My current projects on the hook! Of course it would probably make sense to finish one before starting another... especially when I now have 4 on the go at the same time (not counting ones still packed away in boxes from the move!) whoops! You know how it is ;)
This one you might have seen in yesterday's blog post... my chunky thick rainbow ripple throw in progress... this one has been great for hooking! The thicker yarn means it works up like a dream! The variegated yarn makes the ripple pattern hard to see BUT I do love the different texture and colour pattern than if it had just been a DC back and forth design.
Whilst I was in Albury I actually started working on hexagon 'squares' for an afghan. I've never actually made an afghan with squares before, I usually work them up in a one piece because the idea of joining a whole load of bits together seemed like WAY too much effort. So what do I do? Use up to 3 colours per hexagon so now I have a whole load of tails to sew in as well! I'm not too worried though, my desire to see how it will look once completed is fuelling my persistence with this project... for the time being anyway ;)
The project on the lounge beside me is a new one I only started this morning. I had about seven 50gm balls of this lovely soft green yarn with sequins and I thought, how gorgeous would this look made into a shawl? Well I couldn't help myself, I started right away! I've only gotten a little way into it so far, I got distracted by watching Calendar Girls.
The last of the 4 projects I started right after we moved here. You see, our Christmas tree and all the decorations we'd collected over the past few years are actually in a shed back in Armidale. I thought it might be nice to make up a few decorations for our new tree (once we get one that is) myself. Our family Christmas tree back at the parent's house has decorations that belonged to great aunts and grandmothers, so it's important to me that as we lead into celebrating our first family Christmas with the hubby and Baby Bean, there are handmade ornaments on the tree.
It's hard to say whether I'll actually finish any of these, I would sure like to for a change! To feel like I'm actually achieving some little goals seems like something I'd really benefit from at the moment :)
It's a gorgeous windy overcast day outside today, with the air conditioner on in here it's reminding me of Armidale and I'm finding that very comforting. I wish I could adjust to living here faster!
I pinned a whole heap of free shawl and capelet patterns recently with every intention to make each and every one of them either for myself, as gifts or both! After finishing the Pineapple Lace Shawl I moved on to this gorgeous design that really caught my eye. I left off 2 rows around the bottom but it turned out beautifully and as a very simple pattern, I highly recommend working one up for yourself or as a gift! You find the free pattern by clicking HERE.. the only thing is you will need to sign up to the Lion Brand website to access it, but with so many other free patterns available on that site, it's probably not too much of a problem :o) Feeling inspired by the purple and black on the last shawl I made, I was eager to use that colour combination again and after a few hours of happy crocheting, I finished up with this:
It has been wrapped in white and red striped paper, tied with a box and had a tag attached to it under the Christmas tree :o)
I told you I loved this pattern! :o) I've made another one in this really gorgeous green as a gift to a close friend of the family. It's lovely and soft and I really hope she enjoys it!
These past few days have been a bit hectic here at Shmoogle Bean HQ... me being sick on and off (cause still unknown!) makes for slow progress! I recently made up my annual batch of gingerbread men and sent them in with my husband to work to share with the staff he works with and the lovely librarian ladies. From what I hear they were well received :o) I always make extra for the cleaning ladies, the grounds keeper and office staff as I really don't feel like many people give them thanks at the end of each year for all the hard work they do. Last night saw yet another Christmas gift finished and checked off my list.... I am running VERY low on time to get them all done!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!! But I'll manage :o) I'm not even going to think about how many I still have to do because I may fall over but swords up and charge onwards! The trick is not to look down!
I call this, my Bubblegum Hat hehe
Pretty neato right?
What are you doing for Christmas? Going anywhere?
We are!! To Albury in fact ^.^ Yup, on the 22nd of December hubby, myself and our two fur babies will pile into our clunky old car at 3am and head off from Armidale for a 13 hour drive. The whole of my husband's family (his 4 other brothers, their wives/girlfriends, his sister, nephews..everyone!) will be at his parent's house this year so we're making the great annual migration to join in :o) Previously our funds weren't going to allow us going anywhere but it turns out we get a bit of holiday loading from last year *jumps up and down with glee* and we will make it! Hoorah! I'm not entirely sure whether I'm looking forward to the drive itself though... although we're planning every stop, fuel refill and snack break it's always nerve wracking to travel anywhere over the Christmas period...especially over a long distance. Plenty of music for us, chew toys for the fur balls and we'll be alright. Needless to say we're both pretty damn excited!!!!! Now if only I could be sure I'll have all this pressies made in time! Eeeep! Oh and I guess I'm also a little nervous coz well, let's face it... I've gained a few kg's since the last time everyone saw me and I guess *shuffles feet* I'm just really self conscious. I'll live, it's not the end of the world... but it haaaas been bothering me just a tinsy bit.
