2. Bouquet Wraps with Your Names & Wedding Date
Your bouquet is already beautiful—why not make it yours with a handmade wrap embroidered with your names or the wedding date?
It’s the kind of subtle personal touch that adds a little magic to your photos, your ceremony, and the way your flowers feel in your hands. Bonus: after the wedding, it becomes a gorgeous keepsake you can frame or pass down.

​Your wedding day is a celebration of your love story—and the most memorable ones are filled with personal details that make people say, “Oh, that’s so them.”
If you’re looking for keepsakes and custom touches stitched with heart, take a peek at my wedding collection. Every piece is designed to be more than just beautiful—it’s designed to mean something.

Hand-painted candles are a beautiful way to bring seasonal charm into your home decor. Whether you’re styling for a festive occasion, a cosy winter evening, or a bright spring day, creating your own candles allows you to infuse your space with personality and creativity. In this guide, I'll walk you through the materials needed, design ideas for different seasons, and step-by-step instructions to create your own stunning candles.

Materials You’ll Need
Before you start painting, the following will be useful.

1. Plain Candles: Choose pillar candles, taper candles, or votive candles in neutral colours like white, cream, or pale pastel shades. These can be picked up for a few pounds from shops like the Factory Shop, The Range or Dunelm.
2. Acrylic Paint: Select non-toxic, water-based acrylic paints that are safe for use on candles.
3. Paintbrushes: Use a variety of brush sizes for detailing and coverage.
4. Painter’s Tape: To create clean lines or sections for colour blocking.
5. Palette or small saucer: For mixing and blending colours.
6. Sealer: Use a non-flammable, clear wax or varnish to protect the design.
7. Paper Towels and Water: For cleaning brushes and quick fixes.

Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Prepare Your Workspace
Lay down a protective covering on your table to prevent paint spills. Ensure your candles are clean and dry before starting.
Step 2: Sketch Your Design (Optional)
Lightly sketch your design on the candle with a pencil for guidance. This is especially helpful for intricate patterns or lettering.
Step 3: Apply Base Colours
If your design includes a background colour, use a wide brush to cover the candle’s surface evenly. Let the paint dry completely before moving to the next step.
Step 4: Add Details
Use smaller brushes to paint your design. Work slowly and carefully, allowing each layer to dry before adding another. If you’re using stencils, secure them with painter’s tape to prevent smudging.
Step 5: Incorporate Accents
Enhance your design with glitter, metallic paint, or pressed flowers. Press flowers gently into the candle’s surface while the paint is still slightly wet.
Step 6: Seal Your Design
Once the paint has dried completely, apply a non-flammable, clear wax or varnish to protect your artwork. This step will also give your candle a polished finish.
Step 7: Style and Display
Arrange your candles on decorative trays, candle holders, or alongside seasonal accents like greenery, ornaments, or fabric runners.

If hand painting is not for you, these small businesses sell beautiful candles you can add to your decor:

 Daffodil Meadows from This is Wild Whims and Spring Edition from Cinnamon Bay Interiors 

​Creating hand-painted seasonal candles is an enjoyable and rewarding craft that enhances your home’s ambiance while showcasing your artistic flair. With a bit of practice and creativity, you can design candles that are perfect for any occasion or season. Happy painting!

Start with a container that’s both functional and reusable. Consider these ideas:

• Woven Baskets: Decorate with ribbons, pom-poms, or faux flowers.
• Tin Buckets: Add a coat of pastel paint and embellish with stickers or stencils.
• Fabric Bags: Sew a custom bag with Valentine’s-themed fabric for a soft and unique option. Or shop my reusuable gift bag for Valentines treats.

Personalise the basket with the child’s name using wooden letters, felt cutouts, or hand-painted designs.
 
Crafting your own items adds a special touch to the basket. Here are a few ideas:

• Felt Heart Garland: Cut hearts out of colourful felt and string them together with twine or ribbon. These can be hung as a decoration in their room.
• Painted Rocks: Create adorable Valentine’s characters like ladybirds, bees, or hearts on smooth stones.
• DIY Bookmark: Laminate a paper bookmark decorated with hearts, stickers, or drawings.
• Love Coupons: Write fun activities like “One Extra Bedtime Story” or “Pizza Night” on paper slips and bundle them with a ribbon.

