It can be difficult buying a special birthday present for your mum or friend this September, especially as money is tight and everyone is waiting for pay day.

But it doesn’t have to cost the earth to be able to treat your loved-one to an exceptional gift for her birthday.

A handmade present that requires a lot of effort to make shows you have gone above and beyond this year and that you really care for them. So why not make them some gorgeous new jewellery to wear this autumn/winter?

You don’t have to be a craft professional to make a necklace or bracelet as skill levels can vary from beginner, intermediate to expert. And often the jewellery can be made in as little as 15 minutes, so rest assured if you are short on cash this month that you can still give your auntie, niece or best pal a prezzie for her birthday without breaking the bank!

Jewellery making can range from simple heart pendants, to glass or wooden beads; just let your imagination flow using bits and bobs of buttons and ribbons. Personalise the charms and jewels by including her favourite colours and why not splash out and make a matching set of earrings and necklace to really make her smile?

Check out some of the brilliant ideas below that Ulster Weavers have found for you…

Heart Pendant

Make this simple necklace with seed beads of your choice and finish it in only 30 minutes.

 Instructions

 Turquoise & Lime Ribbon Bracelet

This project only takes around 15 minutes and is simple to make with buttons and ribbon. Why not get colour co-ordinating materials and make a matching necklace?

Instructions

Knitted Jewellery Collection

This collection includes necklace, bracelet and earrings. It is a little adventurous for the beginner, so perhaps practise on other projects and gain skill and confidence before trying this. It will take around 2 hours to make it all.

Instructions

If on the other hand you want to treat her to some gorgeous homeware that is also affordable; have a look at our gift ideas that consist of cute canvas bags, cosmetic bags and linen tea towels!

V&A Strawberry Thief Cosmetic Bag

V&A Golden Lily Small Canvas Bag

Marilyn Cotton Tea Towel

This weekend is the Great British Cheese Festival in Wales!

OK we don’t expect you to travel all the way there, if for example you live in Ireland like us, but it is a fantastic excuse to celebrate all that is great about cheese with Ulster Weavers cheese homeware.

There are hundreds of kinds of cheese that are produced throughout the world in a vast array of shapes, colours, textures and smells.

In general, cheese supplies a great deal of calcium, protein, phosphorus and fat as part of a healthy diet and is a vital source of nutrition. Some studies suggest that the right amount of intake even help prevent tooth decay.

But worldwide it is an agricultural product as it essentially comes from cow’s milk; and according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation in America, over 18 million metric tons of cheese were produced worldwide in 2004 alone. So imagine how much that figure would have increased by now!

The biggest exporter of cheese is France and the biggest importer is Germany, in comparison to East Asia in which cheese and other dairy products is rarely found in dishes. 

There are too many types of cheese to list but hot favourites include;

- Brussels

- Blue

- Edam

- Goats

- Feta

- Swiss

- Stilton

- Brie

- Lancashire

- Cottage

- Mozzarella

- Parmesan

-Cheddar

- Halloumi

So whether you like to eat hard, soft or flavoured cheese; make sure you install some cheesy kitchen essentials into the home with the help of Ulster Weavers.

Check out our fantastic range of cheese aprons, gauntlets, cotton tea towels and double oven gloves. And even better, some of the items are on sale!

Cheeses Double Oven Glove

Cheese Label Cotton Tea Towel

Cheese Label Cotton Apron

The leaves change colour in the autumn and go from lush green to yellows, oranges and browns.

As the summer ends and the days get shorter, the reduced amount of light triggers the trees to get ready for the winter and store their food.

Chlorophyll is a chemical which gives plants their green colour and as a result of the trees resting for the winter months, the green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves and therefore the bright green fades away.

Many leaves fall off the branches during freezing temperatures and rather than them going to waste, why not pop along to your local park with your children and collect a vast array of colours to create some natural art?

It can be hard to amuse the kids during the winter as the weather is so cold outside, so have fun indoors by picking up yellow, brown and orange leaves and taking them home to do arts and crafts.

Turn dead leaves into a colourful painting, drawing or sculpture and let the creativity flow! Just wear on of Ulster Weavers aprons to protect everyone’s clothing from being ruined.

There are lots of ideas to make including leaf stencils and mobiles, to collages and photo frames. Get imaginative and create autumn leaf name tags for the family meal- the possibilities are endless!

So pop on one of our PVC childrens aprons and have fun making arts and crafts inside this winter with the little ones; you don’t need to spend lots of money to have really expensive toys to entertain the youngsters this Christmas holiday. .

Check out Ulster Weavers gorgeous apron ranges for both adults and children today by clicking here!

