Guest Posting - Handmade Easter Egg and Hen Tutorial

I made this Easter decoration over the weekend and today it's being featured on Cassie Jene's blog in the form of a tutorial. If you want to see how to make it click on the link. It looks great even if I do say so myself!  Cassie writes an inspirational blog offering tips and advice for keeping the 'work life balance' in order as well as being a creative entrepreneur and hobbyist.  Take a look at her blog, you won't regret it.

Easter Egg and Hen Tutorial.

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Guest Blogger - Mandi's Easter Gingerbread

Earlier on in the week I featured as a guest blogger on Mandi's blog 'Poppy Fox at Home', now its time to feature a recipe post from Mandi.  The blogging community is full of generous people happy to share and show mutual appreciation....it makes me feel all warm inside.  Over to you Mandi...

An Easter Crafternoon

I'm honored to be a guest blogger on Make.Do.Sew today.  Hi, I'm Mandi (Aka Mummafox) and I write a blog called PoppyFoxatHome which is a blog about living the simple life, motherhood, my two little people and my handmade creations.  I'm an Expressive therapies counsellor, at home mum, a social worker in a previous life and owner of PoppyFox so it's a great honour to write today's post.

Being Easter our crafternoons are filled with baking, painting and craft.  It encapsulates our tribes effort to live the simple life and enjoy the art of handmade.  Instead of giving eggs as gifts we decided to bake Easter themed gingerbread and DIY our own gift tags and wrapping for gifts using what we already had at home.

Gingerbread was one of the first recipes I shared with my daughter.  Entertaining Miss 3 with a 12 week old has it's challenges so for Easter I wanted to create a week of activities.  Making art collages at Mother's group, sewing fabric bunny headbands, painting and dying eggs, making gingerbread presents and bunny calico bags for the egg hunt.

I thought I'd share my recipe for Easter Gingerbread and Easter craft with you all today.  It's a great recipe for those that don't like traditional gingerbread as it cooks softer and more like a gingerbread cake in a cookie so kids seem to like it.

Part 1 - For the Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of light molasses, golden syrup or honey
• 1/2 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tblsp unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 2 tsp of ground ginger
• pinch of cinnamon
• pinch of ground cloves
• pinch of ground cardamom
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1 tsp of tepid water

How to Make

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
• Line baking paper sheets on baking trays.
• In a mixing bowl add butter and sugar and blend until smooth and creamy.
• Combine flour, the cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves and ground cardamom in a mixing bowl. Add the golden syrup and stir to combine.
• Dissolve baking powder in tsp of tepid water and add to flour mixture.
• Refrigerate dough for half an hour which helps with rolling it out later on.
• 30 minutes later take dough out of the fridge.  Roll dough between two baking paper sheets (this saves mess and flouring the bench top) to a thickness of 12mm.
• Using cookie cutters cut shapes out of dough and place on prepared baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. 10 mins gingerbread are pale gold, 12 mins golden in colour.
• Allow to cool on baking trays for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Cookies can be stored in airtight container for up to a week.

 

Crafty DIY - If you want to make them for gifts

Part 2

You'll need icing pens and decoration balls,sprinkles or powder coated mini chocolate drops. These are available in the baking section of your supermarket or any cake decorating shop.

How to Do

Using the pens decorate your cookies with icing and add decorations to give cookies some colour and personality.

Miss 3 loved spending time decorating each cookie and I helped with the icing when she needed a little help.

Leave cookies on a wire rack and let dry while your doing craft.

Part 3 - Crafternoon activity

You'll need-

• Water based paints
• Coloured paper or white paper
• Paint brushes + water jar
• A pair of scissors
• Small plastic bags or clear plastic pockets
• String
• Big Sticker dots (optional)
• Black marker/Sharpie pen

 

How to Do

• Get your little one to paint a colourful picture on the paper using lines, dots and shapes covering much of the page.
• Paint 3-4 pages as these will be the backing in your gift bags and shape the rabbit heads you'll use as a decoration and gift tag.
• Cut a rectangle piece of painted paper and place in the gift bags.  You'll want it to come two quarters of the way in the bag as a backdrop to the cookies.
• Place decorated and undecorated cookies in the bag with the decorated cookies at the front.  I put 6-8 cookies in each bag with at least 2 decorated cookies at the front.
• Let the paper dry fully before drawing rabbit heads on the painted piece of paper.  Depending on how many gifts you are creating you'll want two rabbits per bag.  One for decoration and one as a gift tag.
• Using a coloured Sharpie marker pen draw an outline of a rabbit's head and face.  Using scissors cut out the head and place inside in the corner of your gift bag.
• Using string tie the gift bag up and secure with a knot or bow with another rabbit as a gift tag.  Place a whole in the gift tag to aid you attaching it to your gift bag of gingerbread.