Finishing touchesTie the theme together with decorative accents:

• Tissue Paper Filler: Use red, pink, and white tissue paper to create a valentines base.
• Ribbon and Bows: Wrap the basket with a large bow or weave ribbons through the handle.
• Mini Balloons: Attach small heart-shaped balloons for a playful touch.

Easter is a time for celebration, renewal, and bringing loved ones together. What better way to celebrate the season than by creating a beautifully styled Spring and Easter table using handmade items and crafts? This guide will walk you through crafting an unforgettable table setting that shows off your creativity, and the spirit of the season.

First you want to Choose a Colour Palette. The first step in creating your Easter table is selecting a cohesive colour palette. Pastels like soft pink, mint green, butter yellow, and lavender are traditional favourites. For a modern twist, try incorporating neutral tones with pops of brighter colours, such as pink and red, coral or teal. This palette will guide your choice of linens, decorations, and crafts.

Next you want to Layer Your Table Linens. Start with a neutral tablecloth as your base—white, cream, or go bold perhaps a stripe fabric. Add a textured or patterned table runner that complements your colour scheme. Linen napkins, either matching or in complementary tones, add a touch of fun. Stripes are super popular this season. I love these from Dunelm

Fabric placemats are everywhere this season, with bright rick rack trim. You can easily add this yourself to complement your table colour scheme. This tutorial gives you some really simple step by step ways to create your own.

Now we come to my favourite elements, adding handmade centrepieces. It wouldn’t be a Girl Friday table without some painted candles, freehand embroidered flags and floral pieces. The centre of your table is the focal point of your table. For a handmade touch, consider these ideas:

• Rustic Floral Arrangement: Use a reclaimed wooden box or a mason jar as a vase and fill it with fresh spring blooms like tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. Tie a pastel ribbon around the container for added charm. Pop in a freehand embroidered flag from my range to create a cute touch.
• Easter Egg Tree: Create a mini tree using branches or this HOBBYCRAFT white twig tree. I have had mine for years and bring it out for all occasions. Paint or dye wooden eggs, add some freehand embroidered personalised decorations and hang them from the branches using twine or ribbon.

The perfect touch to make your guests feel special would be to add Personal Place Settings, using these personalised easter decorations, or napkin ties. My Girl Friday Embroidery freehand embroidered table gift bags make the perfect place setting and can hold little gifts or chocolate eggs to really finish off the easter theme perfectly. Other handmade ideas:

• Name Tags: Craft name tags from cardstock and handwrite each guest’s name in calligraphy. Attach them to small bundles of fresh herbs, such as rosemary or thyme, tied with twine.
• Mini Easter Baskets: Place tiny wicker baskets filled with candy eggs or small handmade trinkets at each setting.

Add some pretty final touches to complete your table with thoughtful details:

• Seasonal Dishes: Serve traditional Easter dishes or spring-inspired recipes on your handmade table. Try adding some easter theme deserts, like this from Taming Twins.
• Mood Lighting: Use fairy lights, votive candles, or your DIY egg candles to create a warm and inviting atmosphere.
• Natural Elements: Add sprigs of greenery, seasonal bulbs are a favourite in my house, small potted plants, or even nests filled with faux eggs to tie the theme together.

With these tips and crafts, your handmade Spring and Easter table will be a stunning and memorable centerpiece for your celebration. Not only will it delight your guests, but it will also reflect the care and creativity you put into making the day special. Happy Easter crafting!

You may be aware it's the school holidays, in-fact if you aren't a parent, I'm pretty sure you are sick of hearing about it! But if you are a parent, you are probably stuck in a mid August fog. The days have started to blur into one, you've bought more loaves of bread than Jesus and the money is running out. Then there's the school supplies shopping trips to wrestle with, and I'm sure we all love to be robbed blind in the middle of the day for school shoes, honestly I think that's the most money I've spent in 5 minutes ever. Anyway, I digress (told you I'm good at procrastinating, the clues in the title).

