stuffies :)

Hello everyone, just finished sewing and filling some new pals here's 2 of them, still have a dino, a puupy and another ellie to go if anyones interested I'm selling them on e-bay here's the links:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320720127890&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320720128690&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Hope you like it, I'll be posting more soon

Home baked white bread

The sun is shining the birds are singing, the grass is green, and yes oh yes, I'm stuck at home :( ironic isn't it, my baby girls have an awful cold and instead of being able to enjoy this not so often sunny weather in the UK, here I am writing a blog while my little ones sleep, and enjoying the little bit of silence I might get for a long time.... Anyway I just decided to share with you this great white bread recipe I usually do, the kids really love it and lets just admit it once and for all that there's nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread while its in the oven, I'm not even going to tell you about the taste when you spread some butter on it while still warm..... oh so good!!!! I'm getting hungry just by talking, better yet, writing about it :)

Here's the recipe I make:

360ml tepid water

2 soup spoons of margarine

1 pinch of fine salt

520g of white bread flour

1 packet of fast action dried yeast (7g)

If you happen to have a bread machine that's great cause you just need to add the ingredients in the order above; if not it gives a bit more work but nothing not worth doing :)

Grab a bowl stir in the flour, make a hole in the middle in another recipient put the water margarine  salt  and yeast mix it well; slowly pour this mixture into the bowl with flower mixing with your hands until you get an elastic dough, shape up a ball and cover it and leave it to rise in a warm place for an hour, after that hour knock the dough back by flipping once or twice and let it rise for another hour; meanwhile heat up your oven, get a nonstick tray sprinkle with flour and shape the dough into a big ball or several small ones if you like; Put it in the oven for around 35 to 45 min for the big ball and around 15min for the small ones, please note that the timings defer depending on the tipe of oven  so just keep checking them ...

hope you like it, let me know how it goes :)

                                This two were made with a mix of white and brown bread flour, baked in the oven.

in this one white bread flour only was used, and it was done on my bread machine :)

How to sew a clutch purse tutorial

Hello everyone, while searching on the Internet I came across this wonderful how to tutorial, I found it very explanatory and interesting, I just can't wait to find some special fabric so that I can put my hands to work.

Why don't you have a try and post the results to me I would love to show them here as well :)

Well thank you for watching and see you soon my crafty wackys XD

Fathers day Cake

Hello everyone, has many Uk residents may know last Sunday was fathers day :) yeihhhhh, after all they have rights too and should be spoiled once in a while, if there's a mothers day a women's day and God knows what else why not a fathers day ?!! OK so you might be thinking, sure but we women have to clean cook work and take care of the children.... truth, truth and truth, but how many of us have supporting husbands that go to work and on days off give you breakfast in bed or help you clear out the mess, vacuums, and put rubbish outside :) yeah the poor things have the right to have a day for their own.

However lets admit that sometimes things are  kind of tight financially... why not make a cake just for them its not that expensive or time consuming it just needs some ingredients, tender love and care XD

Here's the recipe I used:           Genoese sponge 

                                             200g Margarine

                                              320g self raising flour

                                                300g caster sugar

                                                  pinch of salt

                                                    4 eggs beaten

                                                      200ml milk

                                                        a few drops of vanilla essence or extract

                                                           1 table spoon of baking powder

Grease an line a deep cake tin, preheat the oven to 180o C .

Put the margarine, flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and crumble with your finger tips.

In a separate bowl mix the eggs milk vanilla essence and baking powder (use the electric whisker), pour this mixture to the dry ingredients in the other bowl, carefully whisk at low speed for 1 minute, and gradually increase to high speed (2 more minutes)

Transfer the mixture to the tin, and smooth flat with a pallet knife or a spatula; bake for around 30 min or until golden and firm to the touch.

Turn out to a wire rack and peel off the lining paper and leave it to cool, before using don't forget to peel off the cake skin.

Has a topping or filling why not melt a bar of chocolate with a spoon of margarine an a little bit of milk, mix it until its creamy and only use it when the cake has cooled down completely.

Use your imagination or whatever you have at home and decorate....

(for some weird reason I'm not being able to attach the pictures, so my apologies, but go on have a try you don't need a special occasion to make something tasty :) )

Food for thought

 Hello everyone, today I woke up philosophical :) and the first thing that came to my mind was : today is the day, live today like it is your last ( whooo, creepy perhaps, hummm have to think on that one) ... I also always liked however not always followed the following statement: look at things like is the first time you are seeing them, look at the amazing details, feel them, smell them, cherish them... and one I always found amazing: You are the master of your own destiny; another one here, believe and you shall receive.... I told you I was philosophical today :)

See you soon xoxoxoxo

Kids bedroom Decor

  Hello everyone, what a wonderful day it is here in Plymouth. I can hear the birds singing the wind in the trees and bla bla bla :); Well today I'm going to show you how to personalise your kids room, or to at least put on the wall some characters that they love, I chose Nemo's character for my girls room cause they love sea and fishies etc.

