I’ve had to do something to distract myself from the guys who seem to have moved in, only a few doors down with there pumping dance music.

A banana and green tea cake!  A bit of an experiment, but it is actually quite nice, though maybe a little dry.  i just can’t seem to get the green tea recipes right.

I only this isn’t a sign of what I have to look forward to over the summer!  Enough moaning as I need to enjoy my cake.

Another day another project!

I love having time to myself and making gifts.  I’m going to make a series of egg cosies and then some coffee pot cosies and knitted tea cosies all with cute creatures on.  This is the first one some am still trying to iron out any issues, though I think it worked quite well.

On the front I have a big easter chick, the same design as on some of my cards and on the back a baby round chick.

I’m going to create a few with hearts and flowers and a few aimed at boys to.  If you’d like one, feel free to ask.  I also am willing to create custom made designs.

Spring is here, the clocks have changed, the evening are getting lighter and its been a weekend of spring cleaning, sorting things for  carboot sales and listing on ebay I felt I should get some crafty bits done.  Three weeks off work just doesn’t feel long enough to get my massive list of wedding and crafting jobs done.

Finishing knitting, making cards & felting!

My first task in progress is a present for a friends baby, I’ve been meaning to get it finished for ages.  So far I have a lion, next comes the acacia tree and maybe a giraffe.  I’ve used African printed fabric to add a traditional element to the project.

I’m thinking of making a series of smaller ones, for cards or to be framed individually.   Lions, giraffes, monkeys, hippos etc.  What do you think?

I’m posting all my wedding updates here as I have forgot the login details to my wedding website.  Hopefully I’ll remember them at some point.

Here are a few pictures I have found that have inspired me for the wedding,

I am loving these silly little salt and pepper shakers, not sure if they are good for a wedding, but cute anyway.

My mother in law to be has been busy.  She has made me lovely bunting from a variety of fabric, even Cath Kidston could sell something so pretty.  I’m going to string it around the outside and a little on the inside of the venue and possibly some on the table edges.

What do you think?

Having never made a sock monkey before I thought I’d give it a go. Plus the guy I worked with challenged me to see who could make the best.   He’s not quite as cute as I hoped, but I’m sure number two will took better.

What to do with a bit of wool?  Knit baby booties is the answer, or at least what I did.  These cute little things were a present for a friends baby shower.  It took me a while to get going and get them right, but I think they looked great in the end.   A touch small though.

This is how I packaged them up, so cute!

I’ve been wedding planning for nearly six months now, scary as we only have 7 and a half to go and lots of things still to do. Our engagement photoshoot was fun, rolling around in the wet and mud at Dunham Park.

This is one of the more sensible pictures, more can be viewed on our wedding website. Our wedding site was designed by my husband to be the talented Mr Holt.

The planning is coming along, most things are booked and a lot of vintage china purchased. I’ll soon be making a lot of vintage style bunting, I’ve bought old table cloths that I’m going to cut down and reconstruct. I’ve just got to make my mind up what to put the flowers in on tables.

I’ve been a busy bee in the build up to Christmas. Homemade gifts are so precious and I thought I’d give one or two a go this year.

Knitting is my new found love, though I’m still a beginner and have to put hours into my new hobby. Unpicking rows, starting again and missing stitches. So the items I made are pure labors of love, and the people who will receive the I hope will be very happy.

I neck scarf in a lovely fluffy in warm 100% wool.

A little difficult to see but I had a go at crocheting flowers for a finishing touch. This took a while as i find crochet terribly difficult. I am pleased with the finished results and i hope the new owner will be too.

A few more presents have been made but I don’t want to spoil any surprises, so watch this space.

My friend at work made these lovely chocolate truffles, so I though I’d given them a go as well. They worked quite well, I decided to put rum in them, but I guess you could use baileys or sherry.

They are slightly different from normal truffles because they don’t have cream in them. This means they’ll last a little longer I hope.  The ones above are coated in sugar, chocolate and Almond.

I’m going to try them out on people this weekend and see what they think, if all goes well i’ll post the recipe soon.

As Christmas as near I though I would make some Mince Pies. I however don’t like them, but my partner does. One of my school pupils at work gave me a jar of home made mincemeat as a Christmas present, so it would have been rude not to us it.

So here is the recipe for them:

125g Unsalted butter

200g Plain Flour

Orange Zest

Almonds Ground & Flaked

Icing Sugar

Mincemeat

Cinnnamon

Unrefined Sugar 4 tbsps

Once your all set you should follow the next few steps to yummy pies.

1.

To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the unrefined sugar and orange zest. (Take some out for crumble top.) Spoon in 4 tbsp water, mixing with a knife until the dough starts to come together. Knead lightly, flatten into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 mins.

2.

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the pastry out to a 2-3mm thickness and trim to a rectangle. Re-roll any trimmings and make mini ones. Fill the pastry shell with a thin layer of mincemeat and spread out to smooth. (Can be frozen, uncooked, in trays for up to 1 month.)

3.

Go back to the crumble ingredients and add a little water so it binds a bit. Sprinkle over the mince pie. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 20 - 40 mins until the pastry is cooked and golden brown. Cool in the tins for 5 mins, dust with icing sugar then serve with brandy butter or crème fraîche.