Category: DIY

DIY Mini Cross Stitch Set – Lemons

When life gives you lemons… you cross stitch them in a cute design, apparently! At the beginning of May, the UK enjoyed a bank holiday Monday. I hoped to spend the extended weekend outdoors, enjoying long walks and maybe a day trip too. But first, I set my alarm for early Saturday morning, to go to the gym and start the weekend with a productive workout. 20 minutes into the training, my lower back decided it was a great time to flare up like it hasn’t in a long time. Well, I limped back home, and spent most of the weekend in bed. Frustrating, to say the least! To keep myself busy, I reached for a couple of DIY projects. One of them was this mini cross stitch set with a lemon design. It was quite fun to sew!

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DIY Cross Stitch Set – Horse

One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2026 was to refrain from buying too many new DIY supplies and focus on using up those I already have. So, I decided to work on this horse cross stitch set. I have to admit, I wasn’t too excited on sewing this specific design – I suppose there’s a reason why it took me about 2 years to get round to it! I love horses in the real life, but I don’t really like orange and brown as colours, and this design is full of them. Yet, I’m actually quite happy with how it turned out, it looks quite realistic. Last week, I shared my pony crochet project, so my recent weeks were pretty equine-focused. Luckily, I have now picked up a different cross stitch set, which doesn’t involve horses… but that’s for another day.

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DIY Crochet Set – Pony – Learning To Crochet

Last week, I shared a post about my 1 year journey learning to crochet. I’ve mainly used assorted craft kits, as they’re – in my opinion – the best way to pick up a new craft. Following even the simplest patterns was a challenge for me 12 months ago, but now, I usually manage to follow the patterns from assorted sets without major troubles. My learning journey continues, and today, I’d like to share my most recent crochet project: a cute pony stuffed toy.

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A Year Of Learning To Crochet – My First Projects – Coasters, Toys, Ornaments

One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2025 was to learn to crochet. I originally bought some assorted DIY kits in hope that they’ll teach me everything I need, and I almost instantly gave up, after seeing the instructions. I had no idea what they meant or how to read them! Eventually, I forced myself to watch some video tutorials and have another go. And although it was a rough start, I think I managed to make really good progress over the last 12 months! I’m nowhere near being able to create my own patterns, but I can usually follow easy or intermediate marked patterns. Here are my completed projects in the first 12 months of crocheting, and things I have learnt from them. I’d say it’s a realistic progress line for an adult with a full time job and lots of other commitments – I had limited time for crocheting, but I still learnt a lot.

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DIY Painting By Numbers – Lake In The Mountains

This year, I set myself some New Year’s Resolutions. One of them was to limit purchasing new DIY kits and supplies and instead focus on using up the ones I already own – I have more than enough! So, recently, I decided to work on a painting by numbers set that I got for Christmas from my parents, probably 2 or 3 years ago. Oops! It’s not that I never picked it up because I didn’t like it. Quite the contrary! It was a really thoughtful gift, especially the design they chose – I love mountains with my whole heart, and the picture was just perfect. I just wanted to do it justice, and I felt like I never had enough time and mental capacity to do it well. But finally, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a go. It took me a while to complete it, but I’m in love with the final result!

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DIY Crochet Set – Jellyfish

Today, I’d like to share with you my recently completed crochet project – a cute jellyfish. Designed to be used as a keychain, though I decided to keep it as a small toy ornament. I particularly like how the tentacles turned out – I will definitely use the technique that I learnt in the future for other projects! I love the final result, but this project wasn’t free of disappointments. If you want to see a sad example of false advertising and cutting costs by a brand, keep reading!

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Mini Botanical Cross Stitch Designs – RHS – January, February, March

A year ago, I bought a cute set of 12 mini cross stitch projects, all in a botanical theme, branded by the Royal Horticultural Society. The set included one floral design for each month of the year, and I shared them with you every quarter. Today, it’s time for me to share the last three completed designs, for the months January, February and March, featuring snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils. A rather appropriate selection! I saw all of those in real life in London this quarter.

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DIY Cross Stitch Set – Spring Time – Semi Original Design

It’s been a while since my last cross stitch endeavour, and it was time to pick up another one of the many cross stitch sets I have in my DIY stash. And since it’s officially spring now, I chose a design that screamed ‘spring’ – quite literally. The pattern included a large slogan in the middle! Well, I’ll be honest – I’m not a fan of a slogan. I don’t buy slogan T-shirts, I don’t like home decor with inspirational lines, nothing of that kind. I bought this cross stitch set with a goal to design my original pattern, or at least some small elements, and replace the slogan. So, here it is – my very first semi-original cross stitch design!

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DIY Crochet Set – Spring Chicken – Learning To Crochet – Easter

In just a few days, I’ll be enjoying Easter with my family, with all of my favourite seasonal foods. I can’t wait! I’ve been looking forward to this holiday. Family time, great food, and usually nice spring weather, with a sight of summer days on the horizon… what’s not to love? And since I love seasonal crafts too, naturally, I had to find the perfect DIY project for this time of year, and I did. I saw this assorted crochet set, and I had to get it. I’m not sure how chicks became one of the symbols of Easter – perhaps because they come out of eggs? Either way, the set felt suitable for Easter, and I enjoyed working on it!

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My 6 Project Failures – April’s Fools – Not Everything Goes Well

It’s April’s Fools on Wednesday, and I wanted to write a lighthearted post for that occasion. So, let’s talk about some of my failed projects! If you follow my blog regularly, you’ll probably see that I try my best to execute recipes and DIY projects nicely, and hopefully end with a pleasant outcome. It may not always be to everyone’s taste, but I still do my best. But what you don’t see is that sometimes, I start working on a project for a blog post, and everything goes wrong. Some of the failed projects were salvaged and posted on this blog anyway. Others were abandoned and never spoken about. Until this day. Here’s to keeping things real! Remember, behind every cute-looking, successful, published project, there are failures kept in a secret.

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