DIY Easy Christmas Hoop Art

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve already; where has this month gone?? December has just flown by this year, and I've been so busy preparing for Christmas, I've barely had a chance to stop and enjoy it. I wish time would slow down a little! I haven't even managed to get in to the Christmas spirit yet. For some reason, I'm just not feeling it this year.

I'm sure all that will change today, as Christmas Eve has always been one of my favourite days of the year. My sister and brother-in-law are arriving home from Germany this morning with their dog, Mia, and I'm planning to spend the next few days enjoying Christmas at home with my family, and having a well deserved rest after a hectic month. After I finish the last few errands today, I'm fully intending to watch lots of Christmas movies, eat my body weight in delicious food, spend some quality time with the family, and maybe even push the boat out and play a board game or two. I can't wait!

I'm sure most of us will be busy wrapping presents, prepping food, and travelling to spend Christmas with our families and friends today, but I wanted to squeeze in one more Christmas craft before Christmas Day. You probably won't have time for any last minute crafting, but if you're looking for a fun festive project to make over the next few days, or need some unique last minute Christmas gifts or decorations you can easily make by hand, I have one last Christmas craft I think you're going to love. And that's my easy DIY Christmas fabric hoop art.

I recently realised that while I've featured photos of my hoop art on my blog and social media pages before,  I've never shared a tutorial on how to make them, so I thought it was about time I did.

I started making my own hoop art a few Christmas ago by framing patterned fabric in simple wooden embroidery hoops, sometimes adding embroidery but often leaving the fabric plain, and finishing the backs with some felt, I find the process and end result so satisfying, I haven't been able to stop making them since! It's such a fun and simple craft to make, but they look so effective and make a great statement on any wall- especially when multiple hoops are displayed together in a big group. A hoop art wall will certainly add a unique and personal touch to your Christmas decor, and is sure to be a conversation starter with your guests this Christmas.

Hoop art doesn't just make great Christmas decor, but can also make lovely presents for friends and family, too- especially those who appreciate crafts, and handmade presents. You can even personalise them for the recipient by using fabric and colours relating to their likes and interests, and embroidering their name, a quote they love, their favourite things, or even their pet(s) on to the fabric. A piece of hoop art would make a lovely stand-alone gift, or you could also add one to stockings, hampers, or even Christmas Eve boxes. It's up to you to decide how to gift them. Hoop art doesn't even have to follow a festive design if you don't want it to- you can use non-festive fabric and create them for any occasion throughout the year! To date, I've made lots of Christmas and Easter hoop art, and even some colourful designs for every day, too. The hoops in the photos are a selection I've made over the years using fat quarters from Hobbycraft. (You can find the polka dot fabric here).

If you'd like to learn how to make your own hoop art, follow my super easy DIY below. (Step-by-step photos coming soon).

How To Make Christmas Hoop Art

You Will Need

♥ Embroidery hoops in various sizes. (The hoops I used range from 3 to 10 inches).

♥ Christmas print fat quarters / fabric.

♥ Felt.

♥ Scissors.

♥ Fabric pen / pencil. (If you don't have one a pen or a pencil will do).

♥ Sewing needle.

♥ Thread.

♥ Glue gun and glue stick. (Optional).

How To Make a Piece of Hoop Art

1. Gather your supplies.

2. Iron your fabric until it's completely crease-free.

3. Take a piece of fabric and an embroidery hoop. Place the inner hoop underneath the fabric and the outer hoop on top, move them around until you find a layout you're happy with, and frame the fabric in the hoop.

4. Pull on the edges of the fabric and tighten the screw on the hoop until the fabric sits tightly in the hoop like the hide on a drum.

5. Trim the edges of the fabric at the back, leaving them about an inch long.

6. Thread your needle with two strands of thread, and use a running stitch to cinch in and secure the fabric at the back of the hoop. You could alternatively trim the fabric down further, and glue it tightly to the back of the hoop with hot glue.

7. Take a sheet of felt, a fabric pen, your hoop, and scissors.

8. Lay your hoop on to the felt, and draw around it.

9. Take your scissors and cut the circle out of the felt.

10. Now attach the felt to the back of your hoop. You can either sew it to the back of the fabric using a blanket stitch OR glue it to the hoop using a hot glue gun. You just want to ensure the felt is nice and taut once you're finished.

And voila, your first piece of hoop art is complete!

Yes, it really is that simple! There really isn't a lot to this style of hoop art, so even the most inexperienced crafter will have no trouble with this DIY.

