The next little project for me and my little helpers has been these little owl & rabbit keyrings we have been making.

I do advise that if you do any sort of sewing project with the kids get needle threaders! As there were lots of different colours I found myself constantly threading cotton into [...]]]>

The next little project for me and my little helpers has been these little owl & rabbit keyrings we have been making.

I do advise that if you do any sort of sewing project with the kids get needle threaders! As there were lots of different colours I found myself constantly threading cotton into needles as the kids couldn’t do it.

There are a few things you need

* coloured felt and matching color threads
* assorted coloured buttons
* black beads (for eyes)
* cotton wool for stuffing
* assorted scraps of material
* ribbon – make sure its quite thin
* key ring loops
* black embroidery thread (for detailing)

First we made a couple of templates in cardboard, then we all cut 2 pieces of felt from each of the templates and sewed them together leaving a small gap to stuff them. Templates were also made for owl wings and bunny bellies which were made from scraps of material.

Once the stuffing hole was sewn up details were added, bunny ears, eyes (black beads), owl beaks and little buttons. Finally we attached a piece of ribbon to enable the key ring loop to go onto it.

There you go as easy as that! My 8yr old even went off and made a second one on his own

My target at the mo is Margarine, if bacteria refuse to live in margarine or vegetable fat spread then how good can it actually be for us?

In my search for alternatives [...]]]> So I’m having one of those, I really don’t wanna eat that it’s full of all sorts of nastys and chemicals months!

My target at the mo is Margarine, if bacteria refuse to live in margarine or vegetable fat spread then how good can it actually be for us?

In my search for alternatives I found almond butter.

Behold! The magic of almond butter

Now I say its magic as there is 1 ingredient, almonds, yes that is it just almonds. They spent a good 10 mins of their life being chopped nuts and just as I was giving it up as a bad job BAM! The oils in the nuts released and it became a peanut butter type consistency.

I spread mine on toast and it was yummy, I recommend giving it a try just make sure you have a good blender/mixer.

Having a crack at doing a candy tree, I had an old plant pot I used, a wooden dowel, plaster of paris, a polystyrene sphere and some green ribbon.

I didn’t quite have enough plaster in the one pictured above I only had a small amount left from a previous project and didnt want [...]]]>

Having a crack at doing a candy tree, I had an old plant pot I used, a wooden dowel, plaster of paris, a polystyrene sphere and some green ribbon.

I didn’t quite have enough plaster in the one pictured above I only had a small amount left from a previous project and didnt want to wait a couple of days to order more so I made do. I would more or less fill the pot to the top with plaster when I do it again it gives more stability to the whole thing.

So it goes like this, mix the plaster, put it in the pot and put your dowel into the middle and hold it there for a few mins until it starts setting & holds itself (I painted mine white)

Use a screwdriver to drive a hole into the polystyrene sphere and then place the sphere onto the dowel.

I decorated mine by painting melted chocolate all over it and sticking the sweets down onto it, you can use any sweets and make your chocolate any colour with some white chocolate and food dye.

As a finishing touch I added some green ribbon around the dowel and cut out a green leaf shape

It may look like cake at the moment, but it won’t!

To do this

115g treacle 115g golden syrup 450g brown sugar (dark brown is best) 125ml hot water 1/4 teaspoon cream of [...]]]> With the kids off school and a request from my little un we have been busy making treacle toffee

It may look like cake at the moment, but it won’t!

To do this

115g treacle
115g golden syrup
450g brown sugar (dark brown is best)
125ml hot water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Place the hot water and sugar into a pan, the biggest one you have is best as it needs room to bubble. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients and leave to heat up. Try not to move or mix the mixture and make sure it gets up to a temperature of 270oF or 140oC, this can take upto 30 mins to do and regular testing with a sugar thermometer.

Once done leave to cool and voila!

Another lunchbox item that’s becoming a fast favourite, and all it takes is making some pancake batter and pouring it into a bun tray. You can add anything to this sweet or savoury I have chosen to keep them sweet with some bananas, pear and chocolate and apples.

