January 2013 | A Spoonful of Sugar

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

6 Valentine Crafts

If you are looking for a Valentines Day inspired craft project, here are our 6 most popular Valentines Projects that we have shared over the past few years.

Valentine Chocolate Flower

Two Hearts

Heart Memo Holder

Valentine Boxes

Valentine Heart Houses

Valentine Pot Holder and Heart Pot Holder

For more Valentine Projects, don't forget to check out the blogs participating in 14 Days of Crafting Love -

JoJo & Eloise

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

A Spoonful of Sugar

Live Laugh Rowe

The Polka Dot Closet

Craftberry Bush

Yesterday On Tuesday

Mom 4 Real

504 Main

Rook No 17

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Monday, 28 January 2013

In celebration of Valentines Day, we are joining in with a group of fabulous bloggers for Fourteen Days of Crafting Love. The series is being co-ordinated by the talented Angelina from JoJo & Eloise and is running from Jan 28 - Feb 10. So if you are needing some Valentines craft inspiration, check out the links and schedule at the bottom of this post.

Long time readers may remember our Advent Houses that we made a few years ago. We have used the same concept to make some Valentine Heart Houses. They feature a little pocket in the back to hide a note or treat. It would be fun to make a batch of them to string up as a garland. We made them from white linen and small pieces of pink quilting cotton.

Materials:

white linen
quilting cotton in pinks and reds
red, white and pink bakers twine
appliqué film, such as steam a seam
template - can be found here

For each house-

1. From the white linen cut 2 rectangles measuring 3 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches for the house front and back. Cut one rectangle measuring 3 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches for the back pocket.

2. Using the roof template provided, cut out a matching pair of triangles from pink print fabric for the roof.

3. Using the heart template provided, trace the heart onto the back of the appliqué film. Cut around the heart leaving a 1/4 inch clearance. Peel off the paper backing and press the film onto the back of a piece of pink fabric. Cut around the heart shape. Centre the heart on one of the rectangles and press in place.(following manufacturer's directions). Using raw edge appliqué, stitch around the heart to secure it to the front of the house.

4. On the back pocket, fold down 1/2 inch on one of the 3 1/2 inch sides, and press. Then fold over another 1/2 inch and stitch the fold in place with a scant seam allowance. Press.

5. Line up the bottom of the pocket with the bottom of the linen house back and pin it in place. Using a basting stitch and a scant seam allowance, stitch the pocket to the house back.

6.With right sides together, line up the bottom of one roof piece with the top of the linen house back and stitch together. Press the seam allowance towards the roof fabric.

7. With right sides together, line up the bottom of a roof triangle with the top of a linen front and stitch together. Press the seam allowance toward the roof fabric.

8. Stitch a 6 inch length of ribbon in half lengthwise and pin it to the top of the roof (as shown in photo above) and baste in place.

9. Pin the house front to the house back with the right sides facing. Stitch around the outside of the house using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, leaving a 1 1/2 inch gap in one long side for turning.

10. Clip the corners and turn the house right side out through the gap. Use a point turner to push out the corners. Press.

11. Using a hand stitching needle and a ladder stitch, stitch the opening closed and press the completed house.

Fill the back of the house with a special note and/or small treats such as candy or coins.

For more Valentines Craft Ideas, check out the inspiring projects on the following blogs. Everyone will be posting a craft on Jan 28, and then again on the date/s listed.

JoJo & Eloise

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

A Spoonful of Sugar

Live Laugh Rowe

The Polka Dot Closet

Craftberry Bush

Yesterday On Tuesday

Mom 4 Real

504 Main

Rook No 17

We will have another Valentines Tutorial for you on February 8 so remember to stop back!

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Saturday, 26 January 2013

Lamington Cake

We would love to wish all of our Australian readers a very Happy Australia Day! Hope you have a relaxing day celebrating with family and friends.

To help celebrate Australia Day in true Aussie style, Sarah has baked us a delicious Lamington Cake. It consists of two layers of sponge cake, sandwiched together with vanilla buttercream, and then covered in a chocolate icing with dessicated coconut. A fun twist on the Aussie classic.