If you're in a rush, or want to create some temporary hoop art just for the holidays, you can get away with not adding felt to the back of the hoops, as you aren't going to see the backs once they're on the wall. Leaving them unfinished will make it easier to switch up the hoops with new fabrics if you want to change them for different seasons, trends, or occasions. However, if your walls are a dark colour, the colour will likely show through the fabric as fat quarters are generally made of thin fabric, so finishing them with felt is always recommended. It will also keep your hoops looking their best for longer.

I've kept the majority of my hoop art plain and simple because I think the fabrics make a great statement as they are, but you could do so much more with them than I have. You could use any fabric you like, and add embroidery, sequins, buttons, beads, pom poms, present toppers, ribbons, and even applique other fabrics on top. As for the hoops, you could paint them in different colours, or wrap them in colourful threads, yarn, or even washi tape. You'll find so many amazing examples on Pinterest and Instagram that put mine to shame!

I wish I had painted or wrapped all of my hoops- adding some colour to the wood definitely gives them a little something extra. Lately, I've also thought about turning them in to baubles for the festive season by adding some light grey felt in the shape of a bauble hanger to the top of the hoops, but I haven't found the time to customise them this Christmas. I'm definitely going to give it a go next Christmas, though, and I'm already planning on making more elaborate designs in 2019 by adding embroidery and designs in other fabrics, so keep your eyes peeled for those!

To display your hoop art on the wall, play around with different layouts on a flat surface until you find one you like, and then you can start hanging them. Start from the centre point, and work your way out. I find command strips are perfect for hanging hoop art on concrete / brick walls, but you may need to trim them down for the smaller hoops. Of course, you could also hang them with nails or picture hooks etc., the choice is yours.

And that is how to make your own Christmas hoop art.

I hope you've found my tutorial helpful! If you decide to make your own hoop art, make sure you leave me a link to your photos in the comments below so I can check them out! I'd love to see any hoops you make.

Have a wonderful Christmas, and a very Happy New Year!

Have you ever made your own hoop art and will you be giving my tutorial a go?

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Currently | April 2018

It's been ages since I last wrote a 'Currently' post (like more than six months ago), so I thought it was about time I put a new one together and updated you on some of the things I've been doing and enjoying lately. Today, I'll fill you in on what I've been reading, watching, buying, making, loving and much more.

Shall we start with the books?

Reading

Since the last time I did one of these 'currently' posts, I've worked my way through the Me Before You series by Jojo Moyes, Me Before You, After You, and Still Me, which I absolutely adored (although, After You wasn't the best). I reread a little of Little Women, A Christmas Carol, and Carrie, and most recently finished How To Stop Time by Matt Haig, and Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon, both of which I really enjoyed. I've now moved on to A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge, the author of The Lie Tree, but I've only read a few chapters so far, so I couldn't tell you much about it yet, except that I'm hooked already. I'm really enjoying reading again at the moment, so if anyone's got any book recommendations, let me know in the comments! I read a bit of everything. 

Watching

I haven't watched many new films or TV shows lately as I just haven't been in the mood to concentrate on anything new- plus I've misplaced my Amazon Fire Stick remote so I haven't been watching Netflix in bed as much. I've mostly been enjoying The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Timeless, and Home and Away, and I've got in to watching The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie in the middle of the night because I haven't been sleeping well. I used to love both shows when I was a kid. (FYI, I watched reruns in the nineties; I wasn't alive when they were first out! I'm not that old!) I've also enjoyed watching Little Women (the BBC series), The Miniaturist, Suffragette, The Cloverfield Paradox, Belle, and re-watching The Theory of Everything and Beauty and the Beast (live action).

Listening
I'm currently obsessed with Fall Out Boy's new album, 'Mania', and have basically been playing it on repeat since it came out a couple of months ago. It's such a catchy album, and it's full of great tunes; I'm hooked on every single one. I particularly love 'Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)', and 'Bishops Knife Trick' and haven't been able to stop playing them this week. I also love Panic! at the Disco's new song 'Say Amen (Saturday Night)', (the music video for it is pretty epic, too) and I can't wait for their new album. It's like 2005 all over again!

Wreath-making

Lately, I've been getting handy with a glue gun, and have made a garden of felt flowers and leaves to add to the Spring wreaths I'm currently making. I've taught myself how to make felt roses, daffodils, tulips, pansies, and their leaves so far, and they've turned out surprisingly well, so I'm pretty darn proud of myself for it. Once I've embroidered faces on to the pansies, I should be ready to start putting the wreaths together... unless I decide I want to make yet another type of flower. in the meantime. I'm finding it really addictive. I've also been breaking out the pom pom makers, and have made a shed load of pastel-coloured pom poms for the Spring wreaths,



Making
In addition to making felt flowers and pom poms, I've also made some polka dot fabric hoop art using the loveliest pastel polka dot fat quarters, and wooden embroidery hoops from Hobbycraft. All I did was frame the fabrics tightly in the hoops, and blanket stitch some felt on to the backs to finish them. They're so quick and easy to make! I then turned the left over fabric in to bandannas for my dog, Rosie, and made her a few others as well. You can see her modelling the mint green one on Instagram here.