Anyway MOVING on from that delicate (or chunky lumpy) topic..
oh look!
GINGERBREAD HOUSES! Sorry for the totally LAME-O photos but they are being stored in a giant blue plastic tub at the moment to keep them safe until they're delivered to my Armidale buddies this arvo :o) Seriously you open the lid and it smells like heaven in there... OM NOM NOM I made gingerbread houses last year too... from my own recipe actually ;) (smug face) haha but really if you'd like the recipe you can find it by clicking >>>HERE<<< Ok so I'm not the most skilled decorator in the world, and my construction skills are a tinsy bit dodgy but they are holding together! Thumbs up! I could have taken them out of the box to take a pretty picture but it would disrupt the Tetris-like harmony inside the box and I'm too scared I'll break one haha
Now my icky sick self is going to hole up on the lounge for a while and watch Alien 2.
Isn't she a beauty? This gorgeous pattern you can find for free on the Caron website and I highly recommend making one either for yourself or as a gift! It is just so B-E-A-utiful! The pattern is suprisingly simple to follow, and depending on your crochet speed, won't take too long to complete :o) I just gotta say how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE the black and the purple together! I had visions of being clever with black and orange to create a butterfly wing inspired shawl using the same pattern but we'll see ;) It's now wrapped in red and white striped paper, tied with a bow and under our Christmas tree.
I've been in Christmas present making overdrive lately... that happens when you leave everything til the last minute! Typical Tash :o) But I'm slowly making headway, I've been focusing on getting all the gifts for the girls done first.... mostly because I'm completely stumped as to what to do for all the manly men! Oh well..I'll think of something! Lucky I have so many free patterns and inspiration stored on Pinterest...or I'd be pretty well stuffed! One of those things happens to be this beautiful free shell lacey scarf pattern from The Art of Zen Crochet which, I might add, works up an absolute treat!
I've fallen so much in love with this pattern that I'm currently working on another scarf, this time in an absolutely stunning sea foam green.... I'll show you later ;)
Now the reason why I mentioned Stargate was because recently, my husband and I started watching it from the very beginning with Season 1, Disc 1 and are currently up to Season 4 somewhere... Hubby watches it while I sit and work on my Chrissy pressies and there was one particular line that caused me to burst out into uncontrollable giddy laughter. It was of course a Teal'c line that got me, and I suppose reciting it now won't be nearly as amusing as having seen and heard it on the actual show. But anyway... Colonel O'Neill 'What are we going to do now?' Teal'c 'I hear of a place when human females do battle in a ring of jello' Colonel O'Neill 'I'll call Daniel'
I just lost it... I guess you really had to hear it to get the full effect, but trust me it was classic! Teal'c is one of my absolute fav sci fi characters!
Now I'd best get back to my present-creating! I'm running out of time and there's alot to be done!
And here I am sharing with you a few fun digitals I've been making just for fun :o) Want to make your own? They're very easy! All you need is Paint, and Picmonkey.com! Create a new file in Paint (you should have it on your computer, it comes standard on Windows operating systems...if you use a Mac I can't help you sorry! lol) and set the size for however large you would like your image...if you're printing it it's always better to make it larger than you need; you can resize it without losing image quality that way. I made mine 30cm x 30cm but feel free to go bigger or smaller.
Now choose a colour you like for the background; after doing one in red and green, I think this lovely shade of blue will do the trick!
Next, what's your favourite Christmas song? That one that plays and just makes you all warm and fuzzy inside? For me it's 'Winter Wonderland' so I'll be using lyrics from that. Oh I just love the Dean Martin version! Gorgeous :o)
So you have your song, now the fun bit! You can use the fonts that come on your computer, you can download some new ones or you can use the fonts provided on Picmonkey.com. The trick is to get creative!! Try a combination of various fonts, or just use one or two...really have a play with it and see what you like. Move them around, try a few different layouts go for it! If you're after some new gorgeous fonts to play with, I have quite a few different styles and options on my Pinterest Board that you're welcome to browse through; simply click the link on the image and you'll be taken to the fonts and how to download them. If you follow the link to the font download, click 'download font', a little box will pop up when it's finished, click open. You will then be taken to a zipped file; double click the icon and Winzip will open. If you then double click the TTF file (True Type Font) it will open an install box...hit 'install' and done! You can now use that new font in any application that allows text on your computer (Paint, Word etc) It's really not as complicated as it sounds I promise :o)
The fonts I've used for my 'Winter Wonderland' are (in order)
Okidokee so you've added your lyrics in the fonts you like onto your background... save your file as either a png or a jpg. Next hop along to Picmonkey.com and click 'upload photo'. Down the left hand side you'll see a number of icons...there is one down the bottom with a snowflake, click that and a then click on 'Wonderland' and just feast you eyes on all the lovelies you can add! Clickity click through them and you'll find you can move them around your image easily, resize them, change the colours and all sorts of things. Now it's just a matter of decorating your image! I've chosen to use some snow flakes over the top..use the 'fade' slider to make them more opaque, a flourish along the bottom and finish I've used 'frost' to border my image and give it that final touch!
