As the holiday festivities come to an end, the decorations get boxed away for another year and the mind starts diffing back to the To Do list you left on your desk pre the festive break, it important to embrace the new and make plans. This year I have kept it very simple, I plan to craft more and share more. I have for years made grand resolutions that barely make it to the end of January let alone the year so I have gone for a simple pledge to do more of what I enjoy and share more with you guys.

Today is the last day of the holiday for me and tomorrow it’s back to the craziness of working in education. So I made sure today was a day of simple pleasures, a roast dinner, simple tea and cake and craft. The day started with making Fox a small friend for Able the rabbit. You may also notice Able has gained a cosy blanket in preparation for the cold weather.

Talking of the bad weather, here in the Fens it was very disappointing to wake up to no snow when friends further afield had all woken up to the magic of a snow blanket over their homes. Although it made those last minute jobs easier to not have to fight wet dogs and sludge to get things done.

Back to today and having introduced Fox to Able I began a new project inspired by the first glimpses of life as we approach the spring, January dog walks always involve looking out for the few flowers in bud and trying to spot the increasingly rare snowdrops. This year I decided to make my own, and as a terrible gardener I thought I better stick to what I know best – paper.

Made with crepe paper these are so very easy to create and look lovely in a little bud vase (maybe slightly bigger than my 3D printed one). They are quick and fairly effortless to make with some simple supplies.

Florist wire – 28 gauge

Florist tape – Light Green

Crepe paper — Green, White, Lemon

White thread

you simply wrap the wires with tape and then add the fringe inner petals and then outer petals securing each layer with thread knotted to hold each layer in pace. Once the layers are all in place you cover the top of the flower with tape to seamlessly join to the wire and hold in place. Finally you can shape the petals by opening up the crepes. Leaves are made in a similar fashion and can be place halfway down the flower stem or added on their own. Once you have a few I made 5 flowers and 6 leaves you can arrange them into your vase.

The whole vase of flowers was created in a little over an hour and sits pride of place on my desk offering a glimpse of nature whilst I get ready for work tomorrow.