A Mad Hatter Birthday

I feel old - this weekend my niece turned 18! I remember when she was born, I was at an under 18 rave thing in Blackheath Concert Halls! It's difficult to get a present for an 18 year old as its that type of age where anything you get won't be trendy enough so i went for a gift box option and saw this idea on Pinterest. It's mad hatter themed wrapping! Each item has a label like in Alice in Wonderland.

This box had open me on the lid, then inside it had eat me, drink me, drink with me and wear me. It was a collect of things she likes so the eat me was a box of Oreos, the drink me was a big bottle of a cocktail, the drink with me was an 18 glass and the wear me was an engraved gold bar necklace like the Kardashians wear (who she loves). It was engraved with the co-ordinates of where she was born.

I hope she liked it!

My Boyfriend Bouquet

It gets more and more difficult to figure out what to get each other for Valentine's Day especially when we set a very tight budget as there is no need to go all out for this day. Every day should be Valentine's Day really just without cards and gifts!

This year I made a boyfriend bouquet! I found this on Pinterest, a bouquet of all their favourite things! This had a t-shirt, socks, nuts, oatie biscuits, beers and a pack of letters to open at different times of the year. I had to tweak it to be a laying down bouquet as the beers were too heavy to hold up! He loved it - but what am I going to do for next year??!!

Christmas crafts

This years Christmas crafts for presents were quite difficult to decide what to do as I was struggling for ideas. There will get to a point where there won't be much left to make! 

I ended up finding a template for a remote control holder shaped like an owl which I thought was cool so attempted to make it. It turned out OK really, the shape of the head part could be a little better but I think it still resembles an owl!

On pinterest I also saw some Christmas decorations made out of scrabble tiles and gave those a go too, not sure how well they turned out or how well they travelled so hopefully they were still in one piece when they were unwrapped!

 The final thing I made this year wasn't a present but for our house. The prevent owners of our house had hooks on the mantle piece, I'm assuming for their stockings at Christmas which look a little untidy if they don't have anything hanging on them so I made a Christmas garland. It was a take on the one Kirsty made in her homemade Christmas programme but instead of hearts I went for bells. I think it turned out OK and looks good hanging from our mantle piece!

Christmas Crafts

Now Christmas is over I can post pictures of the gifts I made this year. My friend and I are now making our Christmas presents to each other because as we have got older you tend to buy everything you want so a homemade gift has more thought and time put into it. Well that's the theory! We've done this for the past two years and so far so good - this year I made her a travel set as she goes to New York every year. A journal, change purse and eye mask with some red white and blue mini bath bombs to go with it.

I also made an eye mask for my other half as I had spare fabric left over from his games rooms pac man cushion to add to the collection!

The final gift I made this cushion:

I am quite pleased with the outcomes - I wonder what I'll make this Christmas?

Crafty crafts update!

Half term is the time to do some crafty crafts!

First up as it's getting cold - a draught excluder! I had some map fabric left over from some previous cushions so what better to use than the Antarctica section as it's cold there!

Looks good! Now need to make a matching one for the back door.

Next up - a development to my travel set! Already having made the change purse I found a great blog that showed you haw to make an eye mask - perfect for flying. Didn't turn out too bad!

The travel set is looking good - what could I add to it next?

Crafty Crafts 2!!! Change purse!

Next in my crafty crafts range - a change purse! As my holiday purse got stolen in Amsterdam I thought I'd make a new one and found a pattern in a magazine mum gave me. It was a little tricky sewing in the zip but I got there and here it is - voila!!

Crafty crafts!! Homemade travel journal!

When I go on what i call 'big' holidays (sounds a little Miranda-esque!!) which are long holidays far away, not your couple of days in Spain sunbathing I like to take a travel journal. Just think it will be a good thing to look back to when I'm older. This year I decided to make my own rather than buy it from Paperchase like normal. OK I've not made the paper but the case is all my handy work! Padded and themed to this year's holiday - very proud of my handy work!!