See? Fun right! Have fun with it! I just love fonts... I have a serious weakness for them :o) So much so that I've made quite a few of these pretty printables hehe Oh! and just a p.s no I'm not trying to endorse Picmonkey.com or anything...I'm not paid or any of that bollocks to suggest using it on my blog, I simply enjoy using it as it's very versatile and user-friendly and I like it. I thought for those of you who don't know about it, this might give you an opportunity to explore it and have some fun with it.. so all these opinions are my own k?
Annnnnd then I couldn't help myself....
Well it's still Christmas themed! ;) Guess what it's from?
Anyway, enjoy guys! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask... just be aware that I can't help you with specific downloading issues or the such, if you have a problem with a font download, ask the site the font came from... they'll be a lot more helpful than I would be :o) Whoops! And a heads up...most fonts you download are for personal use only... it wouldn't be a good idea to try selling your finished printables as it goes against the font creators liscense agreement.
Well it's like this, I've been trialling an elf-style hat for a few days now with a number of different stitches and whether to work in the round or to join each row, or make a stripey hat or just plain like this one...and eventually settled on a hdc hat with simple brim and a giant pom pom ^.^ I'm currently (like mad cause I left it so late) making a few different Christmas themed hats for my newborn photo shoot on Saturday and figured since I was making up the pattern I might as well post it here for the sake of it... afterall that's what I'm here for! :o) I realise that being an Australian and Christmas falling over Summer it probably isn't the best 'everyday' cute newborn item you'd crochet this time of year..but as I'm using it as a prop, perhaps someone else would like to aswell.
As with most of my tutorials and patterns and things, you can make this to your hearts content for personal use (that includes using it for photography purposes) however you cannot make it to sell//reproduce in any way sorry! I don't receive any income from my blogging and very little in the outside world so it wouldn't be fair on me... I'm sure you understand :o)
Working in rounds, you'll need a 5mm hook, red 8ply (worsted weight) yarn, white trim or yarn, a yarn needle and a ruler or measuring tape. You'll also need a bit of card and scissors for the pom pom at the end of the pattern; we'll get to that last (see video) :o)
sc=single crochet
hdc=half double crochet
mc=magic circle
fphdc=front post half double crochet
bphdc=back post half double crochet
Mc, ch 2. 9 hdc into ring.
1 hdc in each st around.
Repeat 1 hdc in each st around until you have 16 inches. When you have 16 inches, we'll start the pattern from Round 1 if that makes sense. Be sure to keep moving your marker, that is where you will work sts to and from each round. An exact number of stitches each round isn't important.
Round 1: *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 3 hdc* over the next 13 sts
Round 2: *1 hdc in each st around* (til you reach your marker now and throughout pattern)
Round 3: *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 4 hdc*
Round 4-5: *1 hdc in each st around*
Round 6: *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 5 hdc*
Round 7: *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 6 hdc*
Round 8: *1 hdc in each st around*
Round 9: *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 7 hdc*
Round 10: *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 8 hdc*
Round 11: *1 hdc in each st around*
Round 12: *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 9 sts*
Round 13: *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 10 sts*
Round 14-18: *1 hdc in each st around*
Finish off with red.
Join with white in last st, ch 2.
Round 19: *1 hdc in each st around*
Round 20: *1 fphdc in next st, 1 bphdc in next hdc around*
Round 21: *1 fphdc in fphdc, 1 bphdc in next bphdc around*
Finish off with white. Weave in ends.
Make a pom pom... probably best if you just watch this video on how to do that bit :o)
Sew the awesome pom pom to the tail of your and hat and Ta-Da! ^.^
Consider this the first of many more Christmas tutorials to come! And don't worry, they're not all crochet... there'll be some new headbands, an advent calender and perhaps even a how-to on the wreath I made last year if I can find a damn foam ring anywhere (I hate not being close to a Spotlight!!)
