My Monday Moodboard is ... Daffodils

Hello,

Don't you just love this time of the year when the Spring flowers all burst out? I was bought these beautiful daffodils on Friday in tight bud (thank-you Aunty). I left them by a sunny window over the weekend, I wasn't in much as I had a hen party Crafternoon on Saturday and I was at the #stitches2016 show yesterday.

 

Today was a homemaking day and time to catch up on admin and housework whilst the family were at school and work. And my flowers have come out.

I wanted to share and it kind of suggests that Spring is nearly here...

I want to fill my home with yellow after working with a yellow colour palette last week for a Crafternoon tea.

With some much ribbon and yellow haberdashery around it was hard not to be influenced by the lovely Spring-ness in today's moodboard.

Have a great Monday and start to your week!

Samantha
x

DIY Chocolate Calligraphy

Writing in Melted Chocolate For Valentine's Treats

I'm stopping by today to share my new discovery of homemade chocolate calligraphy just in time for V-day. I've also put a tutorial on the post for a supermarket version. I was over the moon when I tried this for the first time with a bar of milk chocolate and it worked.

So here's how to create your own shapes or writing in chocolate at home for that extra finishing touch...

To start with you will need ...

some greaseproof paper, a tea towel, a piping bag, teaspoon, a tray for the greaseproof to sit in and a pyrex jug that holds a few pints (enough to soak the tube or icing bag in)

You can buy Cake Décor from Lakeland for under £2. You simply place the tube in boiling water for a few minutes, I massaged the tube so it's soft then place it back in the water.

Once the tube is melted through, snip off the end and then you can start writing. It is thicker than melted chocolate so you can spend more time on what you are writing.

The easy homemade version which works, but the chocolate is thinner so you need to be quicker. You just need a bar of milk chocolate and a disposable icing bag (and some scissors to snip the end)

Break up the chocolate and put it in the icing bag in a the pyrex jug (don't microwave it). When it's melted through, snip the end of the bag just a little to reduce the flow.

After about five minutes of chocolate calligraphy I chilled my writing for twenty minutes and then when hard put the writing and hearts on foil.

So we tasted each and the milk chocolate was much better! So this is what we made with the chocolate hearts...

Easy Chocolate Heart Cakes

I baked a tray bake sponge and let it cool. Then with a heart cutter on an iced board I cut out the two hearts.

We stuck both hearts together with raspberry jam.

Dusted the top with icing sugar.

Added a spoonful of fresh cream and added on top the milk heart.

Perfect and handmade for Valentines!

I hope you enjoy this tutorial as much I did making it...

Samantha xoxo

Make A House A Home

I love a craft challenge and was thrilled to be invited to take part in the Make A House A Home competition.



Make A House A Home

As the Summer days are fading and I am crafting for Autumn and Christmas (yes the C word in September!) it was great to get my craft on with bright Summer inspired colours.

I was sent the pretty wooden bird nest with the brief to get crafty and to 'make a house a home'. With the inspiring craft materials at Buddly Crafts  to choose from, I put together a colour palette of homely happy colours; greens, pastels and reds. I then chose the a basket of pretty materials to reflects this.

I saw the Fimo Effect polymer clay with a great shimmer to the classic Fimo I have used before. Fimo polymer clay is great for modelling so I bought a pastel palette of  six pretty colours Aqua, Light Pink, Lilac, Mint, Peach and Vanilla.

I had to include the Tilda fabric in the project as I have used them to make cotton dolls, cushions and bunting and the prints looks really homely. I chose the green to look like the trees.

To start the project, I broke off a strip of each of the colours and rolled it out with a old wine bottle a 3 mm thickness. This was for my flags for around the bird house roof. I played around with the flag shapes until I got one I was happy with. I then cut out the flags six times in each clay and wetted them to bend them into a shape so that the bunting flags looked like they were blowing in the breeze.

They were then baked as per the packet instructions and left to cool down whilst I decorated the bird house.

I used the Tilda fabric for the roof and the side panels of the bird house leaving the inner panels ready for a white acrylic paint wash later in the project. I used a hot glue gun and a heat proof mat (the red dotty mat just seen) to protect my craft table.

I bought a pastel pink, pastel blue and white ric rac trim to add to the bird house around the sides and over the Tilda fabric as a contrast.

Over the Tilda fabric - so pretty!

Then the white wash was added.

I crocheted a bunting flag in red using devil red #666 .

