium Gatherum

Omnium Gatherum

Melodic Death/ Progressive metal band Omnium Gatherum is the next logo I looked at… which is… incredibly simple.

Machine Embroidered Band Patches – Stam1na

Work in progress Stam1na patch

In my machine embroidery adventures, I decided to make some patches for my backpack as well.  I wanted to include some of my favourite bands, however each time I’ve gone to a concert – either the merch table didn’t have patches, or the patches were not visually appealing to me, or aligned with my colour scheme. (Yes.. even my backpack needs a colour scheme…)

So, as pure fan-art, I decided to draw out each of the band logos for four of my favourite bands (that I don’t already have patches for) in Adobe Illustrator, and then took the files into the Maker Space’s software, and made the files into embroidery files for the Space’s embroidery machine.