Anyhoo...enjoy!
P.s I just realised I put a lot of smiley faces into this post... so here's another one
A day of watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy and working my fingers into crochet overdrive is in order today! My poor blanket isn't even half way yet, and it's gift number 11 out of the 56 I need to finish before Christmas! Good thing I started my Handmade Challange early right? This is just one of 3 blankets I was hoping to do, BUT I do still have time! Don't panic Mr Mannering!
Hey Quirky Beans! How's it hanging? I hope you are well and not as flu-y and disgusting as I feel thismorning...I'd managed to go through winter so far without getting sick, it seems it's finally caught me. Today, I'm working on some gifts and figured it's been a tad too long since I published my last tutorial and it was time to stop being slack and get back into it. Here I am today, and we are making super simple crochet coasters!
Why pink, green and white? Coz it reminds me of watermelons and I love watermelons and watermelons are awesome that's why! So these are insanely simple, if you know how to crochet in rounds, you can crochet a coaster. I'm making these are part of my Handmade for Christmas Challange and thought I'd share the pattern with you... but as I said, it is pretty simple (you are essentially making a circle haha) so I'm sure you could have worked it out without me :o)
Here's what you'll need:
3.5mm hook
3 colours of your choice in 8ply (worsted weight) yarn
yarn needle (for weaving in ends)
scissors
your two hands
Possibly some coffee
Start with a magic ring and chain up 2. This will count as your first stitch. Round 1: Work 11 dc into the ring and close with sc into the top of the first dc.
Round 2: Chain up 2, put one dc into the same st. Work 2 dc into each stitch around, join with a sc into top of first dc.
Round 3: Chain 2, put 1 dc into the same st. *1 dc in next st then 2 dc in the same st* repeat between **. Join with sc into top of first dc. Round 4: Chain 2, put 1 dc into same st. Next put *1 dc in next 2 sts then 2 dc in the same st* repeat between **. Join with sc into top of first dc.
Finish off with the first colour and weave in ends.
Join your next colour, it doesn't matter where you join it to and chain up 2. Put 1 dc into the same st. Round 5: *1 dc in next 3 sts, 2 dc into same st* Repeat between ** Join with a sc into top of first dc and finish off with second colour. Weave in ends.
Join with your last colour, again, wherever you like is fine. Chain up 1, put 1 dc into same st. Last Round: *1 sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc into same st* Repeat between ** Join with slip st to finish. Weave in ends.
Repeat the above pattern til you have however many coasters you'd like in your set. I have four in mine :o) Time to wrap 'em up and add them to my ever growing pile of handmade gifts! Enjoy Beans! And stay tuned! I have some more easy crafty tutorials on the way this week!
I got the new Emilie Autumn album, 'Fight Like a Girl' and HOLY CRAP it's amazing. I've got it playing along with one of her other albums 'Enchant' as well as some IAMX, Imogen Heap and Monster Magnet....mmmm yes, I am one happy shmoogle bean right now!!!
I'm tapping into some new crafty goodness today and creating some more beautiful little gifts for my Handmade for Christmas Challange...It helps that I am a pathological hoarder and always seem to have everything I need or want on hand for creating with! Which is great! Because I have neither the money or the car to go in search of new supplies at the moment. Besides...with the amount of pure awesome I have stored in my craft room, I'd be crazy to think of adding to it before using up some of what I have. Although that's not saying I don't WANT to go buy new stuff....I ALWAYS love new stuff!! More wool, some new beads, a few more scraps of satin, and funnily enough a soldering iron! That would be insanely handy but ah well... make do right?
So check out the pretties I've done today!
I tried something new, I'd never made these before! They're so tiny, dainty and plain adorable! I know exactly who would love this little collection of birdsnest charms :o) They look large, but the biggest one is an inch across, and the smallest is only 2cm!
I only had one size wire on hand, and it was probably a bit too thick for this project; I ended up hurting my finger :( I strongly suggest doing what the nice lady says and use a 24 gauge or smaller! It makes life much easier!
And the other thing I've been working on today is a beautiful black italian wool wrap! I learnt the solomon's knot (celtic knot, lovers knot...or however you may know it by)...another crochet technique I've mastered! YAY! That makes me happy.
a few more rows to go yet, but it's fairly straight forward to work up :o) It's so light and delicate!
