I received some beautiful fabrics today from Quilt Fabric Delights. I have big plans for them and they should keep me occupied over the the Easter break.
Posted by Lisa and Sarah
Fave Crafts has published a free eBook with 19 Easter craft projects to decorate your home, give as gifts and just enjoy making! Sarah and I are thrilled that our Edible Easter Blooms arrangement has been included. You can find it over at Fave Crafts.
One of my favourite Easter projects was the Candy Carrots that I made last year. They are especially good to make for anyone who is diabetic as they can be filled with sugar free candy.
These Easter bunnies I made for a magazine last year are also quick to whip up.
One of the cutest projects I have seen this year is the fabric carrots that Clare from Clare's Craftroom has made. You can find the tutorial here. How sweet would it be leaving out a plate of these carrots for the Easter bunny?
Hope your Easter preparations are going well!
Posted by Lisa
This morning I baked some Low-Fat Banana, Apple, and Cinnamon Muffins. I used a recipe I found at All Recipes. The best thing about these muffins is that they are wonderfully moist from the fruit. They use no butter, oil, or eggs so I can eat them without feeling guilty.
Sarah did not feel as compelled to make something low fat :-) She made a start on the Easter baking, with some delicious little chocolate cups. They look especially sweet in their foil polka dot cases which I bought from Kitchen Warehouse and Spotlight.
Chocolate Cups
125 g dark chocolate
25 foil cases
Filling:
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup icing sugar
60g butter
125 g dark chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cream
Method:
1. Melt chocolate in top part of double saucepan over simmering water; cool. Place 1 teaspoon chocolate inside cases and spread around sides with back of spoon. Place on oven tray and leave in refrigerator until set.
2. Place egg yolk and sifted icing sugar in top part of double saucepan, stir over simmering water until thick, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cool. Place butter in small bowl of electric mixer, beat until softened, beat in egg mixture. Melt chocolate in top part of double saucepan over simmering water. Cool. Spoon chocolate into egg mixture, add vanilla and cream, beat until thickened. Refrigerate mixture for 5 minutes.
3. Spoon mixture into piping bag fitted with small star nozzle, pipe small rosettes into chocolate cases. Refrigerate 15 minutes or until serving.
I am most excited to share with you that I have been selected as a Creative Team Designer for Quilt Fabric Delights. I am joined with 5 talented designers and we will be designing loads of tutorials over the next 6 months. The first tutorial, a child's reversible apron, designed by the creative Rachel from Four Wise Monkeys, is already posted. Others will be added to the site soon, so pop over regularly to QFD Creative to keep up with the latest projects!
As part of the selection process, all the finalists were given the same six fat quarters of fabric. It is fun to see how everyone has put their own slant on the same fabric. My projects are a Knitting Journal and Knitters Project Pouch, using Oz Fabric by Sanae for Moda. Find out more about these "Knit One, Purl One" projects over at QFD Creative
The next 6 months are going to be a lot of fun! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with next month.
I made up a batch of Chocolate Macaroons filled with dark chocolate ganache (a recipe from "How to be a Domestic Goddess"). Perfect for our afternoon tea and not bad for my first effort. I let the macaroons rest for 15 minutes before cooking to develop a skin as suggested in the recipe. I have since seen other recipes that say to let the macaroons rest for an hour. (Any tips would be appreciated). I plan to experiment with some different flavours next time.
Sarah made up some petit chocolate eclairs that she filled with Crème Pâtissière - they were delicious and were a great effort for her first attempt at choux pastry.
What is your favourite French recipe? I can see more French inspired baking in our future:)
After seeing the gorgeous Japanese Washi Masking Tape Eggs at To Be Charmed, we were totally smitten. Yesterday Sarah and I decorated some eggs and displayed them in some little liqueur glasses (I don't have any egg cups)- they will be perfect for our Easter table.
Posted by Lisa and Sarah
I completed my red string quilt this week, and I love it again now that it is quilted. (isn't that often the case?
I went with white borders and a plain red binding to tone it down.
The back is simply white homespun with my four Joseph's Coat blocks appliqued onto the backing. I think I like the backing even more than the front :) I decided not to complete the Joseph' s Coat Quilt and this was the perfect place to display the four orphan blocks. They make quite an impact on all the white.
My family have voted this quilt their favourite out of all the quilts I have made.
Posted by Lisa
Purchases from Calico and Ivy (I went on a field trip with Susan and Janelle - read more about our wonderful exploits on their blogs)
Packages tied up with string
Organised my paper craft supplies (has been on my "to do" list for 6 months!)
