Celebration Sunday - Valentines Day 2

This week it's all about Valentines themed food! This post very nearly became all about baking as there are so many gorgeous recipes out there! Not everything pictured below has a recipe linked, some are pretty self explanatory. Don't just keep these ideas for Valentines day though, use them to add a little sweetness into a dull week - could do wonders for those of us who have the Monday morning back to work blues!

First up are a few cute breakfast ideas -

Jam heart toast
Source

Heart pancakes

Source

It would be fun to serve breakfast with these darling items (I am not paid to endorse these items, I just googled and these came up!) -

Cute heart tumblers

Heart side plates

Now onto the good stuff! Here are a few recipes that caught my eye -

Red Velvet Cupcakes
These are to die for! Recipe from the lovely Jenn over at Eat Cake For Dinner,
Check out her other recipes too - all divine!

A simple but very pretty way to serve strawberries and cream, this would also
look good used as cake decoration.
Source

The first of two recipes from Martha Stewart, these look adorable!
Heart Cookies

There are thousands of recipes on Martha's website but these caught my eye!
Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

Last but not least, if you and your lover share the same geeky humour then investing in one of these will go down well! I think it is really cool!

Source

I hope the few ideas here get you inspired :)

Made it Monday (Just!!) - Shoe refurbishment....

The first "Made it Monday"! Not the most exciting post ever, I need to take an evening photographing a load of stuff I have made but I need to learn how to use a camera properly ha ha ha! So the camera phone images will hopefully come to an end soon - yay!
Anyway I must get to the point.... I have a few pairs of plain black heels that don't get worn very often so I decided to give a pair a makeover. I dithered over possible designs but was limited by the number of hot fix crystals in my stash so decided to go for a more contained design as opposed to a full on bling fest (which was what I really wanted to do, I have more heels in need of a makeover so there is still hope!).
The crystals are applied using a Kandy Kane thingy which is like a soldering iron in size and appearance. I highly recommend getting one if you are a lover of shiny and sparkly things, the crystals can be applied to almost anything.... which is a bit dangerous.... you might just go into a crystal frenzy and emerge out the other side with NO SURFACE UNTOUCHED!!!

They are probably not to every ones tastes but will add a little je ne sais quois to a LBD or dress up some jeans. So next time you're at home and after a quick little project to fill an hour give this a go - if you are using shoes that don't get worn or ones that were dirt cheap, what do you have to lose?!

Celebration Sunday - Valentines Day 1

Some of us love Feb 14th, some of us think it is tacky and a holiday invented to make greetings card companies money... I fall into the middle of the two camps, I don't go overboard but it is always nice to be romantic :)
More importantly - An excuse for crafting! (Not that most of us need an excuse!)

This Sunday is about cute things to craft, in the following weeks cards, baking and sewing projects will be covered.

First up are a few cute packaging ideas, ideal for small gifts and sweet treats.

Cute pillow boxes!
Fill these with heart shaped sweets or your loved one's favourite confectionery.

The link for this project will take you to the tutorial which includes a template for the boxes.

Heart wraps

A lovely project from Martha Stewart, ideal for small gifts and love notes.

Adorable fox gift bag!

Perfect for slightly larger gifts, I think it would be simple enough to resize.

I also found some adorable projects/inspiration for the home.

Teacup floral arrangement

Decorated Candles
I do not recommend lighting candles decorated with flammable objects!
Source - myjdl.com

Heart wreath
Listed in a Christmas wreath collection....screams Vday to me!

Lastly one little polymer clay jewellery project - I think the possibilities are endless for using the beads though.

Heart bracelet
Darling blog too FYI :)

I hope that something here has inspired you! Let me know if you try or have previously tried any of these or similar projects, I'd love to see them!

It's all coming together!

Well readers, I have made progress with the scribbles on used envelopes!
Although there are many things still to be worked out, I have decided on a few definites to feature here.