And in other news:
1. Periods COMPLETELY screw up diets. Looks like I get to start all over again tomorrow :(
2. I have a little photography thing this Saturday night and I am so EXCITED!!!!!! I'll share more on that later!
3. I've been in the mood to paint but have been completely stumped as to what. Ergo = I haven't done anything.
So that's basically me today, what about you? This bloated, cranky, PMS-ridden person of PAIN is signing out... til next time Quirky Beans!
So as you may or may not know, last year I was intending to make Christmas presents for all my family and friends but ended up not being able to *sad face* BUT this year, I'm aiming to give it a second shot. I would love nothing more than to be able to give beautiful handmade and personal gifts to everyone I care about this year! I've learnt so much this past year and every day it becomes more and more apparant how truly special the people in my life are and how important it is to show them how much they are appreciated. I'm an absolute nightmare when it comes to birthdays and mostly all special occasions, and it always makes me feel so guilty because other people go out of their way for me and I'm so forgetful and hopeless at that sort of thing. But, Christmas? One day when EVERBODY is special and amazing...one day where I can give gifts of appreciation and love to anyone and everyone I like just because I want to make them happy :o) And to let them know that I do think about them, and am not entirely the most horrible niece, grand daughter, sister, wife in the history of man. So last week, I decided to begin my journey into christmas pressie making MAYHEM. I started with a list...on that list I wrote down people's names.... I then added up those people's names and saw that I had a whopping total of 56 people I wanted to make for!! I had a slight moment of my usual panic-before-making-a-commitment but suprisingly it subsided quickly and the feeling of determination came rushing back. It's July! It's totally do-able right! I can make 53 gifts without it costing much right? I can think of something for everyone.... right? Right?! RIGHT?!?!
Of course I can!! ..... I think! Pinterest is helping... I have aninspiration and ideas board to keep me on track and inspired.
And as of today, I am 4 gifts down! So only (bahahaha, only lol) 52 to go! And whilst I obviously can't share who each gift is for, I can at least show you what I'm making along the way! (you might even get inspired!)
I made this crochet heart garland using three different kinds of crochet hearts... I actually think it turned out quite nicely!
8 balls of Inca alpaca wool went into this gorgeous thick ribbed crochet scarf! It's going somewhere chilly, so it will be welcomed I hope!
Not all the gifts will be crochet either, but I've just been in such a mood for hookin' recently I haven't been able to help myself!
Funky isn't it? As soon as I learnt the chevron stitch, I couldn't stop! I loved it so much... and ended up with a scarf! How handy! :p
And lastly, gift number 4 is this lovely soft chenille hat and scarf set :o)
Am I crazy for thinking about Christmas is July? Yup...most likely... Am I crazy for thinking I can hand make 53 gifts in time for December? Oh yes... very!
But you know what? Doing something awesome takes a certain level of crazy... and my newly acquired can-do (sickening) attitude seems to think I can do it, so hey! Let's go!
Gee it's hard to focus on flushing my poor body of toxins when the house is full of leftover pizza, soft drink and lollies!! Or on the other hand maybe it's easier? I don't know, either way today is a strictly 'drink only water' day... I have been eating really REALLY badly lately (I don't even want to tell you what I've been eating as you will probably have the heart attack for me just reading about it) and I'm definately feeling it and just felt like a general 'flush out' was in order so that's what I'm doing. Remember last week when I mentioned on my fan page that I'd been doing some really out of character things lately? Well it turns out (and don't ask me how this happened) that I've resisted biting my nails for over a week now and they are actually growing really nicely! This mighten't seem like much of a deal to you but I have struggled with my nail biting habit for many many years so maybe...just maybe I'm on the right track to giving this one bad habit a swift kick in the hooha! I even dug out my only two little pots of gluggy nailpolish and painted my nails! I never paint my nails.... seriously.. like EVER mainly due to the fact that I had a long time ago consigned myself to have icky little bitten fingernails and stubby fingers for the rest of my life. I'm still going to have stubby little fingers but hopefully the nails will help that SLIGHTLY eh?
You know what else is extremely strange?? I wore lipstick yesterday. Not shocked?? Ok well let me explain a little; I don't really like to smile much in public or around people I dont know..or actually very much in general. The fact is that I have very very crooked teeth and I get very embarrassed showing them to others. I find myself covered my mouth with my hand subconsciously or not wanting to laugh..believe me it gets to me constantly! So for me to wear lipstick was a big suprise and to be honest I don't even know what bought it on. That's me wearing it up there in the photo on my blog header...(I've super-simplified my blog, I got tired of the slow loading time and trying to make it look appealing etc so I've just stuck with the basics) I guess lately I've been trying out some retro/vintage style hair do's and just that tiny change in my morning routine (actually doing something with hair in the morning that is instead of cramming it into a ponytail as usual) has boosted my self esteem enough that makeup seems to be coming onto the scene too! WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?!?!?!!!!
