Grow your own garlic

There’s no need to wait until the shortest day (mid June in the southern hemisphere) to plant your garlic bulbs. Get them in the ground now to get them off to a good start. Although tradition says to plant garlic on the shortest day and harvest it on the longest, you can plant them as early as April and harvest around the new year. The earlier you plant, the quicker they’ll establish roots before the ground cools down. Then come spring, plants can focus their energy on leaf growth and bigger and better bulbs. Buy seed garlic from garden centres or use organically grown bulbs from fruit and vegetable shops. Avoid imported garlic, which is fumigated to stop sprouting. Break off the individual cloves and use only the fattest ones (you can eat the rest or plant the smaller cloves in another part of the garden and harvest the leaves as you would spring onions).
Plant about 5cm deep, with pointy end up, in a sunny spot in fertile, well-drained soil that has plenty of compost dug in.

Make a puzzle

Photo puzzle blocks are easy to make. It’s simply a matter of cutting wood into cubes and gluing on pictures. Use pictures from old, damaged books or print an image from your computer. You can cover all sides of the blocks with different images, or leave a couple of sides bare. Our blocks measure 450mm x 450mm each.

1. Choose images that are about the same size as your finished block puzzle (or reshape images on your computer), then print onto semi-gloss photo paper and allow to dry. When dry, trim to the same size as your puzzle when it’s put together. 
2. Position the blocks and place a rubber band around them to hold in place. Apply glue to the blocks (we used a spray adhesive) then place the image on top and press down. Let the glue dry completely, then use a craft knife to cut the blocks apart.
3. Scramble the blocks, then remake your puzzle!

Make a wooden Train

 You’ll need:
• 400mm x 250mm x 25mm piece of wood
• 8mm dowelling (for wheel axle)
• 15mm dowelling (for chimney)
• Hooks and eyes
• Jigsaw
• Power drill
• Hole saw

Classic toys such as wooden trains are ever popular with children. Save money and build your youngster one with our easy step-by-step instructions. We used pine for the body of the train and rimu for the wheels to provide a slightly different colour.

1. Print out template, cut out pattern, then trace outline of train onto wood. Cut shape out with a jigsaw. Use a hole saw to cut out the windows.
2. Cut out 12 wheels using hole saw. Drill two axle holes on each carriage, 5mm up from bottom edge. Drill the holes just big enough for the dowelling to fit snugly. Drill holes in wheels.
3. Cut 6 pieces of 8mm dowelling, each 50mm long. Push through axle holes, then fit wheels. You may need to hammer the wheels in place.
4. Drill a pilot hole into one end of chimney, and the top of train where chimney is to go. Cut off the
   tip of a nail and insert it into the hole on the chimney. Hammer the chimney into place. Fix hooks and
   eyes to train and carriages.

Make a cake stand

These DIY cake stands are so easy and so cheap to make you’ll be whipping up dozens of them for fancy gifts. They’re the perfect cake stand for high tea parties with their lovely vintage designs.

1. Pop down to your local charity shop and buy a collection of vintage plates and small glass vases. You’ll need three different size plates (a dinner plate for the bottom, a cake serving plate for the middle, and a side dish for the top), plus a couple of glass vases. The vases do not have to be matching. Small glass candlestick holders work too.
2. Then simply glue the plates and vases together. You need a strong adhesive that bonds glass and ceramics. We bought ours from a building supply store. If making just one tier, place the vase at the bottom. For two tiers, the large plate goes on the bottom. Allow to dry, then serve fresh cakes!

Fabric pots

This DIY project couldn’t be easier. It’s simply a matter of gluing some pretty fabric onto a pot. Use a reasonably thick fabric otherwise the glue will show through. We used a spray adhesive, but any craft glue will do. You can pot these up and present them to Mum, but we suggest placing a slightly smaller plastic pot inside these terracotta pots. 1 hourproject

1. Cut a shape from your fabric, as shown, on the bias. Cutting on the bias gives the fabric some give when stretching it around the pots.
2. Spray or brush adhesive on both pot and fabric, as per manufacturer’s instructions. Stretch the fabric around the pot and press down firmly. Fold edges over the rim of pot and at the bottom. Smooth out any bubbles, pressing the fabric down until it sticks to the pot

Blooming delight

Love flowers? Then you’ll love this blossom-covered pincushion.

MATERIALS

• Felt (lilac, pale yellow, green, grey)
• Embroidery thread (pale yellow, mustard, olive)
• Cardboard
• Cotton stuffing

 Cut out pincushion pieces using the template. Using pale yellow embroidery thead, stitch largest flower to one of the round circles, as shown. Stitch veins on the middle-sized flower as well.

1. Position middle flower on top of bottom flower and stitch in place. Position smallest flower on top of that and stitch in place. Position small circle on top and stitch in place. Then sew French knots in the centre of the flower using pale yellow and mustard embroidery thread.
2. Take a petal and pull the bottom corners together. Stitch to hold. Repeat for remaining petals. Then join two petals together to look like an opening bud. Wrap a small piece of pale yellow felt around the bottom of the two petals and stitch to hold in place. Sew the three buds to the pincushion band.
3. Using yellow and mustard embroidery thread, sew French knots onto the yellow felt beneath the petals. Using olive embroidery thread, sew a stalk right around the band, using backstitch. Cut out 6 leaves from green felt and sew in place.

Lavender hearts

Reinventing the arts of needlepoint and cross stitch, Cath Kidston’s delightful book Stitch! is an inspiring reference for today’s crafter.

No book of needlework projects is ever complete without a lavender bag! This aromatic posy sachet is a great beginner’s project, which introduces some basic hand-sewing skills. It requires only a small amount of thread and fabric, so you’ll have enough materials left over to make a few more for your friends.

MATERIALS
• 15cm square of 14-count cross-stitch fabric
• DMC stranded embroidery thread in the following colours: ecru (ecru); mid-pink (603); brown (840); green (954); lilac (3042); dark pink (3804)
• cross-stitch needle
• 10cm square of light-weight iron-on interfacing
• 15cm square of backing fabric
• 30cm narrow lace edging
• tracing paper and pencil
• matching sewing thread
• dried lavender

1. Fold the cross-stitch fabric lightly into quarters to mark the centre point. Starting with the flowers and working out to the leaves, sew the motif using two strands of embroidery thread.
2. Trace or photocopy the heart template, and cut it out. Place the template on to the interfacing and draw around the outside edge with a sharp pencil. Cut along the outline.
3. Position the heart centrally over the back of the completed embroidery, with the adhesive side downwards. Following the manufacturer’s guidelines, iron it in place. (This will prevent the lavender working through the holes in the fabric).
4. Now tack the template directly over the interfacing and trim the cross-stitch fabric down to an 8mm margin all round. Snip into the fabric at top of the heart.
5. Turn back the margin and tack it to the template, easing it round the curves. Press from the wrong side and remove the template.
6. Fold the lace in half to find the centre. Starting with this point tucked behind the tip of the heart, slip stitch the lace along the right edge of the heart. Tuck the loose end down between the two curves at the top and stitch in place. Sew the other edge in the same way.
7. Tack the template to the backing fabric, then trim and tack the edges as you did before to make a neatened heart.
8. With wrong sides facing, pin and tack the front to the back.
9. Stitch together around the end, passing the needle from front to back and through the lace. Leave a 3cm opening along one edge.
10. Fill the bag with lavender, a teaspoon full at a time, pushing the dried buds right into the curves. Close the gap with neat slip stiches.