After Marie-Kondo-ing our closets, we were left with several t-shirts which weren't well suited for donating. I cut several up to use as dusters and polishing cloths (they're great for glass and mirrors!), but decided to re-purpose the remaining few to use as dishcloths, as the texture is great for scrubbing without damage to delicate plates.

T-shirt yarn, I've discovered, is surprisingly fun to work with. You'll need chunky needles, which should only cost a couple of pounds from a haberdashery, a large sharp pair of scissors, and just a little patience. Plus any old t-shirts which are past their best.

To make t-shirt yarn, you'll want to create one long piece from each t-shirt.

Cut off the bottom seam, then just under the arms, in straight lines, like this:

Turn the t-shirt on it's side, then cut up from the bottom in straight lines about 1 inch apart, leaving one inch at the top:


This next bit is trickier to explain. Move the uncut section (which should run across a side-seam) to the centre, then cut diagonally to the left to join each section. The first cut from the left should go right to the edge, and will form one end of your yarn. Then the second strip on the bottom will join to the first strip on the top, and so on.

This should leave you with one long strip of fabric. Now for the magic!

Take the yarn on small sections between your hands and pull it taught. You'll find the yarn stretches and curls in on itself.



Once it's all done, you can wrap it into a ball and get knitting!

For me, knowing how many stitches to cast on was a bit hit and miss. I gauged much easier with the pale fabric, cut from an XL-sized men's t-shirt with 20 stitches. The striped one was much smaller so I cast on 15, but ended up with a long rectangle!

Once you've finished your square (or rectangle) you can finish it off by pulling the remaining yarn through the final stitch to knot, then weaving the end through your stitching to neaten it off.

I found the process very satisfying: the chunky yarn makes for quick and easy projects, though I'm yet to discover how to join t-shirt yarn neatly to knit something larger.

Will you try this project yourself? Let us know how you get on, or if you have any hints and tips, by leaving your comments below.

Christmas shopping provided a glutton of gloriously scented clementines. Traditionally, oranges were given as gifts and placed in the foot of a stocking. Though this tradition harks back to less prosperous times when fresh fruit was considered a rare and expensive treat, it is also steeped in festive legend.

During his lifetime, Saint Nicholas was a bishop whose generosity to give while expecting nothing in return appears to have inspired our practice of gifting at Christmas. The legend tells us that he was travelling through a village where a widowed father was troubled that he could not afford dowries for his three beautiful daughters. Saint Nicholas, upon hearing of the poor widower's plight, knew the man would be too proud to accept money as a gift. Instead, he threw three bags of gold down chimney of the family home, under the cover of night. One of the bags caught a stocking which had been hung to dry on the fireplace, which overnight hardened into a ball of gold, now symbolised by the vibrant colour of oranges in our modern homage to the legend.

Since today is the Winter Solstice (just four sleeps away from the big day), my daughter and I decided to decorate a few as pomanders to scent our home and dinner table centrepiece. Here's how to make your own.

What you will need:

• Firm citrus fruits (we used clementines, but you could just as easily use oranges or grapefruits)
• A jar of whole cloves
• (Optional) Cocktail sticks or a thin nail, to pierce the skin
• A citrus zester or vegetable peeler
• (Optional) Ribbon or baker's twine, if you want to hang your finished pomanders

Instructions

1. Using the corner of your citrus zester (or the corner of a vegetable peeler, though this will create wider lines), carve a design into the skin of your fruit. Be sure to apply a light touch, so as not to expose the fruit inside. For our designs, we used a combination of swirls and lines.
2. Once you've finished scoring your design, push whole cloves into the gaps of your design. We've found that more cloves not only provide a stronger scent, but allow the fruit to dry out faster, giving them a longer shelf life. Using a cocktail stick or thin nail to break tough citrus skin can help you push in the cloves more easily.
3. To finish, you could arrange your pomanders in a bowl or on a plate, using greenery, fir cones or other festive to decorate. If you would like to hang your pomanders, wrap a ribbon or colourful baker's twine around the outside and tie a loop at the top. 

Unfortunately, pomanders don't usually have a long shelf life and may become mouldy. You may want to display them for only a few hours each day, refrigerating between sessions to prolong their life and scent. Alternatively, hang them in a cool dry place to enable the flesh to completely dry out.

We hope you will enjoy making your own spiced pomander balls! If you have any tips to prolong the life of these festive treats, please feel free to share in the comments below.

As my children and I were all labouring under the effects of persistent colds, I remembered a "recipe" for herbal steam tablets in the January edition of Daphne's Diary. Made using bicarbonate of soda and essential oils, these tablets are intended to release lovely smelling vapours to invigorate while you shower and they're very easy to make at home.

Here's how we made our own herbal steam tablets, along with a few tips we learned along the way.

For the past month I've been collecting ideas and inspiration in preparation for a complete home makeover. Pinterest has proved a valuable tool for my research: I've found dozens of amazing DIY projects which are not only easy, they're pretty thrifty too!

Over the net few months, we plan to try several of these projects as we work through our home (and I'll be sure to post them on Glamumous for you to see the results). In the meantime, I've collected my favourite DIY tutorials in this post to provide inspiration and ideas for your own home improvement projects.

Sending thank you cards or notes is a wonderful tradition to show appreciation for the gifts or experiences offered by family and friends over the holidays.

Having received some truly thoughtful gifts this year, I wanted to find some beautiful notecards and scoured Pinterest for inspiration and discovered a plethora of delightful printable designs which we can use for free!

Here is a hand-picked selection of my favourite Christmas thank you printables, including designs suitable for both adults and children. If you've not already organised your post-holiday stationary, you're sure to find your something ideal for your needs in this list!

Some of the most precious gifts are those which are hand-crafted with thought and love. But unfortunately, not all hand-made gifts are made equal. Home-baked cookies and embellished photo frames have become somewhat commonplace in the realm of DIY gifting.

For this post, I set out to collect a huge list of gift ideas which are truly remarkable: those which I would not only feel proud to have made, but would secretly like to keep for myself... Furthermore, if supplies are needed to create these clever DIY projects, the total should not exceed $10 (or about £5) per gift.

Whether you are on a tight budget or simply want to create a more meaningful gesture this Christmas, consider making one of these 65 desirable DIY gifts for friends and family members to enjoy.