Handmade Gifts

I love crafts and I always have a few projects going on, such as cross stitch, paining wooden shapes, handmade cards and many more different things; keeps me out of trouble you see ;) . My Gran celebrated her 80th at the weekend and I was struggling to come up with an idea for her that would be different but special. After a bit of research and my dads map (which now has a heart shape gap!) I came up with this (apologies for the poor photos but was in a bit of a rush).

My Gran was born in 1934, a great year for many reasons.

The map is of part of London where my Gran was born and grew up. I added some facts about 1934 as well. And then the fun part, decorating it! 

A goal for 2014 is to make as many hand made gifts as I can for friends and family. I wanted to give myself this goal as handmade gifts are so much more personal and also helps keep the cost down. 

Well March and April are busy months for me with lots of birthdays so I better crack on. 

Wood Stack

A friend of ours has some old pallets and lots of other lengths of wood that he wanted to get rid of so the hubby and I spent most of yesterday morning cutting it up with the chainsaws and stacking it all the the truck. It was 2 loads worth and the truck isn't small. 

It then took another good hour to stack it all and we found a large plastic cover to keep it dry. Some of the wood has nails and is all different shapes and colours but it burns well and is keeping us warm. 

This pile will probably last us through the winter and the great bit is was that it was free, just a few hours of hard labor.