Door Hangers

After reading this thread, I felt the need to have a go at making my own door hanger.

I tried to think of something my son would like written on his such as "keep out", ""genious at work", "game tester at work" etc but I couldnt choose what to put. Then I had a light bulb moment **DING** WHITE BOARD!!! Well, I went looking round, and could find sticky back plastic white boards, & solid ones varying in thickness. I decided the sticky back plastic sort were not a good idea as it would show every lump and bump underneath so went for a thin, solid sort. It couldnt be too thick as I needed to cut it to size, and then sand the edges smooth.

So these were started:-

After that I had another ding moment and realised I could do a christmas count down with the whiteboard, so I came up with these:-

Sock monkeys +

I took the plunge and made my first sock monkey last month, I used these instructions as I found them to be the clearest. I took the mankiest, oldest pair of sock out of my sock draw (though they were clean, just worn out) and hand sewed it just to make sure I could make one. I hadnt even got any stuffing in so used another pair of socks and cotton wool to fill it. I was quite pleased with the result and my two lads fell in love with him.

As my youngest was very much into Timmy Time I thought a sheep would be more loved by him so I put on my thinking cap. I had a brain wave that the inside of white sports socks are kinda furry inside, perfect for sheeps wool. So I popped into poundland and saw a pack of 2 cream sports socks and a black pair in a pack, only one pack left, woohoo.

So heres my sock sheep,.............I then made another sock sheep for my eldest son. At the age of 10 I didnt think he'd be all that interested but as soon as it was finished he wanted to take it shopping with us. He walked with it tucked into his hood with arms and legs sticking out, and the tail wrapped losely around his neck. It was definately a hit.

My OH joked that I should make LO a sock farm, which got me thinking. So my next challege is to try making a pig, cow, and duck. Soon as my sewing machine gets fixed that is, it decided to pack up after making these :(

My fav card ever ...... so far!

Favourite out of the ones I've made anyway

Theres just something about it that makes me very happy about the result :)

I stamped the swirls onto a patterend card, & followed the pattern on the side with a black fineline, adding a few red dots & going over these with glossy accents. I then punched 6 butterflies out, 3 out of red mulberry paper & 3 out of white. I paired them up & glued them together. When dry I glued them onto the card, as if landed on the swirls, & posed the wings a bit. After that had dried I used the fineline to draw little bodies on

Card making weekend

I've spent this weekend playing with some of the new crafting toys my OH bought me for my birthday.

This card was made by punching 3 butterflies out of vellum using the new fiskars butterfly punch, this was placed over a pale blue background that had butterflies in white on it, free from a magazine, these were then attached to a long white card & a butterfly cut from the backing paper shaped slightly & fixed to the corner. Its definately one of my favourites.

I love cards that only use black & white, I think it looks very effective and classy.

Using the fiskars butterfly punch again, but on black card this time, this was stuck on to white card, & then onto a black A6 card.

I'd bought some fabric flowers from poundland so took one apart & stuck on a black flower I'd got from the nec. When I attached this it didnt look right, I decided it needed a ribbon across the bottom but didnt have one that looked right, so I used some fabric paint I had & made stitch line type pattern across, wish I had done something as a guideline though to make the lines straighter, isnt hindsight fab!

Not my best of cards but I like the circles together & the butterfly. The butterfly was punched out of mulberry paper & gives a lovely furry effect. The same type of paper is the red background. Circles were cut with fiskars circle cutter, something I need to practice a bit.

A simple card. 2 strips of ribbons, a pale blue one attached onto a slightly thicker pearlescent one, then onto an A6 card. I punched out 6 flowers of shiny, textured paper & embossed them. I paired the flowers up & stuck them together with a 1/2 pearl on top of each.

This card didnt turn out as well as I hoped. I started off with putting double sided tape onto white card & punching a butterfly out (can you tell I like my new punch!!). I then sprinkled tiny flowers all over it. I then wanted it to sit on a large flower, but hadnt any so made my own, maybe a large prima flower or one similar would have worked better. I fastened these onto the card with a brad, which i had previously stuck a free backing paper from a magazine on, after cutting the edges with shaped scissors. The pink dots on the paper gave me the idea to so pink flowers to go with it.

Birthday Cake

I love the Belgian Biscuit cake my nan made for special occassions, its a recipe she played with until she was happy. My birthday was the perfect excuse to make it, its definately not something to eat everyday, unless you like BIG love handels, lol.

Its not the best I've ever made, I decided to flavour it with Tia Maria, but put a lil too much in so it didnt set properly & the chocolate sank a bit too much - oh well, lesson learnt. Also its meant to be made with Marie biscuits but the only place locally that sells them is Sainsburys, & thats a bit of a trek, so I substituted them for Rich tea biccys.

Even with these mistakes/allterations its a cake that definately hits the spot. & a recipe thats now passed on down the generations.

Hot Cookie Dough....

....Like the sort Pizza Hut makes
Hot cookie dough is a huge, freshly cooked choccy chip cookie, slightly firm on the outside but still gooey on the inside, served with a couple of scoops if vanilla ice cream.

My partner & I had this at Pizza hut & thought it was delicious, but rather pricey for what it was, so I set myself a mission to make it myself. I found a similar recipe on line & with a bit of playing have made it as similar as I can (though less salty). Heres the finished recipe;-

1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup soft brown sugar & granular sugar (about 50/50, I do it by eye)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract/flavouring
1 large eggs
1 packet choc chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Gradually beat in flour, then Stir in choc chips.
5a. Scoop into an ovenproof dish & bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until slightly golden brown. Cool in dish on a wire rack.

Variation:
5b. Scoop into as many oven proof dishes as necessary, I use 2 square ones, 6x6" from Poundland. You will have to reduce the cooking time slightly & keep checking.

Easter rocky road

I saw in a little booklet in Sainsburys a recipe for Rocky Road with pink wafers in & mini eggs on top, mmmmmm, sounded delish, so I decided to try a variation of it.

I used Rainmacs Rocky Road recipe but altered it slightly. I used broken pink wafers instead of choc chip cookies & swapped the fruit for mini eggs. I also used 1/2 the amount of chocolate (using galaxy) & 200g marshmallows. I poured the marshmallows in while the saucepan was still warm after melting the syrup, butter & chocolate, which made about 50% of the marshmallows melt. I t looked lovely & gooey.
I dont have a square tin, but found a large round one, works just as well.

It was a lot stickier than the one I made previously using Rainmacs recipe, must be the quantity of melted Marshmallows. It can be eaten by hand, just about, without making your fingers sticky but better with a spoon. The mini eggs mixed in were divine, there wasnt many but when you bit into one you suddenly got a wave of cadburys chocolate in contrast to the galaxy.

Definately one I'll be trying again, maybe with a few less marshmallows & more choccy :)