DIY Cardboard Christmas tree {tutorial}

It got to Christmas eve and we still had no decorations up in the house. Things have been a little bit crazy with wedding planning, honeymooning and sorting out the house, so decorations took a bit of a backseat.

While Michael was busy with some other stuff I quickly made us a little tree using lids of boxes that are lying around the house.

Very simple:

Take a piece of scrap paper, fold it in half. Draw a half Christmas tree along the fold. Cut.

Unfold and use the template on two pieces of cardboard. Cut a slit down to the middle of the tree, from the top on one piece and from the bottom on the other piece.

Cut a star shape and make another short slit on one point.

Merry Christmas!

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Moist Vanilla Cupcakes {recipe}

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This makes a lovely light, moist cupcake with a creamy vanilla flavour. I have always avoided cupcakes with buttermilk, since we don't often have it in the house, but after having a cupful left over after another recipe, I will now go buy buttermilk just to make these cupcakes.

1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 180C.

Mix flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla essence and beat again.
Fold half the flour mixture into the creamed butter mixture, followed by the buttermilk until almost mixed in. Then fold in the last half of the flour mixture.
Divide batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake cups.
Bake for about 18 minutes at 180C, or until a stick comes out clean from the centre of the cupcake.

I just made a simple chocolate butter icing with butter, icing sugar, cocoa and a little milk and then followed this tutorial to try out the rose shaped icing. I don't have it waxed yet and a bigger icing nozzle will probably help, but that can just be a good excuse to keep baking :)

Enjoy!

Mini lemon and chocolate iced vanilla biscuits

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This weekend was the birthday party for two friends of ours who got married just over a year ago. I made them these magnets as part of their wedding gift. Now these were for their birthdays:

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp baking powder

Icing sugar
Lemon juice/cocoa & hot water

Preheat oven to 180C

Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy.
Beat in vanilla essence and baking powder.
Add flour, about a quarter at a time and beat until combined.
Form small balls of dough and placed on a tray with baking paper (I wanted mini biscuits so my dough balls were about 2cm in diameter)
Press each ball down slightly with a fork and then bake for about 8 minutes.
Because they are small you should watch them carefully and take them out when they are just starting to go golden on the edges. They should be a nice golden colour underneath.
Allow to cool before icing.

Mix a glace icing by using a heaped tablespoon of icing sugar and adding a few drops of either lemon juice or about a teaspoon of cocoa with a few drops of hot water.
Add enough drops to make a thick paste.
Spoon some icing onto the centre of a biscuit and then squish a like-sized biscuit on top, allowing the icing to come out the sides a bit.

Yield: about 25 double biscuits

Enjoy!

Easy batwing/dolman sleeve top {tutorial}

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 I had to do a bit of research to find out what this kind of top is called. I began at my usual starting point (good old google) and tried 'lazy sleeve' and then 'squirrel sleeve', which revealed the same basic style of top, but for some reason it seems to be mainly used by asians. Interesting. If anyone has an explanation, they are welcome to comment :)

The search 'wide sleeve narrow end' lead me to 'trusty' Wikipedia page on sleeves. Wikipedia led me to believe that it is called a Dolman sleeve. However, it seems that both the batwing and Dolman sleeve terms are used interchangeably or together. Batwing sleeves are generally not 'set-in' sleeves, but rather a continuation of the same piece of fabric as the main body of the top.

To make the heart necklace worn here, follow my tutorial.

Anyway, let's get down to the fun part of the top.

What you need:
Fabric, 1m should be enough as it just needs to be long enough to get from your shoulder to your hips. (I used a viscose lycra for this one, but any knit or slightly stretchy fabric could work)
The usual sewing stuff (overlocker/sewing machine if no overlocker, thread, scissors, pins)

I used a top that my brother bought for me in Korea as a guide, but if you don't have one then you can make a rough pattern out of a top that you have and some newsprint. Make sure that it is a top that is fitted around the hips as you want the top to fit a little snug there. Then just draw a line from the one end of the sleeve down to the end of the top to make the batwing.

Fold your fabric double, right sides together and place your guide on top.

Cut around the guide, allowing about 3cm for the seam.

Cut a scoop into one piece of fabric, for the front neckline. You can make this as high or low as you like.

Sew along the dotted lines, but only on one side of the top. The other side will stay unsewn to allow the extra piece to be added for a nice edging.

Cut a piece of fabric a little longer than the total distance around the neckline and about 6cm wide. 

Fold this strip in half, right sides OUT. Pin this onto the RIGHT side of the top, with the raw edges all meeting, as above. Pin this the whole way along and then sew. 