Sponge Cake

Make up a basic Sponge Cake and bake it in two square tins. You can find the recipe Sarah used over here at Donna Hay. Allow the cake to cool and then sandwich together with Vanilla Buttercream, and coat in chocolate icing.

Vanilla Buttercream

60 g butter (1/2 stick), softened

1 1/2 cups icing (confectioners sugar)

1 -2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method:

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and on medium speed of an electric mixer beat until smooth. Add the sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy, about 5-7 minutes. Gradually add the remaining milk or until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.

Sandwich the cooled sponge cake together with the buttercream.

Chocolate Icing

2 cups (360g) icing (confectioner's) sugar
2/3 cup (50g) cocoa powder
3 tablespoons (60ml) boiling water
50g butter, melted
Shredded coconut, to coat

Method:

Sift together the icing sugar and cocoa. Mix with the boiling water and melted butter. Spread the top and sides of the cake with chocolate icing and sprinkle with desiccated coconut. Allow to set.

You may also be interested in other Australian themed posts -

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Thursday, 24 January 2013

Heart Memo Holder

A sweet idea for Valentines Day is to make a heart memo holder - perfect for leaving messages for those you love. They are made from decorated wooden pegs (clothespins). Simply add a magnetic strip to the back of the peg to use on your fridge or magnetic board, or else stand it up on its base for a free standing memo holder.

Materials/supplies:

Cardstock
Heart punch
Washi tape or decorative tape
Wooden peg (clothespin)
Printed Valentine’s message (we used a typewriter font)
Double sided tape
Foam squares

Punch out a heart shape from the cardstock, and then decorate it with strips of washi tape in reds and pinks.

Print out a Valentines message and cut it to fit one side of the peg. Tape the message in place with double sided tape

Attach the heart to the top of the peg with an adhesive foam square.

Use the memo holder to display a message or photo. (Weren't my teens cute as little ones!) They can be used to hold place cards at a Valentine’s dinner.

Previously published as a guest post over at Omiyage.

Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Child's Fleece Scarf

This easy, no-sew, cosy child's fleece scarf is a great project to teach kids some simple sewing skills. With its heart motif, it would be a fun Valentines project for those that live in the Northern hemisphere. If you are sweltering like us, it might be best to leave it until the cooler weather :)

The scarf is made from a rectangle of thick polar fleece. It is a “no sew” project, as the warm polar fleece does not fray. Get the kids involved in decorating their scarf – by appliquéing a few simple felt shapes to each end – to make a “one of a kind” accessory. This would be a perfect project to teach kids basic embroidery/sewing stitches such as a straight stitch, French knots, blanket stitch, and sewing on buttons.

Materials:

· Rectangle of polar fleece measuring approx. 6 x 63 inch (15 cm x 160 cm)

· Small pieces of coloured felt in contrasting colours

· Assorted buttons

· Embroidery floss

Cut your polar fleece to size. Make a fringe at each end by making cuts that are 3 1/4 inch deep x 1/2 inch apart (8 cm deep, and 1 cm apart).

Decorate the scarf by appliquéing some felt shapes on each end. You could appliqué hearts (as shown), stars, circles, flowers etc. We cut our felt hearts in three sizes, quickly and easily using our Accuquilt Go Baby.

Cut your shapes out of the felt, pin the felt shapes onto the scarf, and then stitch in place using two strands of embroidery floss and a basic embroidery stitch such as straight stitch, French knots, or buttonhole stitch.

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Saturday, 19 January 2013

{Back to School} Tissue Cover

With the new school year looming, it is the perfect time to do some Back to School crafting. Sadly, my teens no longer want me to make them anything for the new academic year, but with some pleading on my part, Sarah agreed that she could use some Tissue Covers to keep in her school bag and locker. She has inherited my allergies, so always needs a steady supply of tissues. We tend to buy the travel packs of tissues in bulk!

After a look through our fabric stash we found the perfect fabrics. Polka Dots, Eiffel Towers, Union Jacks, and Cupcakes! (Our favourite themes). We found the French and British themed fabrics at Spotlight (they are a linen cotton blend). Wish I had of bought some of the Aussie themed one as well.

