All round creative junkie

Thriftiest Blogger Challenge?! This challenge from the Festival of Thrift had my name written all over it. 

The Festival of Thrift is a national festival celebrating all things thrifty, crafty, upcycled and creative and aims to inspire people to live life with more of a make do and mend attitude. We’ve all got an inner creative beast hidden inside us and there is something for everyone at the FoT. I’ve spent the last two years helping Max McMurdo for the whole weekend. We built a beach hut out of pallets along with Charis Williams, then last year Max enlisted the help of Laura Jane Clarke for the FoT’s very own Shed of The Year, built with upcycled Cuprinol paint tins! It’s all about reusing and revamping the things we have around us and becoming less of a throwaway society. It’s quite possibly my favourite weekend of the year.

This year’s Festival is on 26th & 27th September and it coincides with the 190th anniversary of the world’s first passenger steam train that travelled between Stockton and Darlington. The first passenger steam train was named Locomotion No.1 and, as luck would have it, I’m actually related to George Stephenson. My Great Uncle looked into our family tree and George Stephenson is something like my Great Great Great Grandmothers cousin. Okay, so its very distant but I’m still claiming it!

The brief was to use cardboard boxes that I had at home to create something railway-inspired. It could have been a cardboard train, carriage or station – I chose none of the above! The FoT is also held at Lingfield Point, the former home of Patons and Baldwins wool factory, so it seemed only fitting to use wool with my cardboard letters.

Here’s a little how to…

Start by drawing out your letters onto cardboard and cutting out with either scissors or a craft knife. A craft knife is probably better as the cardboard can be quite tricky with scissors and bends easily.

I’ve collected a mountain of wool, all from charity shops or friends. You’d be amazed how cheap wool can be in charity shops! I’ve chosen colours to tie in with the Festival of Thrift.

Start with a strip of double sided tape to hold the end in place and get wrapping. When you’re finished just tuck the end underneath the wrapped parts ad it should hold in place. For all the other tricky edges where the wool might slip, double sided tape is a life saver.

This is a great inexpensive craft for kids to get involved in too. Much cheaper than the wooden letter you can buy, but it gets them designing too. They can make their own name, favourite film character or even just initials. My son helped me make this one and declared it ‘epic’.

The final result, with added steam! The O’s were a bit of a gift as they act like train wheels.

This year I’m actually attended just as a visitor. I’m going to explore, take part in other peoples workshops, catch up with people I only ever speak to on twitter and soak it all up for the whole weekend!

Find out more about the festival and the workshops you can attend here.