5 mins before they were [...]]]>

Another lunchbox item that’s becoming a fast favourite, and all it takes is making some pancake batter and pouring it into a bun tray. You can add anything to this sweet or savoury I have chosen to keep them sweet with some bananas, pear and chocolate and apples.

5 mins before they were cooked in the oven at 200 I added some honey, this does obviously make them sticky to put in a lunchbox so I had to individually wrap each one in grease proof paper. To avoid this just keep it simple with fruit and nuts and don’t bother with the honey I have mainly done this as my 5 year old is incredibly fussy and I’m trying to encourage him to widen his food range once he is accepting the pancakes I will be knocking the honey on the head (sneaky mum tactics!)

Corn dog muffins

2 cups plain flour 1tbsp baking powder 1teasp salt 1 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup melted butter 1 egg 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese 1 cup sweetcorn 3 hot dogs diced

Both my fussy kids actually liked this! All you need to do is combine all the ingredients into a bowl [...]]]>

Corn dog muffins

2 cups plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
1teasp salt
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup sweetcorn
3 hot dogs diced

Both my fussy kids actually liked this! All you need to do is combine all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until it makes a batter, spoon the batter into muffin cases and pop in the oven.

So my project for the next few weeks is gonna be lunchboxes that can be made from freezer straight to bag and [...]]]> Week 2 of the new term and I’m finding making lunchboxes booooooring! One child only has ham butties and the other has mainly salami & tuna (not both together I should hastily add)

So my project for the next few weeks is gonna be lunchboxes that can be made from freezer straight to bag and sandwiches are gonna be off the menu!

Number 1 – pepperoni pizza bites

I started with some shortcrust pastry which was

125g plain flour
55g butter
Pinch of salt
Water to mix

Rub the butter into the flour until you get what resembles fine breadcrumbs then add your salt and a little bit of water at a time until it binds together into a ball (around 30-45ml)

Roll the pastry out quite thin & cut out circles (if you don’t have a cutter use a pint glass or a small bowl). Spread some tomato paste on the circles, I usually add water to tomato purée to make this paste and I also add some honey & herbs (oregano is good) if you have some vegetable stock instead of just plain water this is good too my kids tend to find tomatoes a bit sharp so the sweetness just helps to cut through it.

Add some finely diced pepperoni and a small sprinkling of cheese and then fold the circles in half and seal. The best way to seal them is just to get your finger wet (keep a bowl of water next to you) and just run it round the outside of the circle to help it to stick together when you fold it. Then into the oven!, you will probably still get a bit of cheese leakage even if you seal it well so don’t worry just wipe it away when it’s hot or leave it to cool and cut it off.

The kids did sample them & gave them the ok so I’m gonna put some of the batch into the freezer, cling filmed into pairs ready to use in the next few weeks. If you put them into the lunchbox in the morning they will be defrosted in time for lunch

……. And just coz I haven’t blogged for a while here’s Minnie Mouse to fill the void

My Niece’s 1 birthday cake

First I got the kids to pose, each armed with large numbers that we made and cut out, each number corresponds to the child’s age.

I got these printed in a [...]]]> After seeing multiple people doing this on Pinterest I thought I’d give it a go, putting your fav pics on a canvas.

First I got the kids to pose, each armed with large numbers that we made and cut out, each number corresponds to the child’s age.

I got these printed in a panoramic style poster print as this was the nearest size match to my canvasses. I took each of my 4 canvasses and sprayed them black with some craft paint (acrylic spray) including the sides of the canvas.

Then I stuck my pictures down with modpodge (this seems to be an American PVA based glue which you can make yourself but I thought it best to use the right stuff to make sure I didn’t ruin my pics). Once this is done cover your pics with a layer of glue, this is very scary like covering your kids in fog!

The best way I found to do this is to use a sponge applicator and dab the modpodge over the prints, you can paint it on with a brush but it tends to have a streaky finish and you can see the brush lines. Once done leave to dry and there you go! Didn’t cost nearly as much as buying a canvas print and yet it looks fab

Having another go at the crayon art this time with the heart in the centre