Stitching

I'm currently almost half way through a rainbow-coloured spectrum mandala cross stitch from The World In Stitches, and I'm really enjoying stitching with all of those colourful threads. Well, you know me and anything colourful! Moth to a flame. It's the same design as the spectral mandala I made last Summer (which you can see here), except the colours are reversed, with this one edged with red and the rainbow bleeding inwards to purple. The colours are so beautiful and cheerful, and I think it's going to look so pretty when it's finished. If you fancy giving the spectrum mandala cross stitch a go yourself, you can find it on The World in Stitches' Etsy shop here.

Painting

I haven't done a lot of painting lately as I've been too busy crafting, but I have bought a couple more Johanna Basford canvases to paint this Spring. I really need to get back in to it soon because I miss it.

Wanting

To own all the Lindy Bop dresses, Erstwilder brooches, Sophie Conran for Port Meirion Colour Pop crockery, and Too Faced's Life's a Festival make up collection.

Needing

Some new ballet pumps, sandals, ankle boots, clothes I can wear in the heat without melting, and to dye my hair. My roots are getting ridiculous, and the greys coming through are depressing me big time. There's no way I'm getting old already. No way at all. *Cries.*

Wishing

I could have a holiday, and go on some more concert adventures. I also wish my tachycardic heart would go back to normal already and let me sleep, and the back and joint pain would give me a break for a little while, but that's probably too much to ask.

Having
Blood tests, blood tests, blood tests, kidney scans, DEXA scans (bone density scans), yet another new anti-inflammatory drug that weakens the immune system... Don't worry, though, I'm fine! I'll try to do a proper health update to fill you in soon.

Buying

I've treated myself to a few new bits and bobs lately, including some Lindy Bop tea dresses, four Erstwilder Christmas brooches in the sale, some books, craft supplies, the Urban Decay Heavy Metals palette (oh, it's so pretty!), and a Cath Kidston Park Wildlife fox ring dish and fox and rabbit crockery.

Loving

The sunshine that has finally put in an appearance after a long dreary grey winter and given us the hottest April in something like seventy years. I've not been able to go out and enjoy it, sadly, but I'm appreciating the sunshine flooding through the windows, having some decent light for blog photos for a change, and the obligatory ice creams. (By the way, Haagen Daz's Vanilla Caramel Brownie ice cream is amazing)! It's helped to lift my mood, even if I have been melting in the heat. I'm not crazy about the heat, so I'm glad it's cooled down again this week

Missing
Rosie, who is away in the kennels this week while my parents are on holiday, as I haven't got the pain tolerance to look after her single-handedly for so long. I feel so guilty leaving her there when I'm home, but needs must. The house is far too quiet without her, though, and I don't like it. I can't wait to get her back this weekend.

Seeing
Fall Out Boy live at the O2 in London a few weeks ago. It was the third time I've seen them live, and they were phenomenal! I'd go as far as saying it was one of the best gigs I've ever seen! I wish I could go back and experience it all over again; it was over waaay too soon. If you'd like to read about it, I blogged about the experience here.

And that is basically what I've been up to lately in a nut shell.

What about you? What have you been enjoying lately?

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Easter 2017

Sorry it's been so quiet around these parts again lately. I've been feeling really under the weather lately, with my heart currently racing a mile a minute, and the pain kicking my arse from all directions, so I've basically fallen in to hibernation... but without the wonderful relief of sleep. I have absolutely no idea what's going on with this body of mine any more. It's about time I signed myself up for a full body transplant, and be done with it. Haha!

Anyway, I'm still feeling rough as hell, but I wanted to share a few snippets from my Easter weekend with you guys now I've finally finished editing my photos. I didn't get up to anything special, but I had a lovely lazy Easter at home with the family, watching Easter movies, eating delicious food and crafting, and to be honest, I couldn't think of a better way to spend it!

Two bobble-hatted bunnies to wish you a happy belated Easter.

The adorable pastel Easter plaque I recently bought from Sass and Belle, hanging up on my bedroom wall.

A couple of days before Good Friday, I popped out to Sainsbury's for the last of the Easter chocolate I needed to give to my family and friends as presents. I don't think I bought enough...