Baby Bunny Gift

On hearing the great news that our friends are having a baby instead of getting them a congratulations card I thought I'd make them a congratulations bunny. Having got a magazine subscription for Christmas with lots of things in it to make from food to crafts this bunny seemed a perfect congratulations on your news baby gift!

 How cute is it!

Curtains Complete!

As we are now in our home and are redecorating I decided to try and make the curtains, for the guest room to start with just in case they weren't very good! They took ages, mainly as I triple checked everything I was doing and they are interlined with fleece as well as the lining material just for a little added insulation. But lo and behold they are finished!!! And actually they don't look too bad.

Puttanesca Pasta

Many people i speak to rave about this pasta dish, saying how delicious it is. I'd never tried it as i thought it would be too salty due to the ingredients but i thought I'd make it to see what the fuss was about. It was nice - i adapted the recipe a little and made it spicier as we like chilli and as the breadcrumbs at Jamie's Italian were meant to be awesome (so I've been told) i thought I'd add those too!

For the puttanesca sauce for 2 people you need:
1 garlic clove
pinch of chilli flakes (of a couple of large pinches if you are like us)
6 anchovy fillets
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Black olives - as many as you like (I'm not a massive fan so we only had a few)
Tablespoon of capers
zest of a lemon

In a pan with olive oil add the anchovy fillets, garlic and chilli flakes until the anchovy fillets break apart, add in the tomatoes, capers and olives, season and simmer for 15 min. For the breadcrumbs i toasted a slice of bread, left it to go cold then blitzed it with some mixed herbs and Parmesan. I then popped the breadcrumbs onto a baking tray and put them in the oven for 5 min to dry them out further and crisp them up but i guess that is not necessary. Before serving add the lemon zest and voila! Toss your favourite shaped pasta in the sauce then top with the crispy breadcrumbs!

Simple and yummy - give it a go!

Tonight as it is the end of the holiday - boooo - I'm making a Chinese feast! Prawn spring rolls, soy and five spiced beef and egg fried rice, all from scratch! The holiday has flown by and yet still no moving date. Shouldn't be long now though and then we can move and think about our summer holiday! Over the last couple of weeks as well as making scones I have also made a second cushion the same as the first to practice on the sewing machine. I'm not brilliant at it yet but I'll try another project before attacking the curtains!

Project complete!

So I bought a sewing machine! Was taking far too long (though not impossible) to do by hand and have to say I am very pleased with my finished article. Hopefully Kirsty would be proud!































How hard can curtains be?

What is a hotpot not...

As we got a slow cooker for Christmas I've been testing a number of recipes to use it. Some have not been brilliant, for example the vegetable curry that turned to mush - it spent too long in the slow cooker, but some worked brilliantly like the sweet and sour chicken and Mexican meatball stew. Look at the delicious hotpot!



I've also spent some time today trying to finish project 1...i know it's going on a bit but i think I'll invest in a sewing machine soon! One side left to do!

Cushion nearly there!

I'm gradually getting there with my Kirsty's homemade home project but not having a sewing machine means it's taking a little longer than it could. I've now finished the front, my progress of which is shown below, so only the back left to go!

Project 1 update

My Kirsty Homemade Home project has started well. I've sewed the patchwork section for the front of the cushion covers and am now waiting for the rest of the material to arrive. I have to say i think it looks alright, though i might be biased. Kirsty would be proud! I thought I'd document my progress, if anything to prove I've made them!



















Next step is the surround for the front of the cushion cover...stay tuned!

Kirsty's homemade home...project 1 underway!

I'm not bad at making food items and for the last couple of years have made chutney's and jellies for Christmas presents, this year after watching Kirsty's Homemade Christmas Home i thought I'd have a go at making some bits and bobs so I've purchased her crafts book.

Project 1...cushion covers. As our cushions are less to be desired i thought I'd have a go at making some new ones. It's not easy to find material but eBay came to my rescue and i have my patchwork scraps and plain natural linen ordered!

Stay tuned for an update on their progress!