The Diamond Jubilee Build-Up - Day Three

Good morning and a special hello to all the new visitors to my blog. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying the Jubilee event on This is Wiss so far.


It's Day Three already and today I've got a couple of tutorials to help you get into the Jubilee spirit.


Crowning Glory


All the children were asked to wear a crown to nursery today, and although Wiss prefers his one made from gold card and sellotape (no accounting for taste!), I thought I'd show you how I made the felt crowns for the Queen & Country exhibition. 


I did cheat a little by cutting out my felt using a lasercutter, but if you don't have one of these at your disposal then careful cutting with scissors or a scalpel will be just as good. This crown does require some fiddly machine sewing, turning all the corners but it's still very quick to come together.


Start by measuring the head of your intended King or Queen, then add a few centimeters to this to allow for the Velcro overlap. Draw a repeating crown shape as simple or fancy as you wish. 

Washing Line Bunting


This idea is so simple that it's almost not worth a tutorial, but our bunting has been making me smile all week so I thought I should still share it. I love bunting; it's quintessentially British! But it can be a little fiddly to make and I always have a problem with where to hang it. And then I had a brainwave!


While Lewis was napping I cut triangles of red, white and blue card using pinking scissors (but normal scissors will do!) I folded over the top 2cm of each flag and pressed down to make a flap. When he woke up I enlisted his help to hang them on the washing line in our garden. He knows his colours and loved shouting out the name of each one as we hung it up. I used some cute bird pegs to secure them but any peg will do!

Once the washing line is full of bunting make sure you pull it up high so that you don't garrote anyone (I speak from experience!) But that's it. Bunting....done!

Tomorrow's post comes from another special guest, Amy from No More Disco so please don't forget to come back and visit for some more great Jubilee ideas.


I'd love to hear what you have planned for the Jubilee weekend so please leave a comment. Have a great day!

Handmade Diamond Jubilee Limited Editions!

As promised, I am back with some very exciting This is Wiss news! (In fact, there was so much news that I'm splitting it into two posts so you don't get overwhelmed!)

Jubilee Fever has struck! Regardless of your royalist beliefs, it's hard not to get carried away by these kind of events when you have children; it's a great opportunity to have fun (and of course, dress up!).

I wanted to make something to give a nod to the occasion so I was honored when I was approached by The Noverre Gallery & Shop who were interested in my Bobby Horses. They are running an exhibition called 'Queen & Country' which invites artists to interpret the title in their own quirky way. I decided to make a strictly limited edition series of 'All the Queen's Horses'.

The Queen's Horses are made from red, navy and grey wool blend felt, with reinforced vintage button eyes and bamboo blended wool for manes. So far, they are not all that different to the standard Bobby Horse but there are a couple of special touches:

Diamond Jubilee 2012 has been lasered onto the handle, along with the edition number for the strict limited run of only twelve horses made. And of course, there are the usual ribbons and bells.

You can't really think about 'Queen and Country' without thinking about a crown either, so I've also made some very simple but cute felt crowns. These are lasered from yellow wool-blend felt before being sewn together with round felt 'jewels'. They are adjustable with either Velcro or elastic to fit all kids' head sizes. Unfortunately, Wiss wasn't a very willing model so I had to enlist the help of someone more compliant!

'Queen and Country' runs at the Noverre Gallery in Norwich from 1 June - 27 August so pop along if you are in the area, it looks like it will be a really interesting exhibition. If you  aren't local to Norwich but would like to purchase either a Queen's Horse or a Crown then please contact me directly on mail@thisiswiss.co.uk

As Jubilee fever increases I have one more surprise planned - a 5 day blog event leading up to the long weekend! It will run from Monday 29 May - Friday 1 June, with craft ideas, recipes, activities for kids and some wonderful guest bloggers. Please stop by next week for some inspiration and if you're making any Jubilee-related items then I'd love to know about them...

I will be posting again very soon with more news about improvements to existing best-sellers, and an exciting new venue for Sell it Mama this Saturday!