Thursday, June 21, 2012

Recycling Broken Umbrella into Poncho :)

I had a really lovely umbrella that I bought few years ago. It has broken few weeks ago. I really loved the print on it, so was feeling a bit sad to throw it away. But yesterday I had an idea! I decided to make it into a little poncho for my daughter :) Here's all the process and the result :) 
(click on images to enlarge)

I removed the frame first

It was only attached with few little threads
Cover

I've cut the collar out
(I think I made it too big)


Then I've taken two parts out for hood

Put two together and used a jumper for template

Cut out

I've connected the separated part, added the hood
and made collar slightly smaller

End result



And it was raining today!

Happy user :)















Monday, June 11, 2012

Blueberry Cake :)

  Blueberry Cake

   Perfect served slightly warm, topped with crème fraîche, this     moist cake can be served as a dessert or as a treat at teatime.

  Ingredients

  • 150g blueberries
  • 125g self-raising flour
  • 200g unsalted butter, softened
  • 200g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
  • 4 eggs, separated

  • Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line the base and sides of an 18-20cm round, loose-based cake tin with baking parchment. Rinse the blueberries, pat dry and dredge in 1 teaspoon of the flour.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and 175g of the caster sugar until very pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks. Sift the remaining flour into the bowl and gently stir in.
  3. Whisk the egg whites in a thoroughly clean bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually whisk in the remaining sugar. Using a large metal spoon, fold a quarter of the whisked mixture into the creamed mixture to lighten it a little, then fold in the remainder. Turn into the tin and gently level the surface.
  4. Scatter with the floured blueberries. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour or unitl the surface feels firm and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  5. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a serving plate. Scatter with extra blueberries and dust with extra sugar. Enjoy!!!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Finger Painting on Wood - Gifts for Granny and Grandpa :)

Recently we had two very important celebrations - Mother's day and Father's day (in UK it will be this Sunday). So we thought, what could be a better gift for my mum and dad than something made with our own hands :) I kept going through ideas on internet, thinking myself, until I stumbled upon a cute idea of finger painting with acrylic paint on planks of wood! We didn't have any driftwood, but there were two pieces of nice wood left over from new windowsill. Perfecto! Here's how we got on :)

Someone was let loose with the paint :D





The old CD that we were using for paint
ended up being used as big stamping tool :D

Here's one we made earlier (with a bit of my help)
I used white primer in the middle as background 

I've also painted a frame around this one in white (with primer)
 and sanded corners and edges slightly.
The work of art went to post office
 before I could take a photo of it :D






Saturday, June 09, 2012

One Fine Sunny Day :)

We had a week of gorgeous weather in Wales this May. So me and my little one spent all afternoons outside. And what is the best way to cool down? Bath in the garden :) 
By the way, there is a chance that this was all of the summer weather that there will be this year :D 









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