This should leave you with a small tube running along the top of the neckline.

Now fold the top in half, right side together (inwards) again. Sew down the edges that were left open last time.

All that is left to do now is hem the armholes and the bottom edge. Before hemming, just try it on to check that the arm holes are comfortable and that the length is right. If not, trim a little before hemming. 

I hemmed with a herringbone stitch, which leaves the stitch practically invisible on the outside and allows a little give for stretching

Next time I may try this herringbone method.

Striped tee dress {tutorial}

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Some photos have been sitting on my harddrive since April, waiting to be posted. Since I finally have some time, here goes..

Excuse the poor photos, I tend to be a night time crafter..

All you need it a fabric of your choice, and the usual sewing stuff (thread, scissors, sewing machine/overlocker..)
I also used a T-shirt and dress to make a pattern out of newspaper.

Find a T-shirt that you like, fold it in half lengthways and trace around it, allowing for seams.

Then place a dress on top to trace for the skirt length and shape. I used this dress as my guide. 

Cut out the pattern.

Fold your fabric so that one edge is in the centre (i.e. half your fabric is folded in half, with the other half unfolded). Place the newspaper pattern on the fabric, with the straight edge (centre line) on the fold of the fabric and cut out around the pattern. 

Note: If you are using stripes you must try and match the stripes up as closely as possible when you are folding the fabric in half. This ensures that the lines will run straight across your bosy and not be skew. 

Repeat this with the second half of the fabric so that you have a back and a front to the dress. Here you can use either the pattern or the first cut out as your guide.

 Take just one piece, the piece that will be the front of your dress and cut out a scoop for the neckline. Here I just used the neckline of the dress as a guide.
Note: This can be adjusted later, so rather cut off too little than too much.

Pin the two sides together and then sew along the shoulder line and from the armholes down, on each side.

Then all you need to do it fit the dress on, adjust as you see fit and hem in whatever way you feel works best.

Here I simply folded the fabric about 1cm over and did a black herringbone stitch, which is invisible on the outside of the dress.

Enjoy
Xx

Make your own chalkboard, paint and all {tutorial}

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Yesterday was a rainy day in Cape Town, and since I have a week of holiday, it meant that there was finally time for me to do a craft :) This is a simple way to make your very own chalkboard paint, choosing your own colour. I was inspired by this post.

What you need: White grout, Acrylic paint, wood (or whatever surface you want to paint), paintbrush and measuring stuff.

Make a mixture of the grout and acrylic paint in a ration of 1:8. I used 1 tsp grout to 40ml acrylic paint, and I had loads left over!

Paint your surface. I did a few layers all in one go and smoothing it out as much as possible with the last layer. Using a light sandpaper can help to smooth the board a bit, then go over it lightly with chalk.

Have fun!

Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns {recipe}

Yes, this is my second chocolate chip recipe post. I like chocolate. A lot.

So, in the Easter spirit, here is my hot cross bun recipe, with a yummy twist.

I used the bread machine that I got for my 21st (Mellerware Ma-baker). It works very well, but the recipe book/instruction manual doesn't work quite as well. For a start it leaves the yeast out of the recipe for the hot cross buns. So this is my adjusted and updated recipe:

1 cup water
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
3 3/4 cups white bread flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
a little all spice
(well basically add spice to your own taste)
1 cup chocolate chips
2 tsp yeast

Topping:
egg, for glazing
Flour & water for cross
Warm sugar water

Place all ingredients in the bread machine, in the order listed.

(Without a bread machine try knead 20 mins, rise 30 mins, knock down, rise in warm place 40 mins)

Remove dough, divide into 12-16 pieces, roll slightly and place next to each other (almost touching) on a baking tray.

Preheat oven to 190C
Allow to rise again, in a warm place (e.g. warming drawer) for 30 minutes.
Glaze with beaten egg.
Make a mixture thick enough to hold its shape for the cross and then pipe a cross over all the buns.
Bake for 16-18 minutes

Enjoy!

Necklace (or key) hanger {tutorial}

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I finally decided that I can't have all my necklaces hanging on the same old broken sunglasses frames. So as my final project before starting up my Dietetics Honours course, I made a necklace hanger.

I used a piece of scrap supawood (from making these wooden pendants), plain fabric, left-over paint (I'd recommend fabric paint though), 5 screw hooks, sticker paper, wood glue, swivel knife, sponge. I also used 2 plastic rings, needle and thread, saw and drill (not shown in picture) - technically my dad used the saw and the drill, but hey!

