diy pin cushion & sewing kit

I made the pin cushion by wrapping a small piece of material around some cushion stuffing, securing the end with some string (to foam a ball), then hot glue gun or super-glue into the egg cup

Into the recycled glass jar I added vintage wooden cotton reels, vintage crochets flowers, a ball of string, lace, zip, needles, elastic and of course some pins

This for my lovely friend who is taking up sewing...

soft leather baby shoes

I've been making this pattern for years, it only has three pieces and comes with great instructions, the pattern is on the blog star dust shoes.

I made a gorgeous pair for Isla when she was younger, Olive could finally them and what happens she kicked one off in town, I back tracked all my steps but it was no where to be seen! 

So I've made use of this beautiful soft pink leather and have sewn Olive her own pair, hopefully she won't lose these ones!

kids have taken over the house!

Before I had the girls I was absolutely clueless, I remember saying "when I have children all there stuff is staying in there rooms, I'm not having a messy house!" lol, I thought it would been easy to contain, how wrong was I! 

I think they own more than I do, they have possessions in every room of the house! Not that I would change a thing, I love there bits and pieces sprinkled over the house....

personalising cup cakes

I've had a very blue theme on my blog lately, not intentionally but it's a change from so much pink!

Here's some cup cakes I baked for Isla's little friend Tom and we made them special by personalising them for the birthday boy. Isla really wanted pink icing but we settled on greeny blue!

I used the 'fruit muffin' recipe from the New Zealand Edmond's cookbook (but left out the fruit and cinnamon, instead added extra oil and some vanilla essence.)

valentines card

I'm not really one to celebrate valentines day, I don't need a bunch of red roses (that cost $70) to know that my hubby loves me! I would much rather him and the girls pick some flowers from the garden! 

Despite my lack of interest for the commercialised day I thought it would be nice to make Neal a card from me and the girls...

diy 3D birthday card

I made this 3D balloon card for a birthday in the weekend, it's the same idea and method as the hot air balloon mobile in my previous blog. It doesn't take long and gives a great effect!

Really easy, just cut out the 6 pieces of card in the shape of a balloon, fold in half (pattern side together), glue or use double sided tape to attached together, then stick to the card...

flowers flowers

There's nothing like fresh cut flowers scattered around the house, as well as adding vibrant colour to a room they just make me smile, especially roses! I got these from a friends garden, love the light pink variety, just lovely!

DIY hot air balloon mobile

One of my friends is having a baby any day, so this is for her new arrival. I love using blues, she doesn't know what she's having but I think this could be for either, it sure fits into olive's room well! I would hang it in a girls room, what do you think, is it to blue??

Pinterest is once again my source of inspiration for this balloon mobile and brown accents is the blog where I found the step by instructions to make it

I'm going to make this!

How cute is this dolls house! I came across it on pinterest this morning, here is the link to the website. It's so adorable and such a easy way to create a good size dolls house! I already have a book case like this, so keep an eye on my blog, lets see how long it takes me!

Does anyone know where I can find similar wooden dolls and furniture (in New Zealand?) They're lovely! 

Picture sourced from honest to nod

 

dinner

All I can say is "delicioso!!!" This was my first experience cooking and eating clams, they are very small but extremely tasty! (definitely in my top ten favourite foods!)

I have to admit I didn't make the pasta from scratch this time, I brought fresh pasta from the supermarket, although it is so much nicer making your own I just find it hard rolling it with a rolling pin, I need to invest in a pasta machine!

Clam pasta

Ingredients
250 gr fresh pasta
1kg clams (or any shellfish) or 500gr of other seafood
1 tbs of butter
olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped

half tsp of fresh or chili powder
1 glass of dry white wine
100 ml heavy cream
coarse salt
ground black pepper
50 grams parmesan
handful of fresh basil or parsley leaves 

cup of fresh beans 

cup of portobello mushroom 

2 zucchini

Method

Fry the beans, zucchini and mushroom in oil, salt and pepper until just cooked, put to one side.

In a large frying pan heat the butter and 2 tbs of olive oil. Add chili, onions and garlic, cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Increase heat and add wine, let it reduce for a couple of minutes. Add the clams, cover until they open.

Add the cream, lemon zest, parmesan and basil. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Cook the pasta for a few minutes in boiling, salted water, and drain.

Add the pasta, beans, zucchini and mushroom to the clams/cream sauce pan and mix well.

Happy cooking!

layered cake

Cake
115 g butter, room temp

210 g sugar
3 egg whites, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla
210 g flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
200 ml milk, warmed for 30 sec in microwave to bring to room temp

food coloring (I just added different amounts of red)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Oil and line how ever many 9” cake pans you have (I have two and I just reused them).

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter, then add the egg whites (I cracked them all into one bowl) and add them a little at a time. Add the vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Then, alternating between wet and dry, add the milk and flour mixture in two parts.

Divide the batter amongst 3 bowls (It's about 1 c each, but I did it by weight. Then whisk a fair amount of the appropriate food color into each bowl. Keep in mind that the color of the unbaked batter will be the color of the baked batter. Pour into the pans and bake for 15 minutes each.

When you remove them from the oven, let them rest on the cooling rack.

Butter Icing

200g soft butter

4-5 cups icing sugar

half-1 lemon (or hot water)

Cream butter, add icing sugar slowly, add lemon (or water) as needed.

Assembly
Stack the layers in your preferred order and fill and ice as you would any other cake. 

This is the blog I got the recipe from, I halved mine. So if you want the full on six layer cake here it is! and I used a butter icing rather than the egg frosting.

Happy baking!

xxx

my favourite's

I'm feeling very proud of myself for having such a major clean out so I thought I'd show you my lovely tidy wardrobe because who knows how long it will last! 

These are a few of my favourite piece's, mostly vintage, there are a some new items like the pale pink shoes I just wore to a wedding.

The silk peach top was originally a shirt, I cut it up and made it into a pretty singlet.

The white cotton singlet is my most recent find, 20cents from a church sale!

And the black garment is a vintage dress, it was my mums from about 30 years ago!