Miniature Heart

To practice some more of my sewing skills, I decided to create a miniature fabric heart for my Mum. I had two pieces of fabric left and it made sense, so here it is! I love it - I'm going to get some lovely beads and some clip chains and make some handbag charms. Another great gift idea, and the possibilities are endless! Infact, I'm going to design some right now!

Cute Envelope

I've suddenly become obsessed with buttons, and went a little crazy sewing today. I even sewed a button onto an envelope!

I think it looks great though, and will probably continue to do so in future - I think it gives the envelope a really handmade feel, and to add that to your envelopes when you've made a card is also very special.

I'm going to think of some other ideas for what I can use my buttons for in my craft projects, because I think they look so cute!

Melting Dreams

I've always loved the idea of making my own sweets, so a few days ago I decided to have a go at making some peppermint melts. Unfortunately I got a bit carried away, and made orange melts and raspberry melts too!

I had a great fun shaping them though, and particularly love the little buttons. I've packed them up and think I'll give them out to my work colleagues for a taste test, and next time I'm going to dip them in chocolate!

I think the colours are really pretty too, what do you all think?

Oh So Soft...

Another Mother's Day challenge - bath melts!

I got a gorgeous mould a little while ago which is predominantly used for chocolate - but then I thought, why not bath melts? The cute flower shapes would give the melts a professional finish and if I added some pink glitter....!

So, this morning's task is complete, and they look GORGEOUS. I'm scented them with vanilla, and have selected my three favourites for my Mummy. The rest have all been packaged individually, and I'll keep them as gifts when friend's birthdays come up. Keeping them in the fridge means they'll retain their shape nicely! And of course I'll be using a few too...

Please let me know what you think, and if you have any ideas for any delicious scents or shapes

Baby Blocks

One of my colleagues is pregnant and recently found out she's having a little girl. Instead of buying the usual gift of baby clothes (I do absolutely ADORE baby clothes) I decided to do something really personal and make some fabric baby blocks.

This is my first time sewing anything more than a hem so I was really nervous to make them - but I love the results (the final stitching could be a little neater) but they're personal, unique, and I'm thrilled with the result. What's more, I feel a lot more confident in my abilities so perhaps my greatest goal - making a patchwork throw - is attainable after all.

Paper and Pearl Pomander

I saw these gorgeous pomanders being used as decorations for a baby shower and instantly fell in love. I decided to make some as decorations around the home - I'm trying to get the bedroom all white and french shabby chic - but to put Him Indoors off the scent I thought I'd do a test run with a pink one - another gift for my Nan for Mother's Day.

Let me know what you think!

Pretty Favour Boxes

I got married last year and that's when I really established my love of craft. I made these beautiful favours - 30 of them to be exact.

I got the boxes from HobbyCraft - unfortunately you can't see the detail too well but they are embossed with a lovely vintage fleur design. Topped with the caramel and dusky pink ribbon, and vintage lace and pearls, they matched my wedding theme perfectly and really set off the table design. I carried the lace through into the cake too, the result was stunning!

Sweet Treats...

With Mother's Day making an appearance very soon, I thought I should get some presents on the go!

In my family, we have always included Nan in Mother's Day and she absolutely loves marshmallows. So as a gift, I've made some marshmallow treats for her.

They took no time at all to make, look absolutely gorgeous and I know she will love them. Of course I had to sample one too, and might I say they were absolutely delicious!

Cookie Cookie, Delicious Cookie..

I have it on good authority that these cookies rival those made by Millies Cookies! So, I'm really excited to share them with you.

Ingredients
188g plain flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp salt
277g butter
100g caster sugar
150g light brown muscovado sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
Mixed fruit (however much you like)

Method
Set the oven to 190 degrees C.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt

In another bowl, combine the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the vanilla and the egg. Beat until smooth.

Slowly add the flour combination until a sticky dough is achieved. Add the mixed fruit (or chocolate chips, mixed nuts, some of that, or all three! These cookies are even tasty plain)

Take one level dessert spoon of mixture and roll it into a ball, and place on a grease-papered baking tray. Keep them spaced quite far apart, I cooked mine in batches of six to make sure they didn't all stick together. This mixture makes about 2 dozen, so I made a variety of cookies.

Bake for 10 - 15 minutes. When cooked, remove from the oven, place on a wire cooling rack and leave to cool and harden.

Store in a cute kilner jar (if there are any left!)

Bon appetit!

And so it starts with a rocking chair...

So Him Indoors and I have made the decision not to move. Instead, we've decided to make our home more "homey" - when we moved in some 3 years ago we made the decision to keep the whole place neutral, to not put our stamp on it, to make it "saleable". Time has gone by and it doesn't feel like my home any more, it's not what I want - I want to put up wall paper, to get my dream furniture, to have a homely feel to the place... so, I figured, what other place to start than with a rocking chair?


My reason for this is mainly Him Indoors - he hates french chic, he hates shabby chic, he hates vintage, he hates white. And I love all of the above. J'adore french chic!


So, here's my project!

 Him Indoors helped me out by sandpapering the chair, which was rescued from my Mum's back garden. It has some cracks in the seat but I loved that - the character means it has a story to tell.

 Ready for painting, that's obviously all recyclables underneath it to protect the flooring from my painting escapaes!

All done with 3 coats of Jasmine White. It's really livened it up.

 Ta-da! My new feature corner in my lounge, complete with a cozy throw and some beautiful cushions. I'm so excited by the result, I can't wait to start working on some other furniture.