I used a neon pink coloured dot for the back of the gift tag to write a message on.  This was placed on the back of the gift tag easily and kept things simple.  I had a gift bag and plastic gift pockets so I had gift bags tied with a bow and gift packets wrapped as a present with string for gifts.  The trick is to use what you have and be versatile.  No two bags look the same and I liked that.

Then a you have left to do is give your handmade gifts to those lucky people.  Miss 3 loves being the gift giver and it's a great way to help teach them to share and give.

I'd love for you to come visit my blog at www.poppyfoxathome.com, or over at Instagram @thepoppyfox and take a look.  I'm busy opening up my Etsy shop over Easter which is exciting, sewing up some PoppyFox orders and will be doing a giveaway shortly so stay posted.  I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for having me Lou. Xx

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Easter Etsy Finds - Alternative Easter Gifts

With Easter fast approaching I thought it best to have another rummage around Etsy for some alternative Spring time Easter gifts. As usual there was a mountain of items to choose from and the selection below is a cross section of finds for young and old, male and female. As much as I like chocolate it's great to get a gift that lasts.

 

Babies Bunny Slippers

 

These children's bunny slippers from 'Wooly Baby' are gorgeous, look at the full range for adult felt slippers too.

 

White Geometric Ring

 

This delicate geometric ring is made from plastic Nylon and is 3D printed, it's a trend that is bang on for Spring, check out the Etsy shop for a look at the full range.

 

 

Wooden Chicken Egg Cups

 

Wooden egg cups look great in a row and this Etsy shop has a fantastic range of retro finds, lots are of Danish or German origin and include items such as ceramics and glass as well as Bauhaus bathroom hooks.

 

Springtime Vintage Teapot

 

I love old kitchenalia and this teapot has both functionality and style.  'Ella's Handmade Creations and Finds' is a shop that stocks exactly what is says in the title.  The handmade bags are pretty nice too.

 

 

Pastel Drawing - Hare Running

Hares are such graceful, enchanting animals and this pastel drawing captures this beautifully.  What a great alternative Easter gift, I'd be so happy if this was on my wall. 

 

Retro Kitchenalia - Egg Sizing Scale

I used to work in a farm shop where there was an egg sizing scale, I loved using it and became a bit addicted to sorting the eggs in to sizes.  Not only is this piece of vintage kitchenalia useful, I think it looks great too.
 

 

Mother and Daughter Easter Aprons

 

There are super cute, my daughter would love one of these.  What a fun gift for mother and daughter alike.  There are masses of colours and designs to choose from, why not take a look?

 

 

Vintage Springtime Daisy Brooch

I really like the simplicity of this brooch, a great Spring time gift to adorn any outfit.  For other great retro gifts click on the link above.

 

Lucky Bunny Gold Pendant

I want one of these! Understated bling, if such a thing is possible.  This necklace bu 'Bip and Bop' is just one of a fantastic range of jewellery on offer. 

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Guest Posting - Victoria Sandwich Recipe

What's so great about the blogging community is the support and friendship that's offered from people all over the world. Guest blogging is a great way to show mutual appreciation and today Mandi who writes the blog 'Poppy Fox at Home' has kindly agreed to feature my Victoria sandwich sponge cake on her blog.

Mandi, whos lives in Australia, writes about her life as a mother, crafter, thrifter and gardener, 'Poppy Fox at Home' is an inspiring insight into another persons life.  Why not take a look?

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#Monday Moodboard - Egg-citing Times, Easter Holidays Are On Their Way!

There's lots going on this week, I'm in the midst of writing some guest posts for fellow bloggers (watch this space), I've also been having a browse through Etsy looking for alternative Easter gifts, I love chocolate but the house gets inundated with the stuff and while the kids are asleep, Mummy eats. (Oh the shame)!

Have a very Happy Easter everyone. XX

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Lovely Mini Lemon Cheesecakes - Recipe

I'm a real fan of lemon desserts and these mini lemon cheesecakes taste great and are easy peasy (lemon squeezy) to make. Being mini they make a lovely addition to a party buffet as they can be eaten as finger food in their small but perfectly formed stature. They are both sweet and zesty with a buttery crunchy base and as there is no baking involved and can be prepared, chilled and ready to eat in a jiffy, excuse the pun!

Ingredients

• 200g (8oz) cream cheese
• 25g (1oz) icing sugar
• 75g (3oz) digestive biscuits (hob knobs and ginger nuts are nice too)
• 60g (2oz) butter
• 3 tbsp double cream
• zest and juice of one lemon
• grated plain chocolate for decoration

Method

• Crush the biscuits and melt the butter, add the biscuits to the butter and stir well. Place the butter and biscuits into individual cake cases and press down. Put in the fridge to firm up.
• Next add the cream cheese, icing sugar and cream in a bowl until well combined.
• Add the lemon juice and zest and mix well. (Save some of the zest for decoration.
• Place the cheese mix on top of the biscuit base, smooth and put in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.
• Decorate the cheesecakes with grated chocolate and lemon zest.
• Once they've firmed up they are ready to eat.

