Welcome to Handmade Monday, our weekly link up for all things handmade. Crafts, decor ideas and recipes are all welcome here, if it’s handmade we are happy for you to share it.

I had a slightly odd week this past week. I spent a large chunk of time getting my paperwork in order ready for my tax return - fun times! I also had a hospital appointment, it’s a regular screening/monitoring thing but one that requires some prep and a day or two of not feeling 100%. When I have time like this I usually resort to some gentle crafting and this time, after watching a couple of hours of daytime tv, I had the urge to make some bags. Not too much thinking required but the need to be creative and “make something” was satisfied. I made several bags which will be listed in my Etsy shop including these project bags. They are roomy but not too big, have a drawstring plus handles which makes them very practical - you can find the pattern for them here - Drawstring Project Bag if you want to make your own.

Now let’s take a peek at the features from last week’s Handmade Monday. Click through on the photos to see the original posts.

• Please remember if you want to pin any of these ideas please make sure you click through via the photo to the original project.

Penny from Penny’s Vintage Home has used an old sewing machine in her decorating and it looks so pretty. Considering what terrible shape it is in she has worked a bit of a miracle I think!

Lisa from Fresh Vintage by Lisa S showed us how to make cards using the iris folding technique, great for using up scraps.

Felt lemons and limes from The Yellow Bird House, perfect for summer decorating and maybe they’d make great pincushions too?

Congratulations to you all There is a "YAY I was featured" button over here if you want to add one to your blog.

A like on social media, a comment or share is an easy way for us all to help to support one another so please do take a moment to visit some of the other projects linked up this week. It’s not mandatory to be able to join in here, there’s no easy way to check if you did but it costs nothing but a few minutes of your time.

The rules for Handmade Monday are very simple:

• Did you make it? Yes - then yay! We'd love to see it

• Add the link to a specific post, not your main blog url

• You can link up to 3 posts each week but try to make sure it's not something that you've shared here before

• Mingle - visit some other links - comment - share - be social

CAN I REMIND EVERYONE THAT HANDMADE MONDAY IS NOT A PLACE FOR SELLING SO NO LINKS TO ETSY OR OTHER SELLING PAGES, THEY WILL ALWAYS BE REMOVED. THANKS

If you are not sure of anything more details can be found here

Julie