The current line up will be -
* "Made It Mondays" - Things I have made.
* "Tutorial Thursdays" - Tutorials by myself and other crafters, also a few "round ups".
* "Celebration Sundays" - Homemade holiday preparation with inspiration posts, links to tutorials, my own projects and more!

I hope that starting off with a few themed days will keep the blogging ball rolling, sometimes when you're in a bit of an uninspired slump having a theme can help :)

If you have any thoughts about the themed structure or perhaps something you would like to see leave me a comment!

Improvements!

As mentioned previously, I have embarked on a mission to improve my little ol' blog, hopefully propelling it to the first goal of 100 followers! I know 100 is a lot of followers for someone who currently has 12 but why not aim for something which is a bit of a stretch as opposed to just out of arms reach? :)

Things are still being devised on my executive pieces of scrap paper and old envelopes but I'm getting there!
As you can see I have changed the look of the blog a bit, I love all the cute backgrounds available online but I have issues with colour and pattern so anything that I liked enough to put up morphed into a crazy busy nightmare which just had to go! Some blogs pull it off and give me serious cuteness envy but after having a think I came to the conclusion that the blogs I liked the look of best were ones with a few graphics and white backgrounds; Neat, uncluttered, un-fussy, professional looking and beautifully simple. So that's what I decided to do, I hope you agree it looks a lot better now.

Hopefully I will be able to reveal all my other plans soon - fingers crossed!

xxx

Happy New Year!

Obviously the blogging has been neglected for a few months, unfortunately life and Christmas got in the way somewhat, I'm sure everyone can appreciate that life gives you lemons and sometimes all you can do is juggle them for a while before you get around to the lemonade.

However, new year, new start, out with the old and in with the upcycled and what-not!

I have been thinking about how I can improve on this blog (well blogging at all would be a start) in all areas - presentation, posts, backgrounds (not sure I like the latest look any more), traffic etc etc.

There have been a few definites already and much more to procrastinate on whilst eating breakfast/working/trying to sleep y'know those times when you get ideas and have to save them until later and then forget the super cool awesome bit...or perhaps that's just me!

Any way, I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic start to the new year :)

Watch this space!

xxx

Adventures with fabric dye - Part 1

STEP 1 - ASSEMBLE THE STUFF AND THINGS!

You will need - 

* One washing up bowl sized container that is no longer used

* One tablespoon of salt

* One packet of fabric dye for hand dying

* Plastic or preferably rubber gloves (these are important!)

* A stirring implement, I used an old paintbrush

* A smaller plastic container (not pictured)

* One really nasty coloured dress (which is a nice style)

STEP 2 - MIX UP THE DYE ACCORDING TO INSTRUCTIONS

I did not think to write down the instructions from the packet for this post as I am a fool!

Make sure to stir it up really well and not to splash it everywhere, a sensible option would be to place it on an old towel or some newspaper unlike myself who got it on the worktop - it came off thankfully as I was quick enough to spot it!

STEP 3 - FILL UP THE LARGE CONTAINER WITH WATER AND ADD SALT

It was also warm water for this dye, the instructions will reveal all to you!

If you have a curious cat shut them out of the room, Biggins nearly became a black cat due to her idiocy!

STEP 4 - ADD THE DYE TO THE WATER

Again, be careful to stir thoroughly and wear the gloves! I got a hole in one of my gloves and ended up with weird black stains for a few days!

STEP 5 - SUBMERGE OFFENDING GARMENT IN THE BLACK WATER

Poke it about a bit to ensure it is all covered with dye.

Then stir continuously for FIFTEEN MINUTES!!!

You will then need to stir it regularly according to the instructions, I had to do it for about 45 minutes.

STEP 6 - THROW IT IN THE WASHING MACHINE!

I didn't take a picture of my washing machine to add here..... I think everyone can use their imagination!

MOST IMPORTANTLY, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS PROPERLY!!

(I DIDN'T)

Find out what happened to the dress in part 2!