Alternatives and Variations

• Replace the lemon with lime and use ginger biscuits.
• Add coarsely grated chocolate to the mix for more texture and flavour.
• Use lemon curd as an alternative topping.

I hope you enjoy.

Lou xxx

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#Monday Moodboard - Flowers Really Do Have Powers

Valentines day, Mother's Day and Daffodils being prolific this time of the year has meant a good show of flowers in the house for a couple of months now. They really brighten up the home and lift my mood just looking at them, with this in mind I thought I'd share them with you too.

Happy Monday xxx

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I Love Chilli, Do You?

My chilli plant has decided to go mad and is producing lovely fruit as well as going into flower. The flowers are really pretty, a simple star shape with white delicate petals.  I've dried some of the pods and plan to use both fresh and dried to make a pepper sauce and chilli jam.

I love eating chilli, it makes me feel vitalised and seems to perk up my taste buds. With this in mind I decided to have a bit of a root around on the Internet for some chilli facts.  So, did you know that.....

1. Chillies are packed full of vitamin A, a great antioxidant for giving a boost to the immune system.

2. Fresh chillies are packed with vitamin C, in fact twice the amount found in citrus fruits.

3. Adding some dried chilli pods to your bird seed will deter squirrels stealing from the bird table but will have no affect on birds as they have a different nervous system.

4. Capsaicin is the active irritant in chillies that causes the burning sensation in the mouth, this causes us no harm but tricks the body in to releasing endorphins which cause the body to feel pleasure leading some to believe chilli has addictive qualities.

5. As a general rule of thumb, the smaller and thinner the chilli the hotter it will be.

6. There were many different opinions on what is the hottest chilli, however the general consensus seems to be the Trinidad Scorpion 'Butch T', this measures a staggering 1,463,700 on the Scoville heat scale.

For more info about chillies take a look at the websites below.

World of Chillies

Chillie Galore

Scoville Heat Scale

If anyone has any chilli recipes they'd be willing to share I'd love to see them, feel free to add a link and share the chilli love! Xxx


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#Monday Moodboard - My Week in Food

I was bought a stand mixer for Christmas and have been bitten by the baking bug, meringues, bread, cakes, shortbread and pastry have all been whipped up in half the time. Hence why of late my blog has been featuring more cooking than crafting. I really must get back to making rather than just baking.

I've also developed an addiction to bruschetta, does anyone else go through phases with food? At the moment I could eat bruschetta 7 days a week.

Have a fabulous week.

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Make, Do, Sew - It's my 1st Anniversary

It's official, I've been blogging for one whole year with this passing week seeing Make, Do, Sew's first anniversary.  What better time to reflect on what I have learnt so far.

I started blogging accidentally. I returned to my lecturing job from maternity leave and was in charge of teaching a group of fashion promotion students, not a problem usually. However I soon realised I was out of touch, they were discussing Tumblr, Blogger, Vimeo and Twitter, 'what are they talking about?' I thought and more importantly 'I need to learn about this stuff if I am to keep up with them'.

One of the students initially showed me Tumblr, this seemed straight forward enough, post images, share images, like images, follow, etc.  This then led to me opening up a blogger account and posting my first ever comment:

"This is my first attempt at blogging, I am not sure how this blog will evolve but I am going to enjoy learning the ropes".

This first tentative step led to my blog growing and evolving, I've have met so many lovely people and learnt so much.  So here are my 'lessons learnt' so far.

Frequency - only post as often as your lifestyle allows you. I aim for 2-4 posts a week.  Blogging for me is a hobby, I don't want it to become a chore, it should be fun!

Content - what is your blog about, craft, cooking, fashion?  Mine is an eclectic mix lending itself to the 'lifestyle' genre.  This enables me to blog about a variety of subjects that interest me.

Design - It took me a while to find my feet, I changed the layout, name, fonts, images and colour scheme numerous times before I settled on my current design. I'm sure it will continue to morph and evolve just as we all do in life.

Writing - my blogging 'voice' is still developing, initially I felt very self conscious when writing but as my confidence has grown so has my narrative.  I try to make sure that my posts are clear and concise and reflect me and not a pseudo persona.  I think it's vital for a blog to have integrity.

Links and credits - it's always important to give credit where it's due, if I use an image, recipe or idea from another website or book I always link or credit my source.  Not only is it professional but it's polite too. Most are happy to share freely but a quick email asking permission is sometimes requested.