AND on top of all that I've been making plans for myself! I have been in such a slump these past few months I hadn't even realised how inconsistent with myself I was being (I am the queen of procrastination but I'm doing even less than usual), how little I was caring about myself or those around me or ANYTHING in general! I don't know whether someone put magic mushrooms into my breakfast recently or whether I've been asleep for a week and am just dreaming but it would seem my 'get up and go' is back on the uptick *does happy dance* So yes, plans are being made and I am going to undergo a 'self-image kickstart' and get my happiness back. There are no fine tuned details or an exact plan of attack in place yet but I know what I want and when I want it by and that's good enough for me! It goes a bit like this:
By Christmas 2012 I will:
Lose the 10kg I've gained these past 6 months by completely revamping my eating habits and incorporating exercise back into my daily routine - I have been soooooo very very lazy these past few months and have hardly done any exercise whatsoever which is EXACTLY why all that weight I lost last year before my wedding came pelting back at me and launched itself back onto my body with vigour.
Have stopped biting my nails completely and be able to paint them in funky colours and patterns for the first time in my life!!!
Design and get my very first tattoo...time to put those drawing skills into action and take the plunge! I've heard that tattoos are much like Pringles, once you pop you can't stop! Except instead of popping you just get more tattoos. I think I'll be happy with just the one.
Make a big change to my hair. After much thought I've decided that my brownish/black long-ish thick mop of hair is coming off and a short white blonde pixie cut is taking it's place!!
Have a long hard think about the things that I truly enjoy, set some goals to achieve my career dreams...get qualified and go for it!
Sounds completely doable to me! And today I even started! I did 30 minutes of exercise thismorning (YAY ME!!!) and I am currently in the process of planning out meals for the next two weeks and doing some research for metabolism boosting snacks and other healthy bits and bobs. I have some amazing ideas for the tattoo that I'd like, and I've found my hair inspiration! WOOOHOOOOOO I'm excited!!! Although you are probably, at this stage thinking... 1. that's great for you, what's it going to do for me? 2. where the heck are the pretty pictures in this post and 3. How are you reading my thoughts?
Well in answer to question number one, you will be able to follow my journey every step of the way AND even get to look at my fat lumpy bits and possibly point and laugh at them! Why? Because I've gone insane and am going to include photos of my weight loss progress, I want to be accountable for my actions (or lack of) and if I'm successful, I want for you to feel inspired and gain courage to do the same :o) In answer to question number two, the batteries in my spunky camera kicked the bucket so no photos to make this post less text-y and boring today :( and as for question number three? Well...I like to think it's because I am just THAT awesome.
YES I know it's WAAAAY to early to be making Christmas cards but when you have 45 people to make gifts for, you need 6 months trust me!
Anyway, on to my quick craft tip! If there is one thing I HATE with the passion of a thousand burning suns, it's cutting out tiny little letters and shapes for cards. Seriously I hate it! It's ok if you buy the sticker letter kind, or have an alphabet stamp or punch but alas, have those things, I do not. Try this instead! Write with your glue gun!
If you have a steady hand then give this a go! Write what you'd like, then shake some glitter over it, let it try and tip off the excess.. ta da! Gorgeous glitter lettering! Take it one letter at a time so you're glue doesn't dry on you before you get the glitter on :o) To make my cards, I've been using a pre-bought pack of gold cards, twine, black glitter cardboard and of course my glue gun with glitter...I'm really loving the look of these cards! Very simplistic and elegant I think! I then simply too a bit of parchment paper and with a felt tip pen wrote my 'Merry Christmas' and added it to the card! Nothing too fancy.
I've caught the 'bunting craze' recently, have you noticed how popular it seems to be getting in the crafting world recently? It makes for a nice and simple Christmas card design!
I tried using my glue gun and glitter to create some basic shapes too, it makes for a lovely hanging lights motif :o)
It's also a fab technique for making super glittery embarrassing love notes for your husband :p
I have gone completely cookie mad today... I made a lovely batch of gingerbread peoples and 'royally' iced them! They are uber tasty, I LUUURVE cookies...major weakness! I'm making batches and batches of them as Chrissy gifts to friends, family and colleagues. We can't really afford to do the gift thing this year so I'm handmaking all my own sugar scrubs, cookies, meringue, gingerbread houses, lemon and pumpkin butter....the list (and a neverending list it is too!) goes on!