Material you'll need:

Canvas (it can be a painted one that you would like to cover)

staple gun

fabric (your choice)

Iron on paper

printer

 This is reaaalllyyyyy easy and you can do it with any characters or fabric your little ones love the most... I'll try to explain how I did mine, here it goes:

 Go to the Internet and find some images of the cartoons or whatever is that your sweetie pie loves, save the picture (s) print them to the iron on paper , cut the pictures and place them right side onto the fabric iron them on a tough surface until the iron on paper turns orangi ( each iron on paper has its instruction so take time to read them :) ), peel the paper after it has cooled down slightly; after that You lay the fabric on a table for example right side down, you center the canvas on the fabric, put the borders up and staple, with your stable gun take care not to hurt your self OK, and VOILA a personalised canvas full of love made by you!!!

How wonderful right ?! Now you just need to put it on the wall, why not use the 3M that way you don't even need to make holes in the walls :D and voila a win win situation, who said that we needed men anyway looool.

Hope you enjoyed it... See you soon!!

The House of Pancakes :)

Good morning everyone, this morning I woke up fairly inspired to bake, and also the first thing I heard instead of good morning mummy that I love so much to hear followed by a huge hug was " pancakes, pancakes; mummy can you make some pancakes pleeeeeaaassssseeeee I'm hungry".... hum what do you think should I attend my little ones wishes?! yeah I think so too.

Here's the pancake recipe I normally use but sometimes I do it with a twist like putting drinking yoghurt instead of milk,  hummmmmmmm sooo goood!!

Pancakes

115g flour (plain or self raising)

pinch of salt

1 egg

280ml milk (or liquid yoghurt)

NOw the easiest part ever, get a Jug and your hand blender pour the milk first than the eggthe little pinch of salt and the flour, turn the blender on for a little bit, meanwhile grease a a frying pan either with butter or oil let it get fairly hot and put some of the mixture into it; Turn it until golden, after that's done transfer it into a plate and use a topic of your liking.

Why not try to melt some nutela and spread it over them or why not just spread some jam?!!

hummmmm yahmmy.... Go on roll up your sleeves and lets get cooking :D

Sock Try outs

Hello again!!!
Today is a rainy day in the plymouth area, what a perfect day to stay at home and go sock crazy. A few weeks ago I bought a book called STRAY SOCK SEWING (by Daniel), what else can I say but what a wonderful little book, its full of ideas and the most cute sock creatures I have ever seen, who would imagine that you could do such a thing from in my case old socks :).
I loved it so much that I started doing a cute bunny straight away, my little ones loved it to, I hadn't even finish my first toy and they were already hugging it and saying they wanted another one.... mummy mummy I want a rabbit too  they even gave them names... here's a great way of recycling in my opinion, it only takes some socks, thread and buttons and some old fashioned imagination if you like.
Here are my first 3 sock creations :) , Let me introduce you to the earliest members of our family XD

                                            This is my 1st : her name is Miau and she is really shy

                    My 2nd is her older brother Mr. Boing Boing named by my 4 year old princess, that was by my side during the whole process waiting anxiously for her new toy :)

                         This is Kat and I made it as a present for my darling niece that I love so much

This one is pinnie and he is by my side during all my creations, he's a great pal :)

Practice makes perfect right?! So lets keep on practising ...

See you soon

Let me just introduce myself

First of all, a very wonderful and cheerful good morning to all of us.

Has you may have noticed I'm kind of new to this blogging thing :) but obviously being has I am, I had to try it and there was no reason why not to.

Well since I can remember myself I've been kind of different from other people, I'm not saying from everyone but all of us are special in our own way right?! Of course we are;  well anyway has I was saying since I was more or less 12 or so I started getting old things and changing them, like for example a safe my nana had that was all rusty, the little wee me, and believe me when I say little cause even now I'm only more or less 5 feet (1.55cm); has I was saying, I dripped wax from a candle on the outside of the box and after it was really dry I painted it all with the only paint I had available at her house, little did she know... I turned a dress apart so I could use the fabric to line the inside of the box so it seemed prettier, I was kind of pleased with the end result but lets just say my dear old nana wasn't very happy about her dress.

4 years ago when my first little one was born, I started baking and now I even make birthday cakes, pretty good hey, since my mum never teached me to bake or cook, however that's where my nana comes in again cause I ousted to watch her cooking before I went to school, having said this the first birthday cake I have ever made was on the 1st b-day of my little pumpkin.

  This was The 3rd birthday cake has you can see

             May I give my self a pack on the back, yeah I think so it was delicious

Now, on April 2008 my sweet husby that I love so much but that reaaaaaaaaaallllyyy makes my head in almost every day offered me a sewing machine... lets just say that I was looking at it like a donkey to a castle, I had never sewn in my life before, and didn't really had anyone to teach me :,( , lets continue... he turned to me and said I thought that it would be a good idea for you to learn to sew that way you can alter your jeans (because I always have to being this small and having such a tiny waist), and also you can put new zippers on my cargo pants, being them really expensive new ... CAN YOU imagine my face looking at him, I was like what the hell... so ok I'm a staying at home mum, but I cook I wash I clean I iron I bake lots of goodies for everyone and now you want me to sew your darn trousers too... In my mind it was bang on slavery you know...  but ok I accept your challenge, I rolled up my sleeves read the instruction manual and I done my first stitches,  I was only 23 at the time, and so decided to start buying sewing books after those came the crafts books like toy making, bags, interior decor anything you can imagine really and here I am today with a living room full of books and finally having another go at the sewing machine after doing so many others things like having another baby for example :).

I'll post again soon with some pics of my latest craft crazies ;) !!