Turn a tin can into a tealight lantern

Save a can from the recycling bin! Making a tealight lantern is so easy. (And as you can see, getting it to look good in a night-time photo is not.)

How to make an upcycled tin-can lantern
Peel the label off the can, give it a good rinse (unless the aroma of barbecued tomatoes is your idea of al fresco ambience).
Fill the can with water and stand upright in the freezer until the water is frozen.
Take a bradawl (classic approach; I used a big screw) and, with a hammer, bang a pattern of holes through the side of the tin. The ice is there to absorb the impact so that the can doesn't squash when you try to knock a hole in it. Top tip if you use a big screw: wear gloves or wrap the non-pointy end in a cloth because it gets quite sore on the fingers.
Add two holes opposite each other near the top so that you can thread through a length of wire to hang the lantern. Drop in the tealight and light it.
Job done. Light up the night.

I learnt to crochet!

Well, perhaps that's exaggerating a little... I went on a one-day course at wonderful West Dean college in Sussex. Our tutor, Lucinda Guy, is the author of the book I used when I last tried to learn: Kids Learn to Crochet - yes, it's good to know your level!
She went from the basics: tying a slipknot to cast on, all the way through to double treble.
Strangely, I had most difficulty with the simpler things: like the slipknot - I hadn't realised I was using a granny knot, which doesn't work as well. But by the time we started with the trebles it clicked.
As I drove home I was itching to get started: so I did. With Lucinda's takeaway instructions I struck while the hook was hot and started crocheting a double treble border for the knitted squares blanket I made some time ago.
My goal is to get on to granny squares by the end of the year...

Sewing a simple skirt

This pattern is described as the simplest-ever skirt, in the book it appears in: Sewing Made Simple by Tessa Evelegh.
I wouldn't quite go that far; I've sewn some skirts that were simpler: one front piece, one back piece, sew the seams, hem in a piece of elastic at the top... However, it does look far more complicated than it is. It's a bias-cut drawstring-waist skirt. I love the waistband, which is a wide ribbon threaded through with narrower ribbon. In sewing this, I had a little mishap. I pinned the double layer of ribbon around the waist of the skirt, then I machined it... and found that it wasn't quite long enough, although it had been when pinned on. So my 'learning from experience' tip for this pattern is not to cut the end of the ribbon until you've sewn it on. Once you pull the ribbon drawstring though, the gap is closed between the two ends of the waistband piece of ribbon, so my error is not noticeable.