After popping over to Hobbycraft on Good Friday for more craft supplies with Marie and Steve, I spent much of Good Friday, and Saturday evening making Easter hoop art. They were super easy and quick to make; all I did was frame Easter fabrics in embroidery hoops of various sizes, and finished the backs with some felt using a blanket stitch. I still want to add some ribbons to hang them with, but I'm really pleased with how well they turned out. 

The fabric came from a set of Hobbycraft Easter fat quarters, which included three designs in two colours each. As you can see, I used all but one of the fabrics, leaving out the dusky pink floral fabric because it didn't go so well with the other colours. The fat quarters are still available to buy here, and they're currently on sale, too! I'll probably blog about the hoop art in more detail another day, if anybody wants to see and hear more about them.

I spent Easter Saturday afternoon hanging out with Rosie on the sofa, mostly watching TV. She's so much happier now she's out of her Cone-of-Shame, and it's fair to say, she's back to her old self again. Look how cute the side of her shaved spotty belly looks from her op! 

I did manage to get off my backside long enough to make some Mini Eggs cornflake bird nests. I like to make some every Easter. They're the easiest, simplest treat to make ever, but you have to admit, they're always so darn tasty! I couldn't find the cake cases, so I ended up having to use muffin cases and make them larger, but I didn't hear any complaints from anyone about that! They were soon demolished by the family.

My Mum also made some butterfly cakes in the Easter daisy cake cases I bought, and used some yellow food dye in the buttercream. They might not look like anything special, but they were delicious.

On Easter Sunday, I spent the morning making up little goodie bags of Easter chocolate to surprise my family with during our Easter meal. I managed to find some foreign Easter chocolate through Amazon Pantry and a specialist sweet shop in Stroud, so it seemed like a great way to share them. I filled white and aqua chevron paper bags with Milka mini, milk chocolate, and biscuit eggs, mini Reester bunnies, Lindt, Cadbury and Malteaser bunnies, Lindt eggs, various Ferrero Rochers, and dark chocolate Segsations, and tied them with some purple curling ribbon. Everybody seemed to love them.

I also gave my Dad a bag of sugar free blackcurrant and liquorice boiled sweets, as he's a diabetic, and couldn't have much of the other stuff. I searched high and low for sugar free Easter chocolate for him, but apart from a cheap looking egg from Holland and Barrett, it doesn't seem to exist anywhere. I even struggled to find mini dark chocolate Easter treats without outrageous shipping fees, which he can eat in small doses, so there's a serious gap in the market for diabetic Easter chocolate. Somebody sort it out!

I also gathered together the Easter treats for my family, and made up an Easter hamper to send to my best friend and her family. I wrapped them up in colourful tissue paper, using Easter ribbons and washi tapes, and even made my own confetti to add to the box using tissue paper circles and a craft punch. I might be the Easter bunny in disguise.

Easter Sunday was spent watching Steel Magnolias (best Easter movie ever- fact!), The Vicar of Dibley's 'The Easter Bunny' episode, and Beauty and the Beast, and on Easter Monday, I curled up with The Sound of Music. Perfect Easter viewing.

This year's Easter loot from the family.

On Easter Sunday, my immediate family and I usually sit down for a big Easter roast dinner together, and this year was no exception. We had roast turkey with all the trimming Christmas-style, and it was absolutely delicious. We only share a meal like this about three times a year, so it's always special, and we always end up laughing until we cry.

Marie made her 'squidgy' chocolate roll- an old Delia recipe she's been making for about twenty years. It's basically the ultimate chocolate Swiss roll with cream and an amazing chocolate mousse running through it, and it's seriously delicious. 

I hung up honeycomb Easter decorations in my bedroom, and started out with the hoop art propped up on my bookshelves because I didn't have enough nails in the wall. (Our walls are ridiculously difficult to drill through, so I need to get a strong pair of hands to put some in for me). I'd ideally love to have a gallery wall above the shelves, full of pictures, cross stitches I've made, photos, and hoop art.

The Easter decorations I had beside the TV in my bedroom, along with a cheerful vase of yellow daffodils that really brightened up the room over Easter. The wooden plaques were both from Sass and Belle, and the polka dot Easter eggs are by Gisella Graham, which I picked up in a garden centre. I really want to find a pretty Easter tree to hang them from next year.

And I also hung a couple of decorations on my wardrobe doors (thanks to the lack of nails on the wall). The little metal heart was another decoration from Sass and Belle, and the giant wooden Easter egg was from Hobbycraft, and only cost me £1! I might paint it next Easter, but I actually think it's pretty cute the way it is.