Hope you have all had a productive and creative week!
Posted by Lisa
Sarah and I spent a very companionable morning today making up an Easter Centrepiece for our table. Sarah is the consummate professional when it comes to crafting and was insistent that we sample the "blooms" to ensure that they were of the highest quality. They were:)
We had a number of requests for how to make these bouquets after we posted our Christmas version. We aren't florists - and this is our own technique but we are happy to share.
You will need:
For the small buds, we cut a piece of clear cellophane into 5 inch square and folded it into four quarters. We inserted the small egg into the folded cellophane and scrunched up the cellophane around it. (By folding the cellophane first, it makes a little pointy top so the egg looks more like a little rose bud).
We wrapped some wire around the cellophane to secure, and then covered the top of the wire with floristy tape.
For the larger eggs we used a piece of cellophane cut into 8 inch square, and used the same technique.
We then cut a piece of florist foam to fit the flower pot, and inserted the stems into the foam. We then cut pieces of green tissue paper approx 6 inch square. We grabbed the middle of the tissue paper and scrunched it slightly, and then wrapped a length of wire around it. We poked these into the foam to hide all the flower stems.
I found some of my Easter projects from last year when I cleaned out my craft cupboards yesterday. My Mum and I painted some blown eggs with acrylic paints. They make a nice display in a decorated pail.
I found some sweet Rabbit message cards when I was in Japan - these will be perfect for Easter giving.
PS Check out our new header that my clever daughter designed :)
Posted by Lisa and Sarah
Boosted by the success of the Plum Jam, that I made recently, I decided to make some Nectarine Jam today. Once I get an idea in my head, I tend to run with it - even though it wasn't the best day to be jam making with the temperature already at 35 C and rising!
I found a recipe for nectarine jam in an old CWA cookbook that belonged to my Grandmother. I altered the recipe slightly, and here it is:
Nectarine Jam
Wash nectarines, do not peel, and cut up. Place in saucepan with butter and water, and boil until soft. Add sugar gradually, add lemon and vanilla, bring to the boil, and then simmer for approx 45 minutes, until it gels. Bottle hot jam in hot jars. (made 3 jars).
I have never tasted nectarine jam before but it is absolutely delicious!
Scandinavian Needlecraft arrived this morning (a present to myself). I have always loved Scandinavian design since living in Stavanger, Norway in 1996 when my husband was working there (IKEA is my favourite store after all!). I have only had a quick look through the book so far but it full of lovely projects including bags, Christmas decorations, soft furnishings, and children's clothing/accessories.
I have scanned a few images for you to see.
I am working on my red string quilt this afternoon, and Sarah and I have an Easter tutorial that we hope to work on over the weekend.
Posted by Lisa
Anyone who has children at school, knows that you are constantly shelling out change for all sorts of things, including raffles, icy poles, sausage sizzles and the like. Coins can easily become lost in school bags, so I was excited to discover this handy envelope pouch that can be easily made from recycled envelopes.
It couldn't be easier - simply cut off a square from one corner of the envelope , and then cut a slit in it diagonally. (Refer to line marked on envelope below). Slip the top corner through the slit to secure. Of course I couldn't resist adding some offcuts of masking tape that were left over form a recent project:)
One of my favourite cakes to bake is a Chocolate Marble Cake. If I make up 1 1/2 quantities, it is enough for a large bundt tin, plus a smaller tin, which is what I did on the weekend. We had one cake for eating, and I made the smaller one to give to my parents. With some brown paper, string, doiley and some masking tape - it was ready to gift.
Marble Cake
Ingredients:
Method:
Preheat oven to 170°C.
Grease and flour a bundt tin (25 cm diameter).
Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form.
Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Gradually add egg yolks; mix well.
Add flour and milk, alternately; stir.
Gently fold in whisked egg whites.
Divide mixture in half. Add cocoa and vanilla essence to one half of the mixture and carefully stir in.
Add big spoonfuls of both light and dark mixtures alternately into cake tin. Pull a fork through the mixture once to make the swirl.
Bake in a moderate oven about 50 -60 minutes until golden brown.
Serve dusted with icing sugar.
Serves 12
Posted by Lisa
when it comes to these lovelies! My shipment of Japanese Masking Tape arrived today to add to my collection :) I purchased it from here.
I made up this quick card using the tape.
Here are some more inspirational projects from my Masking Tape book that I blogged about here.
For more Masking Tape inspiration, head over to I-Do-It-Yourself for their series on Japanese Masking Tape Craftiness - part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.
Posted by Lisa
