Monday 27 January 2014

{BAKE!}


Here are some pictures from I cute photo shoot I created in the holidays! Just for your inspiration… because who knows, maybe today's the day to make up a batch of chocolate chip muffins? They taste so good when they're tiny little ones to. And did you notice… it also means you get two!


I love funky washi tape, vintage look craft papers, miniature buntings, tiny coloured beads, fun scrapbook style art and cute paper cupcake cases. I also have a love for doilies which my sister tells me is very strange. Maybe their just one of those love it or hate it things!


Maybe you think it is a bit over the top to spend time taking photos of cute stuff. But it's what I love to do and it makes me happy to play with colours and shapes and cuteness! Isn't God good to have made a world full of bright colours, varied shapes, delicious smells and all kinds of awesome food?! 

Tuesday 21 January 2014

Cinnamon Rolls!

Ahhh… here is a recipe that is great in so many ways! I love getting up to make a batch of these goodies and eating them for breakfast- warm and soft and oozing cinnamon filling goodness! And what about a change for afternoon tea as well, a fragrant and very wintery treat to perk up these dark afternoons! These are best eaten fresh and unadorned straight from the oven, but can be left to cool and drizzled with a simple glaze. They can also be reheated in the microwave if they have gone a little stale.


I have tried a few different recipes for these, and here is the one I like best. The dough is made from just four staple store cupboard ingredients so you should be able to make them now if you're tempted! It does not have yeast, so it doesn't need to spend time rising and only requires a little time to knead, overall taking about twenty to minutes to make and just over 10 to cook, you can have your rolls ready in half an hour! They are just golden with a firm outside and soft, cinnamony centre with the distinct swirl pattern. I'm always tempted to make more filling but it really doesn't need it, or they will overflow and burn before properly cooked!




Cinnamon Rolls
2 cups self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
90g butter, chopped
2/3 cup of milk

Filling:
60g butter, softened
2 tablespoon soft brown sugar (or 1 tbsp dark sugar and 1 tbsp caster sugar)
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Icing (optional:)
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon boiling water

   Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Brush melted butter or oil over an oven tray and then set to work on the dough: Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and add the butter. Work to breadcrumbs using your fingertips. Make a well in the centre and pour in milk. Mix it through to form a soft dough.
   Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and knead briefly until smooth. Roll out to a rectangle shape measuring 25 x 40cm.
   Beat together the filling ingredients until smooth and spread evenly over the rectangle of dough with a palette knife. Roll the dough up from the long side. Using a sharp knife, slice it into slice 3cm long and place on the tray, spaced a little apart from each other.
   Bake for 12 minutes, or until just golden but still soft. Cool slightly and then serve straight away, or make the icing: combine ingredients in a small bowl and beat until smooth, then drizzle over buns before serving. Enjoy!

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Cute Flower Needlecase


Here is another needlecase that I have made, and maybe my favourite one! It will make a really cute and girly gift for a friend who sews or is learning to sew. It is fun and simple to make, and only takes a little time. Fill it with needles to complete the gift! And you could always give it to yourself, I mean, could you bear to part with it?!




The needle case is essentially a fabric sandwich. The front circle is made of two pieces of cotton stiffened with interfacing and sewn together with blanket stitch around the edge so the inside looks neat and you cannot see the wrong sides of the fabric. I appliquéd the leaves and sewed the button onto the front piece before joining the two pieces. Two pieces of white felt for holding pins and needles are in the middle of the sandwich, and to finish there are two more circles of cotton sewn together like the first. To secure, layer up the sandwich and sew along one small section of the side to bind all pieces together.


Tip: Stiffen the fabric shapes for your appliqué with iron-on interfacing and join it with bond-a-web before sewing around the edges. 

Friday 10 January 2014

1000!


You may have heard of Ann Voskamp and her book, '1000 Gifts: a dare to live fully right where you are' which is wonderfully about waking up to joy all around you through constantly giving thanks. It is an amazing, inspiring, and focus-changing book which I have loved reading. This year I took the Joy Dare and counted 1000 things that God has given me that I am thankful for. I have this little ink-stained book filled with these random gifts which I have written in thanks to God. Today I wanted to encourage you to take the Joy Dare this year. Download the PDF from the blog aholyexperience.com and count three joys each day of the year, for the whole year, to make it up to one thousand gifts! And there's even a camera giveaway waiting for you if you count them all!!

So this year, why don't you slow down and see the beauty of the grace of all you everyday blessings, and count them, keep counting and keep seeing.

(I know this is off the usual topic but I really wanted to share today. And I am sorry for the lack of posts already, and more craft related are coming, promise!)

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Happy New Year!

I hope you enjoyed your Christmas and the days after. And may you have a Blessed and Joyful New Year. 

Hello, 2014…




Photos from our Christmas Mince Pie Making Workshop.