With the hustle and bustle of Christmas behind us I can now share the Hillam Gingerbread House with you. 2010 was the first year we made our own gingerbread house and we were pretty pleased with our efforts. But we learned a valuable lesson that first year: gingerbread and humidity don't go well together and if you construct your house too early, it WILL sag! So with that lesson learned, our Gingerbread house is now a last minute Christmas Crafting project which we start just a day or two before Christmas. This year our kit came from Woolworths. We didn't use the decorations or icing that came in the kit, preferring to visit Tom's Confectionery Warehouse for all the lollies we needed to make it a sweet treat that no bought gingerbread house can compare to. It was a rather small house, more like a cottage than a house so the decorating was a little less extravagant than our last couple of efforts but we still managed to pack a lot onto that little frame. So here it is - fr...

December is a fun and joyous month especially as we gear towards Christmas Day. We might spend our time shopping for the perfect gift, enjoying celebrations with family and friends or even spend an evening singing Christmas carols and melodies. But it's important that we remember the real reason for the season: the birth of Jesus, our Saviour. To celebrate that joyous and holy occasion, I've put together a tutorial for a pair of Angel-inspired earrings. Here's what you'll need to make your own pair of Heavenly Host earrings: Gold aluminium mesh fabric 2 23x26mm Silver Angel Charm 2 smokey black star crystals with top drilled hole Beadalon 22 Gauge Hematite Artistic Wire 26 Gauge Gold Wire fine silver chain 2 silver earring wire 6 x 4mm silver jump rings tools: round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, flush cutters Cut a piece of mesh 11 links x 11 links and then cut a length of gold wire approximately 25cm (10") long. Turn the mesh over to the back and thread the wir...

We traditionally associate red, green, silver and gold with Christmas. But to add a bit of drama, why not consider adding a touch of black to the mix. It works really well with antiqued silver elements like the silver bell charms in today's project. Here's what you'll need: 16 x 8mm silver beads 2 matte black Bead Landing bow charms 2 antiqued silver bell charms  (these are similar to what I used) 26g silver wire 6mm wide red satin ribbon 2 x 6mm silver jump rings 2 silver earring wires tools: round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, nylon jaw pliers, flush cutters, scissors, ruler, pencil Measure 5cm (2") from the end of the ribbon and place a mark. Measure along 13mm (1/2") and mark, then 5.5mm (1/4") and mark. Continue marking at 13mm and 5.5mm intervals eight times in total. Cut a 25cm (10") length of wire and poke it through the first mark. Use round nose pliers to turn a couple of loops in the wire so it won't pull through. String on a bead and ...

Today's earrings are called "Wrapped and Bejewelled" and use Beadalon Wrappers as the base component. The grooves around the outside of these components makes it really easy to wrap them with wire. For today's earrings you'll need: 2 silver Beadalon circle Wrappers 26g silver Artistic Wire 2 smokey black crystal stars with top hole 6 x 4mm Light Siam crystal bicones 6 x 4mm silver crystal bicones 2 silver holly charms 2 silver striped candy cane charms 2 Beadalon crystal pinch bails 8 x 4mm jump rings 2 interchangeable silver earring wires fine silver chain tools: flush cutters, chain nose pliers Cut a length of wire, approximately 30cm (12") long and wrap it several times around one of the notches close to the bail. Wrap it around the notch diagonally across from the first notch and add a red crystal. Continue wrapping around the notches adding silver and red beads on 6 of the wires. Make sure you add them on both the front and the back. Once you get back to...