Painting Child's PVC Apron

RHS Hooker's Orchard Cotton Apron

RHS Catalogue Of Seeds PVC Apron

Shiver me timbers, it is Talk Like A Pirate Day!

The recognised holiday encourages all Brits to inject some pirate-themed words and noises into everything you say and do today.

OK it may be taking it a little bit too far to go into work dressed like a pirate with an eye patch, hat and toy parrot; but you can decorate the home in swashbuckler textiles with Ulster Weavers Treasure Island ranges.

The kids can spend the day making each other ‘walk the plank’ and roaring ‘yarrrr’ whilst they dress up and play games. Go wild with creativity and create a treasure hunt for the children to do with the goal of some buried treasure. They can get excited searching around the house and garden solving clues, like a real-life adventurer!

After the kids have worn themselves out running all over the place, have fun baking pirate cakes and cupcakes in the kitchen with Ulster Weavers Treasure Island Child’s PVC Aprons.

All our childrens aprons are super cute to ensure the little monsters don’t dirty their clothes when cooking but our Treasure Island range is perfect for the special day. And our cotton apron in the range is great for any cheeky monkeys!

Finish off the whole pirate chef look with Ulster’s Treasure Island Child’s Chef Hat, so they really feel like the top buccaneer. So gather your hearties round to the house and have fun this Talk Like A Pirate Day with our fabulous homeware!

Treasure Island Child's PVC Apron

Treasure Island Child's Chef Hat

Treasure Island Child's Cotton Apron

And finally, show a sense of British pride in your home this winter with Ulster’s vast array of British homeware. From British Cats and Union Jack canvas shopping bags, to our specific London 2012 Olympics range, pay tribute to Her Majesty The Queen with our expert help.

RHS Etchings Table Runner

Red Cotton Hand Towel

Chambray Charcoal Peg Bag

Blue Stripe Double Oven Glove

A giant patchwork has been created by a team of knitters in Leicestershire, in England in support of the London 2012 Games.

The blanket is part of an exhibition celebrating the Olympics and Paralympics and you too can prepare for the most exciting sporting event of the year with the help of Ulster Weavers.

We have a vast array of products that are dedicated to the Games including Team GB designs, the Olympic museum historic collection and much more.  The Union jack range is perfect to showcase British pride and the Tourist Icons range is spending for the thousands of foreigners who will be travelling to the UK to watch the magnificent occasion.

And the kids can get involved too to celebrate the upcoming Olympics with the children’s mascots Wenlock and Mandeville ranges. The funky guard packable bags are super cute and the chef hats and aprons are perfect!

Whether you want to buy a memorabilia item to keep for years to come to pass onto your grandchildren, or just to use now, Ulster has a massive selection of Olympics homeware to choice from comprising of tea towels, oven gloves, shopping bags, tea cosies and more.

So as everyone around the country becomes eagerly anticipated for the biggest sporting event to come to Britain, make sure you are ready with Ulster Weavers fantastic giftware and textiles. 

Team GB Black & Gold Tea Cosy

Tourist Mascot Cotton Tea Towel

Union Jack Flag Pink Cotton Apron

This week celebrates bakers’ creativity and passion and is National Cupcake Week!

Get your aprons on from 12^th- 18^th September 2011 and satisfy your sweet tooth with cupcakes off all shapes, sizes and colours.

You don’t have to be a professional baker to get involved; have fun with the kids getting messy in the kitchen decorating buttercream and icing.

It is a great idea to amuse the little ones on a rainy afternoon and the whole family can sit down and eat the delicious cupcakes after tea.

There are hundreds of style variations and recipes to try and once you’ve baked the cupcakes you can decorate them with anything and everything from edible glitter, dusting powder, baubles, flowers and edible sugar!

Let the children’s creativity go wild and they can even be given as presents to relatives’ upcoming birthdays with their names penned on with decorative icing.

Ulster Weavers fantastic childrens aprons are perfect so the youngster’s clothes don’t get ruined and one can even dress them up in a matching chef hat so they really play the part.

And after all the baking has been done and the home is a mess why not pop the kettle on and have some lovely tea? A piping hot brew is a dream when scoffing a sweet-smelling scrumptious cupcake and Ulster’s cute cosies are ideal to keep your cuppa nice and toasty.

So get involved in National Cupcake Week with the family and have fun ornamenting your cakes…here are all the basic ingredients you need! And afterwards, store them away in some of our gorgeous cake tins!

Cupcake Recipe

The basic mixture for around six small cupcakes includes;

- 50g/2oz of self raising flour

- 50g/2oz caster sugar

- 50g/2oz butter or margarine

- 1 egg

Double or treble the quantities as required for the number of cupcakes being made!