My husband took some gingerbread people to work to share with the ladies he works with in a library (hubby works in a school) and they sent him home with nothing but compliments and all begging for the recipe saying how light the texture was and how beautiful they tasted...well, as you imagine I was very happy with myself!! I'm new to baking so I was extremely pleased! I guess that's what nudged me to think I could give this a go.
anyhoo, I want to share this recipe...it's not only super yummy, but also super cute and very Christmas-y! I have always wanted to try these but never been brave enough; I'm actually typing this recipe out as I bake them so they could go wrong yet! But HEY! What can't be fixed/hidden with a bit of icing huh? If they're 'Tash-Proof' then I guarantee you can do them to. I'm a forgetful baker, like forgetting to put the cocoa into chocolate pudding, and yes I have managed that before.
SO here goes...
Itty Bitty Gingerbread House
To start this yummo recipe, you'll need some gingerbread...so let's start there.
Making the Gingerbread
Ingredients:
125g butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg lightly beaten
2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup self raising flour
1 Tbs ground ginger (more or less depending on your tastes...I like mine sharp with that delicious ginger flavour so I add a little more than 1 Tbs)
1 Tsp of bi-carb soda
With this recipe, you should get about 3-4 itty bitty houses of the gingerbread dough
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees; beat butter, sugar and syrup until light and creamy (and try not to eat too much of it as you go!!!)
Add the lightly beaten egg gradually. Sift all your flour, ginger and bi-carb into the butter mixture and combine well with a wooden spoon. Once combined, knead it gently to form a smooth dough.
Roll out your dough onto a baking paper lined tray to a thickness of about 5mm. Refrigerate for about 1/2 hour...(this makes it a world easier to handle later, trust me!!)
2. Now to cutting out your house peices out of your gingerbread, you can measure these out onto cardboard before hand if you like or you can just measure them as you cut like I did:
Two front walls: 5cm x 5cm squares with a 3cm triangle on top
Two side walls 5cm x 8cm rectangles
Two roof pieces 5cm x 9cm rectangles
Bake for about 10 minutes. You can tell they're cooked when the base of the cookie has turned a darker brown. Using a spatula, gently place your cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.
I like to use that half hour the dough is in the fridge for to clean up my mess and prepare for the next step. I only have a very small kitchen with limited bench space and I need every inch of it so I suppose I don't get too much of a choice! :p
Ta da! you've got your cookies! Are they cooled yet?? Yes? I just took mine out of the oven and they appear to have survived! Excellent!
While they're still warm, take a sharp knife and straighten to edges of your cookies..they'll stick together better that way.
Now let's get to the fun (and messy) part!
Making the 'Cement' Icing and Constructing Your Itty Bitty House
This recipe should give you enough to glue your house together and use the rest to use to decorate with :)
2 egg white (at room temperature)
3 cups of icing sugar
1. Beat your egg whites until they form soft peaks then gradually add your icing sugar bit by bit until you get a gorgeous shiny and stiff icing. Just a tip here...what you don't use for sticking the house together, cover the bowl with a damp towl to keep the icing from hardening before you use it for decorating.
Or you can get your husband to beat the eggs and sugar! You didn't think that was MY arm did you? Be warned..don't wear black!! The icing sugar gets everywhere!
There are two ways you can stick your house together...first way is to use a piping bag ( a number 96 piping nozzle works well) or you can simply (but carefully) dip the edges you want to stick into the icing and do it that way. Or you could use a spoon too... do whatever is necessary to form your beautiful little yummy house together!
2. Join together the walls and leave it on a aluminium foil sheet to harden.
I've just piped the cement on here and I'm hoping it hardens!! Not too sturdy at the moment..but I always have trouble getting royal icing to the right consistancy..I think it's just me!
. When the walls are set enough (you'll know if it's not, as it will fall apart on you!) after about half an hour to be on the safe side, pipe or spoon icing on to join your roof pieces. Leave your house for 20-30 minutes for the cement to harden up before you start decorating.
THE FUN PART (a.k.a The Decorating Bit)
Did you see my Christmas Mallow Poles there?? I've also got M and M's and some Naturals Jelly Fruits as well as a whole range of food colouring at my disposal!! You're free to decorate yours however you like, but in case you're curious, I've taken some progressive photos of how I've decorated mine :)
With plain white icing I have piped on roofing shingles
On the front I have added some cut-up pieces of marshmallow pole I bought at the supermarket
To add some fun colour I have 'glued' on M and M's to the roof shingles...looking very very tasty at this stage!!!
