A gift for a baby in the making

Today's little project 'in my spare time'. Hahaha.

This was fun! I googled for a bib shape as I wasn't happy with the ones on hand. Now I have done one, I just know I I will make 800000000! I did it with snaps instead of velcro, because I had some and wanted to give it a go. Very happy with result.

Christmas Crafted Item 1

From our home to theirs :)

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

I'll be back to post on what I made for presents soon - meanwhile, looky what I got!

Excitement plus! My first overlocker (serger)! So thankful! Does anyone have tips on using one? We are setting it up soon and my excitement is tinged with inexperience and fear lol. I am excited about what it will mean for neat seams etc (the bane of my sewing existance)!

RE crafting presents, I also got some wonderful Japanese craft books and a voucher that bought me a yo yo maker and new scissors. Very happy.

A fruit cake recipe for you

I'm just about to make my Nanna's fruit cake to take along to the family Christmas as requested and thought I would share the recipe with you.

It's a great recipe to make as a gift as it's not hugely rich like some fruit cakes, nor is their any alcohol in it. I like all different kinds of fruit cake, but this one is light and moist and scrummy.

La Tempete's Nanna's Eggless Fruit Cake

Place in saucepan:


2 cups milk
2 cups mixed fruit
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
4 tablespoons sugar

Bring to boil and add 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda.

Stir well, cool a little and add 2 cups self raising flour & 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Beat well.

Line a cake tin with baking paper and bake in moderate over, 1 hour.

Chopped dried apricots, nuts etc can be added if desired.

(c) My Nanna!

Cinnamon Yumminess

Made this playdough today as part of a Christmas gift.

I made it red and green and added cinnamon and nutmeg so it smelled Christmassy!

YUM.

A little stickier than other playdoughs I have made but still fun :)

http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/No-Cook-Playdough-L2119.html

Apron for my sister

Here's an apron I made for my sister; hope she likes it! I love the combo of the yellow and black and white polka dots; cute and retro :)

I won a Simply Modern Mom giveaway!

I love the Simply Modern Mom blog. Such gorgeousness.

And what do you know, I won a giveaway! SO excited!!!

Thanks again, Tiffany!

Today's project - thanks, Martha & Joelle!

Today I tried out the instructions for these cute little ‘Quilted Coasters’ that I found on Martha Stewart’s website. Apparently they originally hail from "Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson.

I thought they would make a good little Christmas present for a few people along with other pressies.

In some parts my stitching is a bit wonky, but I did enjoy it and put heaps of love into them! They don’t take long either! I'll be making a few more sets out of my scrap stash!

Nanna's Biscuits (cookies)

Nothing beats my Nanna's biscuits. If you're looking for a recipe to try out today, give this one a try. This is usually made with any flavour jam/jelly in the middle but sometimes I split the batch and add ingredients to make different flavours. They can be messy (see pic), it doesn't matter, they still taste great!

Nanna's Jam Drops

2 cups self raising flour
½ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
1-2 eggs
dollops of jam

Beat the butter and sugar to cream and add eggs, beat well.

Add flour to make a dough. Form into round balls.

Press a thumb print into each, fill this indent with jam. Bake in a quick oven (I use 200 C/393 F for 15 mins).

La Tempête's notes:

• I usually use 2 eggs.
• I love these with raspberry jam
• Instead of making balls and squashing them, I roll mix into a log, wrap with plastic wrap and freeze for about 10-15 mins. Then I slice off little discs. Just like the frozen biscuit tubes you can buy in the supermarket. It keeps for a while in the freezer, so I try and keep a log there for when unepected visitors drop by.

For variations, try;

• Cocoa, shredded coconut and peppermint essence to taste
• Smashed up cornflakes and raisins/sultanas
• Lemon curd instead of jam
• I don't put jam in the flavoured ones

 This recipe is copyright my Nanna! She's been making it over 50 years. So please do not copy it with out crediting or linking here :) Thanks my lovelies.

Let me know if you make some :)

Chocolate on my Cranium: Crayon Roll Tutorial

Chocolate on my Cranium: Crayon Roll Tutorial

Crayon Rolls for Christmas

Thank you to Chocolate on my Cranium for a great tutorial!
Here are some of my creations so far.

Christmas.

Making Xmas presents

I am busy making (sewing mainly) Christmas presents at the moment.

The biggest bummer is that I can't show you any! Mainly because a couple of people that may be getting them read my blog occasionally. SELFISH. Hehe. So I can't wait until after Christmas when I can share some pictures.

Hope all is well and happy with you all, wherever you may be.

A basic skirt

I did this up today for a little girl's birthday that is coming up soon. Excuse the lack of ironing hehe. Not really my thing :)

It's just a simple tube style skirt but I love the fun IKEA fabric. Update: Fabric is called 'Belinda', designed by Caroline Abild Jessen (2005). Thank you google.com!

Life is far too short to be ironing all the time. Although I promise I or someone else in this house WILL iron things before gifting them!

Now, instead of ironing, who'll join me in a cup of coffee and some peppermint chocolate?