How to customise your pin-board and pins

Have you just gone back to school or college or do you just feel the need to get organised? Well here's a cheap and funky way to do it!

You need: (pictures a&b)

• a cheap pin-board
• metal tacks
• glue
• buttons
• paint

Choose a selection of buttons in a nice colour scheme and in different sized and then glue them to the metal tacks. (picture a)

While you are leaving them to dry paint the frame of the pin-board. Use masking tape to protect the cork whilst you paint. I got the polka-dot effect by dipping the wrong end of a paint brush in white paint and then using it as a stamp.

When the paint is dry remove the masking tape, put the pins in the board and hang it up somewhere. (pictures c&d)

this might help someone...

So I said that I found it hard to crochet with the fluffy wool - this is how I made it easier. I tied some thread to the wool and crocheted with both together - the thread made it easier to see where the stitches were.

a gift for a friend

This was the first time I experimented with using eyelash yarn - it was pretty hard to use! It's very hard to see the individual stitches and so it's hard to keep the right number of stitches in each row, especially when using the more fluffy yarn used on the jumper sleeves. But I did it - and I'm very happy with the result - as is the friend I gave it too :)

box of bits

a box of bits is essential for every kind of crafter! amongst other things, in my box you can see a variety of eyes which I buy from Enami Eyes and some patterned fabric from Liberty of London.