Button & Ribbons - Make Easy Cards...

If you are like me and save buttons and ribbons....

dig into your stash for a simple ten minute card...

 

Rule of thumb is that three is the magic number! Put anything a row of three, vases, tins, books and it is easy on the eye. So if you need to make a card quickly, use this simple design principle. Anything in threes!
 

 

I took three small square of linen fabric, a button, piece of ribbon and a sequin and coloured over them with a gold pen. Stitch all on or use sticky pads and hey.. you have a homemade personal card. You will always see something in your stash and think, Mum loves pink of Sister like cats...
So to make a simple card like this just search for anything in a set of three..

 

 

 Easy and simple cards to be made in ten minutes!

Autumn Bouquet

With the change in the weather and the last blooms in the garden...

 why not bring those flowers inside in a lovely bouquet?

With little time on our hands as new mums we spend time making a lovely garden, but when the weather changes we cannot enjoy sitting outside and see our achievements grow and flower. So I thought, why not bring in those flowers and give these as a gift or dress your own home?

I took sunflowers and fewer few and the start of autumn berries to make this bouquet of yellows, reds and whites. Tie with florist wire to make sure it is nice and firm.

I buy florist's acetate film off EBay in 10 metre rolls so you can wrap up your own bouquets and still make them professional. You can also buy flower food from your local florist or again or EBay.

Make the most of your garden with a bouquet for your own garden or to give as a gift..

New Mummy Cake

Need to fine extra energy or those extra 500 cals?

When Baby L was a few weeks old, I made this simple but naughty cake again and again. Great when people come around and good as you can slice up so your guests can have as little or as much as they need / like.

You Will Need -

2 eggs
100 grams self raising flour
25 grams cornflower
1 teaspoon baking powder
125 grams butter
125 grams caster sugar
1 tablespoon of milk
1 teaspoon  vanilla extract

For the icing -

100 grams of milk chocolate
Half jar of strawberry jam or 4 tablespoons
30grams butter
4 tablespoons of icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Let's Create!

Heat the oven to 190C or equivalent.

1. Cream the butter and sugar together and add the eggs one by one. Beat into the mixture.
2. Beat in the vanilla extract.
3. Take the flour and baking powder and sift together into a separate bowl.
4. Fold in the flour in slow careful movements until no flour is showing.
5. Add the milk to make the mixture lighter.
6. Lightly grease 2 round 8" tins.
7. Pour the mixture in evenly.
8. Put in the oven and turn down to 180C and bake to golden brown. About 20 minutes.
9. Turn out onto cooling racks and leave until icing.

To make the icing -

1. Cream together the butter and icing sugar and extract in a bowl, adding the icing sugar tablespoon by tablespoon.

2. Beat until soft and fluffy

And finally to decorate!

1. Put the jam in a glass bowl and heat either in the microwave or oven the hob in a pan of boiling water until the jam is running. This will make it easier to spread.

2. Spread jam on the bottom cake. Leave to cool.

3. Add the butter cream to the jam mixture and then add the top of the sandwich.

4. Take the milk chocolate and another glass bowl and melt the same way as the jam.

5. Spread the chocolate on top of the the cake before it has time to set. Leave to cool.

Serves 8 easily!

Gorgeous Handmade Baby Sheets

 I Just Loved Making These Baby Sheets ..and saved a fortune!

OK, so you find the perfect cot and moses basket. It is a tradition in some countries that the soon to be grandparents buy the cot or the pram. Then you look at the price of the sheets and bedding and it is so expensive. I thought that the best option so that Grandma wasn't forking out even more on the bedding was to make my own! Make it into a little project.

Get handy with a needle and thread and make them as my Grandmother had done for me as a baby. They then become heirlooms and can be passed down the generations. Most high street companies design there cots to a certain bespoke size so you have to buy the cot sheets to match.

 For some cots you can be paying £50 + for just the basics. For £15 I made four sheets for the moses basket and the cot. A bargain and these took me an evening to sew up on the sewing machine. Try and fine 100% cotton sheets, usually the higher the thread count the softer for baby they are. Dunelm Mill or TKMaxx are great for king size, high thread count sheets.

I embroidered the tag on the corner of the sheet as if you have a pram sometime Moses basket sheets can also fit the pram if you are lucky! Sometime, like mine the Moses basket is slightly smaller. I also stitched lace and ribbons on the bedding as well, they are only babies once and a newborn in pure white sheets all wrapped up is a lasting memory for any new parent.