Here at the YCL studio, we love to gift our loved ones handmade and intentional gifts. With the silly season quickly approaching, we thought we would each share a snippet into what we are creating this year.
Team YCL xx
Made by Hand: Alternative Gifts for Christmas
Artwork featuring Pressed Flowers
Pressing flowers is one of my favourite past times. I love enjoying a living flower and then watching it go through it's life cycle. There is beauty in both phases of a flower's life. Being repurposed again and pressing for gifts or crafty creations is so rewarding. This year I am making my family members a piece of art using the flowers I have pressed throughout the year. I enjoy arranging a few flowers on a beautiful card stock, gluing them into place and gifting to those I love for their homes. I have further discussed how to press flowers & make a flower press yourself in this post.
Fabienne x
Beeswax Wraps
I’m making beeswax wraps for not only Christmas gifts but to also use instead of wrapping paper. Not only do these make great gifts however they also reduce plastic and food waste, as well as adding a personal handmade touch. The fabric I've used are off cuts from quilts my Mother in-law makes and the beeswax comes from a family friend's private beehive. The recipe comes from Biome which I’ve linked here.
Rach x
Making Old Memories New Again with VHS Conversion
I love restoring old memories so this year I am converting old video cassettes for my loved ones. This can be done by using your parent's or grandparent's dusty cassettes. It is quite a timely process however such a beautiful way to bring old memories back to life again. This is a DIY guide that is cost effective and a thoughtful gift to give.
Charlotte x
You will need:
– Your VHS Tapes
– VHS Player (Order off ebay or you could probably find one on gumtree)
– VHS converter
– Software Download
– External Hardrive (to keep the files safe)
– Mac/PC Computer
Step 1:
Match the convertor cords to the players output (Yellow, Red,White)
Step 2:
Plug converter into your your computer. (Make sure to plug in before software is downloaded)
Step 3:
Download your software and follow the prompts.
Step 4:
Depending on the software it will give you instructions to follow and you will be able to record (video & audio) your tapes and save as a regular MP4 file.
Step 5:
Make sure to save your files on an external hard drive or online file sharing app like dropbox, ICloud or google drive to keep your videos safe forever.
Homemade Artwork
My favourite thing to do is sketch so this year I wanted to gift my loved ones pieces of my artwork. This is quite a simple process and you can use whatever you have lying around at home. Try to opt for recycled paper if you can (you can find a beautiful selection on Etsy or here.) I've used textured recycled paper and charcoal as it's so much fun to work with. However the world is your oyster! Have fun with it and add your own personal touch by using whatever you feel called to. To finish, you can simply wrap your artwork up in twine or frame it for a more polished look.
Em x