The flags were then fixed into place and with the remaining thread and fabric I embroidered a 'Home' banner and decorated the bird perk ready for my reveal.

Our little Home sign

The bunting fimo flags were glued in place on a crocheted string with a ric rac trim. I used a staple gun to attach the thread to the house and strong craft glue to attach the flags to the string.

And a hanging loop on the back.

And our new bird home is finished.

I am over the moon with my finished bird box and it's going up in the house tomorrow. I want to thank Ocean Finance for inviting me to take part.

How would you decorate a bird box?

Samantha

* This is a sponsored post

This Summer...Make Your Own Strawberry Ice Cream

For the last six months I've been slowly getting obsessed with making ice cream. It started as an idea for Christmas day dessert, I made a simple vanilla no-churn recipe and it was delicious.

 By total chance I was given the MELT ice cream recipe book for Christmas too, so from that day on I've been late night experimenting  with chocolate-y, fruity and booze-y combos when the kitchen is family free.

It's been a great journey and I have been completely amazed how creative you can be. So as I sit here dreaming up some new non-churn recipes, here is one of our current favourite...strawberry ice cream with pick your own strawberries to involve your family and friends in the process too!

You Will Need -

200ml double cream
200ml of strawberries, hulled and chopped up. The riper the better
2 drops of vanilla essence
65grams of caster sugar
Seasonal fruit to decorate (we used raspberries)

Method

1. Take the strawberries and put them in a non-slip bowl with the sugar and vanilla essence and mash away until the bowl is a red fruit thick liquid in it.
2. Whip the cream until if forms soft peaks on the beaters and looks thick and glossy but be careful not to over whip it (yes you can do this too!).
3. Fold the cream and strawberry mixture together until it looks a pink creamy colour.
4. Place the ice cream in a freezable tub and pop in the freezer for at least four hours.

To serve take out the freezer and leave for ten minutes on the side to scoop it or use a scoop that's been standing in boiling water but be careful to use an over mit as it may be hot, hot, hot.

Decorate with sprinkles and fruit. To make a booze-y version add a tablespoon of your favourite tipple when mixing the cream and fruity mixture together. The ice cream will come out softer as the alcohol won't freeze. We like a homemade blackcurrant vodka in ours!

Bye for now,

Samantha

How We Planned Our Fabulous Places Stand

So as a start up business, it great to get your application for an amazing Summer Market accepted. It's that email that pops into your inbox and makes you totally full of pride. That's how I felt when I got the big OK to have a stand at the Fabulous Places Summer Market in Derby on the 5th July.

I decided to go for a circular table option and build my stand with the vintage props I use at the parties to give people the feel they were actually at a Crafternoon tea ...lots of tea, cake and crafting materials and inspiration.

I used my old time mannequin (she's from a Laura Ashley window display!) and a vintage box I got for a fiver from a fete to make the height in the middle of the stand. All stands need a sight line and height does catch the eye. Think of a triangle in the middle and put your stall props around it.

We had plenty of spaces between the tables, this is the view from mine. This was great so we weren't too close to our neighbours and people could walk around the stand.

I put out samples of our treats and bakes for visitors to sample and our certificates to say we were the real thing. As a start up, I think it's important to show you have the right experience.

I had as many samples out on display and leaflets to let customers know what we did. I also did a special offer on the day. And as a result we have had a record response to our offer and lots of enquiries into next Easter.

Thank-you to everyone who came along. We celebrate our second birthday in a few weeks so this was hard work  was the icing on the cake, I am over the moon!

I still want to stay small and bespoke so more of the same is coming!

Samantha

My June Round Up

June was a month full of vintage events, sunny days and lots of making. It was also a year on from me starting out on my catering journey serving afternoon tea and my blog anniversary too.

My favourite festival Eroica Britannia came back to Derbyshire full of retro fun and so much nostalgia is was crazy to fit it all in one showground. I loved it!

I also hosted a Father's day memory chalk board Crafternoon with a vintage tea.

And finally the Creative And Crafty Blogger Meet was here after six months of prep. I hope everyone who attended loved the day and goodie bags.

I have to say the best bit of the day was meeting all the lovely #ccbloggers again.

I printed this tote shopping bag as a birthday pressie.

And made Father's day cakes for Mr.S just how he likes them. A treat for the fella!

Today's been super hot and hooray for the summer sun...

How was your June?

Samantha x