Craft Group Christmas Break Up (Catch Up Post #2)

Greetings dear friends & readers & Happy Weekend to you all.

In the second week of December our little craft group got together for our end-of-year break up.

We all met up out at Liz's beautiful home, about 20 minutes out in the country -  we all bought along a plate for 
a shared lunch

(Sometimes I substitute the grapes for strawberries, sometimes just dried apricots will do)

 This is my standard "go to dish" when I am asked to bring a plate.
You can find the recipe for my Gingernut Bites here & for my chocolate fudge slice here
It's simple to put together as you can make the uncooked recipes a day or two beforehand & keep in fridge.

Our challenge for last month was to make a dream catcher.
Though I was not especially inspired by this challenge, I must admit I really enjoyed making my dream catcher 
(above & below) & just used up craft items already in my stash.

I remembered to click some pics of the ladies work

Liz's Dream catcher

Joyce's Dreamcatcher ...... Joyce even crocheted her own doiley for the centre!

Gails Dreamcatcher

I really loved Sharlaine's one above ... she had handcrafted the feathers herself using cord!

After morning tea the ladies made felt mice ... I taught this as I had some kitsets left over from 
when I taught the class in this Post

Then we stopped for lunch ... if nothing else, we sure do know how to get the food right!!  Our lunch was delicious!!

We had all been asked to bring a Christmas themed craft or decoration along, wrapped up ... then we each chose one out of the basket lucky dip style 😉

I was delighted upon opening mine to receive this repurposed wooden platter upcycled by Sharlaine.
Though my photo is not showing it, the whole picture has been lacquered with a fine glitter & just sparkles away ... 
so beautiful!

I wrapped up one of my primitive pocket ornies which I had liberally scented with Clove Oil.

Joyce received my mystery parcel & was thrilled ... she rang me days later to tell me her whole house smelt 
just gorgeous!!

I think this dainty sparkly ornament was made by Gail ... squares of fabric folded & pinned into a polystyrene ball ... 
so very effective!

After lunch Gail was keen to try a craft she had seen on You tube ... 

Gail had watched the video clip above & decided to try this method on some soft toys purchased from the Op Shop ... she had bought out a bucket of the cement mix required & we all had to have a go at dunking a soft toy

Though the whole process seemed a bit "drastic" it was a messy but fun creative time with lots of laughs.  

A couple of the end results ... these take several days to dry & can then be used outdoors as garden ornaments.

The day after our craft break up my neighbour Jenny came for the morning.
She was keen to learn how to make potpourri & I had been promising her a lesson since last winter!

  Jenny had been gathering & drying lots of bits from her garden & her walks, & had a lovely selection to work with.
I had picked oranges from her fruit trees & dehydrated them for her.
Together we made the 3 bowls full above ... Jenny was so delighted at her first attempt & planned to keep some & gift some for Christmas.

The next day she returned my enamel bowls to me with the goodies pictured above inside them as a Thank You 💗

Finally dear friends, before I close this photo-heavy post, these two vintage Holly Hobbie needlework pictures were a gift from my dear friend Sally ... I was speechless when I opened them!
They are now hanging in pride-of-place above my sewing machine so I can enjoy & admire them all the time that 
I spend there.

Thank You All So Very Much for staying with me thru' this lengthy post.
I shall be back in a few more days with Catch Up # 3 😉
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend - be kind to yourselves & to each other,
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0