After a very lovely family holiday and lets be honest, a week after of just really can't be arsed-ness, last week I'd organised the holy grail of child care, a whole day with the grandparents for the boys so I could actually get started on some stitching. Here's however, where the problem lies. After over three weeks of no working, it's like I couldn't remember what to actually do. Instead I spent the whole day clearing out my workroom, and I mean every drawer and everything. It's now very tidy but lets not stop there, I then proceeded to take apart furniture and in a bold move, I have actually removed all of the wall decor, and then painted the main wall a very bright yellow. There is a method to my madness, honestly there is, but until I can add my very beautiful wall sticker to the wall, I'm essentially working inside a banana. But still no actual stitching had occurred. 

Now I've spoken to my fellow stitchers and this procrastination, or indeed the fear to start stitching again is a common thing when there's been a break. It's like I'm worried I've forgotten how to do it. Yes honestly. Yesterday, following a stand off between myself and the machine, I actually turned it on and started to stitch. But this was short lived as I had to quickly update my Instagram stories just so everyone who follows me knows that I am working...now where was I??

​Some days being my own boss is a dream, I feel lucky to work from home, Skip back from the school run, slip into my daily routine of breakfast and a couple of house jobs before I take my short commute to the workroom. Others I can feel a sense of pressure on my shoulders.

I've recently started seeing a chiropractor as I had a few aches and pains in my neck and shoulder. He asked me if I had a stressful job, or was expecting some stress, as apparently my shoulders were carrying a lot of new stress? The answer, its half term, the kids are off and I'm feeling stressed because I'm not working. On the other hand if I was working, I'd feel a sense of stress about that. About not making the most of them while they still want to go on days out with me, about only half listening when they talk about Minecraft (honestly have you tried to keep up, its impossible), lets be honest its not a fight I'm going to win with myself! The pressure I put on myself is unbearable at times, and yet, its only me that cares. I know this and still I feel this constant nagging feel that I'm not doing enough. I'm constantly reminded of the book and then film 'I don't know how she does it'...the main character talks about her mental list, about how she's constantly adding to it, but never actually completes many of the tasks, they simply drop off eventually. The list goes round and around in her head, until it builds up to a total sense of panic. 

My list is constant, why haven't I had more sales recently? I must remember to get so and so a birthday card, have I returned the cub camp form, world book day, clean the bathroom today, get mince out of the freezer for dinner, make sure you've ironed their uniform, don't forget to send that invoice. You get the idea. And I know this is the same for pretty much every mum I know, whether they run a business or a household. How do we stop this constant dialogue? How do we quiet our thoughts?

​The very wise Steph Douglas of @stephdontbuyherflowers talks about her mental list and how you can't constantly add, you have to take something away. otherwise the sense of overwhelm builds to the point of breaking. www.instagram.com/steph_dontbuyherflowers/?hl=en

Its something I'm really working on, as is my ability to delegate, just ask my husband, apparently I'm a mini hitler! In the meantime I'll continue to try and find the answer to lighten the load....I must add it to my to do list...

Dear Betty,

I feel the time has come for us to take a break, I know you work hard and we've had so many happy times but it seems that you just aren't feeling it at the moment!

I get it, we all have days where we just feel like we need a couple of hours off. To sit on the sofa in pjs and plough through a family bar of Galaxy. So as a treat I've booked you in for a spa break (otherwise known as a service). Now I hope you'll relax and try to chill out a bit, you really have been a bit tense lately and you've been known to snap many threads. I'm sorry I swore at you, we all say things we don't mean when we are in fits of frustration so I think this time apart will be good for us both. 

In the meantime I'll be using Maud, your twin sister. However, lets be honest, she's the wayward one and we are currently locked in a battle of wills. I think she'd rather stitch cushions than freehand embroider but I'm making do. Hurry up and enjoy your MOT so we can be reunited again soon.

​Dawn x