I made some mini gingerbread christmas trees to use as front doors :) I started making some gingerbread windows but found I'd forgotton my liqourice strips to make the window frames with! Whoops! (the windows look a little like grilled cheese on toast!)
Next I went a little icing-mad and added 'snow' to the eaves and over the top of the roofs...then digging in my pantry I found some silver candy balls and sprinkled those on top. The house is resting on a small plate covered in foil, which I then dampened and sifted icing sugar onto. Around the bottom of the edge of my houses I stuck yummy little jelly fruits! yum yum yum!!
It definately needed a chimney...I found a fun-sized cherry ripe in my chocolate stash (you have to keep an emergency stash at home at all times...you know, just in case!). I cut it in half and cut a diagonal on the bottom edge, added some icing and stuck it on top....perfect!!!
And there you have it! I hope you have as much fun making these as I did! I hope the people I made these for enjoy eating them just as much too!
I don't really have anything overly fascinating to say today, just having a bit of an 'internet therapy' session really where I gush about my cruddy day and someone out there sympathises and we both eat imaginary chocolate together and watch sappy movies until we feel better! Anyone up to the challange?
What the heck happened to my temper these days?! Have I become less tolerant of other people in general? I find myself becoming more and more frustrated at what people say and do and find myself thinking how immature others can be without really realising I'm doing it! Normally it doesn't bother me at all... not only that but I seem to have found my (and you'll excuse my French) 'Bitch Centre' these past few days...
*WARNING* Unpredictable and unexplained word-vomit may occur at any given moment without valid reason
On the other hand, I suppose I AM a woman so that above if null and void really... let's just put it down to 'hormones' or 'stress' and leave it at that aye? :)
So today has not been the best day...mind you it hasn't been the worst..just one of THOSE days really. I didn't sleep until 3am thismorning up worrying and fussing over things that need doing rather urgently (and a myriad of other things that have been plaguing me recently) and yes, yes, yes I KNOW that at 3am in the morning there isn't a lot you can about anything but it was bothering me so much! I didn't even sleep in! It's a Sunday, I was up til 3am last night and I didn't even sleep in...there has GOT to be something wrong with me!
Oh and guess what? One of my adult teeth has decided it's not happy where it was and shifted on me whilst brushing my teeth. It's now a tinsy bit wobbly and I'm terrified!! Given my inability to deal with things (you know, like a normal person) it has been on my mind allllll day and boy oh boy it has not been fun!
And so I moved on to distracting myself... there were of course good points to my day... I made an adorable little bandana for my puppy, Toby and he could get away with murder running around with it on he's just so darn cute!
So let's turn this around and look at the good points of today.. my puppy looks adorable and gives the best cuddles so that counteracts the pain in my tooth and a bit of the worry too...
I have cake. Cake is always good so there we go, that's another good thing. Sort of doesn't help with the toothache thing but its soft and easy to chew so that one's a catch 22 BUT it is chocolate cake so that overrides everything! :)
My hubby and I are big on the boardgames and DVD's :p We're really just kids at heart!
Oh! I made this the other day :) Do you like it? It was a perk to come back home after a not-so-enjoyable trip to the outside world today and see my handiwork....I'm rather proud of it :)
Although I have been sick, and got an epic toothache and headache, been feeling all out of sorts and out of touch with myself and the world I am an expert procrastinator which means I have a knack for distracting myself! Alas making pretty things doesn't cure pain but it does help alleviate the want to throw bean cans at someone's head so that's a plus! I made 10 headbands today as well as my pups bandana. Down side being though I still feel the need to throw bean cans at people. I'll do my best to keep suppressing that one I think!!
My poor husband doesn't know what to do with me today! I swear that man has an insane amount of patience and an untapped supply of constant kindness when it comes to me and my weird days!! He really is an amazing person :)
What was the point of this blog entry again? Who knows! I certainly don't! I'll leave you with a song tonight... this one has been on my mind all day and I wanted to share it :) It doesn't have a lot of relevance to my day, but I have been singing it to my myself a lot recently.
Now I think I'll make like my puppy and head off to bed...looks like I'm going to have move Toby out of my spot first though!
Goodnight! May tomorrow be better than today....and may whoever annoys me get their armpits infested with fleas and their arms be too short to scratch... Dang there's that bitchy streak again! Oh well... sleep deprivation :p Sweet Dreams!!
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