First, to make a stencil I printed the design that I wanted straight onto a piece of sticker paper. This was a gloss sticker paper, so one should print with a laserjet printer, rather than an inkjet.

I could only find gold screw hooks so I dipped each one into the paint that I was using. Colour-coded is good :)

Cut the wood to the size you want. This piece was 18.5cm x 7.5cm. Measure where you want the screw hooks to go. Drill a small hole (1mm) and screw the hooks in and then take them out again, to make it easier later.

I decided to use the same stencil twice (non-classic version: the inside of the stencil, painting the outside, and then the classic stencil, painting the inside gaps). To make the bird part of the stencil easier, I first painted the branch of the classic stencil version onto the fabric.

If you look by the bird's legs, you will see that there are sections that are completely surrounded by black. If you don't do the branch first you will have to cut out those surrounded sections separately and then try stick them in place on your fabric. This will still work it is just a little tricky-er to get right. 

As you cut out the birds stick them onto the fabric of your non-classic stencil version, with a sticker branch. Once all birds are cut out stick the big sticker onto the branch that has already been painted.

With the sponge paint over the stencils. For the non-classic version I tried to leave a mottled effect. It made the end product look old and rustic, which I think turned out great!

Pull off the stickers.

Trim down the size of your fabric a bit and stick down the bottom section of the back. Then stick a pin or needle through the holes, from the front, to mark them. This will make it much easier to find the holes later.

You can attach it to the wall however you like, The best way we could come up with, using stuff I had, was to sew these plastic rings onto the top of the back. They are sewn on the sides and bottom and act as hooks for screws that are put into the wall

Glue down the sides. I didn't worry too much about neatness here, because the top flap was going to cover it all.

Screw the screw hooks into the holes.

Once the top flap is glued down, this is how the back looks.

Rainbow cake with crystal white icing {recipe}

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Last weekend was my 21st birthday party. The theme: black and white with a splash of bright. Being a sweet-toothed girl, my focus was on the puddings.

I made two batches of cake and did three colours (South African spelling) in each batch. A good gel food colouring gives a nice bright colour.

For 1 batch:

2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
180g unsalted butter, at room temp. (I only had salted butter, and it worked fine)
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
3 eggs
1tsp vanilla essence
1 cup buttermilk
food colouring

Preheat oven to 180C. Line 3 baking trays with baking paper or grease and dust with flour.

Sift flour, baking powder and bicarb together. Set aside.

Beat butter and add castor sugar gradually. Keep beating until mixture is very light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between. Add vanilla essence and beat again until light and fluffy.

Reduce mixure speed to low and add sifted flour mixture alternating with buttermilk. Begin and end with flour. Mix until almost smooth, you will still mix a bit when you add food colouring.

Divide the mixture between three bowls and add a few drops of food colouring to each. Mix as little as possible to get the colour evenly distributed.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. (If making a second batch make the next batch while these ones are baking.)

Crystal white icing:

1 cup castor sugar
80ml water
2 egg whites

Dissolve sugar in water over low heat, then bring to boil and leave uncovered for 3 minutes (mine took much longer), until syrup is slightly thick and makes a soft ball (drop some syrup into a cup with cold water and then try form a soft ball with your fingers. If you can't form any ball it hasn't boiled enough.) Do not let syrup colour.

Remove from heat and allow bubbles to subside.

Beat egg whites to soft peak (Peaks just bending over when you lift the beaters out the mixture).

Add sugar mixture to egg whites while beating and beat until thick and cool (a few minutes).

Ice cake soon, otherwise the icing will set too much ice nicely.

Enjoy!

Clay pendant {tutorial}

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I saw some clay pendants at the Grahamstown festival last year and so I asked for some air-dry clay for Christmas. These really took a few minutes each to make and I think that they come out really cute.

Most important is the clay (you could use any kind I guess, but this one doesn't require a kiln and doesn't leave a powdery mess on your clothes). I used the jar to roll the clay out flat. Collect any random things (such as lace) to be used to decorate your pendant.

First off, roll a little ball of clay flat. I rolled it onto an old piece of tile, but anything smooth and relatively non-stick is good.

Mold the piece into shape. For the heart I cut out the basic shape by using the side of the stick to pull away the extra, then shaped it gently with my fingers (a little bit of moisture on your finger helps to smooth it out). You can also use small cookie cutters (see below).

Press lace gently into the clay to leave a lace impression. The lace must not be so fine that it leaves no impression.
For the version shown in the top picture, I pressed the flat end of the kebab stick gently into the clay to make the heart impression. I think it turned out quite nicely :)

I then made a small hole to allow a jumper ring through, using the pointy end of the kebab stick.