I didn't use a pattern, and made up my own design as I went along. There are no doubt loads of tutorials around for Tissue Covers but if you want to make one like ours, I noted down the dimensions and took a few progress photos.

Tissue Cover

Materials

6 1/4 x 5 3/4 inches (Main Fabric - Eiffel Tower)
2 1/4 inch x 5 3/4 inch (Contrasting Fabric - Polka Dot)
8 x 5 3/4 inch (Lining Fabric - white)
1 1/2 inch of striped ribbon, 3/4 inch wide
6 inch mini pom pom trim (optional)
Travel pack of tissues

Prepare Materials

Stitch the smaller rectangle (polka dot) to the larger rectangle (Eiffel Towers) along the 5 3/4 inch edge to form the front cover. Press. Fold the ribbon in half, and baste it in place, 1 inch from the top left hand side as shown in the photo.

Assemble Tissue Cover

With the right sides facing, layer the tissue cover on top of the white lining. Pin together. Stitch together along the top and bottom edges using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Turn out the right way. Press.

Optional: If you want to add pom pom trim, stitch it on (along the edge with the ribbon), using a scant seam allowance.

Sew Front to Back

Lay the tissue cover on your table as shown in the photo above. Turn down the top edge 2 1/4 inches. Press. Turn up the bottom edge 1 3/4 inches (along the seam line where the Eiffel Tower fabric meets the polka dots). Press. The Tissue cover should measure 5 1/4 inches x 3 1/2 inches. Stitch both sides together as shown. Overlock raw edges. Clip corners. Turn out right way using a turning tool. Press.
Note: The top flap will overlap the bottom flap by approx 1/2 inch.

Stitch Sides of Tissue Cover

Turn out the Right Way and Press.

The Tissue Covers are sized to hold a small pack of travel tissues. They are great to have on hand in your school bag, hand bag, or suitcase. Of course, I couldn't stop at one and made up a few to use when travelling.

You can find some of our other Back to School tutorials here -

8 Back to School Projects

You can find more of our sewing tutorials here. If you enjoyed this tutorial, please consider sharing.

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Friday, 18 January 2013

Origami Box

One of the tasks that we always like to do during the school holiday period is a big clean/sort out of the teens bedrooms so that they are nice and organised. They always like to tidy and restock their desk with supplies, ready for the new academic year.

Sarah has been enjoying a spot of origami lately, and has made a little open origami box. The origami box is perfectly sized to hold some pins for her pin up board.

You can find the instructions for the box on Origami Club. Sarah used origami paper that was 5 inch square. This would be a great Back to School project to help kids organise their desks. There are loads of other fun origami projects with clear instructions over on Origami Club.

For other Back to School activities, you may like to check out:

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Thursday, 17 January 2013

Back to School Craft Projects

It is more than half way through January already, and we are starting to get organised for going Back to School (and work). We have bought books, diaries, school supplies, and school shoes. The books are covered and labelled, and we have even planned some lunch box recipes. You can find our Lunch Box Ideas and Lunch Box treat recipes here.

We are working on a new sewing tutorial for Back to School and it should be ready to share in a couple of days. Meanwhile, we wanted to re-share this round-up of 8 of our most popular crafty Back to School Projects to help get you and your child/ren organised for the new school year. You can find our original post here with all the projects and links.

Are you working on any Back to School craft projects?

Wednesday, 16 January 2013

10 Lunch Box Treats

With the new school year only a few weeks away, it is the perfect time to get baking and stock up the freezer with muffins and cookies for the school lunchbox! With all four of our family taking our lunch each day, we always like to have a stash of treats in the freezer. Simply pop them in the lunch box frozen and they have defrosted by morning tea. It is always nice to have a treat to look forward to at recess or to have with your morning coffee.

Here are some of our suggestions for lunch box treats - some are healthier options than others! If you have younger, primary school aged children, avoid packing any treats that contain nuts, in line with your school's nut policy.

Click on the title under the photo to be taken to the original post that contains the recipe.