tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45083611913503505772024-03-14T18:49:54.919+00:00Make it and Mend itbecause life's too good to throw awayThe Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.comBlogger230125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-20042110075203220482015-03-27T17:11:00.000+00:002015-03-27T17:12:12.896+00:00Win £200 Homebase vouchers in our Spring competition
We've teamed up with Homebase to offer the chance to win £200 of vouchers.
All you have to do is send us your favourite spring cleaning tip.
Full details on how to enter on the main MIAMI websiteThe Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-44711335174268282702014-07-22T16:40:00.005+01:002014-07-22T16:45:10.443+01:00Come on - you know you want to make one!
As someone pointed out on our Facebook page - these could actually come in handy when it comes to dressing shepherds in a school nativity play!
So inspired by that, we thought we'd find you a few more beardy ideas.
Need to knit a Santa's beard? - then here's a pattern for you
Fancy just the beard without the beanie - why not try this pattern
Or for a comprehensive choice of knitted beards &MakeitandMendithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01010619622679981862noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-79618002978511224662014-06-24T12:28:00.001+01:002014-06-24T12:28:31.217+01:00Water, water everywhere....We might have had an incredibly wet winter, but that doesn't mean that we have water to waste. At this time of year we still have to think about using water wisely to avoid the dreaded hosepipe ban!
The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-19432340437203398242014-06-21T17:12:00.000+01:002014-06-21T17:12:06.995+01:00The power of knitting!<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-85981061198283502862014-05-01T11:46:00.003+01:002014-05-01T11:46:59.690+01:00Nature's bounty - wild garlic pesto
MIAMI friend Anne from North Devon posted this picture of her early morning walk with her dogs. Spotting the plentiful wild garlic I suggested she make some pesto. She asked for a recipe and then 40 minutes later, having zipped out again to pick some leaves, she posted a picture on Facebook of the finished result.
If you are lucky enough to have wild garlic growing near you, give it a try - The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-25857225221633932442013-04-27T11:42:00.000+01:002013-04-27T12:19:39.849+01:00Why are the British spending a lot less on DIY?
According to the latest lifestyle report from Mintel – Brits are spending a lot less on DIY than they used to
Back in 2008 one in five claimed that they would spend a £1,000 windfall on home repairs, but that figure has dropped to only 1 in ten. It seems that as our budgets have become tighter we are re-evaluating out priorities. According to the report our top three priorities are now The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-54208655757797803102013-03-09T17:03:00.000+00:002013-03-09T17:03:09.032+00:00Time for me to stop papering over the cracks!<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-75697853572037596562012-10-24T18:05:00.000+01:002012-10-24T18:05:50.460+01:00£300 for you to spend on a home improvement projectOver on the website we're running a new competition. We've teamed up with Wickes, the UK's leading home improvement supplier, to find out what your ultimate home improvement project would be. The winner gets £300 to spent at Wickes and 4 runners up each get £25 each.
So get yourself over to the main site and share your inspiration.
What would it be - swanky new floors for the dining The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-84784920451211693642012-08-20T13:50:00.002+01:002014-02-07T15:38:41.293+00:00Here's what I just made!
I don't like carrying paintbrushes in my pencil case so decided to make a waterproof roll for both brushes and pencils using laminated cotton fabric from our MIAMI shop.
I'll be posting the instructions for this on the website shortly - but I'm very pleased with the result - and made from just a quarter metre of fabric plus some cotton fabric for the edging from my stash - and a The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-5591197275781347972012-08-17T18:28:00.004+01:002014-02-07T15:35:10.316+00:00The best things in life are free...
Well derrr….you
don’t say? There are moments in life
when I wonder about the value of research – and I say this as a
researcher! Do Sainsbury’s need
to spend a vast amount of money to realise that children prefer the
simple things in life?
Sainsbury’s have created a ‘pleasure per penny index’ by asking children aged 5 to 11 to rank
their favourite holiday activitiesThe Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-81245732978457403192012-08-03T15:53:00.001+01:002012-08-03T15:54:35.411+01:00Advance copy of our new book arrives!
The first advance copy of Make it and Mend it, our new book, arrived today.
The book is already pre-selling on Amazon in both UK and USA as well as other online bookstores, including Waterstones and Blackwells. It will be in the shops around about October - just in time for you all to buy it for Christmas gifts! - or add it to your wish list.
The illustrations are beautiful - thank you to theThe Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-80540135194285473792012-07-08T22:09:00.003+01:002012-07-08T22:15:13.346+01:00Lifting a rainy day with decoupage bunting
It being the summer of 2012, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when testing out the new Make it and Mend it Rainy Day Pack, that bunting would feature large in the imaginations of my two trusty testers - Florrie and Martha.
In fact Martha got stuck in with gusto as soon as she realised just how easy it is to decoupage (the art of covering objects with decorative paper).
The girls The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-77211738102298094192012-07-04T12:19:00.001+01:002012-07-04T17:40:14.562+01:00Doing a spot of decoupage
I was about to chuck out this very tired old lampshade. Just as my hand hovered over the dustbin I pulled it back and decided to spend an hour trying to rescue it.
Here's the before:
And here's the after.
Not bad eh? I haven't varnished it yet. Will do that and post the instructions on the website.