Cassandra Rose Set of 3 Cake Tins

Home Sweet Home Child's Cotton Shaped Apron

Cakes PVC Apron

As far as textbook males go, David Beckham is the ultimate example.

The 36 year-old is a football legend, has a ripped body most men would die for and most women would crave, and he is a doting father.

But when you think that somebody could not get any more perfect, the superman goes one step further and reveals that in fact he is a culinary god.

David is obviously no ordinary man, as he posted a picture on social networking site Facebook of some delicious food that he had cooked himself captioned: “A little something I made earlier…a home-made Risotto for the family…”

So whilst his wife Victoria Beckham is looking after their newly born daughter Harper Seven, as well as their other three children, the footballer is giving her a break from cooking duties and creating a feast himself.

Who would have thought that ‘Golden Balls’ would be a domestic king (opposite to domestic goddess)?

Well it turns out that Becks has mastered his culinary skills from enrolling on a cookery course in Milan. He told the Daily Mail last year: “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve always loved cooking. Now I’m in Italy, I want to learn how to make amazing pasta.

“It’s gone from a small ambition of wanting to learn how to make pasta to the extreme of doing this course professional chefs do. It’s something I’m passionate about.”

And here at Ulster Weavers we can only imagine that David has picked up some top tips from his best friend and famous chef Gordon Ramsay.

Train your man to get domestic in the kitchen with some manly aprons, so he has no excuse in getting involved. And with our fantastic range of men’s aprons he can look completely macho at the same time as well as looking the part!

Ulster Weavers vast range of cotton and pvc aprons comes in all different styles, shapes and colours. Our Licenced to Grill Apron is perfect for a barbecue in the summer, or the Lobster Cotton Apron is great for him if he likes eating fish.  Go simple but classic in a Chambray Charcoal Cotton Apron, or make a statement as the top dog with Ulster’s Master Chef Cotton Apron.

Click here to check out the endless choices of men aprons!

Chambray Charcoal Cotton Apron

Lobster Cotton Apron

Master Chef Cotton Apron

The Costa Coffee brand was first founded by brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa and throughout 2011 it is celebrating being 40 years old.

The very first Costa Coffee café didn’t open until 1978 in London and to this date the British coffeehouse company supplies coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops.

The firm has grown to over 1700 stores in the UK and abroad making it the largest coffeehouse chain in the UK and the second largest in the world behind Starbucks.

Since Costa was founded, it has launched an exciting new concept called Costa Express which involves a chain of self-service coffee bars.

Countries that currently have Costa Coffee locations deployed include Ireland, Poland, China, Turkey, Latvia and more.

Celebrate the success of coffee by making your own pot of coffee at home and keeping it piping hot with Ulster’s cosies. We have kitchen cosies in a galore of shapes, styles and sizes to suit your taste and enjoy sipping a drop of history in one of our cute bone china mugs.

Ulster Weavers coffee cups cafetiere cosy is a perfect choice to keep your tantalising coffee warm and if you were to perhaps spill any drink on the table, why not mop it up with our themed Irish Coffee Linen Tea Towel.

So perk yourself up this cold winter with a nice cup of hot coffee with the help of Ulster Weavers fantastic homeware. Click here to find out more…

Coffee Cups Cafetiere Cosy

Irish Coffee Linen Tea Towel

This week all the kids in the UK go back to school!

All children will be wearing brand new shirts, trousers and ties to kick off the new academic year. Start afresh with clean blazers and skirts and carry the new books in a cute new bag to walk the halls with.

Ulster Weavers has a vast array of gorgeous canvas bags that are perfect for youngsters starting primary school in reception class, or teens going back to high school. They come in a wide variety of sizes, colours and designs so there is bound to be vinyl or pvc bags to suit your style.

And because they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, whatever you need it for whether it is to carry several books and stationery, just a few pens or all of the gym kit, we can help.

For primary school pupils our character bags are an ideal choice as they include sheep, ladybird and elephant animals etc., whereas for teenagers our messenger bags are great to fit everything in as well as be super fashionable.

And if the kids need their own childrens aprons to use in cookery class, or messy play, our apron ranges come in just about any style you can think of.  From the very plain to the shapeliest retro designs to funky animal themes, we have it covered.

So if the little one needs a quality apron to protect their clothing when playing in the sandbox, or if the adolescent needs one for woodwork, get one with us!

So enjoy the children going back to school after the summer holidays and give them the best start to learning with Ulster Weavers textiles.

Sheep Shaped Packable Bag

New York Canvas Messenger Bag

Painting Child's PVC Apron