How did you spend Easter this year?

Getting Ready For Christmas

I'm sorry it's been a little quiet on the blog over the last few days. I had hoped to blog every day this month and had so many posts planned, but I've been completely out of action for over a week (so far), struck down by some of the most unbearable chronic pain I've ever had. I haven't been able to take blog photos for the rest of my Christmas blog posts yet or felt up to typing, so a lot of posts have had to go out the window. It totally sucks, but there isn't anything I can do about it, and I (reluctantly) have to put my health first.

I basically started getting severe pain tingling electrically like pins and needles in my back after wrapping up some presents last week, which spread from a small area to my entire back over night. Over the weekend it finally died down but quickly evolved in to scalding hot pain in my lower back that literally feels like I'm being scalded with boiling water or being burnt with an iron. On top of that, my sciatica has began raging in both legs from hip to toe, and I'm having similar electric tender pain in my arms now, too, which began a couple of days ago. The pain hasn't been this bad in years. I've been living in extreme pain for over five years, but even as a chronic pain sufferer, I'm finding the pain unbearable. I am beginning to worry that something is wrong, but it's hard to know whether it is, or if I'm just having a particularly bad flare or just over did it trying to get organised for Christmas. I probably should go see a doctor, but I'm going to see how it goes over the next few days before I consider it, as I don't particularly want to spend Christmas waiting around for hours in a hospital waiting room, or worse, getting scanned or finding myself hospitalised. I'm hoping it will just magically improve on its own so I can enjoy Christmas and life can get back to normal, but I guess we shall see.

Anyway, thanks to my health, I haven't really been able to enjoy the festivities, or do an awful lot, but I have managed to do a few bits and pieces from my sick bed, mostly lots of crafting, so I thought I'd share some photos of how I've been preparing for Christmas this year.

I've not been able to decorate the house for Christmas this year- for the first time ever, which I'm so sad about- but I was determined to put decorations up in my bedroom so I could still enjoy a little festive cheer from bed. It did take me almost a fortnight to get all of my decorations up, and apparently my bedroom looks like Christmas has thrown up on it, but it looks so festive, and I'm loving it, so who cares? I'll try to blog a little Christmas bedroom tour in the next couple of days so you can see it for yourselves.

I made a start on wrapping up Christmas presents just over a week ago, using the loveliest Cath Kidston mid-century style wrapping paper, ribbons, and jingle bells. I powered through and did some more yesterday, but I still have more to wrap before the weekend.

I wrote all of my Christmas cards last week, using the cutest fifties-style Christmas cards I picked up on sale from Cath Kidston earlier in the year. They're actually from a few Christmases ago but I don't mind because they're lovely. I couldn't resist stamping the envelopes with a Christmas stamp and gold ink.

Last weekend, I spent a relaxing half an hour linking colourful polka dot paper chains, which, shock horror, were also from Cath Kidston. What can I say? I may have a slight Cath Kidston addiction. The paper chains are now hanging up across the beam in the kitchen, as I felt it needed brightening up with some colour.

I spent almost every night during the first half of the month cross stitching dozens of tiny Christmas trees and snowflakes on to my Christmas sampler, and finally finished it last week. I didn't think I'd have enough time to finish it before Christmas, so I'm feeling really pleased and productive right now. I'll blog the finished project as soon as there's some decent daylight to show it off properly.

I've also found time to stitch another one of my Riverdrift House Christmas cross stitch cards, and have made a start on a second. I'm hoping I can finish it and the last two I have to make before Christmas, but with so many other things to do, I don't know if I'll find the time to make all three. I have done a little more since I took this photo yesterday afternoon, though, so who knows.

I also got started on making some festive hoop art over the weekend, using embroidery hoops, felt, and the adorable fifties-style Christmas fat quarters I bought from Hobbycraft a few months ago. I feel like I'm on a roll with crafting at the moment! I still have a few more to make and need to add ribbons and some kind of embellishments to finish them off, and I need to re-do the large blue hoop as the fabric has loosened, but I'm really pleased with what I've done so far. I impress myself sometimes with what I can do when I set my mind to it! I've never made hoop art before nor have I ever tried to blanket stitch (to finish the backs), so they're not bad for a first attempt! 

And that is how I've kept myself busy over the last few weeks. I still have presents to finish wrapping, Christmas crackers and table favours to make, and a couple of parcels to post, but apart from that, I'm just about organised for Christmas now. Just as well, really, as I haven't got the energy for anything else!

How have you spent your free time so far this Christmas? Are you organised for it yet?