Comments - in order to grow and improve it's always good to read and comment on other blogs.  I love it when people comment, it's such a compliment and really appreciated, it's nice to give those positive feelings to others by commenting back, even if your comment is just to say 'I really liked that'.  I try to put time aside each week for reading others work and always comment on what I've read.

Get involved and join in - being a member of Pip Lincolnes blog school, having guest bloggers, being a guest blogger and joining in Craft Blog UK's (CBUK) web chats have been an inspiration and a great source for learning new stuff whether it be technical info, up and coming events, link ups, post ideas or simply meeting other bloggers, getting involved is a must.

My blog is not a business it's a fun hobby that I utilise in many ways, it's a creative endeavour, it keeps me challenged, it is used as a teaching tool at work, it's a networking device and most of all it gives me satisfaction.  If this blog one day opens up a new career path or creative opportunity I would be over the moon, but for now I'm happy with what I have, a simple blog called Make, Do, Sew (Ahem! name drop!).

P.S. Yes, I really did make that cake, sad I know!

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#Monday Moodboard- Pale and Interesting

Signs of spring are popping up everywhere and this month the clocks go forward meaning lighter mornings and nights. I love this time of year, it makes me feel full of optimism and with longer lighter days taking photographs for my blog just got a whole lot easier. It means I can ease up on the photo editing and go a bit more 'au natural'.

My moodboard today was a bit of a tonal exploration, we're thinking about decorating this year and a tonal pale colour palette of neutral whites and greys with the occasional flash of colour seems to be on the cards.

Anyways, have a happy week whatever you're up to.

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Crochet and knitting – does size matter? Guest post.

Imagine my excitement when Lou bravely asked me to pen (or should it be type?) a guest post for Make, Do, Sew! I generally blog about anything and everything handmade, mostly about crochet, my current go-to craft. So I volunteered to cover something crafty, to fit in with ‘Make’, and have been musing on what to talk about, and also ask you about, dear reader.

Since I started knitting and crocheting last April I’ve always used a ‘standard’ size of hooks or needles, between 3mm and 5mm. But one day I was flicking through my copy of Inside Crochet and something potentially very exciting flashed in front of my eyes.

This thing was a pattern for a bag (I have a serious weakness for bags) made from t-shirt fabric yarn, with a 10mm crochet hook!! I was immediately hooked (please pardon the pun) and ordered the yarn (called Zpagetti from a company called Hoooked – yes there are three Os) and a shiny new bejewelled hook.

It took a few minutes to get used to wielding a hook so much bigger than I’m used to, and the yarn was less forgiving than a standard DK, but once I got the hang of it, there was no stopping me! What was really great for an impatient being like me, was the speed that the bag took shape. And once the bag shape became more apparent, I saw that it wouldn’t even need lining – bonus!

Completing the pattern made me think about what else I could make with a t-shirt fabric yarn. I trawled online and found some similar yarn, called Hoopla, this time in two fabulously bright colours.

I felt that my bag needed some embellishment, so followed an Attic24 pattern to hook up an anything-but ‘teeny tiny star’. With a few chain stitches to create a loop over a fuchsia button at the star’s centre, the bag was properly finished!

A yarn like Zpagetti gives anything you create a real feeling of sturdiness – that you’ve made something that’s built to last. The bag stands up beautifully, and is perfect for transporting new knitting and crochet projects to my weekly craft group.

And that project has made me think that maybe size does matter when it comes to crafting. I’ve now started knitting a Suzie Johnson-designed pyjama case for my niece, and this time I’ve gone even bigger – size 12mm needles! Again, it’s perfect when you’re in the mood to make something quickly – which such chunky yarn (I’m using Rowan Big Wool) and fat needles, it’s coming together at a rate of knots.

So, although generally my first instinct would be to craft with a ‘standard-size’ hook or needles, I would fish out something a lot bigger if I needed to make an emergency present, or wanted to turn a doily pattern into a floor mat (don’t think I haven’t already considered doing that!).

What size hooks or needles do you usually use? Have you thought about super-sizing your crafts?

You can follow my ramblings and join in my bespectacled conversations on my blog, I’d love to hear from you! And thank you so much for having me over here, Lou!

Sarah x

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Guest Blogger - Home to Roost

I'd like to introduce my third guest blogger Sarah Johnstone, Sarah writes a great blog called 'Home to Roost'. She lives in the UK and shares her love of her hometown, crafty makes and other day to day adventures on her blog.

I have long admired Sarah's technical blogging skills, I've seen her blog grow and morph through a number of stages each looking great, but with each change the overall design and layout just gets better and better.

Sarah has written a fantastic guest post discussing her love of crochet, check out her other crochet work on her blog and you will see just how talented she is, I really love the cupids arrow she made for valentines day!

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