Meanwhile here's Hilary's instructions for a decoupage dining The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-41695157430172429682012-07-03T11:56:00.000+01:002012-07-03T17:46:26.601+01:00The Homemade Home for Children
Following on from her fabulous book, The Homemade Home, Sania Pell has written The Homemade Home for Children, a beautifully produced publication with 50 child-friendly projects for parents to make for their children. There are also projects suitable for kids to make themselves.
The book is lavishly illustrated with colour photographs of the finished items and line drawings of the steps The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-42645431316827303802012-06-29T10:38:00.000+01:002012-07-02T12:53:10.980+01:00Cake Glorious cake
MIAMI team meeting at Clare O's today and we've been admiring the birthday cake she's made for her god daughter's Hollywood style birthday party.
It's based on Nigella's Malteser cake and features Maltesers transformed into glitter balls. Looks scrummy - and in order to prevent us from stealing it, Clare has even made a jam and cream sponge for us to have. Can't wait
Clare F
For loads of The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-51690284658039693232012-06-01T18:20:00.001+01:002012-07-03T11:57:51.624+01:00Britain has gone bunting mad!
Its official: the British love a bit of bunting and there’s
nothing like a royal celebration to bring it out in full force. Wherever you look in cities, towns, small hamlet or out in the wilds, there's bunting fluttering in the
breeze.
It seems that bunting brings out the party animals in all of
us and sums up our summer celebrations. But
don’t panic if you haven’t got your The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-6882557526652772032012-04-18T17:28:00.000+01:002012-04-18T17:28:32.752+01:00Queen in a day!<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4ptThe Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-12026605957019995962012-03-19T18:06:00.000+00:002012-03-19T18:10:10.538+00:00We've finished the shoots for our new book
It's been harder work than we thought - so many things to make and all the step-by-steps to be done, but we're pleased to say "It's a wrap folks!"
The last of our total 6 days of still photography was on location down in Dorset, after 3 days at Hilary's and 2 day's at mine (Clare F). We're really excited about the book, although publication date still seems a long way away - not till October. The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-38173285165449225112012-03-14T09:46:00.003+00:002012-03-14T18:30:05.802+00:00Casserole dishes no longer a family essential!
The basket of goods and services used by the UK government to calculate the annual inflation rate is updated every year by the Office of National Statistic (ONS).
It's an interesting take on what the modern family considers essential (in the government's eyes at least).
The latest basket of contents - containing hundreds of items - was published this week. Not surprisingly, tablet PCs The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-53290061718390346992012-02-16T09:28:00.002+00:002012-02-16T12:37:42.149+00:00We love Too Good To WasteWe caught celebrity chef Thomasina Miers on BBC 1 Breakfast TV yesterday. She's owner of the Wahaca Mexican restaurants in London and has thrown her stylish eateries behind the Too Good To Waste campaign.
The campaign was launched by the Sustainable Restaurant Association towards the end of last year and is designed to make diners feel more comfortable about asking for doggy bags or boxes and The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-53858254479640752482012-02-08T15:52:00.003+00:002012-02-08T15:52:42.816+00:00Our first shoot
Hilary and I spent yesterday with the team from our publishers doing the first of several shoots for our new book, Make it and Mend it, which comes out in October.
We did it at Hilary's place, dashing between the greenhouse and summer house and freezing to death out in the snow. The team - Pru from the publishers, photographer Sian and her assistant Nick, were marvellous and very tolerant of The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-60922745312023050032012-01-22T22:29:00.000+00:002012-03-14T18:31:12.450+00:00Made with love...
Recent research has shown Our good intentions can ease pain and add to
our sense of pleasure…they can even make food taste better.
Researchers at the Maryland Mind
Perception and Morality Lab have found that physical events are influenced by the perceived
contents of another person's mind. "It seems we also use the intentions of
others as a guide for basic physical experience," whether The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-81979364348248022762012-01-16T20:09:00.000+00:002012-03-14T18:31:39.852+00:00Blue Monday - You're having a laugh!
Today is ‘Blue Monday’, allegedly the most miserable day of
the year, due to
a combination of factors such as the weather, proximity to Christmas, levels
of debt etc. So it’s
interesting that on the supposedly the ‘worst’ day of the year a new report is launched in the press suggesting that money does indeed make us
happy. According to a comprehensive think tank report, our The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-59998926290746107022012-01-03T16:18:00.002+00:002012-03-14T18:32:00.275+00:00Make 'making' your New Year resolution
This Christmas I set out to make as many presents as possible myself. What surprised me was that I received several handmade gifts myself - as well as the means for making more - materials, equipment or instructional books. So much so, that on Christmas morning we all started yelling "Craft!" in unison every time someone opened a present that was either hand made or related to making or The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4508361191350350577.post-25704661967226507792011-12-22T11:08:00.001+00:002012-03-14T18:33:24.141+00:00When does hoarding become a bad thing?
Hands up those of you who saw the documentary about hoarding last night?
Judging by Twitter I wasn’t alone in feeling very disturbed by the lack of compassion or understanding that some of the neighbours displayed ..and a feeling of intense claustrophobia!
Mental health issues aside, what particularly struck me was how fine the line is between storing and The Make it and Mend it teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09407823260535646002noreply@blogger.com2